Ezekiel 33:1–20 Ezekiel is Israel’s Watchman

[Study Aired September 30, 2024]

INTRODUCTION

Today’s study is about being a watchman for the people of Israel. Before we can understand what being a watchman to the house of Israel means, we need to know who a watchman is. The Hebrew word for watchman is ‘tsaphah’ and it means ‘to lean forward, to peer into the distance; by implication means to observe, behold, spy out, wait for, keep the watch.’ In the Old Testament period, because of the many enemies of the people of Israel, the city of Jerusalem was protected by thick walls around the entire city. As a matter of fact, most big cities in the Old Testament were protected by thick walls. Israel’s watchmen were therefore guards who would stand on the walls and in the towers to look out upon the land for messengers, unusual activity, and most importantly, any sign of an enemy or approaching army. Immediately when these watchmen see any sign of an enemy, they have to sound the alarm. A watchman therefore plays a leadership role in the protection of the people of the Lord.

As we are aware, the Bible was written for the Lord’s elect, first. We are therefore required by the Lord to be like watchmen. When we fail in this role, then we are just like the watchmen of Israel (Babylon) described in the Book of Isaiah as follows:

Isa 56:9  All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
Isa 56:10  His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 
Isa 56:11  Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
Isa 56:12  Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

As indicated in Isaiah 56:9, when we are not watchful, we become mincemeat to our old man or flesh. That is to say that we are dominated by our flesh. Here the watchmen are described as ‘blind, ignorant, dumb and greedy dogs, cannot bark, sleeping, and loving to sleep’. The watchman being blind implies that one cannot see the enemy’s devices. As indicated by Paul, we, the Lord’s elect, must know the devices of the enemy.

2Co 2:11  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 

Being ignorant refers to our inability to comprehend the scriptures. When we are ignorant of the scriptures, we end up establishing our own righteousness and do not understand the power of God.

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. 

Mar 12:24  And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? 
Mar 12:25  For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
Mar 12:26  And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

As indicated in Isaiah 56:11, the Israel’s watchmen were  tagged as dumb and greedy dogs which means that they cannot rightly divide the word and are also never satisfied with what the Lord has given to them. Dumb means we cannot speak and the reason we cannot speak is because we do not know how to divide the word of truth.

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

Sleeping or lying down or loving to sleep implies that as watchmen, we do not stay alert and are not sober-minded to know that the enemy is prowling around looking for an opportunity to devour us.

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

Isaiah 56:9-12 therefore show us the role of a watchman. In the New Testament, we do not read about actual watchmen anymore. However, our leaders are given the role of spiritual watchmen, to watch over our souls and to feed us His word.

Heb 13:17  Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 

On another level, we, His elect are called to become watchmen over our bodies so that we can offer them as living sacrifice to the Lord. We are to be vigilant as we watch for any move by the adversary who is a roaring lion looking to devour us. We are also to watch our doctrine, to make sure that it aligns with the truth of the word of the Lord.

1Ti 4:16  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Today’s study focuses on our role as watchmen as we are given more insight into how we can become effective watchmen of our temple and the body of Christ as a whole.

Eze 33:1  Again the word of the LORD came me, saying, 
Eze 33:2  Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: 

The word of the Lord coming to Ezekiel, means the Lord coming to His elect with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness, which is His judgement. The Lord bringing the sword upon our land is His judgement of our old man or flesh. What verse 2 is therefore showing us is that when we share the word of the Lord with one another, then we are playing the role of a watchman. In verse 2, the focus is on becoming aware of the Lord’s judgement in our lives. When we know that it is the Lord coming to us with His judgement through the agency of the evil one, to bring us to an expected end, then we are strengthened to withstand the devices of the enemy.  ‘A man from their coasts’ in verse 2 means one of our brethren. Therefore, the people of the land taking a man of their coasts for a watchman means our brothers among us who share the word of the Lord with us about our impending judgement are acting like watchmen of the Lord’s elect.

Eze 3:17  Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 
Eze 3:18  When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Eze 3:19  Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Eze 33:3  If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; 
Eze 33:4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 
Eze 33:5  He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

These verses show us the role of a watchman in the body of Christ. As indicated, the sword upon our land represents our fiery trials or judgement which is an evil experience the Lord takes us through to refine us. As the story of Job tells us, the devil, our enemy is the executor of this sword upon our land.

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 
Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

As the Lord’s watchmen, we are to sound the alarm or sound the trumpet to our brothers and sisters of our impending judgement. In the Book of Revelation, the voice of the Lord is likened to the sound of the trumpet as follows:

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

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

Sounding the trumpet as the Lord’s watchmen therefore means speaking the word of the Lord. As we are aware, our fiery trials is the Lord’s way of destroying our old man or flesh within us to make us His sons. It is the central theme of the word of the Lord which we are to warn our brothers and sisters about it.  Even our Lord Jesus had to go through suffering or judgement during His days here on earth to perfect Him.

Heb 5:6  As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 
Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 
Heb 5:9  And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 
Heb 5:10  Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

Our message as the Lord’s watchmen is to proclaim the Lord’s sword upon our land and also to indicate the Lord’s way of dealing with this enemy in our land.

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.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Many of our brothers and sisters have fallen victim when the enemy came upon their land with the sword. In verse 5, the Lord is assuring us that we are exonerated from what happens to our brothers and sisters if we warn them and they do not pay heed to the warnings. In this case, their blood is upon their own heads. This is what Apostle Paul said about being a watchman which is consistent with verse 5:

Act 20:25  And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Act 20:26  Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 
Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Eze 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. 
Eze 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. 

In verse 6, the Lord is telling us that if we are negligent in sounding the alarm of the Lord’s judgement in our land, we, as the Lord’s watchmen, shall be liable for the spiritual death of our brethren.  In our lives in the churches of this world or Babylon, we were never warned of the Lord’s judgement or sword in our land. On the contrary, we were told that suffering is not our portion in this life. No wonder we were swept away by the flood of the enemy and became spiritually dead. This is what we were taught in Babylon:

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.

Verse 7 shows us that the Lord has appointed us, His elect, for the special role of being a watchman. As we are aware, Ezekiel who is referred to as the son of man, an accolade that Jesus used to refer to Himself when He was here on earth, is a symbol of the Lord’s elect. Therefore, being given the honor of being a watchman is part of our calling.

Eze 3:17  Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 

Eze 33:8  When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 
Eze 33:9  Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 

Being a watchman is not only to warn them of the impending judgement of our old man, but to tell them about the way of peace which leads to life and also the way of death, which brings destruction. This is what Joshua, an example of the Lord’s watchman, told the people of Israel:

Jos 24:14  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
Jos 24:15  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Jos 24:19  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
Jos 24:20  If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. 

Apostle Peter, in playing His role as a watchman, admonished us to leave our wicked ways which bring death. If through our admonition, a brother or sister continues to persist in his or her wicked ways, we are not guilty of his or her blood.

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 
1Pe 4:3  For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
1Pe 4:4  Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
1Pe 4:5  Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

Eze 33:10  Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? 
Eze 33:11  Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 

During our time in Babylon (house of Israel), our sins really weighed us down and as a result, we could not understand the extent of the Lord’s mercies. It is when Christ came to us that we were given to know that our Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked and that He wants the wicked to turn from their ways and live, as shown here in verse 11. Since our Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, He therefore devises means by which His banished shall be saved.

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

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 

Eze 33:12  Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. 
Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. 

In verse 12, we are told that the righteousness of the righteous will not save him when he rebels or sins against the Lord. In the Book of Hebrew, we are also told the same thing that if after we have tasted of the heavenly gift, we end up rebelling against the Lord, then we are basically crucifying our Lord Jesus Christ again and putting Him to open shame. In that case, it becomes difficult to come to repentance and be saved. This is not speaking about falling into sin during our walk with Christ since the Holy Spirit convicts us to repent and move on. What this verse is speaking about is becoming entrenched in our sin and therefore becoming unrepentant.

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 
Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 

As the word of the Lord says, if we repent from our sins and come to Him, He is able to save us.

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
1Jn 1:10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

In verse 13, we are being warned that if we trust in our own righteousness and we continue to commit iniquity, we shall die in our sins. Trusting in our own righteousness is the same as leaning on our own understanding.

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 

Eze 33:14  Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; 
Eze 33:15  If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 
Eze 33:16  None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. 

We, His elect, were once the wicked destined to die. However, the Lord came to us in His mercy to deliver us from our sins and to give us hope. This mercy that we have received from the Lord is the same mercy that will be shown to the world who now represent the wicked, in the fulness of time.

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. 

Eze 33:17  Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. 
Eze 33:18  When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. 
Eze 33:19  But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 
Eze 33:20  Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways. 

When we did not know the Lord, we behaved like the people of Israel who said that the way of the Lord is not fair. The Lord’s response to our accusation that He is unfair in His ways is given in the parable of the laborers of the vineyard who complained that He paid those who came late first instead of those who came first. This is the parable and His response:

Mat 20:1  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
Mat 20:2  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Mat 20:3  And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
Mat 20:4  And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
Mat 20:5  Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
Mat 20:6  And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
Mat 20:7  They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
Mat 20:8  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
Mat 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
Mat 20:10  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
Mat 20:11  And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 
Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 
Mat 20:13  But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 
Mat 20:14  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 
Mat 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 
Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Our limited minds sometime make us think that we are wise. The Lord has told us that His ways are past finding out and so we cannot comprehend many things that He does.

1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 
1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

The judgement of the Lord is what causes us to have the mind of Christ. That is why in verse 20, we are told that when our minds are different from the mind of Christ as we think that His ways are not fair, then we must go through His judgement. However, in this age, it is only the Lord’s elect who are privileged to be judged so that they have the mind of Christ.

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 

May the Lord help us to have the mind of Christ as we die to our flesh daily!! Amen!!

[Study Aired June 12, 2022

Jer 42:1  Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
Jer 42:2  And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
Jer 42:3  That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
Jer 42:4  Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
Jer 42:5  Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
Jer 42:6  Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
Jer 42:7  And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
Jer 42:8  Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
Jer 42:9  And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
Jer 42:10  If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
Jer 42:11  Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
Jer 42:12  And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Jer 42:13  But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
Jer 42:14  Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
Jer 42:15  And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
Jer 42:16  Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
Jer 42:17  So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
Jer 42:18  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
Jer 42:19  The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
Jer 42:20  For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
Jer 42:21  And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
Jer 42:22  Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

This chapter of Jeremiah demonstrates how we can and do fall when we think we are standing in the Lord while being disobedient to His commandments:

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.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

All those who refused to go forth and place themselves under the yoke of the princes of Babylon felt they had overcome the enemy, and that God was on their side even as they refused His counsel. Johanan, the son of Kereah, was just such a person, and when He rescued those who had been carried away as captives to Amon, his self-righteousness and iniquity become even greater, as we will learn for our own admonition:

Jer 42:1  Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
Jer 42:2  And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
Jer 42:3  That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
Jer 42:4  Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass,that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
Jer 42:5  Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
Jer 42:6  Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

Being informed later in this chapter that after seeking the Lord’s counsel through the Lord’s certified, proven prophet, “all the people” reject that counsel and declare that Jeremiah is not the Lord’s prophet, brings these verses of Ezekiel to mind:

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

These two stories, first in Jeremiah 42 and then here in Ezekiel 14, happened to these two prophets of God, and they are written for our admonition:

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.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

It is the Lord who “makes us to err from His ways and hardens our hearts from His fear”, yet every time He does so, it makes the words “Wherefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” come alive. When the Lord does that, it strengthens “the fear of God” within those who are given to benefit from reading these stories and receiving the admonition they give us.

