Rev 20:7-10 When The 1,000 Years Are Expired, Part 2

[Study Aired June 27, 2025]

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

In this study we will see when “all [natural] Israel shall be saved” and we will learn why the Lord must literally rule “the kingdoms of this world… with a rod of iron… for a thousand years”. Before we can hope to understand how “all Israel shall be saved” we must first know who “the twelve tribes of Israel” are mentioned in Revelation 7:

Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Notice what is said of these 144,000 in chapter 14:

Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

“These were redeemed from among men”. It does not say ‘Jewish men’, it simply says “from among men”, and this is the “principle” by which that statement is made:

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

Galatians 6:15-16 is in complete accord with:

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

The holy spirit has blinded the eyes of the entire incorporated Christian church to the word “not” in Romans 2:28. The whole orthodox Christian world, as well as many governments of this world still believe that natural, physical Jews are still the chosen people of God. They all still believe that when the Lord told Abraham…

Gen 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

…that there were no conditions attached to that promise. Nothing is further from the Truth.

These verses are quoted by many Rabbis and many fundamental Christians as if they actually read… ‘Regardless of what you do I will bless you and curse your ememies.’ That is obviously not what the Lord told Abraham. The better part of the Old Testament is filled with all the curses the Lord promised would come on Israel if they did not obey the Lord. The Lord used Israel’s immediate neighbors, Syria, Edom, Moab and Ammon, as well as Pharaoh Necho, of Egypt, and Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon to punish Israel when they would reject and disobey Him. The physical Jews of modern times have continued that same rebellion and rejection of their Lord, and the curses upon Israel of Deuteronomy 28 are just as relevant today as the day they were first penned.

Genesis 12:3 is but one verse of scripture. It is “the sum of [God’s] Word” which  constitutes Truth:

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

All the rabbis and fundamental Christians who think Genesis 3:12 is a stand-alone verse of scripture would do well to take note of Psalms 119:160. It does not read “some of thy Word is Truth”, rather it says “the sum of Thy Word is Truth.” A little more of that ‘sum’ concerning what God blesses and what He curses concerning Israel is found in Deuteronomy 28. That chapter of scripture consists of 68 verses proclaiming the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience. The first 14 verses concern the blessings the Lord promises Israel if they obey Him:

Deu 28:1  And it shall come to pass,if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
Deu 28:2  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

There is not even a hint of unconditional favor because they are Abraham’s seed. The Truth is that all the rest of that chapter, the last 54 verses are all concerned with the curses which will come upon Israel if they disobey the Lord.

Deu 28:15  But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

If there were just two more verses those curses would occupy exactly 4 times as many verses as the blessings. Clearly God’s favor on Israel is not unconditional, and Genesis 12:3 does not say that it is.

Gen 12:3  “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” is in fact a promise which applies to all who follow in the footsteps of Abraham and listen diligently to the Lord’s words and obey them.

This is what Paul was inspired to tell the Gentile Corinthian converts:

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them [all who ignore and rebel against the Lord], and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Here is the mind of God as it concerns physical Jews and their relationship with Him:

Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Rom 2:10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Rom 2:11  For there is no respect of persons with God.

The spirit then goes on to tell us what a ‘Jew’ is and what a ‘Jew’ is not, and it is found right here in this same 2^nd chapter of Romans:

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

The spirit has made clear that it is “he… which is… a Jew… inwardly”, who is being judged first and experiencing the “tribulation and anguish” of that judgment in this present time.

Not one Rabbi or Christian minister in a thousand will acknowledge the truth of Romans 2:28.

Paul, inspired of the holy spirit, reiterates this spiritual principle in:

Gal 6:15  Can’t you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do – submit to circumcision, reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and he is creating something totally new, a free life!
Gal 6:16  All who walk by this standard are the true Israel of God— his chosen people. Peace and mercy on them! (MSG)

We will learn in this study, that physical Israel will not even “return to  their former estate… until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in”.

The question now is what then did Paul mean when he stated:

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to [physical, natural] Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins

Exactly ‘when’ will God “take away the sins of… all Israel?” Paul may seem to many to the false ministers of Babylon to contradict himself, but he was not in the least bit confused when he plainly states that “the fall of them is the salvation of the Gentiles.”

Rom 11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Rom 11:12  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

Does it not say “God forbid?” Yes, indeed, it does say “God forbid” that Israel’s stumbling is only for the purpose of falling. Paul goes on to twice explain that “through their fall, salvation is come to the Gentiles” [and] through “the fall of them is the riches of the world.” He makes clear that there are a few of those who are “Jews outwardly” who even now are being saved, and he calls them “the election” of physical Israel. However, he makes it super clear that “the rest were blinded.” So what does this mean for the vast majority of physical Israel? Paul answers that question without hesitation:

Rom 11:7  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

Will the physical nation of Israel be the preeminent nation on earth during the “thousand years” reign of God’s elect? When exactly does “the fulness of the Gentiles” come in?

Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

The Old Testament scriptures actually tell us exactly when “all Israel be shall be saved.” It tells us “when [the Lord] shall take away their sins.” It does not give us an exact date, but it does give us an exact timeline, and the world has been blinded by the Lord to what is right here in the scriptures. Here is the scriptural answer to these questions for all who are given to receive it.

Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

There it is in very clear language. “When… Sodom… and Samaria” return to our Lord, “then you and your daughters shall return to your former estate” with our Lord. That is when “the fullness of the Gentiles will be come in”, and that is when “all Israel shall be saved”. Again:

Rom 11:7  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

Who then will rule during that thousand-year period? Here they are:

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye [Gentile Ephesians] being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh [a part of the commonwealth of Israel] by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

God is not making of twain, twain. He is making “of twain one new man.”  This “new man” is no longer in need of a physical Abrahamic pedigree. The new paradigm is to become an obedient “overcomer” of the rebellious, sinful, carnal mind:

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

What did Christ “receive of His Father?” Remembering the primary inward application of this prophecy, what Christ received from His Father is the same commission which you and I have been sent to accomplish. Christ was sent by His Father to save this world, and with us He was given the commandment to lay down His life for us.

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Joh 10:15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Joh 10:16  And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold [of physical Israel]: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. [Eph 2:14-15]

Christ did not “receive a commandment of His Father” to establish two folds of sheep. He came and laid down His life “to make of twain one new man.” He did not come to make twain of twain with a physical ‘chosen people’ and a different spiritual ‘chosen people.’ There is but “one new man… one body”, one gospel… one spirit… and one “chosen …elect”.

Here is another symbol of these elect:

Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Let us not attempt to make ‘some of God’s word true’ by pitting this verse against Ezekiel 16:55, Romans 2:28-29, Galatians 6:15-16 and Ephesians 2:11-16. It is “the sum of God’s Word which is true”, and that ‘sum’ clearly makes an Israelite or a Jew, a spiritual and an inward matter.

Ephesians 2 informs us that “[we] were in time past Gentiles in the flesh… but now in Christ Jesus [we] are … the commonwealth of Israel” (Eph 2:11-16).

