Rev 9:16-19- Part 3- The Sixth Trumpet

[Study Aired Aug 30, 2024]

Rev 9:16  And the number of the army of the horsemen [were] two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Rev 9:17  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses [were] as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
Rev 9:18  By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths
Rev 9:19  For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails [were] like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
Rev 9:20  And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Rev 9:21  Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Introduction

We have already established the spiritual significance of every symbol found in these six verses.

1) An army signifies ongoing spiritual warfare within us all.

2) Men on the horses signify the incredible power and intellect of the persuasive testimony and doctrines of this vast army of wicked doctrines which are within us.

3) The number two tells us that these are the myriads of witnesses to those false doctrines.

4) The breastplates of fire and of jacinth, and brimstone on the horsemen tell us that we will be judged by the very false doctrines we propound to others. ‘Jacinth’ means “deep blue”, signifying the intense heat of the blue flame produced by the burning sulfur proceeding from the mouths of these powerful horse like destructive locusts.

Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

5) The death of “the third part of men” tells us once again, that we are dealing with the process of judgment upon our old man who is signified as “the inhabiters of the earth”.

We are all “the children of disobedience” prior to beginning to be judged by the Lord.

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

6) The fact that the power of these horses is in their mouths, which are “as the mouth of a lion,” instead of coming out of the mouth of the men on the horses, tells us that the horse and his rider are both one and the same powerful lying beast.

7) “Their power is in their mouth and in their tails” tells us that these are the false doctrines of false prophets by which doctrines we all have been hurt, and from which we are being delivered by the process of judgment which is at this very moment taking place in “the house of God.” (1Pe 4:17)

8) “The rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues” tells us that being killed by these plagues signifies the death of our old man and the beginning of the birth of our new man, Christ in us (Col 1:27). God’s wrath is on all ungodliness, and this is an ongoing, yet incomplete process in which we are “dying daily,” and being “crucified with Christ” daily.

9) “Yet repented not of the works of their hands” signifies the same ongoing judgment which is upon the “worship of devils” and “idols of the heart” with which we struggle for so very long.

10) “Idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood” are these very same false convictions with which we struggle, ranging from the false doctrine of salvation through good works, to “turning grace into lasciviousness.”

11) “Which neither see, nor hear, nor walk” is the perfect spiritual description of these idols of the heart which have taken away our spiritual sight, our spiritual ears and therefore our ability to walk in Christ’s steps and live as Christ lived (1Pe 2:21).

12) “Neither repented they of their murders” signifies the doctrine of a “Christian soldier” being blessed as a physical soldier fighting for his physical country, as well as failing to understand that hatred of one’s fellow man is spiritually the same as murder (1Jo 3:15).

13) “Nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication” both signify the tenacity of the false doctrines of “another Jesus,” which cling to us, even as we struggle to be free of them, and of that ‘other Jesus’ (2Co 11:4).

14) “Nor of their thefts” tells us that we have stolen God’s Words and have twisted them, and have perverted them, and have used them in that way to cover the idols of our hearts, and the doctrines of “another Jesus” (Eze 14:1-9; Eze 16:17).

Since we have already given the scriptures for these symbols, we will take each symbol and put with it a few verses of scripture which, without comment, will establish the meaning of that symbol.

An army

1) An army signifies the ongoing spiritual warfare within us all.

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. [Greek, epuranios – the heavens of our hearts and minds]
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Rev 19:14  And the armies [which were] in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Men on Horses

2) ‘Men on the horses’ signifies the incredible death dealing power and influence of the testimony and doctrines of this vast army which is in the world within and without. It is so vast and universal that our flesh poses the question “Who is able make war with [the beast]” (Rev 13:4):

Isa 43:17  Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

Nah 3:3  The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering spear: and [there is] a multitude of slain, and a great number of carcases; and [there is] none end of [their] corpses; they stumble upon their corpses:

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

The number two

3) The number two tells us that there are ‘two hundreds million’ false witnesses to those false doctrines.

This link include the spiritual significance of both numbers one and two: https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/numbers_one/

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

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 26:59  Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death;
Mat 26:60  But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, [yet] found they none. At the last came two false witnesses,

Rev 11:3  And I will give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

Breastplates of fire and of jacinth, and brimstone on the horsemen

4) The breastplates of fire and of jacinth, and brimstone on the horsemen tell us that we will be judged by the very fiery wicked doctrines we propound to others. ‘Jacinth’ is the color deep blue which signifies the things of the spirit. It also signifies the intensity of the heat produced by such destructive doctrines. It may seem strange that the horses which come out of the smoke of the bottomless pit with tails like scorpions, which ‘tails’ are specifically designated as “false prophets who prophesy lies”… it may seem strange that they can have riders whose breastplates are of fire and of jacinth and brimstone, but all these words have both a positive and a negative application:

Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

How is this possible? Here is how God uses evil and makes good come of it. Here is how God calls light out of darkness.

Isa 9:13  For the [Lord’s] people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Isa 9:17  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the [jacinth, blue] fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6  I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

Assyrians are Babylonians. Babylon is located in the land of Assyria and is the rod of God’s anger and indignation. God’s wrath at this time is not against Babylon. At this present time, it is against His wayward elect. It is while we are spiritually in the bondage of Babylon that God speaks to us these words:

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.

Jer 2:29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
Jer 2:30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, [thou] wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

Col 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.

We all have transgressed against our Lord, we have refused His correction and denied and destroyed His prophets. This is common to all men, and it is this experience itself that becomes the fuel for the fire and brimstone which will bring us to the jacinth intense blue heat at the end of God’s judgments upon our sins and false doctrines.

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

You and I are “the earth”, the “vessel of clay in the Potter’s hand”, and if we are we are   “His house” then we will be experiencing His judgment in “this present time”.

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

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

The third part of men

5) The death of “the third part of men” tells us once again that we are dealing with the process of judgment upon “the inhabiters of the earth”. The death of “the third part of men” who are also “inhabiters of the earth” signifies that all the doctrines of this earth inhabit  us and make us “of the earth. It is instructive that Jeremiah addresses the earth three times in this verse:

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

Isaiah 26:9 and Ezekiel 5:2 shows us that “a third part” is just the beginning of the judgment of God which will teach “the inhabiters of the earth” righteousness by the time that three step process is completed:

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

Eze 5:2  Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, [and] smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.

Rev 8:10  And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

The phrase “a [or] the third part” appears 5 times in the 8^th chapter of Revelation alone. It appears 19 times in the entire Bible and it always signifies the process of judgment all men must endure.

Isaiah 26:9 and Zechariah 13:9 both reveal the glorious fruit of the Lord’s fiery judgments through the trials He places in our lives:

Zec 13:9  And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

The natural man sees “the third part” as 33 and 1/3 percent of mankind, or the physical nation of Israel, or one third of the body of professing Christians, but  the sum of the Lord’s words reveal that “the third part” is always referring to the process of judgment which is taking place within those who rejoice to be given the privilege of dying daily to the kingdom of our old man. A third part of the trees dying, a third part of the fish in the sea dying and a third part of men dying, one and all signify those few who are finally given to repent of their abominable lives and begin the judgment of God in this present time:

Rev 9:20  And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

The overcomers who stand on the sea  of glass mingled with fire are those who were privileged to be crucified with Christ by dying daily in this present time:

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

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

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
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,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

As the mouth of a lion

6) The fact that the power of these horses is in their mouths, which are “as the mouth of a lion”, instead of coming out of the mouth of the men on the horses, tells us that the horse and his rider are both one and the same beast with a mouth speaking great blasphemous doctrines which devour us all in our own appointed time:

Rev 9:16  And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Rev 9:17  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

The words of the beast devour us and “kill [us]” before the fiery trials of the Lord devour the kingdom of our old man.

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

2Ti 4:17  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and [that] all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

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

Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a [devouring] mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months.
Rev 13:6  And he opened his [devouring] mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

“The mouth of a lion” is the same mouth uttering false doctrines which devour our old man, as the “mouth of a lion” devours his prey.

Time and again we have watched as our adversary the devil has devoured our poor unsuspecting brothers with the words of his lying mouth. This is how Peter warns us against the mouth of this “roaring lion”:

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

Their power is in their mouth and in their tails

7) “Their power is in their mouth and in their tails” tells us that these are the false doctrines of false prophets with which doctrines have devoured all men establishing the kingdom of our old man within us.

