Rev 14:14-20 Part 3, The Angel Thrust In His Sickle Into The Earth

[Study Aired February 28, 2025]

Rev 14:14  And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
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.
Rev 14:16  And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
Rev 14:17  And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:18  And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
Rev 14:19  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Rev 14:20  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

We paused our last study while in the midst of demonstrating that the angels who Christ said He would send to reap the earth are, in the final analysis, those who are given to have a part in the blessed and holy first resurrection. It is the Lord’s elect firstfruits who are called ‘angels’ in the book of Revelation. These ‘angels’ themselves tell us that they are our “fellow servants and those who keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book”. In other words these angels which show us these things are the Lord’s 144,000 elect who will rule with Him a thousand years before judging another class of angels in the lake of fire. Here are the verses with which we closed our last study:

Mat 13:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil [via his ministers with two horns like a Lamb, but speaking as a dragon]; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him [the angel]. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 21:17  And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

The angels to the seven churches are obviously those Godly men who the Lord sends to minister to His church. They are also the “seven angels who have the seven last plagues and who twice tell us that they are our our brothers…”

We have demonstrated with many scriptures that “God dwells in you”, that He “dwells in the heavens”, and “He dwells in His people”, all signifying us as His resting place and His temple:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Psa 103:19  The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

Psa 115:3  But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

Psa 123:1 <A Song of degrees.> Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

Psa 132:13  For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Psa 132:14  This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

“God dwells in you… God dwells in the heavens” which Christ tells us is within us. God must perform the miracle of blinding our spiritual eyes to keep us from seeing that the heavens in which He dwells are within His people.

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.

This angel that “gathers the vine of the earth” with the very same sharp sickle that Christ uses is Christ’s Christ. We are His team and His team is also known as “the Lord and His Christ”,

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

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.

One of Christ’s many titles is “the mighty God”.

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

And so once again we see this same team which will “harvest the clusters of the earth”, demonstrating the strength and kingdom of ‘our God and His Christ’ in this verse:

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

So “the Son of Man” sends three angels to harvest us, as His firstfruits first (Rev 14: 6-13), and He “torments [us] with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb”, and we are told what all of the messages of these three angels and our judgment in fire and brimstone is:

Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

The wrath of God judges us and produces “the patience of the saints… and the faith of Jesus”. This is the same wrath of God, which we will later be referred to as “the seven last plagues” of the seven angels of Rev 15:1 which “fill up the wrath of God”.

‘The vision of Revelation 7 and the vision of Revelation 14, as we have demonstrated, is one.’ (Gen 41):

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Gen 41:25  And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Both chapters reveal the two separate judgments Christ spoke of in:

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920 krisis: judgment].

The first judgment by the first three angels which produces the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus signifies the judgment of the 144,000 firstfruits unto God and the Lamb who will rule with Him over the nations of this world for 1,000 years, and who will continue to “judge angels” in the lake of fire. That second judgment is the great white throne judgement, signified by “her grapes are fully ripe”. While this is not an overt statement it is a signified statement that this is the final harvest of the earth because any farmer who has grapes on his farm knows that the very last thing to ripen are grapes.

The visions of Revelation 7 and Revelation 14 are one vision which is concerned with two resurrections. There are only two resurrections mentioned in scripture and those two resurrections are separated by a symbolic “thousand years”. “The vision is one” does not mean that it all happens at the same time. There is an order in which the one vision must take place, and in the case of the story of Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dream, the seven good and fat years must necessarily precede the seven bad and lean years. In the case of these two chapters dealing with the same two judgments, the “blessed and holy first resurrection” necessarily precedes the great white throne judgment by a thousand years plus a “short season” of rebellion against “the camp of the saints”.

The dragon is “that old serpent called the devil, and Satan”, and while our old man rules in our lives we are all first his children and his angels who wage war against our Lord, as the inward armies of the carnal mind of our old man. This is called “war in the heavens” (Rev 12:7) where, as the children of “our father the devil”, we withstand “the Son of Man” when He comes to harvest us and to separate the Truths of His Word in us, from all the lying false doctrine and ‘tares’ of Babylon which are first within us. This has all been revealed to us earlier in chapter 12:

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

In the process of this war, our old man is tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.  This torment is the process of our judgment which is signified by the first three angels of Revelation 14 which distinguishes our judgment from that of the second three angels who are gathering the clusters of grapes. It is the fact that ‘grapes’ are not mentioned in the judgment of the first three angels and the fact that this verse does not appear in the judgment of the second three angels which makes clear that these are two separate judgments. Here is what is missing in the second judgment:

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

“The dead in Christ” are not mentioned in this second judgment of three angels. There is no mention of “the patience of the saints… they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus”. The fact that this is all “without the city” (Rev 14:20) tells us that this all, both spiritually and dispensationally, takes place outside the New Jerusalem which ‘New Jerusalem’ signifies the Lord’s firstfruit elect.

The city of our God, and the temple of our God is in the kingdom of our God, and the “salvation, strength, and kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ” (Rev 12:10) cannot begin to be entered into until the seven plagues of the seven angels begin to be fulfilled within us. This “hour of the judgment of our God” upon all the sins of our flesh accompanies the displacing of the lies of Babylon within us. That time of struggle which we all experience as we struggle to see through those lies is signified by “the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he shall begin to sound” (Rev 10:7).

What is the Biblical significance of 1600 furlongs? 16 is two times 8. Two is the number which signifies the witness we bear for our Lord while in these vessels of clay, as well as the witness we bear as we judge all those who are cast into the lake of fire. “The 8th is of the seven” signifies the beast that “is not and yet is within each of us [“I am crudified with Christ nevertheless I live”, Gal 2:20]. This eighth beast “goes into perdition” while being the seventh beast and even though he is becoming a new man, he is still in a vessel of clay, or flesh, which cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and must therefore “go into perdition”.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure [“Jesus Christ”, vrs 6] in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Rev 17:11  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Here is what ‘was and is not’ means:

Rom 7:9  For I was alive [thought at that time that I was alive] without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

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

Here now is how this second judgment of the second three angels concludes:

Rev 14:20  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

But what does this number is 1600 signify? 1600 is 2 times 8 times 100, and 100 is a multiple of 10, which signifies the perfection and full blossom of the self-righteous corruption in our flesh. The number 10 signifies the perfection of corruptible flesh which cannot inherit the kingdom of God, even if it is the flesh of Jesus Christ.

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/numbers_ten/

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

Here now are these same verses of Rev 14:14-20, repeated in Rev 19:

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; [He has spent the past thousand years ruling ‘the kingdoms of this world’, Rev 11:15] and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. [This is the Son of Man with the sharp sickle and a golden crown upon His head]
Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. [ This is “My blood in the New Testament”, Luk 22:20 and 1Co 11:25. This ‘blood that comes to the horses bridle’ in this ‘grape harvest’ signifies the final harvest at the great white throne judgment]
Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. [these ‘armies… clothed in white linen” are the Lord’s Christ, who He sends to reap ‘the clusters of the earth’s grapes’, the last crop to ripen, and places them in ‘the winepress of His wrath’]
Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God [the exact same “winepress of the wrath of God” of Rev 14:19].

This ‘sharp sword’ is signified as “a sharp sickle with which to harvest the earth in the great white throne judgment”, just as He is using His Word to reap us in “this present time”, [Rom 8:18]. The ‘sharp sword’, the ‘sharp sickle’, and the tormenting fire of both judgments is the Word of God, which will judge “every man” (1Co 3:13-15):

Rev 19:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev 19:17  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;[This is not “the marriage supper of The Lamb” mentioned in the first part of this 19^th chapter. This is the last gasp of dying flesh at ‘the battle of Armegeddon’, ‘when the thousand years of being ruled with a rod of iron are expired’, Rev 20:7]
Rev 19:18  That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. [the same “all men” of Rev 13, who “receive the mark, name, number and image of the beast”]
Rev 19:19  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive [as spirits] into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Rev 19:21  And the remnant were slain with the sword [or “sharp sickle”] of him that sat upon the horse, which sword [or sharp sickle] proceeded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.  

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 works of all men are burned and all men are saved by “fire and brimstone”. It is the same fire in both the judgment of this present time and the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death. The fire of the first judgment is referred to simply as fire in 1Co 3:13-15, or it is called “fiery trials”, in 1Pe 4:12. It is never referred to as “the lake of fire” which does not appear until after the thousand year rule and after the “short season” of rebellion which immediately follows the thousand year reign of Christ and His elect.

Summary:

We have seen that our end is better than our beginning, and our death is better than our birth. We also saw that being “dead in Christ” is a spiritual statement concerning the spiritual condition of those who die in Christ in this present time. Dying to “life in this world” and living our new life as a “living sacrifice unto God”, are part of our judgment in this present time (Rom 8:18). We have seen that those who are being judged in this present time are signified by the 144,000 who will be raised up in the first “resurrection to life” at the beginning of the thousand year reign, as contrasted to those who will be raised up in the resurrection of the great white throne judgment after the thousand year reign of Christ and His Christ.

We have seen that the two groups of three angels in Revelation 14 signify the two resurrections of Revelation 7. The first being “the resurrection of life” of the 144,000, and the second and last resurrection being “the resurrection of judgment” at the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death (Rev 20:11-15).

We have seen that the first group of three angels in this 14^th chapter are those who endure the fire and brimstone of the Lord’s Word in this present time and who have been given the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus and are blessed in their death in this present time:

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them [“the resurrection of life”, Joh 5:27-29).

We have seen that “the dead which die in the Lord” are those who are granted to have a part in the ‘blessed and holy first resurrection” which ‘first resurrection’ transpires at the beginning of the thousand year reign.

We have also seen that the judgment of the second three angels is the great white throne judgment which concerns the judgment of all who were not given to have a part in the blessed and holy first resurrection.

Rev 14:14  And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud [one] sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
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.
Rev 14:16  And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

The earth is not reaped by the first three angels of the first part of this 14^th chapter. Those reaped by those first three angels are those who have the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus. Those who have “the patience of the saints… keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” are the 144,000 “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” as contrasted with “the clusters of the earth’s… grape” harvest.

But we have also seen that the Son of Man, who is Christ, “comes on a cloud to reap the clusters of the earth’s vine” in the judgment of the second group of three angels. There is no mention of the preaching of the gospel nor “the patience of the saints”, nor “the faith of Jesus”. Instead the first two angels of this second set second judgment “come out of the temple in heaven”, and the third angel comes out of the altar. We know that the temple and the altar both signify those in whom Christ dwells in this present time. ‘The temple and the altar’ signify those in this present time who repent of their sins and are granted to have a part in that blessed and holy first resurrection:

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. [Those who rule with Christ for 1,000 years are those who come up in “the resurrection of life”, Joh 5:27-29]
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 is through those who are given to have a part in this first resurrection, “our Lord’s Christ”, that Christ will ‘gather the clusters of the earth’s grapes”, the very last crop which ripens, with the same sharp sickle, which is nothing less than the “sharp two edged sword… which is the fiery… Word of God”.

Rev 14:17  And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:18  And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

We have seen that the “winepress of the wrath of God” of these verses, is the same “wrath of God” contained in the seven plagues of the seven angels which must be fulfilled in every man who would enter into the temple of God in heaven (Rev 15:1 and 8).

Rev 14:19  And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

Finally we saw that the 1600 furlongs of blood signifies the blood of Christ which has been shed by every person who ever lived. 2 times 8 times signifies the witness of our new man against our old man. Multiplying that witness against our old man by 100, signifies the perdition of our flesh, and it signifies the destruction of all flesh.

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?s=the+number+eight

The number 8 symbolizes our new man, who, even though “we have Christ in us as “this earthen vessel”, still must be “saved… by fire” as our old man’s iniquities are burned out of us.

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.

“Earthen vessels” are signified by the number ten and its multiple of ten times ten or 100. ‘Earthen vessels’ signify our dying corruptible bodies of flesh and blood which “cannot inherit the kingdom of God” and must “go into perdition”. So, 2x8x100 = 1600 furlongs.

Rev 14:20  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

We will end this study by pointing out that just as the two groups in chapter seven have much in common, they both come up through great tribulation and wash their robes white in the blood of the Lamb, yet they also differ in that the first group in chapter 7 is numbered and the second group is not numbered. The first group is judged in this present time and have the patience and faith of the saints, keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. The first and the second group are both judged by the ‘fire and brimstone… wrath of God’. It is only the first group who are being judged in this present time, and who ‘have the patience of the saints, keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus’. These words are not used to describe the second group being judged by the second group of three angels.

The first group judged by three angels are called “the firstfruits unto God and the lamb” while the second group judged by three angels are called ‘the clusters of the grapes of the earth” which ‘grapes’ as any farmer knows well are anything but ‘firstfruits’ and are instead the very last thing on the farm to ripen and to be harvested.

In our next study, Lord willing, we will discover the meaning of the sea of glass mingled with fire, and we will discover what the significance is of getting the victory over the beast, his image, his mark, and the number of his name. We will also discover the Biblical significance of “having the harps of God”. Most importantly we will see the connection between the wrath of God, and the “manifest tokens of His judgment” (2Th 1:15)

2Th 1:4  So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
2Th 1:5  Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

Here are the verses for our next study:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, [and] over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
Rev 15:3  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous [are] thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true [are] thy ways, thou King of saints.
Rev 15:4  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for [thou] only [art] holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest

]]> https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/pro-101-5-he-that-gathereth-in-summer-is-a-wise-son/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pro-101-5-he-that-gathereth-in-summer-is-a-wise-son Thu, 30 Jan 2025 05:49:11 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=31939 Study Audio Download

Pro 10:1-5 “He that Gathereth in Summer is a Wise Son”

[Study Aired Jan 30, 2025]

In our last study of chapter nine of Proverbs, we looked at the contrasts being drawn between Babylon and the bride of Christ. There are two woman represented in the church in the wilderness, Babylon the mother of harlots and all her daughters (churches in the wilderness), and the elect bride of Christ (2Jn 1:1) who is called out of Babylon or the wilderness to become the manchild of God (Rev 12:5-17).

2Jn 1:1 The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

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

[this bringing forth of a manchild, happens in the wilderness, where God’s elect are declared from the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4), and not yet aware of this holy calling that has us caught up to his throne, raised in heavenly places (Eph 2:6)]

Chapter ten of Proverbs shows the contrast between the two woman in the wilderness (churches) in regard to the spiritual fruit that is borne through God’s first fruits, (or Sara the wife of Abraham who typifies the free woman who has been given dominion over sin and is going onto maturity by God’s grace) (Gal 4:26-31), as opposed to the bondage of Hagar who is the bondservant, still in bondage to sin.

Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. [Many more doctrine, the whole stay of bread and water are hers as opposed to Babylon’s starvation of truth (Isa 3:1)]
Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.(the bondwoman has no stay of bread or water, or garment of righteousness, Jud 1:12, Mat 22:12)

These proverbs of chapter ten show us the liberty that God grants His people, revealed by the fruit that they bring forth in their lives, and contrasts that fruit with the bondage of our past, or current struggles that God will take us through as we recognize those things that we need to repent of (Rom 2:4).

The life of Sara who represents the elect church, reminds us in type and shadow of the good fruit that God had determined to bring forth through the “elect lady” from the foundation of the world, good fruit that is contrasted with bad fruit as seen in Proverbs chapter ten, “And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, (Rev 1:3) and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred” (Mar 4:20).

Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead (Rom 6:11), when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:

[typifying the life of Christ in each of us (Abraham) and the church (Sara) as a whole.]

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

(The church typified by Sara, is given power to bring forth the manchild and are witnesses of these things to all the world (Rev 11:3)). Then the next few verses describe the blessing that is given to those who are represented by Sara (Heb 11:12-20).

