Oba 1:18 And There Shall Not Be Any Remaining of the House of Esau

[Study Aired September 18, 2024]

Oba 1:18  And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.

Oba 1:18  And the house^H1004of Jacob^H3290 shall be^H1961 a fire,^H784 and the house^H1004 of Joseph^H3130 a flame,^H3852 and the house^H1004 of Esau^H6215 for stubble,^H7179 and they shall kindle^{H1814 (H8804 Qal)} in them, and devour^{H398 (H8804 Qal)} them; and there shall not^H3808 be^H1961 any remaining^H8300 of the house^H1004 of Esau;^H6215 for^H3588 the LORD^H3068 hath spoken^{H1696 (H8765 Piel)} it.

H1004 – Bayith, house, dwelling habitation, shelter or abode, place, receptacle, home, household, family, family of descendants, household affairs, inwards, temple, on the inside, within, probably from a primitive root H1129, Banah, to build, rebuild, establish, cause to continue, build a house (ie, establish a family), to be built/rebuilt, established 

H3290 – Ya`akob, Jacob = heel holder or supplanter, from a primitive root H6117, Aqab, to supplant, circumvent, take by the heel, follow at the heel, assail insidiously, overreach, overreach, attack at the heel, hold back

H1961 – Hayah, to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out, to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come into being, to arise, appear, come, become like, to be instituted, be established, be in existence, abide, remain, continue, to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated, to accompany, be with, be done, be brought about, be finished, be gone, a primitive root

H784 – Esh, fire, flames, supernatural fire, altar-fire, God’s anger, a primitive word

H1004 – see above

H3130 – Yosafe, Joseph = Jehovah has added, future(?) of a primitive root H3254, Yasaph, to add, increase, do again, join, join oneself to, be joined, be added to, cause to add, increase, do more

H3852 – Lehabah, flame, tip of weapon, point, head of spear, from H3851, Lahab, flame, blade, of flashing point of spear or blade of sword, from an unused root meaning to gleam 

H1004 – see above

H6215 – Esav, hairy, apparently a form of a primitive root H6213, Asah, to do, fashion, accomplish, make, work, produce, to deal with, act, act with effect, effect, prepare, attend to, put in order, observe, celebrate, acquire, appoint, ordain, institute, bring about, use, spend, pass, be done, be made, be produced, be offered, be observed, be used, be made, to press, squeeze

H7179 – Kash, stubble, chaff, from a primitive root H7197, Kashash, to gather, assemble, collect, gather stubble or sticks, to gather together, gather oneself together

H1814 – Dalaq, (Qal) to burn, hotly pursue, a primitive root

H398 – Akal, (Qal) to eat, devour, consume, slay, destroy, a primitive root

H3808 – Lo, not, no, nothing, without, before (of time), a primitive particle

H1961 – see above

H8300 – Sariyd, survivor, remnant, that which is left, from a primitive root H8277, Sarad, to escape, survive (Used once in OT)

H1004 – see above

H6215 – see above

H3588 – Kee, that, for, because, when, as/for though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since, yea, indeed, if, though, that if, for if, indeed if, but if/rather, except that, only, nevertheless, that is, for though, forasmuch as, for therefore, a primitive particle

H3068 – Yehovah, Jehovah = the existing one, the proper name of the one true God, unpronounced except with the vowel pointings of 0136 (not found in E-sword) from a primitive root H1961, Hayah, to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come into being, become, arise, appear, come, become, become like, be instituted, be established, be in existence, abide, remain, continue, stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated, accompany, be with, occur, come to pass, be done, be brought about, be done, be finished, be gone

H1696 – Dabar, (Piel) to speak, promise, a primitive root

The book of Obadiah parallels a fundamental theme of the Bible: there are two spiritual men in scripture, the old man and the new man. 

Eph 4:22  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
Eph 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

It is important to remember both Jacob and Esau are twin brothers, both born of the freewoman (Rebecca). Both were anointed, but the elder brother was the “rejected anointed.” Their story is a story of election, not of works:

Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither (Jacob nor Esau) having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)

Applied inwardly, judgment is now on the house of God, and our God is a consuming fire, so much so that there “shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau.” The “rejected anointed” shall be “rejected.”

The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, typifies the work of Christ in our lives. In this sense, fire has a positive application. In other words, fiery trials are good for us.

Deu 4:24  For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire,  even a jealous God.

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

The function of “fire” is to work a good work in our lives, to try our faith. The Greek word used for “try” is G1381 dokimazo meaning ‘to approve, discern and to test.’

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried (G1381) with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

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.

The consuming fire of God’s word searches out the hidden things:

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.

Oba 1:3  The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee..

Oba 1:6  How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!

Oba 1:8  Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

The wise men of Edom symbolize our proud heart, and as the gospel of Jesus Christ is revealed to us, we as ambassadors of Jesus Christ have Christ shining in our hearts to reform our old ways and thoughts.

2Co 4:2  But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
2Co 4:3  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
2Co 4:5  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
2Co 4:6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

As ambassadors of Jesus Christ, the elect of Christ, he gives us the knowledge of the glory of God and considers us his friends, revealing all things he has heard of his father.

Jhn 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Jhn 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

It is only if we remain faithful and overcome to the end, that we will be considered “overcomers.”

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Those who overcome are chosen according to election. In other words, it is not because of works, but of Him that calleth. This doesn’t absolve us from continuing our walk and continuing to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. If anything it inspires to continue to seek the scriptures daily to learn more about Christ and his Father. This is so we can know Christ, or rather be known of him.

Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God,

Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Those new to the faith may ask, “How can a God of Love hate? How can a loving God plainly state He hates Esau?”

Here is the answer Paul gives in the very next verse:

Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Reformation is a process, and that which is sown in dishonour (our old man, Esau), our carnal mind must fall away.

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

Jhn 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.
Jhn 3:31  He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

1Co 15:43  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:
1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

The house of Esau (the old man) is signified, in type, by Abishag.

1Ki 1:1  Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.
1Ki 1:2  Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.
1Ki 1:3  So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag (H49) a Shunammite, and brought her to the king

The Hebrew word Abishag (H49) is formed from two Hebrew words, father (H1 ab) and error (H7686 shaga) meaning father of error. Hitchock’s Bible Names has the name Abishag meaning “ignorance of the father”.

While the damsel, Abishag, cherished the king, even ministered to the King, scripture reveals the King knew her not. Therefore, Abishag in type, represents the rejected anointed.

1Ki 1:4  And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.

Christ also made reference to this concept of “knew her not.” Many will say they have ministered, and done wonderful works, but Christ (the King) will say to them I never knew you:

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, even though it may be “sought carefully with tears”:

Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Even though Abishag cherished the king, the King knew her not.

Here is how important knowing the King is:

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

On the other hand, Esther is a more appropriate symbol that foreshadows the bride of Christ, because scripture states the King loved her above all women.

Est 2:17  And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.

In summary, Jesus Christ is our one, true saviour, and has chosen to complete His workmanship in us, His chosen (His elect). As He increases in us, our old man decreases. There shall not be remaining anything of the house of Esau (our old man) because flesh and blood (the carnal mind, our proud heart) cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Esau is that stubble being burnt up, and because our God is a consuming fire he will be faithful to complete His workmanship in our lives.

Oba 1:18  And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – Part 4

[Study Aired April 3, 2023]

In the previous study, we focused on the life of Isaac to help us know more about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Today, we are reviewing the life of Jacob to help our understanding of the Lord Who has called and chosen us. As we have indicated previously, the experience of Joseph is regarded as part of that of Jacob. Thus, the reigning of Joseph is the reign of Jacob who represents the elect. All these three men (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) do not represent three separate individuals, but three aspects of one complete person in his relationship with the Lord. The number three signifies the process of spiritual maturity through judgment. The study today of the life of Jacob therefore completes the process we go through to become spiritually mature through the judgment of our old man. It is only when we mature that we can reign over the world with Christ just as Joseph reigned over Egypt.

Knowing God Through Jacob

The birth of Jacob and Esau – God’s predestination

Gen 25:24  And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 
Gen 25:25  And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 
Gen 25:26  And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.

The birth of Esau and Jacob tells us a lot about the role they were to play as they walked here on earth. The fact that Esau came out red means that his life here on earth was to be dominated by his adamic nature (red) as the name Adam literally means red. Jacob, on the other hand, was born holding the heel of Esau. What this signifies is that Jacob would constrain the adamic nature as we walk here on earth. In other words, Jacob was predestined before he was born to live an overcoming life as a shadow of the life of an overcomer. This is made clear in the following verses of scripture: 

Rom 9:10  And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 
Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 
Rom 9:12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 
Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

We, the elect, are therefore privileged to be called and chosen before the foundation of the world. This means that it is not of him who wills, nor of him the runs, but of God that shows mercy. We do not contribute anything to our salvation. All is the work of the Lord. Our lives here on earth have already been marked out.

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 
Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 
Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

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

Jacob’s Struggles with His Brother Esau – Our Struggles with our flesh

As an elect, we must be made to see the enmity between what the spirit desires and that of the flesh right from the very onset of our walk with Christ. As we stated earlier, Esau stands for whatever the flesh desires, while Jacob was born after the spirit. 

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 

The Lord therefore looks for an opportunity for us to start engaging the flesh. In the case of Jacob representing the elect, the Lord used the deception of Isaac by Jacob to receive the blessings belonging to his brother Esau to start engaging the flesh. This event marked the start of the conflict between Jacob and Esau which lasted for many years. In the time of Samson, during the period of the Judges, the Lord used the botched marriage of Samson with the woman from Timnath as the bait for Samson to engage the Philistines who represented the flesh.

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

In addition to Jacob’s conflict with his brother, he also had issues with Laban, his uncle, who also represents his flesh, after fleeing from Esau. Jacob always had issues with his fleshly relations and it is the same as what the Lord told David that the sword would never depart from his house. We, the Lord’s elect, will always have conflict with our flesh. As Jacob bowed down seven times before Esau, when they finally met again, we shall be completely overcome by the flesh before we are given to have victory over it. 

Gen 31:36  And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

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. 

Gen 33:3  And he (Jacob) passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
Gen 33:4  And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

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

Jacob’s Meeting with the Lord – The coming of Christ into our Lives. 

Gen 28:10  And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran.
Gen 28:11  And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. 
Gen 28:12  And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 
Gen 28:13  And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 
Gen 28:14  And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 
Gen 28:15  And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. 
Gen 28:16  And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. 
Gen 28:17  And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

Our victory over the flesh starts when the Lord comes to us at Bethel, the house of God or the church of the firstborn. As we can see from Jacob’s experience at Bethel, it was after he met the Lord at Bethel that his fiery trials began, starting from when he met his uncle Laban.

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

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

It is after our eyes open and our ears hear the word of the Lord that we have tribulation or persecution resulting from the word we have received. In the case of Jacob, the word he received from the Lord that his seed shall be as dust and that the Lord will be with Him is what brought about his fiery trials. Our situation is the same. It is when our knowledge of Christ starts to grow that we go through all kinds of trials and tribulations. The purpose of these trials is to put to death the deeds of the flesh, so that we can learn righteousness. 

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

Marrying Leah before Rachel – We end up in Babylon before we come to the New Jerusalem

Gen 29:16  And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 
Gen 29:17  Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. 

Gen 29:25  And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? 
Gen 29:26  And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 
Gen 29:27  Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
Gen 29:28  And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. 

Leah symbolizes Babylon or Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children, while Rachel stands for the church of the elect or Jerusalem which is above, which is the mother of us all.

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

It was in the morning when the sun came up that Jacob realized that he had been deceived. In our situation, it was when Christ, the sun of righteousness, started to shine in our lives (in the morning) that we came to realize we were in bed with Leah, who represents Babylon or Jerusalem, which is in bondage with her children. It was then the Lord started our process of exit from Babylon to be united with Rachel, a symbol of Jerusalem which is above or the church of the firstborn.

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

Jacob’s Suffering – Our Fiery Trials.

Jacob endured a lot of suffering as part of the process for him to learn righteousness. When we look at the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we can see that Jacob suffered the most. He had to flee for his life and go to his uncle Laban at Padanaram when his brother Esau planned to kill him.  

Gen 27:41  And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. 
Gen 27:42  And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. 
Gen 27:43  Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; 
Gen 27:44  And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away;
Gen 27:45  Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day? 

It was a scary journey he undertook with virtually no resources, as he slept using a stone as a pillow. Although the Lord appeared to him to reassure him, he had doubts whether his journey would be successful as he promised the Lord a tenth of all that the Lord would give him. In this journey of life, we have all had our doubts at various stages of our walk with Christ as we go through various trials of our faith, even though we have the surer word of prophecy, as a light shining in the dark place until the day star rises in our hearts. 

Gen 28:20  And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 
Gen 28:21  So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 
Gen 28:22  And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. 

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 

Finally, when he reached the end of his journey, the Lord had Laban, his uncle, waiting for him to become a thorn in his flesh!! Jacob really suffered under Laban. Laban deceived him regarding his marriage to Rachel by giving him the unattractive Leah; he changed his wages several times and tried to prevent Jacob from leaving him. 

Gen 31:41  Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times. 

On top of this, Jacob was always scared of what his brother Esau would do to him when he met him. To the natural man, Jacob’s life was completely messed up!! However, in the sight of the Lord, it is all part of the process of ceasing from sin to reign with Christ!!  

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

To all our brothers and sisters worldwide, who are going through all kinds of trials, the Lord is achieving for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!! Eyes have not seen and ears have not heard what the Lord has prepared for His elect, but He has revealed it to us by His Spirit. 

2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 
2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

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. 
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.

In the final analysis, Jacob was able to leave his uncle Laban and was able to reconcile with his brother Esau. The Bible says that when a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes his enemies to be at peace with him. 

