Matthew 28:1– 20 The Resurrection 

[Study Aired December 29, 2025]

In our study today, we shall look at the testimony of the angel regarding Christ’s resurrection. The study is also about Jesus’ appearance to the women, the false report of the guards, Jesus’ appearance to the disciples in Galilee and finally, the commission He gave to the disciples. 

The Resurrection

Mat 28:1  In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.  

The time given here is to show us that Jesus was in the grave for three days as prophesied in the Book of Hosea as follows: 

Hos 6:1  Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. 
Hos 6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 

We can see that everything about Christ, regarding His life here on earth, had been written by God in His Book. As He is, so are we. Our lives here on earth have been written before the foundation of the earth by God.

Psa 139:16  but with your own eyes you saw my body being formed. Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do. (CEV)

Sometimes in our walk with Christ, we become confused and disillusioned as to what is happening to us. We wonder if we are going to make it to the first resurrection. Verse 1, which tells us about the time of Christ’s resurrection, therefore gives us the confidence that what God has started with us, He is able to bring to an expected end. He will not let us see corruption.

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

Psa 16:10  For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 
Psa 16:11  Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. 

Therefore, let’s not throw away our confidence, which will bring us the great reward of ruling over the kingdoms of this world and the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. 

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 
Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 
Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Our problem is that we worry about many things. This is what Jesus told Martha when Jesus went to Bethany to raise Lazarus from death. 

Luk 10:41  And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 
Luk 10:42  But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. 

The antidote to worrying is that we turn our focus from the raging storm around us and focus on Christ, that is, to believe in Him. 

Joh 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 

It is instructive to note that here in verse 1, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulcher where Jesus was buried. These women represent the church of the Lord’s elect. What this implies is that the role of the church is to support us as we go through the dying of our flesh or our old man. The fact that there were two women means the truth that the church must be supportive of us as we go through the dying of our flesh is an established fact.    

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

In 1 Corinthians 12:26, the Lord uses the metaphor of a body to illustrate that if one part suffers, every part suffers with it, emphasizing the church’s shared experience and concern for each other as we die to the flesh.

1Co 12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

Mat 28:2  And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 
Mat 28:3  His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 
Mat 28:4  And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 

Prior to these verses, the chief priests and the Pharisees, inspired by the devil, had conspired to keep Jesus in the grave by forcing Pilate to post soldiers at the tomb. This is all to show us that what the Lord has planned for us shall not be derailed by the forces of hell. 

Job 42:2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

Isaiah 14:27 “For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”

Verses 2 to 4 relates to the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. All that happened – the great earthquake, the angel descending from heaven, the rolling back the stone from the door, the angel’s countenance becoming like lightning and his raiment as white as snow, and the guards becoming like dead men, are all to show us the power of the Lord’s resurrection. This is the same power the Lord avails to us when He visits us in our spiritually dead state, to lift us up to become alive in Him.

Isa 29:6  Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire. 

The power behind the raising of the Lord Jesus from death is what sets us free from our prison of sin. That is why it is important to experience the power of His resurrection in our lives.

Act 16:26  And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.   

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 

It is worth noting that the angel’s raiment was as white as snow. During the transfiguration, Jesus’ raiment was as white as snow. 

Mat 17:1  And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 
Mat 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 

On a positive note, the Bible shows us that although our sins be as scarlet, when Christ comes to us, our sins shall be as white as snow. In other words, when we are raised from death to sit with Christ in heavenly places, we shall put on Christ’s righteousness.

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

Because of the fear of the angel, the guards became like dead men. Dead men in the Bible signify all those who are not given eyes to see and ears to hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God. These guards therefore represent our brothers and sisters who see the physical resurrection of our Lord Jesus but are not given to know the power of His resurrection in their lives.   

Isa 59:10  We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

Mat 28:5  And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
Mat 28:6  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 
Mat 28:7  And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. 
Mat 28:8  And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.

It is the church of the Lord’s elect, symbolized by the women, who were given to know about the Lord’s resurrection. That is why when Jesus was resurrected, He did not show Himself to the Chief priests, Pharisees and Sadducees. Rather, it was the church in Jesus’ day that met the resurrected Jesus in Galilee. It is important to note that it was in Galilee that Jesus was to meet the disciples. Galilee in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ time was referred to as Galilee of the Gentiles. In other words, although Galilee was a Jewish city, there were many Gentiles living there, hence the name, Galilee of the Gentiles. 

Mat 4:15  The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 

Isa 9:1  Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.  

Jesus meeting the disciples in Galilee after His resurrection is therefore to show us spiritually that His death and resurrection was for the whole world and not just the prerogative of the physical Jews. 

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

In verse 8, the women left the sepulchre with fear and great joy as they ran to bring the good news of Christ’s resurrection to His disciples. As we know, the women represent the church of the Lord’s elect, and it is the church which is to make known to the body the fellowship of the Lord’s suffering and the power of His resurrection. 

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.     

The women departing with fear and with great joy was because of the message they had received from the angel. The fear here is the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom. 

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 

It is the word of the Lord which brings joy and comfort to our soul as we are refreshed by what every joint supplies. 

Phm 1:7  For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. 

Mat 28:9  And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
Mat 28:10  Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” 

The women taking hold of Jesus’ feet when He appeared to them signify the church of the Lord’s elect’s profound respect, humility, and worship as it acknowledges the Lord’s divine authority. As the bride of Christ, we must submit to Him in all things.

Eph 5:24  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 

One of the tools used by the devil against us is to cause us to be afraid or to fear the unknown. Today, the Lord is telling us not to be afraid of whatever circumstance in which we find ourselves. This is because the Lord is in control of everything as all authority has been given to Him after His resurrection. 

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  

The Lord’s instruction to the church, represented by the women, was that they should meet Him in Galilee. At every point in time, the Lord has predestinated us to be at certain places, and it is these places that when we seek Him, we shall find Him, although He is not far from us. 

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: 

The Report of the Guard

Mat 28:11  Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. 
Mat 28:12  And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
Mat 28:13  Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. 
Mat 28:14  And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. 
Mat 28:15  So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. 

The chief priests here signify the leaders of the church system of this world. In the Bible, a city stands for a church, either positively or negatively. The elders represent the political leaders who are in league with the church system of this world.  

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

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.

The guards who came to the city represent us when the Lord first came into our lives. We were very willing to share the resurrection power of the Lord in our lives with the leaders of the church system of our day. However, the church system offered us the false doctrine of prosperity as signified by the money the chief priests gave to the guards. This is because the church system is in league with the government and are not interested in the truth, as we see the chief priests consulting with the elders or the kings of the earth.

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. 

In verse 13, the chief priests came up with falsehood by telling the guards to say that Jesus’ body was stolen in the night by His disciples, which the guards accepted because of the money they had received. This is a clear example of the false doctrine spewed by the devil, which the church system of this world accepts. 

Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 

We can conclude from this incident that the church system of this world or Babylon does not love the truth. This is because the minds of our brothers and sisters in Babylon have been polluted with false doctrines propagated by the devil and his messengers. We were filled with false doctrines at a certain stage of our walk with Christ, which prevented us from knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection.

2Co 11:12  And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 
2Co 11:13  For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 
2Co 11:14  And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. 

The second thing we can conclude from this story with the guards is that the church system of this world spews false doctrines which clouds the minds of people who have begun their journey with Christ.

2Co 4:3  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 

Thirdly, most of the preachers of Babylon are motivated by the love of money which is the root of all evil. 

1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 
1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

The Call to Teach all Nations

Mat 28:16  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 
Mat 28:17  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 
Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 

As we have learned from previous studies, a mountain on a positive note represents the assembly of the Lord’s elect as shown in the following verses:

Isa 2:2  And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 
Isa 2:3  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Isa 56:7  Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. 

Therefore, the Lord wanting to meet the eleven disciples on a mountain in Galilee is another way of saying that where two or three people are gathered together in His name, He is there with them. This implies that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as He speaks to us through what every joint supplies. 

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 
Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 

It is instructive to note that among the eleven disciples who met Jesus in Galilee, some of them doubted. This implies that in our gathering, we are not of the same level of faith. However, we all have the same mind of seeking to know the Lord. 

Psa 122:9  Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good. 

Jesus proclaiming that all power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth is not to make us see how powerful He is. It is to make us aware that He is making this power available to us, His elect, to bring us to an expected end as His brothers. Verse 18 is the same as what is spoken in John 3:35 as follows:

Joh 3:35  The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.  

All of these verses show us the Lord’s intention and powerful ability to fulfill His purpose concerning His elect, in this age, and the rest of the world later. It entails working through our trials to bring about His ultimate plan of uniting all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. 

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  

2Pe 1:3   According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 
2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 

Eph 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 
Eph 3:21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. 

Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 
Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. 

Here in verse 19, Jesus is admonishing us to go and teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To be able to understand verse 19, we need to know what the sum of the Lord’s words says about discipling people of the nations. This is because many have used this Bible verse to spend their resources to go to the nations preaching to people who do not even have a clue as to who Jesus is.

Psa 119:160  The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. (ESV)

Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman gives us a clue of what we are to do. 

Mat 15:22  And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 
Mat 15:23  But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.”
Mat 15:24  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 
Mat 15:25  But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 
Mat 15:26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 

As Jesus is, so are we. Our mission is to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The lost sheep of the house of Israel are God’s people who have gone astray and are scattered in the nations of this world. We are to preach to our brothers and sisters in Babylon who are deceived, when given the opportunity. If we look at Paul’s ministry in the Book of Acts, he was ministering mostly to the Jews scattered in the nations. 

Act 17:1  Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 
Act 17:2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,   

Apostle Peter puts our responsibility to preach the gospel to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, this way:

1Pe 3:15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
1Pe 3:16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 

According to verse 19, if our hearers respond to our message of Christ, we are to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ’s words are spirit, and therefore this does not mean that we have to physically baptize them in water. According to Acts 1:4-5, we are to baptize them in the Holy Spirit and with fire. 

