Rev 22:16-21 If Any Man Add to or Take Away, Part 2

 [Study Aired August 22, 2025]

Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
Rev 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev 22:21  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

We paused our last study with this stern warning from the Lord:

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

We will continue our study by considering the consequences of ignoring this warning against handling the Word of God carelessly as the sons of Aaron handled the fire in their censors carelessly. That ‘fire’ in their censors signifies the Lord’s Words and as that story clearly demonstrates the Lord does not tolerate His ministers offering “strange fire.”

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

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.

Num 26:61  And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the LORD.

“Strange fire” signifies a perversion of the Lord’s Words. His Words are not to be dealt with carelessly. If we “speak above what is written”, we are ‘adding to these things… which are written therein’ (Rev 1:3). If we do such a rash and foolish thing, “God shall add unto him [us] the plagues that are written in this book.” Paul had given us this same warning many years earlier:

1Co 4:6  Now these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us ye might learn not to think above that which is written, so that ye may not be puffed up, one over the one against the other.

Notice that we are told that God will plague those who add to the things which are written therein. We will all keep the things written therein, and the seven last plagues are already written. That is why we are told, “I testify to every man that hears the words of this prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.” This demonstrates that there are those who are given ears to hear what is written, and yet they are made to “add to the things which are written therein.” An example of such a person is one who sees that all who would enter into the temple in heaven must first ‘fulfill the seven last plagues.’

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.

That phrase, ‘were fulfilled’ is in the aorist tense and should read ‘are being fulfilled.’ Nevertheless the person who is given to “hear the prophecy of this book” and agrees that we are to keep the seven last plagues, but then ignores the promise that all overcomers in this present age “will not be hurt of the second death” and begins teaching that all men are ‘partakers of the second death’, that person and all who seek after him, has “added to the words of this prophecy”, and they will indeed ‘be hurt of the second death’, because the Lord has promised to “add to him the plagues which are written in this book.”

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

All who teach that our Lord’s statement that ‘man… shall live by every word’ means that we must ignore this promise…

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. [which is “the lake of fire”:

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

…The person teaching that false lying doctrine is ‘adding to the words of the prophecy of this book’, and our Lord will “add unto him the plagues which are written in this book”, and He will judge him out of his own mouth, and he will indeed ‘partake of the second death.’

Since we have all “come out of” Babylon, where we have all “added unto these things”, therefore we have all had these plagues added to us in accord with our own personal stubborn, self-righteous, rebellious, and blinded ways. Yes, it is all the work of the Lord, even our lack of appreciation of Him requiring us to “give an accounting” of all He has caused us to do (Isa 63:17). However, our ‘giving an accounting’ does not change this work of our Creator in our lives.

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

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.

Luk 16:1  And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
Luk 16:2  And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

Who among us is not wicked by nature? Who among us has not erred from our heavenly Father’s ways? So what part of this prophecy is not to be applied to “every man”? Obviously it is only that part which is specifically qualifies that “he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death”:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. [which is “the lake of fire”]:

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

This prophecy is all of “the things written therein.” If we take out all the seven fiery trumpet judgments, or if we place the seven last plagues written therein upon someone else and teach that we are not required to fulfill those fiery plagues, then we are taking out our part in the things which are “written therein.” What will be done to any who attempt to do such a foolish thing?

Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

It is significant to notice the loss suffered by those who take away from the words of this prophecy, including the judgment of Revelation 14:7-12 and the judgment of Revelation 15:8, is to have our part taken out of the book of life and out of the holy city. In other words we will not have a part in the first resurrection, and we will not be the bride, the Lamb’s wife, the mother of all living. That is the loss suffered by those who take away from the words of the prophecy of this book.

It is argued by all those who are recognized as the “great men of God” in the churches of Babylon, that to believe that the plagues written in this prophecy and labeled “the wrath of God” have any personal application to, or upon, God’s very elect, is to nullify the promise of 1Thessalonians 5:9.

1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

It is argued that we simply cannot “keep” and “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” and Christ in this prophecy because of this promise:

Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

It is asked, “How is it possible to be “not appointed… to wrath” and yet endure the wrath of the seven last plagues? How is it possible to be “kept from the hour of temptation” and live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God telling us that there is an hour of temptation which will come upon all the world?”

These are certainly not illogical questions. We have all had them. So let’s just ask and answer how it is possible to “enter into the temple of God after the seven plagues of the seven angels are fulfilled” and at the same time be able to say, “God has not appointed us to wrath?”

While we are told we “are not appointed to wrath”, we are also told this:

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.

Are these words of this prophecy not for you? Do you believe that 1Thessalonian 5:9 is for you, but the words of Revelation 15:8, are not “things written therein” to be kept by you?

If that is your mindset, then you have no concept of what “the sum of thy word is truth” means.

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

If you think that 1Thessalonians 5:9 is true, but Matthew 4:4, Revelation 1:3, Revelation 15:8 and Revelation 22: 6-7 have no application for you, then you have turned the word “sum” of God’s Word into ‘some’ of God’s Word’, and you now believe that you can pick and choose which “words written therein” have any personal application to you.

So how does this Biblical principle of “the sum of God’s Word” work? How is it possible to be delivered from the wrath of God in our lives, and still have the seven plagues of the seven angels fulfilled in our lives?

This is accomplished in the exact same way we are delivered from being blind:

Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment came I into this world, that they that see not may see; and that they that see may become blind.
Joh 9:40 Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we also blind?
Joh 9:41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye would have no sin: but now ye say, We see: therefore your sin remaineth.

“If you were blind you would have no sin” means simply that as long as these Pharisees cannot acknowledge their own blindness, their blindness remains. So it is with the wrath of God. “We are not appointed to wrath” only if we acknowledge that we ourselves have been “by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Now we are simply adding scripture to scripture, while adding nothing to the things written therein. Now we are able to accept “the sum of God’s word” instead of pitting scripture against scripture and taking away from the things written therein.

How is it possible to believe on Christ in this life and never die, as Christ promised Martha?

Joh 11:23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother [Lazarus] shall rise again.
Joh 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Joh 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Just how does one who “lives and believes in Christ.. never die?” Once again, as contradictory as 1Thessalonians 5:9 seems to be to Ephesians 2:3 and Revelation 15:8, this is the only way to “believe on Christ and never die.” This is how we can live forever and not be appointed to death.

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

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 wrath of God] the seven angels were fulfilled.

It is the same principle by which “we are not appointed to wrath.”

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

So let us ask, “Do you want to see the things of the spirit?” If so, you simply must first acknowledge your spiritual blindness. Do you want to live and never die spiritually? If so, all you need do is “lose your life [in this world] for Christ’s sake” and you will find how you “will never die” spiritually. Would you be found of God? You simply must acknowledge that you are spiritually lost. Would you ‘not be appointed to wrath?’ All you need do is to acknowledge that you have been “by nature a child of wrath even as others”, that ‘the seven plagues of the seven angels are being fulfilled’ in your life, and then “you are not appointed to wrath but to salvation” spiritually as all men of all time are “not appointed to wrath, but to salvation.”

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

1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. [The many called but not chosen]
1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. [Of “all men”, 1Ti 2:4]
1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us [all men] to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep [are drunken or sober], we should live together with him.

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth [1Ti 2:4], even that he doeth.

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

There are two more verses which bookend this subject of God’s wrath, as indeed they bookend and wrap up how we are to approach every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Here are those very revealing verses of scripture.

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

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

Should Ecclesiastes 9:2 read, ‘All things come alike to all but God’s elect, who never experience His wrath upon their unrighteousnesses?’ Is that what the sum of God’s Word teaches?

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Should Romans 1:18 read ‘The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, except for those who accept Christ?’

Should 1Corinthians 3:21-22 be made to read ‘Most things are yours, most things present and most things to come, but not the seven last plagues of God’s wrath upon my ungodliness and my unrighteousness?’

We who have the mind of Christ know that is not the case, and we are careful to neither add to nor take away from the words of this prophecy, knowing we will reap what we sow, and knowing that the grace of God will chasten us to live godly lives in this age.

That is how this great revelation which ends with the promise that death and all that are dead in Hades and in the ‘sea’ of all mankind of all time, will be delivered up and cast into those who are the small ‘lake’ of fire to be purged and cleansed at the “great white throne judgment” of all that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and His Christ.

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 seven last plagues], the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

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

Those among us who are at ease in the everlasting burnings, and who are able to dwell comfortably in the devouring fire of God’s Word, are those who “speak uprightly” those devouring fiery words:

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

They are the gates of that city, the pillars in the temple of God, the bride of Christ which is New Jerusalem. It is by those twelve gates of a single pearl each, that all the dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murders, and idolaters who love and make a lie, will one day be purified of all the lies and false doctrines with which they have added to and taken away from the word of God. It is through the fiery sword which guards the way of The Tree of Life that all men will be redeemed of all their sins and be transformed from a “vessel of clay” into a new vessel of spirit as seems good to the Potter to make it.

1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. [The purifying lake of fire]

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.

Those who are that ‘Lake of Fire’ as those who are “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”. They alone will “enter into that city through the gates” of that city which as The Bride, The Lamb’s wife, will become “the mother of all living” and will have the power and authority to give life to all men of all time:

Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right [G1849: ‘exousia’, power, authority] to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Such is the revelation of Jesus Christ. We dare not add to or take away from what it reveals, and what it reveals is that it is only those who “do His commandments… in this present time” (Rom 18:8) who will be given the “exousia”, the power and authority to redeem  the ‘dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremonger, and murders, and idolaters, and whosoever loves and makes a lie’ who are not given the ‘exousia’ to become the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife, the mother of all living.

Every word that has proceeded out of the mouth of God, neither added to nor diminished, will be acknowledged as being within the same Adamic flesh with which we are all “by nature” born. This process of judgment will in the end be accomplished in every man who has ever lived, as the scriptures so clearly make known.

Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the [“whole”, (1Jo 2:2)] world through him might be saved.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially [not exclusively] of those that believe.

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

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

It is all being accomplished by our Lord Himself working in every man His chastening work of grace, “after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11). That is why we all ask for that chastening grace to always be with us, at all times.

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared [aorist tense, is appearing] to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching [Greek: paidueo, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

(Read The Purpose and Function of Grace [Tit 2:12] at this link:

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/what-grace-is-versus-what-grace-does/

It is with the knowledge that the grace of God chastens us to “forsake ungodliness and worldly lust and to live Godly lives in this present age” that this revelation of Jesus Christ in His own body the church (Col 1:24), ends with this blessing:

Rev 22:21 The [chastening] grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

It is by Christ’s chastening grace, as our ‘everlasting Father’ (Isa 9:6), through His faith working in us, that all men will be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth. It is from the beginning to the end, His work within us, and we bring nothing at all to the table.

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

This concludes our study of the revelation of our Lord and His Christ, the bride, the Lamb’s wife:

Rev 21:9  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Rev 21:10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

Rev 20:7-10 What and Who is Gog and Magog?, Part 3

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.

We have established that the moniker, ‘Gog and Magog’ signify “the nations in the four quarters of the earth”:

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.

While Revelation 20:8 is very clear, it is still incumbent upon anyone who is instructed as to the kingdom of heaven to understand and “bring forth out of his treasure things new and old.”

Mat 13:51  Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
Mat 13:52  Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.

I would not be a good “scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven” if I fail to ‘bring forth out of my treasures things new and old.’ I have shown you what the New Testament reveals about the part which ‘Gog and Magog” play in what the Lord is doing with His creatures, but we all need the foundational ‘second witness’ of the Old Testament if we truly want to know the mind of God concerning any subject.

In this study we will discuss verses 11-15 concerning the great white throne/lake of fire/second death. But the first part of this study will be concerned with who is cast into that lake of fire and brimstone at the great white throne judgment as this is witnessed to in the Old Testament.

