Exiles in the Bible: Born into Exile

[Study Aired October 17, 2024]

6: Characters in the bible who typify the spiritual zeal and Godly strength needed from Him to endure through the exile and come out of it, typifying how God’s elect will go onto perfection through Christ.

Chapter eleven of Hebrews gives us a very bright snapshot of what typifies the faith of Christ that is given to His people in order to break free from the sin of self righteousness, taking us out of exile. We must be given power to miraculously put off our flesh, and so boasting is excluded by the law of faith (Rom 3:27), as the Lord works in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure, which is to give us the kingdom (Luk 12:32), becoming persuaded (Heb 11:13) that we have been apprehended by Christ (Php 3:12-14) and are bound to the altar (Psa 118:27) by God’s grace and the faith of Christ (Eph 2:8), and that nothing can separate us from the love of God toward us (Rom 8:35-39).

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

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

The first verse in Hebrews eleven sets the stage for all the typical events of overcoming (1Pe 1:12, 1Co 10:11) that are going to be discussed, and what we are told is this:

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

It is not seen but it is hoped for, and this statement typifies for us the hope of glory within us, the spirit of God that bears witness that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Col 1:27, Rom 8:16 , Col 3:3 , Gal 4:9).

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.[“the hope of glory within us”]

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

These stories in Hebrews chapter eleven are typical of the life of Christ within the few called and chosen (Mat 22:14) in this age, whose lives are greater than John the Baptist’s life simply because it is Christ’s life in us now that makes our lives of great value to our Father (Mat 11:11 , Mat 10:29-31):

Mat 11:11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Mat 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father [“two” being a witness that Christ’s sparrows cannot be destroyed spiritually, our life and death are in His hands, our soul and our body (Rom 14:8)].
Mat 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows (Mat 22:14).

As we reflect on some of the verses in this eleventh chapter, let’s consider how the faith given in each different situation typifies for God’s elect today how we can become more than conquerors through him who loved us, as we come out of spiritual exile through the faith of Christ (Rom 8:37, Eph 2:8).

Heb 11:2  For by it the elders obtained a good report.

The elders, by God’s grace in this age, will obtain a good report that can only be accomplished through Christ, and that report is described for us in these verses (1Ti 3:2-9):

1Ti 3:2  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1Ti 3:3  Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
1Ti 3:4  One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
1Ti 3:5  (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
1Ti 3:6  Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
1Ti 3:7  Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
1Ti 3:8  Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
1Ti 3:9  Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.(1Jn 2:1, 1Jn 4:4)

1Jn 3:21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
1Jn 3:22  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1Jn 3:23  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.(Col 1:27, Rom 8:29, Rom 8:16, 1Jn 4:5-7).

Heb 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

What does the typical language of this third verse mean for God’s elect today? The ‘worlds that are framed by the word of God’ is not only the physical world and universe being discussed, but infinitely more importantly, they represent the “things which are seen [that] were not made of things which do appear“, and were created so that we can compare spiritual with spiritual using the physical worlds that God framed for our sakes (1Co 2:13).

All the exiles typify for us physical events that tell us something spiritual (Rom 1:20). If Christ is in our ‘world’ within (Col 1:27), then that spirit is there for the express purpose of building the temple or house of God that we are “things which are seen [that] were not made of things which do appear” (Psa 127:1 , Heb 11:27). This phrase is a physical representation of what God is doing spiritually within the bride via Christ: “the worlds were framed by the word of God”.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual [using the physical].

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Heb 11:4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Had Abel not been given this gift of faith, he would not have been able, in type and shadow, to present his life a living sacrifice to God. Having the gift of faith to offer a more excellent sacrifice reminds us that our lives are only acceptable unto God through the faith of Christ that gives us the ability to reflect his righteousness that testifies of his workmanship in us. With the faith of Christ within us we learn that our lives are predestined to bring forth fruit (Joh 15:16, Eph 1:4), and the words “he [Abel] being dead yet speaketh” typifies for us today, as God’s children, that we are dead to sin yet alive in Christ (Rom 6:11), who speaks through each joint that supplies in love (Eph 4:16). This power that God gives his children is what gives us victory to come out of the exile that we all must first go into.

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Rom 6:11  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Heb 11:5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

When our ways please God we will not see death, which is what the wages of sin brings to us. We are “not found” because we are ‘translated’ by God, telling us that we are hidden in Christ (Col 3:3) and the world cannot perceive the work that God is doing in His people who He is giving power to come out of her my people, come out of spiritual exile. We overcome by being baptized into Christ’s death (Rom 6:3) which is the only way that we can please God as we are accepted through Christ only. We cannot be “translated”, or moved by the power of God’s spirit from a place of exile without the “testimony” where we are glorifying God in all our thoughts and actions. We ‘please God’ therefore, because of the pleasing work that He is doing in us through Christ (Php 2:12-13).

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

With the faith of Christ, we can believe that God is ever present and a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Conversely, without that faith, we cannot see or hear spiritually the words of God or have the desire to continue in the truth that will set us free (Joh 8:31-32) from the bondage and exile that sin wants to constantly keep us captive to (Gen 4:7).

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

This verse tells us so much regarding the attitude that God’s elect are to have today in order to escape the exile, the bondage to sin that the whole world lies in today, being deceived of the devil (1Jn 5:19, 2Co 4:4).

1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

It is with the faith of Christ that we can heed the admonitions of God today and, “being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear” as God works in us (Heb 11:1). What this tells us is that we are being saved by hope, the hope of glory within, “things not seen as yet” (Col 1:27), enduring in seeing him who is invisible (Heb 11:27) as we’re given the power to move with fear and trembling (Php 2:12-13) ‘to the preparing of the ark’, which ‘ark’ is a symbol of the church, which is the body of Christ, the bride of Christ who are promised will be made ready (Rev 19:7).

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

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

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

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
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.

Here are more great verses that demonstrate how we are to come out of exile in order to receive our inheritance (Heb 11:8), and it is the typical faith of Abraham that represents the key to our overcoming in this life which happens by the faith of Christ whose faith (Eph 2:8, Rom 3:27) alone can give us the power to quench all the fiery darts of the adversary (Eph 6:16) making it possible for us to be led of the spirit of God (Rom 8:14) and “go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance“. That place is “Jerusalem above” that we go to (Eph 2:6, Gal 4:26), a ‘country’ we continue to seek and strive to enter into, through obedience (Heb 11:14), and if we are granted to continue to die daily, we ultimately will be led to the fullness of that inheritance, which will be found in the first resurrection (Act 5:32, Rev 20:6).

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

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

We are going out into this new country with the attitude that it is entirely up to God whether we will prosper, and so the comment regarding Abraham’s “not knowing whither he went“, reminds us that we don’t know what is on the morrow (Jas 4:13-15, Php 2:12-13) yet we are told that through the faith of Christ we can have absolute confidence in what God has promised us as the generation who has no confidence in the flesh (Php 3:3 , Heb 10:35).

Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

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

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

The promise land that ‘Abraham sojourned in by faith’ represents how we sojourn in this life in bodies that are likened unto tabernacles (temporal dwelling places), and ‘being heirs of the same promise as Isaac and Jacob’ remind us that in order to inherit the fullness of this inheritance, it will be accomplished through judgement, represented by the number ‘three’ or the three men Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who are typical heirs of the same promise.

The city we are seeking as the body of Christ is one that we know is being built by God (Heb 10:11, Psa 127:1), and so we know our labours are not in vain and that God will reward those who lose their life in pursuit of this new life (Mat 16:25), this new city, that will have a sure foundation that is built upon the rock, Jesus Christ (Mat 16:18).

Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

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

Heb 11:11  Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

Being a child in a womb is a form of exile until we are delivered (Rev 12:5, Luk 2:6-7), and Sara, who represents the church, was given supernatural strength “to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age“, typifying for God’s elect how God does this miraculous work of deliverance within those who are the weak of the world who make up the church, whose hope is in Christ. Because of the faith of Christ we are able to judge “him faithful who had promised“, being convinced by God’s grace and faith (Eph 2:8) that He who has begun a good work in us will finish it through Christ (Php 1:6, 1Jn 3:3). It takes the faith of Christ and the strength of Christ within us to be Sara to one another, joints that edify and supply in love what we each need in order to grow unto maturation. Christ is performing this work of faith through each of us and for one another, is what this powerful section of scripture is reminding us.

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Luk 2:6  And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
Luk 2:7  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Php 1:6 having this same confidence, that He Who undertakes a good work among you, will be performing it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (CLV)

1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

Heb 11:12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

This verse talks about the inheritance of the saints, and we are Christ’s inheritance and Christ is our inheritance, but the world also is our inheritance “as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable” (Gal 4:26-28).

Gal 4:26 Yet the Jerusalem above is free, who is mother of us all.”
Gal 4:27 For it is written, “Be glad, barren one, who art not bringing forth! Burst forth and implore, thou who art not travailing! For many are the children of the desolate, Rather than of her who has the husband.”
Gal 4:28 Now you, brethren, as Isaac, are children of promise.” (CLV)

An ‘exile’ can be likened unto the birthing process (being delivered) and ‘God has called his son out of Egypt’ applies to both Christ and his Christ as these verses demonstrate, showing us that salvation is a process that comes about through a growth process that is accompanied with much tribulation, just like the maturation process of a child in a mothers womb (Hos 11:1, Mat 2:13-15, Act 14:22). There are other examples of typical exiles in the book of Hebrews, but I’ll stop at verse twelve.

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

Mat 2:13  And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Mat 2:14  When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
Mat 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

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

Next week, Lord willing, we will continue with what will be our last section of this mini study on “Exiles in the Bible”.  The focus will be on Christ’s own examples of preaching to the captives, and what that means for God’s elect today as we continue in the truth, the exceedingly great and precious promises (2Pet 1:4) that we learn from our Lord through the church (Eph 3:10) that we pray that we will be granted to continue in, setting us free from these bodies of death (Joh 8:31-32 , Rom 7:24-25).

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

5: Events That Typify How We Must Come Out of Exile by God’s Power

[Study Aired October 10, 2024]

This section of our study is really the most open-ended in my mind, because we can talk about any miracle of Christ and see it as a deliverance from the exile from evil spirits that God sends (1Sa 16:15). The world does not understand that God sends evil spirits, controlling the light and darkness and working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Isa 45:7 , Eph 1:11-12).

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Without the faith to see and believe this, we will be deprived of knowing how great God’s purpose is within all of those situations of spiritual bondage that He causes so that He can then deliver the person, or persons from it. What we are told is that all of those typical miracles of Christ represent the greater works of conversion that God will manifest through the saints, both in this age and in ages to come, and is the reason Christ told his disciples that they would do greater works than these (Joh 14:12); greater works than Christ who did not convert a single soul during his ministry, knowing that this time of conversion would only begin with the church on the day of Pentecost.

Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Here are some events that stand out in regards to how God created situations that had us in a bondage, representing sin at an appointed time in our life, and created to the glory of God who would deliver that person or persons from that bondage.

The first verses we will consider are in chapter 9 of the book of John, which hold the principle that is true for all captivity that happens in the flesh of mankind, where we read of ‘a blind man from birth’, representing spiritual blindness that was taken away, but not before Christ explained why it was there in the first place (Joh 9:1-5).

Joh 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Joh 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Restoring physical sight, healing the lame, or curing any and all illness, is a matter of sweeping the house clean, “he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished”(Mat 12:44), by gaining dominion over that spirit, which healing does occur in Babylon. This is from where God’s elect are called out of in order to do greater miracles, ‘greater works than these’ (Rev 13:13 , Joh 14:12). Those greater works are speaking of being able to give spiritual eyesight to those that God drags to the body of Christ, along with spiritual hearing that is the greater miracle granted to the elect of God (Mat 13:16).

Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

This initial dominion that God grants us over our flesh is for the period of time that He has ordained and is preceded by “seven other spirits more wicked than himself”. The first works, or cleansing of the ‘wood, hay and stubble’, are the events that God uses to seek an occasion against us with seven spirits worse. The number ‘seven’ demonstrates the complete bondage an overcomer of ‘wood, hay and stubble’ has when they cannot give all glory to God for that which He has worked in our lives, freeing us from the ‘wood hay and stubble’ (1Co 4:7). It is then, if God is working with us as His elect (Rev 18:4), that those “seven other spirits more wicked than himself” will bring us into a captivity, or place of deeper and more complete exile into sin, which only by God’s grace will be overcome. This parable, in Matthew chapter twelve, is really telling us how we must ‘lose our first love’ and then go into a place of complete captivity in order, Lord willing, to be received of our Father through his chastening grace upon our old man of perdition that must be destroyed in order for us to give all glory to God for all things, light and darkness, peace and evil (Mat 12:43-45 , Tit 2:11-12 , Rev 15:8 , Heb 12:6 , Php 2:12-13).

Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Mat 12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Mat 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Being a disciple of Christ by believing on him and overcoming any number of vices, is just the beginning of our coming out of exile. It is the “disciple indeed” who is crushed under the stone having all those ‘seven spirits worse’ cast from us and destroyed, through a life-long process of overcoming that complete bondage to sin, especially the sin of self righteousness that will abound more and more at the end of the age (Rev 17:11 , Mat 24:12).

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Just how wicked is that man of perdition that God plans to destroy with the brightness of his coming? I would say these verses, (2Th 2:2-10), appropriately describe our deepest and darkest place of exile, and none of us were even aware that we were there until the Son of righteousness came into our heavens and began the process of taking us out of our spiritual exile, delivering us from Satan’s spirit that operates mightily in the harlot churches of this world (Rev 17:5). We are humbled to our core as we come to see how enslaved we were to that harlot system and now must go through a process of fiery judgement (1Pe 4:12 , 1Pe 4:17 , Act 14:22) in order to learn of the patience and faith of the saints (Rev 14:12), as we are grafted into the body of Christ, ‘possessing our souls patiently’, which is only possible through Christ (Mat 24:1-51 , Rev 14:1-12).

2Th 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

As stated to the 70 disciples that Christ gave dominion over spirits, just like sweeping a house clean of an evil spirit, this is not conversion but a starting point that will result in seven spirits worse coming back to that swept and clean house to completely [7] dominate that life that was ‘cleansed’ of the “wood, hay and stubble”.

Luk 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven
Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

A worse thing does come upon us after we initially repent of our ‘wood, hay and stubble sins’ overcome in Babylon, all by God’s design (1Cor 3:12-15). That worse thing, if God is going to cleanse us in this life, is self-righteousness represented by cankered “gold, silver, precious stones”, wrapping Truth around the idols of our hearts which must needs be purified in this life if we are going to be His jewels that are being judged and prepared in this age (Mal 3:1-3 , Mal 3:17).