Act 1:4  And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 
Act 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.  

Luk 3:16  John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: 

Baptizing them with the Holy Ghost means helping them to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. This entails opening their eyes to understand the word of the Lord in the spirit. Baptizing them with fire means making them to understand that it is through our suffering that we learn righteousness.

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 

Verse 20 makes it clear that our role is to disciple those whom the Lord makes available to us to talk to. We are to teach them to become obedient children of the Lord. In His words to the disciples, Jesus told them that He is with them always, even to the end of the world. This calls for us to fight the good fight of faith knowing that we are not alone in this fight.

Jos 1:9  Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. 

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Glory be to God. Amen!!

Act 10:1-23 Rise, Peter, Kill and Eat

[Study Aired March 19, 2023]

Act 10:1  There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
Act 10:2  A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.
Act 10:3  He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
Act 10:4  And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
Act 10:5  And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
Act 10:6  He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
Act 10:7  And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;
Act 10:8  And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.
Act 10:9  On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
Act 10:10  And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
Act 10:11  And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
Act 10:12  Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
Act 10:13  And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
Act 10:14  But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
Act 10:15  And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Act 10:16  This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
Act 10:17  Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate,
Act 10:18  And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there.
Act 10:19  While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.
Act 10:20  Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.
Act 10:21  Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?
Act 10:22  And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.
Act 10:23  Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

This section of scripture is the story of a spiritual earthquake for the early Jewish-Christian church. This is the beginning of the work of the holy spirit in the church, slowly and gradually opening their spiritual eyes and ears, to the very beginning of “[spiritual] things to come”:

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

The entire Christian church, at that point in time, was still entirely composed of Jews and Jewish proselytes who were one and all “zealous of the law [of Moses]”. It would remain in that immature state for many years to come:

Act 21:17  And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.
Act 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:
Act 21:21  And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
Act 21:22  What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
Act 21:23  Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Act 21:24  Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.
Act 21:25  As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
Act 21:26  Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.

Peter, Paul and Barnabas had agreed with “the holy spirit… and all the elders”, that the Gentiles were not required to keep the rituals of the law of Moses, such as making vows and practicing the purification rituals which accompanied those vows. Peter, Paul and Barnabas were all Jews, and they therefore consented to keeping the law of Moses, with the exception of going in unto Gentiles as this story reveals.

Making such a drastic change required a powerful witness that this change is indeed a work of God Himself, and these events in the lives of Peter and Cornelius and their closest associates are just such a great and powerful witness that this is truly a work of the Lord.

Foretelling the immediate future by telling two men who have never met each other what the other man will do, as in the case of Saul and Ananias, and telling Cornelius Peter’s name, and the name of the man with whom he is lodging, is a very powerful and convincing witness that what is taking place is a work of God Himself, because the Lord alone knows what the future holds. This is how the holy spirit put Ananias in touch with Saul of Tarsus. While speaking to Ananias about Saul the holy spirit was simultaneously speaking to Saul and telling him that a man named Ananias would come and give him back his sight and tell him what he must do.

In this case the holy spirit sent an angel to speak with the Roman centurion, Cornelius, and then the Lord gives Peter the same vision three times and then tells Peter that three men are at the gate seeking him, and He instructs Peter to go with these men to the house of the Gentile centurion, Cornelius.

Act 10:1  There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
Act 10:2  A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

Cornelius was a Gentile proselyte who could never enter the temple in Jerusalem without first being circumcised, but he had converted to the Jewish religion and “the people” to whom he “gave much alms” were the Jewish people. Cornelius was a devout proselyte, and he was obviously living under the law of Moses and all those laws prescribed for such people and for himself and Peter. Cornelius had heard of Christ and all that He had done, but he also knew that Jews were not permitted to eat with or come into the home of an uncircumcised Gentile.

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

Act 10:3  He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.

The fact Cornelius was praying “about the ninth hour”, indicates that he was living a devoutly Jewish life as a Gentile proselyte. Peter and John kept this tradition:

Act 3:1  Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

Act 10:4  And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
Act 10:5  And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
Act 10:6  He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

This is the same way the Lord dealt with Saul of Tarsus. He first got Saul’s attention. The Lord didn’t even break a sweat bringing the mighty Saul of Tarsus to the ground, but then he immediately used a man of the church, a man named Ananias, to deliver His instructions for Saul to follow:

Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 9:6  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must [G1163: ‘dei’] do.

The Greek word translated as ‘must’ here in Acts 9:6 is ‘dei’. It is the same word translated as ‘oughtest’ here is Acts 10:6:

Act 10:5  And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
Act 10:6  He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest [G1163: ‘dei’] to do.

It is through the Lord’s words that we are all “told… what [we] must do”. The Lord always uses “some man [to] guide [us]”, as He used Philip to guide the Ethiopian eunuch:

Act 8:30  And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
Act 8:31  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

Christ Himself could have told Saul, the eunuch, and Cornelius what they must do, but He has ordained that “the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God… [His] manifold wisdom [was to] be [made] known… unto the principalities and powers in [our] heavens… by the church”:

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

The Lord Himself, or “[His] angel”, will direct us to the church, but the fellowship of the mystery, by His own ordination, will be made known to the principalities and powers in our heavens, “by the church”.

Act 10:7  And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;

Cornelius is a ‘centurion’, employed by the Roman state. The “devout soldier” was also employed by the state. Neither was required to find another job before he could accept and begin serving the Lord. This accords with what the holy spirit tells us in:

1Co 7:20  Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.
1Co 7:21  Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.
1Co 7:22  For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.
1Co 7:23  Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
1Co 7:24  Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

Twice, in verse 20 and in verse 24, we are told… “abide in the same calling wherein [we are] called”. The Lord does not expect us to immediately drop our well-paying jobs, as long as those jobs do not entail immediate disobedience to our Lord and His commandments. Nevertheless, in the same breath we are commanded… “but if you mayest be free, use it rather”. If we can feed, shelter, and clothe ourselves and our family and “be not the servants of men” then that is what is ideal in the Lord’s service.

What the title ‘centurion’ tells us is that Cornelius had under his command 100 Roman soldiers. At least one of them was “a devout soldier”, meaning that he, too, was a proselyte to Judaism, and was being led by the holy spirit to seek to know the Lord. The two servants of his household were obviously men who could also be trusted to follow Cornelius’s instructions without fail. This is the business of spreading the gospel, and it is not left in the hands of incompetent servants. It is given to those who are diligent in their business:

Pro 22:29  Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

Rom 12:11  Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

Col 3:23  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Act 10:8  And when he [Cornelius] had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

Cornelius called these three men together and declared everything that had happened to him in his vision. He told them that he had been visited by an angel of the Lord, and the angel had instructed him to send to Joppa and inquire in the house of a tanner named Simon, for another man who is also named Simon but “whose surname is Peter”.

The holy spirit is in the process of spreading the gospel to the world and Cornelius and these three servants are honored to have a part in that work in this age, and they are all very diligent to do their part “as to the Lord”.

Act 10:9  On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:

This was done to prepare Peter’s Jewish heart for a visit from three Gentiles of “the Italian band”. The Lord never fails to prepare our hearts to receive what He is doing in our lives:

1Ch 29:18  O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

Psa 10:17  LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

Act 10:10  And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
Act 10:11  And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
Act 10:12  Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
Act 10:13  And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
Act 10:14  But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
Act 10:15  And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Act 10:16  This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.

At this time, Peter was not just hungry for his lunch at “the sixth hour”. We are told “he became very hungry” when the Lord showed him a vision of “common [and] unclean” beasts descending out of heaven in “a great sheet knit at the four corners”. The use of the phrase ‘four corners’, tells us that this is speaking of the whole of mankind.

The Number Four

The word translated as ‘corners’ is not the same Greek word translated as ‘corners’ or ‘quarters’ when speaking of the whole of the physical earth as in:

Rev 7:1  And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners [G1137: ’gonia’] of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters [G1137: ‘gonia’] of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

The Greek word translated as ‘corners’ here in Acts 10:11 is the Greek word ‘arche’ (G746), and here is how this Greek word is defined:

G746
ἀρχή
archē
ar-khay’
From G756; (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concrete) chief (in various applications of order, time, place or rank): – beginning, corner, (at the, the) first (estate), magistrate, power, principality, principle, rule.
Total KJV occurrences: 58

Here are the various translations of this word in the King James Bible:

G746
ἀρχή
archē
Total KJV Occurrences: 59
beginning, 39
Mat_19:4, Mat_24:8 (2), Mat_24:21, Mar_1:1, Mar_10:6, Mar_13:19, Luk_1:2, Joh_1:1-2 (2), Joh_2:11, Joh_6:64, Joh_8:25, Joh_8:44, Joh_15:27, Joh_16:4, Phi_4:15 (2), Col_1:18, 2Th_2:13, Heb_1:10, Heb_3:14, Heb_7:3, 2Pe_3:4, 1Jo_1:1, 1Jo_2:7 (2), 1Jo_2:13-14 (2), 1Jo_2:24 (2), 1Jo_3:8, 1Jo_3:11, 2Jo_1:5-6 (2), Rev_1:8, Rev_3:14, Rev_21:6, Rev_22:13
principalities, 6
Rom_8:38, Eph_3:10, Eph_6:12, Col_1:16, Col_2:15, Tit_3:1
first, 4
Act_26:4, Heb_2:3, Heb_5:12, Jud_1:6
corners, 2
Act_10:11, Act_11:5
principality, 2
Eph_1:21, Col_2:10
began, 1
Heb_2:3
beginnings, 1
Mar_13:8
magistrates, 1
Luk_12:11
power, 1
Luk_20:20
principles, 1
Heb_6:1
rule, 1
1Co_15:24

Notice the only two times this Greek word ‘arche’ is translated as ‘corners’ are here in Acts 10 and in the next chapter where Peter is relating this story to the other apostles:

Act 11:4  But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,
Act 11:5  I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners [G746: ‘arche’]; and it came even to me:
Act 11:6  Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
Act 11:7  And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
Act 11:8  But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
Act 11:9  But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Act 11:10  And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.
Act 11:11  And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.
Act 11:12  And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house:

So, the fact is that this story is the only place in all scripture where this Greek word ‘arche’ is translated as ‘corners.’

