Jer 13:15-27 Your Principalities Shall Come Down, Even the Crown of Your Glory

[Study Aired July 18, 2021]

Jer 13:15  Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
Jer 13:16  Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
Jer 13:17  But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.
Jer 13:18  Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.
Jer 13:19  The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.
Jer 13:20  Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
Jer 13:21  What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
Jer 13:22  And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.
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.
Jer 13:24  Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
Jer 13:25  This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
Jer 13:26  Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
Jer 13:27  I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

The first verse of our study gives us the Lord’s instructions. His instructions reveal what He desires that we do:

Jer 13:15  Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.

The Lord’s desire for us is that we humble ourselves as little children and do the things He tells us to do:

Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself  as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of  heaven.

Our pride in our fabled free will is a foundation of sand which insures the destruction of our old man:

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

The message of scripture from Genesis to Revelation is that, by the Lord’s design, corruptible flesh and blood is “made subject to vanity”, made subject to “the law of sin” which the Lord Himself has placed within our  members.

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made  subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Cain was very proud and was jealous of the appreciation the Lord had shown for Abel’s obedience. The “law of sin in [his] members” led him to believe that if he killed Abel, then the Lord would have to accept his disobedience. It was at this point that the Lord revealed to Cain that he would be forced to acknowledge that “sin is at the door”. What the whole Babylonian Christian church has no ability to perceive is that the Lord then tells Cain that in the end, he will be given dominion over the law of sin in his members:

Gen 4:3  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Gen 4:5  But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

As we have pointed out, the Hebrew word translated as ‘unto’ here in Gen 4:7 and in Genesis 3:16 is H413, ‘el’, and is better translated ‘against’, as it is properly translated in the very next verse:

Gen 4:8  And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against [G413: ‘el’] Abel his brother, and slew him.

Eve’s curse for eating the forbidden fruit was to be given a desire to not please her husband.  “Your desire shall be to your husband and he shall rule over you” is not saying that Eve will just naturally desire to please her husband. Instead, it was quite the opposite. It was the same curse we have all been given as to how we relate to our spiritual husband, Christ (2Co 11:2). Eve’s curse was the curse of being against her husband:

Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to [H413: ‘el’, against] thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Notice closely that in both cases Eve and Cain are promised that in the end they would be victorious over “the law of sin in [their] members”. Eve is promised that in time her husband would rule over her, and Cain is told that in time he would rule over sin in his life.

The message of the scriptures is:

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)

The Truth of scripture is:

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

What 1^st Corinthians 15:50 reveals to us is that flesh and blood were never designed to inherit the kingdom of God. Flesh was designed to have an experience of evil and to be humbled and destroyed by that experience of evil.

Adam and Eve did not become sinners by eating of the forbidden fruit. Rather, they ate of the forbidden fruit because they “were made subject to vanity, not willingly but by reason of Him who subjected [them to vanity] in hope”. In other words, Adam and Eve became sinners because they were composed of corruptible flesh with “the law of sin” already in their members (Rom 7:23)

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

This study is just another repetition of that message of the Lord’s Words. It is a sad, yet an expedient Truth, that the words of this chapter are addressed to “the Lord’s flock”. “The Lord’s flock is carried away captive” (Jer 13:17) because they would ‘not hear’.

Jer 13:15  Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.

This may sound like a longing and pleading of the Lord, and indeed that is exactly what it is. However, there is something more to the Lord’s desires than our wistful desires, and this is the big difference:

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

What does the Lord “desire [for] His flock”, and in His time for all of mankind? This is what He “will have”:

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

However, Job 23:13 tells us that if indeed 1^st Timothy 2:4 were to mean that the Lord desires for “all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth”, then that is what He will do, and all the slanderous false doctrines to the contrary will not change the Truth that what He desires even that He does, and His desire is to save all men.

Every historical Christian denomination will tell you that what 1^st Timothy 2:4 means is that God ‘desires for all of us to be saved’ and to come unto the knowledge of the Truth, but because we have free will, most of mankind will choose to disobey God and will choose to be cast into the lake of fire, which they believe is a literal hell with literal eternal flames of fire.