In the case of ‘Gog and Magog’, that witness in our ‘old’ treasures is found in Ezekiel 38-39. John’s prophecy here in Revelation 20 is what brought me to see how the Lord wraps up the work He is doing to bring death to its much needed end:

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

Satan is not “the last enemy.” “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” When death is destroyed Satan himself will be reconciled to God:

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. [Including the devil]
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself [including the devil]; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Gog and Magog have long been the symbol used by the holy spirit to signify the self-righteous, rebellious, carnal mind in “the nations in the four quarters of the earth” who will, at the appointed time, attempt to rebel against and overthrow “the Lord and His Christ.”

Here is Ezekiel 38 which demonstrates how crucial these two chapters are to the revelation of how the Lord will bring eonian times to an end:

Eze 38:1  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 38:2  Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
Eze 38:3  And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
Eze 38:4  And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
Eze 38:5  Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
Eze 38:6  Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
Eze 38:7  Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

Just like Joseph’s brothers, “the nations in the four quarters of the earth” will think in their own self-righteousness, that they have devised a plan to rebel and encamp against the saints (Rev 20:9). The truth is that the Lord “put hooks in [their] mouths” and “made them to err from His ways and hardened their hearts from His fear” (Isa 63:17).

Continuing with Ezekiel 38:

Eze 38:8  After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years [The “short season which follows the thousand-year reign of “our Lord and His Christ”] thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel [The ‘Israel’ of Romans 2:28-29, Galatians 6:15-16 and Ephesians 2:11-22], which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
Eze 38:9  Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. [“Encamp against the saints”,  “Compass the camp of the saints about”, (Rev 20:9)]
Eze 38:10  Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
Eze 38:11  And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
Eze 38:12  To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
Eze 38:13  Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
Eze 38:14  Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
Eze 38:15  And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
Eze 38:16  And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
Eze 38:17  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
Eze 38:18  And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
Eze 38:19  For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
Eze 38:20  So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
Eze 38:21  And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
Eze 38:22  And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
Eze 38:23  Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations [In the white throne judgment/lake of fire/ second death], and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 39 adds to our knowledge of what the Lord is doing:

Eze 39:6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 39:7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel [“The Israel of God”]; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
Eze 39:8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken. [Does this sound like a nation which has rejected and crucified its own Savior? No, of course not. “My people Israel” is “the Israel of God”, those who “worship God in spirit and in Truth.”]

When we are given the victory over the beast and his image, number, mark and name, it is not and it will not be by our choice but by the fact that “I will not let them pollute my holy name any more…” The Lord drags us to Himself just as He drags Gog to do His dirty work.

Natural, physical Israel is part of all those who have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Physical Israel is also part of “all both small and great rich and poor” who are caused to receive the mark of the beast:

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

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, [and] over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

It is those who “will not be permitted to pollute our Lord’s name” in this present time who will  “dwell [comfortably] in the devouring fire” (Isa 33:14-15). That “devouring fire” is the work of grace known as the lake of fire. They are also called “the cities of Israel.” It is these who are known as ‘the cities of Israel’ who “shall set on fire, and burn the weapons” of false doctrines and lies known as the “weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears” believed by those of all flesh who followed Satan’s lies. These are known in scripture as Gog and Magog.

Eze 39:9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
Eze 39:10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down [any] out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 39:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call [it] The valley of Hamongog.

According to Revelation, the destruction of Gog and Magog follows the thousand-year reign of those who are overcomers in this life. That millennial period is what is called the judging of the nations of this world by the overcomers of the first resurrection (1Co 6:2, Rev 2:25-27, 11:15). So this is all symbolism for the destruction of death and hades. “Hamongog” means “the multitude of Gog” and is once again the Biblical symbol for the flesh of all men of all time who are to be judged in the fire of the lake of fire, known as the second death.

This is the smell of death which will be endured by those overcomers, “the house of Israel”, who are given to dispose of death and hades.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Here is the only symbolic hint we have of how long the process of the destruction of Gog and Magog will take. It is the symbol of “seven months”, and it is said to be done by “all the people of the land”, and it is called “a day of renown”.

Eze 39:12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
Eze 39:13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury [them]; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD. [When we glorify our Lord “it shall be to them a renown…”]
Eze 39:14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
Eze 39:15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog.
Eze 39:16 And also the name of the city [shall be] Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

These verses explain just how thorough the destruction of Gog and Magog will be, and just how thorough will be the resurrection from the dead of all who have ever lived. The degree of the destruction of all flesh is the same degree to which life will be given to “all in Adam.” That is the degree to which “the land is cleansed” so that not one body fails to be buried. Being burned up and being buried are not different ways of disposing of the multitudes of Gog and Magog, they are merely different symbols signifying the destruction of all flesh of all time.

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

As long as sinful flesh and blood babies in Adam are being procreated on this earth, death cannot be destroyed. By means of a first resurrection, in which the overcomers of the ages will be prepared to become the saviors of all men of all ages, and by means of a millennium followed by a second rebellion, followed by a second resurrection and a lake of fire, we are made to understand that our Lord will bring all flesh to its necessary destruction and end.

It is in the first Adam that all men partake of the corruptible flesh which is “Gog and Magog”. It is through the destruction of that same corruptible flesh that life is given to “all in Adam”.

Eze 39:17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, [even] a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
Eze 39:18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
Eze 39:19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
Eze 39:20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD. [“The supper of the Great God”, (Rev 19:17-19) the same words]
Eze 39:21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

These beasts and fowls are all the false doctrines with which the Lord’s elect will judge Gog and Magog “out of [their] own mouths”, (Luk 19:22)]. The very false doctrines which were used to seduce them into following Satan will torment them, just as Joseph’s brothers’ fear of his revenge tormented them for 17 years. Just as we are all guilty of the death and crucifixion of our Lord and of drinking His blood and eating His flesh, until we were granted undeserved repentance, so must all Gog and Magog live by every word of God. This whole plan is all being worked by the Great Potter, who is “seeking an occasion” for the destruction of all flesh, and the destruction of death via the “lake of fire… raising of the dead from the sea, from death and from hades”, to be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.

This brings us to the verses with which this study is concerned:

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon 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, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.
Rev 20:15 And if any was not found written in the book of life [Joh 5:28-29], he was cast into the lake of fire. (ASV)

Why must most men be cast into the lake of fire? Why must Gog and Magog be destroyed at “the supper of the great God”? The last verses of Ezekiel 39 give us our answer:

Eze 39:22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
Eze 39:23 And the heathen shall know that the [physical, natural, unrepentant] house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
Eze 39:24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
Eze 39:25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel [“When Sodom returns to her former estate” Eze 16:55], and will be jealous for my holy name;
Eze 39:26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made [them] afraid.
Eze 39:27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
Eze 39:28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there [“All in Adam”].
Eze 39:29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

God will especially have His elect to know that they are no exception to the “one event” which is “common to all men”. These are His words to the whole house of Israel:

Jer 25:17 Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
Jer 25:18 To wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as [it is] this day;

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

That “one event” is the judgment of God upon the unrighteousness and ungodliness of all men.”

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

“Judgment must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17), but in the end, it must also come to all men, to Gog and Magog. All men must drink of the same cup of “the wrath of God against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men…”

Jer 25:28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
Jer 25:29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.

It is all done for our sakes. It is all done for the sake of “the Israel of God.” It is first done to us so that we can be used as the channel for their salvation:

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.

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

Gog and Magog are made unbelievers for our sakes. It is through their unbelief that you and I are God’s believing elect. We are not saved for our own sakes any more that Gog and Magog are unbelievers by their own choice. It is all of God, and it is all for His purpose of saving all mankind.

Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

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.

“The mount of Esau” is just that part of Gog and Magog which is closest to the Lord’s ‘Israel’, and the destruction of Gog and Magog is part of “all things” which are being done “of Him, and through Him, and to Him (Rom 11:36), that He might have mercy upon all” (Rom 11:32).

These two chapters, Ezekiel 38 and 39, are the foundation on which Revelation 19 and 20 stand. The details of these two chapters give us a much deeper understanding of who it is who “abuses” this world, [and] “compasses the camp of the saints about” in every generation since Adam and Eve, in which the seed of the serpent expresses his enmity against the seed of the woman.

Gog is called “the land of Magog”:

Eze 38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
Eze 38:3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

“Gog and Magog” of Revelation 20 are the Biblical symbols which signify all of “the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth”.

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.

“The number… as the sand of the sea” is Biblical and spiritual language for “the world”; the whole world. These are the words used by the holy spirit to tell us who would become “Abraham’s seed.”

Gen 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
Gen 22:17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore: and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Gen 22:18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Paul tells us this means the whole world.

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

So the holy spirit tells us in Revelation 20 that “the nations in the four quarters of the earth [are] Gog and Magog”, and Daniel tells us these nations must all be destroyed and then replaced by “the stone which was cut out of the mountain without hands.”

Dan 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

Gog and Magog have long ago signified the occasion He is seeking  to judge this world with the fire of His own Words:

Eze 38:17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

So we find “Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” as the leader of the “many peoples” of this earth here in Ezekiel.

Eze 38:9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

This same symbol is expressed in this way in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ:

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.

Here is how God is dealing with these “many people… the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth”, both within us at this time and to the end of the ages. This is the fate of all flesh, only after it has been brought with hooks in its mouth, to face its own corruptible condition.

Eze 39:2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of [annihilate] thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

The words “and leave but a sixth part of thee” is all translated from the one primitive Hebrew root word which actually means “to annihilate.” Here is what Mr. Strong has to say about this word:

H8338
sha sha’
shaw- shaw’
A primitive root; apparently to annihilate. (Translated by confusion with H8341.): – leave but the sixth part [by confusion with H8341].

It was by confusion with the Hebrew word ‘shashah’ which is very similar, except for the first letter.

H8341
sha sha h
shaw- shaw’

A denominative from H8337; to sixth or divide into sixths: – give the sixth part.

So the root word that should have been translated ‘annihilate thee’ was instead translated ‘and leave but a sixth part of thee.’ However, the sum of God’s Word makes clear that all flesh will one day be annihilated, and through that annihilation of all flesh, all who have ever lived in bodies of flesh, will be given spiritual bodies which will never again “compass about the camp of the saints”.

Here is more of what it means to bring all flesh to its well deserved end.

Eze 39:3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
Eze 39:4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
Eze 39:5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

The bow and arrows of the adversary are his words and doctrines. Both will be destroyed in the heat of the light of the Truth which will then, over time, be made known to all things in heaven and in the earth. The only hints to how long the lake of fire will last are right here in this 39th chapter of Ezekiel, which we will cover as we come to those verses.

If Satan and his angels are in the lake of fire, then who are these ravenous birds of every sort and these beasts of the field which will devour Gog and Magog? Here is Christ’s own answer to that question.

Psa 18:26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

So the “ravenous birds of every sort, and the beasts of the field” which will be the instruments of the destruction of Gog and Magog, will be their own false doctrines. It will be the lies which Gog and Magog believe when they relinquish the flesh which will torment them until those very doctrines are burned up and destroyed within “all flesh”, of which Gog and Magog are the Biblical symbol.

Isa 66:16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

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

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.

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.

“The mountains of Israel” are “the camp of the saints… and the beloved city.” These are Biblical symbols for signifying God’s elect, in whom His Words dwell, and who will judge both this world now within, later in the millennium, and finally angels, “the devil and his angels” in the lake of fire.

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

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

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.

The ’Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38-39 is the same ‘Gog and Magog’ of Revelation 20. The two accounts complement each other with Revelation clarifying that “the nations in the four quarters of the earth are to be destroyed by the signified “fire… from heaven”, followed by the judgment of all who have ever lived at the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/ second death.

In our final study of Revelation 20:7-10 we will discover when “all Israel shall be saved”.