1Pe 3:6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

(The church, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ is to obey her head symbolized by Abraham who is a type of Christ)

Pro 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

Solomon was a wise son of his father David who typifies Christ, so in this instance Solomon typifies the elect of God who are wise and obedient sons of Christ (Jas 1:5-6, Pro 25:12, 1Pe 3:6).

Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Pro 25:12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

1Pe 3:6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

We are foolish sons when we don’t bear the burden of others in the body of Christ (Gal 6:2) and that selfishness is “the heaviness^H8424 of his mother” (Psa 119:28) who represents the church. We are nothing without Christ, but with Christ we can bear each other’s burdens, strengthening one another through our obedience to Christ and his words (1Co 14:3). If we think ourselves to be something, then we will be of no value to the body of Christ, deceiving ourselves for not knowing and believing these verses: (Gal 6:2-3, Php 2:12-13).

Psa 119:28 My soul melteth for heaviness^H8424: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Gal 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

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

Pro 10:2 Treasures^H214 of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness^H6666 delivereth from death.

This proverb reminds us that what our carnal man considers profitable is really just smoke and mirrors, or dung as Paul said in comparison to the truth (Php 3:8), which is the righteousness of God that can deliver us from death (Pro 14:12, Pro 16:25), if we continue in it, “but righteousness delivereth from death” (Joh 8:31-32), Psa 88:12, Col 3:1-2, Luk 12:15-21).

“Treasures” H214 ‘ôtsâr o-tsaw’
Strongs: From H686; a depository: – armory, cellar, garner, store(-house), treasure (-house) (-y).
BDB: treasure, storehouse (Luk 12:15-21)
Total KJV Occurrences: 79

“Righteousness” H6666 tsedâqâh tsed-aw-kaw’
From H6663; rightness (abstractly), subjectively (rectitude), objectively (justice), morally (virtue) or figuratively (prosperity): – justice, moderately, right (-eous) (act, -ly, -ness). (Luk 12:15-21)

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,

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

Psa 88:12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?[Pro 10:2]

Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Luk 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Luk 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Luk 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Luk 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
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.
Luk 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Pro 10:3 The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance^H1942 of the wicked.

“substance” H1942 havvâh hav-vaw’ 
Strongs: From H1933 (in the sense of eagerly coveting and rushing upon; by implication of falling); desire; also ruin: – calamity, iniquity, mischief, mischievous (thing), naughtiness, naughty, noisome, perverse thing, substance, very wickedness; 
BDB: desire (in bad sense); chasm (figuratively of destruction); engulfing ruin, destruction, calamity (Luk 16:26)

Yes, even that which I thought I had in my self-righteous wicked state in Babylon was taken away from me, “but he casteth away the substance of the wicked” (Mat 13:12 ) for a season, but ultimately, “The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish”, and if God is working with us in this age as the manchild, He will restore us through a process that takes a lifetime of overcoming (Luk 15:17-21, Luk 13:32, 1Jn 2:15-16).

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.

Luk 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! (“but whosoever hath not”)
Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Luk 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. [Pro 10:2]
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Pro 10:4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

This is not talking about building bigger barns (Luk 12:18-24), but about labouring in the word, and fighting a good fight of faith and knowing that our labours are not in vain in the Lord, as God will provide what we need in this life if we seek the kingdom of God first and his righteousness (Mat 6:33-34). God will give us the idol of our hearts if we lustfully pursue the smooth things (Isa 30:10), and that which is temporal and passing (1Ti 6:1-12, Heb 13:5-6), and we will rob ourselves of the outstanding recompence of the reward that God’s elect are called to have respect for, unless the Lord gives us victory over the desire for the immediate pottage (Gen 25:32-34) that Esau who represents our flesh lusted after (Heb 11:26). If we are God’s people this slothfulness that leads to spiritual perdition will be burnt out of us (1Ti 6:9, 1Ti 6:12, Heb 6:12).

Luk 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
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.
Luk 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Luk 12:22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
Luk 12:23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Luk 12:24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

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 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Pro 10:5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

We are still talking about spiritual diligence which will result in a great reward, and this proverb reminds us that the one who sleepeth in harvest (Jer 8:20) are the foolish virgins, because the wise were given that extra oil before the end of the day (Mat 25:3-4) [the wise by God’s decree; the ‘wise son that gathers in the summer’ (Luk 21:29-36)].

Jer 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. (the foolish son who sleeps in harvest)

Mat 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
Luk 21:30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Luk 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
Luk 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

While we all “slumber and sleep”, it is the extra oil that sees the wise virgins ready to enter in (Mat 25:5-10). What we are seeking and gathering with the diligent hand spoken of in (Pro 10:4) is the kingdom of God (Heb 11:14, Luk 17:21), with an expectation that we will be rewarded for doing that, as we’re dragged to Christ (Mat 6:33, Pro 12:24, Heb 11:6, Joh 6:44).

Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Pro 12:24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

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

God is showing us through this verse (Pro 10:5) that we all slumbered and slept, and are spiritually blind and only able to be awoken by the faith of Christ, a faith that must be tried in the fire (Eph 2:8). God alone has determined of those two groups that slumbered and slept, which will fall away and which will be granted that extra oil that is produced through fiery trials in the day of the Lord (Heb 6:4, Rev 3:18-19, Heb 12:6, 2Pe 3:10). These two characters being discussed in this (Pro 10:5), reveals that God’s diligence that is formed in the elect has great dividends, “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame“, but we must never forget that we were the son that caused shame, and only because of God’s mercy and forgiveness could we become “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son“

Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. [This is happening within and without]

We pray that we can be those who “must work the works of him that sent me” and accomplish this through Christ in the summer, “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son” and not on the Sabbath when no work is being accomplished (Joh 9:4, Mat 24:20).

Joh 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

The Book of Joel – Chapter 3:7 – 16

[Study Aired October 12^th 24]

We left last week’s Study hanging on the Lord’s question in Joel 3:4, “Will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompence me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head”?

Christ, the Lord of the Old Covenant, confronted Israel for their Sodom, Greco-Tyrian-Epicurean pursuit of neighbouring ideologies and doctrines that promised endless pleasure without pain instead of embracing the eternal life offered by Christ’s word. Of course, we know in hindsight that the yet-to-come enigmatic holy spirit and Christ’s faith would conclusively solve that sorry condition.

“Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious scepticism and a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism, and its main opponent later became Stoicism. It is a form of hedonism insofar as it declares pleasure to be its sole intrinsic goal. However, the concept that the absence of pain and fear constitutes the greatest pleasure, and its advocacy of a simple life, make it very different from hedonism as colloquially understood.

Hedonism refers to the prioritisation of pleasure in one’s lifestyle, actions, or thoughts. The term can include a number of theories or practices across philosophy, art, and psychology, encompassing both sensory pleasure and more intellectual or personal pursuits, but can also be used in everyday parlance as a pejorative for the egoistic pursuit of short-term gratification at the expense of others.” – Wikipedia.

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

And so, God rhetorically demands of Israel and us how our Epicurean doctrines of substitutionary death that today’s Babylonian Christians likewise subscribe to will advance us when Israel, ever since being in Egypt, failed miserably while pursuing those very same Epicurian lusts!?

The Israelites entered the promised land under Joshua forty years later, in 1406 BC. The northern tribes called Israel, were deported by the Assyrians in 721 BC . The southern tribes, called Judah, were exiled by the Babylonians; the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and left it desolate in 586 BC. Apparently, and from that account, Israel resided in the Promise Land for 820 years. The number 8 + 2 classically for Israel represents judgement and is the process of going through the eight to become circumcised of the spirit and the new beginnings, the New Man in Christ’s commands and not in our fabled Epicurian Hedonistic ways focusing on our will rather than Christ’s.

“And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition” – Rev 17:11 . That is us, the Beast, sitting on God’s throne claiming unwittingly and consciously that we are God! We thus go into perdition, and it is the best thing that could happen to us. We are not perfected in the flesh; we are to “die daily” (1Co 15:31).

The following verses, outwardly to the non-spiritual man, don’t sound too Epicurian-Hedonistic to me, promising an easy life without chastisement.

1Co 15:19  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
1Co 15:29  Else what shall they do which are baptised for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptised for the dead?
1Co 15:30  And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? 
1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Of course, Israel and Judah’s excile potently represents our spiritual progression from our Old Man to the New Man in Christ. Hence, our Lord begins to answer his question where he charges us of selling our birthright to Greco/Sodom-like sensualities.

Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 
Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 
Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Significations:

Joe 3:7  Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head: 

The obvious question that springs to mind is, who is the “them” in Joel 3:7? Remember the shocking realisation that scriptures are overwhelmingly for the Bride of Christ alone and not for greater Israel in the north of her inheritance. Consequently, in verse 6, the scripture identifies the “them” as greater Israel whom the Priests of God represented by “Judah and the children of Jerusalem“ in the south, sold to their enemies, the Assyrians! It is the Priests of God in Judah and Jerusalem who have dealt treacherously with her sisters in the north. Because the Priests pillaged the Lord of his silver and gold and sexually/spiritually perverted the Lord’s word by not righteously judging Israel in the north, Israel was exiled to Assyria. The Lord’s act of “raising them [Greater Israel] out of the place whither ye have sold them [to Grecian/Epicurean idologies], and will return your recompence upon your own head” means that a remnant will return “recompence” upon the Priest’s heads because they used the Lord’s power and commandments for their lusted Epicurian wealth that pleased the nation far more than her Lord’s word. Consequently, the “recompense”, ‘the bountiful dealing, the fulness of God’s wrath’ is upon the Priests of God, even to this day with his Bride, which she is learning to receive joyously (Luke 8:13-15).

A shocking outward parallel is increasingly happening this very day since the U.S. Federal Reserve in the early 1900s was privately confiscated by the same symbolic Jews underhandedly claiming the God of the Old Covenant’s name via the British Empire, to which the USA and the West remain subservient ~ “She” is becoming increasingly “hated” and by all accounts it seems it won’t be long before she is “burnt with fire” (Rev 17:6-16).

It is the treacherous Priests of Judah, represented as Jerusalem, who sold themselves to every Grecian doctrine by turning a blind eye to greater Israel’s sins, thus corrupting and leavening the entire nation. The Priests took their Lord’s silver and gold into ‘their temples’ and fastened their idols to their hearts, which condemned the entire nation of Israel to exile. Hence, the Lord returns the Priest’s “recompense” H1576 – meaning, ‘dealing, benefit’ upon themselves. For not faithfully teaching the Lord’s commandments, Joel 3:8 says that all of Israel’s coming exile is on Judah and Jerusalem’s heads that we see today is upon our heads of the Bride, the Heavenly Jerusalem, anytime we similarly steal the Lord’s silver and gold.

Joe 3:8  And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it. 

It is our Lord, via his created lying servant, Satan (Job 26:13), whom he gives power to our former Babylonian selves, the crooked priests we were, to sell our children to Jewish traditions in Babylonian Christianity. Our children and anyone who suffered to hear our false rhetoric twisting our Lord’s silver and gold into idols of our hearts they sequentially sold to the Christian world of greasy grace, the Sabeans, in every corner of the Earth collectively called Babylon the Great (Rev 17:5).

Definition: Sabeans H7615 = drunkard or he who is coming 1. the people of the nation of Sheba. H7614 – Sheba = seven or an oath n pr m 1. son of Joktan and a descendant of Seth 2. son of Raamah, grandson of Cush, and a descendant of Ham 3. son of Jokshan, the son of Abraham by Keturah n pr loc 

4. a nation in southern Arabia.

Any scriptural reference to Sheba overwhelming represents the ‘complete’ (Number 7) satiation of wealth attained through the trade of the world’s rich material wealth as represented by Tyre in all of Ezekiel 27:1-36 mirroring the fullness of our spiritual hedonistic ways.

Eze 27:21-27  Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.
Eze 27:22  The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold. 
Eze 27:23  Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.
Eze 27:24  These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.
Eze 27:25  The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas. 
Eze 27:26  Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
Eze 27:27  Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.

Those verses mirror us spiritually by Babylon the Great, the Great Whore in Revelations 18:1-24 and are highly recommended to read.

Continuing…

Joe 3:9  Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: 

It is the Priests of God today, his Elect, who prepare for war to proclaim the seven plagues and vials of God’s wrath upon themselves, as seen in Revelations chapters 15 and 16. They came into the Temple, the very Bride of Christ herself, to give and receive within herself the meanings of these plagues and vials.

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

For a thorough understanding of Revelations, please, as you are spiritually led, begin in Revelations chapter 1 in the following link with access to all other studies in Revelations:

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/revelation-11-2-read-hear-and-keep-these-words/

These events in the chapters of Revelation 15-16 about Babylon the Great and the Great Whore parallel what Joel 3:10 begins to prefigure with the 1,000-year rule under the ‘rod of iron’. Since Isaiah 2 speaks about the ‘last days’ when the ‘mountain of the Lord is established’, it is speaking about the Resurrection to Judgement, the Lake of Fire, when the entire world will be saved.

Isa 2:4  And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

However, the 1,000-year rule is a type and shadow of the Resurrection to Judgement, where there will not be any more war physically or spiritually since nobody is converted or judged but ruled unyieldingly, as does a spiritually inflexible rod of iron. Yet, at the end of the One Thousand Year rule under the rod of iron, Satan is released from prison, and Babylon the Great symbolised as Gog and Magog, resurfaces to make war with the Saints for the very last time ever!

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

War is a God-designed mechanism of the flesh common to highly varying degrees of ferocity in all beasts of the field and no more violently expressed than by the machinations of man’s vile evil spirit of intent. Subsequently, the purpose of war for the righteous spirit should be war equally as ferocious upon all doctrines opposing the word of God within his chosen Elect.

Joel Chapter 3 primarily points to judgement and then the Resurrection of the Elect, the First Fruits of God, and covertly then the reverse order of Resurrection and judgement for the Gog and Magog of humanity since Adam in the Lake of Fire.

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

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.

Rev 13:4 And they [Mankind, the Beasts] worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

2Pe 2:12 But these, [Mankind, the Beasts] 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;

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

For those given to see that they are but beasts in transition to being the very spiritual sons of God, they make war within and beat those guileful instruments of war opposing God’s word into ministries, bringing forth the fruit of our Lord’s Kingdom within.

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 2:4  And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isa 2:5  O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Here is a paradoxical statement opposing physical war and advancing spiritual warfare in Luke 22:35-38:

Luk 22:35  And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip [bag of food provisions], and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. 
Luk 22:36  Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse [Money, his own righteousness in decline], let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. 
Luk 22:37  For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.
Luk 22:38  And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

For the warfare of the New Covenant, we are armed with the Lord’s food and wine of his spirit, teaching and feeding us spiritual righteousness that directly corresponds to the physical warfare and symbolised ideologies represented by each instrument of war. As we well know, we now fight with the spiritual sword of the Lord’s word with every aspect of the physical mechanisms of war, spiritually.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might (Eph 4:6).
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, [practice committing to all the Lord’s commandments] to stand. 
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God:

That verse answers the incongruous statement in Luke 22:36, he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one, meaning to sell all your previously held Babylonian doctrinal lies and by the Lord’s word, sell it not and now fight fairly in spirit and truth with the sword of His word in prayerful supplications day and night (Eph 6:18).

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Eph 6:20  For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Joe 3:10  Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. 
Joe 3:11  Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. 
Joe 3:12  Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 

There is one event to all of mankind, although in his order of salvation. All of Israel, meaning Babylonian Christianity, inclusive of the embryonic Elect of God, has been in bed with the hedonistic heathen, not necessarily using physical implements of war, but their evil spiritual equivalence in our dastardly dealings with each other having twisted the Lord’s word to suit a more Epicurean and pain-free life. It all happens not in the dusty literal Valley of Jehoshaphat, full of dry bones, but in our whitewashed tombs within, heavy with the stench of decay.