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

Jacob endured further fiery trials through the defiling of his daughter Dinah, the revengeful act against the Hivites by his sons, the death of his beloved wife Rachel and the deception to make him believe that his beloved son Joseph was dead. This was how Jacob felt when his sons revenged the defiling of his daughter Dinah:

Gen 34:30  And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. 
Gen 34:31  And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

Laban Warned by the Lord – The Devil’s Power to Harm us is Limited.

Gen 31:24  And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. 
Gen 31:25  Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead. 

Gen 31:29  It is in the power of my (Laban’s) hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. 

Laban was so angry when he heard that Jacob had departed from him. He was, however, warned by the Lord that he should take care not to speak to Jacob anyhow. This shows the Lord’s intervention in the circumstances of the elect. What we need to remember is that He who has begun this good work in us will see to its completion in that day!!  Under the shadow of the Lord’s wings, we shall always dwell securely. This is what the Lord has promised us:

Isa 43:1  But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. 
Isa 43:2  When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 
Isa 43:3  For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Isa 43:4  Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. 
Isa 43:5  Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; 
Isa 43:6  I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; 
Isa 43:7  Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

Indeed, as the Lord’s elect, we are privileged that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

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

When Cain complained to the Lord concerning his punishment after slaying Abel, the Lord set a mark on him such that nobody can harm him.

Gen 4:13  And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Gen 4:14  Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
Gen 4:15  And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. 

We, His elect, also have a mark such that nothing can harm us in this life. Our mark is the suffering we go through. This is what Paul said about this mark:

Gal 6:17  From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. 

Jacob’s Prosperity During Suffering Under Laban – Our Growth in Spiritual Insight

Gen 30:25  And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country. 

Gen 30:27  And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake. 

Gen 30:43  And the man (Jacob) increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.

One of the significant aspects of Jacob’s life as he went through suffering under Laban was the fact that he became exceedingly prosperous. What this means is that as we go through our fiery trials, we grow in more spiritual insight. Apostle Paul puts it this way: when we are weak through the trials we experience, then we become stronger spiritually.

2Co 12:7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 
2Co 12:8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 
2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

The Change of Jacob’s Name from Jacob to Israel – Assurance from the Lord that we shall surely overcome!!

Gen 35:9  And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. 
Gen 35:10  And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. 
Gen 35:11  And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; 
Gen 35:12  And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. 

According to Strong’s Dictionary, the name Israel means “He will rule as God”, and the name Jacob means a “Heel catcher” or a “supplanter”. The Lord changing Jacob’s name to Israel means that being a supplanter of the flesh, Jacob was destined to rule the world. As we know, this is one of the promises that the Lord has given to us, the elect, that we shall rule the world in the fullness of time. At that time, it was almost impossible for Jacob to even imagine that he would rule the world. However, as we know, the Lord calls those things which are not as though they were.

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. 

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

The Reign of Joseph – The reward of the elect

As we have indicated at the beginning of this series, Joseph’s experience is regarded as part of Jacob’s experience. Joseph went through much suffering just like Jacob before he became a ruler in Egypt, which represents the world. 

Psa 105:17  He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: 
Psa 105:18  Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: 
Psa 105:19  Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. 
Psa 105:20  The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. 
Psa 105:21  He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:
Psa 105:22  To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.
Psa 105:23  Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. 
Psa 105:24  And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. 

As we can see, Joseph’s rulership brought Jacob from Ham to sojourn in Egypt. Being the father of the ruler of Egypt is spiritually equivalent to being the ruler of Egypt. One of the lessons we need to learn is that Jacob continued to grieve over the supposed “death” of Joseph until he got word that Joseph was alive. This is to let us know that the Lord feels the pains we go through in our fiery trials, but the good news is that, just as Jacob rejoiced when he heard that Joseph was alive and well, there will be great rejoicing on that day, when we are united with the Lord in resurrection to rule the world with Christ. This reminds me of a song we used to sing in Babylon as follows:

When we all get to Heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We’ll sing and shout the victory!!

Gen 45:25  And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father, 
Gen 45:26  And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not. 
Gen 45:27  And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: 
Gen 45:28  And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die. 

When Jacob was told the words of Joseph and he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, Jacob was revived. We can say that Joseph, in this case, represents the Lord Jesus Christ whose comforting words are what revive us. In addition to Joseph’s words, he saw the wagons or chariots that Joseph had brought. This reminds me of the departure of Elijah from Elisha. Elijah, who represents Christ, told Elisha, a type of the elect, that if he were able to see him as he was taken up, then the double portion of his anointing would be Elisha’s.

2Ki 2:9  And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 
2Ki 2:10  And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. 
2Ki 2:11  And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 
2Ki 2:12  And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 

Elisha was able to see the chariots and horses of fire which separated him from Elijah, as Elijah ascended. Seeing this ascension caused Elisha to see the exalted Christ or the exalted word of the Lord. The wagons (chariots of fire) that Jacob saw therefore spiritually represent the fiery trials that cause us to see the exalted word of the Lord, which is able to revive us until we are united with Christ on that day!! The horses of fire symbolize the fact that we are in a war against the flesh, and it is through our fiery trials that we become victorious. If we are not privileged to see this (our judgment), then we shall not be given the double portion of the spirit of Christ.

Gen 46:29  And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. 
Gen 46:30  And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive. 
Gen 46:31  And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me; 

Another important nugget of truth we can glean from Jacob’s anticipated meeting with Joseph was what Jacob said. He said that he will go and see Joseph before he dies. Finally, when he met Joseph, he told Joseph that now that he had seen him, he is ready to die. As we have stated, Joseph represents Christ and Jacob the elect. What this means is that it is when our eyes are opened and our ears hear the word of the Lord (Joseph) that we start the dying process. Incidentally, Simeon, also said the same thing when he met the baby Jesus in the temple as follows:

Luk 2:25  And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. 
Luk 2:26  And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
Luk 2:27  And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, 
Luk 2:28  Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 
Luk 2:29  Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: 
Luk 2:30  For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, 
Luk 2:31  Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

Indeed, Simeon saw the Lord’s salvation which the Lord had prepared for us and therefore was eager to go through the dying process.  The fact that our eyes continue to be opened and our ears are hearing the word of the Lord means that we are in the process of dying!! This is made clear by the fiery trials we are all going through now. It assures us that we shall reign with Christ just as Joseph ruled over Egypt!! The present suffering that we are going through cannot be compared with the glory to be revealed in the fullness of time!! 

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

May the Lord have mercy on us as He completes the work He has started in us!! Amen!! 

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – Part 1

[Study Aired March 13, 2023]

Introduction

When God burst on the scene to deliver His people Israel (type of His elect) out of Egyptian captivity, He introduced Himself as follows in the following encounter with Moses:

Exo 3:6  And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Exo 3:15  God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
Exo 3:16  Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt,

In telling Moses that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He is showing us that through His dealings with these three people, He is unveiling to us what His eternal purpose is, how His eternal purpose is being fulfilled and how He deals with the people that He chooses to accomplish His purpose. In this encounter with Moses, He also introduced Himself to Moses that “I AM WHO I AM”. This means that He is the self-existing one and is beyond comprehension.  However, we can know His purpose and His ways through His dealings with our fathers – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What we need to understand is that the patriarchs were three and the number three spiritually means the process of spiritual maturity through judgment. So, what we are going to learn about God introducing Himself as the God of our fathers is to show how He takes us from the pit of darkness to become spiritually mature sons through His judgment to accomplish His purpose.

If we add together all the different aspects of the experiences of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob including Joseph, who was technically part of Jacob, we see a clear picture of the complete experience of the elect and our understanding of God’s eternal purpose and how His eternal purpose is being fulfilled through His elect.

Exo 3:14  God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 

Isa 51:1  “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. 
Isa 51:2  Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.

The question is why did God introduced himself as the God of our Fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and not anyone else? It is because from the time of creation to the time of Abraham, nobody had been given the task of changing his circumstance to pursue God’s agenda of going through a land to be possessed by his future generation except Abraham. That takes a lot of faith since at that time, it was humanly impossible for Abraham to have a child!! This task given to our father Abraham was subsequently transferred to Isaac and then Jacob and it unveils God’s plan of salvation for the elect first and then the whole of mankind. God in His wisdom had caused Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to live their lives on earth in such a way as to demonstrate to us how those who will come later to believe in Him will come to know Him, understand His purpose for His creation and how He deals with His elect to fulfill His purpose. What we need to note is that while we walk here on this earth, it is impossible to fully know who God is because here on earth, we only see in part and when we become perfect (when we see him as He is), then we can know Him fully.

1Co 13:9  For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
1Co 13:10  but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

1Co 13:12  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

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.

I remember several years ago when the Spirit of the Lord was moving me in my quest to search the scriptures to know Him, some of my friends in the churches of this world told me that since we cannot know Him so much while we are here on earth, the little scriptures that we know should suffice in our Christian walk and so we should devote ourselves to prayer and obedience. The fact is if you do not know somebody well, how can you know what He likes or dislike? It is impossible to be obedient to someone you do not know well. They quoted this verse of scripture to support their claim:

Deu 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. 

They said that since the secret things belong to God, we should not worry ourselves when we do not understand certain aspects of the scriptures. They were not given eyes to see that the secret things here are those things about God which have not been written. This is because no books can even contain all that Jesus did. We are therefore admonished in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians to not go beyond what is written.

Joh 21:25  And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

The verse in Deuteronomy 29:29 therefore has become a stumbling block for many as they give up their quest to know God, forgetting that the same verse in Deuteronomy 29:29 says that the things which are revealed belong to us. The things which are revealed pertain to the Word of God that we have in our homes. They also forget Paul’s admonition to Timothy to study to show himself approved, a workman who need not be ashamed but rightly dividing the word.  Some even quote that knowledge brings about pride (1Co 8:1) and therefore as a result, there is no such desire to seek Him and know Him!! We have therefore thrown away knowledge and as the scriptures say, “for lack of knowledge my people perish”!!

1Co 4:6  And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

1Co 8:1  Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. 

As we are aware, our relationship with God is governed by knowledge just as our relationship with our family and friends are. Relationships are deepened through knowledge.

God, in His quest to establish a relationship with the Israelites in bondage in Egypt, needed to introduce Himself to the Israelites in a powerful way to convince the Israelites and even the messenger Moses to follow Him. Introducing Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is therefore very significant. As we explore God’s relationship with these patriarchs, we will get to know Him and how He relates to us.  We must remember that for us His elect, we are supposed to know His ways and His acts but for the others, they are destined to only know His acts!!

Psa 103:7  He made known his ways unto Moses (a type of His elect), his acts unto the children of Israel. 

In introducing Himself as the God of Abraham, our Lord Jesus Christ was showing us how He picks us from the miry clay and starts the process of cleaning us up to reflect His image and to give us the hope of salvation. The God of Isaac reveals to us that it is the Lord who does all the work within us, as we rest in Him. Isaac was privileged to have all the wealth amassed by his father Abraham. Even when he needed a wife, it was his father who worked through Eliezer to bring him a virtuous woman, Rebecca. All that Isaac did was to wait for the bride to come to him. The God of Jacob shows us how the Lord seeks an occasion to judge us by causing us to go astray and that through our judgement, we learn righteousness. The story of Jacob therefore highlights his deception as he deceived his father, Isaac, to receive Esau’s blessing and as a result, went through bitter suffering. Through this suffering, he learned righteousness and became spiritually mature such that He was able to inherit the promise – the rulership of the elect under his son Joseph who is technically considered as part of Jacob’s experience.

The Lord introducing Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was therefore a complete revelation of who Christ is, His work and purpose. The Book of Revelation is therefore a summary of the Lord’s introduction of Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It sums up who Christ is, our suffering which leads to righteousness, our reward, and the salvation of the world. In fact, every aspect of the Bible is a revelation of Christ, and most are circumstance specific. That is, we get to know certain aspects of Christ in these circumstances. For example, the transfiguration of Christ tells us about the fact that after our life here on earth (6 days), we shall be changed just like Christ was at the Mount of transfiguration. Our transformation begins as the law serves as our schoolmaster until faith comes (the appearance of Moses). This is followed by our need to repent (the appearance of Elijah) and then Christ comes into our lives to transform us.

Mat 17:1  And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart:
Mat 17:2  and he was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as the light.
Mat 17:3  And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. 
Mat 17:4  And Peter answered, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, I will make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
Mat 17:5  While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Mat 17:6  And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
Mat 17:7  And Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
Mat 17:8  And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, save Jesus only.

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. 

Mat 3:1  In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 
Mat 3:2  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
Mat 3:3  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

With all these in mind, let us begin by plowing through the life of Abraham to know what our Lord Jesus Christ means when He says that He is the God of Abraham.

Knowing God Through Abraham

Abraham’s Calling – Leaving Egypt (the world)

Gen 11:27  Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
Gen 11:28  And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
Gen 11:29  And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Gen 11:30  But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Gen 11:31  And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 
Gen 11:32  And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Abraham was steep in idolatry before God called Him to fulfil His purpose. His background was so dark that God had to appear to him twice. He was worshipping other gods in Chaldees when God approached him. Abraham was not the originator of the call. This shows that it is therefore not of him that wills or runs but of God that shows mercy.  It was God who took the initiative.

Jos 24:2  And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

Act 7:2  And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
Act 7:3  And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 
Act 7:4  Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 
Act 7:5  And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.

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

We can easily identify with Abraham. When God called us, we were also in thick darkness with no hope for us. However, God who is rich in mercy came to us to begin our spiritual journey. Even though we did not respond to His call immediately just like Abraham, He was always with us just as His spirit moved over the waters covering the earth at the beginning of creation when the earth was without form and void.