What did Christ “receive of His Father”? He received the commandment to die for the sins of mankind, this entire world.

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

These “hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel” are the “true Israel of God [who] live by the rule that neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” “All the tribes of Israel” are now “he that is a Jew inwardly”, “made of twain one new man”, and it is these spiritual “Jews” and these spiritual “Israelites” who are now, and who will be, ruling and reigning with a rod of iron, with Christ for a thousand years. It is through the unbelief of physical Israel and all the unbelievers in Babylon, “that great city where also our Lord was crucified”, that you and I are granted to be believers:

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

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

“My suffering for you… filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body’s sake?” Does Paul think these words apply only to himself? No, of course not. This is speaking of all those who are now granted to rule over the giants within their land and over their nations within, and who will, at the appointed time rule over the outward nations of this world for a thousand years. It will certainly not be the physical nation of Israel which until this very day denies their own savior.

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

So what is this thing called “a thousand years?”

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom [is] as the sand of the sea.

God will have Satan imprisoned for a symbolic “thousand years.” Why does He then release Satan out of his prison?

The answer is that God’s plan is not finished by giving His elect the dominion of the kingdoms of this world during this thousand-year period. Babies are still being born during that time. Death has not yet been destroyed and would never be destroyed if new baby ‘Adams’ continued being born into this world. In the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians we are told that this rule of our Lord will last “till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

If the phrase “of His kingdom there shall be no end” were speaking of this thousand-year period, what need would there be to release Satan from his prison to again deceive the nations of this earth after the thousand years are expired?

Luk 1:33  And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

How can “the thousand years [be] expired” (Rev 20:7) if there is no end to the kingdom?

Is death destroyed during the thousand years, or could it be that the destruction of death is the very purpose for this thousand-year reign and the release of Satan to deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth? What does scripture teach?

Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The words of verse 10 here are the same words used to describe the fiery trials of the Lord’s elect in Revelation 14:

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. [What exactly is all of this???]
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. [Here are they who “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book”, (Rev 20)]:
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Here we are told “fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” Does that destroy the kingdom of God? What does the final physical conflagration accomplish and what does it produce?

This entire scene is given us in much greater detail in Ezekiel 38, which we will have to look at in our next study. The one thing that is clear, is that the thousand years are nothing more that a time which brought “the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth” (vs 8) into position to be “devoured by fire which comes down from God out of heaven.” In other words, this thousand-year reign, like Samson’s marriage to a Philistine woman, serves only to give God “an occasion against the Philistines” because, just as sin and death hold dominion over all flesh, “the Philistines had dominion over Israel… at that time”.

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, [Is there] never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

Placing Satan in the abussos of our fleshly carnal mind, under the chain and seal of these the words of our Lord, is all “of the Lord, [because] the Lord sought an occasion against… the nations in the four quarters of the earth… to devour them with fire that will come down from God out of heaven.”

Who is this “camp of the saints and the beloved city?” The camp of the saints is “the Israel of God” of Galatians 6:15-16. ‘The camp of the saints” is the spiritual 12,000, from each of the [spiritual] 12 tribes of Israel of Revelation 7:4. The camp of the saints are those who “are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision made by hands” (Eph 2:11). The camp of the saints are all those who are “reconciled unto God in one body” (Eph 2:16). The camp of the saints are the few who will serve and reign with God for a thousand years and then be confronted and opposed by “the nations in the four quarters of the earth” (Rev 20:7-8). The camp of the saints are “the Israel of God” of Gal 6:15-16; they are “Jerusalem above” (Gal 4:26), the “New Jerusalem” (Rev 3:12), and the overcomers of Galatian 6:15-16. The camp of the saints are those who are numbered 144,000 who will rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years, and then will continue to rule and reign with Christ in the lake of fire, which is the second death.;

Gog and Magog, on the other hand, signify all the inhabitants of the earth after a thousand years of being ruled with a rod of iron, and are like the Philistines of Samson’s day. They simply have no way of knowing or understanding that these saints against whom they are encamped are the same people who are right at home in the everlasting burnings, and the devouring flames of this symbolic ‘lake of fire.’

Isa 33:13  Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?  [Who will dwell with His devouring fire??? Here’s God’s own answer]:
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

If they knew who they were going up against, they would not be giving God the occasion He is seeking to destroy all sin and death by bringing an end to all flesh. If they knew who they were encamping against, they would not furnish God the “occasion” He is seeking to bring an end to the birth of babies and bring about the second resurrection of all the dead of all time, to be cast into the lake of fire to be purified, so “that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy”.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

That is the wonderful reward which will be granted to every man whose name is written in the book of life of the lamb. That man will be one of the few chosen to show the Lord’s loving mercy and grace on all who are cast into the lake of fire.

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

In our next study if the Lord wills, we will go through the 38th chapter of Ezekiel which is the inspiration for much of this chapter of Revelation, and we will also cover these verses of this chapter 20 of Revelation.

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

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

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

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

The Day of the Lord

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

Introduction

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Significations:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eze 33:2  Son of man, speak to the children [The Bride of Christ] of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land [you and I], if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
Eze 33:3  If when he  [you and I] seeth the sword come upon the land [our spirit; our conscience], he blow the trumpet, and warn the people [Primarily, first judge yourself before you are capable of warning others, but not limited to your hypocritical self – 1 Cor 11:30];
Eze 33:4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword [God’s word] come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 
Eze 33:5  He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
Eze 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. 
Eze 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

In the Gideon scriptures mentioned above, he represents Christ, and his 300 men are the selected Elect, having come out of the 32,000 men of Israel representing the world, fleeing Egypt and, later, Babylon, similarly and all spiritually representing Assyria, Sodom and Old Jerusalem. With three aspects of lust written in their hearts, they are the Lord’s selected faithful Elect, all remaining subject to (1) the lust of the eyes, (2) the lust of the flesh, and (3) the pride of life. This symbolises the progression (Number 3) of the Bride of Christ and the forgiveness of her lofty sins (pride) by her Lord’s faith and spirit.

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

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he [the Bride alone since the cross] that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Numbers 2:1-34  The Army of the Lord Encamping in Array

[Study Aired April 24, 2023

Num 2:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 
Num 2:2  Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. 
Num 2:3  And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah. 
Num 2:4  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 
Num 2:5  And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar. 
Num 2:6  And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 
Num 2:7  Then the tribe of Zebulun: and Eliab the son of Helon shall be captain of the children of Zebulun. 
Num 2:8  And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. 
Num 2:9  All that were numbered in the camp of Judah were an hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies. These shall first set forth.
Num 2:10  On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.
Num 2:11  And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. 
Num 2:12  And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 
Num 2:13  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. 
Num 2:14  Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. 
Num 2:15  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty. 
Num 2:16  All that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were an hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty, throughout their armies. And they shall set forth in the second rank. 
Num 2:17  Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards. 
Num 2:18  On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. 
Num 2:19  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred. 
Num 2:20  And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 
Num 2:21  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. 
Num 2:22  Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. 
Num 2:23  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. 
Num 2:24  All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were an hundred thousand and eight thousand and an hundred, throughout their armies. And they shall go forward in the third rank.
Num 2:25  The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
Num 2:26  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. 
Num 2:27  And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran. 
Num 2:28  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred. 
Num 2:29  Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. 
Num 2:30  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred. 
Num 2:31  All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were an hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards. 
Num 2:32  These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 
Num 2:33  But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses. 
Num 2:34  And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers. 