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

It should be clear that a “hardened heart” is the same as being made to err from the Lord’s ways as the story of Pharaoh demonstrates:

Exo 4:21  And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

Paul contrasts a hardened heart with the Lord’s mercy:

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

The Lord has mercy on whom He will, and whom He will He hardens. Our own will has nothing to do with what He is doing except that our will is turned by the Lord where He wants it to go. He causes us to either receive His mercy or be given a hardened heart:

Pro 21:1  The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

When God hardens our hearts, He does so before we come to His prophet or His Words to enquire of Him. In other words, we come to Him, His Word, and the leaders, elders and counselors He has placed in His body, with our minds already made up, and with no regard at all for the words of the Lord through His leaders, elders, and counselors.

Having their hearts hardened to all these commandments and admonitions means nothing to these remnant Jews of this chapter:

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Pro 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

When the Lord gives us just such a hardened heart, this is how He will answer us:

Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5  That I may take the house of Israel [the “harlot” of Isaiah 1:21 and the “whore” of Revelation 17:1] in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Eze 14:6  Therefore say unto the house of Israel [the harlot], Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Eze 14:7  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
Eze 14:8  And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

As the Lord would have it, that is exactly what is taking place within the hearts and minds of this Jewish remnant:

Jer 42:7  And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
Jer 42:8  Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
weight: 400;”>Jer 42:9  And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
Jer 42:10  If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.

We see the Lord repenting several times in scripture:

Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:7  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Jdg 2:18  And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

1Sa 15:10  Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
1Sa 15:11  It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

2Sa 24:16  And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.

The sum of God’s word reveals that “He is not a man that He should repent” as the holy spirit informs us in the same 15^th chapter of 1 Samuel. We are told, “It repented the Lord that [He] had set up Saul to be king.”

1Sa 15:28  And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.
1Sa 15:29  And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

The vast weight of the Words of God reveal that He knows the beginning from the end…

Isa 46:10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

…because He IS the beginning and the end.

Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning, and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Rev 22:13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

The Lord tells us that His understanding is infinite:

Psa 147:5  Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

If indeed the Lord is the beginning and the end and His understanding is infinite, then there is nothing He does not know – past, present, or future:

Isa 46:10  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Nevertheless, there is one more principle which characterizes the Words of God. That principle is that there are qualifying statements which must always be accepted. If the Lord tells us anything and then makes a qualifying statement, then we must accept that qualifier.

For example, the Lord told Abraham to sacrifice His only son, but then He told Him not to do so:

Gen 22:2  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Later the Lord qualified that commandment:

Gen 22:9  And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
Gen 22:10  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Gen 22:11  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here  am I.
Gen 22:12  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

Verse 12 qualifies verse 2, and Abraham did not slay his only son, even though the Lord had told him to do so at first.

Another example of how this principle works is how Pharaoh in Genesis gave all power over all Egypt to Joseph with one qualifying statement:

Gen 41:40  Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

The words “only in the throne will I be greater than thou” qualify the extent of Joseph’s power over Egypt.

Another example of this principle is the anti-type of this story here in Genesis. Joseph, in this account of how he is made the ruler over all Egypt, typifies how God has given Christ all power in heaven and in earth:

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

However, the scriptures qualify the extent of Christ’s power:

1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he [the Father] is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

This statement speaks to the time of the destruction of “the last enemy… death”, and we are told that at that time “the Son also Himself [shall] be subject unto Him [the Father] who did put all things under [the Son].”

Just as an aside, that statement nullifies the false doctrine of a trinity of three equal parts of the Godhead.

Our point in all of this is that God is not a man that He should repent, and all those statements telling us that He did repent of making man, of chastening His people during the dispensation of the various judges, and of setting up Saul to be king over Israel, etc. are all being used in what is called an ‘anthropopathic’ (human feeling) manner. How else can He convey how His nature is so very opposed to the nature of His very own creatures? How else can He make us this offer?

Jer 42:10  If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.

The Lord really is all knowing, He is all powerful, and He is omnipresent. He is everywhere at the same time because:

Col 1:16   …by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Therefore, when our Lord tells us…

Jer 42:11  Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
Jer 42:12  And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

…we need to believe that He who has “all power in heaven and in earth” is very much able to make good on His word and to cause even our enemies to be at peace with us:

Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

When our ‘ways’, our customs and traditions included, as we will see in this story, do not “please the Lord” the very opposite it true, and our own wickedness reproves us:

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

At this point all we know about these Jews is that they did not put their necks under the yoke of the princes of Babylon. Other than that, we have not yet been explicitly told what ‘ways’ of these remnant Jews so displeased the Lord. We don’t yet know what it is they were still doing which separates them from their own God and drives them to go into the land of Egypt.

Jer 42:13  But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
Jer 42:14  Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
Jer 42:15  And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
Jer 42:16  Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
Jer 42:17  So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
Jer 42:18  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
Jer 42:19  The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.

The reason we want to go into Egypt is that we feel safe and at home there. The Truth is that Israel never really wanted to leave Egypt, and after they left they wanted to go back there and serve again as slaves to the Egyptians:

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

Hundreds of years later, the Lord’s people were of the same mind and refused His counsel from His prophet:

Jer 42:20  For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
Jer 42:21  And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
Jer 42:22  Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

In the Old Testament the Lord spoke through His patriarchs, and His prophets, and He certified His prophets by demonstrating for the whole world that those through whom He spoke were indeed speaking for Him in this manner:

Deu 13:1  If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
Deu 13:2  And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:3  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4  Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
Deu 13:5  And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.

These verses inform us that there will be false prophets whose prophecies will come to pass and then those same false prophets will encourage us to be disobedient to the Lord’s commandments. In such circumstances we are told that the Lord made the prophecy to come to pass “for the Lord your God proves you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Nevertheless, His true prophets are made known by the accuracy of their prophecies in conjunction with their dedication to obeying His commandments, as we are told in:

Deu 18:20  But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
Deu 18:21  And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
Deu 18:22  When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Hananiah prophesied falsely in the name of the Lord that Judah’s captivity would only last two years after which King Jehoiachin would return with all the vessels of the house of the Lord. In boldly making this false prophesy, Hananiah was labeling the Lord’s true prophet a liar for saying the captivity would last seventy years and Jehoiachin would never return to Jerusalem.

Jeremiah also prophesied that Hananiah would die that same year, and in just a few months Hananiah was dead. Here are both prophecies:

Jer 28:1  And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month,  that Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which  was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying,
Jer 28:2  Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
Jer 28:3  Within two full years will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon:
Jer 28:4  And I will bring again to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the LORD: for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.

Those are the words of a false prophet with no proof of his standing with the Lord. On the other hand, here are the words of the Lord’s already proven prophet:

Jer 28:15  Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
Jer 28:16  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the LORD.
Jer 28:17  So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.

From “the fourth month” to “the same year in the seventh month” is at the very most three months, signifying the time needed to complete the judgment of Hananiah the false prophet.

Here’s a link to the study on The Number Three

In the Old Testament the Lord proved to the world who it was who spoke for Him by bringing their prophecies to pass and by the miracles He gave His prophets the power to perform.

In this dispensation of the New Testament church, God shows the world who are His spokespersons by making known their love of God, which means that He makes known those who tremble at His words, are obedient to His word, and follow in His steps:

The power to perform miracles, without being obedient to God and trembling at His words and walking in Christ’s footsteps, will be used by the beast to deceive the multitudes:

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.
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.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

This beast which comes up out of the earth with two horns like a lamb but speaking as a lion, appears as an angel of light, but for those who know the voice of the True Shepherd, this beast speaks as a dragon. His doctrine is not the doctrine of Christ.

In contrast, here is how we discern those who are Christ’s True spokesmen:

1Th 5:12  And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
1Th 5:13  And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
1Th 5:14  Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
1Th 5:15  See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
1Th 5:16  Rejoice evermore.

The Lord’s true shepherds of His sheep will be found doing all those things. They will be found admonishing you and warning the unruly, and at the same time telling you to “Rejoice evermore”. The Lord’s true shepherds will be comforting the feeble minded, supporting the weak and being patient with everyone, never returning evil for evil.

Those who speak as a dragon do not appear as a dragon, and they do not sound like a dragon. Instead, they speak “smooth things”, and “they appear as an angel of light”:

Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

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

Here we have those who “have two horns like a Lamb, but [they] speak as a dragon.” The great red dragon does not prophesy right things; things like the judgments of God. Those who ‘speak as a dragon’ speak with a forked tongue, no doubt condemning sins which are common to all men while at the same time “speaking smooth things and prophesying deceits”. Some go as far as to tell you that Christ wants you to live a life of “coffee and doughnuts” and where the scriptures teach “whose end shall be according to their works” those who ‘speak smooth things… as a dragon’ will twist Paul’s words which inform us that our salvation has nothing to do with our works into saying that salvation has nothing to do with works of any kind.

Here is the Truth about the doctrine of the apostle Paul concerning our salvation and how it is achieved:

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of [our own] works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God  hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

How can any man, who is speaking for Christ, admonish a brother and warn the unruly if he is teaching a doctrine of ‘no works’ and speaks only “smooth words” about coffee and doughnuts?  The Lord Himself tells us what to look for in those through whom He is speaking:

Isa 66:1  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD:  but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
Isa 66:3  He that killeth an ox [without verse 2] is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations.
Isa 66:4  I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
Isa 66:5  Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.

In our next study we will be shown what plagued the Lord’s people throughout their entire history, and we will see that it does so to the church of Christ to this very day.

Jdg 5:1-31 Praise Ye the Lord for the Avenging of Israel

[Study Aired March 22, 2021]

Jdg 5:1  Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, 
Jdg 5:2  Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. 
Jdg 5:3  Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel. 
Jdg 5:4  LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. 
Jdg 5:5  The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel. 
Jdg 5:6  In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways. 
Jdg 5:7  The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. 
Jdg 5:8  They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? 
Jdg 5:9  My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD. 
Jdg 5:10  Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way. 
Jdg 5:11  They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates. 
Jdg 5:12  Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. 
Jdg 5:13  Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty. 
Jdg 5:14  Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer. 
Jdg 5:15  And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. 
Jdg 5:16  Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. 
Jdg 5:17  Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches. 
Jdg 5:18  Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field. 
Jdg 5:19  The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. 
Jdg 5:20  They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. 
Jdg 5:21  The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. 
Jdg 5:19  The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. 
Jdg 5:20  They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. 
Jdg 5:21  The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. 
Jdg 5:22  Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones. 
Jdg 5:23  Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty. 
Jdg 5:24  Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. 
Jdg 5:25  He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. 
Jdg 5:26  She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples. 
Jdg 5:27  At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead. 
Jdg 5:28  The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots? 
Jdg 5:29  Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself, 
Jdg 5:30  Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil? 
Jdg 5:31  So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years. 

This chapter shows us that we need to show appreciation to the Lord for what He has done for us as He continues to give us victories over the flesh. The song sang by Deborah and Barak is similar to the song Moses and the children of the Israelites sang when the Lord delivered them from the Egyptians after the Lord made a way through the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass.

Exo 15:1  Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Exo 15:2  The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Exo 15:3  The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
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.

What is most insightful about these songs sang by the Israelites in the case of Moses and Deborah is that victory against the enemy within is the work of the Lord. Our Lord is the man of war, and He wins the battle for us. This should encourage us to fight the good fight of faith because we know that once He has started defeating the enemy on our behalf, He is able to bring it to completion. Let’s look at the details of the song sang by Deborah and Barak as they show us how our Lord trains our hands for war.

Psa 18:34  He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

Jdg 5:1  Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying, 
Jdg 5:2  Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves. 

Since the scriptures were written for our admonition, we need to learn to show appreciation by giving praise to the Lord for the victories He wins on our behalf on daily basis. As we die daily, we are winning the war. In verse 2 here, it is said that the people willingly offered themselves. However, we know from the sum of God’s words that it is God who works in us to make us willing to offer ourselves as instruments to be used to win this war.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Here in this verse we are given the reason for praising the Lord.  That is, the Israelites were praising God for setting them free from their enemies. We all must learn to praise the Lord for the victories He wins for us on daily basis. As the elect, we must continually offer praise to our Lord.  Apart from the fact that we are commanded to praise God, praising our Lord grants us access to God as we can only enter His presence (gates) with thanksgiving in our heart and enter His courts with praise. Praising God also chases away despair as we exchange our spirit of heaviness with a garment of praise.