Mat 23:25  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 
Mat 23:26  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 
Mat 23:27  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 
Mat 23:28  Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Mat 23:29  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Mat 23:30  And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Mat 23:31  Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 
Mat 23:32  Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Mat 23:33  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? [Age-lasting Gehenna fire].
Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 

And that “this generation” spoken of in the last verse is the Elect of God filling up behind the afflictions of Christ within themselves, the first fruits who foundationally believed in Christ.

Being at war in Christ’s spirit against our lusts of the flesh and mind is our judgement of ourselves by his commandments. It brings forth a personal harvest in each joint comprising the Bride of Christ, thus building up the Body, the Temple she is.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Consequently, and for the Bride, she is being judged today in preparation for the hope of being in the First Resurrection as her Lord’s Wife. Since she and all people are appointed to die once, the Lord’s budding wife will not suffer judgment in the Resurrection to Judgement, the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is where the heathen in Joel 3:12, meaning all of mankind since Adam is then “wakened” from their ‘sleep’ of death in the valley of Jehoshaphat to be judged.

The following verses contain a little more baffling mystery regarding the negative and spiritual aspects of spiritual warfare that land each person in his designated order of salvation.

Joe 3:13  Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
Joe 3:14  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 

The Lord’s Bride is depicted as the first of the first fruit, and Christ is that very first fruit with which she subsequently is his harvest and inheritance, and he is hers.

Jer 8:20  The [First fruit] harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we [Babylon/the world] are not saved. 
Jer 8:21  For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
Jer 8:22  Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

The Bride of Christ is reflecting upon her not being chosen by her will but by her Lord’s will. She thus looks back at her sisters, astonished at her election since she, symbolically as the five wise virgins, fully consume the balm of Gilead, her Lord’s spiritual understanding, in the way she walks in harmony with and in him. Consequently, the ‘health of the daughter of her elder sisters in Babylon’, are not in their order of being “recovered” until the Resurrection to Judgement.

Pro 3:9  Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we [the Bride] should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures [all mankind].

The main wheat harvest in Palestine was subject to the much more general and assured rainfall, spiritually meaning that its harvest is for Gog and Magog that will overflow the barns and vats of wickedness for judgement in the Lake of Fire, the “valley of decision” where every sole ever to be conceived will assuredly ‘make a decision’ to acknowledge their sins before Christ and his Christs. For Babylonian Christians, inclusive of all religions and ideologies of every man and woman, it will be a day of thick darkness and gloom since everyone’s conscience will condemn them, thus blackening their self-assumed brightness of Epicurean, Grecian and Sodom-like academia. This is represented as the Last Great Day, the Eight Day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

Joe 3:15  The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. 
Joe 3:16  The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.  

Particularly for those Jews who believe in Christ, which is Babylonian Christianity, the Book of Joel causes them immense elation since their focus is on their unconscious self-righteousness, believing that they are the Elect of God who will be saved in their fabled one and only Resurrection. Accordingly, and because of their sun, another Jesus, and the Moon, their harlot churches they will realise too late are darkened, and their multitude, being the stars of heaven as numerous as the sand of the sea, are blackened of understanding. To their horror, the Lord will appear with a great roar as he reveals the Heavenly Jerusalem in his Bride, now his Wife, coming in the heavens in great power and might.

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

(Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged [to give their imaginary “recompense”], and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.)

2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we [The Elect of God], according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

And so, if we refuse to soberly see the significance of the dry bones in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, they will become the bones of his chosen Elect alongside her elder sisters, if we turn back from progressing toward perfection in Christ and become the “very Elect” (Mat 24:24). Hence, it is impossible for the “very Elect” in any way to render Christ “recompense” (benefit, ‘bountiful fruit’) for his service to advance the Kingdom within by not following his every commandment. Ironically and most miserably, those in the Lake of Fire will render a “recompense”, meaning a harrowing acknowledgement of their sins before Christ and his Christs.

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 
Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 
Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
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 [will] bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11  And that every tongue should [will] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Lord, hurry the consummation!

Psa 89:46 How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
Psa 89:47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?
Psa 89:48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
Psa 89:49 Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?
Psa 89:50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;
Psa 89:51 Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
Psa 89:52 Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

As we mentioned in Part 1 of this study a few weeks ago, this is one of the longer Psalms, so we took advantage of some of the natural breaks within the verses as we pieced together the hope that God intends us to receive via His Word.

“Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound” can only be those of the age who have been blessed to be given the desire to read and hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein: “for the time is at hand”. The time is at hand for God’s people to be inspired, to be reproved and corrected, for instruction in righteousness, and all these other events that are at hand in the body of Christ right now!

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Psa 119:159 Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness (Joh 6:63).

This is why we are blessed today to read and hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein: because we are being ‘quickened’ or ‘saved’ by our LORD’S words according to His lovingkindness by grace through faith (1Co 15:45, Eph 2:8-9) which we’ve been granted to have in those eternal words.

Psa 119:160 Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

Psa 119:160 The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever.
Psa 119:161 Shin. Princes have persecuted me without a cause; But my heart standeth in awe of thy words. (ASV)

Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: “for the time is at hand” .

Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

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

Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.

God’s eternal reward for the saints, which is His good pleasure to give them, awaits them because they’ve come to acknowledge, by the grace and faith of God, that they cannot see without Christ, and they know they have been given the faith to forsake Egypt (the flesh and all that is in the world) through the endurance that God has granted us through Christ and his body which makes it possible for us to not be afraid of those who “kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do” of (Luk 12:4).

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.

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Another way we can look at how the world kills the body of Christ rather than just the obvious outward physical martyrdom that has occurred throughout the ages, is how the words of Christ, which are read, heard and kept in His body, have been attacked both within us and without as the Lord purifies those words via the many means which He uses, like the “wrath of the king” which we learn to not fear as we are spiritually healed and strengthened of our Lord to be able to drink the cup of His wrath. It is through our communion of suffering “Through faith he kept the passover” of Heb 11:28 that Satan is prevented from touching the first born, first fruits of Christ who Satan has always desired to destroy. It is through the righteous anger of Christ who is angry and sins not that the other king who we do fear, gives us dominion over our heavens so we don’t fear what man can do to our flesh (Rom 13:4, Mat 10:28, Luk 12:5).

Heb 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king (1Jn 4:18): for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
Heb 11:28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
Mat 20:23 He saith unto them, My cup indeed ye shall drink: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left hand, is not mine to give; but it is for them for whom it hath been prepared of my Father.

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? [Through faith he kept the passover.]

Rev 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

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. [Satan has always desired to destroy the elect (Mat 24:24, Php 3:18).]

This final part of this five-part study concludes with the subtitle “for the time is at hand” which, when we look at the cry for deliverance of which we know flesh is always in need, clearly “for the time is at hand” is a very apropos response to our fleshly weakness that must be constantly put off. It is always in our cry for deliverance that we are to be reminded “for the time is at hand”, and as we are strengthened, we are also reminded of our Lord’s faithfulness to never leave or forsake us in our time of need. Even when the world within and all the world without mocks Christ on the cross, that was all that we could do, and because our Lord did not retaliate, teaching us that through Him we can do the same thing (Mat 5:44, Mat 5:39), our confidence remains in the promises that tell us there truly is nothing that can separate us from God when He is our helper.

Psa 46:1 To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psa 46:2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Psa 46:3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

Deu 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, [nothing] shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psa 89:46 How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?

Whenever we see the words “How long, LORD?” the answer is always the same! The answer is ‘just long enough’. Imagine if it weren’t long enough, if God did not allow the world to be brought to the brink of destruction as we’re promised will happen (Mat 24:22). This pattern of intervention is the same over and over throughout God’s word and is there to give us hope, and through the storms and trials that bring us to our wits’ end, comes the perfection that God has always intended, the safe haven, the making straight that which is crooked, the new creation that is made beautiful in time and through time.

Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Ecc 3:10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
Ecc 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

That’s it – “no man can find out the work that God maketh” just like we’re not to let any man teach us, any carnal man (1Jn 2:27). But what does God say to those who are gaining dominion over that world of sin in their heart (1Jn 2:16) that blinds us to his purpose?

1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

The time is at hand for Christ’s body today to experience His wrath that burns like fire and to know that it is these fiery trials that God is using to save us through judgment and to bring clarity to our heavens so that we can know the deep things of God. This is the only way we can be established as the body of Christ (1Pe 4:12, 17).

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.

Psa 89:47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

We beseech God to remember how short our time is “for the time is at hand” and that we don’t use this vain life to save it, but rather to lose it for each other. That is why we pray “teach me to number my days and apply my heart to wisdom”.

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

Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

The wisest thing we can do is to show, out of a meek and quiet spirit, works that demonstrate that we are thinking of others first. This is the increase that we are praying for in the body of Christ that only God can grant (1Co 3:6, 1Th 3:12-13).

1Pe 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

1Th 4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
1Th 4:12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

1Pe 3:16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

1Ti 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
1Ti 1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
1Ti 1:20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Psa 89:48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

Carrying on with our theme about time, “for the time is at hand”, the psalmist asks “What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death?” which question can be answered several ways, but in every instance we will see that it is only the Lord who can deliver our souls from the grave, whether we live or die.

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

Rom 14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

Therefore our blessing and benefit is that we live and die unto the Lord even as we die daily and consider ourselves dead to sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 14:8, Joh 11:25, 1Co 15:31, Rom 6:11).

Psa 116:8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
Psa 116:9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

Psa 6:4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.
Psa 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Psa 22:20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

When we are alive in Christ, there will be thanks on our lips for the healing and the light which He gives our otherwise blind and deaf bodies, which can only bury the other blind and deaf bodies around us. There is no remembrance of God when we are the walking as the walking dead.

Luk 9:58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Luk 9:59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Luk 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

We will all see death in the sense that we die daily, and most of humanity will die with relatively very few physically alive and resurrected when Christ returns. The point therefore is not to look at the physical question of life and death but to understand how God wants us to look at physical life and death in the spiritual realm.

When we find ourselves doing this, it gives us great reason to pause [Selah], because we start to realize, as we focus in on these questions, just how fleeting this shadow of the valley of death is in which we exist for now, and more importantly how faithful our Father is to provide for us a means to be redeemed as His banished kind of first fruits.

Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life[in Christ]: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

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.

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

Psa 89:49 Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?

To answer the question “where are thy former lovingkindnesses”, we can easily go to Psa 25:1-12 and read it verbatim to give us an excellent answer that ties into the reason that we must show our works out of a meek and quiet spirit that we talked about earlier (1Pe 3:4).

Psa 25:1 A Psalm of David. Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.
Psa 25:2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.
Psa 25:3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.
Psa 25:4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
Psa 25:5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
Psa 25:6 Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.
Psa 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.
Psa 25:8 Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
Psa 25:9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
Psa 25:10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

1Pe 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

God has sworn unto David ‘in thy truth’ of this lovingkindness which was a type and shadow of His love for the church, for the little flock whose good pleasure it is for Him to give the kingdom (Luk 12:32).

Psa 89:50 Remember, Lord, the reproach^H2781 of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;

We are surrounded by the bulls of Bashan as Christ was both within and without (Psa 22:12, Luk 23:36), and so we are outnumbered, we are sore pressed on every side (2Co 4:8), but to what end? Of course it is to demonstrate that these reproaches which God allows to come upon his servant is for our growth as we are able to endure them through Christ (Php 4:13, Php 2:13).

Through Christ we bear in our bosom all the mighty people, all the world who is against us, because they cannot receive the words of life that we know are going to destroy our first man Adam little by little within, until we narrowly escape through Christ and go unto perfection on the third day.

Joh 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

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

God remembers our reproaches^H2781 (Mat 10:29), and He is the one who is causing them and allowing us to be a hit target of the adversary from time to time to help us mature and learn to not lean unto our own understanding but only on Him, to eventually and over time quench all the fiery darts of the adversary.

Mat 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Mat 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

2Co 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

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.

Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

H2781 cherpâh kher-paw
– Definition:
1. reproach, scorn
a. taunt, scorn (upon enemy)
b. reproach (resting upon condition of shame, disgrace)
c. a reproach (an object)
– Strong’s: From H2778; contumely disgrace the pudenda: – rebuke reproach (-fully) shame.
Total KJV Occurrences: 73
•rebuke, 2
Isa_25:8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Jer_15:15 O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

•reproach, 65
Gen_30:23; Gen_34:14; Jos_5:9; 1Sa_11:2; 1Sa_17:26; 1Sa_25:39; Neh_1:3; Neh_2:17; Neh_4:4; Neh_5:9; Job_19:5; Psa_15:3; Psa_22:6; Psa_31:11; Psa_39:8; Psa_44:13; Psa_69:7; Psa_69:10; Psa_69:19; Psa_69:20; Psa_71:13; Psa_78:66; Psa_79:4; Psa_79:12; Psa_89:41; Psa_89:50; Psa_109:25; Psa_119:22; Psa_119:39; Pro_6:33; Pro_18:3; Isa_4:1; Isa_30:5; Isa_51:7; Isa_54:4; Jer_6:10; Jer_20:8; Jer_23:40; Jer_24:9; Jer_29:18; Jer_31:19; Jer_42:18; Jer_44:8; Jer_44:12; Jer_49:13; Jer_51:51; Lam_3:30; Lam_3:61; Lam_5:1; Eze_5:14; Eze_5:15; Eze_16:57; Eze_21:28; Eze_22:4; Eze_36:15; Eze_36:30; Dan_9:16; Dan_11:18(2); Hos_12:14; Joe_2:17; Joe_2:19; Mic_6:16; Zep_2:8; Zep_3:18

•reproaches, 1
Psa_69:9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

•reproacheth, 1
Psa_74:22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.

•reproachfully, 1
Job_16:10

•shame, 3
2Sa_13:13; Isa_47:3; Dan_12:2

Psa 89:51 Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.

There’s no denying it, even as we are the apple of God’s eye (Zec 2:8), we are also continually in spiritual battle against a roaring lion which God created to be the very good adversary that he is (Eph 6:12, 1Pe 5:8).

The enemy reproaches “the footsteps^H6119 of thine anointed” to remind us that it is our walk, our conversation, our way of life in the Lord that is constantly under attack, and it reminds us why we must be watchmen and shepherds to one another who look well to the flock as overseers.

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel^H6119.

Eze 33:2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
Eze 33:3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Eze 33:4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
Eze 33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
Eze 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.

1Pe 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

Psa 89:52 Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

We are so blessed to have eyes and ears that see and hear and know that the the time is at hand (Mat 13:16), and so we bless the Lord and will bless Him throughout that transition period when the saints shall rule all nations under Christ and be able to share in gathering in the later harvest as God’s kind of first fruit, saviours, who will have praise and thanksgiving on their lips and say “Amen, and Amen” “for the time is at hand”.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 42 Discussion

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Isa 9:5-7 Of The Increase of His Government and Peace There Shall Be No End

Isa 9:5  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

As always we want to make the connections which the scriptures themselves make. In this case the first word of today's study connects our verses for today with last week's verses. So let's put them all together and see what we are being told:

Isa 9:2  The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Isa 9:3  Thou hast multiplied the nation, and [...] increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
Isa 9:4  For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of [the battle of] Midian.
Isa 9:5  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

That is our message with all the verses put together. What we are being told is that "great light has [been] seen [only by] the people who [have been made to know they] walked in darkness. Only upon those who 'dwell in the shadow of death has this light shined', and it has brought them great joy "according to the joy in harvest and as men rejoicing when they divide the spoil" of a great battle.  It is through this great battle, that the "yoke... the staff and the rod of [our] oppressor... has been broken" by the Lord Himself. It is broken by a spiritual battle which is typified by symbolic "burning and fuel of fire", as opposed to the "confused noise, and garments rolled in blood", which typify a physical battle of literal warriors. This great battle is capable of being waged "with burning and fuel of fire [because] unto us a child is born... and the government shall be on His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Christ has made it clear that it is of utmost importance that we realize that the light of God comes only to those who have been brought to know they are blind and in deep darkness. He makes that very clear by telling us, and the man who was born blind and whom He had healed of that blindness, these words:

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye [realized you] were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Now, through the prophet Isaiah and the apostle Paul, Christ tells all of us:

Act 26:16   ...rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;
Act 26:17  Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
Act 26:18  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power [the lies] of Satan unto [the truths of] God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

To those who have been given to realize they were born blind, Christ has multiplied His kingdom, and He increases the joy of all those who have received His kingdom within them. We are told that the joy we have in Him and in His kingdom within us is the joy that is experienced in the harvest and in taking the spoils of a great battle against a great oppressor. That oppressor is the great darkness we are given to understand we are in while we are living in and by the false doctrines of the great harlot and her many daughter harlots, who have long ago let it be known they fear and want to please men more than God.