Introduction

Regarding the verses just read, we see that the children of Israel encamped in array. They did not have the right to be positioned anywhere in the camp of Israel. Their dwellings were all arranged in a pattern given to Moses by the Lord. The children of Israel in this case represent the world, and therefore, what the Lord is telling us is that in this world in which we dwell, He has arranged where we should live and at what time we are to live at a particular place. We do not therefore have the option of making our own decisions in this life. Apparently, we make choices every day, however, these choices are caused to reflect what has been written in our books concerning our lives. 

Act 17:26  And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 
Act 17:27  that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 
Act 17:28  for “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we are indeed his offspring.” (ESV)

This is all part of the Lord’s predestination. We are not born to have our own will and to do what we like, whether good or evil. In Him we live, move and have our being means that everything we think about or do is from the Lord.

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

The prophet Isaiah was given to see that the God we are dealing with is a God who likes to hide Himself. In other words, His dealings are hidden to the world, but to the elect, He has given the eyes to see and the ears to hear from the Lord and therefore, He is no longer hidden from us. 

Isa 45:15  Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. 

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

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

This is what the Lord tells us through the prophet Jeremiah:

Jer 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 

Understanding the sovereignty of the Lord is key to a peaceful life and rest in the Lord in this tumultuous world in which we live. In other words, knowing that everything comes from the Lord, including our sins, mistakes, etc., is what gives us rest in Christ. This is the same as knowing that in Him we live, move and have our being. As the scripture says, everything concerning us (our daily lives) was written in our books even when we were not yet born. 

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. 
Psa 139:17  How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 

As we go through chapter 2 of Numbers, the key thing to remember is the Lord’s sovereignty in everything. We have already gone over the significance of the total number of the army of the Lord for each tribe in the previous two sessions, and so we shall not do so in this session.

Num 2:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 
Num 2:2  Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. 

The father’s house in verse 2 is traced to Jacob, and it is through Jacob (one blood) that all the people of Israel came.  As we can see, the Lord is using the people of Israel to depict His plan for the world. In these verses, the children of Israel represent the whole world, and the Lord is showing us how He has made all humanity from one blood to dwell on all the face of the earth. Pitching by his own standard and with the ensign of their father’s house means that the Lord has determined our parental lineage even before we were born and that it is through our parents that the Lord determines the bounds of our habitation. All the tribes are arranged to face the tabernacle of the congregation. This is another way of saying that the Lord is not far from each one of us and that all humanity will seek the Lord, but it is the elect who shall feel after Him and find Him first. Paul’s words in Acts 17:26-28 are therefore another rendition of Numbers 2:1-2. 

Act 17:26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 
Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 
Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Num 2:3  And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah. 
Num 2:4  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 
Num 2:5  And those that do pitch next unto him shall be the tribe of Issachar: and Nethaneel the son of Zuar shall be captain of the children of Issachar. 
Num 2:6  And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 
Num 2:7  Then the tribe of Zebulun: and Eliab the son of Helon shall be captain of the children of Zebulun. 
Num 2:8  And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. 
Num 2:9  All that were numbered in the camp of Judah were an hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies. These shall first set forth.

There are basically four camps around the tabernacle of congregation. The first group consisted of the tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, and they were to pitch their tent on the East side of the tabernacle of the congregation. The East side is towards the rising of the sun. In other words, the sun rises from their end. Having been given eyes to see, we know that Jesus Christ is the Sun of righteousness. What we are being told here, therefore, is the fact that this group represents the elect who are first to see Christ rise in their lives. The names of the tribe affirm this assertion that this group represents the elect. Judah means to praise the Lord. Issachar means “he will bring a reward” and that of Zebulun means habitation. So, this group represents the elect who will praise the Lord as they dwell here on earth (habitation) and will definitely receive a reward. 

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall.

The leading tribe of this group is Judah. As we are aware, Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah. As we can see from the prophecy of Jacob regarding Judah, Judah is described as a lion or an old lion. Jesus is therefore the leader of the elect or this group. Incidentally, the leader of the tribe of Judah in verse 3 is called Nahshon which means an enchanter. Jesus, who is our leader, is the one who has enchanted us with His love to follow Him.

Jer 31:3  The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Rev 5:5  and one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof.

Gen 49:8  Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. 
Gen 49:9  Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 
Gen 49:10  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 

The names of the leaders of the other two tribes, Issachar and Zebulun, were Eliab and Nathaneel. Eliab means ‘God is father’ and Nathaneel means ‘given to God’. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our leader, is also God our father, and His life is given totally to God.   

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

In verse 9, we are told that those in the camp of Judah shall set forth first. We, the elect, are the ones to set forth in this life to engage the enemy, which is our flesh. Our leader has already assured us that being of the camp of Judah, we shall be the first to defeat the enemies as we break our enemies’ necks.

Gen 49:8  Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. 

Num 2:10  On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.
Num 2:11  And his host, and those that were numbered thereof, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. 
Num 2:12  And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of Simeon: and the captain of the children of Simeon shall be Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 
Num 2:13  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. 
Num 2:14  Then the tribe of Gad: and the captain of the sons of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel. 
Num 2:15  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and five thousand and six hundred and fifty. 
Num 2:16  All that were numbered in the camp of Reuben were an hundred thousand and fifty and one thousand and four hundred and fifty, throughout their armies. And they shall set forth in the second rank.

This second group shall camp on the south side. This group consists of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad. This group is dominated by the tribe of Reuben. Pitching their camp on the south side of the tabernacle of congregation means that their dwelling portion in this life is towards the sea. In other words, this group is those who start their journey with the Lord. However, the pull of the sea of flesh denied them from attaining the higher calling of the Lord.

Eze 48:28  And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea.

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 

We must remember that Reuben, the first son of Jacob, who through him the tribe of Reuben came into existence, was disqualified from His birthright as firstborn as a result of his inability to resist the pull of the flesh as he slept with his father’s concubine.  This affirms this group’s positioning at the south side, towards the sea of flesh.

Gen 49:3  Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
Gen 49:4  Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. 
Gen 49:5  Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 
Gen 49:6  O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

The names of the leaders of this group are Elizur, Shelumiel and Eliasaph. Elizur means ‘my God is a rock’; Shelumiel means ‘Peace of God’ and Eliasaph denotes ‘God has added’.  The names of the leaders therefore implies that the God of the rock of our salvation, who is the prince of peace, will in the fullness of time add this group to His people. In verse 16, this group is the second to move whenever the Israelites have to move to another place. We must remember that it is only those who are first to know Christ in this life that matters. Whether you come second or third or fourth is irrelevant.  

Num 2:17  Then the tabernacle of the congregation shall set forward with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards. 