The Jonathan Mitchell New Testament uses the words “four… beginnings”. Putting the spiritual meaning of the number ‘four’ together with the spiritual meaning of the Greek word ‘arche’, which is most often translated as ‘beginnings’, the most likely meaning the Greek speaking apostles would have gotten out of what the Lord said to Peter at the house of Simon the tanner would be that this event is a whole new beginning for this newly begotten New Testament church. This ‘whole beginning’ being that the Lord is now beginning to show these Jewish apostles:

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.

Nevertheless, this new revelation is going to take a long time to be accepted even by the apostles of Christ. This is a monumental event in “the time of reformation” (Heb 9:10). Here we have the holy spirit telling Peter, a devout Jew, to do something devout Jews until this moment have always been commanded not to do. The Old Testament scriptures unequivocally command Jews to never eat unclean meats:

Lev 11:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them,
Lev 11:2  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.
Lev 11:3  Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.
Lev 11:4  Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
Lev 11:5  And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
Lev 11:6  And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
Lev 11:7  And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
Lev 11:8  Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

Peter was perplexed by this vision he had seen and the voice he had heard, whom he addressed as ‘Lord’. He was being told something contrary to the law of Moses, and He was not drawing any hasty conclusions.

Act 10:17  Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate,
Act 10:18  And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there.
Act 10:19  While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.
Act 10:20  Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.

This tells us in no uncertain terms that “the Spirit said unto him, Behold three men seek thee. Arise therefore, get the down and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.” These three men correspond to the three times Peter was told not to call unclean what the Lord has cleansed. “Go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them” is the spirit telling Peter, and the six Jews who would accompany Peter to the house of Cornelius, that the Lord had sent these men to Peter, and it was the Lord Himself commanding Peter to go with these Gentile men and enter into the house of a Gentile Roman centurion. This was not permitted before this very moment.

This is what the law of Moses has to say about fraternizing with Gentiles:

Deu 7:1  When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;
Deu 7:2  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

Deu 20:16  But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

Christ Himself had never entered into the home of a Gentile and had even called the woman of Canaan a dog to her face:

Mat 15:21  Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
Mat 15:22  And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
Mat 15:23  But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
Mat 15:24  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Mat 15:25  Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
Mat 15:26  But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.

Now, here at the home of Simon the tanner, the same Lord is telling Peter to go to the house of a Gentile Roman centurion. This whole experience is just a part of what Christ had foretold His disciples on the night of His apprehension by the Jews:

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

It is very instructive to note that even though Christ first came “only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”, the fact is that He listened to and healed the woman of Canaan’s daughter:

Mat 15:27  And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
Mat 15:28  Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

This event, along with the Lord’s words to the woman at the well and the few days He spent preaching the gospel to the Samaritans, were precursors to this event which is leading up to the revelation that:

Rom 2:28  … 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.

Act 10:21  Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?
Act 10:22  And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.
Act 10:23  Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.

The English phrase ‘warned from God’ is all translated from the one Greek word:

G5537
χρηματίζω
chrēmatizō
khray-mat-id’-zo
From G5536; to utter an oracle (compare the original sense of G5530), that is, divinely intimate; by implication (compare the secular sense of G5532) to constitute a firm for business, that is, (genitive) bear as a title: – be called, be admonished (warned) of God, reveal, speak.
Total KJV occurrences: 9

It does mean to warn, and it is the same word translated as such in these verses of scripture:

Mat 2:12  And being warned of God [G5537: ‘chrematizo’] in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God [G5537: ‘chrematizo’] of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

In all three cases the words ‘of God’ are added by the translators. The Greek simply reads ‘being warned’. Here in Acts 10 the three men from Cornelius tell Peter that the warning was “by an holy angel”, therefore the addition of the words “from God” are an acceptable addition which does not alter the message in any way.

Act 10:22  And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.

This was a serious breach of Jewish conduct according to the law of Moses, and Peter wanted witnesses to what the holy spirit was working. As we read earlier these “certain brothers from Joppa” were six Jewish men who accompanied Peter and who were familiar with everything the holy spirit had orchestrated. Peter brought these six men with him to Jerusalem because he knew that what had taken place was going to be earthshattering to all Christian Jews at that time. This is what Peter told the leaders of the church in Jerusalem in the next chapter of the Acts of the apostles:

Act 11:12  And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house:

Peter had brought “these six brethren” all the way from Joppa to witness on his behalf as to why he had dared to eat with a Gentile. Those six, along with Peter, were a seven-fold witness to this part of “the time of reformation.” This “carnal ordinance” against entering the home of a Gentile was at this point beginning to be “broken down”:

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 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;

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until [and only “until”] the time of reformation.

In our next study we will learn what Peter made of the vision the Lord gave Him, and we will learn what the words of the Lord… “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common” mean. Suffice it to say that Peter certainly did not go out immediately and order a ham sandwich. That was not what Peter understood to be the meaning of his vision from God. More on this subject next week.

[Study Aired November 3, 2022]

2Ki 9:1  And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this vial of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 
2Ki 9:2  And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber.
2Ki 9:3  Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith Jehovah, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not. 
2Ki 9:4  So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. 
2Ki 9:5  And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of us all? And he said, To thee, O captain. 
2Ki 9:6  And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of Jehovah, even over Israel. 
2Ki 9:7  And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Jehovah, at the hand of Jezebel. 
2Ki 9:8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. 
2Ki 9:9  And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. 
2Ki 9:10  And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled. 
2Ki 9:11  Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man and what his talk was. 
2Ki 9:12  And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, I have anointed thee king over Israel. 
2Ki 9:13  Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, Jehu is king. 
2Ki 9:14  So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria; 
2Ki 9:15  but king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If this be your mind, then let none escape and go forth out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel. 
2Ki 9:16  So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. 
2Ki 9:17  Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace? 
2Ki 9:18  So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not back. 
2Ki 9:19  Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. 
2Ki 9:20  And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not back: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. 
2Ki 9:21  And Joram said, Make ready. And they made ready his chariot. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. 
2Ki 9:22  And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?
2Ki 9:23  And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. 
2Ki 9:24  And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and smote Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. 
2Ki 9:25  Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, Jehovah laid this burden upon him: 
2Ki 9:26  surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith Jehovah; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith Jehovah. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of Jehovah. 
2Ki 9:27  But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden-house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot: and they smote him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 
2Ki 9:28  And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.
2Ki 9:29  And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah. 
2Ki 9:30  And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window. 
2Ki 9:31  And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master’s murderer? 
2Ki 9:32  And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. 
2Ki 9:33  And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trod her under foot. 
2Ki 9:34  And when he was come in, he did eat and drink; and he said, See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter. 
2Ki 9:35  And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 
2Ki 9:36  Wherefore they came back, and told him. And he said, This is the word of Jehovah, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel; 
2Ki 9:37  and the body of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

This entire ninth chapter’s primary focus is on the destruction of spiritual Babylon, the churches and religions of this world represented by “the whole house of Ahab” (2Ki 9:8), which fittingly included Jezebel, King Jehoram, King Ahaziah, and many other characters. 

2Ki 9:8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel. 

The certainty of that destruction at the hand of Jehu, who was anointed of God to be used in that capacity, will be shown in the death of these characters at his hand. All these actions are analogous to what God must do to our old man of sin in order for us to ‘come out of her my people’ and be saved through Christ (2Co 5:17, Isa 37:32, Isa 9:7).

Isa 37:32  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and out of mount Zion they that shall escape. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.

Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of Jehovah of hosts will perform this.

How this order of events is going to be made possible to unfold, (“the whole house of Ahab shall perish“) is made clear for us, in the first three verses (2Ki 9:1-3) where there is an anointing that is needed in the life of Jehu in order to accomplish this ‘cleansing of the house of Ahab’ (2Ki 9:8) as it is referred to, and that is type and shadow language telling God’s elect that unless God’s spirit is within us there will be no inward cleansing of the temple of God which we are (1Co 3:16), but rather our lives will be representative of this verse in Jeremiah 6:14): “They have healed also the hurt of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace“, as opposed to: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David” (Rom 8:9, Rom 9:8). If we are being judged today, we can experience that lasting and very precious spirit of God’s peace that passes all understanding because of Christ being on the throne of our hearts, typified by “the throne of David” (Php 4:7).

Rom 9:8  That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed.

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The clear message for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, which is a gift from God (Eph 2:8, Mat 13:16), is that in order for us to have His peace that passes all understanding (Php 4:6-7), we must die daily and cry out to our Lord to help us do battle against all the powers and principalities, “the whole house of Ahab” that Christ in us is able to overcome and “shall perish” by the power of His brightness that destroys these strongholds within us (Heb 5:7, 2Th 2:8): “the whole house of Ahab shall perish“.

Php 4:6  In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 
Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

The anointing

2Ki 9:1  And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead: 
2Ki 9:2  And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;
2Ki 9:3  Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.

Ramothgilead^H7433 which means “heights of Gilad” (Strong’s) or “high mounds of testimony” (PNB), and symbolizes the idolatry of the nation of Israel and the place that Elisha will send “one of the children of the prophets” to humble the nation through judgment. In like manner, Christ is sending His elect to come up or ascend on mount Zion. Zion represents that which has overcome through Christ and through His judgment, and the mount of Esau represents that which is yet to be judged by the saints who come up on mount Zion (Oba 1:21). Inwardly we overcome the mount of Esau by girding up our loins and taking a box of oil in our hand as we go to face the giants of our land in Ramothgilead where we will overcome through Christ (Num 14:9).