Isa 9:13  For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

It is from that well established kingdom, dominated by a great spiritual harlot that we are being delivered by the process of judgment which is at this very moment taking place in “the house of God”. It is in this same 9^th chapter of Isaiah which reveals to us the spiritual significance of “their tails” that Isaiah makes another very revealing statement concerning the fuel which fires our judgment:

Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

The “briers and thorns [and] thickets of the forest” all signify the blasphemous false doctrines which keep us in bondage while we are dominated by the great harlot and all her daughters.

Job 16:10  They have gaped upon me with their mouth; they have smitten me upon the cheek reproachfully; they have gathered themselves together against me.

Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

The head is our leader. The doctrine of our leaders has led us astray and into Babylon.

Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.

It is from the power of these lying leaders that we are told to “come out of her My people”:

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

There are five verbs in Rev 18:4. They are… ‘heard; saying; come; partakers, and receive’. Of those five verbs the word ‘saying’ is the only verb which is not in the aorist tense. The verb, ‘saying’, is in the present tense because that is what the holy spirit is presently  telling us to do.

We will pause our study of the spiritual significance of the symbols of this sixth trumpet at this point. In our next study we will finish revealing what the scriptures reveal to be the spiritual significance of the remaining symbols of this sixth trumpet.

The Book of Joel – Chapter 2:1-11,  Part 1 – The Day of the Lord

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD” –  Mal 4:5

[Study Aired July 27^{th 20}24]

The Day of the Lord

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 
Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 
Joe 2:3  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 
Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 
Joe 2:5  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 
Joe 2:6  Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 
Joe 2:7  They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 
Joe 2:8  Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 
Joe 2:9  They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 
Joe 2:10  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 
Joe 2:11  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? 

Introduction

The sequential step from “Repentance” studied in last week’s Chapter One of Joel is in rigid lockstep with the dreadfully enigmatic “The Day of the Lord”, the revelation of Jesus Christ signified in Revelations. For our former Babylonian selves, the obscure meaning of that term remained fearfully unsolved, regardless of our masking joyfulness with endless affirmations that “Jesus loves us” as we choked down the glazed death rings (doughnuts) and drank the awful coffee.

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. 

For the Berean student of Christ (Acts 17:10-15), and as far as joyfully receiving repetitive verses go, the following one in Matt 13 holds the key, yet it is equally baffling to the Babylonian mind. Even though Matt 13:10-17 was referring to the parable of the sower, Jesus’ answer to his Elect, primarily represented as the Apostles, though not solely named as such, ‘is, was, and will be‘ an ‘earth’ shattering realisation that it is only a very, very limited few who will be given to understand The Mysteries of the Kingdom of God. It is they, alone, who in this age since the cross, and stealthy hidden in Gideon’s physical account, are given to go and fight the spiritual enemies within themselves as individual joints constituting the Bride of Christ.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias [Jehovah’s help], which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Jdg 7:2  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 

Gideon’s army (Jdg 7:18) is severely stripped from 32,000 to 300 men to fight the relatively massive Midianite army. In this case, the number 3 (3 x 100) carrying trumpets and lamps represents the progression of the Lord’s Elect, who see by the light of Christ’s spiritual word, the enemy in the dark and gloomy night approaching within and blow the war trumpet alarm to fight the giant enemies by Christ’s power and might, not by their strength.

Jdg 7:7  And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped [like dogs, signifying faithful devotion] will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place [home, effectively back to symbolic Babylon].

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

This prelude brings us to the incredibly exciting understanding of “The Day of the Lord.”

Heb 3:15  As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”
Heb 3:16  For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
Heb 3:17  And with whom was God [their Husband] angry [symbolically “bitter” – Col 3:19] for forty years? [because they couldn’t understand that He needed Shulamite-like kisses of espousal devotedness – Son 1:2] Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18  And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed?
Heb 3:19  So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter.

Significations:

The first verse of today’s Study in Joel, Chapter Two, describes our formally fearful anticipation of “The Day of the Lord” in him being our enemy! In ancient Israel, an enemy was announced by blowing a trumpet. Today, after the cross, it is represented by Christ’s spiritual message to all to whom he has given ears to hear the trumpet and eyes to see the enemy and to spiritually divide the truth. It is the day of judgement first, “nigh at hand” for the Bride of Christ while she is in the flesh and for the remainder of the world represented as Gog and Magog, their ‘day of the Lord’ as unrefined spirit beings in the Resurrection to Judgement, the Lake of Fire.

Rev 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth [Gog and Magog as numerous as the stars of heaven] by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

Christ’s Bride is the heavenly New Jerusalem above, who inherits Christ, him being “the holy mountain”; they, now in marriage, are unified as one ‘holy mountain’.

Isa 57:12  I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.
Isa 57:13  When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain; 

Zec 8:3  Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and [New] Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain. 

Our Lord’s holy mountain is established by much violence in our earth as Michael and his angels, meaning Christ, fight our battles within since Christ’s strength is made manifest in the ‘weaker vessel’ (1 Pet 3:7), the Woman, the Bride of Christ we hope and pray to be.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I [Christ] am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

Eze 33:2  Son of man, speak to the children [The Bride of Christ] of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land [you and I], if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
Eze 33:3  If when he  [you and I] seeth the sword come upon the land [our spirit; our conscience], he blow the trumpet, and warn the people [Primarily, first judge yourself before you are capable of warning others, but not limited to your hypocritical self – 1 Cor 11:30];
Eze 33:4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword [God’s word] 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.
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 the Gideon scriptures mentioned above, he represents Christ, and his 300 men are the selected Elect, having come out of the 32,000 men of Israel representing the world, fleeing Egypt and, later, Babylon, similarly and all spiritually representing Assyria, Sodom and Old Jerusalem. With three aspects of lust written in their hearts, they are the Lord’s selected faithful Elect, all remaining subject to (1) the lust of the eyes, (2) the lust of the flesh, and (3) the pride of life. This symbolises the progression (Number 3) of the Bride of Christ and the forgiveness of her lofty sins (pride) by her Lord’s faith and spirit.

Rev 11:8 And their [the joints of the Bride] dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city [Old Jerusalem, the disappearing Whore within each of us], which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where [Spiritually today if you hear his voice] also our Lord was crucified.

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 [the Bride alone since the cross] that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Isa 2:12  For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

Isa 13:4  The noise of a multitude in the mountains, [Babylon within and the world] like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle [within the incipient Bride’s.
Isa 13:5  They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land [of the Elect of God]. 
Isa 13:6  Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 

To the anxious Babylonian who unknowingly believes in “another Jesus” (2 Cor 11:4), ‘the day of the Lord’ is seen as one event of the outward return of Christ being witless of the obscure inference of a Second Resurrection, meaning, the Resurrection to Judgement. Even though he erroneously believes that Jesus loves him as he is, a certain doubt dogs his conscience because of verses such as Joel 2:2, and he dismisses it as a terrifying day for some other far worse sinner. Unwittingly for him, that day is the return of Christ, not for him, but for the Lord’s “little flock” Elect.

Rom 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Rom 10:13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved [in one of the two resurrections]

Of course, ALL Christians confess their sins and call upon Christ’s name, not knowing that they worship “another Jesus” (2 Cor 11:4) since they insist upon eating and drinking their own doctrinal bread and water.

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves [from Adam to the end of the One Thousand Year reign] shall hear his voice, 
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life [the First Resurrection]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920 – meaning “judgement”, the Resurrection to Judgement resulting in salvation].

As former Babylonian Christians, verse 13 was all we needed to understand, as it speaks plainly, yet we did not grasp the meaning of “grace” in the following verse, which represents chastisement.

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 [and not after the other Jesus’ doctrine modelled in our image]. 

Grace is God’s “gracious love and favour.” But what does grace do for us? Well, when we sin, grace does much more abound with God’s loving Fatherly chastening and scourging until we are brought to see that it feels so good when we finally quit banging our heads against the wall of “turning grace into lasciviousness.” As formally did we, lasciviousness is precisely what our Babylonian brothers and sisters do. They think that they are solely saved by Christ’s work on the cross and that they don’t have to do anything because “Christ died for us, so we don’t have to die”! THAT IS LASCIVIOUSNESS – colloquially expressed as greasy grace.