Both 'the harvest' and 'the battle' are Biblical types of the day of our judgment and the destruction of the kingdom of our rebellious, dying man of sin, our old man:

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.
Rev 14:16  And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

Rev 16:14  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Only after "the battle of that great day" is engaged does our 'earth' (Jer 22:29) begin to be harvested.

A different kind of battle

Isa 9:5  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

"The battle of that great day of God Almighty" will be different from all other physical battles. Here is the difference in the form of the weapons of our warfare and the weapons of those who "war after the flesh":

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) ["with {spiritual} burning and fuel of {spiritual} fire"]
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Paul repeats this message in:

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" describes the type of battle which "is [not] with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but [is] with burning and fuel of fire." Ours is a spiritual battle conducted "with burning and fuel of fire". The fuel which feeds that "burning... fire" is all the "wood, hay, and stubble", which are the sinful pulls of our dying flesh, along with all the false doctrines of the "beast [which] comes up out of the earth [with] two horns like a lamb, and [speaking] as a dragon" and demanding that we worship the beast which "came up out of the sea".  The fire which consumes all of our "wood, hay and stubble" is the exact same fire with which Christ baptizes us (Mat 3:11). It is the exact same fire which is in the mouths of God's elect witnesses (Rev 11:3-5). It is also the same fire which will be in the mouths of "the righteous" whose words are the fire of the lake of fire (Isa 33:14-15). That "fire" is the word of God (Jer 5:14):

Isa 33:14  The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15  He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

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.

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

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man [Greek: anthropos - mankind]; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Speaking specifically of "every man", we are told "...he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire". The fiery word of God burns up the wood, hay and stubble of the kingdom of our old man, and through that destruction "every man... shall be saved... by fire". That explains the word "For" connecting the "battle... with burning and fuel of fire" and with our next verse. Let's keep them together so we can make that connection.

Here again is verse 5:

Isa 9:5  For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.

And here is verse 6 beginning with the connecting word, "For":

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

The word 'For' connects a battle fought "with burning and fuel of fire" to the birth of a child upon whose shoulders all government shall rest. That this is a prophecy of Christ and His doctrine is clear because "his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

So what does the coming of Christ have to do with a "battle [being waged] with burning and fuel of fire"? The coming of Christ to this earth has everything to do with a battle being waged "with burning and fuel fire" for this reason, which reason is given to us by the man who was sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of the "Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." These are the words of John the baptist describing for us how Christ will perform the work His Father sent Him to accomplish:

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

Christ tells us he came into this world for judgment, and that judgment is our baptism with the holy spirit and with fire, just as Isaiah has already informed us:

Isa 4:4  When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

"The holy spirit and... fire" are one and the same because:

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.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

It is the Word of God which baptizes all who know Christ. That is the 'fire' which will 'purge... Jerusalem'. It is the fire which is the Word of God which will cause the loss suffered by the kingdom of our old man, and in the process of that destruction that same  "fire" will save "every man" (1Co 3:13-15).

Let's take very close note of the various names given to our Lord: "...His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

"Wonderful, Counselor" tells us that Christ knows how to deal with and work with His people, and He is giving His Christ to be His own 'wonderful counsellors' by giving them to know Him and His Words:

Isa 28:27  For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
Isa 28:28  Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
Isa 28:29  This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

While we are the first to point out that "to us there is one God, the Father" (1Co 8:6), and that Christ is the first of God's creation (Rev 3:14), let  us never be guilty of denying that Christ is also "the Mighty God", as Isaiah tells us here and as Christ called Himself and as He also called us:

Joh 10:24  Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
Joh 10:25  Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
Joh 10:26  But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one.
Joh 10:31  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Joh 10:32  Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
Joh 10:33  The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh 10:35  If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
Joh 10:36  Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

Is Christ "the mighty God"?

Those are Christ's own words. He defended His sonship in the same way He defends our own sonship. "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods." So Jesus is indeed 'God', and this is how He tells us His Father wants us to think of Him:

Joh 5:22  For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23  That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

Do you want to please the Father? If indeed you want to please the Father, then "honor the Son, even as you honor the Father". Do not hesitate to call the Son "the everlasting Father", or for that matter, do not hesitate to call Christ "the Almighty". Here is what Christ told Abraham:

Gen 17:1  And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.

The prophet Baalam, who King Balak, the king of Moab, hired to curse Israel, saw "the Almighty" God:

Num 24:4  He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:

Most Christians believe that "the Lord" and "the Almighty" in the Old Testament speak of the Father instead of Christ. But is that what Christ tells us? No, it is not. This is what Christ does tell us:

Joh 1:18  No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

But didn't some in the Old Testament at least hear the voice of the Father? What is the doctrine of Christ concerning that question? This is the doctrine of Christ:

Joh 5:37  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

That is the doctrine of Christ because He knows He was the One who had spoken to and appeared to so many people in the Old Testament, including all the elders of Israel who came up out of Egypt.

Deu 5:24  And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

And that is why Christ tells us this:

Luk 10:22  All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

No one knows "who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him." Can you and I see the Father? Only if we "honor the Son" as [we] honor the Father:

Joh 14:8  Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Christ tells us plainly in Revelation that He is "the Almighty".

Rev 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

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.

Just to be completely clear, we can believe that Christ is the Lord of the Old Testament, He is the Everlasting Father, the Almighty God, and still we can confess that we believe with the apostle Paul:

1Co 8:6  But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

We can agree with this statement of Paul and also agree that Christ is "the Almighty God" because we know that Christ is the Almighty over all but the throne of His Father, as is revealed to us in the story of Joseph being made king over all Egypt. Joseph had all power over all Egypt and was superior to all in Egypt. "Only in the throne" was Pharaoh greater than Joseph.

Gen 41:38  And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
Gen 41:39  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Gen 41:40  Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

Is Christ "the Everlasting Father"

It is generally understood that Christ, as "the Son of God", is also our elder brother, since we, too, are called "the sons of God".

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

But Isaiah clearly tells us that one of Christ's names is "the Everlasting Father". So is there a second scriptural witness that calls Christ the Father of His children? It just so happens there is such a statement, in a "line upon line, and precept upon precept" manner in scripture for those who have the eyes to see it.

This is what we are told of who is our father:

Rom 4:12  And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.

Rom 4:16  Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

Then who does Abraham symbolize in these verses? There is no room for doubt because it is the same person whom Isaiah tells us is to be called "the Everlasting Father". This is who gave Abraham his faith, and this is "who is the [True] Father of us all".

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

We are even told that we, in Christ, are "counted for a generation":

Psa 22:30  A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
Psa 22:31  They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Abraham is just the type and shadow of Christ because "the law is not of faith".

Gal 3:12  And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

Christ is the true "Father of us all", and He is also "a Son... [whose] name shall be called... the Everlasting Father."

The greatness of His government over His kingdom will never end

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

It is clearly established that those who are Christ's in this age will sit with Him in His Father's throne and will rule both this world, and then afterwards they will also rule angels in the lake of fire:

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

Christ promised this honor to all His apostles:

Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

This is all repeated as a promise to "he that overcometh" in Revelation 2.

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

But there is a widely accepted misunderstanding of what Isaiah 9:7 actually teaches us. Several Christian denominations use the phrase, "Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end" to mean there is no end to the growth of His kingdom. I personally believed that doctrine while in an organization which taught that the universe was limitless for the very purpose of fulfilling that verse of scripture. The doctrine was that everyone who was saved would, in time be made a Christ over his own planet and would be sent to die for the sins of the inhabitants of his particular planet. This scenario was to be repeated over and over for all eternity, because the scriptures teach "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end".

There is one problem with this doctrine. The fact is that the Hebrew word translated as 'increase' in the KJV is marbeh^H4766, and this Hebrew word appears only one other time in the scripture, which is:

Isa 33:23  Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great^H4766 spoil divided; the lame take the prey.

This doctrine of an ever-increasing kingdom denies that there will ever be an end to "the last enemy... death", since death would necessarily continue forever if "increase of His government" means limitless or for all eternity.

'Marbeh', according the Strong's, is from the Hebrew word rabah^H7235.

H4766
מַרְבֶה
marbeh
mar-beh'
From H7235; properly increasing; as noun, greatness, or (adverbially) greatly: - great, increase.

When we look up the word 'rabah', this is what Strong's tells us:

H7235
רָבָה
râbâh
raw-baw'
A primitive root; to increase (in whatever respect): - [bring in] abundance (X -antly), + archer [by mistake for H7232], be in authority, bring up, X continue, enlarge, excel, exceeding (-ly), be full of, (be, make) great (-er, -ly), X -ness), grow up, heap, increase, be long, (be, give, have, make, use) many (a time), (any, be, give, give the, have) more (in number), (ask, be, be so, gather, over, take, yield) much (greater, more), (make to) multiply, nourish, plenty (-eous), X process [of time], sore, store, thoroughly, very.

Here is an example of how the word 'rabah' is properly translated as 'increase':

Lev 25:15  According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:
Lev 25:16  According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase [H7235, 'rabah'] the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.

Pro 28:8  He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth [H7235, 'rabah'] his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.

According to Leviticus 25, the value of the purchase of a piece of property depended upon how many years remained until the jubile. The value would be increased in proportion to the years remaining until the jubile. But it could not be increased without limit, or forever, as this false doctrine teaches.

Proverbs 28 states that our substance can be increased by usury and unjust gain, but in spite of how it may seem in today's world, unjust gain does have its limits, as we are just about to discover as a nation and as a planet. Sin and death do not go on forever. If that were the meaning of Isa 9:7, then these verses would be lies:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

So 'marbeh' can properly be translated as 'increase', but neither 'marbeh' nor 'rabah' are ever to be understood as unending increase for all eternity.

"Then cometh the end." There is an end of the aions! The day will come when they have fulfilled their preordained purpose, and they and death will come to "the end". For death to ever be destroyed and for God to ever become "all in all", the aions (eons) must come to their prophesied consummation, and the number of those "in Adam" who will be redeemed from death must be filled up, and "come [to] the end". There would be no need for a former resurrection followed by a millennial kingdom if "of the increase of His government... there shall be no end" means that death never ends and that flesh is never destroyed. There would be no need for a "short season" of the rebellion of all the nations "in the four quarters of the earth [to be] devoured [by] fire... from heaven", followed by a great white throne judgment in the redemptive lake of fire, if there were no end to the increase of His government.

A much better translation of the Hebrew word 'marbeh' would be 'greatness', instead of 'increase', and then Isa 9:7 would accord with the sum of God's Word concerning the unending greatness of His government and His peace.

Then Isa 9:7 would read:

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

His kingdom is "henceforth even for ever [Hebrew: olawm - age], not for eternity.

Lord willing, next week we will discover how that when God first begins dragging us to Himself, we do not just naturally turn to Him, as is revealed in these verses for next week's study:

Isa 9:8  The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
Isa 9:9  And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
Isa 9:10  The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
Isa 9:11  Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
Isa 9:12  The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 9:13  For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.

[The study given at the Mobile, Al conference five years ago ties in with this study (thank you, Gale!). You can reference that study here.]

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 39 Discussion

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Isa 8:11-15 He Shall Be For A Rock o​f Offence To Both The Houses ​of Israel

Isa 8:11  For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
Isa 8:12  Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
Isa 8:13  Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
Isa 8:14  And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Isa 8:15  And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

The one thing we should have seen by now is that everything done by every evil king of Israel or any of the kings of Judah is that everything any of them did, they did it simply because that was what the Lord Himself had written in their book "before the world began (Psa 139:16, Pro 16:4; Isa 63:17, Eph 1:11).

Daniel 4 and Matthew 24 tell us that Christ has been given all power in heaven and in earth and Ephesians 1:11 confirms that at this very moment He is working all that is taking place in the kingdoms of men "after the counsel of His own will".

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

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

If that is true, then we really need to cast our lot in with the man who has been given "all power... in heaven and in earth" regardless of the appearances of power and influence which appear to be in the hands of the kingdoms of men. That was what Ahaz, a type of who we just naturally are, could not do. All Ahaz or any of us can typically see are the approaching armies of Egypt on the one side and the deep Red Sea on the other side. All we just naturally see in times of crisis are the waters that are just about to sink our ship, and we naturally think the Lord has forsaken us and does not care that we are about to be submerged in the very waves which we know He controls:

Exo 14:10  And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.
Exo 14:11  And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12  Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

Ancient Israel typifies us (1Co 10:11) as do Christ's carnal apostles:

Luk 8:23  But as they sailed he [Christ] fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.
Luk 8:24  And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.

It is in these very circumstances that Ahaz, typifying each of us, was told by the Lord:

Isa 7:4  And say unto him [Ahaz], Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.

Typifying our old man, all Ahaz could see though was the threatening, stormy waves, and he had no faith in the God whom he knew had always delivered his ancestors from Pharaoh and from every oppressor who had ever oppressed Israel, throughout the years of the judges. Ahaz knew, or should have known, that God had always preserved his own predecessor, King David, and had always preserved those who were obedient to Him and to His laws. It is written in our book, and it must be lived out in our own way just as it happened unto King Ahaz for our admonition (1Co 10:11):

2Ch 28:16 At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.
2Ch 28:17 For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.
2Ch 28:18 The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there.
2Ch 28:19 For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.

"For he made Judah naked" is translated like this in the LITV:

2Ch 28:19  For Jehovah had humbled Judah because of Ahaz the king of Israel, for he loosed immorality in Judah, and deceiving, they betrayed Jehovah.

At the very point where it should be the most obvious to us that we need the supernatural help of our heavenly Father to bring us to repentance, we instead reach out to the world and continue to dig in our heels and "transgress sore against the Lord". We do so simply because we fear men and what we physically see more than we fear God whom we cannot see with our physical eyes.

These circumstances have confronted us all, and they will do so again at the appointed time.

When our own judgment begins, our own family and friends who are not given to discern the voice of Christ sometimes disown us, just as Christ's own family and friends did not believe in Him. Such experiences are "the stormy waves" which the Lord Himself lifts up against us to show us what is still within us, or how little faith we really have.

Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.

This is what happened to Christ when His heavenly Father sent him to "receive the fruit" of His vineyard from His husbandmen (Luk 20:9-16). This is Matthew's account of how we can expect to be treated by our own friends who know us best:

Mat 13:54  And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
Mat 13:55  Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? 
Mat 13:56  And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
Mat 13:57  And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

Luke tells us more specifically just how "offended in Him" they were, and in telling us this, He is also telling us what we must expect of our own friends who know us best:

Luk 4:16  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Luk 4:17  And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luk 4:20  And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
Luk 4:21  And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Luk 4:22  And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?
Luk 4:23  And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
Luk 4:24  And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
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,

Unlike Ahaz and us, when all this happened here is this same fourth chapter, Christ had just been tempted by the adversary and had not succumbed to the pressures of this life. He had even been offered the very real promise of honor and riches in this age if only he would renounce the pain and shame of the cross (Luke 4:1-13).