The Levites who take care of the tabernacle of the congregation follow in terms of movement after the group led by the tribe of Reuben. As the story of the hired laborers shows us, what matters is those who were paid first. It is the group of Judah who moved first who received the prize. The Levites and the other groups who moved later will not receive the prize, although they shall be saved. The Levites in verse 17 here represent Babylon or the Christian religion who are protecting the relics of the fading glory – Ichabod!! 

Neh 1:3  And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”  

Mat 20:1  “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
Mat 20:2  After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Mat 20:3  And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 
Mat 20:4  and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 
Mat 20:5  So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 
Mat 20:6  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’
Mat 20:7  They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard, too.’ 
Mat 20:8  And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 
Mat 20:9  And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 
Mat 20:10  Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 
Mat 20:11  And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,

Num 2:18  On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim according to their armies: and the captain of the sons of Ephraim shall be Elishama the son of Ammihud. 
Num 2:19  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty thousand and five hundred. 
Num 2:20  And by him shall be the tribe of Manasseh: and the captain of the children of Manasseh shall be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 
Num 2:21  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. 
Num 2:22  Then the tribe of Benjamin: and the captain of the sons of Benjamin shall be Abidan the son of Gideoni. 
Num 2:23  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. 
Num 2:24  All that were numbered of the camp of Ephraim were an hundred thousand and eight thousand and an hundred, throughout their armies. And they shall go forward in the third rank.

This group is composed of the tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. The tribe of Ephraim is the dominant tribe of this group. This group is required to pitch their tents on the west side of the tabernacle of the congregation. The west is where the sun sets. This implies that those in this group will definitely be visited by the Lord at the end of the ages through judgment. The names of the leaders also confirm this assertion. The leaders of the tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin are Elishama, Gamaliel and Abidan. Eliashama means ‘God has heard’. Gamaliel means ‘God is my recompense’ and Abidan signifies ‘the Father judges’. What these names signify is that at the end of the ages when the sun sets, this group shall have God as their reward when He hears them through His judgment.

Rev 7:9  After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 
Rev 7:10  and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 

As we are aware in the scriptures, the Lord was not pleased with the tribe of Ephraim. This is what He says about the tribe of Ephraim:

Hos 4:17  Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.

Hos 5:3  I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

Hos 7:8  Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

Hos 7:11  Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

Hos 8:9  For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

As a result of the sins of Ephraim, this group shall surely undergo the Lord’s judgment at the end of the ages before they come to drink from the rivers of water. 

Jer 31:18  I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.

Jer 31:9  They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Num 2:25  The standard of the camp of Dan shall be on the north side by their armies: and the captain of the children of Dan shall be Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
Num 2:26  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. 
Num 2:27  And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of Asher: and the captain of the children of Asher shall be Pagiel the son of Ocran. 
Num 2:28  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were forty and one thousand and five hundred. 
Num 2:29  Then the tribe of Naphtali: and the captain of the children of Naphtali shall be Ahira the son of Enan. 
Num 2:30  And his host, and those that were numbered of them, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred. 
Num 2:31  All they that were numbered in the camp of Dan were an hundred thousand and fifty and seven thousand and six hundred. They shall go hindmost with their standards. 

The group that dwelt on the northern part of the tabernacle of the congregation consists of the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphtali. Being in the north, which is the opposite of the south, means they are far from the sea of flesh which represents the world. The dominant tribe in this group is Dan. In Judges we see the children of Dan setting up a graven image which became a stumbling block to many people of Israel. In addition, they used Gershom and his sons, who were from the tribe of Manasseh, to become priests which was against the Lord’s requirement. Dan here, or this group therefore, represents Babylon where we worship another Jesus.

Jdg 18:30  And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

The names of the leaders of the tribes in this group tell us about the nature of this group. The leaders of Dan, Asher and Naphtali are Ahiezer, Pagiel and Ahira respectively. Ahiezer means ‘brother of help’, Pagiel stands for ‘meeting with God’ and Ahira signifies ‘brother of evil’. What these names imply is that our brothers and sisters in Babylon cause us a lot of evil, but they are also a help to us, the elect. As we can see in the scriptures, the Levites are given to help the elect. At the climax of the ages, our brothers and sisters in Babylon will also have the chance to meet the Lord. 

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

Num 2:32  These are those which were numbered of the children of Israel by the house of their fathers: all those that were numbered of the camps throughout their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 
Num 2:33  But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses. 
Num 2:34  And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers. 

As we indicated in the previous study, the Levites were not counted and therefore, were not enrolled in the army of the Lord. The Levites represent our brothers and sisters in Babylon who are also of Abraham’s seed. However, they are not counted as the seed of promise and therefore are not to be given any inheritance. This is not because we, the elect, deserve any inheritance. It is through the hardening of their hearts to believe that we are privileged to receive mercy to believe. In the final analysis, this mercy we have received will be extended to the whole of the human race. 

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

May the Lord continue to show mercy to us as we strive for the mark of His higher calling!! Amen!!

(Key verses: Gen 15:7-21)

The generation of “the first man Adam” is God’s crown of this physical creation as He is in the process to make all in this Adam to be conformed to His spiritual image in “the last Adam”, Christ Jesus (Gen 1:26; 1Co 15:22-50; Eph 1:7-10):

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make [Hebrew imperfect tense of this verb is pointing to an action which is incomplete] man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Heb 2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Heb 2:7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:
Heb 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

“But now we see not yet all things put under him” is showing us that physical man was never perfect and will never inherit the spiritual kingdom of God in its flesh and blood creation form (1Co 15:50). Jesus, the God and Creator of this physical creation, was appointed by the Father to bring everyone in Adam through a process of evil and suffering, to spiritual maturity and perfection (Ecc 1:13; 1Ti 2:3-6; 1Ti 4:9-10; 1Jn 2:2). For this salvation process to be effective for all in the first Adam, Jesus Himself had to “taste death” in the same way as the whole human race (Heb 2:14-18; Gal 4:4). To “taste death” is what this whole evil experience in the flesh is, from birth to the cessation of earthly life. That is why Jesus was “made sin” to come in “a body of sin”, yet He never committed any transgression or disobeyed His Father, even while He was subjected to the same fleshly temptations we experience (2Co 5:21; Rom 6:6; Jer 18:4; Psa 51:5):

Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for [Greek: “huper” = above] every man.
Heb 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons [“all in Adam”: 1Co 15:22] unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Heb 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.