Psa 150:6  Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Psa 100:4  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Isa 61:3  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

We must remember that the Israelites praised God with songs and since Babylon (the church system we are coming out of) is under the law, it also praise and worship the Lord only through singing. For those who are being delivered from Babylonian captivity, we not only praise and worship the Lord through singing as we offer the fruits of the lips, but more importantly, we offer spiritual praise and worship which means offering our bodies as living sacrifice. Offering our bodies as living sacrifice is not being conformed to the standards of the world but being transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is like a sweet smelling offering that pleases the Lord.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Jdg 5:3  Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel. 

The scriptures were written for the Kings and the princes. The question is, “who are the kings and the princes who are required to pay attention to this song sang by Deborah and Barak”? We, the elect are the royal priesthood as explained by Peter.  If that is so, then we are the kings and princes that are supposed to pay heed to the words of God.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Jdg 5:4  LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water. 
Jdg 5:5  The mountains melted from before the LORD, even that Sinai from before the LORD God of Israel. 

These verses are to show us what the Lord does for us in delivering us from the world (Seir) to serve Him. Seir represents the land the Lord gave to Esau and his descendants the Edomites. Esau represents the world and so does Seir. After Israel met the Lord at Mount Sinai, they could have taken an eleven-day journey through Mount Seir to reach the promised land, but the Lord took them through a different route because the Lord did not want them to invade the Seir territory. For the Lord has given the Edomites in Mount Seir to Esau for period of time until the kingdom is firmly established in the promise land. It was during the reign of King David that the Edomites became his servants. This means that it takes a mature elect (King David) to defeat the Edomites, representing a type of the flesh.

Gen 32:3  And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

Gen 36:9  And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:

Deu 1:2  (There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)

Deu 2:4  And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore:
Deu 2:5  Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.

2Sa 8:14  And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David’s servants. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.

What God does for the elect to defeat the Edomites is what is given in verse 4 and 5. They are as follows:

1. The earth trembles – That is earthquake which signifies God’s judgement. 
2. Both the heavens and the clouds drop water. The hearts and mind (our heavens) of the elect (clouds) distil water gradually. That is, our heavens are cleansed with the word of God.
3. Mountains melt from before the Lord. Our mountains are the obstacles that prevent us from knowing the Lord. These obstacles are dealt with as our eyes are being opened and our ears are hearing (getting to know the Lord).

Jdg 5:6  In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked through byways. 
Jdg 5:7  The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel. 

The days of Shamgar reflect the time period when the Israelites were being oppressed by the Philistines, and the days of Jael were times when Jabin, the king of Canaan, also oppressed Israel. So the days of Shamgar and Jael reflect our time in Babylon when we are under the sway of the enemies within.  During this time period, we desert the highways that lead to God because we break our covenant with God, despise the church (the assembly of God’s people) and have no regard for the elect. In this way, we rather opt for our own righteousness (byways) which brings us to more darkness.

Isa 33:8  The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.

In the biblical times, most villages had no walls and therefore they became an easy prey for enemies. Villages therefore represent the gathering of God’s people who are yet carnal and are yet to know the doctrines of Christ which serve as a wall against any infiltration of false doctrines. In verse 7, the villages are deserted and are counted as the fields of the country (Lev 25:31). We know that the field is the world so what verse 7 means is that when we are under the control of the beast within, we end up being worldly. This continues until God drags us to the New Jerusalem (the assembly of God’s people) represented by the rising of Deborah in verse 7. That is when we are redeemed as we go out in our jubilee.

Lev 25:31  But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee.

Jdg 5:8  They chose new gods; then was war in the gates: was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel? 

In our depravity in Babylon, we choose another Jesus (new gods). However, if God has destined for us to become overcomers, then there will be war at our gates, that is, God will judge us. The question, “Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand?” is a rhetorical question which means the answer is obviously no. So the question is another way of saying that there is no righteous person in the churches of this world (Babylon). A shield symbolizes faith, and spear or sword represents the word of God. The number forty-thousand is 4x10x10x10. So the number forty thousand signifies the whole of the God’s people in the churches who have no faith and do not know the word of God and are carnal or fleshy. Without having faith therefore, it is impossible to please God.

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Jdg 5:9  My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the LORD. 
Jdg 5:10  Speak, ye that ride on white asses, ye that sit in judgment, and walk by the way. 

As indicated earlier, the sum of God’s word is that it is He who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure. Therefore the governors cannot offer themselves willingly except the Lord works in them to do that. According to Strongs, the governors of Israel here are the scribes. The governors offering themselves willingly means they offered to encourage the people to engage the enemy and assured them of the victory from the Lord. As God’s elect (governors), we are to offer ourselves willingly for the flock by speaking the fiery words which is able to save us. This is emphasized in verse 10 where those who ride on white asses and sit in judgment and walk the way are all part of the description of the elect who are admonished to speak the word.

Jdg 5:11  They that are delivered from the noise of archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD, even the righteous acts toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then shall the people of the LORD go down to the gates. 

Verse 11 continues the description of the elect as those who have been delivered from the noise of archers in places of drawing water. The noise of archers here are the propagators of false doctrines. Being delivered from the noise of archers is being given eyes to see and ears to hear such that one is able to test the spirit to see if it is from God.

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Our assembling together are the places of drawing water.  It is here that we rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord. The rehearsing of the righteous act of the Lord is the speaking of the fiery words of the Lord which is able to bring us out of Babylon (inhabitants of the villages in Israel) such that we are prepared to go to the gates to wage war with the beast within.

Isaiah 51:16: I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’

Deut 5:27: Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’

Jdg 5:12  Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. 
Jdg 5:13  Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: the LORD made me have dominion over the mighty.

We are being admonished to wake up from our slumber as our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. It is only when we are awake that we can lead captives out of bondage just as Christ took many captives and gave gifts to his people.

As Paul explained, being awake from our sleep is casting off the works of darkness and putting on the armour of light. Putting on the armour of light is putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and making no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts. Verse 13 in a simplified version of the Bible is as follows:

Jdg 5:13  Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the LORD marched down for me against the mighty. (ESV)

So waking up from our slumber is putting on the armour of light, and in this way, we, as the remnant of the nobles (the elect) or the people of God can wage war against the mighty enemy within.

Eph 4:8. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” (NIV)

Rom 13:11  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Jdg 5:14  Out of Ephraim was there a root of them against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writer. 
Jdg 5:15  And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were great thoughts of heart. 
Jdg 5:16  Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. 
Jdg 5:17  Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches. 
Jdg 5:18  Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field. 

These verses talk about two categories of the tribes of Israel.  Those who were willing to wage war with Jabin King of Canaan and those who refused wage war with the enemy. Those willing to wage war against the enemy symbolize those of us who are ready to leave Babylon to wage war against the flesh.  There are also those that remain in Babylon who preferred to hear the bleatings of the flock. The tribes that supported Barak and Deborah in this fight were Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun, Issachar and Naphtali. In verse 18, its say that these tribes risked their lives unto death to ensure victory. That is the same as saying that they lost their lives to gain them. On the other hand, if we gain our lives, we will end up losing them.  From the word of God, we have come to understand that those that lose their lives to gain them is because it has been written in their books to do so. In other words, it is not of him that wills nor of him that runs but of God that shows mercy.

Mat 10:39  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Now, let’s look at those who did not participate in the war with Jabin and Sisera and the reasons given. The tribes that did not take part in the war were Reuben, Dan, Asher and Gad (Gilead). The reasons given were as follows:

Reuben – Remained in the sheepfold to listen to the shepherds whistling for the flocks. In addition, they deliberated on the call to join their fellow Israelites to war against Jabin and came to the conclusion that it was better they stayed where they were. Remaining in the sheepfold and listening to the shepherds whistling for the flock is another way of saying that in Babylon, the shepherds speak of the world and we hear them because at that time we were of the world. We therefore subject everything to reasoning like the Reubenites.

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.

Dan – They remained in ships. These represents us at a certain stage of our walk where we have the peddling mentality just like the ministers of Babylon who sell their false doctrines to the masses that make up the sea of mankind.

Asher – They remained on the sea shore. As we are aware, sand is unstable and cannot be relied upon as a foundation for anything as demonstrated by Jesus. So remaining on the sea shore signifies hearing Christ’s words but simply not see the need to tremble at His words.

Mat 7:26  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Gad (Gilead) – Gad received all the towns of Gilead as inheritance and so in some passages of the scriptures, the terms Gilead and Gad are used interchangeably (see Judges 5:17). The land of Gilead was known for its balm, a liquid rosin that flowed or dripped from certain trees such as pine, cedar, cypress, or terebinth. Because of easy access to medicinal ingredients, many physicians made their homes in Gilead. This helps us understand Jeremiah 8:22, which says, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?” Thus, because of the medical resources God had given to Gad, they did not want to wage any war. Spiritually, the blessings that God has bestowed on us can serve as a stumbling block for us to come out of Babylon to wage war against the flesh.

When the Promised Land was divided among the twelve tribes of Israel, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh received territory to the east of Jordan. So we can also say that Reuben and Gad, being examples of us, could not wage war against the flesh because they had not been spiritually baptized (going through death) as they had not crossed the Jordan into the promised land.

Jdg 5:19  The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. 

The kings here are the elect who are called to wage war against the flesh. What is important here is that they took no gain of money. We need to pay heed to the admonition by Paul about being content with whatever situation we find ourselves and not think that gain is godliness. Our God will somehow supply our needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus.

1Ti 6:3  If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
1Ti 6:4  He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
1Ti 6:5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Jdg 5:20  They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera. 

The stars here represent the elect. This verse therefore imply that as the Lord directs us in the path (courses) that He has preordained for us, we  will wage a war against the beast within to remove him from our heaven (hearts and mind). This war is what is being described in Rev 12:7-9 where Michael and his angels fought against the dragon in this war for the heavens of our minds and heart.

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Jdg 5:21  The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength. 
Jdg 5:22  Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones. 

Verse 21 symbolizes the word of God (river Kishon) which sweeps away all our false doctrines and burns all chaff within us. This battle against King Jabin of Canaan and his army chief, Sisera, is symbolized by our war against worldly wisdom which offers a higher level of opposition.  However, the word of God is the most powerful instrument of war, and once we have it (that is our eyes seeing and our ears hearing) no matter the level of opposition, we will be victorious as we see Sisera’s horses retreating in battle in verse 22. This verse in simple English means:

Jdg 5:22  Sisera’s horses galloped off, their hoofs thundering in retreat. (CEV)

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.

Jdg 5:23  Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty.

This verse may seem to suggest that the Lord needs our help against the mighty. However, from the sum of God’s words, we know that the Lord does not need anybody or anything to accomplish His purpose. What we need to know is that as long as we are dominated by the flesh, we cannot be of any use to the Lord. Under this condition, we are cursed just like Meroz and its inhabitants.

Jdg 5:24  Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent. 
Jdg 5:25  He asked water, and she gave him milk; she brought forth butter in a lordly dish. 
Jdg 5:26  She put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workmen’s hammer; and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she had pierced and stricken through his temples. 
Jdg 5:27  At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed, he fell: where he bowed, there he fell down dead. 

Jael here represents the glorious church or heavenly Jerusalem which is the mother of us all. We all as Jael start our journey in Christ consuming milk and butter (product of milk) of the word. However, by the mercies of the Lord, as we mature, we are able to put to death all the false doctrines in our heaven (signified by the nail in Sisera’s temple).

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Jdg 5:28  The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, and cried through the lattice, Why is his chariot so long in coming? why tarry the wheels of his chariots? 
Jdg 5:29  Her wise ladies answered her, yea, she returned answer to herself, 
Jdg 5:30  Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil? 