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

Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

It is “Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi” who God sends his power to, through one of the “children of the prophets” who represents the angels or messengers, that God sends to us in this age with the word of God that anoints us and makes it possible for us to be extricated or pulled out from Babylon [Nimshi ^H5250].

“Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi^H5250“

H5250 nimshı̂y BDB Definition: “rescued”

A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: probably from H4871 [“to pull out”]

Strong’s: extricated  Total KJV occurrences: 5

Saying, “and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber”, is symbolic language that tells us what happens to us when we are anointed by God giving us this increase through Christ (1Co 3:6). The “inner chamber” represents the Christ-centric life we can now have after we have been anointed of the Lord and are hidden in Him in the “inner chamber” (Eph 2:6, Col 3:3). 

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

After he pours the oil out on the head of Jehu, by his actions this servant of Elisha sets an example to Jehu of what to do with this gift that he is not to neglect (Heb 2:3). The zealousness of Christ is expressed in us by ‘opening the door’, which represents our communion with Christ in our heavens where we labour diligently and stedfastly in the Lord, knowing He is a rewarder of those who do this (Heb 11:6): “Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not“. Fleeing and not tarrying reminds us that we overcome sin by distancing ourselves from it and “make not provision for the flesh” (Rom 13:14, 2Ti 2:22)

Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Faith without works is dead

2Ki 9:4  So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramothgilead.
2Ki 9:5  And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain. 
2Ki 9:6  And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel. 
2Ki 9:7  And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

The captain, who is Jehu at this point, represents us when we are by the way doing our own thing and Christ comes along by way of his servants and says, “I have an errand to thee, O captain“, which is what these words to Christ’s disciples mean: “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mat 4:19). That is the errand to which God has called us; the work of feeding the lambs and sheep in this life. At first, we can’t understand that this anointing is specific to the peculiar people and royal priesthood we have become (1Pe 2:9), which is why Jehu asks “Unto which of all us“? And to which the young prophet answers, “To thee, O captain.“

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

Our labour in Christ is done with a two-edged sword at the ready as we are dead to sin and alive in Christ (Rom 6:11). The ‘dead to sin’ part requires our dying daily with that sword [his spirit, his word] which is what this verse symbolizes: “And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.” Without God’s anointing on us, we would not have the desire or zeal, both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure in this life, which desire is to be consumed for the zeal of His house by driving every unclean thing out of His temple, which we are (Php 2:12-13). It is stated this way: “the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel”, to remind us that this is speaking primarily to God’s elect today who will later judge the rest of the world, if we are blessed to be judged in this life first (Luk 11:50-51, 1Co 6:3).

Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

To further clarify the specificity of our calling, we read: “And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel“, which symbolizes the power God has given to His saints to pour out the seven last vials of God’s wrath upon this world (Rev 15:1-2, Rev 21:8-9) that were first poured out on us (1Pe 4:17, 1Pe 4:12, Rev 15:8). This is how God’s servants, who have already been judged of God, are avenged (Rev 6:9-11). All of this wrath of God will work good in the end as it will do away with Babylon, and great shall be the fall of her, typified by Jezebel’s horrific demise from the height from which she fell (Rev 14:8, Rev 18:2).

He will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor

2Ki 9:8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:
2Ki 9:9  And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:
2Ki 9:10  And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

These verses (2Ki 9:8-9) graphically demonstrate what God will do with all fleshly carnal thinking and how thoroughly He will cleanse His threshing-floor in the heart of every man in time (Mal 4:1). 

2Ki 9:8 Every man and boy in Ahab’s family must die, whether slave or free.
2Ki 9:9  His whole family must be destroyed, just like the families of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah. (CEV)

Mal 4:1  For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Leaving “neither root nor branch” happens as a result of “the whole house of Ahab” perishing. For God’s elect this message is happening now as we die daily and judge ourselves daily and keep under our body daily to be sure that there is no root of bitterness overtaking us, not missing seeing or understanding any opportunity of the Lord to prune away the branches that need to be taken out of our lives and burned (1Co 11:31, Heb 12:15, Joh 15:2, Heb 12:6, 1Co 9:25-27).

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

“And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her” represents our eating of false doctrines in the churches of Babylon, symbolized by the woman Jezebel. We don’t think this is us at first, but because we do not yet have “another spirit” as did Caleb and Joshua(Num 14:24), we go right along with the harlotries of this world from our own elevated position in our flesh just as Jezebel did. ‘And there was none to bury Jezebel’ tells us that there is no honour in her and no burial ceremony as such for this extremely wicked woman who represents Babylon which will be destroyed (Jer 51:8-9, 2Pe 2:12).

Jer 51:8  Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
Jer 51:9  We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ:

2Ki 9:11  Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication. 
2Ki 9:12  And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. 
2Ki 9:13  Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. 

It took this conversation with Jehu, who was now anointed by the Lord, for the people to realize that this was really happening and that Jehu was the anointed king. The lesson for us is that the Lord will persuade the world one day through God’s anointed church that we are who we say we are, the body of Christ and the wife of our Lord who has made herself ready (Rev 19:7). 

It is God who does the dragging and the converting, and Jehu typifies those who are being dragged to Christ by the Father (Joh 6:44). When that day of acknowledgement comes in the earth of what God’s workmanship has manifested in the saints, the world will be zealous toward God’s purpose just as this group was toward the anointing of Jehu. Their compliance and agreement to these actions of the servant of Elisha are symbolized by taking off their garments and putting them under the top of the stairs where the king is exalted, “Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.” Blowing the trumpets is another symbol that tells us this story typifies the time when the last trump will sound and we shall be changed (1Co 15:52).

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.

Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal:

2Ki 9:14  So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.

Jehu is conspiring against Joram, which actions of Jehu demonstrate that the spirit is against the flesh (Gal 5:17), and now that Jehu is anointed, he is ready to do battle against his enemies, typifying God’s elect, the bride of Christ, who will be made ready to do battle against all flesh that is in bondage. Our enemy is Satan, and we wrestle against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” and not against flesh and blood (Eph 6:12), so the words “Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria“, represent the bondage that the devil has us all in, in our appointed time, from which we can only be delivered through Christ (Joh 8:36) who is represented by Jehu who is a type of the elect in this particular parable (Oba 1:21).

Keep fighting:

2Ki 9:15 But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.

Jehu’s anointing is already producing the fruit of wisdom that instructs the people to not let anyone go into the city Jezreel to give advance warning to Joram of Jehu’s intentions. If we are of the same mind, we will battle together as one body, one army like Gideon’s army who, although they were few in number, were promised victory because the battle is the Lord’s, and it is given to those who are obedient to the commands of the King (Act 5:32).

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

2Ki 9:16  So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. 
2Ki 9:17  And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace? 
2Ki 9:18  So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again. 
2Ki 9:19  Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. 

The watchman does not interact with Jehu and goes to the king straightway to tell him what he sees, which in turn has Joram send a horseman to ask him his intentions, trying the spirits, as it were, to find out if Jehu is come to make peace or come to do battle. This tells us a whole lot about the world who is looking for an alliance in the flesh, but there will be none found with God’s elect whose mantra is “I would rather be divided by the truth than united by a lie”.

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

The question brought to Jehu from king Joram is, “Is it peace?“, and the shocking response was, “What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.” Yes, get behind me Satan for you savour not the things that be of God but that which is of your father the devil (Mat 16:23).

Again, a “second on horseback” comes out asking the same question, “Thus saith the king, Is it peace?” and getting the same response from Jehu. There’s the witness for us of the world saying peace, peace when there is no peace (Jer 6:14), and that theme will continue right until the end of the thousand years when the truth about mankind’s heart will be made crystal clear in their attempt to destroy the camp of the saints after “Satan shall be loosed out of his prison” (Rev 20:8).

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

Rev 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. 

And keep fighting:

2Ki 9:20  And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. 
2Ki 9:21  And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth^H5022 the Jezreelite.^H3158

The watchman is giving the play by play here to Joram which prompts Joram to say ‘make ready’ as Jehu was on the attack, typifying for us that we do not bear the sword of God in vain and that the Lord will increase our zealousness and deliver us from our enemies if we are granted to seek Him with all our hearts (Jer 29:13-14).

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 
Jer 29:14  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 

Now Joram and Ahaziah, the kings of Israel and Judah are aligned, each in his chariot coming out against Jehu whom they meet “in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelit“. The word Naboth means “fruits” and the word ‘Jezreelit’ is similar to the word ‘Jezreel’, meaning “God sows”. 

H5022  nâbôth naw-both’  Feminine plural from the same as H5011; fruits; Naboth, an Israelite: – Naboth.  Total KJV occurrences: 22

H3158  yizre‛ê’lı̂y yiz-reh-ay-lee’  Patronymic from H3157; a Jizreelite or native of Jizreel: – Jezreelite.  Total KJV occurrences: 8

H3157  yizre‛ê’l yiz-reh-ale’  From H2232 and H410; God will sow; Jizreel, the name of two places in Palestine and of two Israelites: – Jezreel.  Total KJV occurrences: 36

So this is a moment of revealing what God has sown and created, the good and the evil, the light and darkness of these two groups, and it was not their fabled free will that put them in this situation (Isa 45:7).

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

Still keep fighting:

2Ki 9:22  And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? 
2Ki 9:23  And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. 
2Ki 9:24  And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. 