Gen 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

The number two means a witness. So, God always leaves a witness when He comes to visit us. The first time was in Ur of the Chaldees. In Acts 7:2, it states that the God of glory appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran. Abraham did not respond to this call wholly. However, his father was the key influence in moving Abraham from Mesopotamia to Haran, just short of the Promised Land (Gen 11:31). This is to show us that at the beginning of our walk, our own fleshly zeal (denoted by Abraham’s father Terah) carry us to a certain point in fulfillment of God’s purpose but it is not able to carry us far into the spiritual reality of Christ. That is what the scripture means by the following verse in Isaiah 61:5.

Isa 61:5  And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

The fact that the God of Glory visited Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldees is significant as Chaldees refers to Babylon. Thus, we are to leave Babylon which represents the physical churches of this world if we are to respond to God’s call.

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

When Abraham’s father died, then God appeared a second time to him in Haran (Gen 12:1-5). When we are dominated by the flesh, God uses our flesh to further His course and it is only when we start the process of daily dying to the flesh (represented by Terah’s death) that we can respond to God’s call in a positive way by moving to the Promised Land which signify the beginning of our dominance over the flesh.

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

Gen 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 12:4  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Gen 12:5  And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. 

Leaving his country and kindred to follow God speaks of us leaving Egypt, that is, the world to pursue God’s agenda.  The country and kindred that Abraham left signify the fact that God wants us to leave the world and the flesh behind (the flesh must die) in our walk with Him. Unfortunately, we all start our walk with Christ as carnal as depicted by Abraham leaving Haran with Lot.

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 

God’s Promises to Abraham – Being an instrument to save the world

The promise God made when He came to Abraham the second time is that He will make of Abraham a great nation and will bless Him and that through Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed. This was God’s purpose when He called Abraham.

Gen 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

This promise by God is to motivate and strengthen Abraham and the elect that will come later to accept God’s calling. The promises are of three-fold:  First, to make out of Abraham a great nation; Second, to bless Abraham and thirdly, to make Abraham a blessing to all the families of the earth. The great nation to come out of Abraham is the Kingdom of God which is now within His elect but will be manifest at the fullness of time. God’s promise of a blessing to Abraham is explained by Paul as being the promise of the Spirit. In Galatians 3:14, it is stated that the blessing of Abraham is that we His elect will receive the promise of the Holy Spirit through faith. Making Abraham a blessing to all the families of the earth is another way of saying that through the elect (Abraham) all humanity will be saved.

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

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. 

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.

Now let’s focus a bit on the blessings promised to Abraham our father and to us. Blessings can be physical or spiritual. Physical blessing relates to provision, benefit, protection, etc. In the Old Testament, the blessings that the men of God received are all physical. To be blessed physically is for our existence and as the Bible says, to exist only is vanity of vanities. Are we in this life to make a living for ourselves? Oh no!! It is in the New Testament that we are given spiritual blessings which relates to the fulfillment of God’s purpose. We need both the physical and the spiritual blessings to exist to accomplish God’s purpose. Spiritual blessings relate to being called and chosen to become holy and without blame before Him while we live here on earth as indicated by Paul. In addition to our physical blessing, we need God’s grace (spiritual blessing) to be able to accomplish God’s purpose. Grace means God Himself coming to us as revealed in John 1:17 to chastise us to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. So, we need both physical and spiritual blessing (grace) to be able to accomplish God’s purpose.

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 
Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

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

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Joh 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

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

The Departure of Lot – Doing Away with the Flesh

Gen 13:1  And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
Gen 13:2  And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. 
Gen 13:3  And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
Gen 13:4  Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
Gen 13:5  And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. 
Gen 13:6  And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
Gen 13:7  And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. 

As indicated earlier, Lot going with Abraham to the promised land means that we start our walk with Christ as carnal or fleshy. Over time, Abraham grew rich in cattle, silver and gold as he journeyed to Bethel which means the house of God. Becoming rich in silver and gold is to make us aware that Abraham was growing in the truth of the knowledge of God and was also physically blessed (rich in cattle). In other words, his eyes were being opened and his ears were hearing the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven. On the other hand, Lot, representing the flesh, is also growing in flocks, herds and tents. What this means is that the flesh was being strengthened. In other words, the flesh’s resistance to the things of the spirit is increasing within us as our eyes begin to see and our ears hear. Definitely, we cannot have two masters within us – one must be subdued. This conflict between Abraham’s herdsmen and that of Lot is all part of the work of the Lord to get rid of the flesh which in this case is Lot and his herdsmen. This is how the Bible describes this conflict:

Mat 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Gal 5:18  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

Since we are led by the Spirit, the flesh will be dealt with through our fiery trials which comes as a result of the word we have received. The exit of Lot from the company of Abraham signifies the dying of the old man and the birth of the new man after the image of Christ. The conflict between Abraham’s herdsmen and that of Lot signifies our fiery trials.

Gen 13:11  Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. 
Gen 13:12  Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Abraham’s Seed and the Land – The means of achieving God’s purpose.

Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Gen 15:2  And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Gen 15:3  And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 
Gen 15:4  And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 
Gen 15:5  And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Gen 15:6  And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

As already stated, God’s purpose as revealed in His encounter with Abraham is to have a people who express Him and through them all the families of the earth will be blessed. However, to fulfill this eternal purpose, there are two things that are needed – the seed (a son to be borne by Abraham) and the land. The seed here physically represents Isaac. However, spiritually, Isaac represents Jesus whose coming is to cause a people to express God’s image and His dominion. This people (a great nation) will later become a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Unfortunately, Abraham did not have a seed and so he counted on Eliezer as the seed. However, nothing that we have is useful for fulfilling God’s purpose.  God promised Abraham that He will work it out through him. In our walk with God, nothing that we have, or we can do (in bringing forth Ishmael) is useful for fulfilling God’s purpose. Just like Abraham, God has promised to work it out in us and bring forth the seed, which is the new man in us, borne after the image of Christ.

The second requirement for fulfilling God’s purpose is the land. The land is a place for God’s people to live in, a place where God’s enemies would be defeated, a place where God will have a habitation and a place where God will build His kingdom. Looking at it from one perspective, the land is our body. In another perspective, the land represents Christ. As the scriptures say, in Him we live, move, and have our being. It is in Christ that we can defeat our enemies and can build the kingdom.

Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 

Every kingdom has a territorial domain and in the case of the elect, our bodies (hearts and minds) are supposed to be the dwelling place of Christ or His throne where His kingdom dwells. Christ has to come and establish His kingdom within us first before the kingdom becomes visible later in another age. Unfortunately, the beast is already occupying the throne of Christ within us when we were borne. This is the same with Abraham. When he went to Canaan, the land was fully occupied by Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, etc. That’s why David said the following:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 

Since we cannot on our own defeat the beast within us, it is imperative that Christ must come first so that in Him we can drive away the beast or the flesh to establish His kingdom. That’s why it was extremely important for Abraham to have a seed (Christ) first. Without a seed, Abraham can only be a stranger in the land since he does not have what it takes to drive away the Canaanites occupying the land. That is why Abraham’s call was just to go through the land as a stranger. The good news is that Christ had assured us through His covenant with Abraham that we shall possess the Land. That is, we shall possess our bodies for Christ to establish His kingdom within us.

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

It took a long time for Abraham to have a seed and for the seed to multiply enough to be able to possess the land – more than four hundred years. In other words, it took a long time for Isaac to be born and for the twelve sons of Jacob to multiply enough to leave Egypt and to possess the land.

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

This shows the Lord’s patience in dealing with us before we are capable of dealing with the beast to establish the Lord’s kingdom within. We, His elect, must also learn to be patient in dealing with the Lord, our brothers and sisters in Christ, our family and the people of the world.

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

Next week, we shall continue with the God of Abraham, God willing.

May the Lord be merciful to us as Christ increases within us to establish His kingdom!! Amen!!

Jer 49:1-10 I Will Bring Again the Captivity of Ammon

[Study Aired August 28, 2022]

Jer 49:1  Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?
Jer 49:2  Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.
Jer 49:3  Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.
Jer 49:4  Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?
Jer 49:5  Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.
Jer 49:6  And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

Edom is also judged

Jer 49:7  Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
Jer 49:8  Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him.
Jer 49:9  If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
Jer 49:10  But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.

We have spent the last several studies on the judgment of Moab within us. Moab signifies our own flesh because he is the incestuous son of Lot by his eldest daughter. Ammon is the incestuous son of Lot by his younger daughter. Lot is Abraham’s brother’s son. He is Abraham’s nephew, and in that sense he is Abraham’s ‘brother’ as the scriptures put it:

Gen 14:16  And [Abraham] brought back all the goods [of Sodom], and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people [of Sodom].

Therefore, Ammon, who is both Moab’s brother, via having the same father, Lot, is also Moab’s first cousin because their mothers are sisters, the two daughters of Lot. In the same sense that Lot was called Abraham’s “brother”, Moab and Ammon are also Abraham’s ‘brother’. Like Lot and His first-born son, Moab, Ammon also signifies Abraham’s own flesh which “cannot inherit the kingdom of God”:

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

Jer 49:1  Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king [the king of the Ammonites] inherit Gad , and his people [the people of the king of  the Ammonites] dwell in his [Israel’s] cities?

When the Assyrians carried the northern kingdom away into captivity, the Ammonites rejoiced at Israel’s fall and retook all the land of Gad and Manasseh, which the Amorites had taken away from the Ammonites before Israel came up out of Egypt and destroyed Sihon the king of the Amorites and his army and possessed his kingdom, part of which had been taken from the Ammonites.

This fact is revealed to us in the story of the judge, Jephthah, who delivered Israel from the persecutions of the Ammonites many decades before the time of Jeremiah:

Jdg 11:5  And it was so, that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob:
Jdg 11:6  And they said unto Jephthah, Come, and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon.
Jdg 11:7  And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me, and expel me out of my father’s house? and why are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?
Jdg 11:8  And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Therefore we turn again to thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
Jdg 11:9  And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the LORD deliver them before me, shall I be your head?
Jdg 11:10  And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words.
Jdg 11:11  Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them: and Jephthah uttered all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.
Jdg 11:12  And Jephthah sent messengers unto the king of the children of Ammon, saying, What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land?
Jdg 11:13  And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably.
Jdg 11:14  And Jephthah sent messengers again unto the king of the children of Ammon:
Jdg 11:15  And said unto him, Thus saith Jephthah, Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon:
Jdg 11:16  But when Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red sea, and came to Kadesh;
Jdg 11:17  Then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land: but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. And in like manner they sent unto the king of Moab: but he would not consent: and Israel abode in Kadesh.
Jdg 11:18  Then they went along through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, but came not within the border of Moab: for Arnon was the border of Moab.
Jdg 11:19  And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him, Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place.
Jdg 11:20  But Sihon trusted not Israel to pass through his coast: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and pitched in Jahaz, and fought against Israel.
Jdg 11:21  And the LORD God of Israel delivered Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they smote them: so Israel possessed all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country.
Jdg 11:22  And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and from the wilderness even unto Jordan.
Jdg 11:23  So now the LORD God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?
Jdg 11:24  Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? So whomsoever the LORD our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess.
Jdg 11:25  And now art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them,
Jdg 11:26  While Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years? why therefore did ye not recover them within that time?
Jdg 11:27  Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.
Jdg 11:28  Howbeit the king of the children of Ammon hearkened not unto the words of Jephthah which he sent him.

Ammon, signifying our own flesh, has always been envious of the son of the freewoman, and wants to be Abraham’s heir, just as Hagar and Ishmael, who were even closer to Abraham, wanted to persecute and destroy the son of the freewoman:

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.

These things all happened to these people of the Old Testament, and they are all written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages are come:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Moab and Ammon both signify the flesh of our “first man Adam” who is always envious of, and at war with, the new man, “the son of the freewoman” within us. Cain, Lot (the son of Abram’s brother), Moab and Ammon all feel they have claim to being the heir because they are indeed the physical firstborn in every case. Not that Haran was born before Abram, but he was born long before Isaac, and Lot had followed Abram long before either Ishmael or Isaac was born. The Truth is that “the first man, Adam is of the earth, earthy”, and therefore he cannot be heir with the child of promise who signifies “the children… of faith”:

Gal 3:6  Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Gal 3:7  Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Gal 3:8  And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Gal 3:9  So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Gal 3:26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

If the Lord has written in His book that we are to be faithful to the end, then He has also written that we would first “fall seven times… lose our first love, [and] fulfill the seven plagues” before we would be granted to repent of losing our first love [and have our] captivity returned and brought back to the Lord and given back our inheritance.

Both Moab and Ammon, therefore, typify and signify that part of our ‘experience of evil’ (Ecc 1:13) where we ‘lose our first love’, and we want to take back the throne of Christ, which in type was taken from us by God’s design and was given to our new man. We never attempted to cast out the Amorites who had taken our inheritance from us because we felt that we could not make war with the beast within us, who the Amorites typify:

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?

The king of Ammon thinks nothing of warring against Israel over Gilead, which Israel had possessed for over three hundred years. We have no record that they ever once attempted to reclaim their inheritance while it was in the hands of the Amorites. However, in the time of Jephthah, they attempted to reclaim their inheritance which the Lord had given to His people 300 years earlier.

Here in Jeremiah 49 Ammon is again taking back Israel’s inheritance and rejoicing in Israel’s judgment at the hands of the Chaldeans. It all typifies our loss of our first love, which is also signified by the healing of the deadly wound upon the beast within us:

Rev 2:1  Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
Rev 2:3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

When we ‘lose our first love’ the Lord judges us:

Jer 49:2  Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.

It is the Lord Himself who causes us to be carried away captive, giving our inheritance back to Ammon, which typifies the dominion of our flesh being given back to our old man. That dominion is not forever, though it may seem that way at the time.