Our Lord and His Father are no such monsters, however, and while He is indeed giving us an experience of evil, He is doing so because He is “seeking an occasion against” the law of sin and death which He has placed within [our] members”:

Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

“The law of sin which is in [our] members” is the “captivity” into which it is expedient that “the Lord’s flock is carried away captive”. It is for this reason that we are exhorted:

Jer 13:16  Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death,  and make it gross darkness.

Whether we “give glory to the Lord [in] this present time” is simply a work of the Lord which has nothing to do with what we will of ourselves to do or will of ourselves not to be done because:

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

That statement is a simple constant Biblical Truth which we will do well to see, hear, and believe.

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he  will have mercy, and whom he will he  hardeneth.

The words of Romans 7 are worked out within the lives of every one of the Lord’s elect. We want to do good and please the Lord, but what we want to do is not what we end up doing. We “give glory to the Lord”, but we “find… a law that when [we] would do good, evil is present with [us]”, and our feet stumble upon the mountains and principalities of darkness which are within us:

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places [the “law of sin in (our) members” (Rom 7:23)].

When the Lord says ‘if’, He is not guessing what might happen. He is not wondering whether we will “hear it”. He already knows quite well that He has given us eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear:

Jer 13:17  But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.
Jer 13:18  Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your glory.

“The king” signifies our old man, and “the queen” is Babylon the great within us:

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Here is what God already knows about our sight and our ability to hear:

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

These words are quoted out of the prophet Isaiah, who preceded Jeremiah by about 70 years:

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am  I; send me.
Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Isaiah in turn is simply repeating what the Lord had told Moses many years prior to this prophecy:

Deu 29:4  Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

Paul’s statement in Romans 11:8 is in accord with Christ’s words in:

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

When we read the words “If they will not hear” the Lord is not telling us that He has no idea what His creatures might do. Rather, He is prophesying exactly what He made us do to give Himself an occasion to judge and destroy our corruptible old man:

Jer 13:19  The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive.

“The cities of the south” signify our attachment to this world. Egypt lies to the south of Israel, and Egypt signifies the rebellious world of sin out of which we must all come. This world which is enslaved to ‘the law of sin’ is who we just naturally are by the Lord’s design.

This is what the Lord told us in of ourselves in:

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, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
Isa 30:3  Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
Isa 30:4  For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
Isa 30:5  They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
Isa 30:6  The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come  the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
Isa 30:7  For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.

Pharaoh signifies our old man, the beast within each of us, and he certainly is our shame.  “His princes” are the princes of the Lord’s people who trust in their own flesh, their own beast, instead of their spiritual husband. Our ‘beast’ receives his power from the great red dragon.

Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Much of our lives are spent as “beasts of the south” living a life of “trouble and anguish” under the dominion of “a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour”. Even after the Lord’s chastening begins to do its work within us, we return to Egypt for safety and solace. This rebellious act gives the Lord the occasion He is seeking to continue His work of purifying us of our pride in our rebellion:

Jer 13:20  Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
Jer 13:21  What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

Look at what the Lord is telling us about ourselves through what He did with ancient Israel. He had delivered Israel from Egypt with many miracles and with great power. He totally destroyed Egypt in the process of delivering His people:

Exo 10:7  And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?

Deu 11:4  And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;

As “types of us” (1Co 10:6 CLV), after being delivered out of Egypt, Israel goes back to Egypt to seek deliverance from the armies of Assyria and Babylon.

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, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
Isa 30:3  Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your  confusion.

Who among us has not attempted to fit back into the world even after the Lord showed us that we must come out of the world? We all go from Egypt, through all the trials of the wilderness, where the carcass of our old man begins to die. Christ within us strengthens our new man, typified by those of Israel who were under twenty years of age when Israel came out of Egypt:

Num 32:11  Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:

Every step Israel took typifies some part of our walk and our own “experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13 CLV):

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.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [Greek: ‘tupos’, types of us (vs 6 CLV)]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

We must realize that entering the promised land is not entering into “the redemption of the purchased possession”.

Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest [Greek:  arrhabon, down payment] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

There are many giants and enemies within the land of promise who must be subdued and conquered before that blessed day of “the redemption of the purchased possession”. The Lord has ordained that we begin entering the land of promise before we are carried away into Babylon by the Assyrians and the Chaldeans. Both Nineveh and Babylon were Chaldeans. It was the same people who carried away both the northern tribes and Judah. In that sense, both were carried away into Babylon, and both typify different stages of our own apostasy. Such is the depth of the rebellious pride and stubbornness of the Lord’s very elect. It is all a work of God who works all things after the counsel of His own will. Nevertheless, that stubborn, self-righteousness, and self will is so deep and strong within us that we are helpless to deliver ourselves from it until we are brought to cry out to the Lord:

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

The words of this prophecy of Jeremiah are the revelation of what the Lord has ordained we must endure before we are brought to cry out those words to the Lord in our desperation. The Lord has ordained that we are all typified by Job who made it clear that he certainly did not see himself as deserving of the trials the Lord had placed upon him. Job, typifying each of us, right in the middle of being judged of the Lord, accused the Lord of “taking away [his] judgment”.

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

Elihu, speaking for the Lord, reminded Job of those words:

Job 34:1  Furthermore Elihu answered and said,
Job 34:2  Hear my words, O ye wise men; and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge.
Job 34:3  For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.
Job 34:4  Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good.
Job 34:5  For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
Job 34:6  Should I lie against my right? my wound  is incurable without transgression.
Job 34:7  What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water?
Job 34:8  Which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men.
Job 34:9  For he hath said, It profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God.

By proclaiming his own righteousness, Job was “in the company of the workers of iniquity”, all the while thinking and saying to himself:

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

We all do just what Job did when we wonder why the Lord’s judgments are so severe upon the kingdom of our self-righteous old man, and we presumptuously contend with, reprove and condemn our own Maker:

Jer 13:22  And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity [our self-righteousness] are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.

It is our nature to play down our self-righteous rebellion and condemn the Lord for His judgments against our rebellion. The reason we do so is that we do not yet see the depth of the law of sin within our members:

Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

The Lord is in the process of bringing us to see just how evil He has made us to be:

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.

Our flesh is flesh, and we must come to see that it will always be just that:

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.

This, therefore, is the fate of our carnal-minded old man:

Jer 13:24  Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.
Jer 13:25  This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.

It is our trust in falsehood which emboldens us to contend with, reprove and condemn of Lord. We see ourselves as righteous “and in need of nothing”. We see ourselves as spiritually healthy and without the need of a physician. Physicians are for the weak and sickly who are somewhere far below us. We see ourselves as superior to others who are lazy, weak, and sickly and in need of a doctor:

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.

This Pharisee is like each of us when we ask the same question both Job and King David asked while enduring their own judgment:

Psa 73:3  For I was envious at the foolish,  when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Psa 73:4  For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
Psa 73:5  They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like  other men [The Lord’s elect].
Psa 73:6  Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Psa 73:7  Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
Psa 73:8  They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
Psa 73:9  They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
Psa 73:10  Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
Psa 73:11  And they [His people] say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?

It is because of that contentious, self-righteous spirit within us that we must yet have our own shame revealed to us:

Jer 13:26  Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.
Jer 13:27  I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom,  and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

Christ is building His church, and it will be “made clean”:

Mat 16:18  “Now I also say to you, that you are Peter [“a stone”], and on this solid rock I will build my Assembly [or Church], and [the] gates of the realm of the dead [Greek: hades] will not prevail against it. (ALT)

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

“The righteousness of saints” is not a natural condition. It is a supernatural condition which is achieved only through the fiery trials of our judgment in this present time:

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Remember, the word ‘if’ coming from our Lord is a prophecy of what He is working in us. Our suffering with Him is predestined, and it is not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us who are His firstfruit bride who will bring forth much more fruit:

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature  waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

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.