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

[Study Aired June 27, 2025]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is another symbol of these elect:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Conscience – Summary, Part 16

[Study Aired February 17, 2024]

Following is a list of the fifteen primary shades of our conscience studied in this series. Further subtleties of the generic “Evil Conscience” could be generalised and further identified. Either way, they, too, will be classified as an “Evil Conscience” to eventually and personally judged with an exclusive “Good Conscience” (1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged).

Accusing and Excusing Conscience
Natural Man’s Conscience
A Defiled Conscience
An Evil Conscience
A Convicting Conscience
A Purged Conscience
An Insensible Conscience
A Good Conscience
An Answering Conscience
A Pure Conscience
A Witnessing Conscience
A Conscience Void of Offence
An Emboldened Conscience
A Weak Conscience
A Seared Conscience

We saw that outside the overwhelming peace of a Good Conscience, founded on daily living Christ’s Laws, lies the many tortures of our disappearing Evil Conscience inherently compelling us to accuse, excuse, hide, and even lie; such is the nature of our flesh from birth formed in corruptible flesh.

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

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  

Rom 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 

Rom 2:12  For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 
Rom 2:13  (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 
Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 
Rom 2:16  In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

We have seen in this Conscience series of studies that our God-designed conscience is a motivational force that compels our flesh to hide from our sins and eventually and unequivocally acknowledge them. The Elect of God will have a 100% guarantee that they will acknowledge their sins preceding the first resurrection. The overwhelming majority of humanity raised to judgment in the Lake of Fire will starkly remember how they terrifyingly died just a seeming instant ago when they are raised at the end of the One-Thousand Year rulership under the rod of iron (there is no memory in death, be the time lapse 6,000 years or 10 seconds before resurrection) only to be raised to more appallingly face the same sins to which they died. 

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.

There is an indeterminate time between the death of all humanity in verse 9 and the Lake of Fire, which is a symbolic extension of having just been devoured in flames. God, and now humanity in spirit form, are not governed by time.

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 [everyone ever to exist not in the First Resurrection], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever [age lasting chastising fire. A chastising is useless if it results in a fabled “eternal death”; paradoxically, there is an eternal death of death since it is extinguished forever (Rev 20:4)].

Humanity, now raised to immortality and nightmarish spiritual blackness with most retaining the memory and strong delusion of writhing in a literally burning hell forever, will recall every harrowing nuance of conscience these studies in part identify for them to 100% acknowledge their sins. Upon their books being opened before them to be judged by their own mouths, they will be returned to outer darkness and have a symbolic seventeen-year timeframe to mull their frightful uncertainty, typified by Joseph’s brothers upon seeing him, their ‘savior’ from famine (Joseph representing Christ) alive. The irony will be that they will wish for death, and being spirit, they will not find death since death is being consumed in the same fire they find their anguished selves.

Gen 50:15  And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father [Jacob] was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite [H7725 – ‘turn back’ for vengeance upon them] us all the evil which we did unto him. 
Gen 50:16  And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, 
Gen 50:17  So shall ye [Everyone in the Resurrection to Judgement facing the fire] say unto Joseph [Christ and his Christs], Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

These following verses happen to the entire world at the return of Christ and disparagingly again upon their resurrection to judgment – the Lake of Fire. It is only the Elect of God who, by Christ’s faith and with joyful amazement in this age, receive those mountains and rocks falling on their Babylonian falsehoods. They have no wish to hide from the face of their Husband, knowing that He will cause them to gloriously “stand” before Him dressed in His white robes (Rev 19:6-10 and later, the world in Revelation 7:9-10).

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?

It is easier for us, by our Lord’s strength with a trembling heart, to look now upon every nuance of our evil consciences being burnt up in this timeframe before Christ’s return. How much more will those in the Lake of Fire, ‘the rich men’, without the knowledge of Christ’s commands we have, be utterly tortured mentally by the “great gulf” fixed between them and Christ’s Bride while figuratively asking Lazarus (the Bride) to dip ‘her’ finger in water to cool their parched tongues (Luke 15:18-31).

In the meantime, in these seeming last days before the return of Christ, the world is gleefully gulping down every last drop of amplified sins, outshining Egypt, Old Jerusalem, Sodom and Babylon’s debauchery. Every person ever to exist, and in their time, will have gluttonously drunk their fill of customised evil that this world and their associated hatred for Christ’s doctrines violently enslave. The Elect of God is experiencing in this age the learned joy of downing every remaining drop of our Lord’s wrath from His cup of correction to be deemed worthy to impose a merciful double portion according to their works on their brothers and sisters in the Resurrection to Judgment (Rev 18:5-8).

Isa 30:1  Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
Isa 30:2  That walk to go down into Egypt [Babylon], and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh [Oneself/mankind], and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!

Jer 25:26  And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach [another name for Babylon, the world] shall drink after them.
Jer 25:27  Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you [In the Resurrection to Judgement, don’t you think that a flood of memories of evil consciences will cause these folk to deeply desire to die under the hail of rocks? Ironically, they will, His word].
Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.

Notice in verse 26 of Jeremiah 25 that the location of the world’s kingdoms far and near is in the north and is where judgment comes for self-judgment (Jer 11:5-16, Psa 75:6-7, Jer 1:15-16, Jer 50:3, Jer 50:41). Spiritually, it means that the kings of the world, and particularly individually in our heavens, it is we who have ascended to the pinnacle of physical and imagined spiritual wealth of the north and now sit on God’s throne, effectively stating that we are God (certain elements of the WEF and others are blatantly stating that blasphemy today). She is Babylon within, inclusive of the outside world who drinks from the same cup of filth identified as “after them” ~ the Lord’s Elect. That “them” are the Lord’s remnant who are given to first believe in Christ’s word and go before Sheshach and drink the cup of the Lord’s wrath. Today, they tremble at the Lord’s word, and every undertone of conscience starkly convicts them to be given to remain bound in the simplicity of a “good conscience”. Afterward, the world follows along in the Great Harvest of Souls in the Resurrection to Judgment, the Lake of Fire, to have their consciences temporarily (for however long the Lord deems necessary ~ 17 = 10+7) mentally, meaning, spiritually tormented for purification in the process of the “creation of God.”

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods [remembering that there is one God, the Father of us all, bringing mankind into himself as one God]?

In Jeremiah 25:27, the “them” is speaking of Israel, who is first to be severely chastised for the fullness of time represented as “seventy years” (Psa 90:10, Jer 29:10-13) and for the spiritually discerned, subtly represents Egypt, Sodom, and Old Jerusalem collectively represented as Babylon within us today! The Lord’s Elect are the first to drink from the very same cup Jesus gave His disciples to drink at the Passover, symbolising the same chastising event to all mankind. We all initially drink from the same cup of putrified doctrines of men until we are drunk on our self-righteousness, fall down and spew on its strong delusion of claiming to be god by the power of our strength.

It is the Lord’s plan that man is created from the dust of the earth, corruptible as an experience of evil to humble him. Verse 28 of Jeremiah 25 peals the thunder of God’s command that we all “shall certainly drink” the flesh of every imaginable corruption opposed to God to satiate our cravings until the symbolic quails vomit (Num 11:18-20) from our nostrils. Today, the upwards bell curve of worldwide corruption that is sanitised as inclusive, non-judgmental and loving is breathtaking. The modern ‘Pharisees’ against the putridness of the world are more guilty spiritually since they, our brothers in Orthodox Christianity, believe that they hold the oracles of God, not aware of the strong delusion that they are not now saved while advocating fighting for God, as formally did Peter and the Jewish Christians in Jesus’ time.

Joh 18:10  Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus. 
Joh 18:11  Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? 

Joh 18:36  Jesus answered [Pilate], My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

We have graphically seen from this Conscience series of studies that every sin is associated with our conscience, and we are learning not to “accuse” others and “excuse” ourselves but rather admit that we individually (and as a collective) are that man of sin (2Sa 12:7-13), the “son of perdition” (2Th 2:1-12) who has drunk every last drop of the cup Christ drank, only He without sin.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and [the Elect first, followed by the world] fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: 
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; [we drink the same cup]
Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints [the Elect of God only in this age and later in the Resurrection to Judgement]: 
Col 1:27  To whom God would [will] make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles [the world inclusive of Gentile Christianity]; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 
Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

The beautifully understood paradox is that the cup of the Lord’s wrath upon mankind has a positive cup of pure love called Christ, the new wine of truth and purity that is Him and He in us.

In the expectation of never having to account for an “Evil Conscience”, I am unashamedly known to endlessly and with immense joy repeat,

Son 1:2  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

[Posted June 6, 2023]

While studying this morning about God’s wrath/judgment, I read in 1 Corinthians 5 that God is judging people outside the body of Christ.

1Co 5:13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

…and that is his wrath abiding on them in their unbelief?

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

So my question is, “Why does it say that once we start suffering as a Christian, judgment begins at the house of God?”

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

What about John 3:36 – God’s wrath ABIDETH on unbelievers – is that word, Abideth in future tense?

Thank you, K____

Hi K____,

Thank you for this question about God judging the world at this time in 1 Corinthians 5:13, because it demonstrates how important it is to know the tense of what is being said.

Here, in brackets, is the tense of the verb ‘judgeth’^G2919 ‘krino‘:

1Co 5:13  But^G1161 them that are without^G1854 God^G2316 judgeth^{G2919 [G5692]}. Therefore^G2532 put away^{G1808 [G5692]} from^G1537 among yourselves^G5216 that^G846 wicked person^G4190.

When you click on the number I have emboldened in brackets, G5692, you will get the Greek tense of this verb, ‘krino’, and this is that tense:

G5692
Tense-Future See [G5776]
Voice-Active See [G5784]
Mood-Indicative See [G5791]

On the other hand, let’s look at the Greek tense of ‘krino‘ which is taking place on the house of God at this time in 1 Peter 4:17, which you also reference:

1Pe 4:17  For^G3754 the time^G2540 is come that judgment^G2917 must begin^{G756 [G5670]} at^G575 the house^G3624 of God^G2316: and^G1161 if^G1487 it first^G4412 begin at^G575 us^G2257, what^G5101 shall the end^G5056 be of them that obey not^{G544 [G5723]} the gospel^G2098 of God^G2316?

The tense of the verb ‘judgment’ here is not in the future tense. We are first plainly told “the time is come…”, followed by the verb phrase… “that judgment must begin G756 [5670]”. Here is the tense which the bracketed number ‘5670’ reveals:

G5670
Tense-Aorist See [G5777]
Voice-Middle See [G5785]
Mood-Infinitive See [G5795]

I hope we are all familiar with the fact that the ‘aorist’ tense indicates that a process is at this moment taking place.

Furthermore, the tense of the question asking “what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God” is G5273, which is:

G5723
Tense-Present See [G5774]
Voice-Active See [G5784]
Mood-Participle See [G5796]

The very clear contrast Peter is making is between those upon whom the judgment of God is presently in the process of taking place, and those who are not obeying the gospel of God. The former is spoken of in the ongoing aorist tense and the latter is in the present tense.

Since the tense of the word Greek word ‘krino‘^G5692 in 1 Corinthians 5:13 is the future tense, as indicated by the bracketed number [5776], that verse would be much better translated as:

1Co 5:13  But God will [future tense] judge the ones outside. And you shall put out from yourselves the evil one. (LITV)

As another brother pointed out:  “It’s a matter of timing. Notice that it says abiding. Why is that? because it won’t happen in this age.”

You ask:  “What about John 3:36 ‘God’s wrath ABIDETH on unbelievers, is that word, Abideth in future tense?”

Here is that scripture:

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

The word ‘abideth’ is present tense. God’s wrath is abiding on all unbelievers at this present time.  However, that does not mean they are being judged at this time.

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

I hope this helps you to see that God is not judging the world at this time. He will judge the world in Gehenna fire, which typifies the great white throne judgment/ lake of fire/ second death.