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

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?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching [G3811 – Paideuo- Phonetic: pahee-dyoo’-o – Definition: 1. to train children a. to be instructed or taught or learn b. to cause one to learn 2. to chastise a. to chastise or castigate with words, to correct] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Apart from the Bride of Christ, the entirety of mankind ever to exist, having unwittingly cast themselves as royalty and been thrown into the Lake of Fire, will most torturously, yet temporarily, while ‘chastising grace’ works its utterly devouring work, will assuredly give God the glory for its molten re-casting them as God’s fine gold.

Lam 4:1  How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
Lam 4:2  The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! 

Zec 9:3  And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets [Having cast her own righteousness]. 
Zec 9:4  Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea; and she shall be devoured with fire

Rev 18:16  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city [Ephriam, Israel, Old Jerusalem, Egypt, Sodom & Babylon – The Great Whore; you and I], that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!

The Elect of God today, the Bride of Christ, has had her day of gloominess and thick darkness and is now joyfully receiving the ‘gloomy foreboding’ chastisement and eagerly being re-cast as her Lord’s fine gold in his image. At the First Resurrection, when Christ’s Bride ascends into Christ, her sisters and brothers remaining on Earth will, with loin loosening fear (As was King Belshazzar’s in Dan 5:1-7), bitterly lament for their day of darkness remaining throughout the One Thousand Year reign by Christ and his Christs (plural) rod of iron on into the early stages of the Resurrection to Judgement. Only then, and upon their acknowledgement of their waywardness, will their dawning glory break forth in Christ.

Luk 23:45  And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
Luk 23:46  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Luk 23:47  Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly [the Bride of Christ] this was a righteous man.
Luk 23:48  And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.
Luk 23:49  And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things. 

Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

After the First Resurrection, Babylonian Christianity and the world will realise, with much consternation, that they are not resurrected to eternal life. They will experience fear, as “a great people”, the Bride of Christ keeps them in forced peace during the Thousand Year reign. Their future will remain jittery since they will see the apostles and other long-dead truthful followers of Christ now resurrected, similar to how Joseph’s brothers in Egypt felt when they found Joseph alive.

Continuing in the following verses of Joel, there is hidden “one event to all” mankind, beginning first with the Bride of Christ being devoured by her Lord’s fiery word. Upon her resurrection to life and inheriting her Lord as her Husband, she will be His very same fiery sword that prepares the world to be utterly consumed by fire from Eden at the end of the One Thousand Years when fire consumes Gog and Magog, the world.

Joe 2:3  A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Joe 2:4  The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Joe 2:5  Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

Eze 39:6  And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are [the entirety of mankind ever to have lived], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever [age lasting fire until all mankind and the Devil and his angels are refined as gold in a furnace].

Joe 2:6  Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

At the beginning of the Resurrection to Judgment, the entire world will endure immense mental suffering, which will manifest as “blackness.” This is because every jot and title of the previous understanding of the Lord’s word is as dark as the curtains in Solomon’s temple that hide Christ and his Bride, who are likewise depicted as “black” to their understanding. As a result, people will believe that they are about to be engulfed in the lie of a physical eternal fire.

Son 1:5  I [The Shualmite who symbolises the Bride of Christ] am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem [the rest of the world], as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. 
Son 1:6  Look not upon me, because I am black [… it is useless in this day and age to understand me], because the sun [Christ, the noonday sun, burnt black all of her whoredoms] hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards [all symbolic 40,000 plus disunited Christian denominations realising that they are not invited to the wedding supper]; but mine own vineyard have I not kept [since, and now, Christ is her vinedresser and workmanship].

All in the Lake of Fire do not realise that the intense pain they feel is actually a part of their spiritual refinement, not literal burning while they are still alive since spirit bodies cannot die, but rather a much lengthier physical version of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s faith-building firey event (Dan 3:8-30). Those three young children (probably in their teens) no doubt felt dreadful consternation while being bound to be thrown alive into the furnace. Likewise, it is similar to Joseph’s brothers living every day for seventeen years with the expectation that Joseph will exact sudden fiery retribution upon them until their old man, their father, Jacob, died. Only then did they ever come to be at peace with their brother Joseph. The death of their old man signifies the ultimate end of the Lake of Fire coming upon the whole world as they come through that fiery experience, having been purified of the carnal-minded, rebellious old man.

Zep 1:14  The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zep 1:15  That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16  A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17  And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
Zep 1:18  Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

Joe 2:7  They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

It is Christ, our husband, who runs upon our proud walls and its embedded breasts like fortification towers of Old Jerusalem, denoting the formally proud yet, repentant Rahab-like whore we have been before we become purified by our Lord’s fire and made his Bride. The joints of the Bride, the Elect of God are the “they” who “run like mighty men”. Having been saved by Christ, she now goes forth in the Lake of Fire and likewise breaks down her sister Babylon’s proud walls and whorish ways.

Son 8:10  I [The Bride of Christ] am a wall, and my breasts like towers [having powerfully put off her whorish ways]: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.

Oba 1:21  And saviours [Plural] shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau [Zion and Esau represent the entire world]; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S. 

Joe 2:8  Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall [not by chance] upon the sword, they shall not be wounded [H1214 – to cut off; gain by unrighteous violence].

The destruction of the Old Jerusalem we are is done in an orderly manner in Christ’s timing. We look forward to falling upon the sword of God’s word and are most certainly wounded in spirit and gained a contrite heart while yet we live.

Psa 118:16  The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Psa 118:17  I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
Psa 91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Joe 2:9  They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.

We are the city of Old Jerusalem being destroyed. God’s word enters through our eyes, which are the windows of the Lord’s spiritual understanding. Even though the wise virgins likewise sleep with the foolish, Christ, under cover of darkness, quietly puts his hand through the hole to the latch of our door.  Yet, and to the collapsing Babylonian world around us today in 2024, and at an undisclosed time of Christ’s imminent return, the Elect of God with him will climb upon the destroyed houses of man’s government and demonic spiritual ideologies. Christ’s wife, in iron rulership with him (Rev 2:27), will have come stealthily like a thief in the night yet in plain sight to force the Beast to submit to Christ.

Son 5:2  I [The wise virgins, the Bride of Christ] sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night [the dew is the ravishing life-giving word of God, enflamed by his kisses better than wine].
Son 5:3  I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? [He died, is resurrected and made pure and is returning to bless his Bride with her inheritance in Him]
Son 5:4  My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels [my heart ‘betwixt my breasts’, my seat of his spirit – Son 1:13] were moved for him.
Son 5:5  I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

(Myrrh is a dedicated anointing oil only for Aaron and his sons, representing the Bride of Christ and her priestly commission. It represents the pure unadulterated spiritual word of God. She, in unity with her husband, is anointed by him and made holy. Exo 30:32  Upon man’s flesh shall it [Myrrh] not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. Exo 30:33  Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger [Expose Christ’s truth to a heritic], shall even be cut off from his people.)

Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

1Th 5:2-11  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, [who have perfect vision through the windows of their spiritual understanding] that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 
1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1Th 5:11  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

Most starkly, the following concluding verses of Joel’s expressions of The Day of the Lord are mirrored in Revelations, where Christ’s word (the sun) has become inky black to our collapsing world, and the 40,000 plus Babylonian Christian churches, depicted as the moon, worshipping “another Jesus” become even darker than the previous 2,000 years since the cross. At this point, Christ’s Christ, the “stars” with their testimony are likewise utterly hidden since their Lord has finished spiritually martyring them beneath him, their altar.

Joe 2:10  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Rev 8:12  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

Joe 2:11  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 
Rev 6:11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

That “little season” has existed ever since the cross, yet, as seen in the spring growth of the fig tree, it is even at our door (Luk 21:29-33) and is to the Babylonian world, that dreadful Day of the Lord the Bride, paradoxically, has relished since understanding her jaw-dropping calling.

Lord willing, Christ has made the Bride ready for the ‘Return of her Lord’ in next week’s study.