When we fall for the falsehood of “substitutionary atonement” instead of the Biblical doctrine of us as “his body… filling up in [our own] bodies that which is behind of the afflictions of the Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church”… when we believe the lie that Christ’s death on the cross means that we do not need to die with Him, we distance ourselves from Him and His suffering, and we are robbing ourselves of the glory of the calling we are given:

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

Christ did not die for us so we would not have to die. The insidious false doctrine of a “substitutionary atonement” has been used by the Lord to blind the eyes of “the multitudes” (Mat 13:2 and 10-11) to “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” which teach that we are to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1), [to] die daily [and be] crucified with Christ” (1Co 15:31 and Gal 2:20). It is Christ Himself who tells us in no uncertain terms:

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

His Father sent Him into the world to be the savior of this world, and He sees us as being Himself who must fill up that which is lacking of His afflictions for His body’s sake, which is the church:

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.

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

Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

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:

“As He is, so are we in this world”:

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

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

God sent His Son into this world that the world through Him might be saved. His Son has sent us ‘as His Father has sent Him’ that through Him within us this world might be saved, and what He desires even that He does; performing the thing that is appointed for me.

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.
Job 23:14  For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

“The thing that is appointed for [us]” as [the Lord’s elect] is to show to all of mankind, the same mercy the Lord has shown toward us through “His wonderful works to the children of men.” Those wonderful works are the fiery trials of Psalm 107 and Revelation 16, which are the unfathomable “way of His judgments”:

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.

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.

That is our calling, and there are very few who can receive it in this present time.

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

That completes our study for this week, and these are the verses for our next study in Jeremiah 14:

Jer 14:1  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
Jer 14:2  Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Jer 14:3  And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
Jer 14:4  Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
Jer 14:5  Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
Jer 14:6  And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
Jer 14:7  O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
Jer 14:8  O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
Jer 14:9  Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
Jer 14:10  Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
Jer 14:11  Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
Jer 14:12  When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

Jdg 2:1-23 The Lord Raised The up Judges…and Delivered Them

[Study Aired January 31, 2021]

Jdg 2:1  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 
Jdg 2:2  And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? 
Jdg 2:3  Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. 
Jdg 2:4  And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 
Jdg 2:5  And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD. 
Jdg 2:6  And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. 
Jdg 2:7  And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel. 
Jdg 2:8  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 
Jdg 2:9  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash
Jdg 2:10  And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. 
Jdg 2:11  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 
Jdg 2:12  And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. 
Jdg 2:13  And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 
Jdg 2:14  And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 
Jdg 2:15  Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. 
Jdg 2:16  Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. 
Jdg 2:17  And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. 
Jdg 2:18  And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. 
Jdg 2:19  And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. 
Jdg 2:20  And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; 
Jdg 2:21  I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 
Jdg 2:22  That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 
Jdg 2:23  Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. 

The end of Chapter 1 of Judges focused on the disobedience of Israel for not driving out the Canaanites from the land but rather choosing to live among them and benefit from them by the tribute they paid. It is always God who takes the initiative to dislodge us from our comfortable situation with the old man as He came on the scene to help Israel out as follows:

Jdg 2:1  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 
Jdg 2:2  And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? 
Jdg 2:3  Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. 

If we are called and chosen, then God will not leave us alone to wallow in sin.  He will come to our aid by making us realize our transgression as the first step toward His salvation. He brings us to this awareness of sin through the agency of His angels (His elect), as was the case with the Israelites. The angel of the Lord in verse 1 is the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Father sent Jesus, even so Jesus is now sending His Christs (His elect) to show His people their sins. One of the key functions of God’s elect is to show God’s people their sins.

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

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

In this journey of life, we should be ruthless in our dealing with the enemies within. There is no room for compromise (make league with the inhabitants of the land). Any little inclination toward error has the capacity of destroying our whole Christian walk.

Gal 5:9  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.

Deu 7:2  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:
Deu 7:3  Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
Deu 7:4  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

We make room for the flesh when we think that it is not possible to defeat the flesh just as Israel thought they could not overcome the enemies of the land. We make excuses such as, “As long as we are flesh, it is impossible NOT to sin.” That is the same as saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” God has assured us over and over that He will give us the land!! In other words, we shall surely overcome the flesh.

