From Eve to the Bride of Christ

[Study Aired July 29, 2025]

Introduction

When we examine the woman in Scripture from Eve to the bride of Christ, we discover one of the most profound typological progressions in God’s Word. The first woman, formed from Adam’s rib, reveals spiritual truths that culminate in the church as Christ’s bride. This progression demonstrates how “the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20).

The foundation of this study rests upon three key passages: 1. “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman” (Genesis 2:21-22). 2. “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). 3. “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3).

Through these Scriptures, we will see how Eve’s creation, her relationship with Adam, and her natural condition all point to the church’s relationship with Christ. This is not merely ancient history, but a living revelation of our present spiritual reality.

Eve: Bone of His Bones, Flesh of His Flesh

The creation of woman reveals God’s eternal purpose in bringing forth His bride. “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18). The Hebrew word for “help” is ezer (H5828), the same word used to describe God as our helper in numerous passages: “Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20), “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help” (Deuteronomy 33:26), and “Blessed are you, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help” (Deuteronomy 33:29). This establishes that woman was not created inferior, but as a necessary completion of man’s purpose.

“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof” (Genesis 2:21). The Hebrew word for “rib” is tsela (H6763), which means “side” or “part.” This word appears 41 times in Scripture, often referring to the sides of the tabernacle or temple. Eve was not an addition to Adam, but part of his very essence, “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).

The Hebrew word for “bone” is etsem (H6106), meaning “substance” or “essence.” When Adam declared “this is now bone of my bones,” he was recognizing Eve as sharing his very nature and substance. This prefigures how the church is “members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:30).

Thus, even from the start, the template of a bride for the first Adam points us to the Bride of the last Adam, Christ.

The Heavenly Order of Headship Revealed

Eve’s formation from Adam’s rib establishes more than their unity – it reveals the pattern of headship that governs all relationships. “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3). This verse establishes the heavenly chain of authority that governs all spiritual relationships. The Greek word for “head” is kephale (G2776), meaning “chief” or “principal,” indicating both authority and source.

This order reflects the eternal relationship within the Godhead. Christ Himself declared, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). Christ’s submission to the Father provides the pattern for all subsequent relationships of headship.

“For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). The comparison is deliberate and complete. Just as Christ is head of the church, the husband is head of the wife. This is not merely about marriage; it reveals how the natural relationship images the spiritual reality.

The word “saviour” here is soter (G4990), meaning “deliverer” or “preserver.” Christ preserves and delivers His body, the church, just as a husband is called to preserve and protect his wife. “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church” (Ephesians 5:29). This headship is not tyrannical dominance but protective covering and loving guidance.

The Curse Reveals the Promise

When Eve listened to the serpent rather than defer to Adam’s headship, she acted according to her nature as flesh subject to vanity. “And unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” (Genesis 3:16).

The Hebrew word translated “to” in “thy desire shall be to thy husband” is el (H413), which can mean “toward,” “against,” or “concerning.” This same word appears in the very next chapter: “And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Genesis 4:7), where God speaks to Cain about sin. When el is translated “against” in Genesis 4:8 – “Cain rose up against Abel” – we understand that Eve’s curse included a natural tendency to oppose her husband’s headship.

This opposition is not unique to women but represents the natural mind’s rebellion against all heavenly authority. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). The woman’s natural opposition to her husband’s headship reflects humanity’s natural opposition to Christ’s headship.

Yet the curse contains a promise: “he shall rule over thee.” This points to the ultimate victory of spirit over flesh, of Christ over the carnal nature. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Even within the curse is the assurance that spiritual authority will ultimately prevail.

The Church: Body and Bride of Christ

Scripture presents the church as both Christ’s body and His bride, demonstrating that these are not separate concepts but different aspects of the same spiritual reality. “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:30). “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). The church as Christ’s body is “the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

Just as Eve was taken from Adam’s side to complete him, the church is formed from Christ’s pierced side to be His completion. “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). From Christ’s wounded side flows the spiritual substance from which His bride is formed. “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26). “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The blood provides judicial cleansing from sin’s guilt, while the water represents the moral cleansing through God’s word that sanctifies and forms the church.

This church, both body and bride, was not formed through human effort but through Christ’s purchase. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). The price paid for this bride demonstrates her immense value to Christ and establishes the foundation upon which the body-bride relationship rests.

“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:31-32). Paul explicitly states that the marriage relationship is a “great mystery” pointing to “Christ and the church.”

The formation of Eve from Adam’s rib illustrates the process by which Christ forms His bride. “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam” (Genesis 2:21). This deep sleep represents death. Christ Himself used sleep to symbolize death: “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep… Howbeit Jesus spake of his death” (John 11:11, 13). Paul likewise wrote, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep… For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). Adam must enter a death-like state before his bride can be formed.

Similarly, Christ entered the sleep of death before His bride could be formed. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). Christ’s death was necessary for the formation of His church.

This principle of death producing multiplication fulfills the ancient promise made to Abraham. “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). Christ, the singular seed, died alone but through His death brought forth the “much fruit” – His bride, the church. What was promised as one seed becomes many through the death and resurrection process, just as one grain of wheat produces an abundant harvest.

“And took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof” (Genesis 2:21). Adam’s wound was healed, indicating that nothing was lost in the formation of Eve. Rather, what was within Adam was now expressed externally through the woman.

This reveals how the church expresses what is inherent in Christ. “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” (Colossians 1:27). The church manifests the glory that exists eternally in Christ.

The Present Challenges to Headship

Having seen how God’s typological patterns establish the spiritual foundation, we must now understand how these eternal truths apply to our present walk with Christ. The woman’s role in Scripture directly relates to our current spiritual condition and growth in grace.

Understanding submission becomes essential for spiritual maturity. “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22). “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything” (Ephesians 5:24). The Greek word for “submit” and “subject” is hupotasso (G5293), meaning “to arrange under” or “to place in proper order.”

This submission is not reluctant duty but the spontaneous expression of our new identity in Christ. “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). God’s will involves proper spiritual arrangement and order. The comparison is complete: wives’ submission to husbands directly parallels the church’s submission to Christ, indicating the same quality of willing, ordered submission.

Yet how does the church actually respond to Christ’s headship? “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). The professing church, like Eve with the serpent, desires Christ’s name for respectability while rejecting His actual authority. “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach” (Isaiah 4:1). The “seven women” represent the complete apostasy of the church, wanting Christ’s name while maintaining their own doctrines (“our own bread“) and righteousnesses (“our own apparel“). This fulfills Eve’s pattern of desiring independence from proper headship.

The Spiritual Order in the Church

Those who walk after the Spirit begin to understand their proper relationship to Christ’s headship. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). Walking after the Spirit includes acknowledging God’s order and headship.

“But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God” (1 Corinthians 11:16). Those who argue against the heavenly order reveal their spiritual immaturity. The Greek word for “contentious” is philoneikos (G5380), meaning “fond of strife” or “quarrelsome.”

The principle extends beyond marriage to all relationships within the body of Christ. “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” (Romans 13:1). God establishes all legitimate authority, and our response to earthly authority reflects our attitude toward His ultimate authority.

“Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:21). The Greek word for “submitting” is again hupotasso, indicating that all believers should willingly arrange themselves in proper order with one another. This is not mutual subjection that eliminates headship, but recognition that everyone has both governing and submissive roles within the order God has appointed. “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:4-5). This heavenly arrangement ensures that each member fulfills their unique calling while maintaining the unity and interdependence that characterizes Christ’s body. “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28).

All of these aspects of the Church’s walk – submission, order, unity – are leading to one glorious goal.

The Ultimate Fulfillment in the Bride

The woman’s progression from Eve to the bride reaches its culmination in Revelation. “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” (Revelation 19:7). The bride has “made herself ready” by finally accepting her proper relationship to her husband.

“And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (Revelation 19:8). Unlike the apostate church that wears “our own apparel,” the true bride is clothed in righteousness that comes from Christ alone.

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). The new Jerusalem is both the bride and the city – the dwelling place of God with His people. This fulfills the promise that “they two shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24) on a spiritual and eternal level.

“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Revelation 21:9). The bride and the Lamb’s wife are the same entity, confirming that the church in its final state perfectly fulfills the pattern established in Eve’s creation.

Conclusion

From Eve’s formation from Adam’s rib to the church as Christ’s bride, we see the consistent revelation of God’s eternal purpose. Eve was not created perfect and then corrupted, but was “made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20). Her natural condition of flesh, with its inherent rebellion against headship, was the very means by which God would demonstrate His power to bring forth spiritual life.

The heavenly order of headship – God over Christ, Christ over man, man over woman – is not arbitrary hierarchy but the revelation of how spiritual authority flows from the ultimate Source. Christ’s perfect submission to the Father provides the pattern for all subsequent relationships of headship and submission.

The church, as both Christ’s body and His bride, represents the completion of what was typified in Eve’s creation. Just as Eve was “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” to Adam, the church is “members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” to Christ. The same substance, the same nature, the same life – yet formed through death and resurrection into a glorious bride.

The present reality calls us to embrace our proper relationship to Christ’s headship, not as external legalism but as the natural expression of spiritual life. As we submit to His authority, we fulfill the pattern established from the beginning and prepare for the ultimate wedding feast of the Lamb.

In Christ, the woman’s progression from natural rebellion to spiritual submission reveals God’s method of bringing all creation “till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). What began with Eve formed from Adam’s side culminates in the bride coming down from heaven, perfectly prepared for her husband, displaying the completed work of God’s eternal purpose.

Rev 12:14-17 – Part 2 – The Earth Helped the Woman

[Study Aired Dec 29, 2024]

In this study we will seek to understand the spiritual significance of the statement… “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the flood which the dragon cast out of its mouth…” in this verse:

Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Christ tells us that when His words spoken through us are rejected by this world it is the same as rejecting Him and His words. That is also the way it is with the adversary and those who speak for him. Therefore when we are told, “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the flood which the dragon cast out of its mouth”, what we are being told is that the woman is accepting of the words coming out of the mouth of the dragon via all of His ministers.

The Pharaoh [of the book of Exodus] attempting to destroy all the male new born of Israel, typifies the dragon’s desire to devour the man child as soon as he is born. Pharaoh typifies the beast and his spiritual father within us all. The scriptures reveal that when we serve ourselves and do what we want to do without regard to the admonitions of scripture, we are treating ourselves as if we are god, but at the same time we are unwittingly “worshiping the dragon”. It matters not that we are “Abraham’s seed”. The only thing that matters is if we ‘do the things’ Christ and His Word tell us to do.

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

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Joh 8:39  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

Anger toward God’s messenger, Moses, is exactly what “the woman in the wilderness”, Israel, felt as she watched the armies of Egypt approaching, and that is exactly how we feel when we see that no one else in the world sees or agrees with the things which have led us to begin to come out of Babylon. We are God’s Israel, and like Jeremiah and Israel, we too, slowly come to see just how much we must sacrifice to remain faithful to the calling we have been given. This is Jeremiah, and this is each of us.

Jer 20:7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Jer 20:8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
Jer 20:9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
Jer 20:10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

We will never understand any of the symbols of scripture if we are not careful to retain their Biblical meaning instead of the meaning arbitrarily given them by the false prophets in the temples of Babylon. Pharaoh’s armies are a type and a shadow of the legions of evil spirits which darken the Sun and the air, which want to destroy God’s witnesses and which keep us from seeing the light of the Sun. A ‘woman’ in scripture is always the wife of God, either as a harlot or as a faithful wife. It is to preserve this ‘harlot woman who brought forth a man child’ that “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of His mouth”. This ‘woman’ is signified in scripture by the harlot Hosea was told to marry to typify how Israel has treated her own faithful husband, Christ:

Hos 1:2  The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
Hos 1:3  So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
Hos 1:4  And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.

Jezreel was born of a harlot and yet the Lord “avenge[d] the blood of Jezreel” just as He will avenge the blood of Christ upon the kingdom of our old man.