Israel’s seventy years of captivity signify the fact that the Lord’s elect bow to Esau within them “seven times”:

Gen 33:3  And he [Jacob, whose name had been changed to Israel the night before] passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother [Esau].

It is the Lord’s elect ‘Israel’ who must be “punished seven times more for [our] sins:

Lev 26:18  And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
Lev 26:19  And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:
Lev 26:20  And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.
Lev 26:21  And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.

Lev 26:24  Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

Lev 26:28  Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

It is the Lord’s own servant whom He loves who must be the first to “fall seven times” and have the Lord’s seven last plagues poured out upon them:

Isa 42:18  Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.
Isa 42:19  Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’S servant?
Isa 42:20  Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.
Isa 42:21  The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.
Isa 42:22  But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.
Isa 42:23  Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
Isa 42:24  Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.
Isa 42:25  Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

Now we know why “no man could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels” has been poured out upon that man:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God [Isa 42:25], 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.

Jer 49:3  Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.

Heshbon is the capital city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, which he had wrested from the Ammonites to make it into his capital. It was the first city conquered by Israel when Sihon refused to let Israel pass peacefully though his land.

Num 21:25  And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof.
Num 21:26  For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon.

“Chemosh, the abomination of the Ammonites”, had not served the Ammonites very well since he had permitted the Amorites to take Heshbon and its environs away from the Ammonites. Such is the service of all our lying, false, doctrines. Ammon, typifying our own flesh, did not learn a thing from the Lord’s chastening:

Jer 49:4  Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?

We may indeed be fruitful and possess much treasure in this world. We might even be militarily superior to every nation on earth, but it is foolish to trust in or take pride in such carnal and temporal passing things because when the Lord comes to “visit” and “to judge” He is not the least bit impressed with such temporary, physical things. It is in His power to strike fear into the heart and mind of the man of sin who is seated on the Lord’s rightful throne in our hearts and minds:

Jer 49:5  Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.

The Hebrew word translated as “wandereth” is:

H5074
נָדַד  nâdad  naw-dad’
A primitive root; properly to wave to and fro (rarely to flap up and down); figuratively to prove, flee, or (causatively) to drive away: – chase (away), X could not, depart, flee (X apace, away), (re-) move, thrust away, wander (abroad, -er, -ing).

Here is how this Hebrew word ‘nadad’ is variously translated:

H5074
נדד  nâdad
Total KJV Occurrences: 30
fled, 8
Psa_31:11, Isa_21:14-15 (2), Isa_33:3 (2), Jer_4:25,
Jer_9:10, Hos_7:13
wandereth, 5
Job_15:23, Pro_27:8 (2), Isa_16:3, Jer_49:5

flee, 4
Psa_64:8, Psa_68:12, Nah_3:7, Nah_3:17
chased, 2
Job_18:17-18 (2), Job_20:8
abroad, 1
Job_15:23
away, 1
2Sa_23:6
could, 1
Est_6:1
departed, 1
Gen_31:40
drave, 1
2Ki_17:21
moved, 1
Isa_10:14
removed, 1
Isa_10:31
thrust, 1
2Sa_23:6
wander, 1
Psa_55:6-7 (2)
wanderers, 1
Hos_9:17
wandering, 1
Isa_16:2

The most common translation is the English word ‘fled’. Even where it is translated as ‘wander’, it is speaking in the context of fleeing from or being pursued by an adversary:

Psa 55:6  And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Psa 55:7  Lo, then would I wander [H5074: ‘nadad’] far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.
Psa 55:8  I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.

Jer 49:6  And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.

Our salvation (‘bringing again our captivity’) must always be preceded by the destruction of the kingdom of our proud, rebellious, self-righteous old man, ‘Ammon’ within us.

What the Judgment of Edom Signifies:

Now the Lord turns our attention to the judgment of Edom, which is Esau, who signifies Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the world. While those who “come out of her” (Rev 18:4) will be brought into the temple of God, spiritual ‘Mystery Babylon’ will be destroyed. Edom is the only nation of the nations who are “Abraham’s brother”, and are in that way close to Israel, of whom we will not read ‘I will bring again the captivity of Edom’:

Jer 49:7  Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?

The answer to every question concerning Edom as a type of ‘Mystery Babylon the Great’ with all of her false doctrines is, “Yes, wisdom is no more in Teman, her chief city. Yes, counsel is definitely perished from her most ‘prudent’ leaders and elders, and yes indeed, wisdom is vanished from Edom, the type of the great whore, Mystery Babylon the Great.” No whore has any great wisdom. If she did, she would not be a whore. Only those who “come out of her” will hear the words, “I will bring again [your] captivity.” We will not see those words applied to Edom or Esau, the twin brother of Israel, the physical seed of Abraham.

Jer 49:8  Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him.

This is how the concept of “dwell deep” is expressed in the New Testament:

Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

“The time that I will visit him [is] the great day of His wrath”, and at that time we all become ‘deep dwellers’.

Four times we are told… ‘Esau… is Edom’:

Gen 36:1  Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.

Gen 36:8  Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.

Gen 36:19  These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.

Gen 36:43  Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites.

The fact this statement is repeated four times indicates that the whole of ‘Esau’ is under consideration. It is therefore of utmost importance that we understand who it is that “Esau, the father of the Edomites” foreshadows and typifies in scripture.

Esau is the closest to Abraham of the three nations who are called “His brother”. This tells us that Esau knows Abraham even better than Moab and Ammon who, through their father, Lot, are also called Abraham’s brother. Moab and Ammon came into the promised land via their father, Lot, who came into the land of Canaan with Abraham. It is the scriptures which tell us that Lot is the same as “the brother” of Abraham:

Gen 12:5  And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

Gen 14:12  And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

Gen 14:16  And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

Abraham typifies Christ:

Gal 3:6  Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Gal 3:7  Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Gal 3:8  And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Gal 3:9  So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

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

Christ is the true “faithful Abraham”, and Esau is the twin brother of Jacob who was beloved of God. Esau, on the other hand, was ‘hated’ of God “while they were in their mother’s womb… having done neither good nor evil”:

Rom 9:11  (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12  It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

As Abraham typifies Christ, the True Father of the faithful, Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, is the Biblical type of those who have no “respect unto the recompense of the reward”, treating faith in Christ as if it is no more valuable than a bowl of red pottage:

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

“The elder shall serve the younger” reveals that our old man will be supplanted by and will serve our new man. It is a principle which is adhered to throughout the scriptures. Esau was born before Jacob, and therefore had the outward claim to the birthright. The same was true for Cain who was replaced by Abel and then Seth. Ishmael was born before Isaac, Esau before Jacob, and King Saul was anointed before King David. Therefore Esau, who is Edom, signifies all those who came before Christ, and who now persecute “the Lord and His Christ”. That so happens to include all men who are still being ruled over by their carnal-minded old man and who are not in Christ. Esau signifies all religion which is in opposition to the Lord. He signifies the beast which comes up out of the earth with “two horns like a lamb [who] speaks as a dragon”:

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.

“Two horns like a lamb” is the same as being the twin brother of Jacob. The mind of Christ has no trouble distinguishing these two, but the natural man cannot discern the things of the spirit and he will always default to the natural mind. To our natural mind Jacob really was a conniving supplanter who obviously has no claim to neither the birthright nor the blessing.

Esau, in type, is not just those who are closest to Christ, and yet are His rejected anointed. Esau is certainly rejected, but he typifies all men who are rejected of God in this age. That is why we are told that the Lord’s ‘Christs’, His saviors, “will arise on mount Zion to judge the house of Esau”:

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S [“and His Christ”]

The only time “saviors… come upon mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau” is when “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ”, followed by a great white throne judgment:

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 20:4  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.

The power to judge is given to the elect of Christ at the beginning of the thousand years, and it remains in their hands throughout the time of the great white throne judgment:

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 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 20:11  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.

Esau shows no mercy to the Lord and His Christ because he sees Christ as an interloper and a supplanter:

Gen 27:36  And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

Jer 49:9  If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
Jer 49:10  But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.

Esau “is not” simply because he signifies the religious world which is all in opposition to the Lord and His Christ whom this world hates and counts as those who unjustly claim to be “the seed of Abraham”.

We will continue with the Lord’s judgment of Esau in our next study where we will learn that Esau within us thinks he can avoid drinking of the cup of the Lord’s wrath, but he will not be permitted to do so.

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.

If we endure His wrath in “this present time”, it will be well worth it:

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

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

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

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

There is a continual pattern in the word of God that reveals two men, the first Adam and the second Adam.

Both Adams are within God’s people and are typified by the two trees in the garden of Eden.

Gen 2:9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and goo d for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

Both trees come from the ground, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which represents the natural which is first, as well as the law for the lawless, and the tree of life that represents Christ or “the law of Christ” through which God gives His people the ability to abide in through Christ. We can, as a result of that relationship with Christ, grow in our ability to discern the light and darkness represented by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Psa 139:12). To discern that good and evil and to see the light and darkness as God intends us to see it can only happen through judgment which comes upon us as a result of abiding in the tree of life. Knowing God has created light and darkness, the good and evil, and being able to discern their function in life, is what God is granting those in this age who are “grow[ing] in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”.

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 

Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. 

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 

Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

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. 

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

2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

This particular Psalm reminds us of the war which we are up against in our heavens, the powers and principalities within us. This war in our heavens is described for us by using the very real enemies of David which are types and shadows of the enemies within us that we must conquer and overcome by God’s mercy being extended to us. 

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

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. 

This Psalm is structured in such a way that it shows us the problem, the cause of the problem and the solution that can come from God alone once His mercy is extended to us so that we can overcome. David cries out to God in regard to his enemies without, which we know represents the enemies within us that need to be overcome through Christ (Rev 21:7). 

Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 

Very often the end result of God showing mercy to David in the old covenant is demonstrated by God destroying his enemies, and that destruction of His enemies is a type of how we can rightly divide the word of God in our heavens when God shows mercy to us and delivers us from the man of perdition who will in God’s perfect time “be taken out of the way”.  

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

The sword is not departing from David’s house, but its function is being fulfilled in bringing him to a point of crying out and detailing the great struggle he is having against all his enemies described in this Psalm. This sword that does not depart from David’s house represents the tree of life that Christ is to us, as well as the sharp two-edged sword in our lives that gives us the ability to discern good and evil. The benefit from this ability to discern, given to us by this rightly divided word that sanctifies us, is that we can then be partakers of strong meat that helps us mature in the Lord.

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. 

Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 

In the physical realm of King David we have many dramatic stories of how he was attacked by his enemies, and this particular Psalm is no different. Before David describes all that he is going through, he does what we all must do to become more than conquerors through Christ, and that is to go to God and ask him “Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise” against our enemies within. Saying “Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise” is another way of saying “Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy” (vs 26 and our title).

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. 

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.

Psa 109:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;

As we’ve seen in our introduction, the starting point of our overcoming any particular situation is to go to God in prayer and praise, as we ask him to “Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise” against all that is contrary to Him within us.

God knows what we need before we ask him (Mat 6:8), so we can have confidence that His mercy will prevail as He brings us to see what we need to change in our lives as we carefully examine ourselves whether or not we are in the faith (2Co 13:5).

The order never changes in that regard, and we need God’s mercy upon us to always bring us to first examine ourselves before we try to remove the beam from someone else’s eye, if God will permit that, as it is needful at times (Mat 7:5, Mat 18:15-17).

The context of Christ’s words that precede our well-known (Mat 18:15-17) commandments is very telling as it talks about “if thy hand or thy foot offend thee” (Mat 18:8) and “if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out” (Mat 18:9). As a many-membered singular body of Christ, we are taking care of each other when we take care to examine ourselves first, not neglecting the need to help a brother or sister whose foot is offending or whose eye may be offending, but always asking God to “Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise” on our own worse enemy who we face every morning in the mirror.

Psa 109:2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
Psa 109:3 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.

This is perhaps one of the hardest things to endure as a Christian as we go about our daily life and begin to be shown that “the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me:” and “they have spoken against me with a lying tongue“.

Christ allows this kind of persecution to come upon the body of Christ to remind us what we have done to Christ and how deceitful and desperately wicked the heart of all men can be unless the Lord gives us that new softened heart of mercy that he promises he will do in time for all the world (Jer 17:9, Eze 36:26).

People also compassed Christ about with words of hatred, and they fought against him without cause, which again demonstrates to us what we all do at first against Christ and His Christ. It is that threatening spirit that God allows to come up against us which we must overcome by asking Him to give us the power to love our enemies and understand that they are exactly where we would be except for the grace and faith of Christ. God has them there in fact for our good!

Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 
Act 4:29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, 

Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 

Luk 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 

Psa 109:4 For my love^{H160 (G25 in ABP+)} they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
Psa 109:5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love^{H160 (G26 in ABP+)}.

Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love^H160 he had to her (Gen 29:20). That word for love^H160 in Genesis 29:20 is the same word used in this verse (Psa 109:4) which reminds us that our adversaries are there for us to love and pray for even when they reward us evil for good as Laban did unto Jacob. 

Gen 29:20  And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the loveH160 he had to her.

That selfish and controlling spirit of Laban was not going to inhibit God’s plan and purpose for Jacob from being fulfilled, but rather demonstrates to us in type and shadow that all things work together for the good for those who love God and who are called according to his purpose.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 

Laban pursued Jacob and in his own devious way rewarded him evil for good, but in the end it was Jacob who represents Christ who overcame all these trying circumstance to finally be with his bride Rachel who represents the church. We could also say that Laban created the needful resistance that Jacob needed in order to be made ready for marriage. The fourteen years that Jacob served Laban for his daughters is a type and shadow event of Christ’s lineage in the earth, that goes from the old covenant wine to the new covenant wine which is the better wine at the wedding of Canaan that represents our wedding to Christ as Rachel (Mar 2:22, Joh 2:10).