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

Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to [against] thy husband [Jesus], and he [Jesus and us] shall rule over thee.

Gen 4:6  And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
Gen 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him [sin].

Our inability to obey God’s command to completely destroy the enemies of the land (the flesh) will cause God’s anger to be kindled against us resulting in our judgment. We then become powerless before our enemies, and this brings us under oppression to a point that we reach our wits’ end. That is when God brings us an angel of the Lord (His elect) to come and speak the word to us to lift us out of our situation!!

Psa 107:17  Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Psa 107:18  Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

It is significant to know that the angel of the Lord went from Gilgal to Bochim. Gilgal means ‘rolling’ or ‘circle’ and Bochim means ‘weepers’. So what we need to understand is that even at this stage of our lives when we go through circles of defeats which brings us to our wits’ end (weeping), God is with us. This is what God is trying to tell us by the creation story when the earth (us) was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep (In darkness under the control of the flesh), but the spirit of the Lord was hovering over the face of the waters (God was with us).

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

Jdg 2:4  And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept. 
Jdg 2:5  And they called the name of that place Bochim: and they sacrificed there unto the LORD. 

As a result of the spiritual words we hear from God’s elect (the angel of the Lord), we regret our actions and cry to the Lord. As indicated, the name Bochim means ‘weepers’. We weep, repent for what we have done and begin to seek the Lord again, but unfortunately, this is temporal as we will see in later verses. This is because when we are dominated by the flesh, symbolized by the Israelites being in league with their enemies, the sorrow we experience is of the world, and therefore it worketh death!! It is not like the godly sorrow that brings repentance leading to salvation. That is why we go through cycles of defeat and oppression.

2Co 7:9  Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
2Co 7:10  For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Jdg 2:6  And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land. 
Jdg 2:7  And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel. 

The Book of Judges was not written in a chronological order, and so this chapter is talking about the time of Joshua and the elders after him. Under the leadership of Joshua and the elders after Joshua, the people served the Lord!!  Joshua and the elders here represent God’s elect. What these verses are saying is that true fellowship of God’s elect grants us victory over the flesh because of the fiery word coming from His elect. We should also note that our fellowship is with the Father and His son, and when Jesus comes to us, He begins to drive out the oxen, the sheep, the doves and the changers of money from our temple which is our body!!

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

1Jn 1:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Joh 2:13  And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
Joh 2:14  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;
Joh 2:16  And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

One key characteristic of the elect as depicted in Judges 2:7 is the fact that Joshua and all the elders after him had seen the great works of the Lord!! In other words, they have experienced God’s great work in their lives. The great works of the Lord is also the good works of the Lord as explained in Psalm 107. The end product of the good works of the Lord is to bring forth our righteousness as shown in Jeremiah 51:10.

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Jer 51:10  The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

So the wonderful or good works of the Lord is how He brings forth our righteousness through His judgment!! This is a long process with God bringing us into darkness where He seeks for an occasion to judge us to bring us to our safe haven!!

Jdg 2:8  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 
Jdg 2:9  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. 

Finally, Joshua died at the age of 110. Here Joshua is represented in a negative sense – the flesh as portrayed by his age (110 = 11×10). Ten represents the completeness of the flesh, and eleven represents the ruin and disintegration of the flesh. The end product of God’s elect is the ruin and disintegration of the flesh to bring forth the new man to live for Christ!! Joshua was buried at his inheritance at Timnathheres which means portion of the sun!! Unless we die to our old man, we do not have a portion of the sun as our inheritance. The sun represents Christ, and so our portion is in Christ!! Gaash means ‘quaking’. So we possess Christ as our inheritance through quaking (tribulations) resulting in the death of the old man as signified by the death of Joshua!!

The Generation Which Knew not God

Jdg 2:10  And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. 
Jdg 2:11  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 
Jdg 2:12  And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. 
Jdg 2:13  And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. 