It is with good reason that we are told that this flood comes forth of the dragon’s mouth. It is given to us in these words based upon this principle:

Mat 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Mat 15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

This “flood out of the dragon’s mouth” is also called “locusts upon the earth” in Rev 9.

Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Rev 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

200 million witnesses to the lies of Babylon stand in sharp contrast to God’s “two witnesses”. It is few who are willing to stand up to such odds. Here is another way of saying the same thing, but because we see the number three, we know that some form of progression is in view:

Rev 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

These are not three separate sources. The dragon empowers both the beast and the false prophet, but He does so in a certain predestined order of progression.

We certainly are not able to withstand the odds of ‘200 million to two’ as we first begin our exodus from either Egypt or Babylon. The earth swallowing the flood that comes out of the mouth of the dragon will be lost on us if we fail to notice that this woman cannot yet be caught up to God and to His throne, and if we forget what we have learned is the symbolism of “the earth”.

Here is what “the earth” means in scripture:

Jer 22:2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

The earth was swallowing up the flood of lies which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

“Thy people that enter by these gates” is the symbol of God’s own rebellious and backslid people who were more than eager to believe the lies of the adversary. Now look at how the holy spirit addresses those who know God and then turn their back on Him and His doctrines, here in this same 22nd chapter of Jeremiah.

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

This explains why Israel wished they had never left Egypt when they saw the armies of Egypt, and this explains why they immediately blamed their own savior for their apparent dilemma.

Exo 14:12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

So “the woman” cannot be caught up to God and to His throne, because she is no better off spiritually than Pharaoh at this stage of her walk. This woman in Rev 12 is saved by the earth swallowing up what comes out of the Dragon’s mouth because this woman is the earth, and she is on the same page that dragon is on. Only her man child, who has been separated from her, is “caught up to God and to His throne”, while she flees into the wilderness where her rebellions continue unabated as typified by unfaithful Israel’s actions:

Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

While we are told that Pharaoh’s armies were destroyed by the waters of the Red Sea, that is interpreted as “the earth swallowed them”.

Exo 15:4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
Exo 15:5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.
Exo 15:6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
Exo 15:7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
Exo 15:8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
Exo 15:9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
Exo 15:10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Exo 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Exo 15:12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

But how do the armies of Egypt being destroyed in the sea apply to our lives? Here is one example of what a flood is in spiritual, scriptural terms:

Isa 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

The lies of the adversary are signified by “a flood” from his mouth. That is the negative application of the word ‘flood’. The positive application refers to the words of Truth from the Lord, from His mouth and from the mouths of His elect:

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.

Luk 6:45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

The Lord tells us that His Truthful words are spirit (Joh 6:63), and it is His words of Truth which are our refuge and our defence, which are “lifted up as a standard” against all the lies of “the enemy”. Every soldier of the armies of Egypt and Babylon are a symbol of the lies of the Adversary. Every ‘soldier of Christ’ speaks only His Truths:

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.
2Ti 2:5  And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

‘Striving lawfully’ for Christ requires that the soldier of Christ “endure hardness”. It requires that we “resist not evil: but… turn the other cheek also”:

Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Enduring that kind of ‘hardness’ infuriates the adversary:

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Once we are made to see this woman is “in the wilderness” and we see her as being on the same page with the serpent in seeking to destroy God’s elect, then we will begin to understand why the dragon makes war, not with her, but “with the remnant of her seed…” Only then will we begin to understand why her seed is prophesied to always be at war with the seed of the serpent. Now we can understand why the seed of the serpent is prophesied, from the very beginning, to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman, while her seed is prophesied to bruise the head of the serpent.

Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Israel is both a type of God’s elect on the one hand, and she is also a type of God’s harlot wife who wants to kill the Christ and His Christ in another instance. Only when we see that the first Adam is a figure of the last Adam, and the first Pharaoh in the story of Joseph typifies the Father, while the Pharaoh of Moses’ day typifies the beast as the seed of the serpent, will we understand how the woman of Rev 12 can be described in such glowing terms and still be “in the wilderness” and completely unqualified to be with Christ on His throne. It is because the woman of Rev 12, who is not caught up to God and to His throne, is the same as the woman of Rev 17-18, with the same sins as the seven churches who have in them the Nicolaitans, and who also suffer “that woman Jezebel to teach”, and yet thinks she is “rich and increased with good and has need of nothing” in Revelation chapters 2-3.

Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans [Greek ‘rule the  laity’], which thing I hate.
Rev 2:16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

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, and his feet [are] like fine brass;
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.
Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

Rev 3:15  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Like the church in Thyatira, there are many good things to be said about the woman who brings forth the man child. She is “clothed with the sun and the moon is under her feet”. She is filled with “gold, silver, and precious stones”, the necessary materials for the true temple of God.

Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,

1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

But they are not yet “tried in fire”, which is essential to the gold, silver and precious stones that make up the true temple of God. The churches of Revelation 2-3 have the same self-satisfied spirit we find in the harlot of Revelation 17-18:

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

That “trying fire” is the words concerning God’s wrath and his judgments upon our ungodliness that these chapters 12-15 are leading up to and are introducing. This is all “the days when the seventh angel begins to sound”. Chapters 12-15 are the ‘bitterness in the belly’ which these judgments produce in our lives when we eat the little book in the angel’s hand:

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Rev 10:8  And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
Rev 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
Rev 10:11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

We have seen that the woman of Rev 12 is the same woman found in the seven churches of chapters 2-3, thinking so highly of herself, when she is nothing more than a “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked… whore”. She is the same “great harlot” found in chapters 17-18. What we have learned is that the man child who comes out of this woman is also the true bride of Christ, and that this woman in Rev 12, for all the glowing words used to describe her, is still the same harlot woman of chapters 17-18:

Rev 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

This woman of Revelation 12 is completely unqualified to ascend up to God and to His throne as the true bride of Christ, which is what the man child, who comes out of this woman, signifies and is found worthy to do.

I once had a prominent Concordant minister condescendingly tell me… “Mike you can’t be ‘wife’ and a ‘son’ at the same time”. I asked him… “Why then does Paul tell us that we “are the sons of God” in Romans, and “I have espoused you to one husband that I might present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” in 2 Corinthians?

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

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

That minister had absolutely no response and yet his pride would not permit him acknowledge that Paul calls us both “sons of God” and “a chaste virgin presented to one husband… Christ”.

We have seen that God refers his work of bringing this woman into the wilderness as “bearing her on eagles’ wings”, the same words used to tell us how He had brought Israel to Himself in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. We have seen that “a time, and times and half a time” is the same as 1260 days or 42 months, and we saw once again that this is the symbol for the time we spend both receiving God’s witness while we are yet “under the law”, while we are “in our place prepared for us of God” to be nourished with bread which will “bring us to Christ”, but which is not itself the true bread of life.

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.

We saw that this same period of time also symbolizes the time we spend witnessing for the Lord to those who are still under the schoolmaster and under the bondage of the law of Moses.

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.

We have seen that the flood that comes out of the mouth of the dragon is the lies that always come from his mouth, and we saw that those lies were well received of the woman, serving to deflect the wrath of the dragon off of the woman and onto “the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”. In other words, what we saw is that the woman who is being carried on eagles’ wings, is all the while on the same page with the great dragon who blames God and His messengers for bringing her into the wilderness to die. Both she and the dragon want to destroy her own seed, the “man child”, who also happens to be the symbol of the true bride of Christ, who is qualified and worthy to sit with Him on His throne in the heavens.

Finally we have seen the scriptures, which demonstrate that the earth and this harlot woman who is not qualified to sit with Christ on His throne, are spiritually and scripturally one and the same.

In our next study, if the Lord wills, we will begin to see how our worshiping of the beast is revealed to be “and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority”, us worshiping the great red dragon.

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion:ear

Rev 12:14-17 – Part 1 – The Earth Helped the Woman

[Study Aired Dec 27, 2024]

Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

All the symbols of scripture are taken from previous verses. The two witnesses are explained in Zechariah 4 as those who speak “the Word of the Lord” according to Zec 4:6. The ‘woman’ of this chapter, and the 17^th and 18^th chapters signifies the harlot of Isa 1:21.

Zec 4:3  And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
Zec 4:4  So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
Zec 4:5  Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
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.

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: butIsrael doth not know,my [apostate] 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.

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

If we hope to understand the meaning of this “signified” revealing of Jesus Christ within us, and if we have any hope of understanding how we are to “keep the things written therein”, then we must always go back to the Old Testament to discover what the “two wings of a great eagle… a flood… [and] the earth opened it mouth ” means.

Mat 13:52  Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new [Testament] and old [Testament].

When we do that then we will discover that it was the same ‘woman’ in the Old Testament, who was “carried into the wilderness” upon these same ‘eagle’s wings’ that were used here in the New Testament to “fly Israel into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished… [and kept safe] from the face of the serpent” even as she continues to rebel against her own Savior:

Exo 19:3  And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Exo 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2  As they called them,so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

We will also discover there in that Old Testament story of the Lord’s sad relationship with His own people when He delivered them from the bondage of Egypt what is meant by “the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman”, and we will see how “the earth opened up her mouth and swallowed up the flood…”

Finally, if we want to be “instructed unto the kingdom of heaven”, we will also have to use “things old”, things in the Old Testament, to determine who are those who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”.

Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Here is where “the wings of an eagle” are first mentioned in scripture. It is while Israel, the Lord’s own people are “in the wilderness”, at Mount Sinai, at the giving of the law of Moses to Israel.

Exo 19:3  And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Exo 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

But where is Israel when God is telling them these words? Like this woman who brings forth this man child, Israel is “in the wilderness”, at the base of Mount Sinai, just before Israel turns her back on God and makes the golden calf whom she then claims as her God who brought her up out of Egypt. They are yet to rebel against Him ten times.

Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Israel herself, is rebelling against the Lord even as He is in the process of delivering her from her own bondage. Yet this is how the Lord provided for Israel while they were “the church [“the woman”] in the wilderness”:

Exo 16:4  Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Israel, the ‘woman’ who brought forth the man child, rebelled against the Lord even as He nourished her with symbolic “bread from heaven”. But it wasn’t “the True Bread From Heaven”:

Joh 6:31  Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Joh 6:32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

The law of Moses signifies the manna which was “not that [True] Bread From Heaven”. The law of Moses signifies the “land of milk and honey” which is for carnal babes in Christ who cannot yet receive the ‘strong meat’ which is “the True Bread From Heaven”. The law of Moses signifies the basic principles of the doctrine of Christ which will retard out spiritual growth if we do not go beyond those basic principles:

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

This ‘woman’ who brings forth this mature ‘man child’, is taken into the wilderness on “two wings of a great eagle”. The only other place in scripture where a ‘woman’ is taken into the wilderness “on eagles’ wings” is:

Exo 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself [in the wilderness].

Why isn’t this ‘woman’ caught up unto the Lord and to His throne with the man child that comes out of her? The reason this ‘woman’ is taken into the wilderness where she has a place prepared of God is given us is these verses:

Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

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.

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

“The woman” who brought forth “a man child” is “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”:

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

If we are “in Christ” then we are at this very moment “seated with Christ in the heavens”:

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

If we are “in Christ Jesus” then we are the “man child” who was “caught up to God and His throne”, even while being “the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”:

Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

In our next study we will see how the scriptures reveal that the “manchild” is both in heaven and at the same time is on this earth as “the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”.

Nevertheless, we are told that this time we spend in rebellion against our own husband and as a part of a great harlot worshipping a golden calf is all an integral part of God “bringing us to Himself”:

Exo 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself [in the wilderness].

Rev 12, 13, 14 and 15 all chronicle us as those who are being judged for our unfaithfulness in this present time leading up to the pouring out of God’s wrath upon our own unrighteousnesses, and this is what we are told twice about all of these things revealed in these chapters.

Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the beast and the dragon], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9  If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

“All that dwell upon the earth shall worship the beast”, is followed by “Here is the patience and faith of the saints”. We will encounter this same apparent contradiction in the 14^th chapter where we will again be told that those who worship the beast will be tormented day and night and “the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever”, immediately followed by the same apparent contradiction we read in chapter 12:

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

To get the full impact of these counterintuitive verses let’s read them in their full context:

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

The few who are given eyes that see and ears that hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God will acknowledge that “fire [and brimstone] shall try every man’s works of what sort they are”:

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire [and brimstone, Rev 14:10]; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work [in “this present time”, Rom 8:18] abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work [in “this present time”] shall be burned , he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

It is enduring these trials and tribulations and enduring the pouring out of God’s wrath on all of our ungodlinesses, in “this present time” (Rom 8:18) which “is the patience and faith of the saints” (Rev 13:10). “Blessed are they that read, and hear, and keep the things written therein, for the time is at hand…” to keep all these sections of scripture. It must be so because, after all, exactly how many men receive the mark of the beast?

Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

How could we have missed seeing this plain statement except we were blinded by the One who came to blind all who claim that they do see?

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.

Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

The natural man reads this verse here in Rev 12 and concludes that this woman is at variance with the dragon. After all we are told that she “is nourished… from the face of the serpent.” But does “nourished… from the face of the serpent” mean that the woman is at odds with the doctrine of the serpent? Absolutely not! Israel worshipped a golden calf even as the Lord was dragging her out of Egypt. If the woman were really at odds with the doctrine of the serpent, then she too would have been caught up to God and to His throne with the man child she brought forth. Instead we see her, just as we see Israel at the time of her exodus from Egypt, fleeing into the wilderness, all the while seeking the destruction of God’s typical “man child”, Moses.

Exo 17:4  And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

Israel, the type of the “woman [who] brought forth a man child”, is to be found “in the wilderness… nourished… from the face of the serpent”, yet wanting to “return to Egypt”, and siding with the adversary against their God and His messenger, Moses. That is the spiritual state of this “woman” who has “flown into the wilderness where she is nourished… from the face of the serpent”. It is only our lack of knowledge of the scriptures which keeps us from getting the point that is being made.

Again, how are we told she was taken there?

Exo 19:3  And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Exo 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

If this verse were not here along with Rev 12:14, we would not know that God considers our time in the wilderness to be given to us by the agency of “the wings of a great eagle”, an unclean bird. The very fact that this statement is given to Israel at the base of Mount Sinai, “which answers to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”, tells us that God considers our time in the wilderness as well as our time in Babylon, as an integral part of His “bringing us to Himself”.

Here is what the holy spirit has inspired to be written concerning this woman at Mount Sinai, in the book of Galatians:

Gal 4:21  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
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.
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him [that was born] after the Spirit, even so [it is] now.
Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman [“Jersalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”] and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we [Gentile Galatians] are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

“The desolate has many more children than she which has a husband”? How is that possible? That is definitely not a natural statement. The natural man sees the words “born after… the freewoman” and just naturally thinks of Sarah’s natural children in physical Jerusalem. But as is always the case, the things of the spirit are hidden and counterintuitive to the natural man. So we are told that life comes only through death, sight comes only through blindness, peace comes only through sending a sword, and Sarah’s natural children have become “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”, while Hagar and her Gentile children, are now brought near to God by the cross of Christ. These words here in Gal 4 are seen and read, but they are not perceived by the natural man because:

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.

So it is with this “woman… in the wilderness.” Only those who are given the gift of “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” will understand how Sarah’s physical seed has become “the [spiritual] children of the bondmaid”, while the Gentiles who accept Christ, even if they are physical Galatians or the physical seed of Hagar, have now become “the children of the freewoman… through the faith of Christ”.

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.

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:

Because this is so easily missed, for those who are given to see this, here it is again:

Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren [Gentile Galatians], as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son [physical Jerusalem, and physical Jews]: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman [Gentiles who are in Christ].
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we [Gentiles in Christ] are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Notice, it was both Pharaoh and Israel who wanted Moses dead. Nevertheless, Pharaoh, the agent of the serpent with a serpent upon his head in all the sculptures and coffins of the Pharaohs, sought to destroy the “seed of the woman [who was] the mother of all living”.

Gen 3:20  And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

We have seen that being “nourished for a time, and times and half a time” is the same as “forty and two months, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days”. They are all the same symbol of both the time we are witnessed to by God’s elect while we are yet of our father the devil, as well as the time we spend as God’s witnesses to those who are still “the seed of the serpent”. Here we are as those who are being witnessed to by God’s “two witnesses”:

Rev 12:6  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

And here we are first as unconverted ‘Gentiles’, and later as God’s two witnesses to the woman in the wilderness, also know as “that great city wherein our Lord was crucified”.

Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,where also our Lord was crucified.

Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

Here in Exo 14 is the Old Testament type of this “woman [who] brought forth a man child” and who is then pursued by the serpent who “casts out of his mouth water as a flood… that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood”. Here in Exo 14 we also see how both this woman and the serpent feel about Moses, who in this case is the symbol of “the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”:

Exo 14:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Exo 14:2  Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.
Exo 14:3  For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They [are] entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
Exo 14:4  And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
Exo 14:5  And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
Exo 14:6  And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:
Exo 14:7  And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
Exo 14:8  And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.
Exo 14:9  But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.
Exo 14:10  And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
Exo 14:11  And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12  Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

Israel, the shadow of the woman in the wilderness, is on board with Pharaoh in seeking to destroy God’s elect who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”. In a very real sense, “the serpent was wroth [‘along with the woman’ as well as] with her seed”.

We will pause our study at this point and in our next study we will seek to understand the spiritual significance of the flood which the dragon cast out of His mouth by which he hoped to carry away the woman and the remnant of her seed.

Rev 12:1-6, Part 1 – The Woman And The Manchild

[Study Aired Nov 17, 2024]

As we continue our study we must remember that chapters 11-16 are all part of the work of the seventh trumpet within our lives, which work begins to finish within us the mystery of God:

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

The seventh angel begins to sound in:

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

The words “art, was, and art to come” and the words “hast reigned” are all in the aorist tense signifying that what follows has begun to happen in our lives in every generation of the lives of the Lord’s elect:

Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

The hail shall wipe away the refuge of [all the] lies of our Babylonian past and it is a traumatic earthquake in our lives when this seventh trumpet “begins to sound”:

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
Isa 28:18  And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

We are commissioned to “read, hear, and keep the things written in the prophesy of this book” (Rev 1:3), because we are this “manchild”, and we are “the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God, and [who] have the testimony of Jesus Christ”:

Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. [‘The man child’, God’s elect].

The Lord and His Christ both are “in heaven” even while being on this earth:

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

The “appearance” of the woman, and the “appearance” of the “great red dragon”, are both in the Greek aorist tense, signifying the ongoing fulfillment of this prophecy in every generation since Christ. The pain of the woman and the casting of the stars of heaven to the earth, are also both in the aorist tense and are being fulfilled in this very generation in the heavens of the hearts and minds of the Lord’s Christ:

Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Rev 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days.

Introduction

Chapter 11 deals with those who bear witness to this revelation of Jesus Christ within each of God’s elect. It details, in signs and symbols, the experience our Lord foretold us we would have as those who bear witness to His Words. So the hatred and death of those witnesses is nothing less than fulfilling of Christ’s prophecy that we “shall be hated of all men for my names sake…”

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

This “hatred of all men” is signified and symbolized by these words:

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

This rejection by all of our families and friends and “all men” is “they of the people and kindreds and tongues, and nations”. It is this rejection of all men which the scriptures refer to as being ‘dead and crucified with our Lord’, and “lying dead in the streets of the great city… where also our Lord was crucified”. This symbolic ‘death’ is central to the revealing of our Lord within us thoughout the New Testament:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

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

Gal 2:19  For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
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.

Both phrases, “I… am dead to the law”, and “that I might live unto Christ” are in the aorist tense, signifying that this is taking place in every generation of the Lord and His Christ since the death and resurrection of Christ.

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

All those verses describe the “life” we have when we “fall into the ground and die”. All those verses and many others reveal that life comes only “through death”. All these verses reveal the blessing of being found “dead in the streets of that great city… where also our Lord was crucified”:

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

It is after this symbolic death and crucifixion “in the streets of that great city” that we are raised up from the dead just at the time “when the seventh angels begins to sound his trumpet”. This is what Paul was speaking of when he wrote: “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live… [when] the seventh angel sounded”. This is a process that takes many “days”.

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

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; [and], behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
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.

It is after we are told that the seventh angel sounded that we find this twelfth chapter, with all that is revealed in it. It is followed by chapter thirteen, which deals with the beast in all of his manifestations, followed by the fourteenth chapter dealing with the revelation of the 144,000 firstfruits of God, followed by another grand introduction in chapter 15 of the seven angels who are given seven vials, or bowls, in which are filled up the wrath of God under which we are all born and live our entire lives, until we are brought to cry out to the rocks to fall on us and hide us from the face of the lamb.

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

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

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4  When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6  For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

In other words, we have a complete summary of story of Adam before we are introduced to the actual event that is this seventh trumpet in chapter 16.

When is this chapter fulfilled?

Rev 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

The woman, the manchild and the great red dragon, are the three main principles in this twelfth chapter of Revelation. This is a chapter which we will see makes very clear the absolute necessity of God’s elect “keeping of the things written therein” in every generation since Christ. This woman is the same woman who says:

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

This is the same woman who says of herself:

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

This is the great harlot of Revelation 17 and 18. Christ was born of this harlot, and each of us “come out of her”:

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,

It is this seventh trumpet which is fulfilling this verse in the lives of God’s 144,000 firstfruit elect who are:

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

When we forget this admonition, we inevitably are forced to apply these words to someone else at some time other than “the time [which] is at hand”.

“Another wonder in heaven” means another miraculous revelation of what it means for Christ to be revealed in our heavens. The point is that this is just one part of an ongoing process that is being read, heard and kept by those to whom it is addressed.

The spiritual meaning of the woman, the sun and the moon in this verse is explained to us in the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, where a woman and the sun and the moon are all mentioned. Let’s let the scriptures themselves show us what these symbols signify.

Gen 37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Gen 37:5  And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Gen 37:6  And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7  For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
Gen 37:8  And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10  And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

While it is true that there is no indication that Jacob or Rachel ever hated Joseph, they are nevertheless used in this instance as the types of “your father the devil” and of our mother when we were “the children of the bondwoman”. What we are told in this story of Joseph’s relations with his own family members is that we too, “shall be hated of all men”, especially of our own flesh and blood and especially by those of our own household, and we will, in the end, bear rule over our own flesh and over all those of our own household.

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.

Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10  And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

The ‘sun’ is Jacob, and the ‘moon’ is Rachel. These are Joseph’s physical parents, just as the the devil and his doctrines and the bondwoman and her doctrines are our first physical parents in this world.

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.

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

Sinai, where the law was given, “answers to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”. Who was the apostle Paul before he was struck down on the road to Damascus? He was Saul of Tarsus, the son of the bondwoman, persecuting Jesus of Nazareth, the son of the freewoman, the manchild who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord [son of the freewoman], went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

Hagar and her son, Esau, “answers to [physical] Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”. Saul of Tarsus, spiritually speaking, was ‘of the son of the bondwoman’, before he became the ‘son of the free woman’. We all have to fall into the ground and die before we can be “resurrected in newness of life” as “the son of the freewoman”, and before we can say that, we “were in time past children of wrath, even as others.