[Study Aired April 10, 2023]

Num 1:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 
Num 1:2  Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;
Num 1:3  From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 
Num 1:4  And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers. 
Num 1:5  And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.
Num 1:6  Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
Num 1:7  Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 
Num 1:8  Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar. 
Num 1:9  Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon. 
Num 1:10  Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 
Num 1:11  Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni.
Num 1:12  Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
Num 1:13  Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran. 
Num 1:14  Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 
Num 1:15  Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan. 
Num 1:16  These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel. 
Num 1:17  And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names: 
Num 1:18  And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls. 
Num 1:19  As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. 
Num 1:20  And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 
Num 1:21  Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.
Num 1:22  Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 
Num 1:23  Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. 
Num 1:24  Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 
Num 1:25  Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty. 
Num 1:26  Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 
Num 1:27  Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 
Num 1:28  Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 
Num 1:29  Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 

Introduction

As we are aware, the entire Bible is all about Christ. The scriptures testify that every aspect of the word of the Lord is about Christ.

Joh 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Joh 1:45  Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 

Luk 24:27  And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 

The Book of Numbers looks at Christ from His mission to transform the church into a heavenly army with the objective of establishing His kingdom within His people first as they journey through the wilderness of this life. In the fullness of time, this inward kingdom of God will become manifested visibly as the kingdoms of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. 

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

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

A key role of an army is to destroy any potential threat posed by opposing forces to the building of a kingdom. In our case, our flesh poses a potential threat to the building of the kingdom of God within us and therefore, as an army of the Lord, we are in a war situation with our flesh. This flesh is symbolized by the enemies that the Israelites fought with, as they journeyed in the Book of Numbers. The latter part of the Book of Numbers therefore focuses on this war of the Israelites such as the Amorites and the Midianites.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

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.

A significant aspect of being of the army of the Lord is that we are required to endure hardships and also not to be involved in the affairs of this world as we please our commanding officer, who is Christ.

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

Today’s study focuses on the formation of this army of the Lord’s elect from different tribes and kindred all over the world, who are represented by the twelve tribes of Israel. 

Num 1:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 
Num 1:2  Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;
Num 1:3  From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 

The Lord ordered a census to be conducted for all males of the tribe of Israel above 20 years old. As we know, all things are for our benefit. Thus, this census was part of the Lord’s plan to unveil to His elect, who would come centuries later, what is required to be part of the Lord’s army. 

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 

Being a male of 20 years old signifies that we are ready to handle the word of truth as the Lord guides us to engage the flesh on a daily basis. This implies that we have become spiritually mature and therefore are not blown away by every wind of doctrine. 

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 
Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 

Verse 2 says that these armies to be numbered were to come from every tribe of Israel. It shows that the Lord is redeeming people from every tribe and kindred from every generation to be enrolled in His army. 

Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 

This numbering excluded all females of Israel. This is because spiritually, there is only one church, who is the bride of Christ and therefore cannot be counted. This church is that of the firstborn or Jerusalem which is above, which is contrasted with Jerusalem which is, and is in bondage with her children. As Paul indicated, Jerusalem which is, has many divisions and therefore cannot constitute an army as no army that is divided can stand any chance against an enemy. 

1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 

Mar 3:24  And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 
Mar 3:25  And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  

In the Bible, there was a time that David also ordered his army commander, Joab, and the rulers of the people to count his army. However, the Lord was not pleased with David’s action and as a result, many people died resulting from the Lord sending a plague to the people of Israel. The question is, ”Why was the Lord displeased with David when in the Book of Numbers, the Lord ordered the counting of His army?”

1Ch 21:1  And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. 
1Ch 21:2  And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it. 
1Ch 21:3  And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? 
1Ch 21:4  Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.  

1Ch 27:23  But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the LORD had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of the heavens. 
1Ch 27:24  Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David.

David wanted to count his army to give him the assurance that he had the men to fight for him after having won many victories. It is during the time of our success that we are most vulnerable as we think that it is through our strength that we have won many victories over the flesh. However, we do not bring anything to the table when it comes to our salvation or victories over the flesh. It is all the work of the Lord.

Another reason why the Lord was displeased with David was that he refused to listen to a multitude of counsel. He did not consult anyone regarding his decision to number the army. At least Joab warned David that his action would cause a trespass to Israel, but David refused. He was not prepared to listen to this counsel. Immediately we refuse to listen to the multitude of counsel or defer to our elders, then we come under the spell of Satan to buffet us. We have seen this happen to many of our brothers and sisters who had left us.

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. 

1Pe 5:5  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Num 1:4  And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers. 
Num 1:5  And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.
Num 1:6  Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
Num 1:7  Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 
Num 1:8  Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar. 
Num 1:9  Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon. 
Num 1:10  Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 
Num 1:11  Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni.
Num 1:12  Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
Num 1:13  Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran. 
Num 1:14  Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 
Num 1:15  Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan. 
Num 1:16  These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
Num 1:17  And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names: 
Num 1:18  And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls. 

These 12 men were the leaders of the various tribes who were called to assist Moses with the census. The twelve sons of Jacob became the twelve tribes which served as the foundation for the fulfillment of God’s intention to gain a people and to form an army with the intention of building a kingdom. Among the twelve tribes, Levi was consecrated to God to serve in the tabernacle. As a result, the Levites were not counted. This means that there was a shortage of one tribe. Fortunately, the place of the tribe of Levi was filled by Joseph who received a double portion through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The fact that the Levites were not counted means that they were not part of the army of God and therefore represent Babylon, the religions of this world who are involved physically with matters pertaining to God (upholding the law of Moses) but are not counted as part of the Lord’s elect. As the name Levi implies, they are joined to us to assist us in serving the Lord in this life.

Num 3:5  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Num 3:6  Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. 
Num 3:7  And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. 
Num 3:8  And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 
Num 3:9  And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel. 
Num 3:10  And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest’s office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

Now, let’s take a look at the twelve tribes to see their characteristics as it informs us of the credentials the Lord is looking for in forming His army. We can know more of these tribes by reviewing Jacob’s blessing of his sons in Genesis chapter 49 as follows:

Gen 49:3  Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
Gen 49:4  Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
Gen 49:5  Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

The tribe of Reuben is described as unstable because the founding father, Reuben, defiled his father’s bed. Reuben represents Babylon where we all ended up defiling the Lord’s wife by promoting false doctrines at the expense of the Lord’s words. This is exemplified in the Corinthian church when a member slept with his father’s wife. Levi and Simeon were described as instruments of cruelty. When the Lord came to pick us up to enroll in His army, we were under the influence of the flesh and were indeed children of wrath just like Reuben, Simeon and Levi. This is what the Lord says we were when He came for us:

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

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

The tribe of Judah was promised rulership. As we are aware, even though in our current state it is difficult to imagine that we shall be rulers, the Lord has again and again assured us that we shall surely overcome and reign with Christ. This rulership is part of the incentives for our enrollment in the Lord’s army.

Gen 49:10  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. 

The tribe of Zebulun cannot dissociate itself from the sea of flesh in which it finds itself. That is the meaning of Zebulun dwelling at the haven of the sea. This implies that the tribe of Zebulun represents us who were dominated by the flesh when Christ came to enroll us in His army. The tribe of Issachar loves life and therefore became a slave of the pleasures of the flesh. We were all slaves of the pleasures of the flesh until Christ came.

Gen 49:13  Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon. 
Gen 49:14  Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: 
Gen 49:15  And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. 

The tribe of Dan was assured of being judges, while that of Gad is destined to overcome. The tribe of Asher was promised to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, as symbolized by their bread being fat. The result of comprehending these mysteries is that they shall become kings. We are called to be judges and kings when we overcome. It is not by our strength or anything we can do, but by the Lord’s mercies, we shall surely overcome.

Gen 49:16  Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. 
Gen 49:17  Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
Gen 49:18  I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD. 
Gen 49:19  Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
Gen 49:20  Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Like the tribe of Naphtali, we are assured that when we are loosed from the sins which easily beset us through the judgment of our old man as we become enlightened in knowledge of His words, what comes out of our mouth will be beautiful words (goodly words) which give life.

Gen 49:21  Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. 

As indicated earlier, Joseph was given a double portion and therefore his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were therefore the founding fathers of their tribes. Through these two tribes, represented by Joseph, we come to see the suffering we must endure as we are hated by the world. However, in the final analysis, we shall go from strength to strength as symbolized by the arms of our hands being made strong by the hand of the almighty!! 