Gen 31:36  And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

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

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

Mat 1:17  So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations. 

Gen 31:41  Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

Christ like Laban goes that extra mile for us, and we go that extra mile for each other with our Lord working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure so that we can be blessed to be among those who obtain to the blessed and holy first resurrection.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 
Mat 5:40  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 
Mat 5:41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 
Mat 5:42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 

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 

Psa 109:6 Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
Psa 109:7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
Psa 109:8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
Psa 109:9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
Psa 109:10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their breadalso out of their desolate places.
Psa 109:11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.
Psa 109:12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
Psa 109:13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
Psa 109:14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Psa 109:15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

I’ve put all these verses together because they are essentially saying the same thing as they talk about what Satan will be considering about who we are, as the Lord allows him to unleash in our lives various trials as he did in the life of Job and now in the life of David’s enemies.

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? 

We must notice how the Lord inspired the translation in the KJV by adding the word “let” so often through these verses (see YLT for comparison): 

Let Satan stand at his right hand (And an adversary standeth at his right hand -YLT)

Let him be condemned (he goeth forth wicked -YLT)

Let his prayer become sin (his prayer is for sin -YLT)

Let his days be few (His days are few -YLT)

Let another take his office (his oversight another taketh -YLT)

Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow (His sons are fatherless, and his wife a widow -YLT)

Let his children be continually vagabonds (And wander continually do his sons -YLT)

Let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. (Yea, they have begged, And have sought out of their dry places -YLT)

Let the extortioner catch all that he hath (An exactor layeth a snare for all that he hath -YLT)

Let the strangers spoil his labour (And strangers spoil his labour -YLT)

Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children (He hath none to extend kindness, Nor is there one showing favour to his orphan -YLT)

Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out (His posterity is for cutting off, In another generation is their name blotted out -YLT)

Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD (The iniquity of his fathers Is remembered unto Jehovah -YLT)

Let not the sin of his mother be blotted out (And the sin of his mother is not blotted out -YLT)

Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth (They are before Jehovah continually, and He cutteth off from earth their memorial)

There is a fiery connection in all this ‘letting’ to what God is letting Christ do to the man of perdition who is being destroyed by the brightness of his coming as well as what God is letting Satan do to frustrate and withhold “only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” until the appointed time that Christ takes him out of the way, just like Laban in his appointed time was taken out of the way of Jacob’s life (Joh 8:36).

2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now lettethG2722 will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Letteth G2722   katechō  

1) to hold back, detain, retain

1a) from going away

1b) to restrain, hinder (the course or progress of)

1b1) that which hinders, Antichrist from making his appearance

1b2) to check a ship’s headway, i.e. to hold or head the ship

1c) to hold fast, keep secure, keep firm possession of

2) to get possession of, take

2b) to possess

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

These verses are also a shadow of the reality that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God and that all things must become new “that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth” (1Co 15:50, 2Co 5:17).

Verse 15: Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

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

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

Psa 109:16 Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.

We have a small reprieve from all the “let it be so” comments of David against his enemies in this verse, and we are given the answer as to why all this affliction and grief must come upon our enemies within us: “Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.”

It is through the destruction of all those “let it be so” examples which David uttered that a new creation will be formed that will show mercy. Mercy does not come easy to hearts that have been hardened for years by the deceitfulness of sin, but if the Lord is working with us in this age, that wickedness will be burnt out and we will start to reflect pure religion in taking care of the “poor and needy” and taking care of the “broken in heart” who are broken in heart because God has given them this new heart.

Heb 3:13  But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 

When God chastens and scourges us as his sons it is for good reason, and as we have seen He is doing this so that we will remember to “shew mercy”, and that mercy will be reflected in our love for one another and in our obedience to His commands and in being of one mind in Christ.

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

Php 2:1  If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the second part of our study entitled “Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy” where we will see more of God’s judgment being poured out upon our carnal nature which God is changing by mercifully putting us through the trials and much tribulation that we need in order to have Christ’s mind formed within us.

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

Psa 109:17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
Psa 109:18  As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. 
Psa 109:19  Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. 
Psa 109:20  Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul. 
Psa 109:21  But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. 
Psa 109:22  For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. 
Psa 109:23  I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. 
Psa 109:24  My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness. 
Psa 109:25  I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads. 
Psa 109:26  Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: 
Psa 109:27  That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it. 
Psa 109:28  Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice. 
Psa 109:29  Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle. 
Psa 109:30  I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. 
Psa 109:31  For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul. 

Could you tell me who Jacob is? I know the family has a history of deception and trickery.  Isaac tricked, Jacob tricks his brother, Jacob is tricked by the father-in-law, Jacob tricks the father-in-law, the brothers trick Joseph into slavery, Joseph tricks his brothers to bring their younger brother back.

Is Jacob a type of Christ and his elect?

B____​

Hi B____​

Thank you for your question concerning the Lord’s choice of Jacob as a type of Christ and His elect.

While all the deceit and trickery of Jacob and his mother against Esau and Isaac have no resemblance to our Head (Christ), it certainly does reflect us as His body. We need to know Christ did not consider His personal flesh and blood to be fit for the kingdom of heaven any more than our sinful flesh is. He challenged the man who called Him ‘good master’, and He informed us that He was not yet perfected while in this earthen vessel:

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

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 [at His resurrection] I shall be perfected.

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

So while the flesh and blood of our head, Christ, was the same as ours yet because He was conceived in HIs mother’s womb of the holy spirit of His Father, and because He was not given that spirit “by measure”, He was kept from ever sinning, even as He walked about on this earth in a body of corruptible flesh and blood:

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: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. [This is not true of any of us. Both of our parents are completely “in Adam”, 1Co 15:22.]

Joh 3:34  For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. [This is not true of any of us. We have all been given “the measure of faith”, Rom 12:3.]

We, “His body… the church”, on the other hand are ​eminently qualified and demonstrated to be just as guilty and deceitful as any of the Old Testament types of Christ. As you noticed, Jacob took advantage of his brother’s hunger to take Esau’s birthright away from him. He conspired with his mother to lie to and to deceive Isaac into blessing Jacob instead of Esau.

Many years later another type of God’s elect, King David, committed adultery with the wife of one of his own captains, a man named, Uriah, and then he had Uriah to be murdered by the Ammonites to cover up his sin.

So now we have every reason to say of ourselves, as the Lord’s elect, “God be merciful to me a sinner”, and to acknowledge that from my own perspective “Christ came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am chief”.

Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

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.

This is what qualifies anyone to be a follower of Christ:

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

The stories of Jacob and King David are both stories of base men, acting very foolishly in the weakness of their flesh, doing things we all despise, and He chose those men to typify us as His perfected saints because that is something which is not yet completed and yet we are declared to be “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.
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.

The next verse of 1Corinthians 1 tells us why God has chosen the base, weak and despised things “which are not” yet perfected to be His elect sons:

1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

I hope this helps you to see why the story of Jacob, a man who was willing to lie, cheat and steal, is used as a type of the spiritual children of God:

Luk 16:8  And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

Christ was not justifying the theft of the unjust steward. He even went on to say:

Luk 16:10  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
Luk 16:11  If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Luk 16:12  And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?

Nevertheless, He does use that thief and Jacob as examples of how resourceful and desirous we should be to obtain our birthright:

I hope this helps you to see that Jacob really is a very good type and shadow of the Lord’s elect who, in their own estimation, have been so sinful that they cannot so much as raise their heads before God because they perceive themselves as the despised, weak and base men of this age.

Your brother in Christ, Mike

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 10 Discussion

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Isa 2:6-14 Enter Into The Rock

Isa 2:6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
Isa 2:7 Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
Isa 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
Isa 2:9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
Isa 2:10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
Isa 2:11 The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
Isa 2:12 For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
Isa 2:13 And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
Isa 2:14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,

Our study today will demonstrate that it is God who leads us into temptation, and it is He who brings us out. We will see that this was His plan from "before the world began" (2Ti 1:9 and Tit 1:2) and that He is carrying out this plan in every life (Ecc 9:2), "each in his own order" (1Co 15:23). It is this knowledge which will explain the abrupt change in tone between the last week's study and this week's study.

The first five verses of this chapter are in stark contrast in tone, and in time, to the entire first chapter of Isaiah. Both chapters are addressed to the same audience, to the Lord's own people. Of course all men are the Lord's creation, and thereby they belong to Him, but scripture is not intended to be understood by all men at this time, as Matthew 13 and Ephesians 1 make clear concerning the difference between those who "are not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" in this age, and those who are given "eyes that see... and ... ears that hear" in this age, and who are given to be those "who first trusted in Christ":

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

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

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
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:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Paul says "In whom we have redemption". So we must ask, "is that not referring to all who will be given life in Adam (1Co 15:22)?" The answer is an unequivocal, No, it is not! We know this is so, because he qualifies all these personal pronouns with "We... who first trusted in Christ", and he tells us we were chosen in Christ "before the foundation of the world [to be] those who fist trusted in Christ" . He is not at this place in scripture speaking of or to 'all in Adam'.

Verse 10 is speaking of 'all in Adam as well as all the heavenly realm:

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:

This next verse is the "we" of Ephesians 1, and this is who Isaiah also is addressing in this age:

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.

Those who first "enter into the Rock.. for the fear of the Lord " are those to whom it is given to be those for whom "judgment must first begin" (1Pe 4:17), those who are the first to be "given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" and who were "chosen in Him before the foundation of the world... to be the firstfruits unto God and the lamb" (Rev 14:4). These are "the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb" (Rev 14:4). But they are nowhere ever called 'the only fruits". This first harvest is said to be "few", and these few are called those who "first trusted in Christ". It will be these "few... who first trusted in Christ [who will] have part in the... blessed and holy... first resurrection" (Rev 20:6).

Just as the phrase "the first resurrection" necessitates a later resurrection at the "great white throne judgment", so also does the phrase "the firstfruits" necessitate a later harvest of "all in Adam" (1Co 15:22), at that same later "great white throne... judgment". Those who are resurrected at this later, great, white throne judgment are those who are raised to what the King James calls the "resurrection of damnation".

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 ["the first resurrection"]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [resurrection of condemnation, not "damnation'].

The 'condemnation' is the same condemnation under which our own old man, our own "first man Adam", is condemned:

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
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.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God [in either resurrection]; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

But contrary to what the daughters of the great harlot teach about how easy it is to become a faithful disciple of Christ and to appear in that blessed and holy first resurrection, the truth is the exact opposite, that it is only through "much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of God.

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

The message of our study is that we must all, each in our own time, first be the children of that great whore, who are "not given... to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven... because you have forsaken you children" (Isa 2:6). Only after we have spent a symbolic 'seventy years' being completely deceived by the great harlot, then we must all "come out of her" (Rev 18:4) before we can truly "enter into the Rock... for the fear of the Lord (Isa 2:10)". All these words are addressed to us, and they are "for [our] sakes" (1Co 3:22), nevertheless it is those to whom it is "not given... to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" in this age who comprise the harlot herself. This is the harlot of whom Isaiah 1 and all but the first five verses of chapter two tell us we must "come out" (Rev 18:4):

Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

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

2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

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

Look at the message and tone of Isaiah 1:

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward ["because you have forsaken your people..." Isa 2:6]

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Pro 20:24 Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

Verse 10 tells us "Judah and Jerusalem" are the same as "Sodom and Gomorrah", and verse 21 tells us Judah and Jerusalem are the great harlot of Revelation 17 and 18. That "great harlot" is God's own people who "have rebelled against [Him]". (Isa 1:2)

Now we can understand what is the reason for the stark change in tone in verse 6, from the first five verses of chapter 2, which we covered in last week's study. Going from chapter 1, informing us of our rebellious and whorish ways which we all are given to live through as we live out our symbolic seventy years in Babylon, where we believe and claim to be His people, chapter 2 jumps way ahead to "the last days" and begins with a very different tone:

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isa 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isa 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.

It is only the "few... firstfruits, [the] overcomers" who live out and experience Isa 2:1-5 inwardly in this age. These verses do have an inward application at this time, but that application is only lived out in this time in God's elect few.

Now let's go to the rest of this chapter beginning with verse 6, the first of the 9 verses we will be covering in today's study, and ask ourselves why the sudden and dramatic change of tone:

Now let's read verses 5 and 6 together and see if we can make any sense of why we have this incredible change of tone between these two verses:

Isa 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Isa 2:6 Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

Taken by themselves these verses appear to say "Let us walk in the light of the Lord. Therefore you have forsaken your people the house of Jacob..." and that appears completely incoherent.

God does not forsake His people because they walk in the light of the Lord. According to Christ Himself to "walk in the light of the Lord" is to "follow [the Lord]":

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

If we follow Christ, why then, are we being told "Therefore you have forsaken your people..." That appears to be completely contradictory... 'Follow Christ... therefore Christ has forsaken [His] people the house of Israel'???

There are two reasons why that appears so impossible to understand. The first is that, as is so often the case, it is not properly translated, and the second reason is that we are forgetting that the first five verses concern themselves with what will "come to pass in the last days", while verse 6 is bringing us back to the necessary process which God uses to get us each to our "last days".

Let's read it again:

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

So if we want to understand why there is such an abrupt change in tone from verse 5 to verse 6, we must keep in mind first, that the work of God in His creation is through the process of judgment He is working in all men to judge and to destroy the kingdom of the carnal, rebellious, beastly man of sin, the first man Adam, the old man within all of us. Then secondly, when we discover that the word translated as "therefore" is the exact same word translated as "because" in this very same verse, then these two verses begin to make much more spiritual sense to those who know something of that spiritual process known as God's chastening judgment:

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

1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned [to a later judgment] with the world.