The verses here remind us of the apostasy of the people of Israel. The question is why did the Israelites follow after other gods?  Verse 10 explained the reason for following after other gods. It was because they did not know the Lord and His works towards them. We are aware that to have a good relationship with someone, you must know the person. If a marriage is to work, it means that the husband and wife know themselves well. So it is with our relationship with Christ our husband. As the bride of Christ, if we do not know our Husband Christ, then we will definitely end up following after other “men” just as the Israelites did here. As Paul puts it in Galatians 4:3-11, if we do not know God, we will do service unto them which by nature are no gods. As a result, we will turn again to weak and beggarly elements and end up in bondage as it happened to the Israelites.

Gal 4:8  Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

What we need to understand is that knowing God is a gift from God, and that gift is eternal life. If we are destined to be part of the elect, then at a certain stage of our walk, we will be given to know Christ. Looking back, we have all at certain stages of our lives played the harlot and resorted to weak and beggarly elements as we see the Israelites did after the death of the generation that knew God. Ironically, knowing the Lord entails going through all that the Israelites went through – that is, returning to our vomit of weak and beggarly elements. This experience is all to humble us and for us to realize that we are the worst of sinners to whom God has shown tremendous mercy.

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

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

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

This experience of going after other gods is actually orchestrated by God who is looking for an occasion to judge the Israelites (us) as shown in the following verses:

Jdg 2:14  And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. 
Jdg 2:15  Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. 

These verses of scriptures talk about God’s judgments. It is through these judgments that we learn righteousness, and as a result we avoid being condemned with the world. We are all going through God’s judgment at certain periods of our lives. There are times in our lives that it seems everything we do does not work as if we are cursed!!! We endure pains in our bodies, and sometimes we are living but mentally dead – as if a death sentence had been passed on us. We are greatly distressed at certain stages of our walk. There are times that it is as if the beast within is raging uncontrollably within us, taking us captives and causing us to do things we do not want to do. Our cry then was just like Paul saying, “Oh wretched man that I man, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

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.

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

2Co 1:8  For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Verses 14 and 15 clearly demonstrate that it is God who raises the storm and brings us to our wits’ end.

Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

The end result of our judgment is that He brings us to our safe haven, which in the case for the Israelites. It means raising up judges to deliver His people from their enemies as shown in the verse below:

Jdg 2:16  Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. 

The judges are God’s elect whom He raises up in every generation to bring His people out of bondage. The judges are those who go against the status quo. The status quo here is our acceptance that nobody born of flesh and blood can win this war against the beast within. Therefore we are dominated by the beast within, as we saw the Israelites being under bondage from their enemies. It is the judges (the elect) who are raised by God to defy the oppression of Israel (God’s people) by their enemies to bring liberty to God’s people. Just like Jeremiah, God has set the elect or the judges over the nations and over the kingdoms within, to root out and to pull down and to destroy and throw down. In the fullness of time, this dominion will be extended outwardly to the whole world when the kingdoms of this world will belong to Christ and His Christ. This should give us assurance that we will surely win this war against the enemies within.

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

Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

Jdg 2:17  And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. 

The Israelites did not listen to the words of the judges but rather chose to worship another Jesus. God’s sheep will definitely hear God’s voice through the elect. As indicated by Apostle John, our failure to hearken to the elect shows that we are dominated by the world in us, and we only understand things of the world at this stage of our walk. However, at the right time we will be caused to hear our judges and therefore get to know God.

1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Jdg 2:18  And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. 

The judges in our time are the elect whom God raises up to speak the fiery word of God to us and as we pay attention to these words, the enemies within are gradually destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our lives. Thus, in the days of the judges, God delivers His people from the hands of the enemies. The days of the judges here represent the period in our lives that God opens our eyes to see and our ears to hear what God’s elect (His Christ) are saying. As explained in an earlier review, the word ‘judges’ according to Strong’s definition means to pronounce sentence for or against. So in the days of the judges, Christ, through His elect, pronounces sentence against the enemies within, and therefore bring us out of bondage or domination by our flesh or the old man (representing the enemies within).