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

But just as the last Adam is of the first Adam, and just as the eighth is of the seven, so also does Saul of Tarsus, this manchild, and all who are in Christ, come first through this woman who is first a harlot before she is destroyed and is resurrected with Christ to become the bride of Christ, and “Jerusalem above, the mother of us all”. The church is her doctrines, more than she is those who are in her. The reason those who are in her are there, is because they believe her doctrines. Abraham had two wives, and it is true that we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free. But when we are granted to understand that there is one event to all men (Ecc 9:2), that mankind must all live by every word of God (Mat 4:4), that this generation will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled (Mat 24:34-35), and that all things are ours, life and death, the world, and things present and things to come (1Co 3:21-22), only then we will understand that we are the “manchild who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron”, and we are the children of the freewoman only because we were first “in bondage” with our old mother as “the children of the bondwoman”.

What this all tells us is that “I, and your mother and your brothers” in Gen 37:10, are the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and that even that the ‘sun’ and ‘stars’ of Rev 12:1 are symbols of our first parents, who we once considered to be the source of all light and sight and understanding and knowledge. We now see them revealed as nothing less than our first father, the devil, and his wife, the bondwoman, and now even he, along with our bondwoman mother and our first physical brothers in Christ, are now all bowing down to us and being made subject to us. This must all be done within before it will be seen without.

That we are all first “carnal… in Christ” is made clear in these verses:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I [am] of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Who is the woman, the twelve stars, and the manchild?

Rev 12:2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

Who is this woman and who are these 12 stars? They are of course, primarily within us, and secondarily they are round about us in the form of all who are the “first man Adam”. They are primarily each of us as we sit in the temple of God, proclaiming ourselves to be God, and demanding the complete and total dedication of our flesh to the service of the pleasures of our flesh. That is why her manchild son is caught up to God’s throne, while the woman herself goes into the wilderness. Here is another symbol of this woman and her sons who will bow down to Joseph as the symbol of God’s elect.

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

We have already demonstrated with the scriptures that each of us is that “temple of God”, and each of us is that “man of sin [who] sits in the temple of God showing ourselves to be God”.

The “woman clothed with the sun” signifies the church out of which the manchild must come:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

The ‘sun’ signifies the light of the fading law of Moses. The Pharisees in that sense were “clothed with the sun”:

Mat 23:1  Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Mat 23:2  Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
Mat 23:3  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

The twelve stars signify Joseph and his brothers who one and all signify outward Christians claiming to be the “one seed… the [spiritual] seed of Abraham” even as they hate God’s elect just like Joseph’s brothers who hated their own brother, Joseph, and wanted to kill him. The hatred of Joseph by his brothers signifes the Old Testament shadow of these verses:

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

Rev 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

The woman’s ‘child’ signifies “the Lord and His Christ”. Here is this spiritual truth in the form of its old Testament shadow:

Gen 37:18  And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
Gen 37:19  And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
Gen 37:20  Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

They certainly were right about the “evil beast” part, but not as they meant those words.

Christ Himself “was made of a woman, made under the law”, and just as Christ came out of “the church in the wilderness”, so we also, must we come out of the church that is in the wilderness, where she is fed by God for the exact same period of time that we spent in the wilderness wanting our Lord and His doctrines dead.

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

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

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it [she was “clothed with the sun”]; but now murderers.

Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

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

We will pause our study at this point and resume it in our next gathering.

The Book of Joshua – Part 5: Circumcision and Moses’s Laws Becoming Personified – Joshua 5:1-15

[Study Aired March 18, 2023]

The reproductive members of all male beasts of the field are protected by an outer sheath that keeps them moist and free from damage for composed employment for their female counterparts. It is not so for the human male member. The Lord certainly required his pudenda to be hidden with protective clothing and from involuntary inconvenience.

God designed physical masculinity to represent His spiritual headship. 

God’s stunning detail of every part of creation is for the man, who represents Christ. To fulfill the Lord’s plan, the man had to have the capacity to reproduce. The physiology of the primary instruments of his reproduction was specifically designed to distinguish his authority and beautifully complement the mystery of his female’s spiritual ascension.

Mar 4:11  And he said unto them, Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all things are done in parables: (Rom 11; 16:25; 1Cor 2:7; Eph 3:4)

God, who is spirit, is neither male nor female, neither  was the Word before He became Jesus. Yet, at creation, he made practically all organic things to be either male or female.

Mar 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 

Speaking of the resurrection:

Mar 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are as the angels in Heaven.

Masculinity and femininity are first recognised by their outward appearance but gender is assured by their genitalia. 

God gloriously highlighted His supreme headship by creating a replica of His perfect image, naming Him His Son. Having come from His creator, the Son is subordinate to His Creator, without genitalia denoting His Sonship.

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

By the Lord’s design from the outset, mankind, represented by Adam and Eve, partially abdicated man’s headship through Eve’s unwitting rulership over Adam. They effectively stated that they didn’t want their Lord to be their head and that the man and the woman would co-rule their life together, yet with a greater bias towards Eve’s influence on everything, particularly over Adam.

Rom 1:25  For they [all of mankind] changed the truth of God into a lie, and they worshiped and served the created thing more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 
Rom 1:26  For this cause, God gave them up to dishonorable affections. For even their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature.

The phenomenal way women have changed their natural use that nature dictates is patently obvious in her being against the headship of men, particularly her husband. Everywhere in nature, except for arthropods (spiders), and a few other anomalies, the male rules females. Christ deliberately created that order as “ensamples” for mostly His Elect to juxtapose the natural against the spiritual. It is only by Satan’s influence on mankind that our females tenaciously resist the order of headship, and our males limply acquiesce.

Male headship is verified by every male being fully functional as a male and for the nation of Israel, ratified in the covenant by circumcision. A man’s damaged pudenda symbolically feminises him. He is excluded from the assembly if:

Deu 23:1 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD. 

Everyone is familiar with the physiology of circumcision. We shall see that the Lord will deeply etch His covenant with Israel a second time since Moses through circumcision.

Initially, there is no better way in Israel than circumcision. It highlights that headship by physically reminding every male several times a day of his God-given headship, pointing to his authority in his family and church governance under Christ.

The New Generation Circumcised

Jos 5:1 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
Jos 5:2 At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. 
Jos 5:3 And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 
Jos 5:4 And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.
Jos 5:5 Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. 
Jos 5:6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 
Jos 5:7 And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. 
Jos 5:8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 
Jos 5:9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. 

First Passover in Canaan

Jos 5:10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. 
Jos 5:11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 
Jos 5:12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. 

The Commander of the Lord’s Army

Jos 5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
Jos 5:14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 
Jos 5:15 And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. 

The Study’s Body:

Jos 5:1 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. 

In these apparent end times of the maturing of the Bride of Christ, she is essentially well-versed in her awareness of her enemies within, not that she is self-satisfied with her diligence in routing her land of the Amorites and Canaanites. She knows those Amorites and Canaanites are like blackberry roots, briars that, even after a good fire, sucker up afresh. Especially since the Amorites in the West of their Promised Land, clear across to the Canaanites on the Mediterranean Sea, represent a saturation of filth against the word of God. 

Her inward Amorites and the origin of their abbreviated name means H559 – to proudly and loudly boast of one’s (self) righteousness. It reminds her of her once being the two-fold child of hell.

Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 

Her inward Canaanites and the origin of their abbreviated name for her, spiritually, denote them as H3667 – merchants and traders in the word of God. 

Those two landholding enemies combined highlight the overwhelming magnitude of her formally corrupt mind that needs to be humbled daily.

She is fully aware that she is a symbolic close relative of Ham and his progeny, whose name means H3665 – to be humbled, subdued, brought down, and into subjection ~ and that is a massive lesson her sister in the Promised Land is about to physically learn. Her power, she will learn, is in her Lord’s strength to kill the enemies within with the Lord’s physical sword. No wonder her enemy’s hearts melted!

In the meantime, some of her thirteen-year-old heart no doubt melted for what was to happen as they, too, learned to understand authority through headship.

Jos 5:2 At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. 
Jos 5:3 And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 

The sharp knives for the Bride spiritually represent her Lord’s word that cuts off the flesh of the covering from the seat of her Shulamite-like arousal, exposing his kisses and wine of truth. 

For the Israelites, this is the second witness to circumcision that they could only see as enforcement of recognition for their covenant relationship with their Lord. For the Bride of Christ’s hindsight reflections, she is ecstatic for the revelation that the old flesh of her sisters from Mt Sinai is a symbolic “hill of foreskins”. Her Lord’s glory is revealed in the New Covenant, not excised with hands by a sharp stone but a spiritually sharp sword of His word. She unashamedly doesn’t half-step into devoting herself to his love.

Son 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. 
Son 1:3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments [understanding His word] thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. 
Son 1:4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

Jos 5:4 And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.

The Bride of Christ is the “men of war” who are leaving behind her hill of foreskins of her enemies within, lying dead in her wilderness of sin by her daily refinement of putting on her Lord’s clean white linen. Joshua and the priests, who represent the Bride who came out of Egypt, were all circumcised, yet, the ones born along the way were not circumcised, and the Commandments of Moses needed to be ratified in the symbol of circumcision. 

Jos 5:5  Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.

The second witness of the Israelites’ circumcision represents the then-coming Lord’s spiritual circumcision of our hearts. It is one of many instances of the elder serving the younger. The ‘young’ Israelites were not yet circumcised. Those who died in the wilderness were circumcised and broke their covenant with the Lord. The younger males of thirteen years and above, who were understandably not valiant to self-circumcise, were circumcised by more professional hands. For young and old alike, the “token” of bloody circumcision must have been indelibly etched in their minds as it was in Zipporah’s mind upon circumcising her son. However, as with childbirth and the Covenant, the remembrance soon disappears. (Exo 4:19-26; Gen 17:21-27)

The wonders the Lord is about to do to Israel and on Israel’s behalf will be bloody as they effectively circumcise all the heathen from their land by death. Again, it depicts the elder serving the younger. Just as the firstborn of Egypt died, those younger Israelites born free of Egypt began life afresh in the Covenant agreed in their flesh.

Exo 4:25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. 
Exo 4:26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. 

Gen 17:24 And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 
Gen 17:25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 

Today, the Elect of God are bloody before Christ, their husband. They are circumcised spiritually, not by their hands, but by their spiritual Zipporah, the Church, as they live by the sharp circumcision of Christ’s word.

Almost daily, etched in our hearts are these glorious spiritually bloody verses,

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

Jos 5:6  For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 

Gen 17:11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. 

Psa 44:3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy [the Lord’s] right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.

Gen 17:14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. 

For any in the Body of Christ who refuse to be spiritually circumcised, he, like those physically circumcised who died in the wilderness, has denied the Lord’s covenant ‘betwixt’ Christ and him. They have effectively said that they will eat their own bread and drink their own water by their own sword and strength, as their forefathers in the wilderness strove to do for forty years. We do it whenever we fail to ask the Lord for his strength to resist the Devil. (James 4:6-10)

Jos 5:7 And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. 
Jos 5:8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 

It is the Bride of Christ who is raised up in their stead whom Christ has spiritually circumcised. If we identify as that young woman, we begin with uncircumcised hearts since we are born in the wilderness and are now circumcised. We abide in the Body of Christ until we are healed and made whole in Him, particularly in the First Resurrection.

Jos 5:9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal [meaning, a wheel rolling] unto this day. 

Our Lord has wheeled away our disgrace for trying to save ourselves by our former gods from Egypt. Upon the beginning of the first Passover in Canaan, that figurative wheel within wheels of the Lord’s word conveyed today by the Lord’s Elect cannot be stopped until all is fulfilled through the one event coming to all of mankind. That wheeled roller-coaster ride of one event began with Abraham’s circumcision and is about to get more bloody and violent in Israel. Thankfully, by being given to look back spiritually on Israel, we will be the first to finish that “one event” (Ecc 9:1-6). We learn to welcome dying gracefully by the power and might of our Lord as we are being made whole by our spiritual circumcision.