Now Joram hears it from Jehu’s own lips after he hypocritically asks him, “Are you coming in peace?” “How can there be peace in this world” is what Jehu responds to Joram “so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?“ Joram has rightly identified the spirit of Jehu and “turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah“. Then “Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms” representing the word of God that will go forth in the strength of Christ to accomplish this destruction against mystery Babylon and all the corrupt fruit of that huge vine of Babylon that Christ will give us the power to destroy with the threshing tool, a sickle, that represents God’s power working in the body of Christ through the true vine, Jesus Christ (Joh 15:5). We will judge the world in time, and angels (Rev 14:15, 1Co 6:3): The vital organ of the heart being hit so precisely (Heb 4:12, Psa 129:4) tells us that God will deal with sinful rebellion immediately during the thousand-year reign, and that we consider ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ now because of that ongoing righteous judgment of Christ upon our own lives: “the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot” (1Ki 22:34).

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Rev 14:15  And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 

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

2Ki 9:25  Jehu said to his chariot driver Bidkar, “Take Joram’s body up and throw it into the field of Naboth from Jezreel. Remember when you and I rode together with Joram’s father Ahab, the Lord said this would happen to him.
2Ki 9:26  The Lord said, ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons. So I will punish Ahab in this field.’ The Lord said that. So take Joram’s body and throw it into the field, just like the Lord said!” (ERV)

Jehu is a man on a mission now, telling his captain Bidkar [H920 =by stabbing, that is, assassin (Mat 10:34)] to put Joram’s dead body in this plat, “Cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite“, which words were a fulfilled prophecy found in 1 Kings 21:19-22 that “the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD.” We are reassured that what the Lord starts, He finishes (Php 1:6), including the revelations He gives us (Amo 3:7) that continue to assure us that we will be more than conquerors through Christ over our old man of sin within and without. We are buried into Christ’s death (Rom 6:3) even while our old man is cast “into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.“

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

2Ki 9:27  But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur^H1483, which is by Ibleam^H2991. And he fled to Megiddo^H4023, and died there. 
2Ki 9:28  And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

When Ahaziah [H274 = Jah has seized/taken by Jehovah] recognized what was happening and that death was potentially imminent, “he fled by the way of the garden house” like Adam and Eve, who when they realized they were naked, [a symbol of sinful flesh that God tells us is spiritually dead (Joh 6:63)], covered themselves with fig leaves, symbolizing their own works, and hid from our Lord among the trees in the garden. Jehu followed after Ahaziah and said, “Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur^H1483, which is by Ibleam^H2991“, the chariot being a symbol of ‘his own power’ that was going to be taken away from him. They followed him up to “Gur^H1483, which is by Ibleam^H2991“, two names which tell us that Ahaziah was an immature leader who was going to be destroyed (Mat 24:19).

Isa 43:15  I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. 
Isa 43:16  Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 
Isa 43:17  Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.

All these names mentioned prior to the death of Ahaziah are significant as they tell us something about the stages that we go through until our old man is cut down in “Megiddo^H4023” which is in northern Israel, in the north where judgment symbolically comes from (Jer 50:41). 

H1483 gûr goor  The same as H1482; Gur, a place in Palestine: – Gur.  Total KJV occurrences: 1

H1482 gûr    gûr goor, goor  Perhaps from H1481; a cub (as still abiding in the lair), especially of the lion: – whelp, young one.  Total KJV occurrences: 7

H1481 gûr goor A primitive root; properly to turn aside from the road (for a lodging or any other purpose), that is, sojourn (as a guest); also to shrink, fear [Heb_10:39 , 2Th_2:8](as in a strange place); also to gather for hostility (as afraid): – abide, assemble, be afraid, dwell, fear, gather (together), inhabitant, remain, sojourn, stand in awe, (be) stranger, X surely.  Total KJV occurrences: 98

H2991 yible‛âm yib-leh-awm’  From H1104 and H5971; devouring people; Jibleam, a place in Palestine: – Ibleam.  Total KJV occurrences: 3

H4023  megiddôn  megiddô meg-id-done’, meg-id-do’  From H1413; rendezvous; Megiddon or Megiddo, a place in Palestine: – Megiddo, Megiddon.  Total KJV occurrences: 12

H1413 gâdad gaw-dad’  A primitive root (compare H1461); to crowd; also to gash (as if by pressing into): – assemble (selves by troops), gather (selves together, self in troops), cut selves. Total KJV occurrences: 9

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Ahaziah is the king of Judah but does not have the honour of dying in Jerusalem as a man of God would. God’s elect understand that to die in Jerusalem is a parable that Christ gave us (Mar 4:34) that tells us those who die daily (1Co 15:31) are doing so in the place where they have been raised (Eph 2:6), Jerusalem above the mother of us all (Luk 13:33, Gal 4:26). Ahaziah, in type and shadow, has not been raised and in fact when he is brought back to Jerusalem below in a chariot carried by his servants, he was not buried with the kings but they “buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.“

Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free [Eph 2:6-8], which is the mother of us all.

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works:

2Ki 9:29  And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
2Ki 9:30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tiredH3190 her head, and looked out at a window.
2Ki 9:31  And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?

When Jezebel gets word that Jehu is coming, she paints her face, or puts makeup on, and tired^H3190 her head as she looked out a window at Jehu coming toward her.

Tired H3190 yâṭab  yaw-tab’   A primitive root; to be (causatively) make well, literally (sound, beautiful) or figuratively (happy, successful, right): – be accepted, amend, use aright, benefit, be (make) better, seem best, make cheerful, be comely, + be content, diligent (-ly), dress, earnestly, find favour, give, be glad, do (be, make) good ([-ness]), be (make) merry, please (+ well), shew more [kindness], skilfully, X very small, surely, make sweet, thoroughly, tire, trim, very, be (can, deal, entreat, go, have) well [said, seen ].  Total KJV occurrences: 115

1Ki 21:7  And Jezebel his [Ahab’s] wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry^H3190: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

Luk 12:19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

That window and its position signifies her vantage point, which is one that is proud and haughty, very much like a harlot, which she typifies (Pro 5:1-6). The first part of these last few verses inform us of the spirit the we are looking at: “in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah“. Jezebel is the number 11 in spades, “the ruin and disintegration of the perfection of the flesh”, and she demonstrates this dissolution of flesh that must happen within us if the new man is to be created.

It is as Jehu enters the gate that Jezebel asks him “Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?“, referring to Zimri who reigned only seven days before he died and “the treason that he wrought” (1Ki 16:15-20). 

2Ki 9:31  Jehu entered the city. Jezebel said, “Hello, you Zimri! Just like him, you killed your master!” (ERV)

1Ki 16:20  Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought [killing king Elah], are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Jehu is not hearing any of this nonsense. He knows who she is, and what she has done, and more importantly for God’s elect, this story tells us how we ought to deal with the harlotry of this world (Rev 18:6) that is found in mystery Babylon represented by Jezebel who was trying to lay a guilt trip on Jehu for doing the Lord’s work. This story reminds us of what a rod of iron rulership will be like in the thousand year reign where all rebellion will be put down by God’s elect.

Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 

2Ki 9:32  And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.

This article of Aaron Lohman brings out the answer of whom is on Jehu’s side, and the only “one” that could be on his side are those going through a process of judgment, as witnessed and typified by the statement, “And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs“. We have the witness of two and, the process of judgment with three, and two and three totalling five, meaning salvation by grace through faith.

As this article explains,

“Eunuchs are officers of kings, and they carry out their king’s orders“

(Excerpt from https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/gospels-in-harmony-mat-191-12-and-mar-1012-part-3/)

How blessed are we to be spiritual eunuchs today for the kingdom of God!

2Ki 9:33  And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. 
2Ki 9:34  And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.

Wow! Could you go and eat and drink right after seeing the grisly death of a woman who was thrown from a window and then trodden under foot by horses? Naturally we couldn’t, but this story is demonstrating for us how little regard God has for flesh and the false doctrines we harbor in it. It was so violent a death that blood was “sprinkled on the wall” and “on the horses“.

As gruesome as this story is, these events have a hope-filled message in them, and they were written for our sakes upon whom the end of the ages is come (1Co 10:11). It is our old man that must be trodden under foot by the powers of this world for 1260 days (Rev 11:2), and it is our old man whose blood must be spilled on our high walls of pride (Pro 18:11) and the horses represent our own strength in the earth within us (Psa 147:10). Jehu did go and eat and drink afterwards because it is after the death of our old man, which is an ongoing process, that we partake of the life of Christ (Joh 6:51). Our past must be buried no matter how ugly it is, and we must never forget that “she is a king’s daughter” meaning she is us in our appointed time, and God has devised a means to save her through Christ and His Christ (2Sa 14:14).

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

2Ki 9:35  And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 
2Ki 9:36  Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: 
2Ki 9:37  And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

Jezebel represents Babylon that will fall, and not any part of her will remain, as a reminder that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The good news is that her death will bring about new life, and the scriptures go as far as to describe our experience along with Jezebels as nothing more than dung that is passing and being used as a means to an end in this life in this “field”, in this world (Php 3:8, 1Co 15:50, Mat 13:38).

Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

What use is your skull, your feet and the palms of your hands in life or death if they are not connected to your body, and these last remnants of Jezebel are a final testimony of what mystery Babylon leaves the world, a very disconnected and vile representation of a body that cannot even be properly buried.

The dogs that feed on Jezebel represent our carnal relationship with Mystery Babylon the Great as we, in our appointed time, partake of her false doctrines and eat her flesh and drink in her false ways. God calls His elect out of this unholy communion with Babylon showing us mercy by converting our hearts so that now we deeply appreciate our communion in Christ which is represented His body and blood which we eat (Joh 6:54-55).

Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

We will never have peace if we are partaking of the table of devils (1Co 10:21), but if we are blessed to ‘come out of her my people’ and share in the true communion of Christ, we will grow and overcome in this life through that proper spiritual communion or altar (Heb 13:10) that is found in Christ’s body (1Co 10:16).