1Co 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Mal 3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

That ‘something’ that comes upon us [seven spirits worse] is the harder and more deceitful and undetected sin of self-righteousness, represented by seven spirits worse that come back, with the one spirit glorying in the things that God has done in our lives [victory over wood, hay and stubble], as if we had done them (1Co 4:7-10). That spirit which does not acknowledge God’s complete sovereignty in our lives is the one that must be destroyed, and will be in this age if God is judging us in this age.

1Co 4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
1Co 4:8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
1Co 4:9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.
1Co 4:10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
1Co 4:11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;
1Co 4:12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
1Co 4:13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

What Christ directed his disciples to rejoice in was not in having power over these spirits (Luk 10:17-20). Babylon can have dominion over this as well, which creates strong delusion in the earth. No, it was the fact that their names were written in heaven, and as such they would, in time, once the holy spirit was given on Pentecost, have dominion over Satan whom Christ in this parable said he ‘beheld him fall from heaven like lightning’, foreshadowing what He was going to do in their minds by the power of God’s spirit dwelling within them (Luk 10:17-20 , Col 1:27).

Luk 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven
Luk 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luk 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

“Your names are written in heaven”, our heavens, the elect’s heavens who, like the other parable of the seven spirits worse taking over the swept and cleaned house, are blessed to have a stronger man come in after this event and bind those seven other spirits completely, because our names our written in heaven and Christ who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.

What is in the world is sin, and that sin is something we will need to overcome the rest of our lives by dying daily, and if Christ is the author and finisher of our faith, He is writing our books to that end that we will be more than conquerors through him, the fit man in the wilderness, who can direct the scapegoat as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling knowing that it is Christ who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12-13). This bondage to sin and the deliverance from it is a little and by little process (Exo 23:30) that God has called us unto. It is continually being demonstrated for us throughout God’s word and in the lives of those who are God’s workmanship being brought unto perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32).

Exo 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

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

Concealed and Nagging Shame Can Point to the Bondage of a Lying Spirit

[Study Aired February 22, 2023]

Shame is frequently a result of one’s moral virtues being broken. Many Christian Babylonians, with much prayer, have degrees of moral integrity and overcome drug, alcohol and other addictions and sins through various programs with acclaimed success. Why do we in the Body of Christ sometimes experience a painful thorn of a particular sin in our side seemingly forever?

This study highlights one possible oversight dedicated to “shame” to inspire any number of Saints battling entrenched sins to overcome spirits in their high places. For the Elect and Babylonians alike, there are enormously powerful emotions intrinsic to sin where the feeling of intense shame frequently supersedes and disguises the underlying forbidden action. Overwhelmingly in scripture, shame is an essential and elementary agent to motivate change, yet, seemingly in our DNA, the first response is to hide to mitigate the mental torment.

Optimistically, the study will stimulate personal breakthroughs, from grinding struggles to freedom from a dogged sin.

Mankind that is sinful flesh is by nature sin, and we thus frequently live a bit too comfortable in sin, especially their perceived lesser sensed sins and, subsequently, the probability of perpetual shame.

1Ti 4:1 But the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons, 
1Ti 4:2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, being seared in their own conscience. (MKJV)

When our consciences are repeatedly seared, it lays down resistance to a soft heart for change, just as a soft blister on one’s hand will lay down a slightly tougher layer of skin. When the same abrasive action is repeated in the same location, the body responds by laying down more tough skin that eventually will entirely resist the harshest assault. Similar action on our minds produces the same psychological layering of a “seared conscience”. We see massive oppression against the Lord’s word on all fronts in this age, where particularly vile actions are now progressively flaunted as dignity and searing consciences.

The feeling of shame has no greater impact than its first experience of the perceived sin. Sins that are transgression evoke shame in the sinner and with the audience, with the latter’s eyes burning the shame deeper into the trespasser’s heart. Shame and guilt go hand-in-hand with breaching a law. We are unlikely to admit guilt since we know the next step is a debilitating shame since speaking about it perpetuates the often crippling emotion of humiliation. The longer the humiliation resides in our hearts, its devouring nature stigmatises recovery. Knock guilt off of its perch, and humiliating shame disappears.

Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Mat 18:2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 
Mat 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
Mat 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Shame and humiliation are almost indistinguishable and are uncomfortable or painful due to recognition or consciousness of impropriety, dishonour or other wrongs in the opinion of the person experiencing the feeling. Both are often felt as a recall of a particularly painful event by oneself or by others reminding us.

A quote from William Shakespeare says, “Have you no modesty, no maiden name?” and is reminiscent of the Great Whore within. Revelation says, (Rev 18:7 As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says,) ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’ ~ and hence her nakedness of not being covered by a husband. Subsequently, through her own works, she has covered her shame with personal orthodoxy reasoning and a seared heart of self-righteousness. 

Isa 4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, we will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing; only let us be called by your name, to take away our shame.

Of course, all unmarried women in Christ, the Body of Christ, are covered by him; thus, the shame of their nakedness upon repentance is covered. Unmarried women, the rejected church in Babylon, are unwittingly covered by their father, Satan, and cannot see the shame of their nakedness.

Joh 8:43 Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message.
Joh 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

Young children almost always burst into tears with sorrow for their guilt. Conversely, adults become more ingenious than children at hiding and covering humiliation rather than calmly and unreservedly identifying the contentious issue by simply learning to acknowledge a sin before God with the authentic joy of a converted spirit.

If the guilt isn’t quickly expressed and forgiveness asked, shame can become a crippling emotion. Shame induces hiding, and when concealment becomes a habit, it consolidates the sin with layers of scarring for a possibly seared conscience. Where particularly offensive acts are evident, keeping the transgression between oneself and the Lord is far more honourable and scripturally sound than blurting the offence to the Body. Plainly, we confess our sins to the only one who can forgive the sin, Christ.

Mat 6:5 And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward. 
Mat 6:6 But you, when you pray, enter into your room. And shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.

Jas 5:13 Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. 
Jas 5:14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 
Jas 5:15 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
Jas 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

All Christians are well acquainted with mankind’s first recorded shame response, specifically for their self-consciousness of nakedness. Of course, our minds instantly go to Adam and Eve’s attempt at fig leaf couture (dressmaking) for disobeying the Lord. Incidentally, the Lord’s humour with his covert inspirations for them to choose fig leaves, notably for their shape and for Adam’s more visual pudenda, was considerate.

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

Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Of course, scripture doesn’t immediately say Adam and Eve felt shame upon eating the forbidden fruit; only it is imputed by their hiding. Yet our unclothed bodies ascribe shame everywhere in scripture, most importantly its spiritual shadows. Interestingly, when we read “and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” we automatically attribute shame to that phrase merely by the action “[they] hid themselves from the presence of the Lord.”

Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Acknowledgement of guilt is good and is a confession of wrongdoing. It’s hopefully a learned lesson not to be repeated. The unacknowledged sin that should evoke guilt perpetuates the sometimes debilitating emotion of humiliation. The longer the humiliation resides in our hearts, its devouring nature hinders recovery.

Humiliation is the emotion one feels when our status is lowered in front of others. Adam and Eve knowing that they were naked was a God-induced response. If God had not created that response from disobedience to His word, they would have been like the other animals in the Garden, oblivious to intellectual reasoning. 

The eyes of the animal beasts in the Garden stare contemplatively without seeing as their kin copulate and do all sorts of antisocial (by our standards) attentiveness to their own and each other’s genitals. The Lord created a huge disparity between them and us for His purposeful lesson. It is through nakedness and the fear of humiliation, largely by seeing the difference between His bodily presentation and ours, by spiritual clothing is the message. (“the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked”).