Col 2:6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 
Col 2:7 rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. 
Col 2:8 Beware lest anyone rob you through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.
Col 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 
Col 2:10 And you are complete in Him, who is the Head of all principality and power,
Col 2:11 in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, 
Col 2:12 buried with Him in baptism [having our sins burned out by his fiery word], in whom also you were raised through the faith of the working of God, raising Him from the dead. 
Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 
Col 2:14 blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. 
Col 2:15 Having stripped rulers and authorities, He made a show of them publicly, triumphing over them in it. 

The Lord’s word is merciless against our old man, yet, he knows our frailty as we tremble for what happened to our old man ground by the wheels of sin in Israel. As such, we learn discretion by becoming his word as he is the word ~ as he is, so are we by his word, wheels within wheels.

In the one-thousand year reign by Christ and His Christs, they will rule the “fitches” of humanity with a rod of iron. That will not be a time of judgment, and not a soul will have his heart changed to be aroused by His word. Change will begin when the smoking flax bursts into flame, beginning with Gog and Magog surrounding the camp of the Saints and death and resurrection, sending them over to the beginning of their fiery end, spiritually circumcised in the Lake of Fire. 

Isa 28:26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. 
Isa 28:27  For the fitches [black cummin] are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. 
Isa 28:28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. 
Isa 28:29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. 

Mat 12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

For now, Israel will unwittingly continue the legacy of their forefathers and contemptuously attempt in frustration to fulfil all of the handwritten ordinances and fail. Our gracious Lord is painfully aware of our frailty and has made known to his Elect an assured end when we pursue him with our entire heat.

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 
Jer 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 
Jer 29:14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 

The wheels of the plan of God are beginning to turn much faster, with the very first Passover being kept in Cannan. This was a young, newly circumcised Israel eating the remnants of their forefathers, grizzling and groanings represented by the “old corn” (wheat) made into unleavened cakes and new beginnings.

Jos 5:10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. 
Jos 5:11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 
Jos 5:12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. 

The Lord was gradually teaching Israel to trust in him. The six-day miracle of manna was now gone and replaced by the incredible natural richness of Cannan. We fed on the old corn of Babylonian Christianity aroused by her, the Great Whore, the mother of harlots, for six days (= six thousand years) on milk and honey.

The pictorial spirituality for us is that Christ is our manna, our bread from heaven, whose words we keep; he is the strong meat nourishing our circumcised hearts before inheriting Him, our promised land. 

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode [G3438: mone, dwelling place, residence] with him.

The root of this word is G3306, and it is similar to ‘meno’:

G3306
μένω
menō
men’-o

A primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): – abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), X thine own.

The word appears 118 times and is always translated in some form of ‘abide’. If Christ and His Father ‘abide within us’, then this will be given to us, within and without.

Our Babylonian Christian brothers and sisters initially fed us, as does Israel in the wilderness. They ploughed in the heat of the day as the elder served the much later, younger heir.

Isa 61:5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

Israel, under Joshua, and for our benefit and spiritual mimicking, was beginning the painful process of growing up into full-grown perdition (utter destruction).

Jos 5:13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 

The man Joshua is certainly one bold warrior to march up to a no doubt powerful-looking opponent holding his sword drawn. It is precisely how we challenge our enemies within; with the intrinsic fiery sword of our Lord’s word.

Is the thing we are about to do for the Lord or against him?

Num 14:8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. 
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.

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

In spiritual terms, it means baptising our heresies with fire and circumcising our old man of our lustful flesh.

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. 

Jos 5:14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 

Of course, the host’s captain for us is Christ, who has come into our hearts as we enthusiastically hear what He has to say.

Jos 5:15 And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. 

Israel is about to commence their first Passover in the Promised Land. Our walk in the flesh, in shoes made by us from animal hide, represents our sweaty walk of workmanship. The Lord’s command for Joshua to remove his shoes unknowingly to him will be amplified by the new symbols of washing one another’s feet on the night of Passover before Christ’s death and Christ himself becoming the holy land.

The long and torturous saga of evil flesh and its God-given spiritual correlations are still in their infancy upon crossing the Jordan. The ‘holy land’ on which Moses stood, and now Joshua, along with circumcision, stone memorials, war, harlotry, evil passions and mankind’s sexuality, all temporarily point to their spiritual counterparts. Their highly variable physical applications titillate our lusts, yet, much to the distant future unwitting consternation of all but Christ’s Bride, none but her are ever given to entirely overcome the flesh. Even the most outstanding physical marriages, along with their physical desires, will be dust in the Kingdom since there is neither male nor female in Christ and the Father.

Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept in ward under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
Gal 3:24 So that the law is become our tutor to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
Gal 3:25 But now that faith is come, we are no longer under a tutor. 
Gal 3:26 For ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.
Gal 3:28 There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one man in Christ Jesus. 
Gal 3:29  And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to promise. 

The Israelites’ feet stepping into the physical holy land heralds the coming of over three thousand years of feet running to mischief and uncircumcised hearts firmly establishing the Great Whore. 

The Bride of Christ is the priests of Abraham’s seed, and her circumcision of the flesh and every other symbol that points to its spiritual counterpart is fast disappearing. Her circumcised heart is what makes her Husband and she blissfully one spirit.

For the Bride of Christ, her Husband is her inheritance, and he is the promised holy land in which she stands with beautiful feet. 

Son 7:1 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. 

He makes her shoes for his glory and is beautifully represented by the Shulamite, whose name means “the perfect, or the peaceful”. Her shoes, he made, are worn in his presence since together, they are the holy ground on which they stand.

Next week, Lord willing, “The Fall of Jericho”.

Exo 21:1-19  Laws Governing Hebrew Servants and Personal Injuries

[Study Aired August 15, 2022]

Exo 21:1  Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
Exo 21:2  If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
Exo 21:3  If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.
Exo 21:4  If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself.
Exo 21:5  And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:
Exo 21:6  Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.
Exo 21:7  And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.
Exo 21:8  If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.
Exo 21:9  And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. 
Exo 21:10  If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.
Exo 21:11  And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.
Exo 21:12  He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. 
Exo 21:13  And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
Exo 21:14  But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.
Exo 21:15  And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
Exo 21:16  And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.
Exo 21:17  And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
Exo 21:18  And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
Exo 21:19  If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

Apart from the Ten Commandments, the Lord also gave the people of Israel several laws regarding how they were to live their lives. This chapter deals with laws concerning how the people of Israel were to deal with their Hebrew servants and personal injuries. These laws were not different from the laws pertaining in other countries that do not know the Lord. That is why Paul said:

Rom 2:14  For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 
Rom 2:15  They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.

Obeying these carnal ordinances could not make the people of Israel holy. It was during this time of the reformation that Jesus brought about the law of Christ, which is the same as the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus which sets us free from these carnal ordinances which refer to the law of sin and death.

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

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

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
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.

What this means is that these carnal laws have been raised to a higher spiritual level. Our study today will therefore look at the spiritual implication of these carnal ordinances.

Exo 21:1  Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
Exo 21:2  If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

The judgments here in verse 1 refer to these carnal laws set before the people of Israel. To understand verse 2 and the next few verses, we need to know what the word “Hebrew” means. The root letters of the word “Hebrew” means to cross over or pass through. In the Bible, it seems to have primarily referred to those who traversed or crossed over rivers. Abram was called “Abraham the Hebrew” in Genesis 14:13 which is the first time the word “Hebrew” is used in the Bible. The reference to Abraham as a Hebrew refers to the fact that he came from the other side of the river. The Hebrew servant here in verse 2 refers to us, the elect, who have crossed or are crossing the river of Babylon. As Paul indicated, we were bought by the Lord Jesus with His own blood and therefore are the Hebrew servants of Christ.

Gal 3:13 Christ bought us with His blood and made us free from the Law. In that way, the Law could not punish us. Christ did this by carrying the load and by being punished instead of us. It is written, “Anyone who hangs on a cross is hated and punished.” 
Gal 3:14 Because of the price Christ Jesus paid, the good things that came to Abraham might come to the people who are not Jews. And by putting our trust in Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit He has promised. (NLV)

Rom 1:1  Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,

The six years of labor is the period of our walk with Christ where we use our strength (flesh) to serve the Lord. The seventh year is when we are set free in the liberty of the spirit to find rest in the Lord as He does the work. These six days of labor in the flesh therefore refer to our servitude under the devil. Unfortunately, during this period we think we are serving Christ and are therefore free. The seventh day is when we are set free from the evil one to serve the living God.

Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 
Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 
Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Externally, our labor here on earth is signified by the six years. The seventh year is the next age where the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. It is during this period that we shall be free of this flesh as we take hold of the purchased possession to rest in the Lord.

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. 

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.

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

Exo 21:3  If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. 

We know from the word of Christ that none of us become slaves of the Lord by ourselves. We are dragged by the Lord to come and serve Him.

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw (G1670: drag) him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

However, when we were in Babylon, we thought we came to serve the Lord by our own choices. If we think we came to be the Lord’s servant by our own choice, then our supposed “liberty” is our own making as Christ does not come in to give us the rest that we seek. In that case, we are in bondage, but we think we are free. The wife here on a negative note refers to Babylon which is in bondage with her children. Being in bondage, we shall not abide in the house of the Lord forever.  This is what the Lord has to say about this:

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 
Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 
Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

Exo 21:4  If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. 

It is the Lord that gives us the church (wife), and through the union of Christ with the church, several sons and daughters are born who belong to Christ. The servant going out by himself here is another way of saying that we should work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Although the church nurtures us to grow in Christ since it is the pillar of truth, it is not because we belong to the church that we shall be part of the first resurrection. We must work out our salvation individually through the Lord’s enabling.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Exo 21:5  And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: 

Although we are servants of the Lord, the Lord’s goodness and mercies toward us cause us to love Him such that we come to see our obedience as not the result of compulsion, but our willingness to submit to Him. His love toward us first is the basis of our love (obedience) toward Him.  That is when we come to serve Him freely by resting in Him. Our love for Christ also makes us love the church which is His wife and the children. We cannot love the Lord and hate His wife, the church.

Psa 145:7  They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. 
Psa 145:8  The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

1Jn 5:1  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Exo 21:6  Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever. 

When we come to obey (love) the Lord, we are given to know more of the mysteries of the kingdom of God as our ears are opened to hear clearly what the spirit of God is saying. This is symbolized by the master boring the ears of the servant with an aul. As stated in verse 6, our eyes being opened and our ears hearing is what makes us able to serve the Lord forever!! Our master bringing us to the judges means that we are before the cloud of witnesses (His elect) as we labor here in this tent of flesh.

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

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

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,

Exo 21:7  And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.

A daughter or maidservant represents either the church of the firstborn (Jerusalem which is above) or Babylon (Jerusalem which is in bondage with her sons). This verse is another way of saying that it is an individual that is saved (in other words, set free) and not the church.

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.

Exo 21:8  If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.

A better rendition of verse 8 is as follows:

Exo 21:8  If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has broken faith with her. (ESV)

As indicated, the maidservant represents either the church of the firstborn or Babylon depending on the context. In verse 8, the maidservant does not please the master, and so she represents Babylon which needs to be redeemed in the fullness of time. The master in this case has no right to sell the maidservant to strange nations or foreigners. The strange nations or foreigners here represent the people of the world who are symbolized by the nation of Egypt. It is instructive to note that even though when we were in Babylon, we did not please our master Jesus Christ, we were not sold to Egypt by the Lord. In other words, the Lord did not allow us to go back to Egypt even though He has broken faith with us as a result of our rebellious ways.

Jer 42:19  The LORD has said to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day.

Exo 21:9  And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. 

God has selected us, the elect, to become the bride of His son Jesus. Thus, the Lord has granted us the rights of a daughter. That is what it means to deal after the manner of daughters in verse 9. Remembering that Israel or the church is signified by a woman or daughter, all that the Lord said concerning how He will deal with Israel reflects the rights of a daughter which we are. The following is an example:

Jer 31:3  the LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 
Jer 31:4  Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 
Jer 31:5  Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. 
Jer 31:6  For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.’
Jer 31:7  For thus says the LORD: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’

Exo 21:10  If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. 