Your fellow student of the Lord’s Words,
Mike

The Book of Joshua – Part 11, Joshua 10:1-15 ‘I know that You hear Me always…’

“And I know that You hear Me always, but because of the people who stand by I said it, so that they may believe that You have sent Me.” – John 11:42

[Study Aired May 6, 2023]

Central to this Study in Joshua 10 is the mind-boggling impossibility against all laws of physics by the sun and the moon standing still in the heavens.

Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stood still, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? And the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down about a whole day.

If the sun instantly stood still in the heavens, it means that the Earth instantly stood still since the revolution of the Earth gives the appearance that the sun rotates around it. The Earth rotates in one day at the rate of 1,037 km/h, and if the Earth suddenly stops, everything, tall buildings, homes, trees, all living things and the scoured ground, loose boulders and the oceans, would chaotically detach instantly at a little lower than 1,037 km/h (644 mph) to the east. Our near neighbour, Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere, only travels at a bit over half that speed.

I’ve belaboured the point thus far in the study of Joshua that the Lord is graphically etching in young Israel’s heart and soul that the successful outcome of all wars and tribulations is by His power alone. Of course, the Body of Christ immutably knows that Israel, without the holy spirit, is a fruitful and bright understanding for the Elect’s sake and a fruitless experience for old Israel until the resurrection to judgment. Yet, some dedicated souls like Moses, Joshua and Job, to name a very few, did their fleshly best, learning to keep the laws of the Commandments by the Lord’s power’ roughly perfectly’ (false negative). Through Israel’s tumultuous journey, God was ramming home to our spirit that our works are utterly useless without him, and Israel was our patsy (Rom 9:20-21).

Joh 6:63 The spirit is the life giver; the flesh is of no value: the words which I have said to you are spirit and they are life. (BBE)

Yet, no number of outrageous miracles to titillate our senses without His spirit ever changed Israel or us. The sun and the moon stopping in the heavens is as excessive as a miracle can get. It is like God saying, “Is your power frustrating you yet?”

Job 38:1 And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
Job 38:2 Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge? 
Job 38:3 Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers. (BBE)

So, let the Moon (New Jerusalem above)  stand still in the glory of the Sun (Christ) and be strengthened by the holy spirit for us to be that man of war, mighty confident in lockstep with Christ and learn from Israel’s endless frustrations.

Jos 10:1 And it happened, when Adoni-zedek (Phonetic: ad-o”-nee-tseh’-dek) king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it (as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king) and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 
Jos 10:2 they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all of its men were mighty.
Jos 10:3 And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,
Jos 10:4 Come up to me, and help me, so that we may strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel.
Jos 10:5 And the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves. And they went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon, and made war against it.
Jos 10:6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Do not withhold your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us. For all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered against us. 
Jos 10:7  So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of war.
Jos 10:8 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands. There shall not a man of them stand before you.
Jos 10:9 And Joshua came to them suddenly, coming up from Gilgal all night.
Jos 10:10 And Jehovah troubled them before Israel, and killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Beth-horon, and struck them to Azekah, and to Makkedah.
Jos 10:11 And it happened, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the descent of Bethhoron, Jehovah cast down great stones from the heavens on them to Azekah, and they died. The many who died from hailstones were more than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
Jos 10:12 Then Joshua spoke to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun! Stand still on Gibeon! And, moon, stand still in the valley of Aijalon!
Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stood still, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? And the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down about a whole day. 
Jos 10:14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah listened to the voice of a man. For Jehovah fought for Israel.
Jos 10:15 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal.

Study Exposition:

Jos 10:1 And it happened, when Adoni-zedek [ Phonetic: aw-done’– Definition: 1. firm, strong, Lord, master] king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it (as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king) and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
Jos 10:2 they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all of its men were mighty.

Just as the Lord endlessly drives home the same message to old Israel in the wilderness, today our belief and faith are empowered to believe that our Lord will kill our enemies without an outward miracle.

Before being dragged to the Lord, we sat in our temple as King of Old Jerusalem, garnering support for our false doctrines from striking hands in oaths against our Lord from our leering friends. If the Lord ever got frustrated with us, it is because of disbelief that He is good on His word against us being god, and we sit masterly and resolutely in the temple of God.

Mat 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him here [boy with a demon] to Me. 
Mat 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and he departed out of him. And the child was cured from that very hour. 
Mat 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus apart, and said, Why could we not cast him out? 
Mat 17:20 And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there. And it shall move. And nothing shall be impossible to you.

All of our enemies fear Christ, Who goes before us to fight our battles, just as the demons of the two demon-possessed ones in the country of the Gergesenes feared Christ. Likewise, these five kings infesting the Promised Land were stricken with dread for the same God of Israel. A Gergesene means H1086 – ‘a stranger drawing near’, and its people are Girgasites, the very same “clayey soil” enemies Israel fights.

Mat 8:28 And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, two demon-possessed ones met Him, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one might pass by that way.
Mat 8:29 And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time? [Lake of Fire]

As we discovered in Part 10 of Joshua, the Girgasites were part of “seven nations stronger than you (Israel)” (Deu 7:1. Jos 3:10. Jos 24:11), symbolised as being cast into the resurrection to judgment. These kings and their peoples are symbolised as legions of evil spirits whom Israel tormented by fear and death before their typified time in the Lake of Fire.

Jos 10:3 And Adonizedek [‘aw-done’] king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 
Jos 10:4 Come up to me, and help me, so that we may strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel. 
Jos 10:5 And the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem [‘aw-done’], the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves. And they went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon, and made war against it [against Gibeon!].

The definitions of the other four kings:

Hoham king of Hebron – Definition: Hoham = whom Jehovah impels. Origin H2267 – Hebron, association; company; magician; charmer.

Piram king of Jarmuth – Definition: Hebron. [Location only] Origin H2267 association; company; magician; charmer. Jarmuth – Phon’ ‘yar-mooth’ – def’ ‘heights; to rise up; to be set on high; exault’.

Japhia king of Lachish – Phonetic: yaw-fee’-ah. 1. a town on the border of Zebulun and Issachar. Origin: H3313 1. to shine, shine forth or out, cause to shine, send out beams.

Debir king of Eglon – Debir – ‘deb-eer’ means ‘sanctuary’; the holy of holies; temple; an oracle-god. Eglon – ‘eg-lawn’ – calf-like; bull calf.

From that aggregate of meanings for the Kings and their locations for our spiritual understanding, we see our God-given broad company of 44,000 odd Babylonian Christian doctrines within ourselves. While in Babylon, we were unwitting magicians charming the laity with falsehoods from the traditions of ‘godly’ fellow Christians, exalting ourselves while preaching another Jesus (2Co 11:4). We were giddy with the delusion that we were saved by ‘greasy grace’, and unwittingly reflected the light of the first “moon” so that we were blinding ourselves by our brightness. Little did we know we were ‘holy cow’ worshippers, Canaanites. The five kings all have the same spirit of mind for our glorious chastisement (Rev 3:19) to be given faith by grace. They all are represented by their principal king Adonizedek [‘aw-done’], of the (first) desolate Jerusalem that much later developed into more of a “city of peace”, as projected for our understanding.

The armies of all five kings fought their countrymen of Gibeon, which we remember, ironically means the city of Benjamin. We see within the same pattern that happened much later with Ammon and Moab.

2Ch 20:23 For the sons of Ammon and Moab stood up against the people of mount Seir to completely kill and destroy. And when they had made an end of the people of Seir, everyone helped to destroy another.

Pro 16:7 When a man’s ways please Jehovah, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Since Gibeon (the Hivites) is Israel’s city through Benjamin, they are typified as our Babylonian Christian brothers and sisters. Typically, they are interested in a different Jesus with only enough fear to believe that the Lord, and in this case, Israel, will save their hides, yet, they can be us if we haven’t been given to go the distance to keep all the Lord’s Commandments.

Jos 10:6 And the men of Gibeon [symbolic of our Babylonian Christian near kin, Benjamin] sent to Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Do not withhold your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us. For all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered against us.

Mat 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works? 
Mat 7:23 And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness! 

The Hivites (from the land of Gibeon) are our Gentile Christian kin of the world with whom we rub shoulders every day. They are not too dissimilar in appearance to Israel and blend in with Israel’s inherent affability (when Israel should have generally been more circumspect for the Lord’s commands). While the Lord’s focus was Israel, all these heathen nations of the ‘world’, including the Hivites, helped sculpt Israel for our immense spiritual benefit.

Joh 17:9 I pray for them [the Elect of God]. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
Joh 17:10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11 And now I am in the world no longer, but these are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father. Keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one as We are.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those that You have given Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition [us, if we go back to being a worldly Hivite] that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 
Joh 17:13 And now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world that they might have My joy fulfilled in them.
Joh 17:14 I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15  I do not pray for You to take them out of the world, [away from the subtle lies and bombastic ruling of the laity of our Babylonian kin] but for You to keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They [the Lord’s people ~ aliens Lev 19:34; 1Pet 2:11] are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through Your truth. Your Word is truth.

Jos 10:7 So Joshua [Christ and his Christs] went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of war. 
Jos 10:8 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands. There shall not a man of them stand before you.

For those verses and the longstanding Saints’ awareness, it seems banal to state the obvious (and we will), that our ravished hearts for the Lord’s word is demonstratively Shulamite; there is always a hidden gem hidden for our finding and child-like joy when a Body member reveals the discovery of a sapphire or nugget. And, so…

We don’t half-step into battle. “All the people of war” are the Lord’s Elect and are “mighty men of war” ~ how?

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world’s rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 
Eph 6:13 Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Therefore stand, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness 
Eph 6:15 and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Eph 6:16 Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, 
Eph 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. 
Eph 6:19 And pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 
Eph 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in bonds; so that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Jos 10:9 And Joshua came to them suddenly, coming up from Gilgal all night.

The Lord’s people are given to see perfectly at night since Christ is their pillar of fire (Exo 13:21), who came suddenly in our long spiritual darkness, rousing us from our sleep while drunk on Babylonian wine (another Jesus).

Israel is a witness to their Gibeonite kin so that in the Resurrection to Judgment, humanity, particularly ‘Christian Gibeonites’, will remember that the Lord’s Elect was powerfully among them in the one-thousand year reign when judged on the eighth day. However, for the moment, the lukewarm Benjaminites of Gibeon are prophetically reminded of their inherent nature.

Gen 49:26 The blessings of your father are above the blessings of my ancestors [for this parallel, Benjamin], to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him, the ruler, the leader of his brothers.
Gen 49:27 Benjamin is a wolf that tears in pieces. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Jos 10:10 And Jehovah troubled them [the Five Kings and their armies] before Israel, and killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Beth-horon, and struck them to Azekah, and to Makkedah. 
Jos 10:11 And it happened, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the descent of Bethhoron, Jehovah cast down great stones from the heavens on them to Azekah, and they died. The many who died from hailstones were more than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

The hail that is the fiery word of God smashes all lies, culminating in the resurrection to judgment when all people therein will be reminded of their deliberate and unwittingly believed lies from their former flesh. For the marginally astute sons of God, that hailstone event is synonymous with the one-thousand year reign with a rod of iron. The many who died from those hailstones will be the entirety of humanity since Adam, who are not counted in the First Resurrection.

Eze 38:22 And I will judge him [Gog and Magog now, within], with a plague and with blood [I die daily]. And I will rain on him, and on his bands, and on the many peoples with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.
Eze 38:23 So I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself. And I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am Jehovah. 

Rev 16:19 And the great city [you and I] came to be into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the anger of His wrath. 
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and mountains were not found [including the Kings within (us), Joshua prefigured as fighting].
Rev 16:21 And a great hail, as the size of a talent, came down out of the heaven on men. And men blasphemed God [The Elect steeply decreasing blasphemy, but all nations blaspheming now, but more so at the end of the OTY rod of iron reign] because of the plague of the hail; for the plague of it was exceedingly great.