This is to let us know what the enemy within is trying to achieve. Sisera’s (the enemy within) victories over us is accompanied by sharing of the booty in verse 30. What this means is that when we are under the influence of the enemy within, we end up loving the world as we pursue the things of the world (Verse 30) which constitute the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Jdg 5:31  So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years. 

This verse sums up the goal of our walk. That is, we must overcome or put to death the enemy within (all our enemies must perish) so we can be like Christ who is the sun when he goes forth in his might. With man, this is impossible to achieve, but with God all things are possible. We will surely find rest where we cease from our own strivings after “forty years” of temptations and trials in this life.

Mat 19:25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

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.

1 Timothy 5:1, 17-21

[Study Aired July 26, 2020]

Across the bible, God has so much to say about elders, from the torah to Revelation. There is not a single verse one can find in the word of God where the elderly are being derided or rebuked (Save for 2Kings 2:23, and those rude young people met a sad end as a result of their blatant disrespect of Elisha). It is our modern cultures which have brought us here. In our modern cultures the younger generation have taken over, and they have no value for the parents and their elders. For Governments to appear politically correct, they have given in to these demands, and laws have been changed to place youth on a par with parents and their elders. “Human rights” is no longer human (Anthropos) but is now more about children’s rights and women rights. This so-called modernism is violently placing parents and elders under youth, in communities and churches. Little  wonder this is prophesied by the prophet Isaiah, so we should not be dismayed.

Isa 3:4  And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
Isa 3:5  And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

Isa 3:12  As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

God’s divine order is that correction, discipline and respect for the elders must be a strong foundation in any righteous community, even if modernism has thrown it out through the window. Families and church must heed this piece of instruction!

1Ti 5:1  Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; (KJV)

1 Tim 5:1 Don’t speak angrily to an elder. But talk to him as if he were your father. Treat the younger men like brothers. (Paraphrased)

The word Intreat is G3870. Παρακαλέω. parakaleo

“to call to one’s side, call for, summon, call upon, that which may be done in the way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort, instruction, etc.
To admonish, to beg, beseech, to strive to appease, to console, to encourage and strengthen by consolation,”

In summary it is instructive to respond to an elder with honour and respect.

Below are scriptures that further clarify how to entreat elders, and those who disobey God’s word should be admonished.

Lev 19:32  You shall rise up in the face of gray haired; and you shall honor the face of an old man; and be afraid of your God. I am Jehovah.

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you.”

Job 32:3  Also against his three friends was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.
Job 32:4  Now Elihu had waited till Job had spoken, because they were elder than he. 
Job 32:5  When Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, then his wrath was kindled.
Job 32:6  And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not shew you mine opinion.

God instituted elders both in the Old and New Testaments. These are not just titles to fill space but critical tools in God’s eternal purposes. The architecture of the twelve foundations, both in the house Jacob and in the heavens, is structured around elders. Therefore, we must take seriously all instructions and commands about elders (honour and respect, correction and discipline). The same instructions are not given about the rest of the family/the body of Christ.

1Ti 5:17  Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
1Ti 5:18  For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.
1Ti 5:19<  Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
1Ti 5:20  Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
1Ti 5:21  I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

How should we treat those whom God has called to be leaders in the body? Secondly, how do we correct them when they sin, teach heresy, or have personality conflict with any among the flock?

Then thirdly, what does the Bible say about disciplining an elder? Is there a difference between disciplining one of the flock and disciplining an elder?

in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15, we read:

“And we urge you brethren to recognize [it means to respect, to know well] those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you brethren, warn those who are unruly [Those who are acting in an unruly manner, insubordinate toward those in leadership, who we should be esteeming highly are examples of being unruly. Unfortunately, some at Thessalonica were acting toward their elders in an unruly worldly fashion.], comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, BE PATIENT WITH ALL. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.”

The key phrase is, of course, verse 13. “Esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.” As long as verse 13 is always at the back of our minds, every argument, attitude and behavior toward an elder must begin and rotate around that requirement for very high esteem. Not fear them, not simple respect, but VERY high esteem, whatever “very high” means to you. The bible does not just throw words out for no reason. Every word has been placed by the Holy Spirit for us, with exception to translators’ additions. Every word (in the original languages) makes the whole difference. Here, Paul is not talking about those in government because he is speaking about those who labour in the word (their work).

Are we to obey and submit to elders no matter what? No! When are those occasions when we would not be obligated to obey, in fact, we would be obligated not to obey?

In summary, if an elder or some elders, were to ask us to do/believe something, or they were to lead us to do something that is unbiblical (false doctrine), that is unethical, that is illegal or immoral, then we would be obligated to say, “No.” We would be obligated to disobey in such a case. We would be obligated actually to follow what we are going to see in 1 Timothy 5:20. Now, note again very carefully the four categories I just mentioned: If it is unbiblical doctrinally or otherwise, if it is unethical, if it is illegal, if it is immoral. Should God allow those four things to happen among us (and He will as He desires after the counsel of His will), the body or any of us in the body must confront the elder in love, and we shall shortly see how that confrontation is done scripturally.

Are you saying elders could be wrong at times? Ooh, yes! Here is a case study for consideration:

Exo 32:1  And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
Exo 32:2  And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Exo 32:3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.
Exo 32:4  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 32:5  And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.

However, I have been in so many historical situations in Babylon and have observed so many modern churches where they confronted their leader or leadership, and they disobeyed their shepherds, and they opposed those who were over them, and it was not done for those four parameters I have mentioned above.

I could hear statements like “Well, I just don’t like the way he is leading. I just don’t like the direction the fellowship or church is going. I don’t like the way they are prosecuting the word of God, or they spend money etc, etc”. Again, let me repeat for our better understanding; has the elder done (or said) something illegal? “No.” Immoral? “No.” Unethical? “No.” Unbiblical? “No.” By the way, if you examine carefully, these four areas of assessming when to confront an elder are a kind of summary of the qualifications of an elder. Statements like, “Why can’t he do things this or that way?”  “I just don’t like him or his presentation” etc, are advance indicators of serious problems within a carnal believer.

Such a believer has yielded his/her heart to the enemy to break up the body. A brother/sister with this attitude has a problem, and their problem is not with the elder(s). Their problem is with the Great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, and at that point one has now stepped into a serious world of rebellion and potential judgment.

We must be diligent to obey the word of God in matters of interpersonal relationships and discipline in the body. The New Testament provides 31 positive and 13 negative one-another commands, to emphasize interpersonal relationships in the church. So how we treat one another, including elders who may be in “error”, is extremely important. When we act in disobedience to 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 and are tempted to reprimand our elder(s) unduly, we are mistreating those whom God has divinely, sovereignly called to a leadership assignment in the body.

Here are other texts in the Bible that deal with issues of church discipline (including interpersonal private relationships with an elder). The first is found on the lips of Jesus. In Matthew 18:15-17, “Moreover, if your brother [an elder is a brother] sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother, but if he will not hear, take with you one or two more that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. [And we’re going to see that same principle expounded about an elder in just a moment in 1 Timothy 5]. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church.”

Matthew 18, Deuteronomy 17 and 19, are applicable universally to the whole body, including any issues touching interpersonal relationships with or among elders. In our relationships, the church cannot abandon scripture and embrace our various individual cultures whether Eastern, western or animist.

Therefore, you start with ‘one’. If he won’t hear one, go with two or three. If he will not hear the two or three, then you are to bring him before the church, and enact Matthew 18:17, “If he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” This means you are to cast him out and treat him like an unbeliever. However, this is not a private individual affair, and the statement “tell it to the church” is weighty and carries its own protocols. Whoever we are, if we do not follow these laid-down procedures by our Lord whenever there is an infraction between us, then we are disobeying His commandments blatantly and willingly.

Then the question comes, what does it mean, “tell it to the church”? What is meant by that phrase? We must consult the sum of God’s word.

Psa 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And all of Your righteous ordinances are eonian. (CLV)

2Pe 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture at all is becoming its own explanation.

When you put together Deuteronomy 19:17-18, Acts 15:6, 12, 22-23, Hebrews 13:17 and 1 Corinthians 6:4-5, the verses clearly define for us who or what the church is, in matters of discipline and correction in the body. See now how these scriptures flow together:

Deu 19:17  Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
Deu 19:18  And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;

Act 15:6  And the apostles and elders came together for to consider this matter.

Act 15:12  Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.

Act 15:22  Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren:
Act 15:23 And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:

The matter was first taken to “the apostles and elders”. The whole multitude ‘kept silence’ to hear what the apostles had to say, and “then it pleased the apostles and elders with the  whole church” to send a letter to the Gentiles…

This is consistent with Hebrews 13:17:

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you.

While Matthew 18 does not say “take with you one or two elders”, the sum of the Lord’s words here certainly indicate that we should “be deferring to our elders” in every situation.

The principle revealed in shaming the Corinthians for bringing matters of judgment to “the least esteemed in the church or outsiders” again indicates that the “one or two others” should preferably be one or two elders.

1Co 6:4  So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church?
1Co 6:5  I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough [preferably a mature elder] to settle a dispute between the brothers, (NLT)

Put these verses together with:

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you.

We are commanded here to “be deferring to… your leaders” and it is “the sum of Thy Word” which is Truth. Considering the example of Acts 15, it is indeed “the apostles and elders” who are to consider any matter before “telling it to the church”. Now it does say, “If they do not hear the church let them be unto you as an heathen man and a publican.” So, “the whole multitude” does not vote on doctrine. We do not see the practice of voting on doctrinal matters. We see consensus and mutual agreement as the Spirit leads. The congregation however, has a function of confirming doctrine to those who are not “persuaded” of “their elders” and are not “deferring to them”. In other words, the congregation is encouraged to let the offenders know that they are not in agreement with the offending brother, but with the eldership/the church.

What about when an elder(s) are in error or sin. First, elders are human, and as much sinners as all of us. However, they deserve respect just like the rest of the flock, even when one feels the elder is errant. There is this one text where the Bible speaks about those who are divisive doctrinally which addresses the issue of elders who shepherd and teach the flock. That is found in Titus 3:8-11. Now, with that as a broad overview of what the Bible has to say about how we treat our elders and how to exercise church discipline on them, Paul applies or addresses both of those issues (correction and discipline) here in this text.

Tit 3:8  This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
Tit 3:9  But AVOID foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
Tit 3:10  A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Tit 3:11  Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

Before we can correct anyone in the body, in verse 9, we are instructed to avoid certain things. Every imaginable correction must AVOID these traits before we try to correct others, including elders. The word avoid: “peristemi“ literally means to turn oneself about so as to face the other way. Here is what we must prayerfully avoid in correctional experiences:

Tit 3:9  But avoid…

• foolish questions, (godless issues that do not add to our spiritual maturity)
• genealogies, (matters trivial and meaningless to basic doctrine, irrelevant issues)
• contentions, (carnal feel-good, revengeful emotional tantrums)
• strivings (fighting mode, combatant, quarrelsome)

…for they are unprofitable and vain.p

In Verses 10-11 we are instructed to reject a heretic and divisive man who will not heed the true and accurate counsel of many.

Heretic: The definition of heresy is a belief or action at odds with what is accepted, especially when the behavior is contrary to the doctrine of Christ. A heretic is a person believing in or practicing religious heresy. A person holding an opinion at odds with what has generally been accepted by a multitude of counselors.

Titus was to take measures against those who insisted on going their own way or fronting their own understanding of the word. Their “self-will” makes them self-condemned.

Even if demonstrably a heretic in any one sense of that word, and a disturber of the peace of the body of Christ, God gives no man/woman any other authority over him but to shun him. Reject! [G3868].

Παραιτέομαι, paraiteomai: to refuse, decline, to shun, avoid. For example, of one excusing himself for not accepting a wedding invitation or a feast.

Do a heretic or the sinning elder no harm in body, soul, character, or substance; just hold no communion with him; avoid fellowship, communication, sharing any type of “bread” with one who cannot be admonished, corrected and repent. Leave him alone, leave him to God!