Our Lord has “two wives” – Jerusalem, which is above which is the mother of us all, and Jerusalem which is, which is in bondage with her sons. Jerusalem which is, came first before Jerusalem which is above as shown in the verses below:

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

This means that the statement that if our Master takes another wife refers to us, the elect – the church of the firstborn. In taking us as another wife, the Lord has not neglected His responsibilities towards His “first wife” (Jerusalem which is – the physical churches of this world) in terms of providing her food, raiment and her duty of marriage as stated in verse 10. The Lord’s duty of care for His “first wife” is made clear in the following scriptures:

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Rev 12:6  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 

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.
Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 
Rev 12:16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 
Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Exo 21:11  And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money. 

Since the Lord has not neglected His responsibilities towards His “first wife”, she cannot go out free without money. In other words, for the “first wife” to be free, she has to be redeemed at a cost. This cost is the blood of Jesus which has redeemed us all including those in Babylon and people of the world. What this means is that in the fullness of time, people in Babylon and the rest of the world shall also be saved through the sacrificial offering made by Jesus.

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

Exo 21:12  He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. 
Exo 21:13  And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. 

According to this law, he that commits murder must be put to death. As we have indicated earlier, to hate a brother or sister means to murder. This means that we are all guilty of murder and deserve to die.  Since we are talking about the spiritual implication of this law, the punishment for committing murder is also spiritual. In other words, the death that we must face is also spiritual. That is, we must die to the old man or the flesh.

1Jn 3:14  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

A simpler translation of verse 13 is as follows:

Exo 21:13  But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.

Verse 13 is saying that if the death of the person smitten was by accident, then the culprit must flee into a place of refuge designated by the Lord. This place of refuge is Christ.

Psa 46:1  To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psa 46:2  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 
Psa 46:3  though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

We know that nothing happens by accident and that everything is according to the counsel of His will. This implies that a prerequisite to taking refuge in the Lord is to come to realize that we are murderers just like our father the devil. That was what Jesus wanted to point out when He said the following to those who believed in Him:

Joh 8:44  You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 

Eph 1:11  In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

Exo 21:14  But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. 

What we need to know is that whether we killed a man by accident or by intent, the Lord wants us to come to know that we are the greatest sinners just like Apostle Paul came to this realization. We have all killed our brothers and sisters in the name of the Lord thinking we are doing God a service just like Paul. Resisting the words of those the Lord has sent to us all amounts to killing them spiritually. This is all to bring us to that point of accepting that we are murderers just like our father the devil – that is, we are spiritually poor. It is when we come to this realization that Christ comes to us with the spirit of His mouth to put to death the old man or the flesh within us to make us His sons. Taking the guilty person from the Lord’s altar in verse 14 is to make us aware that the person is a worshiper of God. This means that it refers to us at a certain point of our walk with Christ.

1Ti 1:12  And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 
1Ti 1:13  Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 
1Ti 1:14  And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 
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.
1Ti 1:16  Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

Joh 16:1  These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. 
Joh 16:2  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 

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:

Exo 21:15  And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death. 

We are all guilty of smiting our father and mother, and therefore we deserve to die. In other words, our old man or the flesh must die. Our father here is Christ, and our mother is the church of the firstborn. We hurt Christ by hurting our brothers and sisters in Christ. This means that hurting our mother is the same as hurting our father and vice versa.

Act 9:3  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 
Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

We are all guilty of killing the prophets the Lord sent and therefore are going through our death sentences through His judgment.

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Exo 21:16  And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

The word of the Lord summarizes our sins here on earth as lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life. It is the lust of the flesh and eyes which drives us to steal. As we have stated, Jesus raised the bar in terms of the law of Moses to that of spiritual laws called the law of Christ. According to this law, desiring to possess what belongs to others is equivalent to stealing, for which we are punished by a death sentence. We are all guilty before the Lord according to verse 16 and therefore deserve to die. Our death sentence has already been passed as we die daily.

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

Exo 21:17  And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

We have already stated that cursing our mother, which is the church of the firstborn or the elect, is the same as cursing the Lord who is our father. We have all cursed the church of the elect and therefore cursed our father, Lord Jesus. We are therefore guilty and therefore must be put to death. Again, putting to death pertains to the dying of the old man or the flesh or the beast within us.

Exo 21:18  And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:
Exo 21:19  If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.

We have all striven with the Lord at a certain period of our walk in Christ. Jacob’s experience of striving with the Lord is also our experience. Let’s look at what happened when Jacob strove with the Lord.

Gen 32:24  And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Gen 32:25  And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 
Gen 32:26  And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 
Gen 32:27  And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 
Gen 32:28  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 
Gen 32:29  And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. 
Gen 32:30  And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

Just like Jacob, our Lord will prevail over us when we strive with Him as He touches the hollow of our thighs, and in the process, the hollow of our thighs becomes out of joint and therefore, we become incapacitated. It is only in our incapacitated state or the state of weakness that the Lord comes in to take care of us. This is what verse 19 is inferring. The staff that we walk with after being incapacitated is Christ. In verse 19, the loss of our time that we have to be compensated for by the one (Christ) who wounded us is the life we gain after we have lost it in this life.

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.

Again, in verse 19, the one that caused the wound is expected by this law in verse 19, to cause us who are wounded to be completely healed. We know that it is our Lord Jesus that heals us after wounding us. It is in our wounded (weakened) state that Christ does His work best!!  We should therefore glory in our wounds for when we are weak, then we are strong in Christ!! Are you feeling weak, powerless, etc? Then you are the best candidate to receive the strength of the Lord!! He will surely come around to heal us spiritually and physically!!

2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

May the Lord grant us the grace to be healed both spiritually and physically of all our wounds or diseases!!!! Amen!!

[Study Aired July 15, 2021]

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

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

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

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.

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

1Ki 11:42  And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

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.

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Rev 13:18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

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.

1Ki 2:12  Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly.

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Psa 127:2  It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
Psa 127:3  Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Psa 127:4  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so  are children of the youth.
Psa 127:5  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

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.

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

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

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

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.

1Ki 3:25  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
1Ki 3:26  Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it [1Co 1:13].

Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Rev 19:17  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

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

H2294 chaggı̂yth khag-gheeth’  Feminine of H2291; festive; Chaggith, a wife of David: – Haggith. (H2291 is from H2287  to hold a feast, hold a festival, make pilgrimage, keep a pilgrim-feast, celebrate, dance, stagger, to reel.)

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

Jer 6:14  They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

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

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin [the diseases of Egypt both within and outwardly].

Deu 7:12  Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:

Deu 7:15  And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

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

Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

1Co 5:11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

1Jn 5:16  If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it [spiritually “a fornicator, or covetous (3Jn 1:9), or an idolater (Heb 12:15-16), or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat”].

2Jn 1:10  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house [your spiritual house that is filled with the treasures of God’s word (2Ki 20:12-13, Heb 13:10)], neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Psa 37:7  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Deu 28:25  The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

Mat 12:45  Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Mat 12:29  Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

[Study Aired July 12, 2021]

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. 
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. 
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. 
Jdg 14:5  Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 
Jdg 14:6  And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. 
Jdg 14:7  And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well. 
Jdg 14:8  And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. 
Jdg 14:9  And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion. 
Jdg 14:10  So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. 
Jdg 14:11  And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 
Jdg 14:12  And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: 
Jdg 14:13  But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. 
Jdg 14:14  And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle. 
Jdg 14:15  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? 
Jdg 14:16  And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee? 
Jdg 14:17  And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. 
Jdg 14:18  And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. 
Jdg 14:19  And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house. 
Jdg 14:20  But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. 

In order to understand the story of Samson, we need to know that Samson represents the elect, as we see from the heroes mentioned in Hebrews Chapter 11 that Samson was included as an overcomer.

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 
Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 
Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

The life of Samson is not unique but is typical of us as God’s elect.

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

As we are aware, the life of an elect typically follows the following sequence: We first leave Egypt (the world) when we have an encounter with Christ. We then end up in Babylon for a symbolic 70 years before we leave Babylon to be married to Christ. Samson’s life also follows the same pattern. The biblical record focuses on his life in Babylon and victory over the flesh through judgment.

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

Today’s study is about Samson’s life in Babylon through his proposed marriage with the Philistine woman as follows:

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 

As we indicated in the previous review, the name Samson means sunlight. When God comes to our lives and starts to throw light on His words and we leave the world (Egypt), our immediate response is to find a woman who symbolizes the church, who would be our enjoyment and so obtain favor from the Lord.

2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Pro 18:22  Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. 

Unfortunately, we end up with a woman from the daughters of the Philistines. The Philistines were occupying the Promised Land when Israel entered Canaan. In Israel’s conquest of the land, they could not remove the Philistines but co-habited with them in the land. The Philistines therefore represent the enemy within, which is our flesh who is empowered by the devil outside. So the woman being a daughter of the Philistines signifies the fleshly churches of this world, which is Jerusalem in bondage with her children. Being in bondage means that the church system, or Babylon, is ruled by the flesh or the law of sin and death.

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.

Verse 1 here says that Samson went down to Timnath.  According to Strong, Timnath means portion. Therefore, Samson going down to Timnath is his portion. In other words, it was written in his book that he would go down to Timnath to meet a woman from the daughters of the Philistines. It was all part of the plan of God for his life.

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

The fact that Samson told his parents to get the woman for him means that he was still under the rule of his fleshly parents. This implies that Samson was still dominated by the flesh even though he was called and chosen. Thus, he was carnal as he started his walk with the Lord. We, too, when we started our walk with Christ were carnal.

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Carnality begets carnality. It is therefore no surprise that Samson ended up with a daughter of the Philistines. When we started our walk with Christ, when we were devoid of discernment, we looked to the church (woman) as most glorious and beautiful. We think that through the woman we will come to know Christ. We did not know however, that she wore the attire of a harlot and would lead us to another Jesus.  These thoughts are expressed in the scriptures as follows:

Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. 
Pro 7:11  (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: 
Pro 7:12  Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) 
Pro 7:13  So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 
Pro 7:14  I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. 
Pro 7:15  Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. 
Pro 7:16  I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 
Pro 7:17  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 
Pro 7:18  Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. 
Pro 7:19  For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey: 
Pro 7:20  He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. 
Pro 7:21  With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. 
Pro 7:22  He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; 
Pro 7:23  Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

Sometimes we hear the still small voice within questioning us whether being in Babylon is helping us to know God as we see ourselves gradually going back to our vomit. However, because we do not have any discernment and we judge outwardly, we think that the church (woman) must be where we should belong because we believe that its many children attest to the fact that it’s doing something right. We therefore, like Samson, become entrenched in our quest to become part of the church system because she pleases us well.

Pro 14:12  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. 

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.

Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

As explained earlier, our time in Babylon is all of the Lord, and this evil experience in Babylon is to give the Lord the opportunity to confront our old man or the flesh through His judgments in our lives. The latter part of this verse says that the reason God was looking for an occasion to confront the Philistines was that the Philistines had dominion over Israel at that time. This implies that there was no way we were ever going to confront the old man within us who was dominating us except the Lord takes the initiative. As a matter of fact, while in Babylon, we did not even realize that the old man or the flesh was dominating our lives. We were just like the Israelites who had gotten used to being so dominated by the Philistines. That is why the Lord had to intervene when he said:

Isa 63:5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
Isa 63:6  And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth. 

These verses mean that we bring nothing to the table when it comes to our salvation. Except the Lord looks for an occasion to come into our lives, there is no way we would ever make any progress regarding our salvation.

Jdg 14:5  Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 
Jdg 14:6  And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.

Our flesh (Father and Mother) will lead us down the road of the woman with the harlot attire or Babylon. However, this experience of evil is part of our portion (Timnath) from the Lord. Even though we end up in darkness in our time in Babylon, the Lord grants us small victories over the deeds of the flesh based on the little light that we have received concerning His words.