With the necessity of that chastening process in mind, notice that the word "therefore", the first word of verse 6, has the exact same Strong's number as the word translated "because" in this very same verse. Here is this verse with all of its Strong's numbers:

Isa 2:6 Therefore^H3588 thou hast forsaken^H5203 thy people^H5971 the house^H1004 of Jacob^H3290, because^H3588 they be replenished^H4390 from the east^{H4480 H6924}, and are soothsayers^H6049 like the Philistines^H6430, and they please themselves^H5606 in the children^H3206 of strangers^H5237.

So how is this Hebrew word most commonly translated? Here is where it appears in the Old Testament, and the various ways it is translated in the order of the most common to the least common:

H3588
כּי
kı̂y
Total KJV Occurrences: 1120
because, 460; when, 245; if, 166; surely, 58; though, 48; yet, 15; save, 14; how, 11; yea, 10; except, 9; seeing, 9; although, 8; even, 7; nevertheless, 5; whereas, 5; much, 4
assuredly, 3; else, 3; now, 3; than, 3; until, 3; while, 3; forasmuch, 2; so, 2; then, 2; therefore, 2; unless, 2; whether, 2; certainly, 1; doubtless, 1; either, 1; inasmuch, 1; more, 1; rightly, 1; since, 1; thus, 1; till, 1; truly, 1; truth, 1; what, 1; wherefore, 1; which, 1; whom, 1; whose, 1

The English word 'because' is by far the most common translation for this Hebrew word 'kiy'. Of the 1120 times this Hebrew word appears in the Old Testament, it is translated as 'therefore' only two other times. Now 'therefore' and 'because' are not that different in meaning. So let's replace 'therefore' with 'because', and let's replace 'because' with 'therefore' remembering that the first five verses "concern... the Lord's house... in the last days", and let's see what verses 5 and 6 reveal to us when this change is made:

To get the proper understanding of what the holy spirit is telling us, I will read the first five verses along with verse 6:

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isa 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isa 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.
Isa 2:6 [Because] thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, [therefore] they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

While the word 'because' may seem little different from the word 'therefore' to those who are given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, the word 'because', which is the proper translation for the Hebrew word 'kiy', connects that which comes to pass in the last days to what the Lord Himself must first do in the lives of His people before they can be prepared to "come out of [Babylon]. What God must do before He can bring His people out of Babylon is to "forsake your people the house of Jacob", turn them over to a cruel task master, replenish them from the east, and make them soothsayers like the Philistines. He must send them as slaves into Babylon to serve a symbolic 70 years in the deceitful lies of that apostate, adulterous system. It is He who is ruling in the kingdoms of men and in the lives of all men who live in those kingdoms, and it is He who makes His own people to err and who hardens their hearts from His fear. That is why that change of tone is there, and that is exactly what these verses reveal:

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

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.

The future is no mystery to God. He foretold exactly how long Israel would serve Babylon, exactly what would be the fruit of that curse upon His people, and exactly what would become of their oppressors when they had served their purpose.

Jer 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jer 25:12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual [Hebrew: olawm - age] desolations.

Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

Dan 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

It is Jer 29:10 which explains what God tells us in verse 6 of Isaiah 2. The "good word[s] toward you" of the first five verses of chapter 2 can only come to pass after '[He] forsakes [His] people the house of Israel', sends them to Babylon for seventy years, and only then can the Lord can call them out of Babylon to walk in the light of the Lord.'

Isa 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Isa 2:6 Because thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, therefore they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

In other words, it is all being worked by God for Himself after the counsel of His own will:

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

Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Eph 1:8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
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:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

Now we will return to the judgment we must endure before we can truly walk in the light of the Lord and establish the Lord's house in the top of the mountains of our lives (Isa 2:2).

And where do we get all of this silver and gold and treasures with which Babylon is so full? Here is where it originates:

Eze 16:17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

Rev 18:12 The [spiritual] merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, [in spiritual Babylon].

It is with God's own word that we make false doctrines that accord with our own deceived minds, and it is with His own word, symbolized in this verse by gold and silver, that we make to ourselves our "idols of the heart" (Eze 14:1-9). In that deceived state, 'olawm', an age, becomes 'perpetual', and in the Greek, the word 'aion', an age, becomes 'eternity'.

But as the next two verses of Ezekiel 16 reveal, we only want God's name to justify our shameful actions even as we insist on wearing our own garments and eating our own food, both of which we took from Him and now use to prostitute ourselves to our own shame, in which shameful works we glory as did Sodom.

Eze 16:18 And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them [our idols of our hearts]: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them [wresting the scriptures, 2Pe 3:16].
Eze 16:19 My meat also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, wherewith I fed thee [the Word of God], thou hast even set it before them for a sweet savour: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.

Isa 4:1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel [keep our false doctrines]: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

Isa 3:9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

Where do we get the chariots in which we trust while living in our deceit? Here is the source of all of our supposed great strength as we live the life of a whore:

Isa 31:1 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!

'Egypt' typifies this world which lives in rebellion against the laws of God. That is the source of our strength while we, too, live in rebellion to the Words of Christ. But Egypt will sadly disappoint us:

Isa 36:6 Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

In the spiritual realm we trust in our own idols of our hearts, and in the physical realm we trust in our own physical strength and physical weapons of war. Both are of no value when the iniquities of our lives and our nation are fulfilled, and our day of judgment has arrived:

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

The next verse fits right in with all the idols we make for ourselves at this time "[because God] has forsaken [His] people".

Isa 2:6 [Because] thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.

The mark of God and the mark of the beast are both 'in our right hand and in our foreheads':

Deu 6:8 And thou shalt bind them [God's commandments] for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

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:

"The work of [our] own hands, that which [our] own fingers have made" refers particularly to the idols of our hearts, which we place ahead of and before the words of Christ and His Father. The "land" is our individual lives, and at this time in our lives we have very little or no time or thought for the words of Christ and His Father simply "because [God] has foresaken [His] people" at this time in our experience. It is the same "one event" in the process of being judged, which is to be experienced by all men of all time (Ecc 9:2).

Every facet of our lives, everything great and small, is given over to bowing down before the dominion of sin in our lives at this time in our experience. We live these words inwardly, and we are watching this take place outwardly and dispensationally as we witness the decline of our society and our nation and the entire world in which we live. It is only at the point of the full bloom of the self-destructive nature of the kingdom of our old man that our loving heavenly Father admonishes us:

Saul of Tarsus is a Biblical type of each of us and also of the outward, dispensational application of these words. At a young age he had arisen within the harlot system of His day to the position of being given the charge of overseeing the persecution of the body of Christ.

Act 7:58 And cast him [Stephen] out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.

But Saul was zealous to serve his harlot mother, to the extent that he desired from the high priest letters authorizing him to bind Christians outside Israel in Damascus and bring them back to Jerusalem to be judged.

Act 9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

Even though Saul is a Pharisee, he is now allied with, and at the zenith of his zeal for the worship of his obsolete, false god, the corrupt Jerusalem Sanhedrin, whose leaders, the high priests, were Sadducees, who did not even believe in a resurrection, nor angels, nor spirits.

Mar 12:18 Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,

Act 23:8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.

Just like the churches today, the one thing that unites them is their hatred for Christ and His Christ, and they are intent on putting their dead bodies in the street of the 'great city, where also our Lord was crucified':

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt (Isa 1:10 and 21), where also our Lord was crucified.

But it is just at this point of the apparent victory of the beast over the Christ of Christ, when we are all brought by God to our wits' end, that the fear of God strikes our hearts and we cry out to the rocks to fall on us and hide us from the face of the Judge of all men. This is the point where we want to "enter into the Rock for fear of the Lord and for the glory of His majesty":

Here is how that all worked out in the life of Saul of Tarsus:

Act 9:3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

This "fear of God" takes place within us spiritually, but it will also come over the whole world when 'the iniquities of the Amorites' are fulfilled on an international scale at the time of the manifestation of the sons of God. This is all foreshadowed by the fear which God struck into the hearts of all the nations which He gave over to Israel when they came up out of Egypt:

Jos 2:9 And she [Rahab the harlot] said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
Jos 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
Jos 2:11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

That is what happened to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. Here is that same experience as it is described for us in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ and it is lived out in our lives:

Rev 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? [Isa 2:10]

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies [of the two witnesses] shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Rev 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
Rev 11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

This horrifying experience is not unique to Saul of Tarsus. While our experience may not be as immediate or as dramatic as that of Saul, it is still the same "one event [common] to all" (Ecc 9:2), and this is the product of what happened to Saul of Tarsus, and this is the product of God's wonderful works in all the children of men (Psa 107:21-31).

The phrases "that day, [and] the day of the Lord" are always speaking of the day of His judgments upon His people. That is why He must first "forsake His people", humble them, instill His fear within us all and bring us "to [our] wits' end" (Psa 107:27), and then place within us His kingdom [Luk 17:20-21]. It is at that point in our walk the mountain of the Lord's house will begin to be placed in the top of the mountains to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Then when the thousand years are expired, we are given to judge all the messengers, all the angels of Satan, 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?

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: ["judge the world"]
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.

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.
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. ["We shall judge angels"]
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 [the destruction of "the last enemy... death" 1Co 15:26]. 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 second death, the lake of fire, is the destruction of death].

This "great white throne judgment, [which is] the lake of fire" is not a bad thing for mankind. This is the very foundation of the beginning of the process of the salvation of all men to bring them to learn and to live righteous lives:

Psa 119:67 Before I was afflicted [judged] I went astray: but now [that your judgments are in the earth] have I kept thy word.

Psa 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted [judged]; that I might learn thy statutes.

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.

Foundational themes in Genesis – Study 118

(Key verses: Genesis 50:4-13)

The theme of death concludes the book of Genesis as we read about the deaths of two of its more prominent characters, namely Jacob and Joseph. First, we read about the death of Jacob after he lived for seventeen years in Egypt:

Gen 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

In our previous discussions on this theme of death, we touched on how we all are first “gathered unto [our] people” in spiritual death via the first Adam before we will be “gathered unto [God’s] people” in Jesus Christ by dying to that old man Adam in us (Gen 2:7; Jer 18:4; Rom 5:12; Rom 8:20; 1Co 15:22-31). It is indeed through death that God ordained that His children will eventually “find” spiritual life through Jesus Christ:

Mat 10:38 And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.

1Co 15:31 I [the apostle Paul and all “in Christ”] protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

In the process of dying with Christ to this earthy life, we are given the rulership “on the earth” and a spiritual seat in the heaven (1Co 6:2-3; Heb 2:8; Rev 1:17; Rev 20:4-6):

Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Eph 2:6 (GW) God has brought us back to life together with Christ Jesus and has given us a position in heaven with him.

Death has many facets, and one of these is mourning, which brings other aspects to the fore, as we read how Joseph and those in Egypt mourned the death of Jacob:

Gen 50:1 And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.
Gen 50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

We understand that mourning is a vital part of the healing process which God instituted, and few can understand why the “house of mourning” plays such an important part in God’s salvation plan:

Ecc 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

It is of great comfort to know why “the house of mourning” is better and why the beloved in Christ “lay [this] to [their] heart”:

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 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

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

The “much tribulation” is part and parcel of our qualification to enter and be seated with Jesus Christ:

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

Mourning links to the recognising and acknowledging of our spiritual poverty in flesh which the proud in heart cannot receive, even as these words of Jesus make no sense to those who seek the house of mirth:

Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

We can only mourn when we are aware that our old man hates Jesus Christ and how our old ways of thinking oppose the doctrine of Christ. We indeed murder Christ and those who come in His name as we naturally hate the truth and those who associate with truth:

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

Mat 23:35 That upon you [we as part of the evil and perverted generation of flesh] 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 26:27 And he [Jesus] took the cup [symbolising His blood that was shed], and gave thanks, and gave it to them [His disciples], saying, Drink ye all of it.

The voice of mirth shall be taken from all at the appointed time and reveal flesh for what it really is:

Jer 25:10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

Preparations for the burial of Jacob

Another aspect of death is that it requires a burial, and in this earthly ritual, we also learn so many spiritual lessons (Rom 1:20). The scriptures are silent on burials from the first death which happened on the earth, namely that of Abel, who was slain by his own brother, Cain (Gen 4:8). No mention is made how the bodies of dead humans were discarded early on in the book of Genesis. It was only when Sarah died that the first mention of burials is recorded in the scriptures (Gen 23:1-2):

Gen 23:19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
Gen 23:20 And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

Although many other burials are mentioned only briefly in the book of Genesis after this burial of Sarah, more details are given here relating to the preparations for the burial of Jacob (Gen 25:9; Gen 35:8; Gen 35:16-20; Gen 35:27-29). It is even in these that we also learn how to discern and follow the narrow way. There is indeed a difference in how the world handles death and mourning:

1Th 4:13 But I [Paul] would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

With the death of Jacob in Egypt, it is the first time we read about the embalming of a corpse in the scriptures – it actually took forty days within this extended time of mourning of seventy days!

Gen 50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

In its negative application, embalming typifies the preservation of the flesh, and this is how the world also wants to remain attached to their dead. The positive application of this embalming process and the preparation for burial is seen in how we treat the body of Christ, the church, in their own time of dying to self (Pro 19:17; Mat 25:35-40; Mat 26:6-13; Joh 12:3-8; Php 2:4; Heb 13:16; Jas 1:27; Jas 2:14-17):

Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

The physical body of Christ, His church, needs to always be prepared for burial as we indeed bear each other’s burdens fulfilling the spiritual law of Christ (Mat 27:57-59; Joh 19:39-40):

Mat 26:12 For in that she [Mary with her alabaster box with ointment] hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
Mat 26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Isa 58:7 Is it [the fast God has chosen] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Egyptian Excessiveness

Egypt is known in the scriptures for its extravagant excessiveness and worldly wisdom which supplies the “flesh pots” that our natural man always yearns for, which is then taken to its maturity in its negative application during our time in spiritual Babylon (Gen 12:10; Gen 41:57; Isa 31:1; Jer 46:20a; Act 7:22; Rev 18:9; Rev 18:11-13):

Exo 16:3 And the children of Israel said unto them [Moses and Aaron], Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

The world and its spirit are typified by Egypt – all “the doings of the land of Egypt” is what God warned Israel about:

Lev 18:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 18:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.
Lev 18:3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do….