The Lord’s sheep are schooled by the “good shepherd” to come out of the world’s massive sheep pen for the slaughter and follow Him. With no inherent defence, sheep are created to be protected and farmed. The entire world of sheep will follow different shepherds who offer the seemingly best food and protection. Only the Lord’s personal “little flock” knows His voice and will not comply with the voices of falsehood. It is common knowledge among sheep graziers that to get sheep to go anywhere, especially where they don’t want to go, is to use a goat’s inherent wily intuition. The sheep will always follow him; hence the goat is colloquially called a “Judas goat” ~ leading the sheep up a ramp into a truck for market and unwitting slaughter. Of course, even Babylon knows that the goat represents Satan (but they are blinded to see that the “scapegoat” is Christ in my flesh. Col 1:24 – The Scapegoat).

A highly notable character of the infamous WEF recently used the Lord’s fair jewels of knowledge for his own nefarious purposes when he allegedly said, “people are hackable animals.” He is dead right! The entire world will follow their goatish slave masters in government, particularly the Babylonian Christian church, with eyes that don’t see their collective nakedness.

Upon Jesus feeding the four thousand with seven loaves of bread and some small fishes and sailing to Dalmanutha, he explained His miracle to His disciples. Little by little, their eyes opened through many subsequent miracles. Jesus said,

Mar 8:18 Having eyes, do you not see? and having ears, have you no hearing? and have you no memory?

Christ said, have you no spiritually reflective memory of what you have seen through numerous miracles!? The disciples hadn’t yet been given the more significant measure of their Lord’s spirit, and the uptake of their understanding was naturally slow.

As always, miracles mesmerise people, and the disciples were no different. Our senses are always attuned to the most dynamic occurrence, frequently distracting us from its underlying meaning.

Mat 13:10 Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?” 
Mat 13:11 He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 
Mat 13:12 Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 
Mat 13:13 This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ 
Mat 13:14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
Mat 13:15 For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 
Mat 13:17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. (BSB)

The Lord made us His ‘sheep’ with eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear until He opens them in His own good timing.

The first and most powerful emotion to our sins being revealed and the inevitable humiliation is fight or flight, to uphold our integrity or flee (hide) before our personally idealised integrity is shredded. With everyone’s eyes burning upon you, being told or perceiving that you are wrong insults our prideful intelligence. As did Adam and Eve with their new and dreadfully disconcerting new emotion of shame, hiding seems easier since it is not our nature to admit wrongdoing. 

To the ‘natural man’, being found out for our misdeeds doesn’t mitigate the choice of fighting or hiding; our pride causes both actions. Hence, the title, “Concealed and Nagging Shame Can Point to the Bondage of a Lying Spirit.” It does not always, but it can.

Of course, Ananias and Sapphira are classic cases of a lying spirit. Scripture doesn’t say if they concealed other occasions of ‘hiding’ from their consciences through the enslavement of other vices. However, judgment for their account of holding back a portion of profits from the pledge to the temple following the sale of land was blindingly swift; they had no time to attempt hiding. Scripture doesn’t say if they felt guilt for withholding a portion of the money from selling their land for themselves.

Act 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
Act 5:2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Act 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Act 5:4 While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
Act 5:5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
Act 5:6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
Act 5:7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. 
Act 5:8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. 
Act 5:9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
Act 5:10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. 
Act 5:11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

Our Lord is just and merciful to His little flock, and judgment isn’t always as swift as it was for Ananias and Sapphira. Righteousness by slowly putting on our Lord’s clothing to hide our nakedness is often a drawn-out and fiery affair. Change comes after much deliberation, dodging and weaving of a lying spirit until we acknowledge our transgressions from the heart.

Isa 26:9 My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
Isa 26:10 Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.
Isa 26:11 O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them! 

Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. 

2Pe 3:15 Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.

The Body of Christ is well-versed in experiencing forgiveness from our exceptionally patient Lord for our most obstinate sins.

Mat 18:21  Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 
Mat 18:22  Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times! [Mat 18:21-35]

Following multiple fiery trials, the Body’s individuals become more comfortable in the fire by quickly seeing their nakedness and acknowledging their sins (Jer 3:6-13).

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

Acknowledging sins quashes humiliation; it is a liberating experience.

Cain classically tried to hide from the Lord. Upon killing his brother, Abel, he followed in the footsteps of his father, Adam and humanity’s endemic nature to hide from our sins. 

Gen 4:1 And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.
Gen 4:2 Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. 
Gen 4:3 So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD, 
Gen 4:4 while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
Gen 4:5 but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. 
Gen 4:6 “Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? 
Gen 4:7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”
Gen 4:8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 
Gen 4:9 And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” 
Gen 4:10 “What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 
Gen 4:11 Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
Gen 4:12 When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
Gen 4:13 But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 
Gen 4:14 Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Gen 4:15 “Not so!” replied the LORD. “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him.
Gen 4:16 So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

We all begin life as Cain; only the Lord chooses not to hide His face from a few who are given to see the Lord’s face in His word. The world’s overwhelming multitude of ‘Cains’ sees the Lord’s face with eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear (Mar 8:18).

Everyone in the Lake of Fire, including Cain, will be astonished by the Lord having steered them in this life into horrendously serious sins and evil experiences, mostly in this age for the Elect’s sake. Naturally, for them, as with us, the first emotion is an outrage at the Lord’s manipulation ~ Him, the master potter, having directed Satan’s hand in everyone’s sin and resulting humiliation for a righteous outcome.

Joseph’s brothers were inspired by Satan at the Lord’s hands to sell him into Egypt. Joseph says,

Gen 45:7 God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—Lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Likewise, and for our most humiliating sins, it wasn’t us that sent us into our Babylon of disgrace, but God. 

Rom 9:19 You will then say to me, Why does He yet find fault? For who has resisted His will? 
Rom 9:20 Yes, rather, O man, who are you answering against God? Shall the thing formed say to the One forming it, Why did You make me like this? [lITV – Isa 29:16]

Adam, Cain and Joseph’s brothers all hid from their shame. Hiding from wrongdoing leaves a debilitating and nagging legacy of humiliation to being found out. The only remedy to shame and humiliation is to “acknowledge your sins” and, from your heart, seek forgiveness. It really is that simple!

Once a sin is acknowledged from our heart before the Lord, not a soul in the world, including oneself, has a right to recall the sin and thus perpetuate humiliation!

King David was a man after the Lord’s own heart purely for his God-given willingness to acknowledge his sin. Yet, he, too, dragged his feet to come to that acknowledgment, but once his nakedness was revealed, he sought forgiveness, often with tears.

Jer 3:23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel. 
Jer 3:24 For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
Jer 3:25 We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God. 

Jer 3:13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

The lying spirit of hiding from the Lord really is easily blown away in the summer breeze by the Lord’s word, “only acknowledge your sins”, and they will be forgiven.

[Study Aired January 19, 2023]

This first section of chapter 17 of the book of Kings begins to focus on the reign of Hoshea the king of Israel. This king very brightly represents for us the bondage that sin in our life brings and demonstrates what a powerful taskmaster sin is, which God uses to humble His people and bring us to our wits’ end so that we cry out for deliverance which then comes to us through Christ (Psa 107:24-30). 

Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

The stormy winds spoken of in Psalm 107 can represent the trials of life which buffet us, that are connected to the spiritual struggles we have in our heavens, the powers and principalities over which God is sovereign and raises in our heavens to bring us to see how powerless we are over the wretchedness of flesh from which only He can deliver us (Eph 6:12, Rom 7:24 – “Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven” – Rom 3:27).

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.