Christ’s death is not a substitutionary death as many have twisted this important truth. His “tast[ing of] death” gives us the very reason to endure this life and die with Him because of the assurance of a resurrection from the dead (1Co 15:12-22; 2Co 1:5; Php 1:29). He also promised spirit life in full at that resurrection if we follow Him and take up our own cross in this life (Mat 10:38-39; 1Jn 5:11-12):

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

This resurrected life of Christ, also known as “eternal life” or eonian life, is indeed also given now, although only in “earnest” (as a pledge or downpayment) through “the faith of the Son of God” (2Co 1:22; 2Co 5:5; Eph 1:14). This “faith of the son of God” is typified for us in the life of a man called Abram (later called Abraham) who is also called “faithful Abraham” in the scriptures:

Gal 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Gal 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Gal 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

It is through the undeserved “faith of the Son of God” that a few can now receive this pledge or promise of spirit life, which all in the first Adam will receive eventually to inherit the spiritual kingdom of God (Eph 2:8-10; 1Co 15:22). All these things that happened and are written in the Old Testament are all spiritual types by which we live, especially as far as the growth of our faith is concerned to obtain what God has promised (Mat 4:4; 1Co 3:21-23):

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

The faith displayed in Abram’s life typifies how the faith of Christ causes those to whom it is given in this age to endure and be faithful to God. Abram was called out of Ur of the Chaldees by God to inherit a physical land called Canaan:

Gen 15:7 And he [God] said unto him [Abram], I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

“The faith of the Son of God” connects us directly with our spiritual inheritance, and this is the aspect we will discuss in this part of this foundational theme of faith (Rom 4:16; Heb 6:12):

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.

This faithful obedience and diligence of Abram was “counted…to him for righteousness” pointing to our inheritance of spiritual righteousness through “the faith of the Son of God” (Gen 15:6):

Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Psa 37:29 The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

Abram enquired of God concerning this specific promise of a land, and this brings us to the focus of how this promise will be fulfilled spiritually in our lives as this “land” is where the righteous in Christ will dwell:

Gen 15:8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

The word “whereby” indicates Abram’s desire to know the process and also what is involved within that process through which the land will be inherited. To ask (questions) is for sure one way God ordained that we show a desire to get His spiritual knowledge:

Mat 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Mat 7:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

The land which was promised to Abram was indeed a physical land, and we know that God fulfilled this promise to Abram. Abram’s offspring, the physical Jews, dwelled in the land at a much later stage when Joshua led them to victory over all their enemies:

Jos 21:43 And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
Jos 21:44 And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
Jos 21:45 There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

God indeed is faithful, but this physical application can never be the spiritual fulfillment of that promise because that land only knew peace and rest for “a little while”:

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
Isa 63:18 The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.

God is not concerned with that physical land and its people the way some still advocate. The true peaceful land and spiritual rest is only found and inherited by those who are given “the faith of the Son of God” to hear His voice and see beyond physical things. The true chosen and holy nation of God in spirit want to know “whereby shall [we] know that [we] shall inherit” the spiritual land? (Rom 2:28-29; Gal 6:16; 1Pe 2:9):

Heb 4:1 (MKJV) Therefore, a promise being left to enter into His rest, let us fear lest any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2 For also we have had the gospel preached, as well as them. But the Word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
Heb 4:3 For we who have believed do enter into the rest, as He said, “I have sworn in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest;” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For He spoke in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested the seventh day from all His works.”
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, “They shall not enter into My rest.”
Heb 4:6 Since then it remains that some must enter into it, and since they to whom it was first preached did not enter in because of unbelief,
Heb 4:7 He again marks out a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” (after so long a time). Even as it is said, “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
Heb 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.

Physical Canaan was filled with evil nations when Abram arrived there (Gen 10:15-19; 1Ch 1:13-16; Gen 13:7; Gen 12:6). It took many, many years before physical Israel eventually inherited the land and subdued all these nations in the land under Joshua’s leadership – for “a little while”. This helps us to see that to inherit the spiritual land is indeed through much tribulation and a long process (Act 14:22). God does not bless an inheritance that is “gotten hastily”, as is the inheritance which is promised by those who advocate a quick sinner’s prayer to get instant salvation and heaven:

Pro 20:21 An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.

It is always through a “strange work” of God, even in God’s reply to Abram’s question, that we start to appreciate and understand how he (and we) will inherit the true land of spiritual rest (Isa 28:21):

Gen 15:9 And he [God] said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
Gen 15:10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

This is the first time in the scriptures that the sacrifice of animals is explained with so much detail, as we also understand this better in the book of Leviticus concerning the laws of offerings in Israel at a later stage. All these animals were killed and “laid each piece one against another” in a specified order. Killing involves the giving up on a life which also spiritually relates to what the preaching of the cross is concerned with and why the world regards it as foolishness (Mat 10:38-39; 1Co 15:31):

1Co 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

The power and glory of God is what is received in us as we give up on what we see as right and worthwhile:

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

We also learn through the law of the offerings that all these animals can be categorised into three basic groups: animals of the herd, animals of the flock, and that of the fowl (Lev 1:3; 10, 14). In all of these we see that the number three plays an important role. The number three is a spiritual symbol to indeed confirm that this inheritance of our spiritual land will take a patient process of judgment, which involves the removal of our old mind and the building of the new spiritual temple in us, little by little (Exo 23:30; Luk 21:19; Rev 14:9-12). The three groups of animals also relate to the measure of faith we are given to endure the chastening grace of God at various stages of this process. The grace of God chastens us to deny the lusts and pride in our present physical life or eon:

Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

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

All these animal sacrifices point to Christ in one way or another. The one heifer represents the offering of the herd and also its high value, which signifies the highest sacrifice God made in Christ. In the time of Israel’s physical sacrifices, the heifer was fully burned outside the camp (not on an altar) and its ashes were used in the “water of separation” for purification purposes, which typifies the deep spiritual work of Christ in our conscience (Num 19:1-10):

Heb 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Heb 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

In this case with Abram, the flock is represented by the sacrificing of a ram and a she goat which also indicates the male and female part of the Christ respectively – the Head (Christ Himself) and His body of believers who also are to “fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ” (Gen 1:27; Gen 22:13; 1Co 11:3; Eph 5:25-26; Eph 4:15-16; Col 1:24):

Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

When we are new and immature in the faith, we can only sacrifice what the turtledove and pigeon typify. Whenever birds are sacrificed, they were never “divide[d]…asunder”, as was also in the case with Abram (Exo 23:19; Lev 1:17; 2Co 2:13; Deu 17:6; Mat 18:16). The spiritually immature in Christ are “unskillful in the word of righteousness” and cannot divide the word of truth (2Ti 2:15; Heb 5:13). Jesus is the fulfillment of everything in scripture even as typified in these animals which Abram had to bring to God. Jesus also grew in grace during His time in the flesh:

Luk 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Luk 2:22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
Luk 2:23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
Luk 2:24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

Luk 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

As we mature in faith we are enabled to witness the testimony of Christ in us as the dividing of the other animals by Abram also typifies (Heb 5:14). As God works all things in our hearts, even our level of faith, so we work accordingly to do His commandments (Php 2:12-13; Eph 6:16; Jer 34:18-20):

Gen 15:11 And when the fowls [Hebrew: “ayiṭ” = birds of prey] came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

The faith of Christ is our shield against the fiery darts of the wicked one as Abram also had to drive away the fowls from the carcases. According to the scriptures, fowls of the air also symbolize either the spirit of God or evil spirits (Gen 1:21; Mat 3:16-17; Mat 13:4; Mat 13:19). Birds which prey on dead bodies refer to evil spirits as death also attracts carnal spirits and evil doctrines:

Mat 24:28 (CLV) Wheresoever the corpse may be, there will the vultures be gathered.

Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

The faith of Christ in us surrenders to God’s way of doing things, even knowing that all those who either are asleep or awake, are God’s (1Th 5:1-11):

Gen 15:12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

Our first experience of God, and His word is symbolized by a “horror of great darkness” before we can appreciate Him and His word as a light to our path and a lamp to our feet (Psa 119:105). God ordained that this learning and growth process of our faith is worked through opposites. We first have the darkness of this world and are humbled through an evil experience of flesh before we can truly appreciate and inherit the light of His wonderful spiritual kingdom (Gen 1:2-3; 2Pe 1:19; Ecc 1:13). We will always be strangers and sojourners in this flesh as this was never God’s ultimate fulfillment for mankind:

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

We shall be enslaved in this flesh for a symbolic four hundred years as typified by the offspring of Abram, the physical nation of Israel, when they were enslaved in the land of Egypt. Our release from this prison house will bring “great [spiritual] substance” to all in the generation of the first Adam. Egypt is indeed where the negative application of iron, referring to our fleshly lusts and pride, is controlling us – no one in Adam escapes this for one minute, until the appointed time:

Deu 4:20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

The rule with the rod of iron of God’s Word is what brings the iron or flesh into subjection until the day we are finally released from this wretched body of death to inherit our spiritual land which Abram was looking forward to (Rom 7:18-25):

Gen 15:16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

The number four is the symbol of wholeness or entirety, as Israel only came out of slavery in the fourth generation. When we think we stand and are self-fulfilled to look down on others, these lustful and proud Amorites in us are not yet fully revealed to us (Luk 18:10-14; 1Co 10:12). The sin that enslaves us will have to perform its full and complete work in us to our own shame, as ordained by God (2Sa 11:1-12:19). The revelation of Jesus in the spirit indeed is given with a deep sense of sorrow and shame as we see much more of our own sinful beast each day through His fiery trials. The smoking furnace of God precedes the burning lamp of God’s enlightening Word as God works all things after the counsel of His will – the darkness and the light, the evil and the good (Isa 45:7; Amo 3:6; Job 2:10; Pro 16:4; Lam 3:37-38; Exo 14:20; Eph 1:11):

Gen 15:17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

The Greek word in the Septuagint translation for “smoking” is “kapēleuō” which relates to being corrupt (2Co 2:17). This relates to our time during which we adulterate the word of God when the sun is darkened and goes down, which also indicates our lack of spiritual knowledge of the Father and His Son (Rev 9:1-3; Isa 9:15; Joh 17:3). This is also our time of judgment when we are in torment and we see more smoke and darkness than the light of God (2Th 2:11; Eze 14:1-9):

Isa 9:18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
Isa 9:19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

The revelation of Jesus starts with the unveiling of all our inward sinfulness and our need for having the fiery judgment on us (Act 2:17-21; Rev 1:1-3). It is only on the Lord’s day (the time of spiritual enlightenment) that we are able to hear behind us His “great voice, as of a trumpet” when we can receive with joy the destruction of these lies through the judgment (Rev 1:10; Eph 1:18; Gal 5:22). God’s judgment brings His true light and righteousness as Abram was shown the burning lamp that passed between those pieces – it is all of God through Christ (Col 1:12-13):

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

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

The land of promise relates to the spirit of promise as Abram himself never actually inherited that land in the physical. It is only in the spiritual seed of Abram which is Christ, at the first resurrection, that we will finally inherit the spirit and life of Christ in full. Only then will we finally have complete rule which the ten nations of flesh now occupy (Deu 4:13; Exo 26:1; Heb 10:20; Rev 2:10):

Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Gen 15:19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
Gen 15:20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
Gen 15:21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

————

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:
The Law of the Offerings
Was Christ’s Death Substitutionary?
“Numbers” in Scripture
Rev 9:1-2 Fifth Trumpet
Awesome Hands – Part 7

Audio Links

Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These [are] the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [ be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

We have seen that God’s people are are nation so kings and priests. But God will have no rulers who have not proven themselves worthy rulers. Rulers who, like their captain, can identify with their subjects:

Heb 2:10  For it became him [Christ], for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

This is the calling of all kings and priests:

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him, if we deny him, he also will deny us:
Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Why must priests suffer?

Like Joseph, priests are called out from their brothers and are given special clothing and placed and 1) anointed above their brothers. 2) Priest are to teach their brothers. 3) Priests bear the ark. 4) Priests are to blow the seven trumpets of judgment, and 5) Priests are to blow the two trumpets of witness.

1) Priests are anointed “above their fellows.”

Psa 45:7  Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed [mashach – #4886] thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Heb 1:9  Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, [even] thy God, hath anointed [chrio -5548] thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

1Sa 2:35  And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

Heb 7:11  If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need [was there] that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
Heb 7:12  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

2) Priests are faithful teachers:

1Sa 2:35  And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

Deu 24:8  Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that thou observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, [so] ye shall observe to do.

2Ki 17:27  Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.
2Ki 17:28  Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.

Mic 3:11  The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.

Mar 8:31  And he [Christ] began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

3) Priests bear the ark;

Deu 10:8  At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. [the sum of thy word is truth – Psa 119:160].

Jos 3:8  And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.

Jos 3:13  And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, [that] the waters of Jordan shall be cut off [from] the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. [Only the priests could bear the ark – remember the lesson of Uzzah:]

2Sa 6:1  Again, David gathered together all [the] chosen [men] of Israel, thirty thousand.
2Sa 6:2  And David arose, and went with all the people that [were] with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth [ between] the cherubims.
2Sa 6:3  And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that [ was] in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.
2Sa 6:4  And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which [ was] at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark.
2Sa 6:5  And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of [ instruments made of] fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.
2Sa 6:6  And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth [ his hand] to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook [ it].
2Sa 6:7  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for [ his] error; and there he died by the ark of God.

This was common knowledge in the time of Joshua:

Jos 4:1  And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
Jos 4:2  Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,
Jos 4:3  And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night.
Jos 4:4  Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man:
Jos 4:5  And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
Jos 4:6  That this may be a sign among you, [that] when your children ask [their fathers] in time to come, saying, What [mean] ye by these stones?
Jos 4:7  Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
Jos 4:8  And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
Jos 4:9  And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day.
Jos 4:10  For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over.
Jos 4:11  And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. [Or to put this in New Testament terms:]

Col 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
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 [the ark of God’s covenant] in you, the hope of glory:

Jos 4:15  And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,
Jos 4:16  Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan.
Jos 4:17  Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan.
Jos 4:18  And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.
Jos 4:19  And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.

4) Only the priests blow the seven trumpets:

Jos 6:1  Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
Jos 6:2  And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, [and] the mighty men of valour.
Jos 6:3  And ye shall compass the city, all [ye] men of war, [and] go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
Jos 6:4  And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets
Jos 6:5  And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long [blast] with the ram’s horn, [and] when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

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

Jos 6:6  And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.
Jos 6:7  And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.
Jos 6:8  And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
Jos 6:9  And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, [ the priests] going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
Jos 6:10  And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.
Jos 6:11  So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
Jos 6:12  And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
Jos 6:13  And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, [the priests] going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
Jos 6:14  And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.
Jos 6:15  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.
Jos 6:16  And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.