Luk 4:5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
Luk 4:7  If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
Luk 4:8  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Christ's own family did not believe in Him as the Son of God, the Lamb of God. They certainly did not, at this time, consider their brother to be the sacrifice for their sins:

Joh 7:1  And after these things Jesus walked in Galilee, for he did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.
Joh 7:2  Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was near.
Joh 7:3  His brothers therefore said to him, Depart from here, and go into Judea so that thy disciples also may see thy works that thou do.
Joh 7:4  For no man does anything in secret, and he himself seeks to be in public. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world.
Joh 7:5 For not even his brothers believed in him. (ACV)

Our calling is not for the faint of heart. It is of Christ's own family that we are told: "not even his brothers believed on Him... If you do these things, show yourself to the world". Such pressure from those who are our closest associates and family members is enough to dissuade most, and that is why we are told:

Isa 8:11  For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
Isa 8:12  Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
Isa 8:13  Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 

The Lord speaks to us 'with a strong hand and instructs us' not to cave in to the pressures that come from our families, our friends and from the societies in which we live. This does not mean that He turns up the volume and shouts at us. What "with a strong hand" means is that He turns up the fire, and brings us to understand clearly that disobedience simply does not pay. Christ felt the exact same pressure from His own family to deny His calling and to fit in with the religion of His family and the society of His day, to which you and I are subjected, "each in his own order" (1Co 15:23). All He would have had to have done was to quit breaking the sabbath and stop telling the people whom He healed to break the sabbath and stop saying God was His Father, and just fit in with the Jewish religion into which He was born.

Like most of us, Christ was born into a religious family and into a religious society. It is our family, our friends and our societies which are confederated against Christ and His doctrines. It is our families, friends and the society into which we are born, whom we just naturally tend to fear and whom we want to please, far more than we fear or want to please Christ. That is why we must be admonished "...neither fear you their fear, nor be afraid".

The whole fearful and terrified life of Ahaz and Judah "happened to them as types of us and for our admonition". If Ahaz had just remained faithful and had put his trust in the God of his fathers, when the Philistines, the Edomites, the Syrians and Israel invaded Judah, he would never have been conquered by the king of Assyria. But that kind of faith only comes with a life of righteousness, and neither Ahaz nor Judah, nor any of us, are righteous to begin with. That is why we are plainly told:

1Co 10:11 Now all this befalls them typically. Yet it was written for our admonition, to whom the consummations of the eons have attained. (CLV)

This is not hidden from us. We are told that we will first 'stumble and be offended' at Christ:

Isa 8:14  And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Isa 8:15  And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

Concerning these two verses, it is our Savior Himself who informs us:

Luk 4:4  And Jesus answered him [Satan], saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Judah and Jerusalem, Israel and Samaria, Syria and Damascus, as well as all of mankind, must first  come to see themselves as the "marred vessel" which we all first are, before we will ever even begin to "know the day of [our] visitation", which is the beginning of our judgment and the fiery trials  which are that 'judgment'. (Jer 18:4; 1Pe 4:17)

Luk 19:44  And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Those who are blessed to know the time of their visitation are those who being judged at this time. It is few indeed who even know the Truth of these verses of scripture:

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

1Pe 4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

The 'fire' of verse 12 is the same 'fire' that burns up the tares in this verse:

Mat 13:30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

This 'fire' burns up the tares "in the time of harvest". "The time of  harvest" is the harvest of souls, and the fire is what torments Christ's enemies and destroys all the wood, hay and stubble, and all the briars and thorns which symbolize the lies, the false doctrines and the sinful fruits of all those lies. It is the same fire at work in these verses:

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.

This 'fire' is not literal 'fire'. We are twice told that it has never entered God's mind to burn anyone forever in literal physical flames of fire:

Jer 19:5  They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

Jer 32:35  And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

In every case, the 'fire' of the Lord is exactly what the Word of God tells us it is.

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.

"The fire [of God] will try every man's works" (1Co 3:13), and we are also told:

Joh 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

The Word of God is the fire which will judge all men of all time.

These verses prophesied of the process which is that judgment which come upon 'every man, each in his own order'.

Hos 11:1  When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
Hos 11:2  As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. 
Hos 11:3  I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them. 
Hos 11:4  I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
Hos 11:5  He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.
Hos 11:6  And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
Hos 11:7  And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

Just as Job's three miserable comforters were all fellow Edomites, so, too, "Ephraim", who is also referred to as "Israel", those closest to Judah, was a thorn in the side of Judah and vice versa. So it is with us. Christ has been very up front with us in informing us of what we are to expect if we are granted to be His disciples, to rule with Him here in this age and to judge angels for Him in the coming 'lake of fire' after the thousand-year reign (1Co 6:2-3, Rev 20:11-15). Here is how we begin to experience the Lord's judgment which is now upon the house of God (1Pe 4:17). This is the exact same message given to Isaiah.

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. ["Perilous times" - 2Ti 3:1]
Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
Mat 10:18  And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 
Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. [Eph 3:10 - Through the church]
Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
Mat 10:25  It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?

As in Isaiah and throughout scripture, Christ again tells us not to fear men:

Mat 10:26  Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
Mat 10:27  What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 
Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 
Mat 10:29  Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
Mat 10:30  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31  Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Mat 10:32  Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 10:33  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Contrary to what our captors in Babylon tell us, this is the truth of what Christ came to do within our lives:

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. 

Matthew 10 speaks of the judgment which must begin at the house of God as spoken by apostle Peter above. (1Pe 4:17)

Now we know who the Lord included when He tells us:

Isa 8:12  Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 
Isa 8:13  Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 
Isa 8:14  And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Isa 8:15  And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.

Isaiah is quoting a prophecy of Christ in the book of Psalms:

Psa 118:22  The Stone which the builders rejected has become the Head of the Corner.
Psa 118:23  This is from Jehovah, it is marvelous in our eyes.

Christ knew that Psa 118:22-23, and Isa 8:14 was a prophecy of His coming to His own people and the hateful rejection with which He would be received and with which He and His Christ are received to this very day:

Mat 21:42  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

Peter repeats both of these prophecies to those in His charge:

1Pe 2:7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, [Psa 118:22-23]
1Pe 2:8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. [Isa 8:14]

Christ, Paul, Peter and John all knew that what we do to Christ's body is being done to Christ Himself:

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Act 22:8  And I [Paul] answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

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.

Christ is His Word (Joh 1:1), and it is His words, including His words here in Matthew 10, which cause us all to first stumble and fall and be broken. How many in this age are willing to be hated by their closest family members and friends for the sake of remaining faithful to the words of Christ? It takes Christ Himself living His life within us to bring us to repent of the slavery to our flesh and of the fear of men, and to live a life worthy of His name. Fortunately for us that is exactly what we have been given.

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure [Christ, verse 6] in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

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

Yet even God's elect must stumble and fall and be broken and snared and taken, before they rise again in victory over all the giants in their land.

Next week, Lord willing, we will be admonished to be very careful to speak only what is written and to understand that all those who speak beyond what is written have "no light in them".

Isa 8:16  Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
Isa 8:17  And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
Isa 8:18  Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.
Isa 8:19  And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
Isa 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Isa 8:21  And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
Isa 8:22  And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

Seven Steps of Salvation

Conference held December, 2012, Buford GA

Mike Vinson

[Update added February 12, 2016]

God had a plan for all of mankind. God’s plan was complete “before the world began, and it included “all [who are] in Adam”.

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

The scriptures teach that “[God] has devised means that his banished be not expelled from Him”. What that statement means is that God’s plan for mankind is to bring salvation to all who are in Adam. He reveals to us that He is going to do so by means of three separate resurrections, which are typified in scripture as three separate harvests.

Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Here is verse 10 in the Concordant Literal Version:

Eph 1:10 to have an administration of the complement of the eras, to head up all in the Christ – both that in the heavens and that on the earth.

“In the dispensation of the fulness of times [God will] gather together [harvest] in one all things in the Christ”. God’s plan for all mankind is not a plan which includes only His firstfruit harvest. “Before the world began” God planned for Christ, who God created to be the Creator of all things, and to be the first of His firstfruits harvest.

Col 1:17 And he [Christ] is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

So Christ is not preeminent only in the resurrection from the dead, “He is before all things, and by Him all things consist”. He is in the process of saving “all things” by means of these three harvests we will be studying today.

But Christ is not the only firstfruits in God’s plan. After Christ was gathered to His Father by being the very first person to be resurrected from the dead to life eonian, God will also gather to Himself “they that are Christ’s” firstfruts. That will be the second harvest in God’s three harvests, but it is called the “first resurrection” of those who are “in Christ”. This is what we are told of those who are the first to be resurrected in Christ. As we will see, the barley harvest during the days of unleavened bread, which typifies Christ, and the wheat harvest at the day of Pentecost, are both called a harvest of firstfruits.

Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

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.

So those in this “first resurrection” are the firstfruits of Christ, even though they are resurrected after He is resurrected. But there is one more harvest after the thousand years, and that harvest is the largest harvest of all, because it is the harvest of all men of all time who have ever been “in Adam”. God has devised the means that His banished be not expelled from Him”, and that “means” is this final, third harvest, “the feast of ingathering which is at the end of the year”. In that resurrection, death and the grave will be destroyed, and death will be robbed of every single person it has ever claimed.

Here are all three of these harvests:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: [1] Christ the firstfruits; [2] afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 [3] Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

And this is the fate of death:

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

“The end”, mentioned in 1Co 15:24, means the end harvest. It means the “harvest at the end of the year”, as is revealed in the three harvests seasons in which are revealed the seven steps to the salvation of “all in Adam”.

So there are actually three separate harvests of God’s ‘field’, which ‘field’ according to our Lord, is the whole world.

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

Christ has purchased the whole field, and by means of his three separate harvests and the seven steps which must be fulfilled within those three harvests, he will not lose one single soul who is “in Adam”. Here are the words of what the scriptures call “a wise woman…”

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.

That “means” which God has “devised” is revealed to us in seven separate feasts which are all types of the seven steps which all men must take in order to come to Christ and His Father.

Here are those three seasons in which the seven festivals of Israel took place.

Exo 23:14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Exo 23:15 Thou shalt keep [1] the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exo 23:16 [2] And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and [3] the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Exo 23:17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Now here are the seven holy days within these three seasons. It is these seven annual holy days which reveal to us the seven steps to the salvation of each and every man whom God will drag to Himself, as well as the seven steps which are being taken by all men in coming to the completion of God’s plan for all men:

Lev 23:4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.
Lev 23:5 [1] In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S passover.
Lev 23:6 [2] And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Lev 23:8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Lev 23:9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:
Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
Lev 23:12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin.
Lev 23:14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:15 [3] And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Lev 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Lev 23:18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.
Lev 23:19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
Lev 23:20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
Lev 23:21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Lev 23:22 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Lev 23:23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:24 [4] Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Lev 23:25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Lev 23:26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:27 [5] Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Lev 23:28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God.
Lev 23:29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
Lev 23:30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
Lev 23:31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
Lev 23:33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:34 [6] Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
Lev 23:35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Lev 23:36 [7] Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

Now let’s consider how these feasts of ancient Israel reveal to us God’s plan for the redemption of “all in Adam [including] His banished”.

The first holy day is the passover, which signifies the death of our Lord, “the spotless… lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world”.

The passover took place in the spring of the year.

Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Joh 1:30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

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 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially [But “not for ours only” 1Jn 2:2] of those that believe.
1Ti 4:11 These things command and teach.

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us- ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

So God is in the process of bringing “all [who are] in Adam” to himself, and this first feast in the first month in the spring of the year gives us the first step that must be taken to bring about the “means that his banished be not expelled from him”. Christ is our passover who has been offered for our sins, and the very next day begins the feast of unleavened bread, signifying the very next step all who are in Christ must take. We are crucified with Christ, and if indeed we are dying daily with Him we begin immediately to purge out the sins which have leavened our lives.

1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Indeed Christ was offered upon the day of the passover. Rest assured the priest and the Pharisees did not plan it that way. They were as blind to what they were doing as you and I were to the fact that it was through our sins that our Lord was crucified.

Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for [Greek: dia – through] our offences, and was raised again for [Greek: dia – through] our justification.

1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

It is “on the morrow after the sabbath [that] the priest shall wave” a sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest to be accepted of the Lord.

Lev 23:11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.

The fifteenth of Nisan being a holy day is called “a high day”, and it can be any day of the week, but it just happened to be on the weekly sabbath the year that Christ, our passover, was crucified:

Joh 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

So when Christ was raised up “early on the first day of the week”, that just happened to be “the morrow after the sabbath” and He was received of His Father as the wave sheaf of the first fruits of the early barley harvest.

Luk 24:1 Now upon the first day of the week [“the morrow after the sabbath”], very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
Luk 24:2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
Luk 24:3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

But while Christ’s own apostles went out and wept bitterly for denying Him when He most needed them, they and we still have to wait for the day of Pentecost, which in Greek means ‘count fifty’ before the holy spirit will come to us and enter into our hearts and form and found the church of Christ and the kingdom of God within us.

Luk 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

Act 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Act 2:2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Act 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This is the day in which we are finally willing to die with Christ because the spirit of God has changed our hearts, and we now become Christ’s firstfruits.

Lev 23:15 [3] And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Lev 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

If we are Christ’s, then we are “a kind of firstfruits” because this feast typifies those who are in that blessed and holy first resurrection, as Christ’s firstfruits. So the feast of Pentecost is also called “the feast of your firstfruits”.

Exo 23:14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Exo 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exo 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Exo 23:17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

While our Lord was a sin offering “who knew no sin”, the same cannot be said for His firstfruits, who, in Him, become a trespass offering which Christ fulfills only through “them that are Christ’s”. That is how we can be “chief of sinners” and also “fill up in our bodies what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ”. Because Christ fulfills the trespass offering only through us, the Pentecost offering is the only offering offered to God with leaven:

Lev 23:17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.

2Co 5:21 For the man who knew no sin was made sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him (ACV)

We become the righteousness of God in him, and we offer our lives as the scapegoat (Lev 16:8-26) and the second bird (Lev 14), as a living sacrifice, “for His body’s sake, which is the church”.

Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church; (ASV)

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

Pentecost is the second season and the third festival which reveals the process of our salvation. Pentecost is the summer wheat harvest, which comes in fifty days after the Spring barley harvest. Pentecost is the only holy day in the second Summer season. The last four steps in the process of our salvation are all in the third season of the process of our salvation. These last four steps are all in “the seventh month”, and they begin with the festival of trumpets on the first day of the seventh month:

Lev 23:23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.
Lev 23:25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

This is the festival that portrays the judgments of the seven trumpets in the book of Revelation. Here is what happens at the seventh trumpet:

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.
Rev 11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

“There were lightnings, and voices, and thundering, and an earthquake, and great hail”, are all Biblical words which are associated with the judgment of the old, first man Adam within us. The ark of His [new] testament is seen within the temple. It is the temple of God which must be cleansed by the fiery judgments of the seven trumpets and the seven plagues of the seventh trumpet. Here is what we are told of God’s temple and that seventh trumpet, which is the seven plagues of the seven angels:

Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

The passover typifies our first coming out of Egypt, followed by the purging out of the leaven of the sins of the giants within our lives, which at this stage are typified by the land which is filled with great giants. This is the days of unleavened bread in the Spring of our walk. This part of the process of our salvation is followed by the Summer feast of Pentecost, when and where we are given God’s spirit and the kingdom of God begins to grow within us, and we begin to be changed inwardly. But the judgment of our flesh is a life-long process which begins in earnest only after Pentecost and after the holy spirit comes into our hearts and begins to cleanse the temple of God within our heavens.