Gen 49:22  Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: 
Gen 49:23  The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: 
Gen 49:24  But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
Gen 49:25  Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 
Gen 49:26  The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. 

The tribe of Benjamin spiritually represents those who will become victorious over the flesh, which is powered by the devil, when the sun of righteousness (Christ) rises within them. While the world is becoming darker and darker as the day approaches, the Lord’s called and chosen shall be celebrating their victories over the flesh on a daily basis.

Gen 49:27  Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.  

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. 
Mal 4:3  And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. 

In summary, the twelve tribes constituting the Lord’s army represent the elect with varied backgrounds which in the sight of men, amounts to nothing. However, the Lord has chosen the foolish things of this world to transform them into the Lord’s army with the full assurance of their victory over the enemies of Christ and to be rewarded with kingship, the priesthood and judgments of the world.

Num 1:19  As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. 
Num 1:20  And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 
Num 1:21  Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred (46,500). 

What is significant in these verses is the number of those enlisted in the Lord’s army representing the tribe of Reuben – 46,500. The significant numbers here are 4,6 and 5. The number 4 signifies the whole of the issue under discussion and in this case, we are dealing with the whole of the elect from every generation.  The number 6 is the number of mankind and therefore tells us that the Lord’s army is selected from among men. The number 5 refers to grace through faith. It is by grace through faith that we become part of this formidable army of the Lord.

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. 

Num 1:22  Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 
Num 1:23  Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred (59,300). 

The total number of the army from the tribe of Simeon was 59,300. As indicated earlier, the number 5 means grace through faith. The number 9 signifies God’s judgment, and the number 3 is the process of spiritual maturity through judgment. Thus, the tribe of Simeon reminds us that as a soldier of Christ, we are to endure hardships as part of the Lord’s judgment of our old man, and it is through this process that we become spiritually mature.

Rom 5:2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 
Rom 5:3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 
Rom 5:4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 
Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Num 1:24  Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 
Num 1:25  Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty (45,650).

The number counted for the tribe of Gad was 45,650. This signifies that those pre-selected (the elect) by the Lord to be enrolled in His army come from the whole of the human race, and it is by grace through faith that they become victorious in this life.   

Num 1:26  Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 
Num 1:27  Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred (74,600).

In the case of the tribe of Judah, 74,600 were counted. This means that those who are predestined to become part of the Lord’s army, come from the whole of the human race and that they shall complete (the significance of the number 7) their mission as soldiers of Christ.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 

Num 1:28  Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 
Num 1:29  Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred (54,400). 

The tribe of Issachar had 54,400 men enlisted in the army of Israel. This means that it is by grace through faith that the whole of the Lord’s elect are privileged to be enlisted in the Lord’s army and that it is not of ourselves, but the gift of God.

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. 

We thank the Lord for His mercies towards us to count us worthy to be enlisted in His army. May He continue to uphold us as the day approaches!! Amen!!

[Study Aired June 6, 2022]

Exo 12:33  And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
Exo 12:34  And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.
Exo 12:35  And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 
Exo 12:36  And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. 
Exo 12:37  And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. 
Exo 12:38  And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. 
Exo 12:39  And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. 
Exo 12:40  Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 
Exo 12:41  And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 
Exo 12:42  It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. 
Exo 12:43  And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: 
Exo 12:44  But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 
Exo 12:45  A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. 
Exo 12:46  In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. 
Exo 12:47  All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
Exo 12:48  And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
Exo 12:49  One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. 
Exo 12:50  Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. 
Exo 12:51  And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

The effect of all the ten plagues meted out to the Egyptians resulted in the release of the children of Israel to go into the wilderness to serve the Lord. The review today focuses on the exit of the children of Israel and the ordinance of the Passover that we are to keep by faith, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch us.

Heb 11:28  Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

Exo 12:33  And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.

The assertion by the Egyptians that they were all dead men is to let us know the extent of the impact of the ten plagues of the Lord’s judgment of the old man (Pharaoh) within us. The judgment of the Lord destroys or puts to death the old man within us. The fact that the Egyptians were so eager to send the Israelites out of their land in haste to go into the wilderness to serve the Lord is another way of saying that the death of the old man gives rise to the birth of the new man within us. This new man enables us to worship the Lord acceptably in this world (wilderness) as we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to our 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.

Exo 12:34  And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. 

In the scriptures, leaven signifies what is sinful, evil, corrupt and unclean in the eyes of the Lord.

1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 

The use of leaven is to make something softer or easier to eat. For example, if there is no yeast (leaven) in bread, it would be hard to chew. The function of yeast spiritually, is to make sin easier to commit. The teachings of man’s wisdom is a kind of yeast in this world and in the physical churches of this world which makes sin easier to commit.

Because the children of Israel were driven out in haste from Egypt, they had no time to bring leavened food as shown in verse 34. This is because leavened bread takes time to prepare. This indicates that apart from judging us to put to death the old man within, the Lord also deals with our environment to such an extent that it gives us no time to commit sin. The process of committing sin takes time. First, we are drawn away by our own lust, then lust is conceived and after this conception, sin is produced.

Jas 1:14  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 
Jas 1:15  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

It is significant to note that the kneading troughs which were used to prepare both leavened and unleavened bread were all bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. As we are aware, both the old man and the new man are within, representing the kneading trough. This kneading trough within us produces either leavened or unleavened bread depending on whether the trough is that of the old man or the new man. The death of the old man, giving birth to the new man, is this kneading trough which is wrapped by clothes. We know that clothes represent the righteousness of the saints. This righteousness is that of Christ given to us. So, the kneading troughs bound up in clothes means the new man within us is clothed in Christ righteousness making it difficult for us to carry leaven as we journey through this world (wilderness).

Rev 19:8  it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. (ESV)

Exo 12:35  And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: 
Exo 12:36  And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians. 

As we indicated in an earlier review, the borrowing of the jewels of silver and gold is another way of saying that the little knowledge of the Lord that the churches possess have been taken away and given to us.

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

The Lord giving the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians is another way of saying that when a man’s way pleases the Lord, He makes his enemies to be at peace with him.

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

Exo 12:37  And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.

The Israelites started their journey from Ramses, which was in the land of Goshen in Egypt. From there, they left Egypt and went to Succoth, which means ‘booth’ or ‘tent’. Going to Succoth signifies that, as His elect, we are in this world but not of this world. Our journey through this world must be a journey of faith with the view of inheriting the promise. In other words, we are looking for the city whose foundation is Christ and the builder being our Lord.

Heb 11:9  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

The fact that six hundred thousand men left Ramses in Egypt is to let us know that our exit from Babylon to come to the church of the firstborn does not mean that the Lord had completed His work in us. We were carnal or fleshly as we left Babylon as signified by the number 600,000 (600,000 = 6x10x10x10x10x10). However, the Lord is perfecting us through His judgment to bring us to maturity, and we are His work in progress.

Gen 6:3  Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” (ESV)

Exo 12:38  And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. 

We must also know that not all who came out of Babylon (Egypt) to the church of the firstborn will end up receiving the reward, as signified by the mixed multitude that left Egypt. Later on in our walk, we shall encounter Korah’s rebellion, Achan, etc. This is all part of the ways designed by the Lord to sift the wheat from the tares.

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

Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed (the wheat) are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

As we have explained in the previous study, going out of Egypt with the flocks, herds and cattle is maintaining our livelihood as we serve the Lord. Recognizing the need to work for a living while serving the Lord is one of Paul’s main messages to the churches He ministered.

Act 20:34  Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. 
Act 20:35  I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Exo 12:39  And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual. 

As we have explained earlier in verse 34, the people of Israel did not have ample time to make leavened bread. This is all the Lord’s doing as He puts us in a situation where it becomes easier for us to pursue the righteousness of Christ.