Isa 28:14 Therefore hear the Word of Jehovah, scornful men who rule this people in Jerusalem [Babylon today and within]. 
Isa 28:15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and we have made a vision with hell; when the overwhelming rod shall pass through, it shall not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood, [… For she says in her heart, “I sit as a queen, and I am not a widow…” (Rev 18:7)]
Isa 28:16 therefore so says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I place in Zion a Stone for a foundation, a tried Stone, a precious Cornerstone [Christ], a sure Foundation; he [the Christs] who believes shall not hurry [why hurry; patience is a virtue; Christ is creating the pot at his leisure] 
Isa 28:17 Also I will lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Jos 10:12 Then Joshua spoke to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun! Stand still on Gibeon! And, moon, stand still in the valley of Aijalon! 

The sun and the moon effectively stand still today for the Elect of God as they are given to slaughter every enemy king and child within until all their brothers and sisters are done being killed.

Rev 6:10 And they [Elect] cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season [while the sun (Christ) stands still for the Moon, the Church], until their fellowservants [Moon…] also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 

Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stood still, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? [Contemporary alleged works of Jasher are spurious; its word doesn’t correspond to the Lord’s spirit in the rest of the Bible] And the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down about a whole day.

Christ, our sun, shines with increasing brightness on His Bride, the Moon. He is standing still for us today while we are given time to kill a great slaughter of the lies within. (Incidentally, I remember harvesting wheat at 2 am one night in Queensland many years ago. The moonlight was so bright that I easily read newsprint). 

Christ says vengeance is His, and since the Elect of God are Christs (plural), vengeance is theirs, like Joseph was to his brothers and the Elect to humanity in the Resurrection to Judgement.

Deu 32:31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges [Job 15:6  ‘… I will judge you out of your own mouth, wicked servant!’ Luk 19:22]
Deu 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall. Their clusters are bitter.
Deu 32:33 Their wine [twisted word of God] is the poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of asps. [As opposed to the words on the roof of the Lord’s mouth the Shulamite deems better than wine Son 7:9-10]
Deu 32:34 Is not this laid up in store with Me and sealed up among My treasures?
Deu 32:35 Vengeance and retribution belong to Me. Their [the world] foot shall slide in time [order of salvation], for the day of their calamity [fiery judgement] is at hand, and the things that shall come on them make haste. 
Deu 32:36 For Jehovah will bring His people justice; and He shall have compassion on His servants, for He sees that their power is gone, and only the imprisoned and abandoned remain.

Jos 10:14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah listened to the voice of a man [in that age of old Israel]. For Jehovah fought for Israel.
Jos 10:15 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal.

The Father listens to the man, Jesus, our Lord and God, who stands still for a little moment while His Moon gathers His brightness to soon receive the full complement of His spirit in dazzling white linen robes.

Isa 54:7 For a little moment I have left you; but with great mercies I will gather you.
Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says Jehovah your Redeemer.

Joh 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
Joh 11:42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
Joh 11:44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Our Joshua is Christ who speaks to the Father “in the day” to whom the Father listens, just as the Father listens to His Elect who are washed by their Husband’s words.

Joh 9:4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me, while it is day. Night comes when no man can work.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.

Soon, we who are hopeful for the resurrection to life will hear the loud voice of the Archangel and a trumpet call when the physically dead in Christ will rise, followed soon after by those who are alive.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. 
1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord. 
1Th 4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Acts 11:1-18 They That Were of the Circumcision Contended With [Peter]

[Study Aired April 2, 2023]

Act 11:1  And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.
Act 11:2  And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
Act 11:3  Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
Act 11:4  But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,
Act 11:5  I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:
Act 11:6  Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
Act 11:7  And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
Act 11:8  But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
Act 11:9  But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
Act 11:10  And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.
Act 11:11  And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.
Act 11:12  And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house:
Act 11:13  And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
Act 11:14  Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
Act 11:15  And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Act 11:16  Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Act 11:17  Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?
Act 11:18  When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

—————–

Act 11:1  And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.

What had happened in Caesarea, with the apostle Peter entering the home of the Gentile Roman centurion, Cornelius, was shocking to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, but they acknowledged “that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God”. However, there were those who simply could not yet understand how this was possible:

Act 11:2  And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
Act 11:3  Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.

“They that were of the circumcision” means those Christian Jews who were “zealous of the law [of Moses]”, as James boasted before Paul in:

Act 21:19  And when he [Paul] had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

The events of Acts 21 are about fifteen years after Peter was given the honor of bringing the gospel to the Gentiles for the first time. Yet even the apostles at Jerusalem are not yet given to understand that “they of the circumcision”, while indeed being “zealous of the law”, will be counted as being “under tutors and governors” at a later standard (Gal 4:1-5), and therefore “carnal babes in Christ” (1Co 3:1-4). It is important to realize this standard was not yet applied when Paul himself was living under the law when he wrote the book of Galatians. It had been agreed in Acts 15 that the Gentiles did not need circumcision and the ordinances of Moses, but the Jews were required to continue in those things. If this is not true, then Paul would have been lying to Felix when he made this statement:

Act 24:11  Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship.
Act 24:12  And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city:
Act 24:13  Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.

The accusation made against Paul in Acts 21 was:

Act 21:21  And they [the Jewish believers in Jerusalem] are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.

Stephen and the apostle James, the brother of John, one of the two sons of Zebedee, died as martyrs before the holy spirit revealed that favor with God was no longer tethered to being physically attached to Abraham. Stephen and James were not considered ‘carnal babes in Christ’, because it had not yet been revealed at the time of their deaths that the law of Moses was no longer the standard for the righteousness needed for salvation. The apostles, Paul himself included, as late as the end of Paul’s third journey when he went up and was apprehended of the Jews in Acts 21, were all still very much attached to the law of Moses:

Act 21:18  And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
Act 21:19  And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
Act 21:20  And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

It seemed impossible to the apostles that “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” could possibly also become the God of the Gentiles without first becoming proselytes to Judaism. It is hard for any of us to accommodate such a great doctrinal change. It seemed as impossible as one rising up from among the dead. Christ had told His disciples well in advance that He would be murdered and raised back to life, and yet not even His own apostles believed that would happen:

Mar 16:9  Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
Mar 16:10  And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
Mar 16:11  And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.

Mar 16:14  Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

That is the lesson for all of us as we read of the spiritual immaturity of the apostles and of the churches they established. One and all, we begin our walk with the Lord as “carnal babes in Christ”, and it requires the patience of the saints to bear with us until we no longer need a schoolmaster to teach us and to help us get from our classroom to the lunchroom.

That was Paul’s experience with the Corinthians and the Galatians:

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?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Pointing out the revelation that the gospel would go to the Gentiles and that the law of Moses would no longer be the standard for the righteousness of Christ is not to condemn the apostles. Christ does not have us give an accounting for what He has not yet told us. Christ Himself told His disciples:

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

“All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do” in no way conflicts with the holy spirit telling Peter to go to the house of a Gentile, if we are granted to acknowledge the progressive revelation of scripture. The first Adam knows nothing of ‘the things of the spirit’. In fact, ‘the things of the spirit are foolishness unto him’:

1Co 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world [the letter of the law], but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things [of the spirit] that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth [the letter of the law], but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things [spiritual realities] with spiritual [types and shadows].
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The natural man has no trouble understanding these words:

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

Peter could easily understand those words. Those are utterly carnal words, admonishing physical, natural Israel to perform carnal actions against her carnal enemies. What Peter had to be made to understand through his own miraculous vision, supernaturally connected to the equally miraculous vision which was earlier given to Cornelius, was the spiritual meaning of those words. Those carnal-minded words are being used by the holy spirit as types and shadows of our carnal nature to tell us, if we have the mind of the spirit, that we are fighting spiritual giants in our own spiritual land. We are commanded to completely destroy those lusts, passions and false doctrines, and every spiritual thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and ‘make no covenant with them and spiritually show them no mercy’.

The Lord knew from the beginning that such a marvelous work would require a lot of time. The Lord’s plan all along was to create a carnal, dying body of flesh and bones, for the purpose  of giving it an experience of evil which would then provide Him with the occasion He is seeking to crush and humble us.

Ecc 1:13 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. (CLV)

Therefore, the first ‘Adam’ was only the very first step toward the making of mankind into the image of God. The clay model is nothing more than a necessary evil which must be endured as an integral part of the process of creating mankind in the image of God and His Son.

Jeremiah later expresses this Truth with these words:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made [Hebrew: Qal stem, indicating a process, not the finished product] of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made [Qal stem ‘is making’] it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

What bookends this subject and sinks the false doctrine of God giving mankind a will that is free from His influence is the fact that both Jeremiah 18:4 and this verse of Genesis 1 are in the Qal stem, a form of Hebrew grammar which correlates to the aorist tense in the Greek language:

Gen 1:27 And creating [Qal stem] is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.

 In other words, God is in the process of making mankind in His image and after His likeness. The ‘first Adam’ is but the first part of that creation process.

The second stage of that process does not begin until after the sacrifice of Christ was made. That is why the Lord made this statement to His apostles the very same evening in which He was apprehended by the Jews, just before His crucifixion:

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

This entire story of Peter entering into the home of a Gentile, and eating with that Gentile, is all a part of revealing to each of us how hard it is for us to give up all our own weaknesses and all the false doctrines we cherished  while we were at home in our own Babylonian experience.

Christ had already made it clear by every “…but I say unto you” statement in:

Mat 5:21  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Mat 5:31  It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
Mat 5:32  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
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 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

…that He had come to reform the law of Moses, as Moses had prophesied that He would:

Deu 18:15  The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
Deu 18:16  According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
Deu 18:17  And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
Deu 18:18  I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
Deu 18:19  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
Deu 18:20  But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.

This is that part of the law of Moses which identifies Christ as the prophesied reforming Messiah who would reform the law. Instead of understanding and accepting the words of Christ as the fulfilling of this prophecy, the scribes and Pharisees, along with the priests and elders of Israel, used  this very scripture to justify the death of Christ by claiming He was casting out devils “in the name of other gods… by the power of Beelzebub.” All their eyes and the eyes of Saul of Tarsus could see were the words “even that prophet shall die”:

Mat 12:22  Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. [As a type of you and me]
Mat 12:23  And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
Mat 12:24  But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Nevertheless, those who made this accusation against Christ were “they which were of the circumcision”, and the apostles of Christ had not yet been brought to see that being “of the circumcision” would in time be revealed to be spiritually immature. This immaturity is on display when James makes it clear that as of the Jerusalem conference in Acts 15, which was several years after the death and resurrection of Christ, “they of the circumcision” still considered the local synagogue to be the church of God:

Act 15:12  Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.
Act 15:13  And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:
Act 15:14  Simeon [Peter] hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
Act 15:15  And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
Act 15:16  After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
Act 15:17  That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
Act 15:18  Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
Act 15:19  Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
Act 15:20  But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Act 15:21  For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.

These words, “Moses [is] being read in the synagogues every sabbath day” demonstrate that the whole Jewish Christian church in Jerusalem, including all the original twelve apostles, minus Judas but including Mathias, considered the “reading [of] Moses… in every city… in the synagogues every sabbath” to be sufficient for Jewish Christians to “rebuild the tabernacle of Moses… That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called.”

In other words, the apostles at this time still believed their salvation depended on keeping the law of Moses and that “the tabernacle of David” was consisted only of those who were physically descended from Abraham through Isaac and Jacob or were proselytes to Judaism and who were physically circumcised and keeping the law of Moses. The letter to the Gentiles did not require the Gentiles to be circumcised, but that letter made it clear that the apostles and elders at Jerusalem did indeed think that “them that were of the circumcision” must be physically circumcised and keep the law of Moses. All the twelve original apostles at this conference, with the exception of Peter, thought that physical circumcision was essential for the salvation of any Jewish Christian. Peter is obliged to explain to the other apostles (“they of the circumcision”) why he broke the law of Moses which forbade any Jew from fraternizing with, entering the house of, and eating with any Gentile:

Act 11:4  But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,

If the angel had appeared to Cornelius after Peter had his vision, then someone might say that Cornelius made his story up to fit Peter’s vision. However, the whole thing took place in a order which made it impossible to deny that it was a supernatural work of God. That is why Peter expounded it to the apostles in the order in which the holy spirit worked those events, and it all accords with Christ’s words:

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

Peter does not specifically refer to Christ’s words in John 16:12, but he does affirm that it was the spirit which ‘bade him to go’ with the three Gentile men inquiring for him at the door of the house of Simon the tanner.