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

Christ has entered into the holy place in His temple, “which temple ye are”.

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The last of these seven trumpets is the seven last plagues. This is the significance of the feast of trumpets. This is when our souls are most afflicted as our heavenly Father is dragging us to Himself. Judgment must begin at the house of God. It is a fiery purging of anything that can be burned up. Anything that can be burned will be burned up and will be burned out of our lives and out of the temple of God in the heavens of our minds and hearts. It is in this day of fasting that we are denying ourselves, dying to our old man, and coming out of Babylon. We return to the temple of God, and begin rebuilding that temple. But Babylon comes out with us, and the seven plagues of the seven angels has yet to do its work within us.

So we are being judged in this life, and we are “dying daily”. Christ comes to us at Pentecost, but Pentecost continues within us as Christ increases within us. Trumpets continues within as “the house of God” is being judged within us. The day of atonement also continues within us as we endure the fiery trials of a life of “dying daily”.

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?

So it is only after we have been judged that we are able to enter into the temple of God, and come to be at one with our Lord by the covering of our sins. And that is the meaning of the Hebrew root word ‘kawfar’ H3722 which ‘kippur’ H3725 comes from and is translated as ‘atonement’, the day of fasting which is on the tenth day of the seventh month. It is not fifty days from the last feast, nor is it a matter of going from the Summer months to the Fall, as from Pentecost to Trumpets. The day of atonement is but nine days after the the feast of trumpets, which is on the first day of the seventh month. We cannot be given salvation, without first suffering with our Lord. Neither can we be given salvation while still believing salvation can be acquired by virtue of our own works. Those are the lessons of the fifth step towards our salvation. It is a day of fasting and affliction for our souls known as the “day of atonement”.

Lev 23:26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:27 [5] Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement^H3725: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
Lev 23:28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement^H3725, to make an atonement^H3722 for you before the LORD your God.
Lev 23:29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.
Lev 23:30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people.
Lev 23:31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Lev 23:32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.

It is only the few chosen whose souls are being afflicted for the sins being committed within the church. Most people who claim the name of Christ are certainly neither resting from their own works, nor afflicting their souls, or being afflicted because of the abominations which are being committed within Jerusalem:

Eze 9:4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

Here is the meaning of the Hebrew word ‘kawfar’, which is translated as ‘atonement’.

H3722 ka phar kaw-far’ A primitive root; to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: – appease, make (an) atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, to pitch, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (- liation).

The “fiery trials” of 1Pe 4:12, and the sighing and crying for all the abominations that be done in the midst of Jerusalem, are one and the same. These are those who are ceasing from their own works and are afflicting their souls on the day of atonement.

Atonement is only five days prior to the feast of tabernacles which begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. Like the passover and the days of unleavened bread, these last two feasts are not separated by a single day.

Lev 23:33 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 23:34 [6] Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
Lev 23:35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Lev 23:36 [7] Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

This “feast of tabernacles” is the third and the last of the three harvests of the Lord’s work to bring salvation to all who are in Adam. The “last great day of the feast” is the immediate consequence of living through the feast of tabernacles, which is called the feast of ingathering in the end of the year.

Exo 23:14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Exo 23:15 [1] Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty: )
Exo 23:16 [2] And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and [3] the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Exo 23:17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

This feast is called the “feast of tabernacles” because Israel dwelt in temporary tabernacles when coming out of Egypt. This is how all who are now being harvested into the kingdom of God view this entire physical life:

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

Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

The great purpose of this “last great day” is signified by this event:

Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

This feast of tabernacles is the last great harvest of our Lord’s field. It culminates in the last great day when all men who have ever lived “in Adam” will be given “the spirit which they that believe on Him should receive”. It will truly be a “great day” for all of mankind. It will be the consummation of the ages, and will effect the salvation of all of God’s banished. The last great day, is as closely associated with the “little season” which follows the thousand years, as the days of unleavened bread are associated with the feast of the passover. There is not one day between either of these feasts. The “little season… when the thousand years are expired” is distinguished by the rebellion of “the nations in the four quarters of the earth”, who are all destroyed when “fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them”. This is the occasion God is seeking to destroy all flesh and thereby destroy death through the great white throne judgment at the second resurrection of all men of all time in spiritual bodies which will yet need to be purged of the mind of their father the devil, and that is exactly what the lake of fire at ‘the last great day’ will accomplish.

Here is the timeline of the events signified by the feast of tabernacles and the last great day as they are laid out for us in Revelation 20:

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years [tabernacles] are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison [this event precipitates the great white throne judgment which is signified by the last great day],
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The next chapter tells us of a new heaven and a new earth. The statement “there was no more sea” signifies that there is no more flesh, and consequently “there is no more death”, because ‘the sea’ signifies the sea of flesh, out of which the beast we all are, arises:

 Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

So many supposedly ‘great men of God’ have quoted Act 16:31, at the exclusion of Act 16:32, of which most Christians actually believe, that all one has to do to be saved is to confess the name of Jesus with your mouth and you are ‘a shoe-in’ for the first resurrection.

Act 16:31 And they [Paul and Silas] said [to the Philippians jailer] Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Believing that lie is the strong delusion which will place the masses of humanity in that second resurrection. The Bible is much more than this one lone sentence, and we must never forget that the Lord has informed us that “the sum of [His] word is Truth” (Psa 119:160). “Believ[ing] on the Lord Jesus Christ” is not something that comes only out of your mouth. It must also come out of your hands, in what you do. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, must also be demonstrated through your spiritual feet, in the way you walk through this life. So we are also given the very next verse:

Act 16:32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

The truth is known only when we consider “the sum” of the word of God. And our salvation, and the salvation of all of mankind, is known only when we have lived by all seven seals, all of the seven trumpets, all seven vials, and all of the appointed days which are written in God’s book of our life. This is how salvation comes to each of us individually, and this is how salvation will come to all mankind corporately. When God’s plan for mankind is completed, He will be “all in all”.

Here is how Paul sums up these seven steps to salvation within God’s three seasonal harvests:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: [1] Christ the firstfruits; [2] afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 [3] Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. [The Father cannot relinquish “the power of throne” Gen 41:40]
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Video Links

Job 26:1 But Job answered and said,

Job 26:2 How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?

Job 26:3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?

Job 26:4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

Job 26:5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

Job 26:6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

Job 26:8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

Job 26:9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.

Job 26:10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

Job 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

Job 26:12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

Job 26:14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

Introduction

It is absolutely humiliating to look back behind us and be forced to acknowledge how very self- righteous and petty we have been. Yes, it is all the work of God, but that work of God requires that we come to loathe our old man and to ‘bear the shame’ of His nature:

Eze 16:54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.

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

Eze 36:31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

Job is the type of God’s elect, who know that all their trials come from God Himself. But like Saul of Tarsus, God’s elect are not at first “they… that are heavenly”. Rather, as Job here demonstrates, we are all first “that which is natural”. We are first carnal and petty and just as capable of finger- pointing and condemning others as anyone:

1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

The great question that is inherent in the story of Job’s trials is, why does God bless the enemies of His own people while cursing those, like Job, who appear to be less evil than those who are tormenting those who will later come to be manifest as His elect? Job has posed this question to his friends, and they all ignore the question because both they and Job are the Old Testament types of each of us, while we ourselves are first, self- righteous Job and self- righteous Saul of Tarsus. They ignore the question because neither they nor Job know the answer.

Here again is Job’s question:

Job 21:7 Why do the wicked live, become old, yea, grow mighty in power?

Job 21:8 Their seed is established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.

Job 21:9 Their houses are safe from fear, nor is the rod of God upon them.

Job 21:10 Their bull breeds, and does not fail. Their cow brings forth safely, and does not miscarry.

Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

Job 21:12 They sing to the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.

Job 21:13 They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment they go down to Sheol.

Job 21:14 And they say to God, Depart from us, for we do not desire the knowledge of thy ways.

Job 21:15 What is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit should we have, if we pray to him?

As we have seen, the answer to this apparent enigma is revealed to us by our Savior in His parable of the tares, in which we are all represented by a field of wheat which is owned by our Lord. That field was sown by our Lord with the seeds of His own truthful words. But an enemy comes while we are spiritually asleep and sows tares in among the wheat. When it is made manifest that the enemy has infected us with his lies, we cry out to be delivered from the bondage of those lies. But the Lord Himself restrains us from being delivered of that deceit until the time when His Truth arrives in our lives through the fiery trials of judgment, called in this parable “the time of the harvest”.

It is this “time of harvest” with which this great question of the story of Job is concerned. It is only in this “time of harvest” that the the truth of our Lord’s words can be manifested to have the fruit of the spirit, and the lies that are the tares are manifested to be lacking that fruit and can be “first… gather[ ed]… and bound in bundles to be burned”.

Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

Mat 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

Mat 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

Mat 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

Mat 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

Mat 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Here is another way of saying that:

1Co 11:19 For there must be also heresies [ tares] among you, that they which are approved [ the fruitful wheat] may be made manifest among you.

This is “the time of harvest” when our own tares are manifested to us, which we cannot detect within us until this time of our lives. Those ‘tares’ are all of our faults of which we have not yet been made aware. Those tares include all our secret sins, which include that most invisible and insidious of sins, the sin of self- righteousness. It is in “the time of harvest’ that all these sins are made manifest to us and the painful gathering together and burning of those tares begins. That is the lesson of this book of Job, and that is the story of the life of every man who will ever come to know God and His Son, whose plan and purpose this all is. Here is this same message as it appears again in the New Testament:

Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [ meaning He purges us of “the tares of the field”], and scourgeth [ gathers and burns those lying tares out of our lives] every son whom he receiveth.

Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

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

God is faithful and finishes His Work within us. But before He finishes that work, we are intent on blaming every tare in our field on anyone else but ourselves. After all, at this critical time in our “one event” (Ecc 9:2), it should be clear to the blindest among us that we are nowhere near as deserving of God’s wrath as those whom He has sent to torment us. And when we blame our tormentors for doing their predestined work of tormenting us, we are reproving our Lord Himself.

Job 26:1 But Job answered [ Bildad] and said,

Job 26:2 How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?

Job 26:3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?

We have heard the last of Job’s three accusers. Bildad is the last of these three “miserable comforters” to speak to Job. Zophar will forgo a third round with Job. Job will now have the floor for the next six chapters. Chapters 26-31 are all Job. He continues to acknowledge that God is all powerful, but like all of us while we are in the clutches of the tares within us and in the clutches of our own self- righteousness and self- justification, our acknowledgment of the sovereign power of God is mere lip service. Such acknowledgement is either not applied to our own will, or as only our “father the devil” can do within us, we justify our sins as God’s own sovereign will for us.

Consequently here in verses 2-3, Job is comparing Bildad with himself. He still believes with all his being that he is, of himself, a very good man who is simply being mistreated by His own Creator. As he will tell us plainly in chapter 29, Job thinks that he, of himself, has “helped him that is without power”. He has “saved the arm that had no strength”. He has counseled him that had no wisdom, and he truly believes that he has declared his own relationship with God “as it [ actually] is”. But Job is only beginning to declare his own self- righteousness, and in doing so he is revealing to us who we are and how we are guilty of reproving, contending with and condemning our own heavenly Father.

Job 26:4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

Job 26:5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

Job 26:6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

In our petty, self- righteous way, we compare our own knowledge to that of our tormentors, and Job is the Old Testament type of us as he goes out of his way to make it clear to Bildad that his understanding of God is far superior to that of Bildad. Bildad has just informed Job that he, Bildad, was aware that God’s dominion extended to the heavens and to all on whom the light of the sun shined:

Job 25:2 Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.

Job 25:3 Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?

When Job replies, “dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof [ the inhabitants of those waters]”, what Job is saying to Bildad is ‘Of course God has dominion over the heavens and the earth, but the God Job knows has dominion even over “dead things… and… hell [ Hebrew – sheol, the unseen, the grave]”.

Job is telling us that even sheol, the grave, is not beyond God’s judging hand. It is significant for us to note that when we read that “dead things are formed [ Hebrew – chul, or chiyl] from under the waters…” that word translated ‘formed’ is much more often translated in some form which carries with it the concept of ‘pain’ or even ‘writhing in pain’, as in this verse in Isaiah…

Isa 13:6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

Isa 13:7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:

Isa 13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain [ chul, 2342] as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

Isa 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

… and in these verses:

Jer 5:22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble [ Hebrew – chul, H2342] at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

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

When Job tells Bildad “Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering”, this is Job’s message to Bildad as we find it the book of Isaiah:

Isa 14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee [ the king of Babylon] to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the [ dead] kings of the nations.

Isa 14:10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?

Isa 14:11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

Here is the message of Job 26:5 in the New Testament:

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.

What Job is doing in this answer to Bildad is repeating what he had said in chapter 19:

Job 19:25 But as for me I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand up upon the earth.

Job 19:26 And after my skin, this [ body], is destroyed, then outside my flesh I shall see God,

Job 19:27 whom I, even I, shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger. My heart is consumed within me.

Job is one of the earliest books in scripture to speak of a future resurrection of the dead. Isaiah is also very plain in stating this doctrine:

Isa 26:18 We have been with child, we have been in pain [ Hebrew – chul H2342], we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

Isa 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise “a spiritual body” [1Co 15:44]. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

The fact that there is a resurrection and that the dead are not beyond the dominion of God, is Job’s message to us and to Bildad. He now proceeds to elaborate on that same dominion and power:

Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

Job 26:8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

The phrase “empty place” is translated from the Hebrew word ‘tohu’, which is the same word we find in these two verses:

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form[ H8414 – tohu], and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Jer 4:20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

Jer 4:21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

Jer 4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

Jer 4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form [ H8414 – tohu], and void; and the heavens, and they had no light, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

So the messages of Gen 1:2 and Jer 4:23, as well as this verse of Job 26:7, are all the same. God is working through a process which is not yet complete, is yet being formed, and is a process which requires each of us to be brought to the word ‘north’ in scripture which always denotes impending judgment upon God’s sinning and backslidden people. Being backslidden is the “deadly wound” (Rev 13:3), common to us all when we first begin to see our need for a Savior. But it is also common to us all for that “deadly wound” to be healed and bring us all back to being a very healthy beast which is now “twofold more the child of hell” than our leaders who “caused [ us] to err”.

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

Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

“The earth” in scripture is God own people; His “tents”, and His “curtains”, which He now declares to be “without form and void”, because “they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” They are “foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children”. This is the same message we were being given in Job 26:7

Job 26:8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

“Waters” in scripture are the type both of God’s Word, flowing from the bellies of His elect, but ‘waters’ are also the people on whom the great harlot sits, committing fornication with the kings of the ‘earth’ by teaching them the lies that are Babylon’s doctrines.

When God’s waters are “bound up”, then the nourishment of those waters of His truths are withheld from God’s people, as they were during the days of the prophecy of God’s witnesses, as typified by the drought of Elijah’s day, and the prophecies of the two witnesses.

1Ki 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

2Ch 6:26 When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;

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

Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

Rev 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Rev 11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

“When the heaven is shut up and there is no rain, [ it is] because [ we] have sinned against [ our Lord]”. Under such conditions God does not reveal himself:

Job 26:9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.

“His cloud” is very dark to all who do not know Him. “He holds back the face [ the knowledge] of His throne”:

Exo 14:19 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:

Exo 14:20 And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

These same ‘waters’ are the symbol of the proud waves of human flesh which is the carnal mind which is held in check by God Himself:

Job 26:10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

Job 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

Job 26:12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.

“His hand has formed the crooked serpent” as well as having “garnished the heavens” of our minds by giving us the knowledge of Him and His ways. Job is the type of God’s elect. This is revealed to us through Job’s repentance of His own self- righteousness, and Job being granted to be the channel by which God accepts Job’s friends.