The above instructions to Titus could also be universal to the whole body, but are specifically addressing Elders. Those instructions support Matthew 18. However, we have more tailored instructions that provide specifically how to handle errant elders or if any has a matter against him/them, in 1 Timothy 5:19-21.

1Ti 5:19  Don’t listen to any charge against a church elder, UNLESS AT LEAST TWO OR THREE PEOPLE BRING THE SAME CHARGES. [One individual cannot conclude that an elder is wrong or in error. Therefore, one must check with other saints as a witness, and see if others recognize the heresy.]
1Ti 5:20  But if any of the elders should keep on sinning, they must be corrected in front of the whole church, as a warning to everyone else.
1Ti 5:21  In the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, I order you to follow my instructions! Do nothing out of prejudice, and don’t be partial or have any favorites. (Living Bible)

1Ti 5:21  I testify fully, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the choice messengers, that these things thou mayest keep, without forejudging, doing nothing by partiality. (YLT)

We should thank God when a church has good elders. Praise God when a man spends a lifetime with integrity, with respect, with holiness, and with godliness and patience.  Tragically, sometimes elders fall by the wayside and sin or even start to teach error (remember the case study of Aaron and the golden calf, or the Nicolaitans). I’ve actually heard (usually it’s Babylonian ministers) people say, “Well, touch not God’s anointed. Touch not God’s anointed.”  This is an erroneous quote from the Old Testament. It was a reference to king Saul NOT to the pastor or the overseer or the elder who is in leadership in the church. Rather, the Bible has a very specific word and a very specific plan of how we would deal with an elder in the church who tragically has gotten involved in sin or is teaching heresy or using unacceptable doctrine or unbiblical phrases. Here are the four steps listed in verses 1 Timothy 5:19-21, above.

FIRST of all, Get All The Facts: 1 Timothy 5:19

Pro 18:13  He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.

Verse 19, “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except [same phrase you heard on the lips of Jesus back in Matthew 18] from two or three witnesses.” This is a principle found in Deuteronomy 17:6, again elaborated more thoroughly in Deuteronomy 19:15-20, reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 18:16, and confirmed by the Apostle Paul. Here is a biblical way of establishing that indeed the elder has a matter to answer:

Deu 17:6  At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death: he shall not be put to death at the mouth of one witness.

Deu 19:15  One witness shall not rise up against a man for ANY iniquity, and for ANY sin, in ANY sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.
Deu 19:16  If an unrighteous witness rise up against ANY MAN [including an elder] to testify against him of an offence;
Deu 19:17  then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days; [issues must not be discussed before a public forum but the matter is brought before priests and judges]
Deu 19:18  and the judges shall make thorough inquiry; and if the witness be a false witness, and he have testified falsely against his brother,
Deu 19:19  then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst.
Deu 19:20  And those that remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in thy midst.

2Co 13:1  This third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall EVERY MATTER be established.

Mat 18:15  Moreover if thy brother [elders are also brothers] shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone [this is a biblical caveat against any public corrections, arguments or rebuke to a brother or sister]: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

In 1 Timothy 5:19, Paul is providing instruction for how to handle accusations of sin/heresy against the elders. He’s warning against accepting a charge against an elder unless supported by two or three witnesses.

As we read in the Law, it was of utmost importance to safeguard innocent people from false accusation, and as Jewish law required the agreement of two/three witnesses before a man might be called upon to answer a charge, so it must be in the church, especially when an elder is implicated. He must be protected against malicious intent; but if there are real grounds for accusation, then disciplinary action should be taken before the whole church. We saw what the whole church process involves. It is not crowd or public justice. God does not work that way, nor as the worldly justice system. It is very unfair, no, actually sinful. Following the established process in Deuteronomy, all those who do that should be put to death. Apostle James calls such haters, murderers!

In short, when elders are accused the apostle builds in an exhortation to remind the church “two or three witnesses are required not only before an accusation is sustained, but before it is entertained at all.”

Why would Paul provide this exhortation?

It seems most natural here to understand this warning because shepherding leaders are so vulnerable to slander, attacks and false charges. The enemies of the body of Christ often take vengeance on the ministers in the body. A smear campaign can completely ruin an elder’s ministry. So, Paul’s first word to Timothy is that he must never listen to gossip about leaders, or even to a serious accusation if it is made by only one person, unless the evidence has been examined by the eldership thoroughly. Every charge must be endorsed by several responsible people before it is even listened to.

It has been observed, . . . as soon as any charge is made against an elder, it is believed as surely and firmly as if it had been already proved. This happens not only because a higher standard of integrity is required from them, but because nearly everyone overzealously takes these accusations, so that without investigation, they eagerly move to condemn their elders whose good name they ought to be defending.

In other words, if you are going to bring an accusation against an elder there must be multiple witnesses. One is not enough. There must be two and preferably three who can validate and verify the truthfulness of the accusation that is being brought against an elder in the church, SO GET ALL THE FACTS and make sure two other people who are not your close friends/family member, have the same facts based on the word of God not conjectures and false emotional conclusions. The culture of democracy and speaking out what we wish when we want, has never been, will never be and is not biblical. You can talk what you want out there, but before the King and kings and priests, you guard what you say.

Ecc 5:2 Do not be rash with your mouth, And your heart must not hasten to bring forth speech before the One, Elohim; For the One, Elohim, is in the heavens, And you are on the earth; Therefore, let your words become few.”

Now, if the facts are clear and this elder is indeed guilty of heresy or sin, we must act. I believe the Bible is addressing the kind of sin or heresy that is public. It is sin that is serious. Doctrinal heresy is a serious matter because it confuses the flock. If such an error is unrepented publicly, it must be corrected publicly. If it is a sin/heresy that has not been repented of even after it has been highlighted to him privately, it is of the serious sort. So, at that point, move to point #2.

SECOND, Confront Him/Them to Their Face. 1 Timothy 5:20

1Ti 5:20 Those who are sinning be exposing in the sight of all, that the rest also may have fear. (CLV)

“Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all.” So…

1. They have or are sinning/teaching heresy. 
2. They are not repentant, about the error or the sin. 
3. People know about it or heard it. 
4. It is of a serious nature (not frivolous or trivial matters). 

Paul says, and Paul is assuming, that you have already gone one on one, and they refused your concerns. You cannot publicly confront an elder/brother/sister during an assembly however legitimate the issue is. This kind of confrontation in public is not scriptural at all. It is our carnal way of dressing people down and is sinful. It does not break any bones to be patient and correct the matter later on after the counselors, priests and judges have made THOROUGH inquiry. Moses taught it, Jesus taught it, Paul taught it = 3 witnesses.

Deu 19:17  then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days;
Deu 19:18  and the judges shall make thorough inquiry;………

1. You’ve now gone back with two or three elders, and again, there is no success. 
2. So, after confronting him one on one, confronting him with multiple witnesses, if he does not hear you at that point, as painful and as unpalatable and as distasteful as it can possibly be, you have to bring it before other elders first (priests and judges). It is good decorum and biblically keeping in rank, if the matter is finally brought to the attention of the whole church by elders, instead of an individual or group of individuals. This is to avoid a possible rebellion where a clique of people wish to break rank and split the church.

The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 is a good example, and we do not see ordinary brothers discussing the matter and even if they did (because we are told they were present), the Holy Spirit recorded for us what the leaders said and concluded. In fact, James had the last word! There was disputing and disagreements at the beginning, but they all finally were “… persuaded by their leaders, and they deferred to them” [Heb 13:17]. This was in recognition of biblical ranking.

You say, “Have you ever seen that done anywhere on earth?” Not very often because most Christians don’t have the stomach for it, and they will excuse themselves by pointing at you for being judgmental or lacking love. You know, the “loving” thing… If you wish to know the biblical loving thing, it is DO NOT WINK AT SIN/HERESY. The loving thing is not to sweep heresy under the rug. That’s the cowardly way. That’s the ‘chicken’ stuff, which is able to destroy the church of Christ.

Only then can the elders protect the body of Christ against rumor mongering and false reports! If the elders don’t expose the heresy/sin, they will lose the trust and confidence of the fellowship. People will perhaps even leave the church. When an elder sins, even if he is repentant, he must be removed as an elder (temporarily if it is a minor infraction, or permanently if it is heresy or moral/legal etc. problem), and it must be explained to the fellowship. There needs to be censure, reproof and exposure. Situations like this must be handled wisely by the other elders. This is the best thing for the church and for the elder who sinned!

THIRD: Recognize the Value of Fear. 1 Timothy 5:20

In both Deuteronomy 19:15-20 and 1 Timothy 5:20 accurate correction and discipline brings about holy fear.

“Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all” [why?] “that the rest also may fear.” In other words, if the church has Christ’s courage to do that with one/some of their elders, what will they do with you if you get into the same lifestyle of sin or heresy? If they will deal with those on the highest level of leadership, they will also be willing to deal with anyone else in the body as well. So, there is a positive value to fear when it comes to church discipline. Then #4:

FOURTH: Do Everything without prejudice or partiality.

1Ti 5:21  I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing according to partiality.

I think Paul recognized that we have a tendency to be partial and to act with prejudice. And so, he says in verse 21, “I solemnly charge you…” [this is a solemn process].

1. i) before God, 
2. ii) the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
3. iii) the elect angels [that is, the saints]

…that you observe these things [how Paul?]

1. i) without prejudice,(prejudging) 
2. ii) doing nothing with partiality (favouritism)

The goal of church discipline, then, is not to throw people out of the church or to feed the self-righteous pride of those who administer the discipline. It is not to embarrass people or to exercise authority and power in some unbiblical manner. The purpose is to restore a sinning believer/elder to holiness and bring him back into a pure relationship within the body. The purpose is to gain our brother, if he is repentant.

Why this variation with elders? Because, the council of elders guard against one another and chances are very high, by the time anyone realizes the heresy, other elders could have taken it up. Where the matter is differences in relationship with another brother/sister, revert to the lay-person model in Matthew 18. If they don’t repent, then you appeal to witnesses, some of whom should be church elders (1 Tim 5:19), and then you publicly rebuke them (Deu 19:15-20), then tragically, there is possible excommunication, expulsion and disassociation with them/him.

Still, even if we have to turn them out of the fellowship, we must love them.  We still admonish them. We still pray that God would bring repentance into their heart and into their life.

Are there cases or those matters that cannot be restored?

Yes, scripture clearly instructs us that there are matters that can be repented and the sinner is accepted back to the body, while there are others that are not restorable, and that restoring such a one would violate the scriptures.

In 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 Paul deals with a situation of receiving one who had been living in sin, repented and has asked to be restored to the church. Juxtaposed against 1Corinthians 5:1-5 where a young man was having sex with his stepmother, and the church was just letting him sin and stay a part of the church, then Paul had to say, “Kick him out.” They kicked him out. In 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, he may have come back and said, “You’re right church. I’m wrong. I repent.” And they said, “We aren’t going to let you back in.” Paul, in essence, basically says, “What?! You swing from one extreme to the other. If he’s in habitual, unrepentant sinning folk, he needs to be removed. If, however, he repents and demonstrates that he has repented, then let him back in, forgive him, and restore him.” So Paul is responding in 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 to the same situation in 1 Corinthians 5:1-7, and we can learn immensely from these two opposite experiences, as a church, on matters of discipline and restoration.