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

Peter and “these six brethren” equal seven Jews who were the complete witness of the holy spirit being given to the Gentiles before they were even baptized.

Act 11:13  And he [Cornelius] shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
Act 11:14  Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
Act 11:15  And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Act 11:16  Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Act 11:17  Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?
Act 11:18  When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

‘God… hath… also to the Gentile granted repentance unto life!’ What a shocking development! It seemed to contradict everything these Jews had ever believed, but it had been done in such a way that it simply could not be denied. God had given His spirit to them without the benefit of either circumcision or baptism. When Peter reminds the other apostles that Christ had said “Ye shall be baptized with the holy ghost”, Peter was applying those words to these uncircumcised Gentiles, and Peter was making it clear that he personally counted the Gentiles as part of those to whom Christ had made that promise.

There was simply no way that Cornelius could possibly have known that a man name Simon, whose surname was Peter, and was lodging with another man named Simon, who was a tanner and who lived by the sea shore. Nevertheless, when the men Cornelius sent to enquire for Peter it was all exactly as the angel had told Cornelius, and there was no way Peter could deny that His vision of a sheet filled with all manners of unclean beasts accorded with the three ‘unclean’ Gentiles who the spirit told Peter were calling for him. When the Lord wants us to know something, He works circumstances so that we cannot deny what He has shown us to be His work and His words.

If He wants to confirm to us that the thousand-year reign is over the natural, physical “kingdoms of this world” and that the establishment of that kingdom is preceded by “the resurrection of life”, and then that thousand years of ruling over the kingdoms of this world is followed by a short period of a natural and physical rebellion of ‘the nations in the four quarters of the earth’ against the “camp of the saints”, providing the Lord with the occasion He is seeking to “destroy death”, then He can and He has ‘expounded to us in order’ exactly what are the necessary events to confirm that doctrine in our hearts and minds in a way that cannot be denied. Truly if we are His “disciples indeed” then “all things are for [our] sakes”:

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.

Christ warned us against setting dates. Nevertheless, He Himself gives us a very specific timeline of the events He is bringing to pass to bring all of mankind to be made in His image and after His likeness:

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

The timing of this momentous event and the events that follow it are all clearly laid out for us in the fifteen short verses of:

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 [Notice the order of events].
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. [Notice the order of events] This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

The thousand-year reign is not designed to produce the great revival we have been led to believe from our years in the churches of this world. Instead, the thousand-year reign of the Lord and His Christ is designed to demonstrate that physical rulership, even if it is by the Lord and His Christ, does not convert the souls of men. All that physical rulership with a rod of iron produces in mankind is rebellion, just as Israel’s time under the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day for forty years proved. That is what living under a rod of iron for a thousand years also produces:

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired [notice the order of events], 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.

This great final rebellion which comes only “when the thousand years are expired”, provides the Lord with the occasion He is seeking to destroy death by the destruction of the source of death which is the rebellious carnal mind. That rebellious carnal mind is integral to and is within all dying flesh and blood:

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.

This has always been presented to us as the single most dreadful moment in all human history, because it is presented as the beginning of everlasting, eternal torment for the vast majority of humankind. The Truth is that this is the single greatest work of grace ever experienced by mankind, because the grace of God chastens and judges us, and the lake of fire is the second death, and the second death begins with the great white throne judgment:

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 [of Psa 139:16] were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life [the book of those who were resurrected a thousand years earlier, who reigned with Christ over the kingdoms of this world for a thousand years and are now the judges of angels in this ‘great white throne judgment/lake of fire/ second death’]: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life [whosoever was not in that “blessed and holy… first resurrection”] was cast into the lake of fire [as the ‘second’ group to experience the death of their old man].

That is how all of mankind will finally be made in the image and likeness of God. It all culminates in the greatest work of God’s chastening grace known as ‘the great white throne… judgment’. It is a ‘white’ throne. It is not a dark, black throne judgment.

Now let’s ask a very simple question… What do all of God’s judgments produce? Here is the answer to that question:

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

It is not adding to the words of God to insert the words ‘the lake of’ in that verse because this is what all of God’s judgments, including this “great white throne… judgment” produce:

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.

Resurrection precedes the day of judgment. There are only two resurrection and only two days of judgment mentioned in all scripture. We are at this very moment living in the first judgment day:

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?

These verses refer to the first day of judgment which Christ calls “the resurrection of life”, because those few who are blessed to be in that resurrection are being judged in this present time. According to Christ Himself there are many who are not being judged in this present life, and they will come up out of their graves at a much later judgment which He labels “the resurrection of judgment”:

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 [that “blessed and holy… first resurrection” which immediately precedes the thousand year reign]; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920: ‘krisis’, judgment, the great white throne judgment].

Peter understood Christ’s word’s “Ye shall be baptized with the holy ghost and with fire” to include the Gentiles to whom the Lord had sent him. That baptism of fire, spoken of by the Lord and repeated by Peter in our study today, is now on the house of God, and that baptism of fire is the ‘death of Christ’ into which we are now being baptized:

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.
Rom 6:7  For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Every word in these verses dealing with being buried with Christ into His death is in the aorist tense because we are in a process of “dying daily” with Christ, and being baptized into His death. That daily dying is our judgment in this present time that Peter speaks of in 1 Peter 4:17, and if we are judged in this present time, then we will not be raised up in “the resurrection of judgment”:

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves [in this present time], we should not be judged [in the resurrection of judgment (Joh 5:28-29)].
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged [whether in this present time or in the resurrection of judgment], we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned [to the resurrection of judgment] with the world.

 While the phrase ‘first death’ is not to be found in scripture, the phrases “first trusted in Christ” (Eph 1:12) and the phrase ‘judgment… first begins at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17) are scriptural phrases which establish the fact that those who suffer death to their old man in this present time (Rom 8:18) are indeed suffering the first death as opposed to “the second death” which is “the lake of fire”

Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

The second death is the death of the old man in the second resurrection. The death of our old man which we are seeking is the one that is “[now] on the house of God” and leads to “the resurrection of life” at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Christ and His Christ:

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead [who do not live and reign with Christ during that thousand years] lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Song of Solomon 7:1-10 – Part 13, The Shulamite is the New Garden

[Study Aired February 4, 2023]

‘The Shulamite is the new garden; her every bodily member is a delight of summer scents, blossoms and arousing ripeness of beauty for the salvation of all men’.

In this, the second last chapter of the Song of Solomon, the Bride and Groom in the Shulamite’s dreaming escalate their anticipated physical arousals spiritually.

Son 7:1 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. 
Son 7:2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.
Son 7:3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
Son 7:4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.
Son 7:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
Son 7:6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! 
Son 7:7 This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. 
Son 7:8 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples; 
Son 7:9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. 
Son 7:10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
Son 7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. 
Son 7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. 
Son 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved. 

Son 7:1 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.

In particular, young women’s overall elegance is highlighted by proportional legs and further emphasised with beautiful shoes, and for us, today, by the Western fashion of high heels. Mostly unconsciously to the broadly attentive male eye, every refinement of her ensemble spontaneously captivates (beguiles – delightfully deceives; seduces) his heart.

The symphony of her entire presentation is “beautiful”, particularly her eyes that negatively once deceived us in our wilderness of sin.

Pro 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

Mat 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 
Mat 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

However, if we walk with feet shod by the Lord’s word, as does the Bride, they harmonise perfectly with the eyes righteously.

Psa 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

It is interesting that Hebrew 6471 for “feet” references 1. stroke, beat, foot, step, anvil, occurrence. a. foot, hoof-beat, footfall, footstep b. anvil. c. occurrence, time, stroke, beat. [rythmn of…] 1. one time, once, twice, thrice, as time on time, at this repetition, this once, now at length, now…now, at one time…at another.

Solomon used the Shulamite’s image as “two armies” in the previous chapter. Armies are literally owned by the governing state and comply to the beat of a unified step, every command. So too, does the Lord’s “terrible” army, his “little flock”, the Bride of Christ, submissive to him and march in unity in Him.

Exo 13:2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

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

Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him [Christ and His Christ] that sat on the horse, and against his army.

As such, the Bride’s beautifully shod feet highlight her spiritual walk in shoes He has chosen and are what pleases her Lord upon the mount, the holy ground of his kingdom.

Isa 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains [the nations inwardly and outwardly] are the feet of him [Christ and his Christ] that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; [Shulamite-like peace] that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Exo 3:4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 
Exo 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

The Bride of Christ is confidently standing before her Lord on holy ground in shoes, since He shod her feet. Moses was wearing his own walk, signified by his earthly shoes.

… the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.

Moses’ Tabernacle represented her former state in the wilderness made of earthly riches by men’s hands. Solomon’s temple, designed by the Lord, was the grand finale and epitome of earthly achievement. Since the Lord crafted the Bride from conception, he made her the co-lucifer (light-bearer; morning star) in Him and knows her every joint. The individuals in the Body of Christ are becoming the jewels of cunning workmanship of her walk hinged perfectly in her thighs like the jewels bearing the workings of an analogue Swiss watch. Christ is the cunning workman for all occasions of her creation, from clay and self-worship to pure gold, in His image.

Isa 40:17 All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.
Isa 40:18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Isa 40:19 The workman [mankind guided by their first goldsmith father, Satan] melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver chains.
Isa 40:20 He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman [figuratively, Satan] to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved.

Our former estate was ‘that great city’ cunningly crafted by our hands.

Rev 18:16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17 For in a single hour such fabulous wealth has been destroyed!”…

The final city is the heavenly Jerusalem, cunning workmanship of Christ, and full of spiritual riches, as seen in Revelation 21.

Son 7:2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.

Solomon is involved with every detail of his Bride’s body, as is Christ, spiritually. Even though “navel” H2854, 2324 and associated numbers; means swaddling band or cloth, enemy and twisting [umbilical cord?], its reference is an external visualisation and is round, like a goblet ~ Hebrew for bowl; basin; curves of a human body. Why would Solomon and Christ proclaim such a strange brooding for the navel, as small as it is, remotely looking like a goblet not needing liquor?

A goblet or cup is a receptacle for liquids, particularly in ancient times, mostly for water or wine. Since the navel is the entry point of nourishment for a baby, spiritually, it is only symbolic, as biologically are male nipples compared to female nipples. The Bride is the Lord’s workmanship made not of a woman but by His hands. His water and wine, being his word and spirit, enter the Bride spiritually, not through a navel. As such, her navel does not require “liquor”, symbolising the Lord’s spirit since it wasn’t given until Pentecost. The Lord’s spirit comes only through Him. The commandments are,

Pro 3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Pro 3:9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
Pro 3:10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Liquor H4197 1. mixture, mixed wine. – Origin: from an unused root meaning to mingle (water with wine); Strongs – tempered wine.

Additionally, the Bride had taken mixed wine (liquor) of chastisement for her former ways with relatively light chastisement, compared to her sisters in Babylon who will receive double the mixture she, the Whore dished out. In the positive, the Bride is looking forward to being the Wife of Christ and will consummate perfect wine in the fullness of her Lord’s spirit. 

Luk 22:14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.
Luk 22:15 And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
Luk 22:16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
Luk 22:17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

Rev 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
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.
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

Son 7:3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.

Solomon’s visualisation of his Bride’s belly compliments her twin roes completing the portrait among the lilies. It overjoys his sensuality, as does the lily’s poetic imagery mentioned frequently in the preceding chapters. Having been a wheat farmer, I easily connect the allegory of a small spillage of wheat overflowed from a grain bin, biscuit coloured and smooth in a gentle curve as is her belly.