The narrow way is the life of moderation (Pro 30:8-9; Php 4:11-13):

Php 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Egypt also points to the idolising of flesh:

Eze 20:7 Then said I [God] unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Eze 20:8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

We know that the flesh and the spirit of God are “contrary one to another”, and two cannot walk together except they agree (Amo 3:1-3; Rom 8:5-7; Gal 5:17). The mature in Christ make a clear difference between “the unclean and the clean”, which is why “the doings of the land of Egypt” must be taken from us:

Lev 11:45 For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
Lev 11:46 This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth:
Lev 11:47 To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.

The celebrations and the emphasizing of flesh is how the world stays focused on the old man, and this includes elaborate celebrations of earthy things. It all starts with the celebration of birthdays, and in a sense the celebration of birthdays embalms or memorialises the old man! It is therefore not strange that the first time the celebration of birthdays is mentioned in scripture, it is connected to the Pharaoh in Egypt:

Gen 40:20 And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
Gen 40:21 And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:
Gen 40:22 But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Joseph is a type of the new man, and it is indeed in the celebration and memorialising of the old man that the new man is left out and even forgotten:

Gen 40:23 Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

It is with this background that the time of mourning and the preparations of the burial of Jacob should be understood. The preparation for Jacob’s funeral is also the first time in the scriptures where such a long period of preparation for a burial is seen. Although God’s elect indeed goes through intensive trials and tribulations, God always cares for them. God does not pay so much time and attention to flesh, which is a big stumbling block for many:

Psa 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Psa 34:20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

Although Jesus’ death on the cross took a few hours, crucifixion was a very agonising experience and great in intensity, in terms of pain and suffering. His burial was also done without much ado:

Joh 19:38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
Joh 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
Joh 19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Joh 19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.

Throughout the New Testament not much is written about preparations and the funeral itself. Besides the burial of Jesus, the burials of only Lazarus (Joh 11:44), Ananias (Act 5:6) and Dorcas (Act 9:37) are briefly mentioned. The way the world does things is indeed different from the way God’s children do things. The world cannot let go of this old man, and even in death it wants to preserve flesh as they believe God cannot even create a new body in the resurrection, which is 100% different from the one which was buried (1Co 15:35-50):

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Permission to bury Jacob in Canaan

The apostle Paul gives us direction how to behave when we are guests in another’s company:

1Co 9:20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
1Co 9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
1Co 9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
1Co 9:23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

As children of God we are indeed strangers and pilgrims in this world, and we need to be respectful and in subjection to those God also appoints to be in rulership, unless they demand of us to disobey the doctrine of Christ:

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 13:5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Rom 13:6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Joseph and his family were living with the Pharaoh’s permission in Egypt, who helped them in the time of famine and even gave them a very fertile area in Egypt, namely Goshen. It is with all this in mind that we should understand why Joseph respected and subjected himself and his family to the traditions of Egypt. Although he was second in command in Egypt under the Pharaoh, Joseph humbled himself and did not even approach the Pharaoh directly for permission to bury his father in Canaan:

Gen 50:4 And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
Gen 50:5 My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.
Gen 50:6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.

All the servants of Pharaoh and the elders of his house and that of Egypt accompanied Joseph and his family to the burial site in Canaan. It was indeed a funeral of note:

Gen 50:7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
Gen 50:8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
Gen 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

It is also interesting to note that they entered Canaan from the east side via the river Jordan where Joseph again called a period of seven days for mourning:

Gen 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

The threshingfloor of flesh

The idea of a threshingfloor indeed helps us to see the dying daily process of the old man which includes the baptism in the fire of God to bring forth the new man in Christ:

Mat 3:11 I [John “the baptist”] 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:
Mat 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

There are many references to threshing in the scriptures where the concept of separation is highlighted (Isa 28:23-28). It is within our time in spiritual Babylon that God’s judgment will start to bring us “out of her, my people” when the time of the harvest has come in our lives when the tares and wheat are separated (Mat 13:24-30; Rev 18:4):

Jer 51:33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

The temple of the Lord in us is built on the basis of the sacrifice of a life on the altar, as also seen when King David bought the threshingfloor from Araunah:

2Sa 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
2Sa 24:25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

This altar or table of God is only reserved for the elect of God in this age, as they know it takes the removal of our old man for the new man to be established in God’s temple:

Heb 13:10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Heb 13:11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Heb 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

As Uzza was killed by God at the threshingfloor of Chidon for putting forth his hand to the ark, so we realize, like king David, that it is not our works or our ideas that will bring the ark of God into His temple, but the work of Christ in us:

1Ch 13:9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
1Ch 13:10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.

It is the Canaanites and the Egyptians in us that will indeed have grievous and excessive mourning as they mourn having no hope:

Gen 50:11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan.

Jacob’s own sons carried him into the land of Canaan to bury him there:

Gen 50:12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
Gen 50:13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

We As His Disciples
Ecc 6:1-6
Ecc 7:1-9
Keep Them in This World
Gathered Unto His People
Is The Flesh Being Sown Our Physical Death?

Foundational themes in Genesis – Study 104

(Key verses: Genesis 47:27-31; Gen 48:1-20)

[Study Aired August 6, 2015]

In the final section of the book of Genesis we see that Jacob is brought back into focus as he and his whole family were provided for by Joseph during the seven year famine which was on the whole world (Gen 41:54-57). Joseph’s whole family was drawn nearer to him to come and lived in the country of Goshen in Egypt:

Gen 47:27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
Gen 47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

Jacob was under Joseph’s care in Egypt for seventeen years before his death, and this period of seventeen years corresponds with the time when Joseph was under Jacob’s care in Canaan, being his favourite son:

Gen 37:1 And Jacob lived in the land of the travels of his father, in the land of Canaan.
Gen 37:2 These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a son of seventeen years, came tending the flock with his brothers. And he was a youth with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought to his father an evil report of them.
Gen 37:3 And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age…

This favour on Joseph caused much hatred in the hearts of his ten brothers who eventually sold him into slavery which took him through thirteen years of trials and tribulation in Egypt before he was appointed ruler over Egypt by the Pharaoh at the age of thirty (Gen 41:46). All of Joseph’s trials were eventually for the benefit of not only his family but for the whole earth, typifying the salvation process which God is bringing to fruition in Jesus Christ (1Co 15:22-28; 1Ti 2:1-6):

Psa 105:17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Psa 105:18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Psa 105:19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Psa 105:20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.
Psa 105:21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance:
Psa 105:22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom.
Psa 105:23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

Joseph was Jacob’s “son of his old age” and “the time drew nigh that Israel must die” makes Jacob, in this sense, a type of our old man, the first Adam. God has given the first Adam a specific time period to rule us before the new man Christ, typified by Joseph, takes us through our years of trials and tribulation before we are given final dominion over our flesh through Christ’s rulership in our hearts and minds (Rom 6:1-18):

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
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.

These are the two ages (Greek: aiōn = eon) we must live through – the earthly or the age of the first man Adam and the spiritual age of “the Lord from heaven”, before God will be “all in all” in spirit:

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.

It is the time of Jacob’s final years on earth when Joseph started ruling over Egypt, even as the dying of our old man brings an end to the first age in us and Christ’s rulership is established in us (1Co 10:11; 2Co 5:1-2):

Gen 47:29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph….

This theme of the restitution of all things is central to the scriptures, and this truth is driving the life and purposes of the elect of God. Albeit in the form of spiritual promises and types, this last section of the book of Genesis highlights this theme of restitution in the life of the family of Joseph, as we also see the promise of a land and a huge offspring repeated in the final interactions between Joseph and Jacob:

Gen 47:29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:

Gen 47:30 But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.

“Thy hand under my thigh” is a way that was used in those days to make a promise. We also saw this between Abraham and his servant when the servant had to promise Abraham that he will find a wife for Isaac according to Abraham’s directions:

Gen 24:1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Gen 24:2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
Gen 24:3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
Gen 24:4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

It is indeed only those with the spirit of Christ in them that can make true and faithful promises. It is only in Christ that all God’s promises are ‘yes’ and ‘amen’:

2Co 1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
2Co 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
2Co 1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
2Co 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

By the natural things we understand the spiritual things of God, as we also know that the thigh naturally transmits the idea of power and strength. The thigh is naturally the most powerful section of the human body which relates to action and movement (Rom 1:20; Gen 32:25; Eze 24:4; Rev 19:16). In the scriptures the thigh is also the place where a sword was attached (Psa 45:3; Son 3:8). No one else except those sealed with the earnest of the spirit of God in this age, armed with the sword of the spirit, are given this spirit of truthfulness to do His commandments and act faithfully to fulfill God’s promises in and through them (Psa 119:160; Mat 7:24-25; Joh 6:63; Eph 6:10-17):

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

1Jn 4:6 We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

It is within this position of authority and power that every son of God operates to be an overcomer to fulfill every promise of God concerning His spiritual inheritance, as typified through Joshua and physical Israel:

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

We know that these words were written to be fully understood in its spiritual application as physical Israel has not as yet achieved this promise. It is all about the new spiritual “land” which is what the life of Christ introduces. Jacob asked Joseph to place his hand under Jacob’s thigh which emphasizes this powerful position of trust given to God’s elect to bring all in Adam into this “promised land”. In this physical eon it is only Christ’s elect who are given “the holy spirit of promise” until we are finally redeemed from this earthly body and this physical cosmos:

Eph 1:13 in whom also you, hearing the Word of Truth, the gospel of our salvation, in whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 who is the earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

This position of authority is what Joseph typifies, and he was the only one from all Jacob’s children that could be trusted with the request of Jacob:

Gen 47:31 And he [Jacob] said, Swear unto me. And he [Joseph] sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

The fleshly old man will have to eventually bow and acknowledge the rulership of the spirit man. Joseph indeed physically fulfilled this promise to Jacob when Jacob died (Gen 50:12-13), but before his death Jacob needed to remind Joseph about a few important details concerning this inheritance:

Gen 48:1 And it happened after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, your father is sick. And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Gen 48:2 And one spoke to Jacob, and said, Behold, your son Joseph comes to you. And Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed.
Gen 48:3 And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me.
Gen 48:4 And He said to me, Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you. And I will make of you a multitude of people, and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession.

One of the things which Jacob brought to Joseph’s attention was that Egypt, which typifies our flesh, is just a temporary provision and was never supposed to be a lasting dwelling or something in which we can put our trust. The spiritual promises of God are much more to be relied on than to trust in the best the flesh can present, despite the flesh’s very convincing presentation. The two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, although both were born in Egypt, will share in the future inheritance of the sons of Jacob:

Gen 48:5 And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who are born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; like Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
Gen 48:6 And your issue, which you father after them, shall be yours, and shall be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
Gen 48:7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still but a little way to come to Ephrath. And I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; it is Bethlehem.

Here Jacob is introducing very important detail of the birthright through these two sons of Joseph which relates to the spiritual inheritance of the chosen elect. The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh represented Joseph’s “double portion” in the inheritance of the sons of Jacob:

1Ch 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

This “double portion” bestowed on Joseph is the blessing that caused Joseph also to prevail above his progenitors, even his older fleshly brothers, as expressed by Jacob later (Deu 21:15-17):

Gen 49:25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
Gen 49:26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

These blessings connected to the firstborn is only fulfilled in the elect of God who are the ones who are a “kind of firstfruits” of the firstborn in the spirit, namely Christ (1Co 15:23; Jas 1:18; Rev 14:4; Rev 3:14). These are the ones who are drawn to Christ by the Father to be “separate from [their] brethren” (Mat 10:36-39; Joh 6:44). They are indeed given rulership on the earth during the symbolic thousand-year reign, and as they will also be the rulers and judges in the lake of fire – the true double portion (1Co 6:1-2; Rev 20:4-15). These two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh have nothing to do with the rulership of physical nations, even powerful physical nations like Britain and the United States of America, as some claim in their spiritual blindness. God is indeed working a “spirit of slumber” for those who are persuaded by these strong and convincing delusions in our time (Rom 11:8; 2Th 2:11). Jesus even warned the physical Israelites that God’s election is on those few who will be born through the spirit of God, which is the true “remnant according to the election of grace” (Mat 20:1-16; Rom 11:5-11; Joh 6:63):

Mat 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Through God’s direction, Jacob will also apply this same principle with regard to the distinctions in the blessings of these two sons of Joseph. Jacob could not distinguish properly, in physical terms, because of his failing eyesight:

Gen 48:8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?
Gen 48:9 And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place. And he said, Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.
Gen 48:10 And the eyes of Israel were dim for age; he could not see. And he brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

Because of Jacob’s problematic eyesight, there were therefore no physical prejudices involved which naturally interfere in decisions we make when our judgment is blurred by physical delusions. Carnal observations will always play their natural deceptive roles when we do not have spiritual insight. Jacob himself was the second born after his twin brother Esau, and he received the blessing of the firstborn from his father Isaac because of the deceitful acts of himself and Rebekah, but also because of Isaac’s physical dying condition and weak eyesight (Gen 27:1-46). We can only have spiritual insight when we find out that our physical senses are not to be trusted and that the flesh and its deceitful heart (with its lusts and pride) are our biggest obstacles to receive the spiritual inheritance of the Father:

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Pro 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

Because Jacob could not trust his physical senses, he could only follow the spiritual patterns set out by God:

Gen 48:11 And Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought I would see your face, and, lo, God has showed me also your seed.
Gen 48:12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed his face to the earth.