1Co 10:21  Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

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

1Co 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

[Posted February 5, 2022]

Hi Mike,

Hope you are well, quick question for you. In 1 Kings 17 we read that the prophet Elijah had his food brought to him by ravens. However, according to Leviticus 11 we are told the raven is an abomination unto us. So why did God choose to use an abominable bird to bring food to one of his prophets, and not just any prophet but the mighty prophet Elijah?

Thanks for the help, peace and blessings to you.

C____

Hi C____,

Thank you for your very thought-provoking question. It is true that the raven was declared to be unclean to Israel in Leviticus 11:

Lev 11:13  And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
Lev 11:14  And the vulture, and the kite after his kind;
Lev 11:15  Every raven after his kind;

The fact is, that while Israel was told not to eat a raven, nothing is said that would preclude being fed by a raven.

Christ said that the fowl which consumed the seed before it could put down a root is “the wicked one”. That might make one think that therefore no wicked person can possibly be used by the Lord to tell the Truth. However, the Lord wants  us to know that is not the case.

Food in scripture symbolizes doctrines:

1Co 10:21  Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

The devil’s table is furnished with the devil’s food – his lies and his false doctrines – of which we cannot partake, but the Lord can use the devil to speak His truth just as He used the wicked prophet Balaam to bless Israel when Balak, the king of Moab, had hired that wicked prophet to curse Israel.

Num 22:37  And Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee to honour?
Num 22:38  And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I now any power at all to say any thing? the word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.

Num 24:10  And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.

That is how the Lord Himself used “the wicked one”, Balaam, a wicked prophet to bless Israel just as He used a raven to feed Elijah.

Other examples of the Lord using a spiritual ‘raven’ to speak His Truth are the stories of the witch of Endor telling King Saul he would die the next day:

1Sa 28:19  Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

The Lord also used a lying prophet to speak truth to a prophet who had listened to that lying prophet instead of being obedient to the voice of the Lord:

1Ki 13:11  Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.
1Ki 13:12  And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
1Ki 13:13  And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
1Ki 13:14  And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
1Ki 13:15  Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
1Ki 13:16  And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
1Ki 13:17  For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
1Ki 13:18  He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.
1Ki 13:19  So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
1Ki 13:20  And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
1Ki 13:21  And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
1Ki 13:22  But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.
1Ki 13:23  And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
1Ki 13:24  And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
1Ki 13:25  And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
1Ki 13:26  And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.

In this story the Lord used a lying prophet to deliver a true prophecy to another prophet who had become weary in well doing and disobeyed the commandment of the Lord.

Therefore we must conclude that the only way to be sure of the value of the spiritual food we consume, is not by judging the messenger, but rather by judging the message, whether that message accords with the Lord’s commandments.

In fact, the Lord has even told us in advance that He would try us in this way to see if we would remain faithful to Him and His words, rather than listen to men who tell us to disobey the Lord.

Here is that prophecy:

Deu 13:1  If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
Deu 13:2  And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:3  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4  Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

The Lord wants us to be capable of discerning good spiritual food regardless of who the messenger is.

Peter himself was fed by an unclean Gentile when the Lord sent messengers from the house of the Roman Centurion to have Peter come and speak to him and his house. It was through what Christ called a spiritual ‘dog’ that Peter learned that Gentles were no longer to be counted as unclean:

Mar 7:26  The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
Mar 7:27  But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.

Act 10:28  And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

The Lord is, to this very day, using the works of evil men to feed His people. Thayer has been used mightily of the Lord through his Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. Yet Thayer himself was an atheist. Being an atheist he was not beholden to any church doctrines, and many of the Greek words he defined were therefore untainted with the false doctrines that have replaced the Truth in the divided churches and man-made denominations of this world.

Christ and His body are not divided:

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1Co 1:11  For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
1Co 1:12  Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
1Co 1:13  Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

God has used the atheist, Thayer, to educate many of His people, just as He used that raven to feed Elijah.

That raven was used in the same way the “widow of Serepta” was used to feed Elijah. She, too, was an unclean Gentile woman, and Christ was almost thrown off a cliff for just pointing that fact out to the folks in his hometown of Nazareth in His first recorded sermon:

Luk 4:25  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Luk 4:26  But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
Luk 4:27  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Luk 4:28  And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:29  And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luk 4:30  But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

In a sense, Elijah being fed by an unclean bird, a raven, foreshadows the gospel going to the ‘unclean’ Gentiles who are used by the Lord to feed His elect.

From Brown’s Driver Briggs Bible Dictionary:

– Original: כּלב
– Transliteration: Kaleb
– Phonetic: kaw-labe’
– Definition: Caleb = dog

It is prophetic that the only two people of the generation that left Egypt from twenty years and up who were granted to enter into the promised land were two men – the name of one being Josuha, which means ‘Savior’, and the name of the other was Caleb, which means ‘dog’. A Savior and a dog were the only people who were given to come out of Egypt and enter into the promised land.

I hope this sheds some light on why the Lord used a raven to feed Elijah. If the Lord can use a poisonous serpent as a type of Christ, He can also use a raven as a type of those who feed and give life to His people:

Num 21:8  And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num 21:9  And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

YbiC, Mike

[Study Aired January 17, 2022]

Mat 15:32  Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. 
Mat 15:33  And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? 
Mat 15:34  And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. 
Mat 15:35  And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 
Mat 15:36  And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 
Mat 15:37  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. 
Mat 15:38  And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. 
Mat 15:39  And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.

INTRODUCTION

All the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John talked about the feeding of the multitudes. In Matthew and Mark, they mentioned the feeding of the five and four thousand people but in John and Luke, only the five thousand people fed by the Lord are mentioned. As we have come to understand having two or more witnesses assures us that this story is well established. In other words, it will surely come to pass as sure as the sun rises in the east and set in the west!!

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

In Matthew, the feeding of the four thousand was introduced by a story pertaining to Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman. Let’s take a look at this story as it sets the basis for the feeding of the multitude:

Mat 15:21  Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
Mat 15:22  And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
Mat 15:23  But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
Mat 15:24  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Mat 15:25  Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
Mat 15:26  But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.
Mat 15:27  And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
Mat 15:28  Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Here Jesus traveled outside Israel to Tyre and Sidon which were Gentile cities north of Israel. Tyre and Sidon represent people of the world, and so what took place there reflects God’s plan for the people of the world. There Jesus met a Canaanite woman who requested that Jesus would have mercy on her daughter. Apparently, the daughter was severely oppressed by the devil. This woman had heard of Jesus, and being a woman means that she represents the physical churches of this world, that is, Babylon. We all came out of the world (Tyre and Sidon) into the church system of this world where the daughters of the churches of this world are under bondage to sin. This bondage to sin is the same as the oppression of the devil who became our father in Babylon.

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

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Jesus’ refusal to answer her is to let us know that in this dispensation the word of God is for the elect and not for Babylon or the world. In other words, the word of God is written only for the elect to understand.

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 (Babylon and the world) 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 (Babylon and the world) seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
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.

At that time, the disciples of Jesus were not converted, and so their mentality was just like us when we were in Babylon. They told Jesus to send the woman away. This is the same as saying that people should be responsible for their own actions. We also had the same mentality as the disciples, thinking that people are responsible for going to hell to burn forever. However, our Lord has a wonderful plan of salvation for the world which will be unveiled at the right time.

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

Verse 24 says that Jesus told the disciples he came only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That is to say that in this age, the Lord is focusing on His elect who are His lost sheep. As He is, so are we. We also have the mandate to seek after the lost sheep, who represent the Lord’s elect. We are that one sheep that strayed from the ninety-nine sheep, who the Lord is going after in this age.

Mat 18:12  How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 
Mat 18:13  And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 
Mat 18:14  Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

Jesus told the woman that it is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs. The children here are the Lord’s elect, and the bread is the word of God. The dogs represent us while we were still in Babylon. At that time it was impossible for the word of God to penetrate us because of the evil one. Not giving the children’s bread to the dogs therefore means that we were not capable of receiving the word of the Lord.

2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

The woman’s response in verse 27 was very insightful. She said to Jesus that dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table. What this means is that the woman accepted that she was a dog. In other words, she was a sinner. It was only then that Jesus answered her request or healed her daughter. Accepting that we are dogs is the same as admitting we are spiritually poor. It is when we admit this that salvation comes to our doorstep. The healing of her daughter is the same as bringing salvation to the world. So, the whole world would have to admit their spiritual poverty before salvation can be theirs. This will be accomplished in the lake of fire age.

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The next few verses of Matthew chapter 15 therefore talk about the salvation of the world.

Mat 15:29  And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.
Mat 15:30  And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them: 
Mat 15:31  Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

The multitude here represents the world including Babylon. The lame being healed means we can walk before the Lord blameless. The blind are those who do not understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. At that time, the children’s food will be given to the dogs. The maimed are those wounded or oppressed by the evil one. They shall no longer be in bondage to the evil one. The dumb are those who cannot hear and therefore cannot speak the word of God. Casting their cares at Jesus’ feet means submitting to Christ.

Exo 4:15  And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. 

THE FEEDING OF THE FOUR THOUSAND

These introductory stories serve as precursor to the feeding of the multitude. Let’s now take a look at the feeding of the four thousand in Matthew 15:32-39.

Mat 15:32  Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

We must take note of Jesus’s compassion for the multitude. Compassion has to do with being merciful. One significant quality our Lord expects from us as we grow in Him is being merciful. We all start our lives in Christ thinking we call the shots, and therefore we were not merciful to those who were fumbling in their walk with Christ. We were just like the disciples who wanted Jesus to send the multitude away. The Lord is inculcating in us the need to be merciful because He has shown mercy to us.

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.