Freckles on girls look uniquely charming, yet, and for specific spiritual purposes, spots (blemishes or wrinkles) are not to be found on the Bride. Essentially, the smooth hue of a fawn’s coat (as perfect as a baby’s skin) and twin roes discovered innocently nestled in the sunny brush or lilies make us catch our breath. Two is the number for “witness”, and for this cause, the Bride’s purity, as opposed to the bruising of Aholah’s and Aholibah’s breasts (Ezekiel 23), represent a witness to our former dallying with Babylonian Christian suitors. The Bride’s perfectly innocent breasts are figuratively witnessed to her Lord’s consummative spiritual truth.

Son 7:4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.
Son 7:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.

As with the Bride’s breasts, her neck is flawless. Her Lord counted the cost of building the “tower” of her neck, the formally stiff-necked woman whose neck is now elegantly supporting the seat of her spirit, her mind. She trusted in Him to finish the tower upon the foundation he laid.

Luk 14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

All of the Song of Solomon is Solomon deeply and continuously musing upon the two representations of the Woman, finalised in the Shulamite as demonstrated in study 12 (Son 6:13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies). 

The tower of the Bride of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem made by God’s hands, has reached heaven, where her former state as a harlot failed. She is now one language in perfect harmony with her Lord to save her ‘children’.

Gen 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Gen 11:2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
Gen 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
Gen 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Gen 11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
Gen 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Mic 4:6 In that day, [today with the Bride] saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, [to limp; to be lame] and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
Mic 4:7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, [a “little flock”] and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.
Mic 4:8 And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, [heavenly Jerusalem] unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; [First Resurrection] the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

(… thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.)

The Bride’s eyes denote a sparkling intelligence that the name Heshbon (H2808) represents. For the Elect of God, that profound intelligence is God-given adoption and rebuilding of spiritual understanding. The origin of the name, Bathrabbim, means H1323 – 1. daughter a. daughter, girl, adopted daughter. Origin H1129 – 1. to build, rebuild, establish, cause to continue.

Remember that the Bride represents the city of both Old and New Jerusalem. Her nose is distinguished as a straight tower (visually strong nose) that is, unwitting to Solomon, by his imagery effectively ruminating her impending future of Israel going into Babylon since she looks to Damascus, the capital of Syria 205 km northeast of Jerusalem.

(Son 7:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.)

Carmel, particularly Mt Carmel, is a fruitful “garden-land” noted for orchards. The Bride’s spiritual seat of her mind, her head, is intelligent and fruitful. The glory of her wavy (“Galleries” H7298 – ringlets) hair is in the royalty that her Husband blesses her in his co-rulership and is noted by the priestly royal colour purple.

Son 7:6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!

The expression “delights” (H8588) indicates the Bride’s daintiness, her delicate and exquisite beauty.

The following verses, 7-13, all pursue the same theme of the beauty of fruitfulness.

Son 7:7 This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. 
Son 7:8 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;
Son 7:9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. 
Son 7:10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
Son 7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. 
Son 7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
Son 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

The Bride is statuesque as a date palm whose clusters of dates, by nature of their rich spiritual fullness below her boughs (head and hair), add to the image of the perfect female figure to bring forth all the children of God.

Isa 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 

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.

Again, and as with the entire Song, Solomon is dynamically expressing his intentions of physical love that remains intriguing yet, of secondary importance to us.

(Son 7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.)

The honeymoon phase of marriage is the most anticipated and is when the newlyweds are consummated away from life’s usual routines. Effectively, the New Jerusalem (Christ’s Wife) and Christ are going out into the field and the world since they are omnipresent as one spirit, together as God.

In Eden, we first became a god to ourselves, unwittingly sitting in God’s temple within as the First and Second Beast, showing that we were God. In decaying flesh, we learned to die spiritually and, for some, physically.

Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Christ impeccably fulfills Psalms 128 literally by “degrees” since Eden and particularly beginning with his ministry until now. He designed every refined detail of his Wife’s luxuriant body spiritually perfectly for himself as he begins to enjoy the fruits of his labour. This consummative phase of Christ’s marriage is immediately after the Resurrection to Life. For the Elect of God, the spiritual aspects of the Wife’s body are easily seen.

Psa 128:1 A Song of degrees. Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.
Psa 128:2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 
Psa 128:3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. 
Psa 128:4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
Psa 128:5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou [Christ] shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life [eternity].
Psa 128:6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.

Upon Christ’s death upon the cross, he announced that “it is finished”. The foundation of his ministry was finished when he returned to his Father. He is now about to “eat the labour of [his] hands” in his Wife and, shortly following the Eight Day, enjoy his children, the entirety of humanity to have ever been conceived. He and his Wife go into the field that is the world of humanity in the Resurrection to Judgment and see the results of the pattern that his Wife experienced in her time of fiery trials now repeated doubly in their children. He says,

Son 7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. 
Son 7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. 
Son 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

The “field” was the rejected world signified by Esau and the rejected seed of Abraham. At this point, He resides in the Resurrection to Damnation on the Eight Day and learns fruitfulness that Christ and his Wife go to see whether their vines flourish and the pomegranates bud. This is a significant part of Christ’s love for his Wife, at which point he says, “there will I give thee my loves” [H1730 – beloved; to boil], his intense arousals for the impending salvation of mankind.

Eve was the mother of all physical living, and the Wife of Christ is the mother of all the now spiritual. Her children, who forgot their God, now painfully come to know the order of headship in the Father, Christ and his Wife; together, they go into their garden to see Christ’s “loves” budding from judgment.

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

Hos 13:6  According to their pasture, [in the field of humanity following their first father, the Devil] so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; [announcing themselves as god] therefore have they forgotten me.

1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s [“firstfruits”] at his coming. 
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 

1Ti 4:10 Fortherefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. Of course, every man in this fiery judgment is guaranteed to believe.

Christ and his Wife, figuratively as did Satan, now joyfully walk to and fro upon the field of humanity, knowing that they will see their garden bloom and produce fruit at their chastisement since their children are raised from the final death.

Satan walked up and down in his time on the physical earth, seeking whom he may destroy. In the judgment, he, too, with his army of demons and the entirety of humanity, are in the same body of spirit, all together being changed into righteous spirit, as did Christ’s Wife before her resurrection to life.

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Rev 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Christ and his Wife joyfully stroll through their garden, stopping to delight in each of their children, budding without disease, blight and drought of truth. Some vines and pomegranates are more advanced than others, but ALL are in various stages of budding and fruit. The symbolic sounds of turtle doves calling, bees buzzing and warm garden scents of Solomon’s Bride are now a reality; Christ, and she blissfully delights as the Father indulgently looks on.

Hi Mike,​

I was thinkin​g​ this morning about ​two​ verses in the bible containing the word forever​:​

​”​Behold, the man had become as one of us, to know good and evil (this was right after he died the first time), now lest he put forth his hand and eat from the tree of life and live FOREVER…”​

“…​and the devil was cast into the lake burning with fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet were also, and shall be tormented day and night FOREVER AND EVER.​”​

​I wonder what God meant when he said ‘forever’​the first time. ​H​e just drove ​[Adam] out of the garden and had to live like 900 years before he died the second time. 2nd death…I​ wonder if he died in a lake of fire,​ too…long time to live in a fallen state​,​ doncha think?

​S____

Hi S​____,

Thank you for your question, about having to “die the second time” to use your words.

I think you already know the word translated ‘forever’ in Hebrew is ‘olam‘. Its Greek equivalent is ‘aion‘​ (​eon in English). Both mean a period of time of no particular length but having a definite beginning and a definite end.

With that in mind, ​please consider this verse:

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed^G606[G5736] unto men once to die^G599[G5629], but after this the judgment:

The verb ‘appointed’ is in the present tense as the [5736] indicates in e-Sword, but the verb ‘to die’ is in the aorist tense, indicating the dying process of those who are being judge​d​ at “this present time” (Rom 8:18).

No one dies twice. The loss of physical life is not considered death by Christ. It is referred to as simply being “asleep”, as Christ plainly said when He raised the 12 year old girl from being physically dead and also​ in ​the ​case of the resurrection of Lazarus:

Luk 8:50  But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
Luk 8:51  And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.
Luk 8:52  And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.
Luk 8:53  And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
Luk 8:54  And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
Luk 8:55  And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.

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

If we are being judged in this present time, then we are dying daily in this present time, and we are the first to do so. The only death with which scripture concerns itself is the death of our carnal-minded “old man”.

If he is ‘dying’ in this present time, then He will come up in “the first resurrection, the resurrection of life”, having already been judged and having his carnal mind burned out of him in this present time.

Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: krisis – Judgment because they were not judged in this present time].

So no one dies physically twice, because judgment comes only to those who die first and are judged first:

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?

If a person is not experiencing fiery trials and having his carnal mind burned up in “this present time”, then he will come up in a second group to be judged and to die to his old man in the white throne judgment, which is also called the lake of fire or the second death:

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.
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.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

It is “the second death” because of its order, because it comes only after the first death which is taking place “in this present time” for those who will come up in the first resurrection having been judged in this life.

I hope this helps you to see that no one dies twice and that the second death is a second group who must die to their carnal mind in a “lake of fire [which] is the second death.

YbiC, Mike

[Study Aired March 3, 2022]

1Ki 10:21  And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.
1Ki 10:22  For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 
1Ki 10:23  So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. 
1Ki 10:24  And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 
1Ki 10:25  And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 
1Ki 10:26  And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. 
1Ki 10:27  And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance. 
1Ki 10:28  And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.
1Ki 10:29  And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

In this section of 1Kings we are shown in type and shadow how during the thousand-year reign of God’s saints (Rev 20:6), typified by Solomon’s reign, the elect will rule with a rod of iron (Rev 2:26-29). It is with that rod of iron that so many things will be physically accomplished on the earth.

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works [words and works of God – his will (Rev 1:3, Rev 20:6)] unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

[God gives the elect power to lead the nations into a self-righteous captivity of doing many wonderful works (Mat 7:22) that ultimately leads to the second death in the great white throne judgment where their own words or works will judge them at that day (Joh 12:48). “In that day” of Matthew 7:22 and “in the last day” of John 12:48 are the same day!]

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?

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

In the story of the rich young ruler we learn how he accomplished so much on the earth as he was governed by his own obedience to the commandments of God, and yet he was still a law unto himself. He was no different than the gentile nations around him unbeknown to himself and to us until we are dragged out of Babylon through a lifetime of overcoming that self-righteous spirit of the rich young ruler. That spirit of declaring our many wonderful works is also paralleled with the story of the tax collector and the publican and demonstrates the need for our many trials in this life which keep us abased by God’s grace (Jer 16:14-18, Mat 19:20-22, Rom 8:14-16, Rom 2:14, Luk 18:10-14).

Mat 19:20  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 
Mat 19:21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me [be led by God’s spirit to do the works of God (Joh 6:44,  Rom 8:14-16)].
Mat 19:22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Parallel story:

Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 
Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 
Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. [“All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?” (Mat 19:20)]
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.
Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The things of the spirit are still foolish to the natural man at this time of the thousand-year reign, so even if the message being given to the world is the true gospel, the true riches coming from Christ Himself and the saints, it won’t change the way the world discerns that message in their hearts (1Co 2:14, Mat 25:24). There can be no spiritual exchange happening in a heart that is not converted and so we can see how this parable of our Lord applies to this generation during Solomon’s reign just as it does to Babylon today where there is no stay of bread or water (Isa 3:1) by God’s design, which means no treasure can be laid up in heaven [Christ in our heavens as our hope of glory (Col 1:27) “thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me“] (Mat 6:20). As long as we are found with our own righteousness, our many wonderful works will be buried in the earth and hidden which is what the self-righteous thief in me does until he doesn’t: “Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury” (Mat 25:24-28, 1Ch 29:14, Luk 17:10).

Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, [“put my money to the exchangers“] where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Mat 25:24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew [1Co 2:14, Joh 9:41] thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 
Mat 25:25  And I was afraid [1Jn 4:18, Rom 5:5], and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: [Psa 18:26, Eze 14:4].

[Slothful not because it didn’t take effort to bury God’s talents in the earth representing our own righteousness, but wicked and slothful because that’s how God sees our self-righteous works we think we are doing independently of God; that is what God is burning out his people daily, that just naturally resides within us (Php 3:9-10).]

Ruling with a rod of iron does not change the heart of mankind, only the rod spoken of in Revelation 11:1 can, which represents what the life of Christ within us is doing (Col 1:27) and also answers the question of the rich young ruler, “What lack I yet?” All of the exchanges that happen with Solomon just as all the exchanges the elect will have with the world during the thousand-year reign, does not equate to bringing forth fruit meet unto repentance (Mat 3:8). In fact it is during the thousand year reign that God will “recompense their iniquity and their sin double” (Jer 16:17-18) as stated in Revelation 18:6. The sins of the Amorites are being filled up during the thousand-year reign, and after Satan is loosed for a season all the nations of the world will attack the saints, which will lead to the destruction of that first self-righteous marred vessel (Rev 20:8).

Jer 16:17  For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. 
Jer 16:18  And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things. 

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

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

God is using a much broader stroke of the brush [“four quarters“] so to speak at the end of the age to demonstrate  that there is none righteous and show us that the heart of man can never mature spiritually without overcoming the devil who was bound during that time of the thousand years (1Jn 2:14, Rev 20:7). Without God’s spirit within us and an adversary who is used as God’s hand, we cannot mature while we are in the flesh (Rom 8:9, Psa 17:13). All of this is instructive for God’s people today to remind us that He is the only One who can stay the arm of Satan and strengthen us through Christ who gives us the ability to resist the devil and cleave to Christ (Jas 4:7). That is the war in heaven that we are currently experiencing (Eph 6:12). However, those who are in the lake of fire will not be wrestling against the same powers and principalities, but rather against Christ in us as His seraphim who are like Christ and able to overcome the old heaven and earth still residing in the yet spiritually carnal humanity which has to be purified along with Satan and his angels in the lake of fire (Eph 1:20-21, 1Jn 4:17, Rev 20:10).

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. 

This is also the time when another prophecy is fulfilled when destruction will come to all of the physical creation prophesied first in the book of Malachi (Mal 4:6). It is God’s elect who have been blessed to go on to maturity who will be used to administer the lake of fire after the physical destruction of the heavens and the earth. This natural event of the heavens and earth being destroyed precedes the spiritual destruction of the heaven and earth within all of humanity in the lake of fire which will be the day of the Lord for them which God’s elect are experiencing now (2Pe 3:10-11, 1Co 15:46). The old earth represents our own righteousness, where our defiled old heavens reside, and both must be destroyed. These things will pass, flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom (1Co 15:50), but the words of eternal life will continue on in the new heaven and new earth where there will be one fold that will all be under Christ who is under the Father (Mat 24:35, Joh 6:68).

Mal 4:6  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse^H2764.

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. [2Th 2:8]
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 
2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 
2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. [Jud 1:21-25, Jer 13:23]
2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation [Rom 2:4]; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; [Luk 21:19]

Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 
Jud 1:22  And of some have compassion, making a difference: 
Jud 1:23  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. [Jer 13:23] 
Jud 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 
Jud 1:25  To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. 

Jer 13:23  Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. 

Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 

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

First verse:

1Ki 10:21  And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

This verse shows us the abundance of spiritual riches that will be in the earth during the reign of God’s elect: “And all king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon^H3844 were of pure gold.

Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, but so were “the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon”^H3844. This “house of the forest of Lebanon” represents the nations of the world who have the gold of God in their possession, but it is being held in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18) or self-righteously via a whiteness [Lebanon] in appearance on the outside but dead man’s bones are within (Mat 23:29).

H3844
lebânôn
leb-aw-nohn’

From H3825; (the) white mountain (from its snow); Lebanon, a mountain range in Palestine: – Lebanon.  Total KJV occurrences: 71

The inability of the nations to repent and change during the thousand years is summed up with this statement: “none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.” Everyone wants to look like the good guy drinking from the golden cup, and yet there is no repentance in the earth during the thousand-year reign of the saints; no conversion (Rom 2:4), symbolized by these words in regard to silver: “none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.” For God’s elect today, Lord willing, we will continue to examine ourselves as we die daily and learn to not despise God’s goodness and longsuffering spirit which is working with us and leading us to repentance, to pure silver that has the dross burned out (Pro 25:4-5, 1Co 11:31, 1Co 15:31, Rom 2:4)

Pro 25:4  Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.
Pro 25:5  Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.

1Ki 10:22  For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 
1Ki 10:23  So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.

This statement “For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks” demonstrates more of the exchange of commerce God’s elect will have with the world’s merchants during the thousand-year reign. These events will play into God’s people’s hands as we walk in and out and among so great a people as Christ did when He was on the earth (1Ki 3:14-15, 1Jn 4:17), but not so we can convert the nations, but simply to prepare us for the day of their visitation when an accounting will be made for all that transpired during the thousand-year reign leading up to rebellion against Christ and His Christ (1Pe 2:12).

It is that exchange which God affords us with the world that will give witness to them that, like king Solomon who is a type of Christ, the world will see how, with Christ in our lives, our riches and wisdom will exceed that of all the kings of the earth. Alas, even being raised from the dead and having been given all this undeniable witness to so many generations, still no conversion will come about in the earth seeing it is only God who can give this increase at an appointed time, which will be the day of their visitation (Luk 19:44, Luk 16:31). This interaction that God’s elect have through the thousand years is very beneficial as it will bring “riches and wisdom” to us as the bride of Christ. It will be a dowry of sorts from Christ that will set the stage when we go to war against all the nations spiritually during the great white throne judgment. The ‘one year’ where the newlywed husband does not go to war is symbolic of the thousand-year reign where Christ’s bride is blessed to have her husband build her up and prepare her for the spiritual battles that will take place in the lake of fire. Of course it’s not much of a battle just as the angel that wrestled Jacob did not break a sweat when that event unfolded (Deu 24:5, Rev 20:1-3, Gen 32:24, 1Co 6:3).

Deu 24:5  When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken. 

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. 

Gen 32:24  And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 

1Co 6:3  Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 

The parallels are striking when we consider how blessed people were to have Christ in their midst healing everyone who came His way (Mat 8:16, Luk 9:11), just as the elect will bring many blessings upon the world during the thousand-year reign, but regardless of the seed of God’s word being sown and the works of God being accomplished, it will not bring forth spiritual fruit in the lives of those receiving these blessings until the appointed time in the lake of fire (Isa 55:11). Bringing “gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks” are symbols of the wealth in the earth, within mankind, but it is still not the purified gold and silver that was used in Solomon’s temple. All of this exchange was for Solomon’s sake, just as all things are for our sakes today, and during the thousand-year reign (2Co 4:15).

Isa 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

The influence of God’s people on the world will be far reaching as this verse tells us: “For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish“, and that influence will result in this iron and clay relationship with the world (Dan 2:43) that will only be dashed by the stone of Jesus Christ’s judgment in the lake of fire (Dan 2:44). Coming up to Jerusalem “once in three years” is not coming up three times in the year as was commanded of Israel (Deu 16:16) as a type of a right relationship with God that is maturing through those three times that Israel came up to worship God and learn of His truths via the process of spiritual completion through judgment [3].

Dan 2:43  And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 
Dan 2:44  And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 

Deu 16:16  Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty: 

1Ki 10:24  And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 
1Ki 10:25  And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 

“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 2:9), and without God revealing these things to us via His spirit (1Co 2:10) we will see the desire of mankind to interact with Christ and His bride just as “all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart” which is according to the counsel of God’s will that they do this (Eph 1:11).

God is the one who has put that desire in the heart of man to come to know Christ in us (Joh 6:44) “to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart” and they will bring very physical gifts like Joseph’s brothers (Gen 43:11), that in our mind will be more like flatteries (Job 17:5, Pro 6:24) that won’t convince us that their hearts are converted any more than Joseph’s brothers were converted [in type and shadow] when they met him during the famine, a time that is also analogous of when Christ and His bride will rule over the nations of the world represented in this instance by Joseph’s brothers (Gen 45:4-11). Joseph’s brothers bring ” the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight”. The world will do the same thing to Christ and God’s elect typified by this statement: “And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.“

1Ki 10:26  And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. 

There is always a positive and negative way to look at God’s word, or stories that are made up of the inspired word of God, and this is just as true in this section of scripture that on the positive side of the pillar (Exo 14:20) demonstrates how Solomon who is a type of Christ was able to gather together these powerful beasts “chariots and horsemen” that were used to transport people “in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.” The 12,000 horsemen, show us that Solomon was able to give direction over the foundational kingdoms of his world, and 1400 chariots is symbolic of the favor [1+4] that God was showing to the whole [4] world through Solomon, just as God’s elect will do during the thousand-year reign. We are showing favor to the world by revealing the true gospel to all nations, but that favor will only reap its spiritual benefit in the great white throne judgment.

1Ki 10:27  And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance. 

We are again reminded of the commonness of silver, and it is also shared in the same context of these non-fruit bearing cedar trees that were “as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance“, telling us that during the thousand-year reign we are going to be surrounded by man’s righteousness who are as trees (Mar 8:24) and this will be the persistent view we will see in humanity found “in the vale”^H8219 which means lowland.

You can’t do battle in a lowland. It does not represent the higher spiritual ground where we have been raised in heavenly places with Christ (Eph 2:6), and silver that represents repentance is not being sought after if people are looking at it as something as cheap as stones on the ground. The positive use of stones on the ground is connected to those who have become like children and are blessed to enter into the kingdom of God now in earnest filled with praise for the wonderful works He has done unto the children of men (Luk 19:37-44).

Luk 19:37  And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; [Psa 107:30-31]
Luk 19:38  Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. 
Luk 19:39  And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. 
Luk 19:40  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. 
Luk 19:41  And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, [Eze 9:4]
Luk 19:42  Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 
Luk 19:43  For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 
Luk 19:44  And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. [The thousand-year reign is a day of visitation upon the kingdoms of this world, but the way to peace will not be given to the world because “but now they are hid from thine eyes“.]

1Ki 10:28  And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

In the positive view, we see Solomon taking the strength out of sin (1Co 15:56) by bringing horses out of Egypt, as well as the “linen yarn“, which is the negative use of linen representing the world’s own righteousness as opposed to the righteousness of Christ (Rev 19:8). It is the king’s merchants who represent God’s elect who “received the linen yarn at a price” which price represents our lives being sacrificed so that this linen can be washed in the blood of the lamb and made pure (Rev 22:14, Eph 5:30)

1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

1Ki 10:29  And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

This last verse of our study is a witness to the previous verse where Solomon in type and shadow is showing us how by our being a living sacrifice with the pearl of great price within us, Jesus Christ, we can transport, with a chariot “kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means“, and that means is with “six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty“. The six hundred represents mankind who, in time, will appreciate this silver which is the means by which we can move forward through repentance (Rom 2:4, 1Co 3:6, 2Sa 14:14). The process starts when God’s judgments are in the earth so the world can learn righteousness (Isa 26:9); but hearing and doing are two different things and so we’re reminded that it is a “process of spiritual completion through judgment” represented by “an horse for an hundred and fifty” [3×50=150] that was purchased with “silver“.

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

Repentance and the means by which God is going to save all of mankind through His great mercy is connected with the unsearchable wisdom of God that is past finding out (Rom 11:31-36) and so, too, is this story of king Solomon who “exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.“

Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 
Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.