Rev 8:1  And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Rev 8:2  And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
Rev 8:3  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [it] with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4  And the smoke of the incense, [which came] with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
Rev 8:5  And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast [it] into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Rev 8:6  And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

Jos 6:17  And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

Mat 21:28  But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
Mat 21:29  He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
Mat 21:30  And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I [go], sir: and went not.
Mat 21:31  Whether of them twain did the will of [his] father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

Jos 6:18  And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
Jos 6:19  But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.
Jos 6:20  So the people shouted when [ the priests] blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
Jos 6:21  And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
Jos 6:22  But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.

5) Only the priests blow the two silver trumpets. These trumpets 1) announce general gatherings, 2) alarms for journeys, 3) special gatherings, and 4) to go to war in your land.

Num 10:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 10:2  Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
Num 10:3  And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 10:4  And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.
Num 10:5  When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.
Num 10:6  When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.
Num 10:7  But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm.
Num 10:8  And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.
Num 10:9  And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the [two silver] trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.

Zec 4:1  And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,
Zec 4:2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all [of] gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
Zec 4:3  And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
Zec 4:4  So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
Zec 4:5  Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
Zec 4:6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zec 4:7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
Zec 4:8  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Zec 4:9  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.
Zec 4:10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
Zec 4:11  Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
Zec 4:12  And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
Zec 4:13  And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
Zec 4:14  Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [ and] two months.
Rev 11:3  And I will give [ power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

Conclusion

So the priests “teach.” Seven priests blow the seven trumpets. The two silver trumpets are also blown by only priests to conduct business “in the land.” And the two silver trumpets typify the two witnesses who witness “in the land… in that great city wherein our Lord was crucified.” The priest blowing the seven trumpets and the priests blowing the two silver trumpets and the two witnesses are all different types of God’s anointed priests who live in “the day of small things.”

Exo 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [ be] unto you, and peace, from 1) him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and 2) from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Rev 1:5  And from 3) Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood
Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

This is all only for the priests of God. These things are all only for those who are faithful to and attentive to His instructions:

1Sa 2:35  And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.

Audio Links

The Levites spiritually are “the people of Israel” who are given to the priesthood, “the Lord, and… his Christ” to help minister to the priesthood, but who cannot handle the vessels of service. Levi is those who “have no right to eat at our altar” who slew our Lord. It is that same spirit, to this day which is even now slaying God’s elect.

But who is it that has slain the Lord? Was it the Jew? Was it the Romans? Was it all those sinners who are going to the lake of fire? Who is accountable fore the death of our Lord?

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

So once again we are forced back to the fact that:

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

And those words of Matthew 4:4 are the answer to the arguments of the Adversary, that parts of God’s Word have no personal application. Those words are the key to understanding that “the kingdom of God is within you:”

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

When we understand that we live by every Word of God then we understand that the parables are about the mysteries of that kingdom.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

To whom is it “not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God? Do these words not apply to God’s elect?

Mat 16:11  How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

Mar 8:21  And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

Mar 9:32  But they [Christ’s apostles] understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Mar 13:14  But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

Luk 9:45  But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not [Christ’s apostles]: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

Joh 12:16  These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

“Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear” (Matthew 13) is one of those “things that are not as though they were” statements when it was first spoken by our Lord.

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

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 night before Christ’s apostles all forsook Him He made this statement about His apostles:

Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

Christ knew that even His apostles had to “live by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” But Peter, like so many of us, did not yet understand this principle:

Joh 13:33  Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35  By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Joh 13:36  Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now ; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
Joh 13:37  Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Joh 13:38  Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

“As I said unto the Jews?”

That is right, the words to the children of wrath are first for us… “as I said unto the Jews… you cannot follow me now.”

“You cannot follow me now” is first true of God’s elect. Only later do the unbelievers come to see that it is also true of them.

Remember, Leah was Jacob’s reward for his efforts just as her association with Jacob was was the reward for her efforts. Neither typify faith in God’s sovereign work.

Gen 29:34  And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, [Hebrew: lavah because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.

Gen 49:1  And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Gen 49:2  Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
Gen 49:5  Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
Gen 49:6  O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
Gen 49:7  Cursed [be] their anger, for [it was] fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

“Come not into their… assembly… be not united” with them, is our call to “come out of Babylon… and be ye separate.” This call is being given in Genesis for “the last days” (Genesis 49:1).

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

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

This is what separates the priests from the Levites. The priests are faithful to God’s Word and will not partake of the idols of the Levites who “cannot come near the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar.” If they do come near the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, then both the Levites and the priests will die.

How the Levites serve the priesthood

Num 18:2  And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee shall minister before the tabernacle of witness.
Num 18:3  And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
Num 18:4  And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
Num 18:5  And ye [the priesthood] shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
Num 18:6  And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are given as a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.

How does Levi “do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation?” Does Levi willingly serve the priesthood? Why are the priests told “only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar?” What are “the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar?” We are not left to guess what these things all foreshadow:

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

How does this serve or “keep the charge of all of the tabernacle?” This is how Levi “does the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:”

Rom 11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:

The fall from grace suffered by the multitudes of Christians, the withstanding of God’s Word by the Korahs, the betrayal of Judas, and in this case the failure of Levi, all serve to keep Levi from eating before the golden altar of incense, and yet ‘Levi’ performs an incredible “service [to] the tabernacle.”

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

Mal 2:4  And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:5  My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.
Mal 2:6  The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
Mal 2:7  For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:8  But ye [Levi] are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:9  Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

The Levites spiritually are “the people of Israel,” who are given to the priesthood, “the Lord, and… his Christ,” to help minister to the priesthood , but who cannot handle the vessels of service. Levi is those who “have no right to eat at our altar.” Levi is those who slew our Lord. It is that same spirit, to this day which is even now slaying God’s elect.

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

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Mat 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

God does not speak without parables. His entire word is a parable. Every story in the Bible is a parable for those who see and understand the purpose for parables.“Without a parable spake he not unto them:”

Add those verses in Matthew 13 to this verse to get “the sum of God’s Word concerning “the mysteries of the kingdom of God:”

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

Knowing this, let us now ask, who is it that has slain the Lord? Was it the Jews? Was it the Romans? Was it all those sinners who are going to the lake of fire? Who is accountable fore the death of our Lord? Who has been “carried about by different and strange doctrines?” Who has served the tabernacle and yet had no right to eat at the altar in the holy place? Where is it that the wheat and the tare grow together until the harvest? Who is it who has “dealt shamefully with the servants of the man who planted a vineyard and let it out to husbandmen?” Who is it who has said “let’s slay His Son and seize His inheritance?” Are all of these parables someone else and somewhere else outside of you?

I watched John Hagee talking about the book of Revelation and saying all the things that I myself believed and taught just yesterday. So Levi is Mike Vinson before his destruction and his “baptism of fire” joined to, but unable to eat the food of the priests.