Judge
shâphaṭ
shaw-fat’
A primitive root; to judge, that is, pronounce sentence (for or against); by implication to vindicate or punish; by extension to govern; passively to litigate (literally or figuratively): –  + avenge, X that condemn, contend, defend, execute (judgment), (be a) judge (-ment), X needs, plead, reason, rule.
Total KJV occurrences: 203

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

At the latter part of verse 18, it says that God repented for what the Israelites were going through. This is what makes people say that the bible contradicts itself. We know that we need to know the sum of God’s words in order to know what God is actually saying.

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

Num 23:19  God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

From Numbers 23:19, we can see that God is not a man that He should repent. So what is verse 18 trying to imply? What we are being told here is that when we go through suffering, Christ also feels our pain. My brothers and sisters, whatever we are going through now, let’s be assured that Jesus is also going through this pain with us and is interceding on our behalf.  We can see that when Jesus was going to raise Lazarus from the grave and he saw the way the people were grieving, he wept. This is to let us know that he shares our pain. We are therefore not alone in this walk!!

Joh 11:32  Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Joh 11:33  When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
Joh 11:34  And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
Joh 11:35  Jesus wept.
Joh 11:36  So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
Joh 11:37  But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

2Co 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
2Co 1:4  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

In spite of the law of liberty that God’s elect (Judges) bring to us, we refuse to hear them at the early part of our walk with Christ, as indicated in verse 17 where the Israelites refused to hear the judges.

Jdg 2:19  And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. 

Not listening to the judges (the elect) is the same as considering them dead to us. We consider God’s elect as dead on the streets of Jerusalem (where we were walking in time past) which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. When we were in Babylon (Christendom), we refused to hear the Lord’s song, and so we could not sing the Lord’s song in that land when we had been carried away as captives by our old man inspired by the great swelling words of man’s wisdom which are propagated by the leaders of Christendom.  In Babylon, we are tormented by our old man. When we go wrong, the old man comes to us telling us, “As far as you are concerned, this holy living is not for you. Look at your weaknesses!! Those that God is making them sons and daughters do not have weaknesses like you. You must as well give it up. You are full of sin!!” That is what the Israelites went through when they were carried away captives and their captors tormented them and required of them a song, and that is what we all are or have gone through in our walk with Christ.

The fact that your eyes are being opened and your ears are hearing God’s elect means that the old man has started his journey of death.

Rev 11:8  and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

Psa 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Psa 137:2  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
Psa 137:3  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
Psa 137:4  How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

Our refusal to hear the elect (the judges) is because we are captivated by the teachings of our Babylonian leaders who speak man’s wisdom with which we can easily identify. As a result we end up in worse state in our walk with Christ than when we started. This is what Apostle Peter was talking about in 2 Peter 2. That was what happened to the Israelites after the death of the judges. They went back to their vomit as we also had gone back to our vomit in the past.

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

2Pe 2:13  And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
2Pe 2:14  Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
2Pe 2:15  Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
2Pe 2:16  But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2Pe 2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20  For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

Jdg 2:20  And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; 
Jdg 2:21  I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: 
Jdg 2:22  That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. 
Jdg 2:23  Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. 

Verses 16 to 23 summarize the whole book of Judges. It shows how Israel did not drive the Canaanites from the land and therefore came into bondage; how God brought deliverance to Israel and how Israel got into bondage again. The steps are as follows:

1. Israel did not drive the Canaanites from the land when they had the opportunity to do so.
2. Israel is enticed into serving other gods of the Canaanites.
3. God reacts to Israel’s disobedience by not driving the enemies from the land. As a result, they become powerless and the enemies oppress them.
4. Israel cries to the Lord for help.
5. God in His mercy sends judges to deliver them.
6. Israel obeys the Lord during the period of the Judges until the judges die.
7. Israel goes into sin again and the cycle continues.

The rest of the Book of the Judges is a detailed account of this cycle of defeat. The detailed accounts are extremely important because they give us the tools we need to possess the land (our body) by driving out the enemies from within.