The fact that Jesus had compassion on the multitude is to let us know that in the fullness of time, our Lord’s compassion will be unveiled to the whole world. The fact the Lord said that He will not send them away without feeding them is to assure us that God has a plan for the feeding of the world with His word. This plan is centered on us as saviors for the people of the world. The whole story about the feeding of the multitude is about the salvation of the world.

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

Jesus said that the multitude had continued to be with Him for three days. At a point in our walk with the Lord, we were just like the multitude who had been with the Lord but are starving of the word of God. This starvation of the word of God is one of the four sore judgments of the Lord to bring us out of Babylon to Himself. The three days means that the famine of the word of the Lord is part of God’s judgment of us.

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

Amo 8:11  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

Mat 15:33  And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? 

What the disciples said is the same as what they said to Jesus when he told them that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. The rich man here represents us at some point in our lives when we taught, we were spiritually okay in Babylon.

Mar 10:24  And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
Mar 10:25  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 

Mar 10:26  And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? 
Mar 10:27  And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

The fact that the disciples thought it is impossible to find food in the wilderness spiritually signifies that they doubted the salvation of all men just like all of us when we were in Babylon.

Mat 15:34  And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

The seven loaves of bread signify the complete word of God which is the full counsel of God. What we are having now is the word of God which will feed the multitude or the world and bring them to Christ. The few little fishes are the elect. We, together with what the Lord has given to us through His word, is what will save the world.

Mat 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 

Mat 15:35  And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 

Although in this age the whole world is not submitting to Christ except the elect, a time is coming when at the command of the Lord, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord!!

Php 2:9  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 
Php 2:10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 
Php 2:11  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Mat 15:36  And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

The breaking of the bread by the Lord is the opening of our understanding of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. In this age, the Lord is breaking bread and giving them to his disciples who symbolize the 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 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 
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.

During the age of the lake of fire, the elect will serve the whole of humanity with the word of God which we have received from the Lord. That is what will bring about the salvation of the world.

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

1Ti 4:9  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. 
1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Mat 15:37  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

During the lake of fire age, the whole of humanity will walk in the word of the Lord and understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.

Rev 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 
Rev 7:10  And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. 
Rev 7:11  And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 
Rev 7:12  Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 
Rev 7:13  And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 
Rev 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
Rev 7:15  Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. 
Rev 7:16  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 
Rev 7:17  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. 

The broken meat that was left was about seven baskets full. The broken meat represents false doctrines. The number seven means complete, and so what we are being told is that the complete false doctrines in the heavens of all humanity will be left behind or burnt as everybody will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. That is what will enable all humanity to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.

Col 1:9  For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Col 1:10  That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 

Mat 15:38  And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.

The number four stands for the whole of the matter under consideration. 4,000 = 4x10x10x10. Therefore, four thousand men feed means that it is when the whole of humanity is full, they will be fed with the word of the Lord. The statement that the four thousand men, besides women and children, did eat is to make us aware of the irrelevance of the church system of this world with all her children in the salvation of the world.

Mat 15:39  And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala. 

The sending away of the multitude is to make us aware that the time for the salvation of the world is not in this age. Our Lord is currently sending away the multitude by taking away the little knowledge of the Lord they have and giving it to us. He is also speaking to them in parables, blinding and making them deaf and hardening their hearts, all in a bid to send the multitude away.

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

The spiritual significance of the feeding of the four thousand is the salvation of the world. There are slight variations in the story as presented in the gospel and this is done to give us additional information about the salvation of the world. I will take this opportunity to point out the additional information given in the account of this story. In Matthew chapter 14:13-21, the feeding of the five thousand is presented.

Mat 14:14  And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 
Mat 14:15  And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. 
Mat 14:16  But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 
Mat 14:17  And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 
Mat 14:18  He said, Bring them hither to me. 
Mat 14:19  And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 
Mat 14:20  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 
Mat 14:21  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. 

Verse 16 says that the multitude need not depart and that the disciples should feed them. This is to emphasize the point that it is the elect that will feed the world with the word of God. The five loaves hers is the word of God. The number five means grace through faith. The grace on a positive note is the Lord Himself coming to us to be our enjoyment. So, the five loaves is Christ coming with His brightness which is His word.

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

The coming of the Lord also has a negative context which is that of chastening. The brightness of His coming is the fire of His word which will destroy all our carnal thoughts.

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; 

As we are aware, the teaching here is actually chastening. The fish represent the elect, and the number two means a witness. We are the two witnesses that will feed the world with the word of God. As indicated, the fragments represent false doctrines, and the number twelve signifies the number of Christ. The twelve fragments of baskets are to remind us that all of our false doctrines are all part of Christ plan for our lives. The five thousand men fed means that we are saved through grace when our sins are full and that it is not of ourselves but the work of Christ.

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.

[Study Aired April 7, 2020]

Once again I was able to go to the web site, and tonight we are dealing with the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. There is quite a bit of information to this parable so we will go through this FAQ, which was answered by Mike.

Dear Mike,

I am reading the parables of Christ and would like your thoughts on the Rich man and Lazarus parable, please. I also spent many years in the Worldwide Church of God. Do you think there is any connection to being in that church that taught us to search the scriptures and seeing the scriptures differently now?

Love the way you write – thanks.

Regards,

H____

Good morning, H____,

You ask if there is a connection between being taught to search the scriptures and seeing what is in the scriptures? The answer is, yes, there certainly is a connection, but I tell everyone that it was being taught to search the scriptures by my Pentecostal father that took me into the World Wide Church of God, and it was that same desire to search the scriptures and to “let God be true and every man a liar” that brought me out of that church. My guess is that you came out for the same reason. There is definitely a disproportionate number of former WWCG members who come to our site.

You ask me to comment on the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luk 16:

Luk 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
Luk 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luk 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
Luk 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Luk 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [would come] from thence.
Luk 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
Luk 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
Luk 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Luk 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luk 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

The first thing you need to realize is that this is indeed a parable, and not one word of this parable is to be understood as literal any more or less than any other parable. When I say that, I am not saying that parables are not dealing with real issues involving real people. They certainly are, but the message of a parable is always a matter of “comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

What I am saying is that when Christ said…

Mat 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.

… or when Christ said,

Mat 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

In neither case is He speaking of a particular king who lived at that time, or whoever has been or whoever will be? A parable uses one thing to make a point about something else, and these parables are our Lord’s words which “will never pass away,” meaning that they are all written for you and for me and for all men of all time.

Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation [reading these words] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

“All these things” includes this parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Here is how Strong’s defines this word ‘parable.’

“PAR’ABLE, n. [L. parabola; Gr. to throw forward or against, to compare to or against; as in confero, collatum, to set together, or one thing with another.] A fable or allegorical relation or representation of something real in life or nature, from which a moral is drawn for instruction; such as the parable of the trees choosing a king, Jdg 9; the parable of the poor man and his lamb. 2Sa 12; the parable of the ten virgins, Mat 25.

Orthodox Christian ministers teach that this story is not a parable because Christ uses the name Lazarus, and because He said “there was a certain rich man.” The parables noted above show that the use of the word ‘certain’ does not preclude a parable. The truth is that when we see the phrase “there was a certain…” it seems to indicate that this is a parable.

But we need not speculate as to whether this is a parable. All we need do is see to whom Christ was speaking. I make that statement because of this verse:

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

Why would Christ not speak to the multitude without a parable? It is important to know why Christ spoke only in parables, if we want to know what this story of Lazarus and the rich man means. Here is why Christ spoke in parables:

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. 

There it is, all ministers and Sunday school teachers in the world notwithstanding! Christ spoke in parables “because… to them it is not given…to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” and “without a parable spake He not unto them.”

Since Christ spoke only in parables to the multitudes who came to him, all we must do is ascertain to whom Christ was talking in Luke 16, and here is who we are told His audience was:

Luk 16:14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

So, there can be no doubt that the story of Lazarus and the rich man is indeed a parable spoken to “the Pharisees… who were covetous… and derided Him.”

“Without a parable spake He not unto them… because it was not given to them to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.”

What those with eyes that see and ears that hear learn from this is that the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, since it is a parable, must therefore be a parable about “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”, which mysteries are hidden from those who are not given those eyes and ears that see and hear.

When we understand the depth of this truth, that all of Christ’s parables are designed to hide from the multitudes the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, then we understand that Lazarus’s treatment represents how the kingdom of heaven is treated by the rich man. Christ Himself, and His Christ, are Lazarus in this parable. It is Christ who rose from the dead and was ignored by the brothers of the rich man, who are typified by the Pharisees who were covetous and derided Christ and His Christ. In other words, the rich man is all of us at our appointed time as “the children of disobedience and wrath.”

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.

All of mankind, at their appointed time, are “under the law” and will experience the judgment that is now on the house of God.

Gal 4:1 Now I say, [That] the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

God’s elect are being judged now, here in this life, as we live through the torments of being in and coming out of Babylon.

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

We are all ‘the rich man” at our own appointed time. If that time is not seen and realized as being in this life, then it will be realized later as the “many called” who will go through a later judgment called ‘the lake of fire.”

What then, is the moral of this parable? Why, if indeed Lazarus is Christ, are we told that He is so poor that the dogs come and lick his sores? To understand how Lazarus is considered to be so lowly that “the dogs come and lick his sores” we must understand who ‘dogs’ are in scripture, and we must also understand that Christ is much more than Jesus Christ, a physical man who walked the earth 2000 years ago and was crucified by His own people, who had received nothing but good from His hands.