Exo 12:40  Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. 
Exo 12:41  And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 

According to the Lord’s prophecy when He made a covenant with Abraham, the people of Israel were supposed to spend four hundred years in servitude before they became free. However, verses 40 and 41 talk about four hundred and thirty years. Thus, verses 40 and 41 seem to be in contradiction with the following verses:

Gen 15:13  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Gen 15:14  And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

Unlearned and unstable minds, however, think that the Bible is full of contradictions. People who think that way are not meant to know the truth as predicted by Apostle Peter:

2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

This is what accounts for the apparent discrepancy: These four hundred and thirty years began in Genesis 12 when the Lord made the promise to Abraham that He would give the good land to Abraham’s seed. From that day until the night of the exodus was exactly four hundred and thirty years. The four hundred years began with Ishmael’s mocking of Isaac in Genesis 21. This means that from Genesis 12 to Genesis 21, there was a period of thirty years, and from Genesis 21 to Exodus 12, there was a period of four hundred years. Spiritually, the number four hundred and thirty signifies the whole of our lives from our birth until the time we leave Babylon after the Lord had come with His brightness to judge us as a result of the fulness of our flesh (sins).

Exo 12:42  It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.
Exo 12:43  And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: 

According to the instructions given to Moses and Aaron, strangers are not allowed to observe the Passover. The observation of the Passover includes the eating of the lamb and unleavened bread with bitter herbs, the marking of the house where the lamb is eaten with the blood of the lamb and the need to stay in the house until morning. The spiritual meaning of observing the Passover was explained in the previous study as follows:

Every elect of every generation is required to observe the Passover throughout his/her life through faith. Every day of our walk with the Lord is the feast of the Passover.

Heb 11:28  Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

The question is, “What does it mean to keep the passover?” First and foremost, we need to understand the sacrificial offering of the Lord on our behalf.

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:

Secondly, we need to know that our lives were spared by the Lord from destruction. This has nothing to do with anything we have done. It was just the mercies of the Lord that He showered on us.

Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Thirdly, we need to know that the blood of Christ purges our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. In spite of our wickedness and flaws, the Lord has chosen us and purged us of our sins so that we can worship him acceptably.

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The Passover also commemorates our eating of the lamb. This lamb is Christ, who is also the word. This means that through the mercies of the Lord, our eyes are being enlightened to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

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

The enlightening of our understanding is accompanied by the Lord’s judgment which destroys the power and influence of the old man or the flesh in our lives. This is signified by the roasting of the lamb eaten at the Passover.

Exo 12:8  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Observing the Passover also means that we are eating the lamb with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. The unleavened bread here signifies sincerity and truth. This means that our understanding of the word of the Lord must be accompanied with a life of sincerity and truth. In other words, our life must reflect the righteousness of Christ. When our lives reflect the righteousness of Christ, then we are observing the Passover in our lives.

1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

It is so exciting when the Lord reveals some aspects of the truth of the word of the Lord to us. In other words, it is sweet in our mouth. However, when it enters our belly, it is bitter. The bitter herb that must accompany the eating of the unleavened bread refers to the bitter experience we must go through to actualize the word we have received.

Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

So, the question is, “Who is the stranger who is not to participate in the observance of the Passover?” A stranger is one who is without Christ, being alienated from the covenant of promise and having no hope in the world. This includes people of the world and our brothers and sisters in Babylon who are aliens from the commonwealth of the elect (Israel). It is only the elect who are required to observe the Passover. 

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Exo 12:44  But every man’s servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 

Being bought as a slave with money is being redeemed by the Lord with His blood. In times past, we were following the course of this world with our father the devil dictating our walk in this world. However, God, being rich in mercy, came to our aid by redeeming us from the slavery of sin with His blood. He then circumcised us spiritually to become part of the commonwealth of the elect (Israel). Thus, though we were servants to sin in times past, we are qualified to eat the lamb of the Passover.

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Exo 12:45  A foreigner and an hired servant shall not eat thereof. 

As we have indicated, we were strangers and hired servants in time past, and during that period, we were not qualified to eat of the lamb of the Passover. In other words, our eyes were not enlightened by the Lord.

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them (foreigners and hired servants) it is not given.

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Exo 12:46  In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. 

“In one house” signifies that we, who at some point in time were strangers, are united with the elect. In other words, we, the strangers and hired servants, are now one with the people of Israel (the elect), eating the same lamb of the word of God.

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Here in verse 46, we are also told that we should not take the flesh of the lamb we are eating outside the house. Outside is used severally in the scriptures to denote the dwelling place of those with contagious diseases like leprosy as shown below:

Lev 13:45  “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’
Lev 13:46  He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.

People who dwell “outside” with contagious diseases like leprosy symbolize the people of the world, including our Babylonian brothers and sisters. The fact that we are not to take any of the flesh outside the house is another way of saying that we should not cast our pearls before swine. That is, we should not take what is holy and give it to the dogs, because they have no regard for what is holy and will instead attack us.

Mat 7:6  “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

We are also admonished not to break a bone of the lamb while eating the Passover. The first mention of bone in the Bible was in relation to the Lord taking the rib (bone) of Adam and using it to form a woman. The woman was produced from a bone taken from Adam. This means that a bone signifies life that impart life. The bone taken from Adam imparted Adam’s life into Eve. Adam here represents Christ who imparts His eternal life to us, the church. When Christ was crucified as our Passover lamb, His legs (bones) were not broken. These unbreakable bones of Christ refer to His eternal life or His spirit. The statement that we are not to break a bone while eating the lamb, therefore symbolizes the fact that we must not lose sight of the spiritual implication of the word of the Lord which gives life.

Gen 2:21  So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.
Gen 2:22  And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 
Gen 2:23  Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Joh 19:32  So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 
Joh 19:33  But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
Joh 19:34  But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 

Joh 6:63  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Exo 12:47  All the congregation of Israel shall keep it.
Exo 12:48  And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.

All the congregation of Israel keeping the Passover means that the elect of every generation is required to eat the lamb of the Passover, the unleavened bread with bitter herbs and to smear the blood of Christ on our doorpost. Observing the Passover spiritually means that our eyes are being enlightened to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God and that we live a life of righteousness. All of this is done on the basis of the fact that the blood of Christ has purged our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. In spite of our wickedness and flaws, the Lord has chosen us and purged us of our sins so that we can worship him acceptably.

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

In verse 48, a distinction is made of circumcised and uncircumcised persons. Only circumcised persons can observe the Passover. Uncircumcised persons cannot participate in the Passover. We, the elect, are the circumcised who are admonished to come near to the Lord and observe the Passover. Circumcision signifies the doing away of the flesh which had dominated us in our earlier walk with Christ.

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

The uncircumcised person is anyone who is dominated by the flesh. Such a person walks after the flesh. This is what walking after the flesh (uncircumcised) is all about:

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 
Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Exo 12:49  One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.

We, the strangers, are joined together with the homeborn through the law of the spirit of life which sets us free from the law of sin and death.

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Exo 12:50  Thus did all the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. 

It is through the Lord’s judgment of the ten plagues, culminating in the death of the firstborn, that we become obedient and therefore righteous. As indicated in verse 50, all the children of Israel obeyed the Lord’s commandment.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Exo 12:51  And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. 

It is significant to note that the children of Israel came out of Egypt as the Lord’s army. We are the Lord’s army here in this world to serve the Lord and His interest.

Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

As the Lord’s army, our fight is not against a physical enemy but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Rev 19:19  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

The Lord has already given us all the weapons we need to prepare for this war of our lives.

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 
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: 
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

We thank God for the opportunity to count us worthy to observe the Passover. Our prayer is that through the adherence to His guidelines regarding how we are to observe the Passover, we shall be presented blameless and faultless in His presence. Amen!!

Audio Links

“The virtuous body of Christ” – Part 3

March 19, 2016

with Steven Crook

What does it mean to be virtuous? This is probably among the first questions that most Christians ask themselves when considering what Proverbs chapter 31 is all about. Mankind is able to define what virtue is, but is that how God defines virtue and being virtuous?

In the study today, we are going to take a closer look at what the Lord tells us is virtuous. I believe that those who have eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit says unto the churches, will “walk away” from this study with and entirely new idea about what the Lord looks for in His wife, “The Virtuous body of Christ”.

What is virtue?