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

The end result of Hoshea’s rule over Israel is disastrous, as verse 18 and 19 expresses that the LORD was very angry with Israel:

2Ki 17:18  Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
2Ki 17:19  Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

This exile that is going to happen to Israel, and in time Judah, represents the bondage sin brings and that we all must endure as we come to learn of our Lord’s mighty hand working in our corruptible flesh from which He is able to deliver us (Rom 7:24-25). It is only through the suffering of this life that we will finally cease from sinning as we are received of God through a chastening and scourging process very few are meant to endure in this lifetime (2Ti 2:12, Heb 12:6-8, Mat 22:14).

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Here is a brief history of what was happening at this time in the life of King Hoshea which should serve to help us organize the physical events so that in turn we can then understand what those events mean as we compare spiritual with spiritual using those physical events (1Co 2:13) God has inspired to happen in the life of this very wayward king and those external parties that greatly influenced his day-to-day decisions as the king of Israel.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Before I read this excerpt from [Who was King Hoshea in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org], it’s important to remember Babylon’s perspective is that Judah and Israel just ignored the very best of the best prophets and thereby brought about this condemnation upon themselves for what they did in their flesh, with no outside influence causing all this neglect to unfold as it did. That perspective puts the man of perdition firmly on the seat of our heavens, and must be destroyed by an all-powerful external force [Christ] who is far greater than our own carnal reasoning that serves the law of sin (Rom 7:25) harboring powers and principalities that Christ will little and by little rule over (Exo 23:30,  1Jn 4:4). The destruction of the man of sin is the destruction of that part of us that says, “I’m responsible for my sins” or “I’m responsible for my good deeds” (2Th 2:5-8), which word “responsible” is not found in the bible.

God’s elect are blessed to know that when scripture says boasting is excluded by the law of faith, it is also true that we can’t give ourselves credit for being drawn away to be tempted and sin seeing this lack of faith (Rom 14:23) we have is something that God has disposed to each man to experience according to the counsel of His own will (Luk 23:34, Act 4:27-28). The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD (Pro 16:33). We acknowledge our sins and the righteousness of Christ working in us, and see them as all part of His workmanship unfolding within us (Rom 4:25) to His glory who has power over the marred vessel to make one unto honour and another to dishonour (Rom 2:4, Eph 2:10, Rom 9:21). 

Rom 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. 

Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

We operate in the measure of faith God gives us (Rom 12:3), and Lord willing, we will heed the admonitions from these stories which tell us that we can be more than conquerors through Christ alone who can bring us to our wits’ end and cause us to cry out and be delivered from Satan “in his time” or “until he be taken away” (Mar 9:24). What hope the scriptures hold out for us, as we learn we can cry out, confess our faults, and be delivered day by day as we die daily in Christ (Rom_6:3)!

Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

From:  [Who was King Hoshea in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org]

Hoshea son of Elah became king of the northern kingdom of Israel in 732 BC after assassinating King Pekah, son of Remaliah. Hoshea reigned 9 years. He was a wicked king, but not as wicked as previous kings of Israel (2Ki 17:2). Hoshea was the last king of Israel before the nation’s destruction by Assyria.

King Pekah had fought with the Assyrians but lost territory to Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria. So when Hoshea took the throne from Pekah, he was a vassal to Shalmaneser king of Assyria and was required to pay heavy tribute (2Ki 17:3).

In a bid for freedom and independence, Hoshea rebelled against Assyria and stopped paying the tribute, appealing to Egypt for help. This move was a failure. When Shalmaneser discovered King Hoshea’s treachery, he threw Hoshea into prison (verse 4). The Assyrian army then invaded all of Hoshea’s land. The capital, Samaria, was besieged for three years and eventually captured. The Israelites were then deported to Assyria and settled in Halah, Gozen on the Harbor River, and in the towns of the Medes. As most of the northern kingdom of Israel had already been conquered, this deportation effectively destroyed the entire kingdom. Israel’s destruction partly fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 7:16.

On the surface this may sound like the usual intrigues of kings, but the Bible makes it clear that the Assyrians’ takeover of Israel and the Israelites’ subsequent exile was God’s judgment on His people for their great sin. In spite of all the Lord had done for them, the Israelites had turned from God and worshiped false gods, setting up high places and burning incense to idols (2Ki 17:7-11). God had sent prophets, including Elijah and Elisha, to warn the Israelites, but the people persisted in their idolatry. God had meant for Israel to be set apart as a holy people (Lev 20:26; 2Ki 17:15), but instead they had assimilated the idolatrous practices of the societies they had conquered. God had given them many chances to turn back to Him, but they ignored all the prophets who warned them to turn from their evil ways. Because of their rebelliousness, “the LORD removed them from His presence” (2Ki 17:23) in fulfillment of Moses’ warning in Deuteronomy 30:17–18.

Several years after the capture of King Hoshea and the destruction of the northern kingdom, the southern kingdom of Judah fell to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (2Ki 25:1-4). The capital city of Jerusalem was destroyed, including its walls and the temple of the Lord (verses 8–10). Judah was taken into captivity and exiled for 70 years, just as the Lord had promised, as judgment for sin. However, in His mercy, God promised to preserve His people and eventually bring them back to the land He had promised them (Eze 11:14-17, Rom 14:17,  Joh 3:5-8, Php 3:3, Rev 3:12, Rev 21:2). [End Quote]

2Ki 17:1  In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea the son of Elah to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. 
2Ki 17:2  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. 

Hoshea reigned nine years in Samaria over Israel, and that all began in the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah’s reign. Something foundational is going to come out of the rule of king Ahaz, which is what we are being shown with these numbers. Twelve signifies foundations negative or positive, and nine represents judgment. So Ahaz was the king who would be ruling during that time when God would destroy the corrupt foundations of Israel through judgment [9] that would ultimately have the nation be brought into captivity. In the positive sense, we see an example in this story of how God takes the marred vessel, in this case the nation of Israel, and tears it down so that in time it can be made anew (Jer 18:6). A holy and undefiled nation of Israel is not going to come on the scene in the flesh, but these stories are written for the elect’s sake (1Co 10:11) to remind us of how thoroughly God must purge his threshingfloor, which is how the first man Adam is destroyed (Eze 43:26, Eze 20:38, Rev 15:6-8,  Mal 3:3) in order to bring about the new creation formed in Christ, the “Israel of God,” who must lose their life in order to find it (Gal 6:16, Mat 10:39).

Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

Eze 43:26  Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves. 

Eze 20:38  And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 

Rev 15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. 
Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Mal 3:3  And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. 

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

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

2Ki 17:3  Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. 
2Ki 17:4  And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. 
2Ki 17:5  Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. 

This section of scripture describing Hoshea’s actions, he, “sent messengers to So king of Egypt” and “brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison” revealing how Satan, typified by Shalmaneser king of Assyria, is a jealous god, like our Father in heaven (Exo 20:5), but in his case he is jealous for his evil purpose of wanting to keep Hoshea in the bondage of sin for not continuing in the servitude that he extended to Shalmaneser for so long, even giving him presents^H4503 as we did in Babylon with our tithes and offerings and misguided vain worship of God (Mar 7:7, Rev 11:10).  This attempt at breaking away from Shalmaneser’s influence over Hoshea is similar to how Israel was pursued by the Pharaoh and armies of Egypt who wanted to keep them in the bondage of slavery.

‘Presents’ H4503 minchâh min-khaw’  

From an unused root meaning to apportion, that is, bestow; a donation; euphemistically tribute; specifically a sacrificial offering (usually bloodless and voluntary): – gift, oblation, (meat) offering, present, sacrifice.