Even in the life of God’s elect the flesh masks and blinds us not to see the obvious ways and works of God. Joseph, blinded by his fleshly preferences, could not properly perceive that the son whom he placed at his right hand would be the one on whom God’s favour rested:

Gen 48:13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh in his left toward Israel’s right hand. And he brought them near to him.

Joseph placed Ephraim in his right hand, but was seemingly more concerned of Jacob’s right side. Joseph knew that the right hand was a very important position to take note of, but his own judgment was failing. From the scriptures we learn that the position on the right hand is that of spiritual favour, authority and power (Exo 15:6; Exo 29:20; Deu 33:2; Jdg 5:26; Psa 48:10; Psa 110:1). We must therefore take careful note who and what we place on our right hand because that determines our spiritual judgment on important matters:

Mat 26:64 Jesus saith unto him [Caiaphas, the high priest, the night before His crucifixion]: Thou hast said [that He, Jesus, was the Christ, the Son of God]: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Jacob honoured the “right hand” of Joseph and the son who stood on that side, which was Ephraim, the youngest or last born of Joseph:

Gen 48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands. For Manasseh was the first-born.
Gen 48:15 And he blessed Joseph and said, May God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who fed me all my life to this day,
Gen 48:16 the Angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads. And let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow like the fishes into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

As with all of God’s elect it is a humbling and devastating experience to see how our natural spirit wants to dictate and go against God’s spiritual choices, as typified here by Joseph:

Gen 48:17 And Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, and it was evil in his eyes. And he held up his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
Gen 48:18 And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father. For this is the first-born. Put your right hand on his head.
Gen 48:19 And his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he is, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

Our natural preferences are not God’s choices, and this is one of the bitter pills to swallow if we are indeed able to stomach this truth (Rev 10:10):

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.

Joseph is humbled, but it is only in humility that we will be able to eat the book given to us which enables us to reach to the higher thoughts of God (Mat 4:4; Rev 10:10). This is when we can admit that we have not arrived in spiritual fullness in order for us to grow in maturity:

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Jacob assured Joseph that this is how God ordained both of the sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were to be blessed – by the younger or last born:

Gen 48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In you shall Israel bless, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

The last born, Ephraim, is “the greater” as his name also means “double fruitfulness”:

Gen 41:52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

Ephraim, in this sense, represents the firstborn of the spirit – the rivers of living water, even Jesus Christ, even His elected “firstfruits” who will come with weeping, but rule with joy:

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

Christ and His spiritual works in us are “the greater” works, and it is on those “greater works” in which those who believe in Christ concentrate:

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

The greater works are the inward works in the heart of mankind, which is now only the privilege of the elect who are given the faith of Christ to believe and do the Word of the Father:

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.

———–

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

Why Are They Blessed?
Rev 1:16 – Part 1
Rev 1:16 – Part 2
Rev 1:17
Is There Spiritual significance to Being Right or Left Handed?

Foundational themes in Genesis – Study 102

(Key verses: Genesis 46:1-30)

The book of Genesis provides a beautiful foundation for the whole process through which God will bring all in the first man Adam to spiritual maturity. This all starts off with the establishment of a physical six-day creation which also reflects the spiritual work of God within this first Adam in each person, which is all completed on the seventh day (Gen 1:1-31; Gen 2:1-3). Through the creation of heaven and earth, two opposing dimensions were also established by God, which replicates the two generational lines through Adam:

Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
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.

These two opposing generations run throughout all of the scriptures which reflect our own road to spiritual maturity. These generations are the contrary natures of the fleshly “first man” with its worldly spirit as symbolised by the earth, and the spirit of God in the generation of the “second man”, Christ, the Lord from heaven (Gen 2:4; Joh 3:31; Rom 8:5-8; 1Jn 2:16):

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

The line of Christ, which is the seed of the woman, is typified in the scriptures by a small group of people through which God will bring the whole salvation process to fulfilment (Mat 22:14). The generations which reflect the fleshly line were always an enemy of the line which reflects the spirit of God, even right from the beginning:

1Jn 3:10 In this the children of God [the seed of the woman] are manifest, and the children of the devil [the seed of the serpent]: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1Jn 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1Jn 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

It is by our works that our hidden heart (our mind) is made manifest:

Mat 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

Pro 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

The flesh and its carnal heart are only capable of producing evil works as this is what is happening “under the heavens”, even on the earth:

Ecc 1:13 (CLV) I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

After Cain killed Abel, the generational line of the seed of the woman was continued through Seth who was “instead of Abel” (Gen 5:3-32):

Gen 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

Even in this generational line through Seth most people were defiled by the pollutions of flesh. All the sons of God, even His elect, first live “according to the course of this world”, and will fornicate with the spirit of the world with its pride and lusts in the form of the “daughters of man” in the days of Noah (Eph 2:2-3; 1Jn 2:16):

Gen 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

However, one man in the generational line of Seth, namely Noah, found grace in God’s eyes and was kept undefiled within his generation by God (Tit 2:11-12):

Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Gen 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Disobedience, and all flesh with its inherent defilements, will be judged and totally destroyed by God as typified in the global flood through which only eight souls were saved:

1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

The number eight spiritually points to the new man coming forth from the total destruction of the old man (Rev 17:11). After the flood, the generational line of the new man was typified through the lives of men like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who were born in the line of Noah’s son, Shem. God gave all these men the promise of a great nation and a land of their own. This line of those who were faithful in their obedience to God is finally brought to a zenith in the life of Joseph, the favourite son of Jacob. After a twenty-two year absence from his family, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers when he was ruler over Egypt under the Pharaoh:

Gen 45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

They were indeed troubled at his presence for he was as one raised from the dead. This revelation initiated a process of restitution after ten of his brothers sold him into slavery, and he had to spend thirteen years in Egypt going through several trials:

Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

After revealing the Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph was given rulership over Egypt and for the first seven years it was a time of “great plenty” in which Joseph gathered enough food to feed the whole world, and even now help his own family not only with food, but also with their feelings of guilt and grief:

Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Before this revelation, the brothers of Joseph were already slowly taken through their time of judgment by Joseph, which typified the period of judgment in the lake of fire. This judgment is taking place after the symbolic thousand years under the rulership of God’s elect on the earth, symbolised by the seven years of “great plenty” in Egypt under Joseph’s rulership (Rev 20:3-15). The time of physical prosperity for the world is also a preparation period in which God is seeking an occasion against the flesh to bring it all to destruction, even our own fleshly wicked man of sin (Jdg 14:4; 1Ch 29:18; Psa 10:17; Psa 44:22; Isa 14:4-27; Isa 53:7; Act 8:32; Joh 6; Rom 8:36):

Jer 12:1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
Jer 12:2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
Jer 12:3 But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

There were still several years ahead in which these internal torments in the brothers will take their ordained course. This again reveals to us that salvation and entry into the kingdom of God is only fully achieved when all the trials ordained for us are completed (Act 14:22):

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

Joseph is used by God as a type of Christ, and His work though His elect to usher in the end of the age in our own lives, as it also points to the final stages of God’s plan of salvation for the whole world at the appointed time:

Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

In our time of being given dominion over our flesh, we still have an old man to deal with (Rom 6:1-23). While Joseph typifies the new spirit man in us who is being established in this rulership over flesh, Jacob, the father of Joseph is still alive (“doth my father yet live?”). In this sense Jacob typifies the old man in us who was pushed to the background when the life of Joseph was brought into focus in the book of Genesis. As the new man in us increases, the old man indeed is decreasing (Joh 3:30). In the last five chapters of Genesis, God brings Jacob back into focus for a different purpose, even at the command of Joseph to his brothers:

Gen 45:9 Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not.

The theme of restitution helps us to see how God is bringing together all things in and through the Christ, and this theme is central to the function and purpose of the elect of God (Act 3:20-21; 1Co 15:22-28):

Act 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Act 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Act 3:21 Whom the heaven [His elect] must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

Eph 1:9 (YLT) having made known to us the secret of His will, according to His good pleasure, that He purposed in Himself,
Eph 1:10 (YLT) in regard to the dispensation of the fulness of the times, to bring into one the whole in the Christ, both the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth–in him.

Although the details of God’s salvation for us are captured through “the sum” of God’s Word, by which we all must live in our own time, the book of Genesis provides us with a synopsis of the whole process (Psa 119:160; Mat 4:4). In Genesis God declared important aspects through the lives of the five main characters, namely Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph (Isa 46:10). Through Jacob (also called “Israel”) and his family’s lives, especially the experience of Joseph, we see how God will indeed bring it all together in the end. Jacob and his twelve sons are those from whom the physical Israel stems, but it is God’s spiritual Israel who are indeed the “sealed” elect of God as they were given the “advantage…much [in] every way… because that unto them were committed the oracles of God” (Rom 2:28-29; Rom 3:1-2):

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

Gal 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

The spiritual “Israel of God” can be numbered or measured as the true temple of God in heaven, meaning they are able to receive the Word of God in their hearts and do it faithfully (Exo 15:26; Deu 6:6-8; 2Co 1:22; Eph 1:13; Eph 4:30):

Rev 11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

Twelve is the number which spiritually indicates our foundation, whether in the flesh or in the spirit. Our spiritual foundations can only be established when the fleshly foundations are exposed and destroyed. The twelve sons of Jacob and their offspring are a shadow of the spiritual twelve tribes, which are the foundations of the new spiritual creation of God. These spiritual tribes are those who “were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb” (Rom 8:23; Jas 1:1; Jas 1:18):

Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

It is the spiritual Israel who is given His spirit of wisdom to know how His redeemed church is built on the true spiritual foundation, which is Christ, and they are “the fulness of Him that filleth all in all” (Rom 8:23; Gal 6:15-16; Jas 1:18):

1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

After Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he gave instructions for his whole family to join him in Egypt. Jacob is now on his way to Egypt to be reunited with Joseph, but he first established what God wanted in this move to Egypt as he sacrificed to God at Beersheba:

Gen 46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba [meaning “well of the oath”], and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

Abraham and the king of the Philistines (Abimelech) made an oath here, and the number seven is also linked to this place:

Gen 21:30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
Gen 21:31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.

The number seven spiritually points to the completion of a process. It is in this time of sacrifice here at Beersheba that Jacob received the assurance from God that this is all of Him:

Gen 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
Gen 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Gen 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

It is through the elect, God’s church, that all eyes will be opened or closed, even as Joseph is used by God to bring conclusion to the life of Jacob (Oba 1:21; Rev 5:1-14):

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

The last chapters of Genesis refocus our attention on the spiritual promises of God of the salvation of all (“a great nation”) and the promise of a land (“bring thee up again”). Although Jacob was buried in Canaan after his death in Egypt, and his descendants returned later to Canaan in a great multitude, these promises of a “great nation” and a land can never be truly fulfilled in the physical, as only in Christ, the one seed, are all the promises of God truly fulfilled in spirit (Gen 50:5-13; Lev 26:11-12; Joh 6:63; Rom 9:8; 2Co 6:16; Php 3:7-8):

Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted [those that are numbered and sealed spiritually in the symbolic 144 000 (Rev 7:4; Rev 14:1-5)] for the seed.

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

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

2Co 1:19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
2Co 1:20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by [Greek: “dia” – through] us.

All the promises of God are concluded in and through the Christ, the Head and the body – Amen! We know that it is only through judgment that these promises are spiritually fulfilled, and God indeed brings comfort in that sense as all our trouble in this world is indeed purposeful (Isa 52:6-10; 2Co 1:3-5). Jacob was comforted by God at Beersheba as he brought all he had to be reunited with Joseph:

Gen 46:5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
Gen 46:6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him.

All Jacob’s physical offspring at this point in time were seventy in number:

Exo 1:1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
Exo 1:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
Exo 1:3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
Exo 1:4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
Exo 1:5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.

Here we see that the number seven in one of its multiples (7 X 10) is emphasizing the completion of God’s work in the flesh, which is represented by the number ten. This is typifying the rest of God in us when we know that He was the One who worked it all from beginning to end through Jesus (Gen 2:1-3; Rom 11:33-36; Heb 4:1):

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

All Jacob’s offspring are brought together as one family. Jesus will bring all His physical family to spiritual completion, even as Joseph wanted all his family with him as no exceptions were made. Jacob’s offspring through Leah were altogether thirty and three and were all included even though they were all born outside Canaan: Reuben and his four sons, Simeon and his six sons, Levi and his three sons, Judah and his three sons and two grandsons, Issachar and his four sons, Zebulun and his three sons, and also Dinah (Gen 46:8-15). Jacob’s offspring through his concubine Zilpah were also brought to live with Joseph, and they were altogether sixteen: Gad and his seven sons, Asher and his four sons, one daughter, and two grandchildren (Gen 46:16-18). Jacob’s offspring through the concubine Bilhah were altogether seven in number: Dan and his one son, Naphtali and his four sons (Gen 46:23-25). Jacob’s offspring through his beloved Rachel were altogether fourteen: Joseph and his two sons, Benjamin and his ten children (Gen 46:19-22). All of them settled in a fertile region called Goshen:

Gen 46:28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

The land of Goshen is also called “the land of Rameses” in the Scripture, and this word “Goshen” means “drawing near” according to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions (Gen 47:11). Goshen was the place where Joseph drew his family nearer to him, even as God draws everyone in Adam to Him through the Christ at the appointed time (Joh 6:44; 1Co 15:22-28):

Gen 46:29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
Gen 46:30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:
The Called and The Chosen
Numbers in Scripture
The Christ and Times Aionios
The Meaning of “The Christ”
Rev 7:4-8 Who Are The 144,000 – Part 2