Psa 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Psa 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

Which the church at Jerusalem quotes as referring to themselves…

Act 4:23 And being let go, they [Peter and John] went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.
Act 4:24 And when they heard that, they [the whole church] lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:
Act 4:25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

Then later we are also told:

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

It all adds up to the fact that God is in the process of saving His entire creation, and He is using the physical realm as the beginning of that process. In that physical realm this is the truth of what Christ is doing in and through His elect:

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

The word ‘world’ here is not ‘aion,’ (eon) it is rather ‘kosmos.’ We are Christ’s christ in this world. As such, Christ is sending us to represent Him in this world. When this world looks at us they ought to be seeing Christ in us just as Christ’s disciples saw His Father in Him. Here are Christ’s own words to His Christ:

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

There really is very little room for doubt about who the two principles of this parable, Lazarus and the rich man, represent. The scriptures themselves tell us who this poor beggar is who ate the crumbs from the rich man’s table:

Mat 15:21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
Mat 15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
Mat 15:23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
Mat 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Mat 15:25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
Mat 15:26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to
dogs.
Mat 15:27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.
Mat 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Who Is Lazarus?

Lazarus and the Canaanite woman here are mere dogs who “ate the crumbs that fell from their masters’ tables,” and both represent those who have “great faith” in the words of Christ.

Why are we told that those who have faith are eating crumbs from the tables of those who appear to be richer than they are, and yet do not have the faith of either Lazarus or the “woman of Canaan?” Here is what that means:

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

It is through the lack of faith of those who first are invited to the marriage supper, but who refuse to attend, that we receive faith. We ourselves, just like the apostles who wanted to send the woman away, are without faith, considering ourselves to be rich, before we are given the “faith of Jesus Christ”. The crumbs that seem so inconsequential are our nourishing faith, which the rich don’t even want. It is what is overlooked by, and considered as the crumbs of, the rich that nourishes the “poor of this world.”

Jas 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

God has “chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith.” To be “poor in spirit” is to be “rich in faith.” That is why Lazarus, in this parable, is presented to us as so poor that he has to settle for the unwanted crumbs which fall from his master’s table, and why Lazarus is considered diseased and has dogs licking his sores. Who did Christ call a dog? It was the “woman of Canaan” of whom Christ tells us “great is thy faith.”

So what are these “crumbs that fall from the table of the rich man?” Those crumbs are those doctrines which are not deemed worthy of those who are rich. Doctrines like a poor beggar and a woman of Canaan, both counted as outcasts by those who consider themselves to be “rich and increased with goods” are not interesting to the rich for being counted “worthy of the kingdom of heaven.” Doctrines like “grace chastening us to forsake ungodliness and living godly lives in this present age,” and doctrines like “as in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive” are but a very few of the “crumbs that fall from the tables of the rich.”

So who is this “rich man” in this parable? Just as the poor beggar and the poor woman of Canaan are one and the same, so, too, is this rich man and the rich Laodicean church of Revelation 3 one and the same person.

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

We can speculate right along with all the commentators, or we can simply believe the words before us, as to who the principles of this parable are. Many commentators speculate that the rich man represents the Jews who rejected Christ, and Lazarus represents the Gentiles who accepted Him. That is a very good way of understanding the “was” part of these words of our Lord, but until we can see how the words of this and every other parable are to be presently applied in our own lives, we do not even know a Christ who “is alive now, and who was dead, and who is alive forevermore.” When we do become acquainted with that Christ, then we will know that His words will never pass away and that we are to live by every one of those living and lasting words.

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

Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation [reading these words which ‘word’ does “not pass away”] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

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

When the import of those words sinks into our spirits, then we will begin to see that all the parables with all of their principles are all within each of us and are to be so understood. “Man shall live by every word…” of the parables which are all concerned with “the mysteries of the kingdom of God.” Where is that kingdom? It is, at this time, within each and every man who is given eyes to see and ears to hear the sayings of the prophecy of God’s Word.

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.

The kingdom of God is within those who are given eyes to see and ears to hear the fact that the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual with spiritual.

1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

The holy spirit compares “spiritual things with spiritual…” that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God.” What has been given to us? Have we been given blessings without trials? No, absolutely not! We certainly have been blessed above all men, but in what way? What is it we are given at this time? Here are but a few of the blessings given to those who are called to be 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. 

Which means this:

Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

That is the spiritual significance of Lazarus being despised for his poverty and his sores.

Luk 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luk 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 

Who is the rich man?

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

“All things” include both Lazarus and the rich man. We are, at our appointed time, both of these men, and we are all first the rich man. According to these verses all of God’s apostles are ours. But so is death ours. As Job asks:

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

That is the point of Paul’s statement that “all things are yours, whether life or death or things present or things to come.” In other words we will “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

What does all of that have to do with this parable of Lazarus and the rich man? It tells us that we all are that rich man who thinks of himself as rich and increased with goods and having need of nothing, when in reality we are poor and wretched and miserable and blind and naked and in need of buying of God gold tried in the fire. “He that hath ears, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.”

Why is Lazarus so poor that the dogs lick his sores? Why does he die to be carried away to Abraham’s bosom? It is because he represents those who are despised of this world; he represents those who are rich in faith:

Luk 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 

Heb 11:36 And others had trial of [cruel] mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
Heb 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy) they wandered in deserts, and [in] mountains, and [in] dens and caves of the earth.

That is what “the dogs came and licked his sores” means. It simply means that Lazarus was “hated of all men.”

What about these verses:

Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23 And in hell [hades; the grave] he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 

We have written much and have demonstrated beyond doubt that the word ‘fire’ symbolizes trials, chastening and scourging in scripture. This parable is not an exception to that rule. Read What Is The Fire of The Lake of Fire? on iswasandwillbe.com.

Then what is “Abraham’s bosom, and what does “in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torments…” mean? If there is anything about this parable that is undeniably a parable, it is this phrase “Abraham’s bosom.” Abraham’s literal bosom is no bigger than yours or mine, but when we are given eyes to see that “those who are in Christ are Abraham’s seed” then we know where Abraham’s bosom is. Abraham’s bosom is “in Christ”, and being in “Abraham’s bosom” is to be “asleep in Christ” or “dying daily” in Christ. This beggar represents those who die in Christ, who, without a resurrection, would have perished because they are now physically dead:

1Co 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 

“Abraham’s bosom”

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

Why does Christ say that “in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom?”

The Greek word translated ‘hell’ here is not gehenna, but rather it is hades. While gehenna is associated with the concept of fire, hades is simply the grave. So Christ is telling these Pharisees that the rich man lifted up his eyes, being in torments, while he was in hades, the grave. What are the actual conditions of a body in the grave?

Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Ecc 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Mat 9:24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

Joh 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Joh 11:12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Joh 11:13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Joh 11:14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

1Co 15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 

Christ said that another Lazarus was “asleep” when he was dead, and He also said that the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was asleep when she had actually died. Christ went so far as to say that those who are alive are the ones who are actually dead:

Luk 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

Mat 9:24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

Joh 11:11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
Joh 11:12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
Joh 11:13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
Joh 11:14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 

Christ certainly did not teach that dead people burn in hell the moment they die. When Christ said “in hell he lifted up his eyes being in torments”, He is referring, in parable, to the spiritual condition of those who will be resurrected and then be cast into a symbolic lake of fire, which will symbolically burn out all of the wood, hay and stubble in the lives of all who are not in the “blessed and holy first resurrection.”

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

It hurts to be judged now, and it will hurt then. Both are referred to in scripture as “fire.” Here is the fire of the present judgment:

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

This is the day of judgment for God’s elect who will be in that blessed and holy first resurrection. It is a “fiery trial that will burn out all the wood, hay and stubble, and all the tares that are growing with the wheat within us.

Here is the day of judgment for all others. Here is the answer to Peter’s question, “Where will the ungodly and sinner appear?”

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.

I think you know that “the dead know not anything.” I think you know that those who die in Christ are said to be “asleep in Christ.” I hope this helps you to see that the fire which the rich man experienced in Christ’s parable is this same symbolic fire we find throughout God’s word. It is the tormenting fire of God’s Word which “devours the wood” in us all:

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

Just as it was with Joseph’s brothers, their torment lead to their salvation, and that is exactly what we are told happens to those who are burned up by the Word of God in the mouths of His servants.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 

The rich man within us suffers loss, but he is still “saved by fire.” It is a principle which is at work in us all. The only way any of us find our lives is if we first lose our lives.

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

What are we to make of the fact that the rich man had “five brothers?” The number five throughout scripture denotes grace and faith. David used only one stone to kill Goliath, but he picked up five stones out of the brook.

1Sa 17:40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling [was] in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

Joseph had eleven brothers, but he presented only five of them to Pharaoh, as representing the salvation of all of his brothers.

Gen 47:2 And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. 

Mat 16:9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

The productive servant was given five talents:

Mat 25:15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

The rich man’s five brothers represent Joseph’s brothers, who represent all of us when we have sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver, and later we are all guilty of selling Christ for thirty pieces of silver and crucifying Him.

Until we see ourselves as Peter, denying our Lord with an oath; until we see ourselves as the apostle Paul, as “chief of sinners,” we will never fully realize that we are both the rich man, and then we are Lazarus. We are first the self-righteous Pharisee, and then we are the despised publican. We are first the self-righteous Jews who want to stone the woman caught in adultery, and then we can see ourselves as having been that woman. We are first the elder son who hates his prodigal brother, then we can see that we have also been the prodigal son. We must see the tares growing in us until the harvest before Christ will send His laborers to “gather the tares into bundles to be burned first,” then He will gather His wheat into His barn. So until we see the rich man within us first, we will never understand this parable of Lazarus and the rich man as a parable of the mysteries of the kingdom of God within us.

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 

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.

I hope this helps you to see that the kingdom of God is within you, and this, and all of Christ’s parables, were designed to hide the mysteries of that kingdom from the multitudes who came to Christ at that time and who are coming to Christ at this time. I hope this helps you to understand the depth of the truth of these words of our Lord:

Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation [Reading these words] shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 

“All these things” includes this parable of Lazarus and the rich man being lived out in our lives.

Your brother in Christ, Mike

We will stop the recording here, and open [the study] up for discussion.