Total KJV occurrences: 211

This story reminds us that Satan’s wrath is a real thing and that he does not want any of his servants to be divided in their minds regarding where their gifts and loyalties should remain as they continue in their quest of being accusers of the brethren (Rev 12:10). When Shalmaneser sees Hoshea betraying his loyalties to him, he “shut him up, and bound him in prison.” Hoshea is already a servant to Shalmaneser, and the minute he tries to free himself and sweep his house of his influence, seven spirits worse enter into Hoshea’s life as the king of Assyria went ahead and “shut him up, and bound him in prison” (Mat 12:45).

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. [Rom 8:18]

There is no loyalty among thieves, and Satan comes to steal and destroy (Joh 10:10). Hoshea’s actions of sending “messengers to So king of Egypt” are seen as an act of treason to Shalmaneser. The agreement was that the king of Assyria, as long as he was paid the money or gifts for his service of extracting money from the people, would spare Israel and not sift them like wheat, which is what he ultimately did. However, knowing the sovereignty of God, we know that this peace was never meant to last and Shalmaneser’s actions just show that Israel’s king Hoshea was a house divided all along that was going to fall (Luk 8:17, 1Co 3:13, 2Co 5:10-11). Hoshea was cursed for putting his trust in the king of Assyria and because of Hoshea’s lack of faith in what God could do for him, he brought a great curse on the nation of Israel (Jer 17:5). The spirit of these two kings and their interactions with each other are very well described in these verses (2Ti 3:1-4), as their treaty began to fall apart to reveal no loyalty on either side. 

Jer 17:5  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

2Ti 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 
2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

After Hoshea is shut up and bound in prison, Shalmaneser “the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years” which reminds us that the devil is not slack regarding being the evil sword in God’s hand (Psa 17:13) which will be used to besiege the capital of Israel, Samaria, for three years. This is all demonstrating for us how God does use evil men in the process of humbling His people as He continues to refine us (Mal 3:3) through these severe trials  [“besieged it three years“] (Act 20:31). Paul is expressing here in the book of Acts what Christ said in these verses (Mat 26:41, Mar 13:33, Mar 14:38, Luk 21:36), and that is to look well inwardly (2Co 13:5) and outwardly (1Pe 5:2) because of the weak flesh we’re in, so that no enemy of the cross arise, no root of bitterness take over “and thereby many be defiled” (Heb 12:15).

Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Mat 26:41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Mar 13:33  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Mar 14:38  Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 
Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

2Ki 17:6  In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

It’s in the “ninth year of Hoshea [that] the king of Assyria [Shalmaneser] took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria”. Being the ninth year of Hoshea’s kingship is the symbolic number of judgment, a judgment for Israel, that typifies the more severe and heavy trials God must prepare the bride of Christ to endure through in this life (1Pe 4:17).

The significance of placing them “in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes” is found in the meaning of these three words, Halah^H2477, Habor^H2249 , and Gozan^H1470, that tell us Israel was going to experience a “painful” “joining” to another nation, even as there is “a cutting off” from their homeland.

HalahH2477
– Original: חלח
– Transliteration: Chalach
– Phonetic: khal-akh’
– Definition: Halah = painful 
a city or district in mesopotamia under Assyrian control where the Israelite captives were taken
– Origin: probably of foreign origin
– TWOT entry: None
– Part(s) of speech: Proper Name Location 
– Strong’s: Probably of foreign origin;
Chalach a region of Assyria: – Halah.

HaborH2249
– Original: חבור
– Transliteration: Chabowr
– Phonetic: khaw-bore’
– Definition: Habor = joining 
a tributary of the Euphrates River in Assyria 
– Origin: from H2266
– TWOT entry: None
– Part(s) of speech: Proper Name Location
– Strong’s: From H2266; united;

Chabor a river of Assyria: – Habor. 
Total KJV Occurrences: 3 

GozanH1470
– Original: גּוזן
– Transliteration: Gowzan
– Phonetic: go-zawn’
– Definition: Gozan = a cutting off 
the mesopotamian city on or near the middle of the Euphrates where exiled Israelites were settled
– Origin: probably from H1468
– TWOT entry: None
– Part(s) of speech: Proper Name Location 
– Strong’s: Probably from H1468; a quarry (as a place of cutting stones);
Gozan a province of Assyria: – Gozan.

2Ki 17:7  For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, 
2Ki 17:8  And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. 
2Ki 17:9  And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 
2Ki 17:10  And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:
2Ki 17:11  And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: 
2Ki 17:12  For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.

This punishment that was brought upon the nation of Israel was because of the things we read of here (2Ki 17:7-12). The great lesson to pass on is that God is not mocked, and whatever we sow we are going to reap (Gal 6:7-8). This section of scripture clearly shows us the progression of coming out of Egypt and how we then wax and wane as Christians losing our first love. Only by the grace and faith of God do we continue to progress and work our way through being tempted ten times in the wilderness (Num 14:22) as we come to see that our flesh has to fall seven times, meaning completely (Pro 24:16), to show us that our overcoming is not of ourselves but a gift from God that takes our entire life to accomplish through Christ as we go onto perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32).

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

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

Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

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

It’s in our ignorance that we sow (1Ti 1:13) and suffer the consequences of those actions, so we are deceived until we are not, and we even are that dog that returns to his vomit, until we are not (Pro 26:11). Thanks be to God, in the end He will bring all of the world to be sickened of every sin, and the judgment that first begins at the house of God (1Pe 4:17) will make Christ’s bride ready and prepared to wipe away all the tears of humanity; tears which will never be a part of the finished creation that will only be continually rejoicing and giving thanks to God almighty who will be all in all with Christ as our head forever (1Co 15:28).

1Ti 1:13  Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

2Ki 17:13  Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. 

These last verses we will look at explain the effect of being under the taskmaster of sin which the rulership of the god of this world produces (2Co 4:4). The verses testify or witness against us what God was doing in Israel of old and Judah (1Co 10:11), “Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah.“

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

God’s purpose is revealed for the church today through much tribulation which we must endure in order to inherit the kingdom of God (Act 14:22, Rom 8:17). Christ identifies with our struggle and tells us that we are more than conquerors through Him who is our head and redeemer (Heb 4:15-16, Rom 8:37)

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

These taskmasters are set over us and bring us to do exactly what God had predestined and written in our books that we would do and suffer (Exo 1:11). The Lord knows the affliction we are under, and it is by reason of our crying out with strong tears as Christ did that we are delivered from Satan and the bondage of sin (Exo 3:7, Heb 5:7-8, Joh 8:36).

Exo 1:11  Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

Exo 3:7  And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 

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

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

God was faithful to bring along “the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments” knowing that this witness was not going to change the hearts of the people but was part of the testimony or witness to the nations of what wretchedness is in all flesh until it is no longer there (Deu 19:15). God is faithful, and His word is not broken, and He cannot lie, and so a witness is given to the people, and the people, as expected, reject that witness. The body of Christ is one spirit and one bread not divided, and the two witnesses of Revelation chapter 11 are actually multiple witnesses that witness today and will witness throughout the thousand-year reign of the saints to establish the matter and leave no opportunity for flesh to say, ‘”We didn’t know, Lord, if only you had witnessed to us, we would not have taken of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or slain Abel…or, or, or.”

Deu 19:15  One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

2Ki 17:14  Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God.
2Ki 17:15  And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them, that they should not do like them. 
2Ki 17:16  And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 
2Ki 17:17  And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

The natural status of flesh is to do what is written in these verses (2Ki 17:14-17), and as God tells us to do one thing, we do the opposite and don’t listen, as our necks get stiffer, and our hearts are darkened due to that sin which brings about disbelief and spiritual bondage (Rom 7:19-20, Luk 11:35). The opposite is to believe and do the work of God with the faith of Christ working in us, which is a gift from God (Joh 6:28-29, Php 2:12-13).

Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Luk 11:35  Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

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

This unbelief and sin in our life leads to our rejecting His covenant and brings us to fill that void in our life with vain practices of the heathen. We leave the commandments of the LORD and make molten images, the “two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal“, which represent for us today the ways of the heathen we are not to learn (Jer 10:2). 

Jer 10:2  Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 

We especially provoke God to anger when we do this: “And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger,” which typifies for us today our keeping and teaching the lies of Baal or Babylon to our children.

2Ki 17:18  Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. 
2Ki 17:19  Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. 
2Ki 17:20  And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
2Ki 17:21  For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drave Israel from following the LORD, and made them sin a great sin. 
2Ki 17:22  For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they departed not from them;
2Ki 17:23  Until the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.

After all of that rebellion we are told about, we are told that “the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.” Our natural retort to God for that anger against us would be to say: “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?”

There is more witness against us in the next verse: “Also Judah kept not the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made“, meaning the whole body is sick from head to foot, and there is none righteous. So God declares to us, if we are able to receive it, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Throughout the scriptures we are reminded of the rejection of the first man Adam and how flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and that only a very few, a remnant will be dragged through the fiery trials in this age to one day free all of humanity from the bondage of sin (Oba 1:21). It looks hopeless from the fleshly point of view, and indeed it is without the faith of Christ within us which helps us believe that our present suffering is not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed (Rom 8:18). Many times, we are told “unto this day.” “So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day“, reminding us that the witness against flesh being enmity against God is an is, was and will be event, and will be until all enemies are put under His feet. God’s elect will fear and want to avoid that sorer punishment in the lake of fire spoken of in Hebrews 10:29, knowing that we are going to have to die daily and be armed with the mind of Christ and endure through much suffering in this life in order to inherit the kingdom of God and avoid that punishment.

Heb 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 

In closing we are told in these verses (Eph 5:1-8) what we can now do through Christ for the rest of our lives, and Lord willing, we will be these dear children spoken of in these last verses who present themselves as “an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” as Christ did himself.

Eph 5:1  Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 
Eph 5:2  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Eph 5:3  But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 
Eph 5:4  Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 
Eph 5:5  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 
Eph 5:7  Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
Eph 5:8  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 

Exo 5:1-23 Let My People go, that They may Hold a Feast unto Me in the Wilderness

[Study Aired April 11, 2022]

Exo 5:1  And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 
Exo 5:2  And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. 
Exo 5:3  And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. 
Exo 5:4  And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. 
Exo 5:5  And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. 
Exo 5:6  And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 
Exo 5:7  Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 
Exo 5:8  And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 
Exo 5:9  Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words. 
Exo 5:10  And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 
Exo 5:11  Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished. 
Exo 5:12  So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. 
Exo 5:13  And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 
Exo 5:14  And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore? 
Exo 5:15  Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 
Exo 5:16  There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. 
Exo 5:17  But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD. 
Exo 5:18  Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. 
Exo 5:19  And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. 
Exo 5:20  And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 
Exo 5:21  And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. 
Exo 5:22  And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 
Exo 5:23  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. 

This chapter deals with the first encounter of Moses and Aaron with Pharaoh and the consequence of this encounter. It shows us our initial struggles with the man of sin or the old man in our lives and what happens to us as a result. The chapter also shows us how we are marred in the hands of our Lord, the potter.

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Exo 5:1  And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 

In this verse, an important title of God is mentioned: Jehovah, God of Israel. Jehovah is the unique self-existing one. He is the one who was, who is, and who will be. Only of Him can the verb “to be” be applied in an absolute sense. The title given to the Lord in this verse is the God of Israel. The title “the God of Israel” indicates that God is the God of a transformed people. Jacob was the name of a natural man, but when he was transformed, he became Israel. Israel, according to Strong, means “He will rule as God”. This name implies victory and kingship. In other words, the transformed people are victors and are also kings. Just imagine the situation that Israel endured in Egypt and the Lord calling them as a transformed people who will become victors over the flesh (Pharaoh) and will reign as kings with Christ. It is beyond comprehension!!

Rom 4:17  (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

The same principle applies to the way our Lord sees us today!! In the eyes of the Lord, we are victors and kings!! However, if our eyes are set on our spiritual condition, we may regard ourselves as being pitiful just like the Israelites in Egypt. Let’s not be short-sighted and limited in our vision by our present situation or predicament.

God does not regard you as one still in bondage under Pharaoh. Do you dare believe that you are such an Israelite, such a victor and king? Believe the word of the Lord, and if God says that you are an Israelite, then you are an Israelite, whether you feel this way about yourself or not.

When the Lord comes to us with His brightness, which is His words, that is when we begin to confront the beast or the old man within us, symbolized by Pharaoh. Here, Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go to hold a feast to the Lord in the wilderness. The word ‘feast’ also means to celebrate. It is during celebrations that we offer sacrifices and thanks to the Lord. So, what we are being told here is that in order to celebrate our Lord in this world (wilderness), or to offer a pleasing offering and sacrifice to the Lord, we must overcome or not be under the influence of the flesh or the old man within. Celebration also has to do with eating and drinking. As we are aware, eating and drinking has to do with the word of the Lord. This means that our understanding of the word of the Lord and the power to do according to word of the Lord increases as the power of the beast within diminishes as a result of the Lord’s judgment of the beast.

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 5:2  And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. 

What Pharaoh is saying in this verse is to let us know the nature of the beast within. That is, the beast or the old man resists or opposes Christ. This is the antichrist spoken of in the scriptures. Once we are under the dominion of the beast or the old man, then we become deceivers.

1Jn 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1Jn 2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1Jn 4:3  And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2Jn 1:7  For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Exo 5:3  And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

Our exit from Egypt is to be accompanied by a three-day journey into the wilderness where we can offer sacrifices to the Lord. The wilderness here is the world. Our walk with Christ starts after leaving Egypt, and the three-day journey refers to all we go through in this life (desert or wilderness) as part of the spiritual maturity process destined for us. This spiritual maturity is accomplished through judgment. It is when we are maturing that we are able to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord.

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

In verse 3 above, we are also told that Pharaoh’s refusal to let the people go on this three-day journey means that the Lord will visit the people with pestilence or with the sword. There are therefore two categories of people – those who through the mighty acts of the Lord are able to break free from the shackles of Pharaoh (the old man) to offer a living sacrifice to the Lord in this life, and those who are not able to break free from Pharaoh’s dominion. Those who are able to break free from Pharaoh’s dominion are the elect, and those who are not able to do so represent Babylon and the people of the world. As we are aware, pestilence and the sword are part of the Lord’s four sore judgments. Those who break free from Pharaoh’s grip go through a three-day journey which means that they mature through judgment. Those who are not able to do so and remain under Pharaoh’s rule will also be judged through pestilence or the sword in the fullness of time.

Eze 14:21  For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

Exo 5:4  And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
Exo 5:5  And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

On a positive note, what the king of Egypt said about Moses and Aaron making the people of Israel rest from their burdens is true. It is only when we are free from the dominion of the beast within that we are free from the burden of sin. That is when we find rest. Without dealing with the source of sin in our lives (the old man), all our effort to stop sinning will be in vain.