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and [with] fire:

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

Levi is joined to and opposes God’s priesthood. It is this opposition to “the doctrine of Jesus Christ”, which serves God’s priesthood. It is being “carried about by different and strange doctrines” which keep those who “serve the tabernacle” from “eating at our altar.” It is “another gospel, another spirit and another Jesus” which separates the Levites from the priests.

Who is this?

2Jn 1:10  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:

Who is this?

Tit 3:9  But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
Tit 3:10  A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
Tit 3:11  Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

Who is this?

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

And this:

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
2Co 11:5  For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.
2Co 11:6  But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.

And all of these verses:

1Ti 6:3  If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
1Ti 6:4  He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
1Ti 6:5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

Whose are these “men of corrupt minds?”

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. [physically and spiritually, he who denies either is antichrist]
2Jn 1:8  Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
2Jn 1:9  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
2Jn 1:10  If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your [spiritual] house, neither bid him God speed:
2Jn 1:11  For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Who is guilty of these accusations?

1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

Is there even one verse here which has not at one time applied to me and to you? No, there is not one verse. As the apostle Paul said of Himself, “I am the chief of sinners.”

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

Once again we are forced back to the fact that:

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

Those words are the answer to the arguments of the Adversary, that parts of God’s Word have no personal application, to this day. Those words of Matthew 4:4 are the key to understanding that “the kingdom of God is within you:”

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

When we understand that we live by every Word of God, then we understand that the parables are about the mysteries of that kingdom which is “within you:”

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

To whom is it “not given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God?” Do these words not apply to God’s elect? Oh, but they do apply to God’s elect in their appointed time. All of these verses are addressed to Christ’s apostles.

Mat 16:11  How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

Mar 8:21  And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

Mar 9:32  But they [Christ’s apostles] understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Mar 13:14  But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

Luk 9:45  But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not [Christ’s apostles]: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

Joh 12:16  These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

“Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear” (Matthew 13) is one of those “things that are not as though they were” statements when it was first spoken by our Lord.

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

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 night before Christ’s apostles all forsook Him He made this statement about His apostles:

Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

“As I said unto the Jews…” Christ knew that even His apostles had to “live by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” But Peter, like so many of us, did not yet understand this principle:

Joh 13:33  Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.
Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Joh 13:36  Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now ; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
Joh 13:37  Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Joh 13:38  Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

“As I said unto the Jews?” That is right, the words to the children of wrath are first for us… “as I said unto the Jews… you cannot follow me now.”

“You cannot follow me now” is first true of God’s elect. Only later do the rest of the unbelievers come to see that it is also true of them.

Even these verses are first lived. Then, afterward, they are understood.

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

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.

We look “behind us” to see this revelation of Jesus Christ:

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

We are in “the seven churches” before we are the seven angels in Christ’s right hand. We are joined to and associated with Babylon before we can “come out of her.” So, too, are we ‘Levites’ who are ‘associated with Him’ and “joined to Him” before we are made “kings and priests” who will “rule this world… and angels.”

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

The Levites are those who are “joined with” God’s elect just as Leah was associated with and joined to Jacob. Esau, before Leah, was “joined with” Jacob. The parable of the workers in the vineyard who all get paid the same but at different times, portrays who are today’s spiritual Levites who are not priests. We see that Aaron’s sons were born of Aaron, and we forget that Aaron had to be called out of Levi. Likewise we read of the disgruntled “laborers in His vineyard” and forget that this is us before we come to see how one becomes a laborer who is “content with His wages.”

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

The most prominent ‘murmurer’ of all time was a Levite named Korah, who convinced all the leaders of Israel to murmur with him.

Num 16:1  Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took [men]:
Num 16:2  And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
Num 16:3  And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, [Ye take] too much upon you, seeing all the congregation [are] holy, every one of them, and the LORD [is] among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

These are all spiritual Levites who are not priests. These are the workers in the vineyard who were hired first and have worked all day and get paid the same as those who were hired last but they get paid last. These are those who hate God’s favored elect.

Who is it that hates God’s elect? If these verses are to have any significance or relevance to me and to you, then it is me and it is you. God’s elect at one time all, in their appointed time, hate God’s elect.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience :
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Who “were by nature the children of wrath, even as other?” What says the word of God? It was, in their appointed time, God’s own elect.

Our final scripture revealing who the Levites are spiritually is Romans 11:

Rom 11:1  I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Rom 11:2  God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew . Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,
Rom 11:3  Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
Rom 11:4  But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Rom 11:6  And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Rom 11:7  What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
Rom 11:9  And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
Rom 11:10  Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.
Rom 11:11  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Who has fallen first? God’s own elect are the first to deny Him:

Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Luk 22:33  And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
Luk 22:34  And he [Christ] said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

Rom 11:12  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
Rom 11:13  For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
Rom 11:14  If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
Rom 11:15  For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

According to the scriptures “if the first fruit is holy, the lump is holy also.”

Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

Withstanding the doctrines of Babylon is our calling. Babylon bashing is not our calling.

Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Rom 11:23  And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
Rom 11:24  For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural [branches], be graffed into their own olive tree?
Rom 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Who the Levites are spiritually:

Rom 11:28  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
Rom 11:29  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

It is Romans 11:32 which has been used by so many orthodox Christian ministers to declare that God will indeed save every Jew and Israelite who has ever lived. And in the same breath these same orthodox ministers deny that this applies to all the rest of mankind. They truly believe that God is a respecter of persons and that ‘all who are born of Abraham are of Abraham’s seed.”

Rom 9:7  Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are no t the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

In other words these orthodox ministers do not see what the camp of Israel typifies. The priests typify God’s elect. The Levites who are not priests typify the Christians who are called but not chosen, and the rest of Israel, ‘the camp’, typifies mankind as a whole. This is the original ‘gift and calling of God’ for all mankind:

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

This is the original ‘gift and calling of God’ for all mankind:

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Spiritually this is being accomplished in God’s few elect, but it has never been accomplished in the strength of the flesh. That is why we are being “conformed to the image of His son.”

Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Rom 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.

So when the ‘first’ who are now ‘last’ are eventually paid, this will be the final outcome of it all:

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

As I said at the beginning of this talk, I watched John Hagee talking about the book of Revelation, this past week, and he was saying all the things I believed and taught in the past. Every word was understood as being outside of us all. It was a book which was all about future events. That was what I myself thought only yesterday. So Levi is Mike Vinson before his death to the flesh. Levi is each of us when we are “joined to” and yet oppose God’s priesthood. It is this opposition to God, of which we all partake. It is resistance to these ‘strange doctrines’ which serves to produce a zeal for the Truth in God’s priesthood. Being a Levite is being “carried about by different and strange doctrines” of which we all must partake, which keep those who “serve the tabernacle” from “eating at our altar.” It is the time we all spend in the darkness of ignorance which separates Levites from the priests. We must all be Levites before we can be priests.

We have, of necessity, mentioned the priesthood many times. But until now the priesthood has not been our focus. Next week, Lord willing, we will cover the priesthood.

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