When the enemy within roars like a lion, we are given the necessary help to overcome it. The fact that a young lion was responsible for the attack suggests that we are dealing with the basic rudimentary attacks by the devil. These little victories over the flesh are usually over some overt sins in our lives such as lies, fornication, envy, jealousy, etc. which have been plaguing us as we entered Babylon.

We need to note that the Spirit of the Lord had not taken residence in Samson’s heart but comes at certain periods to deliver him in dire situations. It is the same as the spirit of the Lord brooding over the earth when the earth was without form or void. We, too, had the spirit brooding over us in our deplorable situation in Babylon.

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 

This is contrary to the teaching we had in Babylon that immediately when we come to believe in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to take residence in our hearts. It takes time for the Holy Spirit to take residence in our hearts to lead us into all truth after our experience of evil in Babylon.

Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17  Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 
Joh 14:18  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Jdg 14:7  And he went down, and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

As those who have just started our walk with Christ, we are always pleased with the church system of this world. This is because we do not have the tools to discern what constitutes the church of the first born or Jerusalem which is above. Our judgment was always superficial. When we were young and of marriageable age, our criteria of who we should marry was most of the time superficial – we judged mostly from outward beauty without putting much premium on the inward characteristics.  The disciples were also enchanted by the temple of Jerusalem or the church when they were with Jesus as follows:

Mar 13:1  And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”
Mar 13:2  And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” (ESV)

The church system of this world promises us freedom, just as Samson thought the Philistine woman will please him. However, instead we come under severe bondage.

2Pe 2:19  They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. (ESV)

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. 

Jdg 14:8  And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. 
Jdg 14:9  And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion. 

These verses tell us about what we were in for when we embraced Babylon, represented here by the Philistine woman. Here Samson ate honey from the carcass of a lion. The lion is a beast just as we are. So the carcass of the lion symbolizes those who are spiritually dead. The swarm of bees represents the enemies within which are our flesh or the old man as demonstrated in the following scriptures:

Deu 1:44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.

Psa 118:12  They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.

So what we are being told here is that in Babylon, what we receive as the word of God or the food we eat (honey) is from spiritually dead messengers (carcass of a beast). These spiritually dead messengers speak from the flesh (bees) the enticing words of man’s wisdom, and we hear them because we identify with them.

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Jdg 14:10  So his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do.

Samson’s father going down to meet the woman is the same as saying that when we were ruled by the flesh, we drank of the wine of the woman’s fornication and waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Samson holding a feast as part of the custom of the young men is to let us know that when we were in Babylon, ruled by the flesh, we were under bondage to the principles of the world. We therefore observed days, months, times and years which brought us into more bondage.

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

Gal 4:8  Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.

Jdg 14:11  And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 

The number thirty stands for those who are destined to reign or start to do the work of the Lord, as both Joseph and David became kings at the age of thirty.

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

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

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

What we are being told in this verse is that when we are called of the Lord, we end up in Babylon, and it is in Babylon that our Lord chooses us, which ultimately results in our exit from Babylon. In other words, Babylon gives birth to us as a manchild.

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

Jdg 14:12  And Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: 
Jdg 14:13  But if ye cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. 

In our walk with the Lord in the churches of this world (Babylon), we are not given to understand the word of the Lord.  It is therefore a riddle or dark sayings to us.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

The seven days of the feast represent the complete period of our time in Babylon. During this period, if we are granted by the Lord to start understanding the riddle or the words of the Lord, then more will be taken away from those who have not and given to us. In other words, as our eyes start to see and our ears start to hear, we will continue to know more. The more we know, the more we are being changed into His likeness, and the more we walk in His righteousness.  This righteousness is the same as the thirty garments we will be given as we solve the riddle.

On the other hand, if during our walk in Babylon, we are not able to solve this riddle or understand His words, even the little knowledge that we have will be taken away and given to those whose eyes are seeing and ears are hearing.

Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Jdg 14:14  And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.

Now let’s take a look of the riddle we are to solve while in Babylon. As we know from this story, the eater or the strong here refers to the lion that attacked Samson and the sweetness here refers to honey. This is confirmed in verse 18 when the riddle was finally solved:

Jdg 14:18  And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

What the men of the city said was that there was nothing sweeter than honey and that there is nothing stronger than the lion. Let’s take a look at how “honey” is used in the word of God to understand what we are being told here.

Psa 119:103  How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Pro 25:27  It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.

Exo 3:17  And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deu 31:20  For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

So honey represents the word of God. Usually, milk and honey are mentioned together when the scriptures describe the Promised Land. Both milk and honey represent the teething or rudimentary doctrines of the word of God.

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.

In the answer to the riddle, the men said that there is nothing sweeter than honey. This means that in Babylon, we can never rise above the first principles of the word of God since we consider honey to be the ultimate experience of sweetest. We therefore will continue to be babies in Christ as long as we cannot go beyond honey and know the word of righteousness.

The second part of the riddle was explained by the men that there is nothing stronger than the lion. This is the same as saying, “Who can war against the beast?”

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

The church, therefore, regards the milk of the word to be the meat of the word of God and also considers the old man as unconquerable. It is when we come to this realization that we start our exit from Babylon.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

The fact that the Philistine men could not in three days expound the riddle means that those called but not chosen cannot understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God at the completion of their spiritual process in Babylon.

Jdg 14:15  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is it not so? 

The wife can only know what the husband has revealed to her. That is, the church receives its knowledge from Christ, and Christ receives His knowledge from what the Father has given Him.

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

It is insightful to note that it was on the seventh day that the thirty Philistine men realized Samson’s wife did not know the meaning of the riddle. What we are being told here is that it is when we are at the completion stage of our experience of evil in Babylon that we realize the church has nothing to offer us. That is what precipitates our exit from Babylon.

The statement, “Have you called us to take that we have?” shows that we become spiritually impoverished at the end of our time in Babylon. The little knowledge about Christ that we had was taken away through the swelling words of man’s wisdom.

Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

In our frustration, we threaten to burn the woman and her father’s house if she does not ask her husband about the meaning of the riddle. Internally, this is a prediction of what is happening to us as the Babylon within us is being burnt by fire (the word of God). Externally, the church system of the world and all religions would be destroyed as a result of the frustration of the people of the world who have drunk of the wine of her fornication.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Jdg 14:16  And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
Jdg 14:17  And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people.

The weeping of the woman for seven days is to show us that the church has the zeal to want to know God but it is not given for her to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

Rom 10:1  Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
Rom 10:2  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Rom 10:3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

What we are being told here is that at the end of the seventh day, the Philistine woman was told the meaning of the riddle.  This implies that Babylon would also come to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God after she has served the period assigned to her by the Lord which is symbolized here by seven days or a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Rev 12:6  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. 

Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

The fact that Samson told the woman that he had not told his own father and mother signifies that when we are under the dominion of the flesh, we cannot know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

Jdg 14:18  And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. 

We have already explained the significance of the riddle as it relates to us. Our focus will therefore be on the statement “if you had not plowed my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle”. This verse is rendered in a more simplified version as follows:

Jdg 14:18  Then on the seventh day, before he went into the bride’s room, the men of the town said to him, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you had not been ploughing with my cow you would not have got the answer to my question. (BBE)

Ploughing means turning over the earth just before sowing. What we are therefore being told here is that for those who are called and chosen, the period of their lives in Babylon is preparing them for the sowing of the word of God. The cow here represents our Lord Jesus Christ who comes to us while in Babylon to begin the ploughing process for us to be ready to receive the good seeds which are the mysteries of the kingdom of God. It is therefore those who are making their hearts and minds ready (ploughing their earth) with God’s cow (Jesus) who can know the riddle, that is, the mysteries of kingdom of God.

Jdg 14:19  And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.

The slaying of the thirty men of the Philistines in order to take their garments and give to the thirty Philistine companions of Samson is another way of saying that God has shown us mercy at the expense of those who did not believe. This mercy being shown to us involves being judged, which results in the slaying of our old man.

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

Jdg 14:20  But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, whom he had used as his friend. 

It is important to note that Samson’s desire to marry the Philistine woman did not materialize, as his fiancée was given to his friend. We know that the Philistine woman represents the church which had been divorced by her husband Christ for playing the harlot. So God, in His divine wisdom, prevented Samson, a type of the elect, from marriage to this spiritually divorced Philistine woman to prevent Samson committing adultery throughout his life.

Jer 3:8  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

Hos 2:2  Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; 

Mat 19:9  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

In a similar vein, God intervened and delivered us from marriage to Babylon so that we would not be committing adultery throughout our lives and therefore become unfit to reign with Christ.  That is why we are called to leave Babylon at a certain stage of our walk with Christ, if we are called and chosen.

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

As Revelation 18:4 says, if we do not come out of her, then we become partakers of her sins. We know that one of her cardinal sins is harlotry, which is the same as spiritual adultery.

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

The Philistine woman was given to a friend of Samson. A friend of Samson here symbolizes all those who are related to us spiritually. These are our brothers and sisters in Babylon who are spiritually in marriage to the Philistine woman who represents Babylon. We would therefore be guilty of spiritual adultery if we continue to harbor idols of the heart which we acquired from Babylon. May the Lord deliver us completely from all that belongs to Babylon in us!!!

Hi Mike,

Thank you. Your letter really explained very well. I also read “A very present help” on the website and I read the following scripture shortly after emailing you:

Job 2:10  But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

I immediately realized I was that foolish woman!! So I will repent of such foolish and uninformed thinking and talk!
I have been thinking about Moses being accepted in the house of Egypt as a baby despite the princess’ realization that he was the enemies’ child (but not forseeing how he would be used to free their slaves, she only saw the cute baby!), and the way the church embrace the idea of “baby Jesus” and even though she recognizes Him as the enemy of the flesh, she does not forsee what happens when Christ within a believer matures. I thought it is the same, God “hides” Christ in the church by introducing Him in the gospels as a “helpless baby”, and in believers as a “babe in Christ”, that is the only way He will be accepted. However in due time, like Moses had to flee a believer will also be forced to leave. Have been thinking about this, just thought to share with you even though you may have thought about this yourself.
Love from your sister in Christ,

U____

Hi U____,
This is wonderful!

You are exactly right. Pharaoh’s daughter is a type of the the woman who brings forth the “manchild”. She nurtures Him as a “babe in Christ” totally unaware that one day He will be the instrument of her destruction.

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Rev 12:6  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Of course we are all “in the wilderness” before we are given to become the manchild, simply because “all things present and to come are ours”, and because “mankind shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, and because “there is one event to all men”.

Ecc 9:2  All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
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.
1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

If there is any Truth to any of those verses then we are all that woman as well as that ‘man of sin’.
God bless you as you continue to come to see that “all things are yours”.
Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Video Links

Rev 12:14-17- The Earth Helped the WomanRev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

All the symbols of scripture are taken from previous verses. If we hope to understand the meaning of this “signified” revealing of Jesus Christ within us, and if we have any hope of understanding how we are to “keep the things written therein”, then we must go back to the Old Testament to discover what the “two wings of a great eagle… a flood… [ and] the earth opened it mouth ” means. When we do that then we will discover that this same ‘eagle’s wings’ were used there in the Old Testament to fly Israel into the wilderness, into her place, where she was nourished… from the face of the serpent”. We will also discover there in that Old Testament story what is meant by “the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman” and we will see how “the earth opened up her mouth and swallowed up the flood…”
Finally, we will also have to use previous verses, though not in the Old Testament, to determine who are those who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”.

Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Here is where “the wings of an eagle” are first mentioned in scripture. It is at Mount Sinai, at the giving of the law of Moses to Israel.

Exo 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

But where is Israel when God is telling them these words? Like this woman who brings forth this man child, Israel is in the wilderness, at the base of Mount Sinai, just before Israel turns her back on God and makes the golden calf who she claims brought her up out of Egypt. They are yet to rebel against Him ten times.