Pro 31:10  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

What is virtue? Merriam-Webster defines “virtue” as simply:

Morally good behavior or character

A good and moral quality

The good result that comes from something

Merriam-Webster also gives a “full definition” of virtue as:

1. A) conformity to a standard of right: morality B) a particular moral excellence
2. plural: an order of angels – see celestial hierarchy
3. a beneficial quality or power of a thing
4. manly strength or courage – valor
5. a commendable quality or trait – merit
6. a capacity to act – potency
7. chastity especially in a woman

Merriam-Webster define “virtuous” as:

Morally good: having or showing virtue

Strong’s concordance defines “virtuous” as:

H2428

chayil
khah’-yil
From H2342; probably a force, whether of men, means or other resources; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strength: – able, activity, (+) army, band of men (soldiers), company, (great) forces, goods, host, might, power, riches, strength, strong, substance, train, (+) valiant (-ly), valour, virtuous (-ly), war, worthy (-ily).
Total KJV occurrences: 243

All of these definitions, even with Strong’s concordance, are things that mankind has defined as traits worthy of the concept of virtue. However, the diligent wife of Christ is always concerning herself with what the will of her Husband is.

Why is it important to compare what the world defines as virtue versus what the Lord means virtue to be understood as in the context of defining what a virtuous woman is?

Did you notice how many times “moral” or “morality” was used to define virtue? Who gets to define what being moral or what morality is? If we rely on our own definitions, then we will have to welcome the opinion of all humans which is disastrous for the new man being formed in us.

This series is titled, “The Virtuous body of Christ” so I am obligated to point out the spiritual definition of virtue or being virtuous, but I also cannot negate the fact that virtue in the physical sense and application does matter.

Natural Virtue

Having natural virtue, as defined by whatever our societal norms are, is something that does not come naturally to anyone. We must work on being strong in whatever it is we are trying to be strong in. If I want to have strong muscles, I need to work them out. If I want to have a strong mind, it must be intellectually worked out. So then is this true for virtue.

As Christians, like Christ, we must be like our Husband. When we are in a relationship we naturally take on characteristics of our partner’s mindset. With our Husband Christ, we are to put on His whole mind.

When we do, what happens for us in our natural and physical lives is a reflection of the spiritual truths that live in us. If they are lacking in application in our day to day lives that is because they need to be exercised more and more in our spiritual mindset.

This is something that only the Lord can do in us and that is why it is so important for us to listen to the will and commands of our Husband the Lord.

Applying virtue in our lives

Pro 31:10  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Pro 31:10  WhoH4310 can findH4672 a virtuousH2428 woman?H802 for her priceH4377 is farH7350 above rubies.H4480 H6443

In our last study, we covered what spiritual drunkenness is and why it is important that we do not become drunk with the doctrines of what so many other harlots become drunk with.

As it pertains to virtue, we can become drunk on what the world defines as virtue without even knowing that is happening and has happened already.

How is that?

What I am about to share is something that I haven’t heard mentioned or preached anywhere. I have no doubt that someone somewhere has taught this and has been led of the Lord to understand it, but after studying this for myself, I am much more informed of the virtue and virtuous wife the Lord inspired Lemuel’s mother to tell Lemuel to seek out.

What is a “virtuous” woman as defined in scripture? Remember that Strong’s concordance lists H2428 in English as “virtuous”.

Here is H2428 being used in scripture. I am not going to read all of these but I am listing them in the notes so that you can see them for yourselves.

H2428
chayil
Total KJV Occurrences: 242
army, 51
Exo_14:9, Deu_11:4, 1Ki_20:19, 1Ki_20:25 (2), 2Ki_25:5 (2), 2Ki_25:10, 2Ch_13:3, 2Ch_14:8, 2Ch_24:24, Neh_2:9, Neh_4:2, Isa_43:17, Jer_32:2, Jer_34:1, Jer_34:7, Jer_34:21, Jer_35:11 (2), Jer_37:5, Jer_37:7, Jer_37:10-11 (3), Jer_38:3, Jer_39:1, Jer_39:5, Jer_46:2, Jer_46:22, Jer_52:4, Jer_52:8 (2), Jer_52:14, Eze_17:17, Eze_27:10-11 (2), Eze_29:18-19 (3), Eze_32:31, Eze_37:10, Eze_38:4, Eze_38:15, Dan_11:7, Dan_11:13, Dan_11:25-26 (3), Joe_2:11, Joe_2:25
valour, 37
Jos_1:14, Jos_8:2-3 (2), Jos_10:7, Jdg_3:29, Jdg_6:12, Jdg_18:1-2 (2), Jdg_20:44, Jdg_20:46, 1Ki_11:28, 2Ki_5:1, 2Ki_24:14, 1Ch_5:24, 1Ch_7:7, 1Ch_7:9, 1Ch_7:11, 1Ch_8:40 (2), 1Ch_12:21, 1Ch_12:25, 1Ch_12:28, 1Ch_12:30, 1Ch_26:6, 1Ch_26:30-32 (3), 2Ch_13:3, 2Ch_14:8, 2Ch_17:13-14 (2), 2Ch_17:16-17 (2), 2Ch_25:6, 2Ch_26:12, 2Ch_32:21, Neh_11:14
host, 28
Exo_14:4, Exo_14:17, Exo_14:28, Exo_15:4, Num_31:14, 1Sa_14:48, 1Sa_17:20, 2Sa_8:9, 2Sa_24:2, 2Sa_24:4 (2), 1Ki_20:1, 2Ki_6:14-15 (2), 2Ki_7:6, 2Ki_9:5, 2Ki_11:15, 2Ki_25:1, 1Ch_18:9, 2Ch_14:9, 2Ch_16:7-8 (2), 2Ch_23:14, 2Ch_24:23-24 (2), 2Ch_26:11, Psa_33:16, Psa_136:15
valiant, 20
1Sa_14:52, 1Sa_16:18, 1Sa_18:17, 1Sa_31:12, 2Sa_2:7, 2Sa_11:16, 2Sa_13:28, 2Sa_17:10 (2), 2Sa_23:20, 2Sa_24:9, 1Ki_1:42, 1Ch_5:18, 1Ch_10:12, 1Ch_11:22, 1Ch_28:1, 2Ch_26:17, 2Ch_28:6, Neh_11:6, Nah_2:3
forces, 14
2Ch_17:2, Isa_60:5, Isa_60:11, Jer_40:7, Jer_40:13, Jer_41:11, Jer_41:13, Jer_41:16, Jer_42:1, Jer_42:8, Jer_43:4-5 (2), Oba_1:10-11 (2)
strength, 12
1Sa_2:4, 2Sa_22:40, Psa_18:32, Psa_18:39, Psa_33:17, Psa_84:7 (2), Pro_31:3, Ecc_10:10, Joe_2:22 (2), Hab_3:19
riches, 11
Job_20:15, Psa_62:10, Psa_73:12, Isa_8:4, Isa_10:14, Isa_61:6 (2), Eze_26:12, Eze_28:4-5 (3)
wealth, 10
Gen_34:29, Deu_8:17-18 (2), Rth_2:1, 2Ki_15:20, Job_31:25, Psa_49:6, Psa_49:10, Pro_13:22, Zec_14:14
power, 9
1Sa_9:1, 2Sa_22:33, 1Ch_20:1, Est_1:3, Est_8:11, Job_21:7, Psa_59:11, Zec_9:3-4 (2)
substance, 7
Job_5:4-5 (2), Job_15:29, Job_20:18, Jer_15:13, Jer_17:3, Mic_4:13 (2)
might, 6
2Ki_24:16, 1Ch_7:2, 1Ch_7:5, 1Ch_12:8, Zec_4:5-6 (2)
strong, 5
2Ki_2:16, 1Ch_26:7, 1Ch_26:9, Ecc_12:3, Jer_48:14
valiantly, 5
Num_24:18, Psa_108:12-13 (2), Psa_118:15-16 (2)
able, 4
Exo_18:21, Exo_18:25, 1Ch_9:13, 1Ch_26:8
armies, 4
2Ki_25:23, 2Ki_25:26, 1Ch_11:26, 2Ch_16:4
virtuous, 3
Rth_3:11, Pro_12:4, Pro_31:10
band, 2
1Sa_10:26, Ezr_8:22
goods, 2
Num_31:9, Zep_1:13
war, 2
Deu_3:18, 2Ch_33:14
activity, 1
Gen_47:6
company, 1
2Ch_9:1
hosts, 1
1Ki_15:20
mighty, 1
2Ch_26:13
soldiers, 1
Ezr_8:22
train, 1
1Ki_10:2
valiantest, 1
Jdg_21:10
virtuously, 1
Pro_31:29
worthily, 1
Rth_4:11
worthy, 1
1Ki_1:52

“Virtuous” is listed 51 times as “army” which is almost 1/5th of all the words used in English. It is listed 28 times as host and 14 as forces. These words alone are 93 times of the 242 that it is mentioned. That is nearly 40% of the time we see a host, army or force being mentioned in connection with “virtuous”.