Before we simply acknowledge that every word Job utters here concerning God’s dominion, is true, it is imperative that we be made aware of the facts surrounding the translation of the two words ‘formed’, and the word ‘crooked’ in verse 13.

The Hebrew word translated ‘formed in the King James Version is ‘chalal’, H2490. Here is how this word is defined by Strong’s:

H2490

cha lal

khaw- lal’

A primitive root (compare H2470); properly to bore, that is, (by implication) to wound, to dissolve; figuratively to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one’s word), to begin (as if by an opening- wedge); denominatively (from H2485) to play (the flute): – begin (X men began), defile, X break, defile, X eat (as common things), X first, X gather the grape thereof, X take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.

Here now are the English entries given for the translation of this Hebrew word ‘chalal’:

H2490

cha lal

Total KJV Occurrences: 143

[ Corrected to read:] The KJV + has the wrong word listed for “formed”.

KJV + says it is : H2490

While the KJV + TVM, Blue Letter Bible, and Bible Study Tools. com all say it is: H2342

The best translation is “His hand has travailed the fleeing serpent”. As you look through all of the uses of this word it’s about causing pain and anguish, especially in childbirth.

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

Isa 26:17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain (H2342), and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.

Isa 66:7 Before she travailed (H2342), she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.

The word “before” is not in the original Hebrew. Here is a better translation.

Isa 66:7 CLV Ere she is travailing, she bears. Ere a cramp is coming to her, then she causes the escape of a male.”

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

Deu 32:18 Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered (H2342) you.

This mistake in the KJV+ does not effect our understanding of doctrine, but it is good to be accurate in our studies and pay attention to these details as you have taught me. This verse really makes Job 26:13 quite clear:

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen (H2342) in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. [ Thanks go to Mitch for discovering the error in Strong’s which numbers the word ‘formed’ H2490 instead of H2342 as KJV+ TVM, Blue Letter Bible and Bible Study Tools. com all have it.]

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

The other most common translation is some form of the word ‘began’. While this may seem very confusing at first glance, it becomes much more understandable when it is noticed what it is that we are being told is beginning. Here are just a couple of examples:

Num 25:1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began [ Hebrew, chalal] to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

2Ki 10:32 In those days the LORD began [ Hebrew, chalal] to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;

Sometimes this word is used of Israel, and sometimes it is used of Israel’s enemies, but in either case it is used to inform us of an evil ‘profaning’ event which is about to take place against either Israel or by Israel against her enemies.

Now let’s look at the Hebrew word translated ‘crooked’ in Job 26:13. It is the Hebrew word ‘bariach’, Strong’s H1281.

H1281

ba r yach  ba riach

baw- ree’- akh, baw- ree’- akh

From H1272; a fugitive, that is, the serpent (as fleeing), and the constellation by that name: – crooked, noble, piercing.

Here are the only three places in the Old Testament where this word appears, and here is how it is translated in those three instances:

H1281

/

ba r yach  /  ba riach

Total KJV Occurrences: 3

crooked, 1

Job_26:13

nobles, 1

Isa_43:13-14 (2)

piercing, 1

Isa_27:1

So it is translated with three entirely different English words. How very confusing. But notice that this Hebrew word ‘bariach’ is “From H1272; a fugitive, that is, the serpent (as fleeing)…” So we need to look up this word H1272, and see what it is and how it is translated. So here is the Hebrew word which has been assigned Strong’s number H1272:

ba rach

baw- rakh’

A primitive root; to bolt, that is, figuratively to flee suddenly: – chase (away); drive away, fain, flee (away), put to flight, make haste, reach, run away, shoot.

We discover that this is “A primitive root” meaning “to bolt, that is, figuratively to flee suddenly”. In the case of this word the English translations are far more consistent. Here is where this word appears in the Old Testament:

H1272

ba rach

Total KJV Occurrences: 67

fled, 40

Gen_16:6, Gen_31:20-22 (3), Gen_35:7, Exo_2:15, Exo_14:5, Jdg_9:21, Jdg_11:3, 1Sa_19:12, 1Sa_19:18, 1Sa_20:1, 1Sa_21:10, 1Sa_22:17, 1Sa_22:20, 1Sa_23:6, 1Sa_27:4, 2Sa_4:3, 2Sa_13:34, 2Sa_13:37-38 (2), 2Sa_19:9, 2Sa_23:11, 1Ki_2:7, 1Ki_11:17, 1Ki_11:23, 1Ki_11:40, 1Ki_12:2, 2Ch_10:2, Neh_13:10, Psa_57:1 (2), Isa_22:3, Jer_26:21, Jer_39:4, Dan_10:7 (2), Hos_12:12, Jon_1:10, Jon_4:2

flee, 15

Gen_16:8, Gen_27:43, Gen_31:27, Num_24:11, 2Sa_15:14, Neh_6:11, Job_9:25, Job_20:24, Job_27:22, Job_41:28, Psa_139:7, Isa_48:20, Jer_4:29, Amo_7:12, Jon_1:3

away, 1

1Ch_8:13

chased, 1

Neh_13:28

chaseth, 1

Pro_19:26

drove, 1

1Ch_8:13

fain, 1

Job_27:22

fleddest, 1

Gen_35:1

fleeth, 1

Job_14:1-2 (2)

flight, 1

1Ch_12:15

haste, 1

Son_8:14

ran, 1

1Ki_2:39

reach, 1

Exo_26:28

shoot, 1

Exo_36:33

This is the root of the word translated ‘crooked’ in Job 26:13. It appears 67 times in the Old Testament and it is consistently translated with some form of the words ‘fled’ or ‘flee’, and those which are otherwise also carry that same thought.

So then, how should Job 26:13 be translated? It appears that it should read “… His hand has travailed the fleeing serpent”. Nevertheless, after all of our work to better understand what the holy spirit is saying, we still must conclude that it is God who creates evil, and it is His hand which formed Satan, who is simply His instrument for facilitating that evil:

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

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

God’s elect know that Satan, the adversary, is not the result of a rebellious act originating in Satan’s fabled ‘free will’, but he is rather the result of the fact that God’s spirit and His own hand has garnished our heavens with the understanding that “His [ God’s own] hand has profaned the fleeing serpent… that old serpent the devil, and Satan [ who] deceives the whole world”. There is no battle between God and Satan at all. The battle in the heavens is within the hearts and minds of God’s elect, and ends with Satan’s expulsion from our heavens.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Lest we fall for the false doctrine that the kings of Babylon (Isa 14) or the king of Tyre (Eze 28), are Satan, just because both of these kings “say in [ their] heart” that they are God”, that therefore those two chapters refer to Satan, and that those two chapters prove that Satan is not part of God’s own predestined creation, we are also given this second witness to the Truth of Job 26:13:

Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

If indeed, “the invisible things of God are understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and God head” (Rom 1:20), the this verse should make it super clear that God has indeed made Satan for just exactly the service He has performed for God in taking away all of Job’s children and all of his earthly possessions, then stopping at that point exactly as the Lord so orders and then smiting Job with boils from his head to his feet, but not taking Job’s life, exactly as God so orders Satan:

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

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

Job 1:7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

Notice what is revealed to be God’s “hand”. It is Satan, that “crooked serpent”, who is God’s “hand”, by which God first takes away all of Job’s children, and his possessions, and then again, just a little later, it is Satan by whom God afflicts Job with boils from his head to his feet.

While all of this is apparently revealed to Job, after the fact, and is “written for our admonition” (1Co 10:11), it is evident from Job’s words in verse 14, that Job understands only “parts of His ways”.

Job 26:14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

So, as we will soon see, Job is just getting warmed up at declaring to us and to His own Creator just how good and righteous a man He is. Job does not “know God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent” (Joh 17:3). Not yet knowing God and His Son, Job confesses “Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?”

What is the New Testament answer to Job’s question? The apostle Paul acknowledges the Truth of this statement in the New Testament:

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Let’s put these words together with Job’s words: “How little portion is heard of Him… Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”.

Here is what “the sea” symbolizes, and this is how God deals with the “proud waves” of this carnal symbol:

Job 38:8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

Job 38:9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

Job 38:10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,

Job 38:11 And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

God tells us that our carnal will has “for it My decreed place, and set bars and doors”. Here is how this message is delivered to us in the book of Proverbs:

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

Pro 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Being “proud in heart” is the “proud waves” of the sea of our human minds and hearts, out of which we all become the beast of scripture which is indeed enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God and cannot be subject to God:

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Rev 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

So the symbolism of “divid[ ing] the sea with His power” is the same as “by His understanding… smit[ ing] through the proud” [Job 26:12].

What Job is telling Bildad and us is that his God has dominion even over all evil, symbolized by the proud waves of the sea” (Job 38:11). What Job is telling Bildad and us is that God has indeed made all things, good and evil, for Himself and His purposes, which will never be altered or added to or taken from:

Ecc 3:14 I have known that all that God doth is to the age, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God hath wrought that they do fear before Him. (YLT)

Through Job God is telling us that He is “the Father of spirits” good and bad:

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

Job 26:14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

“His hand has formed the crooked serpent” as well as “garnishing the heavens” with our knowledge of Him and His ways. Job is the type of God’s elect. This is revealed to us through Job’s repentance of His own self- righteousness. But as yet Job is just getting warmed up at declaring to us and to His own Creator just how good and righteous a man He is. Job does not “know God and Jesus Christ whom God has sent” (Joh 17:3). Not yet knowing God and His Son, Job makes the statement “Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?”

The apostle Paul makes this same statement in the New Testament:

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

“How little portion is heard of Him… Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”.

But while this world always stops at verse 9, verse 10 is still there in plain view for all who have been granted eyes to see this verse:

1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

How is this done? Our Lord Himself reveals to us:

Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Those to whom “My Father” has revealed “all things, yes the deep things of God”, have been shown that “My Father” reveals “the deep things of the spirit” by the “apostles, prophets, and teachers” He has placed within His own body:

1Co 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will continue to hear Job condemning his own Creator, while declaring his own integrity and his own righteousness in these verses:

Job 27:1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

Job 27:2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;

Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

Job 27:4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.

Job 27:5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.

Job 27:6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

Job 27:7 Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

Job 27:9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

Job 27:10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?

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Job 24:14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

Job 24:15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

Job 24:16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

Job 24:17 For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

Job 24:18 He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

Job 24:19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.

Job 24:20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

Job 24:21 He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

Job 24:22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

Job 24:23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

Job 24:24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

Job 24:25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

Introduction

In our last study Job, the Old Testament type of us while we are being judged, was still attempting to understand the principle revealed in “the parable of the tares of the field”.

Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

Mat 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

Mat 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

Mat 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

Mat 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

Mat 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

We saw that “the time of harvest” is the same as “the day of the Lord” which is the judgment which comes first upon the house of God.

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

The burning of the tares “first” is the judgment which begins at the house of God. In fact Peter calls this day of judgment which must “first begin at us” a time of “fiery trial which is to try [ us].”

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

So ‘trials’ and ‘judgment’ are the same in the scriptures just as they are in the natural realm. All legal trials are held before a judge, whose charge is to seek and reveal the Truth. In doing so, it is incumbent upon the guilty to “give an accounting” of what he has done. Then it is the charge of every righteous judge to render his judgment which is intended to make things right which have not been right.

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

Job is the Old Testament type of us as God’s elect. But the story of Job begins while God’s elect are still in Babylon, being physically blessed while under the strong delusion of such false doctrines as the prosperity gospel, and while we are still under the blinders of our own self- righteousness, just before our judgment begins.

Here is Job while he is “at ease in Zion” (Amo 6:1).

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

Job 40:8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

Job 1:2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

Job 1:3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

Just like those who are “at ease in Zion”, as Job we “put far away the evil day [ thereby] causing the seat of violence to come near”.

Amo 6:3 Ye [ Job, the type of you and me] that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

We all strive to become comfortable in this life, before we seek to be judged by our Creator.

Isa 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

What Job reveals to us of ourselves is that we just naturally fear the day of judgment, and we just naturally “put far away the evil day”. In doing so we “treasure up to ourselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God“.

Job 3:25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

Rom 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

The message of this book of Job is an expanded version of the judgment of Babylon within us which is mentioned in the last of the seven plagues:

Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

Rev 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Rev 14 has already informed us that this “cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath” is “the hour of His judgment… [ it is] the fall of Babylon… [ it is] the smoke of [ our] torment”, and then this same chapter informs us that all of this comprises “the patience of the saints, [ and] the keeping of the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”. Let’s read those verses and understand what we are reading:

Rev 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

“Her fornication” is the occasion which God is seeking to pour out on Babylon within us, “the wrath of God”. So “the wrath of God” and “the wrath of her fornication” are one and the same, as is made clear in the seventh plague of Rev 16:19:

Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. [“the wrath of her fornication”]

The last part of Rev 14 informs us that all of this takes place at “the [ time of the] harvest of the earth”.

Rev 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.

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.

Rev 14:16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.

Rev 14:17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

Rev 14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

Rev 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

So now we know that the harvest, the burning of the tares, the separating of the sheep from the goats, the wrath of God on Job (in type) and on us (in spiritual reality), and the day of the Lord, are one and all the “day of judgment” and “the patience of the saints… and the faith of Jesus” (Rev 14:12) which must come upon all men of all time, “each in his own order… beginning first at the house of God” (1Co 15:23, 1Pe 4:17, Mat 4:4, 1Co 3:21-22, and Rev 1:3).

This is the principle revealed to us in the parable of the tares which we, as Job, could not understand at that time in our walk. So we, as Job, ask why God would not lay folly to those who were so guilty of that folly. Not only do we ask why God does “not lay folly to them”, we also ask why he even goes as far as to bless that folly and those men of such foolishness, while cursing our old man.

Job actually answers his own question, but because he is incapable of applying his answer to himself, his great knowledge just puffs him up and is of no personal application or value. After all, Job is a man of great integrity in his own mind.

Here is his own answer to the reason God is blessing Job’s enemies while cursing Job:

Job 24:23 Though it be given him [“the sinner” vs. 19] to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his [ God’s] eyes are upon their ways.

Job 24:24 They are exalted for a little while [ the sinner], but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

This has great personal application for us all because:

Psa 90:3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

Job’s entire experience reveals to us that we are first very offended with God’s ways and His way of thinking. Here is what God Himself tells us about our own natural way of thinking:

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Eze 18:25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?

Has God given us, like King David, to see that ‘We are the man’ who has done all these things?

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God [ God’s chastening] leadeth thee [ that would be me and you] to repentance?

Rom 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;[“The sword shall not depart from [ our] house”]

Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

But as typified by Job, we see none of these spiritual truths, and we simply do not yet “know God or His Son”. Consequently we do not yet know what “life eternal” is.

Job 23:3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

Job 23:8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

Job 23:9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

But until that day of coming to know God arrives, as it is written in our book, we continue to complain to God of His unequal ways (Eze 18:25), and for treating us as if we were sinners.

Job 24:14 The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

The previous verse told us that the wicked despise the light of day:

Job 24:13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

“The light” exposes the murderer and the thief for what they are. So “they… rebel against the light”. “They” are of their father the devil, and it is His works which they will do. It is always first “they”, and at first it is never you or me.

So what does this “thief” do?

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

“The thief” who is first [ our] “father the devil”, is not capable of revealing our beastly nature to us, and he has no desire to have us to “suffer loss” so we can be “saved… by fire”, which is the very purpose and function of this whole story of Job.

Instead this is what our self- righteousness produces within us:

Job 24:15 The eye also of the adulterer waiteth for the twilight, saying, No eye shall see me: and disguiseth his face.

Job 24:16 In the dark they dig through houses, which they had marked for themselves in the daytime: they know not the light.