Num 14:22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Nevertheless, we are told that this is all an integral part of God “bringing us to Himself”. Rev 12, 13, 14 and 15 all lead up to the pouring out of God’s wrath upon our own unrighteousnesses, and this is what we are told twice about all of these things revealed in these chapters.

Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [ the beast and the dragon], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

It is these trials and tribulations and the pouring out of God’s wrath on all of our ungodlinesses, which “are the patience and faith of the saints”. “Blessed are they that read, and hear, and keep the things written therein, for the time is at hand…” to keep both of these sections of scripture. It must be so because, after all, exactly how many men receive the mark of the beast?

Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

How could we have missed seeing this plain statement except we were blinded by the One who came to blind all who claim they do see?

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.

Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

The natural man reads these verses here in Rev 12 and concludes that this woman is at variance with the dragon. After all we are told that she “is nourished… from the face of the serpent.” But does “nourished… from the face of the serpent” mean that the woman is at odds with the doctrine of the serpent? Absolutely not! If the woman were really at odds with the doctrine of the serpent, then she would have been caught up to God and to His throne with the man child she brought forth. Instead we see her, just as we see Israel at the time of her exodus from Egypt, fleeing into the wilderness, all the while seeking the destruction of God’s elect ‘man child’. Israel, the type of the “woman [ who] brought forth a man child”, is to be found “in the wilderness… nourished… from the face of the serpent”, yet wanting to “return to Egypt”, siding with Pharaoh against their God and His messenger, Moses. That is the spiritual state of this “woman” who has “flown into the wilderness where she is nourished… from the face of the serpent”. It is only our lack of knowledge of the scriptures which keeps us from getting the point that is being made. And how are we told she was taken there?

Exo 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.

If this verse were not here along with Rev 12:14, we would not know that God considers our time in the wilderness to be given to us by the agency of “the wings of a great eagle”, an unclean bird. The very fact that this statement is given to Israel at the base of Mount Sinai, “which answers to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”, tells us that God considers our time in the wilderness as well as our time in Babylon, as an integral part of His “bringing us to Himself”.
Here is what the holy spirit has inspired to be written concerning this woman at Mount Sinai, in the book of Galatians:

Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
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.
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him [ that was born] after the Spirit, even so [ it is] now.
Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

“The desolate has many more children than she which has a husband”? How is that possible? That is definitely not a natural statement. The natural man sees the words “born after… the freewoman” and just naturally thinks of Sarah’s natural children in physical Jerusalem. But as is always the case, the things of the spirit are hidden by the natural realm. So we are told that life comes only through death, sight comes only through blindness, peace comes only through sending a sword, and Sarah’s natural children have become “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”, while Hagar and her Gentile children, are now brought near to God by the cross of Christ. These words here in Gal 4 are seen and read, but they are not perceived by the natural man.

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 pirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

So it is with this “woman… in the wilderness.” Only those who are given the gift of “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” will understand how Sarah’s physical seed has become “the [ spiritual] children of the bondmaid”, while the Gentiles who accept Christ, even if they are physical Galatians or the physical seed of Hagar, have now become “the children of the freewoman… through the faith of Christ”.

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.
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:

Because this is so easily missed, for those who are given to see this here it is again:

Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren [ Gentile Galatians], as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son [ physical Jerusalem, and physical Jews]: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman [ Gentiles who are in Christ].
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we [ Gentiles in Christ] are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Notice, it was both Pharaoh and Israel who wanted Moses dead. Nevertheless, Pharaoh, the agent of the serpent with a serpent upon his head in all the sculptures and coffins of the Pharaohs, sought to destroy the “seed of the woman [ who was] the mother of all living”.

Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

We have seen that being “nourished for a time, and times and half a time” is the same as “forty and two months, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” They are all the same symbol of both the time we are witnessed to by God’s elect while we are yet of our father the devil, as well as the time we spend as God’s witnesses to those who are still “the seed of the serpent”. Here we are as those who are being witnessed to by God’s “two witnesses”:

Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

And here we are both as first unconverted ‘Gentiles’, and later as God’s two witnesses to the woman in the wilderness, also know as “that great city wherein our Lord was crucified”.

Rev 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [ and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

Here in Exo 14 is the Old Testament type of this “woman [ who] brought forth a man child” and who is then pursued by the serpent who casts out of his mouth water as a flood… that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood”. Here in Exo 14 we also see how both this woman and the serpent feel about Moses, who in this case is the symbol of “the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”:

Exo 14:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Exo 14:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.
Exo 14:3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They [ are] entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.
Exo 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
Exo 14:5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
Exo 14:6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:
Exo 14:7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
Exo 14:8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.
Exo 14:9 But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.
Exo 14:10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
Exo 14:11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

Israel, the shadow of the woman in the wilderness, is on board with Pharaoh in seeking to destroy God’s elect who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”. In a very real sense, “the serpent was wroth [‘along with the woman’ as well as] with the seed”.
Pharaoh typifies the beast within us all. The scriptures reveal that when we serve ourselves and do what we want without regard to the admonitions of scripture, we are “worshiping the dragon”. It matters not that we are “Abraham’s seed”. The only thing that matters is if we do the things Christ and His Word tell us to do.

Rev 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Anger toward God’s messenger, Moses, is exactly what “the woman in the wilderness”, Israel, felt as she watched the armies of Egypt approaching, and that is exactly how we feel when we see that no one else in the world sees or agrees with the things which have led us to begin to come out of Babylon. We are God’s Israel, and like Jeremiah and Israel, we too, slowly come to see just how much we must sacrifice to remain faithful to the calling we have been given. This is Jeremiah, and this is each of us.

Jer 20:7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Jer 20:8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
Jer 20:9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
Jer 20:10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

We will never understand any of the symbols of scripture if we are not careful to retain their Biblical meaning instead of the meaning arbitrarily given them in the temples of Babylon. Pharaoh’s armies are a type and a shadow of the legions of evil spirits which darken the Sun and the air, which want to destroy God’s witnesses and which keep us from seeing the light of the Sun. A ‘woman’ in scripture is always the wife of God, either as a harlot or as a faithful wife. It is to preserve this ‘woman’ that “the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of His mouth”.
It is with good reason that we are told that this flood comes forth of the dragon’s mouth. It is given us in this way based upon this principle:

Mat 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Mat 15:11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

This “flood out of the dragon’s mouth” is also called “locusts upon the earth” in Rev 9.

Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

200 million witnesses to the lies of Babylon stand in sharp contrast to God’s “two witnesses”. It is few who are willing to stand up to such odds. Here is another way of saying the same thing, but because we see the number three, we know that some form of progression is in view:

Rev 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

These are not three separate sources. The dragon empowers both the beast and the false prophet, but He does so in a certain predestined order of progression.
We certainly are not able to withstand the odds of 200 million to two as we first begin our exodus from either Egypt or Babylon. The earth swallowing the flood that comes out of the mouth of the dragon will be lost on us if we fail to notice that this woman cannot yet be caught up to God and to His throne, and if we forget what we have learned is the symbolism of “the earth.”
Here is what “the earth” means in scripture:

Jer 22:2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

“Thy people that enter by these gates” is the symbol of God’s own rebellious and backslid people. Now look at how the holy spirit addresses those who know God and then turn their back on Him and His doctrines here in this same 22nd chapter of Jeremiah.

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

This explains why Israel wished they had never left Egypt when they saw the armies of Egypt, and this explains why they immediately blamed their own savior for their apparent dilemma.

Exo 14:11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

So “the woman” cannot be caught up to God and to His throne, because she is no better off spiritually than Pharaoh at this stage of her walk. This woman in Rev 12 is saved by the earth swallowing up what comes out of the Dragon’s mouth because this woman is the earth, and she is on the same page that dragon is on. Only her man child, who has been separated from her, is “caught up to God and to His throne”, while she flees into the wilderness where her rebellions continue unabated.
While we are told that Pharaoh’s armies were destroyed by the waters of the Red Sea, that is interpreted as “the earth swallowed them”.

Exo 15:4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
Exo 15:5 The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone.
Exo 15:6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
Exo 15:7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
Exo 15:8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
Exo 15:9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
Exo 15:10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Exo 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Exo 15:12 Thou stretchedst out thy right hand, the earth swallowed them.

But how do the armies of Egypt being destroyed in the sea apply to our lives? Here is one example of what a flood is in spiritual, scriptural terms:

Isa 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

God’s spirit is His words (Joh 6:63), and it is His words of Truth which are our refuge and our defense and which are “lifted up as a standard against “all the lies of “the enemy”. Every soldier of the armies of Egypt is a symbol of the lies of the Adversary.

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Once we are made to see this woman is “in the wilderness” and we see her as being on the same page with the serpent in seeking to destroy God’s elect, then we will begin to understand why the dragon makes war, not with her, but “with the remnant of her seed…” Only then will we begin to understand why her seed is prophesied to always be at war with the seed of the serpent. Now we can understand why the seed of the serpent is prophesied, from the very beginning, to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman, while her seed is prophesied to bruise the head of the serpent.

Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Israel is both a type of God’s elect on the one hand, and she is also a type of God’s harlot wife who wants to kill the Christ and His Christ in another instance. Only when we see that the first Adam is a figure of the last Adam, and the first Pharaoh in the story of Joseph typifies the Father, while the Pharaoh of Moses’ day typifies the beast as the seed of the serpent, will we understand how the woman of Rev 12 can be described in such glowing terms and still be “in the wilderness” and completely unqualified to be with Christ on His throne. It is because the woman of Rev 12, who is not caught up to God and to His throne, is the same as the woman of Rev 17-18, with the same sins as the seven churches who suffer “that woman Jezebel to teach” in Revelation chapters 2-3.

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, and his feet [ are] like fine brass;
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.
Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

Like the church in Thyatira, there are many good things to be said about the woman who brings forth the man child. She is filled with “gold, silver, and precious stones”, the necessary materials for the true temple of God.

Rev 18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

But they are not yet “tried in fire”, which is essential to the gold, silver and precious stones that make up the true temple of God.

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

That “trying fire” includes the words concerning God’s wrath upon our ungodliness that these chapters 12-15 are leading up to and are introducing.

We have seen that the woman of Rev 12 is the same woman found teaching in the seven churches of chapters 2-3, and she is the same woman found in chapters 17-18. What we have learned is that the man child who comes out of this woman is the true bride of Christ, and that this woman in Rev 12, for all the glowing words used to describe her, is still completely unqualified to ascend up to God and to His throne as the true bride of Christ, the man child, who comes out of this woman, is found worthy.
We have seen that God calls his work of bring this woman into the wilderness “bearing her on eagle’s wings”.
We have seen that “a time, and times and half a time” is the same as 1260 days or 42 months, and we saw once again that this is the symbol for the time we spend both receiving God’s witness while we are yet “under the law”, while we are “in our place prepared for us of God”  to be nourished with bread which will “bring us to Christ”, but which is not itself the true bread of life. We saw that this period of time also symbolizes the time we spend giving God’s witness to those who are still under the schoolmaster of the law.

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.

We have seen that the flood that comes out of the mouth of the dragon is the lies that always come from his mouth, and we saw that those lies were well received of the woman, serving to deflect the wrath of the dragon off of the woman and onto “the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”. In other words, what we saw is that the woman who is being carried on eagles wings, is all the while on the same page with the great dragon who blames God and His messengers for bringing her into the wilderness to die. Both she and the dragon want to destroy her own seed, the “man child” who also happens to be the symbol of the true bride of Christ, who is qualified to sit with Him on His throne in the heavens.
Finally we have seen the scriptures which demonstrate that the earth and this harlot woman who is not qualified to sit with Christ on His throne are spiritually and scripturally one and the same.
Next week, if the Lord wills, we will begin our study of the three beasts who are all really one beast in three separate stages of development in Revelation chapter 13. Here are the verses we will cover next week:

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [ the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.