1Co 5:1  Everywhere it is heard that fornication is among you, and such fornication which is not named among the heathen, so as for one to have his father’s wife.
1Co 5:2  And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that did this deed might be taken from your midst.
1Co 5:3  For as being absent in body, but being present in spirit, I have already judged the one who has worked out this thing, as if I were present:
1Co 5:4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you being gathered together with my spirit also, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5  to deliver such a one to Satan for destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
1Co 5:6  Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

2Co 2:5  But if anyone has grieved, he has not grieved me, but from in part, that I not overbear all of you.
2Co 2:6  This censure by the majority is enough for such a one.
2Co 2:7  So that on the contrary, you should rather forgive and comfort such a one, that he not be swallowed up by the overflowing grief.
2Co 2:8  So I beseech you to confirm your love to him.
2Co 2:9  For to this end I also wrote, that I might know the proof of you, if you are obedient in all things.
2Co 2:10  But to whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For also if I have forgiven anything, of whom I have forgiven it, it is for you, in Christ’s person,
2Co 2:11  so that we should not be overreached by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his devices.

However, there is a point where there is no redemption in this life as per instructions from Hebrews 6:4-6. There is a difference between those who have put Christ to an open shame as opposed to the Corinthian fornicator, whose spirit can yet be saved “in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Here are stern instructions given to the church on the irredeemable cases.

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

The above verses have always been confused with a sinning or backsliding believer. Hebrews 6:4-8 does not describe the Corinthian fornicator type of sinner, who could repent and be forgiven and restored to the body. As we shall shortly see, this portion of scripture addresses those who have “fallen away” and not those who have fallen. There is a difference.

The main word is impossible. The writer to the Hebrews is not saying it is just difficult, but truly without possibility.

Here are other uses of impossible in Hebrews: It is impossible for God to lie (Heb 6:18). It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats can take away sin (Heb 10:4). Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). These impossible verses are biblically not reversible. Hebrews 6:4 is in the same family of irreversible declarations. There is no possibility to restore one who has fallen away.

Those being described cannot be an ordinary brother/sister struggling with sin. They fit the description of elders and matured brothers and sisters, “Who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.” This is very impressive, and a novice does not fit. The last portion, “…. and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come” is the confirmation that this has to do with the doctrine of Christ and not any other sin.

From all human observation, we must say these are mature believers spoken of in Hebrews 6:4-5, who have pressed on past elementary oracles of Christ towards perfection (maturity) – Heb 6:1-3.

The phrase “If they fall away”: There is a great difference between “falling” and “falling away”. Falling away isn’t just falling into some sin. It is actually departing from Jesus Himself, from His doctrine. It is straying from His doctrine and recanting that which will never pass away. Falling away is more than just sinning. For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity (Pro 24:16). The difference is between being a Peter and a Judas. If you depart from Jesus (the word of God, (Revelation 19) there is no hope!

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12  His eyes were< as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

In Hebrews 6:7-8 we are candidly told the serious consequences of “falling away” or what the epistle to Titus calls becoming a “heretic”. We covered that earlier. These are the tragic consequences;

Heb 6:7-8 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

If ground that is blessed by rain refuses to bear fruit, then who can blame the farmer for burning it? The picture presented reminds us that growth and bearing fruit is important to keep from falling away. We really bear fruit by abiding in Jesus (Joh 15:5) and cannot be in any danger of falling away. Once we fall away, there can be no restoration. Remember, abiding in Christ is being in accurate doctrine as we saw in Revelation 19 (His name is The Word of God). Note the three words are in capital letters.

Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 
Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without [outside of me] me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

That, my brothers and sisters, is how we are to entreat those God has placed as elders over us. We shall be continuing with this topic when the Lord provides more materials and opportunity.

Hello Mike!

I was thinking a lot about admonition’s meaning. I’m a bit confused because some dictionaries and Greek commentaries define differently the meaning of admonition.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition (G3559), upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Dictionaries say: calling attention, warning, caution, reproof, rebuke, counsel, etc.

Strong & Thayer in G3559: calling attention, mild rebuke, warning, and exhortation.

Also it said “A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from G3563 and a derivative G5087

G3563: Mind, understanding, in thought, feeling, purpose, and desires.
G5087: To set, put, place, to put down, to set on, establish, and ordain.

I’m lost. I don’t really understand the meaning of admonition “…happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition (reproof, warning, attention, or ?),…”

It is very amazing, but I have understood your letters (articles and FAQ) since 2005! If you really understand what is admonition’s meaning in 1Co 10:11, I would be very appreciate to hear from you.

Your brother in Christ,

B____

Hi B_____,

It is always good to hear from you and to know you are still being edified by what you are reading.

Thank you for your question concerning the meaning of the word admonition in this verse of scripture:

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.

“The ends of the world” should be translated “the ends of the ages”, and that “ends of the ages” is the day of judgment which is the lake of fire where death is at last destroyed:

1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

This is the destruction of death:

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

When we are told in 1Co 10:11 that everything that happened to Israel “happened to them for ensamples [Greek: tupos, types of us] and they are written for our admonition…” what we are being told is that the entire history and economy of the peoples of the Old Testament was really all lived out and it was all written down for the sakes first of us as God’s elect.

2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

Then, after we have been given the redemption of the purchased possession, we will be used of God as the channel for the salvation of all men of all time:

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.

“All things are for your sakes… that through your mercy… He might have mercy upon all”. That is God’s formula, which He is in the process of working out. Everything that happened to ancient Israel happened to them, and it was written “for our sakes”, so we would know to repent of being as those people were. Notice that I did not say ‘So we would know not to be like those people’, rather I said “So we would know to repent of being as those people were”.

I hope this all helps you to see that those people in ancient Israel were “ensamples of us”; they were “tupos” of us; they were types of us in our own rebellious and carnal minds. But being able to see what God did to the rebellious and carnal Israelites admonishes us to repent and to submit ourselves to Him and to His fiery judgments, which are typified by how He dealt with Israel’s rebellions in the wilderness. By seeing how God punished ancient Israel for building that golden calf, for questioning His choice of Moses instead of Aaron, and Moses and Aaron instead of Korah, and Dathan and Abiram, and all of the other rebellions of Israel, you and I are admonished to repent of those sins in our own lives and to submit to our heavenly Father and to His Son Jesus Christ.

That is the purpose for admonition.

Your brother in the Christ,

Mike

Marriage in Scripture – Part 5

Bring… Up [Your Children] In The Nurture And Admonition of The Lord. (Part One)

This is a series on marriage, and nothing is more natural for a married couple than to produce children and have a family. Family life, when it is Biblically functional, is good for all who are part of that family.  As a part of a family, as children we learn that we are not the center of the universe, which is how we will just naturally act if left to ourselves. But in a nurturing family we are not left to ourselves. A parent learns to be considerate first of your spouse, and then as a parent, you must provide for the needs of your children when they appear on the scene.

When we speak of the needs of a child, we are not simply referring to the physical needs of food and shelter. Children need so much more than just physical food and shelter. In our last study we discussed how any man who does not provide for the needs of his own wife and children ‘has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.’ In our study today we will see that the scriptures make it clear that children also need love, and we will see that love is not love if there is not discipline within the family.

But discipline must also be done in love, and never, ever out of uncontrolled anger. God is our Father, and as parents we are gods to our children. Here is what God told Moses concerning those He was placing under Moses to discipline them and to, in type and in shadow, begin destroy the old man within them:

Exo 7:1  And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

Nothing better describes a new-born child than a self-centered Pharaoh who thinks he rules the whole world. We are all born as little, demanding self-centered beasts who want what we want when we want it. We don’t even know we are that way, but being completely self-centered is as natural as breathing.

Now at this time, Israel is still under Pharaoh, and as the type of the new man who is being formed within us Israel typifies a child who continues to receive discipline, even after he comes out of the “iron furnace” of the darkness of the womb that is typified by our time in Egypt, where all of our needs are met by our mother Egypt’s spiritual umbilical cord:

Deu 4:20  But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. Num 11:4  And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? Num 11:5  We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

As Ishmael, Esau and Absalom all demonstrate, the children of God’s typical elect are first the seed of the serpent before they will become the seed of the woman.

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

This verse and this principle applies within all men. God’s elect are but the first in whom it is revealed as being fulfilled in their lives. What that means is that God’s chastening grace does its purging, chastening work within them first, and later through His firstfruits that same mercy and grace are shown to all.

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. 

We are all saved by grace through faith:

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

We are even told that where sin abounds grace much more abounds:

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

We are all under the law before we come to be under grace through faith:

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

Any parent who is worth his or her salt will keep the children under the laws of the house until that child is ready to leave home. There can be only one head in any house, and children who are not made aware of that fact can and will make life miserable for the family who does not know that fact.

So what are we being told by “where sin abounds grace did much more abound”? Some people are so uninformed about the function of grace that they actually believe that if we sin God will bless us for being sinners. It is as if they believe that if we commit adultery God will shower His grace upon us and bless our lives in spite of our adulterous ways. And then if we add murder to our adultery, God will bless us even more, because we are told that His love is unconditional and “where sin abounds, grace does much more abound”. Does that statement in Rom 5:20 actually mean that if we disobey God a little we will get a little grace and when we disobey God much we get more grace? The answer is, yes indeed, that is exactly what it means, but not in the way we used to believe. Grace does not condone ungodliness and worldly lusts, rather grace chastens us to forsake those unrestrained, childish ways and repent and bring forth fruits for repentance. The chastening part of that grace will increase as needed for our ‘abounding’ sins.

The two false doctrines of greasy grace combined with false doctrine of God’s unconditional love have robbed many of knowing God and His Son, neither of whom will tolerate either physical or spiritual ungodliness and worldly lusts.

Let’s consider what the scriptures actually say about God’s free gift of grace and what is His love.

Here is what the scriptures teach us is the function of grace in the life of the true believer:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Tit 2:12  Teaching [Greek – paideuo, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Grace is a free gift because God chastens us without charge to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live sober, righteous and godly lives in this present age. Where stubborn, rebellious sin persists, God’s chastening grace will indeed “much more abound”. It isn’t even a contest. God will win that war with every single person (1Co 15:22). So much for the doctrine of greasy grace.

This is what the scriptures actually teach is the Biblical love of God:

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Saying “Lord, Lord” is not good enough to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Only those who “do the will of [our] Father which is in heaven”.

Obedience to God is biblically the very definition of the love of God:

Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:  Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.  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.

“Fear… take heed lest He also spare not you”. So much for the false doctrine that God’s love is unconditional, and He will accept us ‘just as we are’ in lives of sin and shame. It is in His love and His mercy that our heavenly Father, through Christ’s words working within our hearts and minds, ‘chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live righteous lives in this present age’. Enabling us and blessing us while we remain in our dying, sinful state is not “the love of God”. Such a doctrine leads to death, and Christ came to destroy death with His chastening grace.

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.  Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Both Testaments make clear that the father is the head of the family. Husbands are to be the head of the home and family, both physically and spiritually. “The father to the children shall make known [God’s] Truth”, which ‘Truth’ is Christ and His doctrine. Husbands, and fathers, as leaders do not cede the teaching of the children to Babylonian wives who may not even believe the Truth given to those who know Christ and His Father.

Isa 38:18  For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. Isa 38:19  The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.  1Co 7:14  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.  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. 1Co 11:8  For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. 1Co 11:9  Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. Eph 5:22  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

Not all couples are “of one mind” in Christ. A converted spouse should be teaching his or her children the truth as it is understood. Having Christ makes even a converted woman to be her unconverted spouse’s spiritual leader; not necessarily in a verbal, outward way, but “without the word” so the scripture is fulfilled.

1Pe 3:1  Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation [the way of life] of the wives;

God gave your children to both of you. If you can influence your spouse to follow Christ then do so, but never forfeit teaching the Truth of God to an unbelieving spouse. Husbands and wives in Christ are commissioned to “make known [God’s] Truth… to the children”. “Without the word” mean by example. Solomon did not set a godly example for His household, and his pagan, Babylonian wives turned his heart away from the truth of God to the false doctrines of the gods of his wives.