This is the perfect description of what we, as typified by King David’s adultery and murder, have done within our own lives, when we question “the goodness” of our Lord which “leads [ us] to repentance”. King David “waited for the twilight, saying, No man shall see me”, and when he was doing that he “knew not the light”, all the while considering himself to be the king and the representative of that light. Job’s self- righteousness has within us the very same end. We “reprove, contend with, and condemn” God (Job 40:1-8). This is what Job, the type of our own “old man” does:

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God [Psa 107:21-31] leadeth thee to repentance?

It is God who has made us to err and hardened our hearts from His fear (Isa 63:17), yet we are not even aware of what we are doing. It is actually in our Job- like self- righteousness that we, like King David, act like this:

Job 24:17 For the morning is to them even as the shadow of death: if one know them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.

“If one know them” refers to the murderer, the thief, and the adulterer of verses 14-15. It was God’s own people who killed Uriah and Christ. In other words, it is you and me who have done that. It is we who have been the murderer, the thief and the adulterer, and God is justified when He judges us and determines that our old man is not worthy of life, but his destruction is the fit channel through which our new man will be born. Christ knew the murderer, the thief and the adulterer within us all, and indeed He was “in the terrors of the shadow of death”.

Here is how the holy spirit describes what “the terrors of the shadow of death” worked within Christ:

Mat 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

Here is Luke’s version of Christ while He was “in the terrors of the shadow of death”:

Luk 22:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

So Job, as the Old Testament type of us, continues to lament the unimpeded blessings of the wicked. At the very same time, he is granted to understand that those blessings of the wickedness we commit in this life are temporal, while our future destruction is just as certain as our present blessings, and that destruction is permanent.

Psa 92:6 A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

Psa 92:7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:

Here is the fulfilling of that principle of letting the tares grow with the wheat “until the time of the harvest”, at which time, the tares are gathered first and are cast into the fire to be burned.

Job 24:18 He [ the wicked, our old man] is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.

Job 24:19 Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.

Job 24:20 The womb shall forget him; the worm shall feed sweetly on him; he shall be no more remembered; and wickedness shall be broken as a tree.

“He is swift as the waters” refers back to the murderer, the thief, and the adulterer of verses 14 and 15. “He knows not the way of the vineyards”, alludes to the fact that the murderer, the thief and the adulterer within us preys upon the efforts of others who labor to bring forth fruit.

“The drought and heat” are the judgments that brings our old man to “the grave”.

Here is what happens in the time of the harvest, when the time finally arrives for “their portion [ to be] cursed in the earth”:

Psa 37:20 But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.

Psa 69:22 Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare [ the blessing of our old man], let it become a trap.

The phrase “as the fat of lambs” demonstrates the principle upon which God operates. This is the very principle which is so frustrating to Job. It infuriates Job, who is the type and shadow of us, that God literally blesses our old man while persecuting our new man. Here is that very principle revealed in the book of Genesis. Remember, Ishmael is the son of the bondwoman. He is the type and shadow of God’s rejected anointed, carnal seed of Abraham, and this is what God tells us of this type of our own rejected anointed seed of Abraham, our old man:

Gen 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

Ishmael became “a great nation”, long before Isaac’s seed became a mere 70 souls whose descendants became the slaves of the Egyptians. Ishmael’s descendants had multiple cities and a capital before the type of the new man even began to flourish. The same is true of the next type of God’s rejected anointed, seed of Abraham, who was Esau. Esau also became a great nation, before Israel ever began to flourish. Esau met Jacob with 400 men from his nation which was called Edom, a name for Esau.

Gen 36:1 Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.

Gen 36:19 These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.

So it is God Himself who blesses our old man and makes him a great nation within us, while at the very same time outwardly persecuting and subduing the new man within us, just as our Savior was killed by His own people, but was resurrected from among the dead to become the victor over the old man within us all.

This is what Job cannot yet receive. Job, the type of us, thinks that outward works are sufficient to please God, but being the physical seed of Abraham and being outwardly circumcised does not change the heart of anyone. Isaac is the Old Testament type of those who are supernaturally born of God’s spirit. Those who are not born by the will of man, but are circumcised in their hearts, in the spirit, are “as Isaac was, the children of promise.”

Gen 17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

Gen 17:22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

Gen 17:23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.

Here is Paul’s commentary on these verses of Gen 17:

Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren [ Gentile Galatians, you and me], as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

So now we know what God is doing with Job, the type of us, as we are being judged and as we are coming to see that it is God who blesses our old man who is the enemy of our new man.

Job continues his description of his enemies, not yet aware that these enemies are one and all within himself, and are hiding behind the giant of self- righteousness of which we, as Job was, are completely unaware.

Job 24:21 He evil entreateth the barren that beareth not: and doeth not good to the widow.

Job 24:22 He draweth also the mighty with his power: he riseth up, and no man is sure of life.

Job 24:23 Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he resteth; yet his eyes are upon their ways.

Job 24:24 They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off as the tops of the ears of corn.

“Though it be given him to be in safety, whereon he rests”, is the revelation of this same principle at work. It is God who blesses our old man, while persecuting and killing our new man. “Yet His eyes are upon their ways. They are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low, [ and] are taken out of the way as all other.

Now Job poses this question:

Job 24:25 And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?

It is given to our self- righteous old man to see many of the principles upon which God operates. The very last thing any of us sees is that the worst enemy we have in this age is not anyone without, but is that beast we face each morning in the mirror. Like Job and like King David, we see the moat in our brother’s eye, but we cannot see the massive beam of self- righteousness within ourselves.

But God does see that massive beam, and it is the fuel for a great fire to be kindled within us, as it was in King David, and as it was in Job.

Psa 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou [ God] mightest be justified when thou speakest [ the Truth of God’s sovereign judgments in all things], and be clear when thou judgest.

Here is where this verse is quoted in the New Testament. Here is the answer to Job’s question, “Who will make me a liar?”:

Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings [ God’s judgments], and [ we] mightest overcome when thou [ and I] art judged [ by God].

Paul is quoting Psa 51:4 where David is confessing that God is indeed justified in sending the sword upon his house for the sin he committed in going after another man’s wife, killing that man and acting for nine long months as if he had done nothing wrong.

Here was the sin of King David, here is the sin of Job, and here is our sin:

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.

The solution to this lukewarm, self- righteous condition (Rev 2:14-15) is to “buy of me gold tried in the fire”, and that “gold tried in the fire” for King David and for us all, is this blessed gift from our loving heavenly Father, articulated here in 2Sa 12. That “gold tried in the fire” is our heavenly Father’s free gift, and He is justified in judging us thusly:

2Sa 12:9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

2Sa 12:10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

As always, anything that is bad news for our old man is good news for our new man. It is the greatest blessing ever given to the penitent “new man” when it is granted to us that “the sword… never departs from [ our] house”.

The way you and I ‘kill Uriah and take his wife to cover our sins’ is by settling for being half- hearted in our service to our Lord instead of “saving alive nothing that breathes” of the giants like self- righteousness which are just naturally within our own lives (Deu 20:16). It is by reproving God for judging us instead of confessing that it is we who have lied to ourselves concerning our own corrupt, self- righteous spiritual condition. “[ We] art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”, and we think we are “rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”.

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:

Exo 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

When we maintain our own righteousness, we are making God a liar, because God tells us that He is our righteousness.

Jer 51:10 The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

It has not yet happened but we will get to the point where Job will acknowledge his own sad condition and will accept with gratitude the wonderful works of God within his life. But this takes a divine intervention within the lives of us all.

Once again we will jump ahead to see exactly where it is we are headed:

Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,

Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,

Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

Job 40:6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

Job 40:7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

Job 40:8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

Next week, If the Lord wills, we will hear Bildad’s last feeble attempt to point his own self- righteous finger at Job. Because it is such a feeble attempt, we will also hear a little of Job’s self- righteous answer as he demonstrated that he too, can point his finger at Bildad.

Job 25:1 Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

Job 25:2 Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.

Job 25:3 Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?

Job 25:4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

Job 25:5 Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.

Job 25:6 How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?

Job 26:1 But Job answered and said,

Job 26:2 How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?

Job 26:3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?

Job 26:4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

Job 26:5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

Job 26:6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

Hi Mike,

I was getting some revelation, and I wanted to submit it to you to see if you thought it was sound, as you are to me a trustworthy brother. What do you think regarding this line that I am following:

“seven death blows (plege) for seven heads”
God’s plan for the carnal man in the elect
a beast with seven heads
first one blow (plege) for one head (part of the process ordained of God)

Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound (plege) was healed: and all the world (that Christ will overcome in me) wondered after the beast.

last seven blows (plege) for seven heads

Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues (plege) ; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues (plege) of the seven angels were fulfilled.

So is all this witnessed to here in these verses from Psalms?

Psa 37:10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
Psa 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

So the Bride can only be revealed in us after the seven last ‘plege‘ are fulfilled in us else we would not be faithful to all the Word of God and would not be the Bride?

I hope you have a great day and in all things you sense His effective working whether abased or abounding.

F____

Good morning F____,

Thank you for your kind words. I hope what I say is of some help. What you say here certainly is very revealing to me. Of course there is a connection with the seven heads and the seven plagues.

I will only add that virtually everything in God’s Word; the good we experience and the evil we endure, is all part of the revelation of Jesus Christ:

Psa 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

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

So the warning below concerns all of “the sayings of the prophecy of this book”, and “this book” is “the sum of thy word.”

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

‘The book of life… the holy city… and… the things… written in this book’ are all of the same thing. They are all inseparable parts of the revelation of Jesus Christ. That revelation does not begin at Revelation chapter one. It begins at Gen 1:1, and it ends at Rev 22:21.

I know that you know all of this. I mention all of this just to add that it all, like He who is “the Word”, is all ‘Is, Was and Will Be’. And that includes the word ’till’ (until).

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Notice that the word ‘last’ isn’t even used in this verse. So as I am dying, the beast within me with his seven heads is dying and Christ within is being revealed. Now Christ within me is that bride. As I die, He is being revealed daily. So the bride, too, is being revealed daily. It is all Is, Was and Will Be.

The answer to this idea that since we are a bride right now, then there must be neither male nor female right now, is that ‘neither male nor female’ has nothing to do with being Christ’s bride. Being neither male nor female has only to do with being one body. And in Christ there is only one body, and that one body is the body of Christ.

Look at these two verses:

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if ye [ be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

“Ye are all one in Christ… And if you be Christ’s then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Paul is dealing with two things when he wrote this verse. Under the Old Testament, Gentiles and women were excluded from entering into the rituals of worship:

Exo 23:14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Exo 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exo 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, [which is] in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Exo 23:17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
Exo 23:18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

“None shall appear before me empty… [of] all thy males” means that only the Israelite men were to partake in the sacrificial rituals of the tabernacle and later the temple. Of course, all Gentiles were excluded:

Ex. 12:43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof:

And a bondservant was simply a Gentile:

Lev 25:39 And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:
Lev 25:40 But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile:

Lev 25:43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.
Lev 25:44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.

So when Paul tells us…

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

…he is not saying that in Christ and under the New Testament both men and women are now part of the priesthood which was charged with teaching the people the law.

Heb 7:11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need [was there] that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

Paul’s point in Gal 3:28 is that through Christ, the father is now accessible to all. But all having access to God is not to be construed as all having the same place in His body. The fact that all have equal access is not to be construed as all being equal in receiving rewards for works:

Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Luk 19:16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
Luk 19:17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
Luk 19:18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
Luk 19:19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.

Neither is it to be construed as all having the same office or function in the body of Christ:

1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1Co 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
1Co 12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

There are many instructions on how each office is to be fulfilled. There are instructions to bishops, to deacons, to teachers, to husbands, to wives and to children. In Greek the word for man and husband are the same word (aner).

Mat 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband [aner] of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man [aner], which built his house upon a rock:

And the word for woman and wife are the same (gune).

Mat 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife [gune]: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman [gune] to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

There are very few men who have been placed into the body of Christ as teachers.

Jas 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters [didaskalos], knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.

Joh 1:38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master [didaskalos],) where dwellest thou?
Joh 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
Joh 3:2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher [didaskalos] come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

There are no women teaching there:

1Ti 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

1Co 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but [they are commanded] to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
1Co 14:35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
1Co 14:36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
1Co 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

Of course, there are many teachers in the body of Christ, and they are all there for the purpose of bringing “strong delusion” to those who are “the children of the bondwoman”.

So we, as Isaac, are the children of promise. And also ‘as Isaac’ we have brothers and sisters who are also “Abraham’s seed” by a bondwoman wife. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ who are indeed Abraham’s seed. But like Christ said with His ‘Is, Was and Will Be’ Words:

Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Remember, it wasn’t just unbelieving Jews who wanted Christ dead. It was “those Jews which believed on Him:”

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

“Ye seek to kill me… because my word hath no place in you… you are of your father the devil…” all words spoken to “those Jews which believed on Him,” who came by the multitudes to hear Christ’s words. It is exactly the same today.

This is what Ishmael, the son of Abraham, born of a bondwoman, represents. He represents all of the multitudes of Christians who come to Christ and like some of what they hear but simply cannot go all the way with Christ to the cross. They simply cannot accept that Christ really means that we are to love our enemies, and for many Christian women, they simply cannot accept “I suffer not a woman to teach” as a “commandment of the Lord.”

These people actually think that because they have taken of their time to go and sit at Christ’s feet that the very least Christ can do for them is to feed them with His loaves and fishes. To these Christians, much of what Christ teaches is very good, but there are some things that are also very bad. Here are Paul’s words concerning this group of Christians:

Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29 But as then he that was [spiritually] born after the flesh [carnal minded brothers] persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
[But we still have a brother who persecutes us]

I know you already know this, but we have spiritual brothers who are “born after the flesh.” This is all being spoken of in the spiritual realm. That “son of the bondwoman” is just another spiritual term for “Babylon The Great, The Mother of Harlots and of Abominations of the earth (church).”

The answer to this twisting of the scriptures to use the word ‘bride’ as a means of nullifying God’s words regarding the function of women in His body, is answered with your excellent treatise on ‘the fullness now’ doctrine. We are all the things we are promised in Christ. We are all of those things right now. Whether we are speaking of being a son, a priest, a king, a ruler, an angel, a house on a rock, a pillar in the temple, etc. etc. We are all of these things now:

1Jn 3:2 (a) Beloved, now are we the sons of God…

But it is only in earnest, in down payment form:

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

So we are given the rest of 1Jn 3:2:

1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

It is the resurrection of the dead which is “the redemption of the purchased possession” and this ‘fullness now’ doctrine which you dealt with so well is really nothing more or less than a slight twist on the old “the resurrection is past” doctrine which Paul was struggling with in his day:

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2Ti 2:16 But shun profane [and] vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.

Have you ever thought of “profane and vain babblings” as false doctrines?

2Ti 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

So instead of “the resurrections is past,” ‘fullness now’ doctrines, we are given the same assurance we were given in Eph 1:13, the assurance of being sealed and known of God:

2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

And we are also reminded that there is still “the son of the bondwoman” in our Father’s house:

2Ti 2:20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
2Ti 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, [and] prepared unto every good work.

It should not take a spiritual rocket scientist to see that Ishmael and Esau are “Abraham’s children” who have been placed in his house as “vessels of dishonor.” They are there in the “great man’s house” for that very reason; to “persecute the son of the forewoman”.

Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh [carnal-minded brothers] persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

So again, just remember that even the bride is being revealed in a process of which we must say:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

I hope I’ve said something which you will find edifying. I know that I am always edified and encouraged every time I hear from you. I was especially edified by that scripture in Psalms:

Psa 37:10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
Psa 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

It brings this verse to mind:

Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

I appreciate your input, too, so let me know what you think. I’ve learned much since I’ve come to know you.

Mike