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

In other words, getting rest in the Lord is through the process of the death of our old man. With the old man still alive in us, finding rest becomes an illusion. The objective of the old man is to keep us busy with our own works, but Moses, representing Christ, has come into our lives so that we might have rest!!

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 
Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Exo 5:6  And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, 
Exo 5:7  Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. 
Exo 5:8  And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. 
Exo 5:9  Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

It is when we desire to free ourselves of the influence of the beast within that we come to see how powerless we are before the beast. We become worse off, and in the process, we lose hope of becoming free from the beast’s influence. This is all the work of the Lord so that we do not think we have something to offer our Lord regarding His plan of deliverance (salvation) for us.

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

In verse 9, Pharaoh did not want God’s people to regard vain words. These “vain words” however, were actually the word of God. The same is true today. Those who are dominated by the beast within (the people of the world and our brothers and sisters in Babylon) regard what we are learning of the word of the Lord as being nothing more than vain words. What we are doing in our gatherings may be idle in the eyes of worldly people including Babylon, but what they are doing is vanity in the eyes of the Lord. Egypt (the world) is filled with busyness. Everyone still under bondage in Egypt is very busy.

Exo 5:10  And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. 
Exo 5:11  Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished. 
Exo 5:12  So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.

The Egyptians, under the instructions of their king, increased the burden of the Israelites by asking them to get straw themselves as input to their daily work. The taskmasters here represent the beast or the old man within us from whose influence we desire to free ourselves. Verse 12 says that the Israelites were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather straw. The straw here represents our works or deeds which do not please the Lord. These must be burnt with unquenchable fire.

Luk 3:17  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.

Straw also symbolizes us, as we are blown by every wind of doctrine in this world before our Lord comes to us to deliver us from the old man.

Job 21:18  They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.

Psa 1:4  The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Exo 5:13  And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 
Exo 5:14  And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore? 

At a certain point of our walk with the Lord, we are basically held captive by sin as the beast within or the old man (taskmasters) dominates us in fulfilling the things of the flesh. The prophet Joel spoke about our condition under the control of the beast within as follows:

Joe 1:2  Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? 
Joe 1:3  Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. 
Joe 1:4  That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. 
Joe 1:5  Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth. 
Joe 1:6  For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. 
Joe 1:7  He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

Exo 5:15  Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 
Exo 5:16  There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.

Pharaoh, or the taskmasters, can externally be likened to our leaders in Babylon. We must remember that Egypt can also represent Babylon. Our leaders themselves do not have the keys to the kingdom of heaven during our time in Babylon, but they require us to live a life that pleases the Lord. The burden they put on us is heavy because trying to please God with our effort or strength is such an onerous task that brings frustration. Our Lord Jesus talked about this as follows:

Mat 23:1  Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Mat 23:2  Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
Mat 23:3  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 
Mat 23:4  For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Mat 23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Exo 5:17  But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.

Our natural or worldly mentality powered by the beast within, or the flesh, is that anything in which we do not exert our energies we should regard as laziness or being idle. Right from the very onset of our walk with Christ, we were admonished that we are responsible for our actions and that we are supposed to work out our own salvation. This mentality was the basis of our walk while in Egypt and later in Babylon. It is therefore, no surprise that Pharaoh, representing the beast or the old man, should reprimand the Israelites (the elect) that they are idle and do not want to work. However, the truth about the words of the Lord is that He does everything for us. All we need to do is believe, and even this belief is of Christ. Therefore, we bring nothing to the table of our salvation!! All is of the Lord. To the natural man, this is laziness or idleness!!

Isa 59:16  And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him (us); and his righteousness, it sustained him (us).

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

Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 
Exo 14:14  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Exo 5:18  Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
Exo 5:19  And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.

Instead of letting Israel go, Pharaoh actually increased their labor with rigor by commanding that they be given no more straw. This is the same with our experience. When the Lord is about to rescue us from the world, the evil one is allowed to take away our “straw”, that is, he deprives us of the supply from the world. This forces us to work with more rigor to make a living and may become a trap to take us away from the Lord. The Lord’s salvation is to rescue us out of our busyness in this world and to bring us into ‘idleness’ (our gathering together and what every joint supplies). Many people today are too busy caring for the things of this life such that they have no time to feast with the Lord. We need to be delivered from this busyness in order to have more time for “idleness”.

Our living and our existence depend on the provision from the heavenly source, not on the supply from the world. We need this vision to be our guiding principle as we exercise our faith that He is able to take care of all our needs!! Moses was a man of great faith to lead two million people out of Egypt into the wilderness, where there was no earthly supply for their human existence. May the Lord help us, to walk by faith and not by sight!!

2Co 5:7  For we walk by faith, not by sight:

Exo 5:20  And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
Exo 5:21  And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

Moses and Aaron signify the elect and Israel under bondage in Egypt, and Egypt here represents Babylon. Our brothers and sisters in Babylon think that we are dead spiritually and that the message of salvation through judgment is not what they are hoping for but a doomsday message that puts a sword in the hand of their enemies to slay them. This is all of the Lord as their eyes have not been opened, and their ears are dull of hearing.

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

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 5:22  And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
Exo 5:23  For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

Verses 22 and 23 indicate that Moses was bothered and discouraged. Moses even asked the Lord why He had sent him. Furthermore, Moses said to the Lord, “Neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.” Many of us have had similar experiences. The more we think we are getting closer to the Lord through the enlightenment of His words, the more we go through certain circumstances of suffering that discourage us. This caused us to become troubled and discouraged just like Moses. Do not think, however, that increased suffering is a negative sign. Our suffering is a sign that God is in the process of delivering us from our enemy within – the old man or the beast.

Php 1:12  But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 

2Co 1:8  For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.
2Co 1:9  Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 
2Co 1:10  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 

2Co 4:16  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 
2Co 4:17  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 
2Co 4:18  as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

[Study Aired March 29, 2021]

Jdg 6:1  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. 
Jdg 6:2  And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: and because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and caves, and strong holds. 
Jdg 6:3  And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; 
Jdg 6:4  And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. 
Jdg 6:5  For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. 
Jdg 6:6  And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD. 
Jdg 6:7  And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD because of the Midianites, 
Jdg 6:8  That the LORD sent a prophet unto the children of Israel, which said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you forth out of the house of bondage; 
Jdg 6:9  And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all that oppressed you, and drave them out from before you, and gave you their land; 
Jdg 6:10  And I said unto you, I am the LORD your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but ye have not obeyed my voice. 
Jdg 6:11  And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 
Jdg 6:12  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. 
Jdg 6:13  And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 
Jdg 6:14  And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 
Jdg 6:15  And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. 
Jdg 6:16  And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. 
Jdg 6:17  And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. 
Jdg 6:18  Depart not hence, I pray thee, until I come unto thee, and bring forth my present, and set it before thee. And he said, I will tarry until thou come again.
Jdg 6:19  And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it.
Jdg 6:20  And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. 
Jdg 6:21  Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
Jdg 6:22  And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.
Jdg 6:23  And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. 
Jdg 6:24  Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

The life of an elect is not that simple. Like the Israelites, we have to go through our wilderness experience before we enter the Promised Land, and it is in the Promised Land that we have to battle the enemies within to possess our body, which is the land. Our wilderness experience is the period of our lives when we are devoted to the worldly church system (Babylon) that is Jerusalem which is and is in bondage with her children. Even though we come out of the world (Egypt) with enthusiasm to serve God, we end up spiritually dead as we imbibe great swelling words of vanity (every wind of false doctrine) of our shepherds in Babylon which sweep us away and cause us to have our own righteousness.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 

Jud 1:16  These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

Rom 10:2  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 
Rom 10:3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.