With all of this firmly in mind, here are the verses which will be the foundation for this study concerning the importance of a married couple agreeing in advance to be of the same mind when it comes to rearing and disciplining children in a family. If you and your spouse cannot agree to these inspired words, before you begin a family, you are asking for trouble which will surely find you:

Pro 13:24  He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.  Pro 19:18  Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying. Pro 23:13  Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Pro 23:14  Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

The word ‘rod’ is translated from the Hebrew word ‘shebet‘ and is better translated as a switch rather than a solid rod, which conveys the concept of a inflexible wooden or metallic rod, and implies being beaten with a blunt object. That is not what the scriptures teach.

Here is how Strong’s defines this word translated ‘rod’:

H7626 שׁבט shêbeṭ shay’-bet From an unused root probably meaning to branch off; a scion, that is, (literally) a stick (for punishing, writing, fighting, ruling, walking, etc.) or (figuratively) a clan: –  X correction, dart, rod, sceptre, staff, tribe.

This ‘rod’ with which we told to “beat” our children, is simply speaking of a switching or a paddling or a spanking with a ‘rod’. It is intended to bring enough pain that the child will never again want to disobey his or her parents, but it is never to be so severe as to inflict any permanent injury.

Discipline should be done in private, if at all possible. It should be done while the parent is in complete control of himself or herself, and in complete control of the child who is to be disciplined. Parents ought never humiliate a child in the presence of other family members or in the presence of the child’s friends. This takes great discipline, but just as parents ought never to argue in the presence of their children, neither should they discipline children in the presence of their friends. I have seen parents ‘show off’ their disciplining of their children by publicly railing at them or spanking them in front of fellow church members.

There may be times when immediate discipline in the presence of others is demanded because of the urgency of the situation, but such times are very rare and should be the exception. A child about to step out in front of a car after having just been told to stay by Daddy’s or Mommy’s side may be such an example.

This principle of chastening by necessity being a very physically painful experience is reaffirmed in both Testaments:

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Where is there any room for the devastating false doctrines of greasy grace or unconditional love in any of those verses of scripture? I am well aware that those words sound completely Neanderthal to the ears of anyone who still subscribes to the equivocating double talk of the anti-authoritarian writings of the famous Dr. Benjamin Spock concerning child rearing. Dr. Spock’s  book Baby and Child Care was published in 1946 and became the virtual Bible on child rearing in the secular world for several decades. While his defenders resent his teaching being labeled as permissive, that has nevertheless been the result of his anti-authoritarian philosophy on the structure and function of the American family and many other families around this world.

Dr. Spock’s philosophy stood in stark contrast to the writings of another earlier, very popular child psychologist, Dr. John B. Watson, who discouraged parents, especially mothers, from showing any affection at all towards their children. It is believed by many that Dr. Spock’s anti-authoritarian philosophy was in reaction and in rebellion against his own authoritarian parents and the authoritarian philosophy he worked under during his first ten years as a pediatrician working in hospitals with children who had be treated and were being raised in homes under the influence of the philosophy of Dr. John B. Watson.

Here is a quote from Dr. Watson’s book entitled Psychological Care of Infant and Child:

I have witnessed family members who have not seen each other sometimes for months or years, and when they finally meet again, the most affection they can muster is just a handshake. This story in Luke 15 must sound perverted to such staid and stiff families.

Luk 15:20  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 

What a sad choice to have to make between these two completely devastating, totally nonbiblical doctrines of these two carnal men. Neither of these men had any Biblical, Godly basis for their theories of how we should deal with our children. The only thing they apparently agreed on is that the Bible has no place in teaching us how we should handle the training and upbringing of our children. The philosophies of these two men are merely the two extremes of what happens when we leave the Word of God, the Manufacturer’s manual, out of our thoughts and considerations about how we are to handle, care for and maintain the Manufacturer’s product, which is mankind and the children of mankind.

Dr. Spock’s philosophy was diametrically opposed to Dr. Watson’s, and is revealed at the very beginning of his book where he assures mothers “You know more than you think you do”. Those words coming off the pen of a man who admits that he is not religious, simply set the stage for the rest of his very ambivalent philosophy, which never denies the need for discipline, rather just refers to spanking as being “poisonous”.

Here is a quote from Dr. Spock’s Baby and Childcare, 1976 Edition, Section 528 on Managing Young Children: Discipline, page 373:

This man’s books sold more copies than any other book, second only to the Bible, for many years. It is reported that there have been over 90 million copies of Dr. Spock’s Baby and Childcare sold world wide. His assumption that children are just naturally good creatures who simply need understanding and encouragement, and at times a little gentle direction, is what is believed to this day in the secular world of child psychology. Such a humanistic doctrine stands in stark contrast to the Truth, which is:

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

…and:

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

These words apply to every child that has ever been born. Neither we nor any of our children are an exception to what is the sad truth concerning the beastly nature of the seed of the first man Adam.

My father was grown and married and had a family before Dr. Spock wrote his very influential opinions about child rearing. Fortunately for my siblings and me, our father never bought into either of those extremes. While my father no doubt leaned toward the side of corporal punishment, it is clear from the fruits of our permissive society that being too lenient is no less of a burden to society than being too strict. But extremes are not where God dwells. God’s way is the narrow way which is neither too heavy on discipline, and is never permissive or anti-authoritarian. As we saw so clearly above, God speaks with authority, and He expects His creatures to fear to disobey Him:

Mat 7:29  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.  Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:  Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 

God has subjected His own creatures to vanity, but He has done so for the express purpose of redeeming them from that state.

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

This vain composition of Rom 8:20 is what physical newborns are. “They themselves are beasts”. The very beginning of the redemption from that beastly nature is foreshadowed by being disciplined and being physically spanked by our physical parents, who, as Moses was to carnal Pharaoh, are gods to us as carnal children, until we are able to begin to understand the concept of a sovereign, invisible God.

Here is what the holy spirit has inspired to be written for our benefit concerning proper child rearing in the New Testament:

Eph 6:1  Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Col 3:20  Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.

Children are commanded to “obey your parents in the Lord… in all things”, but God expects parents to make that obedience stick, “not willingly, [on the part of the child] but in hope…” on the parents’ part, just as God is dealing with His own carnal children.

Paul reveals to us in the book of Galatians that Abraham is an Old Testament type of Christ:

Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

So when we read:

Gen 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

We know that we, as the children of Abraham must do the very same thing with our children, both physical and spiritual.

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

We will stop at this point and have a second part next week on how we should deal with our children. Christ is our Father, and He is our example. Next week we will see how Christ deals with our rebellious nature.

We are twice told “Fathers provoke not your children to wrath”, and we will see why we are given that commandment. We are also told parents are to encourage and strengthen their children, and are to be careful not to discourage their children.

Nothing makes a child feel better than having his parents’ approval, and nothing makes a child feel worse than knowing he has disappointed his parents. It is of utmost importance that we treat our children as we want Christ to deal with us and encourage and strengthen us when we are in need of encouragment and strength.

So it is of utmost importance that parents teach their children from their youth to be obedient, modest, quiet, and willing to be of service to others. Women who dress immodestly must expect their daughters to do the very same thing, and not be surprised when they reap the fruit of such an example.

Our next study will be dealing with the spiritual and psychological needs of our children. Here are but a few of the verses we will be considering in our next study on how we as parents should be ministering to, nurturing and bringing up our children in the admonition of the Lord”:

Deu 1:38  But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. Deu 3:28  But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. Eph 6:4  And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Col 3:21  Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Pro 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. 1Ti 2:9  In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

Hi Mike,

We are studying Luk 18:1-8, and we feel that we do not come to a complete understanding of this part of the Words of our Lord.

Luk 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Luk 18:2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
Luk 18:3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
Luk 18:4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Luk 18:5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Luk 18:6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
Luk 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luk 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

I tried to find a study onpthis parable for explanation of the spiritual meaning, but I could not find it on IWWB.
Can you give us your take on this please?

In Christ,
I____

 
Hi I____,

Thank you for your question concerning the parable of the unjust judge and the importunate widow. I welcome the opportunity to answer this question because this parable and the one concerning the man who was also asking his neighbor at midnight for a loaf of bread are both making the same spiritual point. The point being made is that God, our heavenly Father, wants us to ask him in “effectual fervent prayer” for our needs and our desires, just as you and I want our children to come to us and ask for the things they want and need. This is the point being made by both of these parables, and the need for prayer is completely lost on many who have just learned of the total sovereignty of God, and who, invariably, use that new found truth for an excuse to make no effort at all to follow any of the many admonitions in scripture to “be careful to maintain good works… be sober, be vigilant… be diligent… watch… read, hear and keep the things written therein… work out your own salvation, pray without ceasing, etc, etc, etc.”

Jas 5:16 Confess [ your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

It is simply beyond the grasp of many spiritually “carnal… babes in Christ” (1Co 3:1-4), to understand how we can be conscious of God’s total sovereignty and still be inspired to “fervent prayer, [ and to] work out our own salvation” (Phi 2:12). Of course, the very next verse of Php 2 explains how that is accomplished, but we will get to that later.
The first thing we need to do is to look at these two parables. Here are the ones you mention in Luk 18.

Luk 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Luk 18:2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
Luk 18:3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
Luk 18:4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Luk 18:5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Luk 18:6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
Luk 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luk 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

This judge had no regard for man or for pleasing God. Yet simply ” because this widow troubles me by her continual coming” asking this unjust judge for justice against her adversary, this widow was avenged of her adversary.
Now notice the similarities between this parable and another parable earlier in Luk 11…

Luk 11:5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
Luk 11:6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Luk 11:7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
Luk 11:8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
Luk 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luk 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if [ he ask] a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

Now look at these two verses side by side.

Luk 18:5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Luk 11:8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

Is Christ teaching us in both of these parables that we are to have no regard for God or man, and yet we are to pester God until we wear Him down with requests which He simply doesn’t really want to grant us? Absolutely not! Is there a single, solitary word in either of these parables, which indicates that if we ask for anything that is contrary to God’s will, and that, if we pester him long enough, He will grant it to us? No, there absolutely is not! At least not to anyone who is seeking to understand “the sum of God’s Word.”

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

What then is Christ’s point in twice telling us to be persistent in prayer? His point is that when He tells us plainly that “He is working all things”, He wants us to understand that this “working is within you”; it is not without you or me. Here is the point ot these two parables.

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.
2Co 1:6 But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer:
2Co 4:12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.
Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Php 2:13 for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.
Col 1:29 whereunto I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
1Th 2:13 And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from us the word of the message, even the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe.

God is not working anything He does simply to pacify you or me. He is working all that He does for “His good pleasure… after the counsel of His own will,” and not after the counsel of our wills.

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

God is doing everything He does for his own pleasure and purpose. He is not in the business of fulfilling our every whim. He wants us to know that “all things”, even our evil whims and desires, are His work in us.

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

But that is the point of these two parables; His work is IN US and through us. We are to be engaged in doing the work that He is doing. That is what Paul tells us in the very next chapter in Eph 2.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [ it is] the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Verse ten makes perfectly clear that verse nine does not mean that we are not to “be careful to maintain good works”, as many of our Concordant brothers and many “once saved always saved” Baptist brothers teach. Christ did not die to sin so that we can live in it. Verse ten makes clear that “not of works…” simply means “not of [ our own] works, lest any MAN should boast.”
So are we really expected by God to “be careful to maintain good works?” Are we really expected of God to be constant and persistent in prayer? Here is the answer to that question, and here is the point of both of these parables:

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Tit 3:8 [ This is] a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

I hope these two parables, along with “the sum of God’s Word” (Psa 119:160), helps you to see that Christ is not teaching us to pester our heavenly Father about our every whim. I hope this helps you to see that the point Christ is making in these two parables is that we are never, ever to become complacent and lackadaisical or lazy in His service, simply because we are the very instruments of “His workmanship” through which all of the soberness, vigilance and diligence of all of the exhortations of scripture are being accomplished. I hope all these verses of scripture have helped to make clear that there is absolutely no contradiction between understanding the total sovereignty of God and me exhorting you that it therefore behooves us to “be sober… vigilant… and diligent…” in our prayers, and in all that “He hath before ordained that we should” do in His service.