Why is that and what does it mean? Let’s read a few of the examples.

Exo 14:9  But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army H2428, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.

Jer 32:2  For then the king of Babylon’s army H2428 besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house.

Jer 38:3  Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army H2428, which shall take it.

Exo 14:4  And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host H2428; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.

Psa 136:15  But overthrew Pharaoh and his host H2428 in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.

2Ch 17:2  And he placed forces H2428 in all the fenced cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.

So, “virtuous” is partly defined as an army most of the time it is used, but it is also an army with certain attributes. Here are some of those attributes and the ones mostly translated from H2428.

Jos 1:14  Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour H2428, and help them;

Neh 11:14  And their brethren, mighty men of valour H2428, an hundred twenty and eight: and their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of one of the great men.

1Sa 14:52  And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant H2428 man, he took him unto him.

1Sa 2:4  The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength H2428.

Psa 18:32  It is God that girdeth me with strength H2428, and maketh my way perfect.

All of these words are the same Hebrew word translated as virtuous in Proverbs 31:10, but how can that be and what does it mean for us?

Before we answer that let’s look at the negative application of this word “virtuous”. We all can and have been partakers of worldly virtue, the things the world thinks are virtuous.

Here is what scripture speaks about this “virtuous” word/concept concerning what the world does with virtue.

Job 20:4  Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
Job 20:5  That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

A couple verses later:

Job 20:15  He hath swallowed down riches H2428, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

Psa 62:9  Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
Psa 62:10  Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery: if riches H2428 increase, set not your heart upon them.

Eze 28:1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Eze 28:2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
Eze 28:3  Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
Eze 28:4  With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches H2428, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
Eze 28:5  By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches H2428, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches H2428:

All of these words are the same word “virtuous” and as can be seen when it is translated as “riches” there is a negative connotation of what we do with what the Lord alone has given us. We value what we think virtue is but then we define it and do with it whatever the idols of our hearts tell us to do with “virtue”.

So what are we to take away for this? There is a lot being covered here. Well, in order to answer this question, we must get to the root of the word virtuous. We also must consider the last part of this verse, “…for her price is far above rubies”.

Firstly, here is the root of “virtuous”, H2428.

H2428

chayil
khah’-yil
From H2342; probably a force, whether of men, means or other resources; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strength: – able, activity, (+) army, band of men (soldiers), company, (great) forces, goods, host, might, power, riches, strength, strong, substance, train, (+) valiant (-ly), valour, virtuous (-ly), war, worthy (-ily).
Total KJV occurrences: 243

The root is “H2342”.

H2342

chûl    chı̂yl
khool, kheel
A primitive root; properly to twist or whirl (in a circular or spiral manner), that is, (specifically) to dance, to writhe in pain (especially of parturition) or fear; figuratively to wait, to pervert: – bear, (make to) bring forth, (make to) calve, dance, drive away, fall grievously (with pain), fear, form, great, grieve, (be) grievous, hope, look, make, be in pain, be much (sore) pained, rest, shake, shapen, (be) sorrow (-ful), stay, tarry, travail (with pain), tremble, trust, wait carefully (patiently), be wounded.
Total KJV occurrences: 58

H2342
chûl  /  chı̂yl
Total KJV Occurrences: 68
pain, 6
Isa_13:8, Isa_26:17-18 (2), Jer_30:23, Eze_30:16, Mic_4:10
formed, 5
Deu_32:18, Job_26:5, Job_26:13, Psa_90:2, Pro_26:10
forth, 4
Pro_8:24-25 (2), Isa_45:10, Isa_66:8
brought, 3
Pro_8:24-25 (2), Isa_45:10
pained, 3
Joe_2:4-6 (3)
calve, 2
Job_39:1, Psa_29:9
fall, 2
Jer_23:19, Jer_30:23
fear, 2
1Ch_16:30, Psa_96:9
grieved, 2
Est_4:4, Jer_5:3
grievous, 2
Psa_10:5, Jer_23:19
shaketh, 2
Psa_29:8 (2)
stayed, 2
Gen_8:10, Lam_4:6
travail, 2
Isa_23:4, Isa_54:1
travailed, 2
Isa_66:7-8 (2)
tremble, 2
Psa_114:7, Jer_5:22
trembled, 2
Psa_97:4, Hab_3:10
wounded, 2
1Ch_10:3 (2)
abide, 1
Hos_11:6
afraid, 1
Psa_77:16
anguish, 1
Deu_2:25
bare, 1
Isa_51:2
bring, 1
Isa_66:8
dance, 1
Jdg_21:21
danced, 1
Jdg_21:23
driveth, 1
Pro_25:23 (2)
great, 1
Eze_30:16
grievously, 1
Jer_23:19
hope, 1
Lam_3:26
look, 1
Job_20:21
made, 1
Job_15:7
patiently, 1
Psa_37:7 (2)
rest, 1
2Sa_3:29
shapen, 1
Psa_51:5
sorrow, 1
Jer_51:29
sorrowful, 1
Zec_9:5
tarried, 1
Jdg_3:25
travaileth, 1
Job_15:20
trust, 1
Job_35:14
wait, 1
Psa_37:7
waited, 1
Mic_1:12

Wait, what? The root of “virtuous” is rooted in pain? Here are a few of these verses listed out so that we can get an idea of what we are being told.

Isa 13:8  And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain H2342 as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

Isa 26:17  Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain H2342, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
Isa 26:18  We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Jer 30:23  Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain H2342 upon the head of the wicked.

Eze 30:16  And I will set fire in Egypt: Sin shall have great pain H2342, and No shall be rent asunder, and Noph shall have distresses daily.

Mic 4:10  Be in pain H2342, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

Jer 23:19  Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous H2342 whirlwind: it shall fall grievously H2342 upon the head of the wicked.

Deu 2:25  This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish H2342 because of thee.

How can it be that pain and anguish are the root of being virtuous? It does not make sense to the carnally minded natural man. It is utter foolishness to the old man in us all.

Why does it make sense to the new man and what is the Lord telling us about Jesus Christ being the Head of His church? Why does a husband want a virtuous wife? Maybe it has something to do with her value?

The price of something is set by the value it holds for those who are selling and buying that something.

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,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

A brilliantly colored red ruby holds a tremendous value to the natural man. It is rarer than diamonds and red is directly connected to “old man Adam”. Adam = red.

Gen 2:19  And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam H121 to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

H121
‘âdâm
BDB Definition:
Adam = “red”
1) first man
2) city in Jordan valley
Part of Speech: noun proper masculine
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: the same as H120
Same Word by TWOT Number: 25a

If a “red” ruby holds value to the old natural man in us all, of how much more value is this virtuous woman to a man who values such things?

Pro 31:10  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Who can find a woman who is strong, a force to be reckoned with, has great courage in the face of danger, is determined, is rich in the Spirit, represents power and represents her Husband in all that she does and says? If you find such a woman, then you are a BLESSED Husband indeed.

Yes, Jesus Christ has placed us as this woman to represent Him as His body. We are the church of the living God and we are extremely valuable to our Husband.

Why is our value so significant?

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

As we live each and every day of our lives, the new man in us is being BORN into NEWNESS of LIFE by the DEATH of the old man. It is THROUGH death that life happens, and the new man in us all and the mind of our Husband, is born little by little each and every day. We die daily and little by little He increases in us.

In our next study, we are going to continue to see why it is “the heart” of Jesus safely trusts in His wife, the many membered “army” of His body, and how we can all apply practical skills in our lives which reflect what being a virtuous wife is all about.

We have focused some on the spiritual aspects of the word “virtuous” today, but in the next study we are going to bridge the gap on how the physical reflects the spiritual in the lives of both men and women, single and married, young and old in the body of Christ.