1Co 10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

I feel sure you already realize this, but your question concerning this parable in Luk 11, has given me the opportunity to explain this dilemma to many who do not yet understand why I exhort anyone to do anything even if it is already written in God’s book. The answer is that it is already written in God’s book that we are to “exhort one another daily… to provoke to love and to good works” and to persistent prayer.

Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

Your brother in Christ,
Mike>

Hi Mike,
Could you please explain to me why God changes people’s names in the bible? Is there a spiritual significance to this; for example, Abraham’s name and Paul’s, Jacob’s.
Thanks a lot,
B____

Hi B____,
Thank you for your question.
You ask why God changes people’s names in the Bible, and you ask if there is a spiritual significance to this.
The short answer is that God changes names to tell you and me what He is doing, and yes indeed, there is a spiritual significance, because what He is doing is always being done for our benefit in the permanent, spiritual realm.
Let’s look at the examples you give to make that simple point. Abram’s name was changed to Abraham. Andrew Jukes points out that adding that ‘h’ is adding an expiring of breath upon Abram, changing Him from a mere Abram to a new Abraham. Abraham is now a new man with a new name, and the same is true of every one whose name our Lord changes.
Now let’s see what these names mean and what their new names mean. I am using Hitchcock’s dictionary of Bible names.

1) Abram – high father
Abraham – father of a great multitude
2) Jacob – that supplants, undermines; the heel (same as James)
Israel – who prevails with God
3) Saul – demanded; lent; ditch; death (same as Shaul)
Paul – small; little (same as Paulus)
Let’s also include Abraham’s wife whose name was also changed.
4) Sarai – my lady; my princess
Sarah – lady; princess; princess of the multitude

So Abram goes from being an exalted or high father to a father of a multitude, and His wife from a lady princess to a princess of the multitude, because as “Abraham” he is an Old Testament type of our Lord who is the true “Father of many nations” meaning, eventually “all in Adam”.

Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Abraham is but a type of our Lord, who is the Savior of all, hence the need to change Abram’s name to Abraham.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

You need to know the story of Jacob and Esau to understand what God is doing and why He changed Jacob’s name to Israel. It was not because Jacob was a good man, which tells us that God does not choose you or me because of who or what we are. Jacob means supplanter, or one who undermines another. In this case it was his poor brother Esau. Jacob talked him out of his birthright for a mere “bowl of red pottage”, then later Jacob lied to his elderly, blind father in order to outright steal Esau’s blessing as the first- born son.
But all of this is a type of what you and I are doing, both individually as undeserving children as well as a type of what our calling “in Christ” is doing to physical Israel. It was known of, and is the working of, God as are all things good and evil.

Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them. (ASV)
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked [ you, me, Jacob] for the day of evil [ in you, me, and in Jacob].
Rom 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

That has a lot to do with all the name changes in scripture. They all highlight and emphasize God doing His own sovereign work in all things. Let’s read on here in Rom 9.

Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? [ Is there] unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16 So then it [ salvation] is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

The answer is, the Potter has the power over the clay to make it a vessel of honor or a vessel of dishonor, and He has decided that we are all to be first, “marred” clay vessels of dishonor, and then to have our names changed and be made into vessels of honor.

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

Saul of Tarsus had his name changed for the reason revealed in this story about the king of Israel whose name Saul of Tarsus bore.

1Sa 15:13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed [ be] thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
1Sa 15:14 And Samuel said, What [ meaneth] then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
1Sa 15:15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
1Sa 15:16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
1Sa 15:17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
1Sa 15:18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
1Sa 15:19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?

As we saw above the name ‘Saul’ means “demanded” or ‘demanded of’. Israel had demanded that God give them a king over them like all the nations around them. So God gave them King Saul, whose name means ‘demanded’. Saul of Tarsus demanded repentance from all who claimed to be Christians.

Act 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, 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.

But Saul was just about to experience an ‘attitude adjustment’, which we all must experience. It is only after we have had that crushing experience, where everything we have worked for so hard in this life is taken from us, that any of us are in a position to be given “a new name”.
King Saul is a type of our old man who goes from humble childhood to thinking of himself as the king of Israel who doesn’t need to listen closely to the words of God. He goes from be “little in his own eyes” to being king. Saul of Tarsus, on the other hand, is our new man who comes forth out of our old man who “goes into perdition”.
But “a new name” from our Lord Himself is in store for us all in our new man, each in our own appointed time. Only those who are truly “made another vessel as seemed good to the Potter” know who they are, and no man can take that from them.

Isa 62:2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

I hope this all helps you to see that the names which are changed in scripture were all changed for our own spiritual admonition, and that there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from each and every one of them.
Collectively they are all just types of us upon whom the ends of the world have come.

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.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike>

Good day Mike,

I am just taking a few minutes off looking after my dad, and having just caught up on the recent FAQ exchange with D____ and Gary, I have just been laughing for the past hour. I feel I must ask you to extend my Love to D___! What a powerful witness, what admonitions of truth!
Though as D__ says, it is a matter of life and death, but sometimes what these brothers come up with is just pure comedy! I mean, an ” INNER GUIDANCE” system based on “MY anointing”??? A personal SATELLITE NAVIGATION for each believer… below and above what is written… a root of schism if ever I saw one!
So funny I had to read 3-4 times to believe somebody actually believed and wrote that!
Nevertheless, I remember fully well my Mother and my first GREAT argument and fight when I first began to tell her of the false spirits and so- called anointing in the church. It was the same exact spirit ‘Gary’ exhibited, but the Lord has brought her to a point where at least she now acknowledges that she knows nothing, let alone the Doctrine of Christ! I have no doubt the same will be accomplished in due time with Gary Sigler, Des and their flocks.
A great lesson to us all in that exchange. I am spending some time with my Dad and on some Sundays we are studying the notes on Rev 14, we give thanks to the Father that “the true Light now shineth” (1Jn2v8).
Thank you for posting that exchange on the site. Brings more light to my day.

Your brother,
A____

Hi A____,

I am so happy I was able to provide you with a little humor. As you say, this is a matter of life and death, but having come through that very spirit myself in my own Pentecostal days, it does now seem incredulous that any of us could have been so blind.
I especially appreciated your “personal satellite system for each believer… below and above what is written”.
How right you are; “a root of schism if ever there was one”.
I am so happy you are blessed to be able to spend some time with your father. You will be blessed for doing so.
I am copying this to D____ for his edification. I know it will be encouraging for him to see that others are being blessed by his efforts to withstand the heresies he is confronting.

God bless you.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Mike,

Thanks for sharing your experience. I do believe when a spirit has been tried, a brother does well to let his siblings know of what sort a spirit it is. Yes, I have met quite a few Preterists in the last few days, and I have been responding to their exchanges with what I know to be truth!
Mike, just like a physical family, I believe in a spiritual family. There are elder brothers, and younger brothers, and while I do “look up to you” as an elder brother, ultimately I look up to “CHRIST” in you. I assume that being elder or younger has nothing to do with age, I am sure that God can take a physically younger brother and exercise his senses without the passage of time, although I do believe age and wisdom work together. I do not think I have looked to you as “the authority” but I DO look to you as an ELDER and I would point out any heresy or question any teaching as I felt lead. I think Respect and Love would be the Christ- like way to handle that.
May I ask your insight on Facebook fellowship? Almost all of these new “Facebook Friends” requested that I be their friend, I feel that through this solicitation I should accept that as an invitation. I do not want to be guilty of a transgression by being in fellowship or breaking bread with the wrong crowd. Do I remember correctly that after the second admonition I should “wipe the dust off of my feet” and no longer cast pearls after swine?
So far there appears one or two sincere searchers have responded well to the “Lake of Fire” truths, which I believe are a major dividing line. As long as these searchers appear to be hungry, I think it is expedient to share all the loaves and fishes that Jesus has given me. I always understood the loaves and fishes parable to mean that no matter how much God’s faithfuls give out, the baskets will not run empty.
Yes, I would always remove a recanted teaching or any other post at your request. Like you I do not worry about plagiarism, because no body wants to buy this. Go figure!
Again, it really is amazing to see the worst of humanity right in the midst of those who actually do see Universal Reconciliation.
I do diligently pray that God keeps granting me sight!

In Christ,
M___

Hi M____,
Thanks for your question.
You ask about accepting Facebook invitations.

Almost all of these new “Facebook Friends” requested that I be their friend, I feel that through this solicitation, that I should accept that as an invitation. I do not want to be guilty of a transgression by being in fellowship or breaking bread with the wrong crowd. Do I remember correctly that after the second admonition I should “wipe the dust off of my feet”, and no longer cast pearls after swine?

It is good that you consider these invitations as an invitation for fellowship in Christ and yes, you do “remember correctly”, “a man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition reject.”

Tit 3:10  A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Tit 3:11  Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

It does not say “third, fourth, or one hundreth”, but first and second. Christ said the same thing in Mat 18.

Mat 18:15  Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16  But if he will not hear [ thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
Mat 18:17  And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell [ it] unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

You and I should always give a person we have never met the benefit of the doubt at first, and assume that he is sincerely seeking only to know what the scriptures teach. But once you have presented the scriptures and it has become clear that this person is not in fear of the Word of God and isn’t even fazed by the scriptures you present to him or her and is simply pushing an unscriptural agenda, you are to determine whether this brother or sister has heard the truth from another brother or sister, and if he has, then you are commanded to witness to the Truth twice, and then you are to “got to the church” and let them know that this brother is teaching heresy. That is what the scriptures teach is necessary to keep unity in the body of Christ. That is what is rejected by the so- called ecumenical movement which pervades all orthodox Christians in today’s world.
These Biblical instructions concerning heretics can all be done over the internet, but it is important that “your brother” hear your witness “from one or two other brothers”, whether that is via the internet, the phone or in person once you know that the person with whom you are communicating has heard the same witness from another brother in Christ, and you have personally witnessed to him “the… second” time, then you and I are commanded to “tell it to the church, and if he neglects to hear the church, let him be to you as a heathen man and a publican.” What that means is “have no company with that man.”

Mat 18:17  And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

2Th 3:14  And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.

“Have no company” is not a command to be uncivil toward anyone. Rather it is a command not to let that person into your spiritual house to discuss spiritual matters with him, and what it is, is a command against bidding Him god- speed, or placing your blessing on his false doctrines.

2Jn 1:9  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

These are the words of Jesus Christ. These words essentially deputize all Christians to become what all heretics call “heresy hunters.” Anyone who dares to “try the spirits to see whether they are of God” and then dares to “go to his brother” about a sinful doctrine is only doing what God commands us to do. Nevertheless, that person is invariably labeled “divisive, elitist, cold hearted and a heresy hunter” by those who despise having their doctrines exposed and contrasted with what the scriptures teach.
This is all being done via the internet. The Lord has given us this medium of communication, and Facebook is part of the internet, but like the rest of the internet it can be abused. Some children share pornography, while others are harassed to the point that it drives them to commit suicide.
Some people use Facebook to keep from having to actually communicate one on one. In other words, they use Facebook on a daily basis, sort of like some people send out an annual letter to let all their family and friends know how they are faring on a daily basis. You go to the computer, and there it is: “So- and- so is playing tennis today at 10 A. M.” That is fine for those who do that, but others simply don’t have time to do that, and it really is just a matter of personal preference.
On the other hand I have received and answered many sincere questions concerning scripture on Facebook. So Facebook does serve to keep many people connected, but for my purposes of sharing the gospel, it simply is not ideal because scriptural answers generally require more space than the box on Facebook provides. I often answer Facebook inquiries in e- mail, if I have that person’s e- mail address.
But again, that is a personal preference, and Facebook can be and is good for those who want to use it.
I hope I have answered your question about using face book invitations as a means of witnessing and also your question about “trying the spirits and rejecting a heretic after the first and second admonition.”

Your brother in Christ,
Mike