This cycle of defeat is because there are certain aspects of our lives we have not yielded to the Lord, and therefore they become a snare to us. We can see from the latter part of Chapter 1 of Judges that the Israelites went through this cycle of defeat because they were not thorough in driving the Canaanites from the land. We all have experienced this cycle of defeat in our lives when we look back. If you are at this stage of your walk with Christ, do not give up because everything that is going on in your life is according to the counsel of God’s will. It is the Lord himself who decided to leave some of the nations in our land (verse 23). At the right time, God will devise a means so that His banished is not expelled from Him. The fact that your eyes are seeing and your ears are hearing means that salvation is on the way!! Let us therefore not grow weary in our walk, for in our struggle against sin, we have not resisted to the point of shedding our blood!!

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.

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

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses [His elect], let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us [this cycle of defeat], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

[Next study in this series is here.]

Marriage, Part 3 - Wives, Submit Yourselves To Your Own Husbands, As Unto The Lord - Part B - Discussion

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Marriage, Part 3 - Wives, Submit Yourselves To Your Own Husbands, As Unto The Lord - Part B

Eph 5:22  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 
Eph 5:23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 
Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

We are continuing our examination of what makes a wife whom the Lord calls "a good thing [whose] price is far above rubies". What we saw in our last study was that the words of Paul instructing us in what makes for a successful marriage in Ephesians 5 also apply here in Proverbs 31 concerning what makes "a good... wife". What we came to see in our last discussion was that anything in the scriptures which concerns marriage is really speaking concerning "Christ and the church", male and female, husband and wives. After giving us all the instructions to help guide us in our physical marriages, this is what the holy spirit had Paul to reveal to us:

Revelation 2-3 addresses "the seven churches of Asia", but after each individual address we find these words:

Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches...

So what the spirit said to each church was actually being addressed to all the churches, "He that hath an ear..."

In the same manner, after giving us all the instructions to help guide us in our physical marriages, this is what the holy spirit had the apostle Paul to reveal to us:

Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Therefore every instruction Paul gave to wives in Ephesians 5 was actually being addressed to both husbands and wives, and every word spoken to the husbands was actually being given to the wives in "the church". "But I speak concerning Christ and the church."

Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

If everything Paul says about marriage "concerns Christ and the church" in Ephesians 5, then that same principle applies to everything said concerning the man who finds a good wife here in Proverbs 31, where we read:

Pro 31:10  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
Pro 31:11  The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
Pro 31:12  She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

This is a great mystery, but we are really speaking concerning Christ and the church while we are examining the qualities which make all of us, male and female, a good wife unto our Head, Christ, because if Christ really is the head of His church, then He is the husband of the entire church, male and female. And that is exactly what we are told is the case:

Eph 5:23  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

So we are one and all, male and female, being "present[ed]... as a chaste virgin to Christ" by the spirit of His Word, and as such we will continue to see what makes for a good wife, whose price is far above rubies and in whom the heart of our Lord can safely trust to do Him good and not evil all the days of our lives.

Last week's study brought us to:

Pro 31:21  She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
Pro 31:22  She makes for herself carpets of tapestry. Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Pro 31:23  Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

"Her household... are clothed with scarlet", because the Lord's wife is not a gossip. She covers the sins of others "with scarlet", because 'scarlet', or 'red' in its positive application, means the covering for our sins: http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/why-three-different-hebrew-words-for-the-color-red/

Exo 36:19  And he made a covering for the tent of rams' skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers' skins above that.

Pro 11:13  A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

Pro 17:9  He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.

Jas 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

There are three different words for the color red in this verse, but following "the dream is one" principle (Gen 41:25-26), they all mean the same thing.

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

Our sins are typified by the color red, and yet they are also covered and made white by the red blood of "the Lamb". That is one of the functions of a "good... wife":

Rev 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"Her clothing is fine linen" tells those with eyes that see, who it is who really is this Proverbs 31 wife:

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.

And what is the context of Revelation 19:8?

Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
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 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

The context is the "blessed... [who] are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb", unto His wife in whom His heart can safely trust to do Him good and not evil, all the days of her life.

The point being that we must learn to stop complaining about how our husband, Christ, is going about doing the work His Father has given Him, and to get behind him and speak well of Him, and not speak evil of Him at all times, even when it appears that he is leading us into physical, financial ruin. While all the daughters of Babylon are rebelling against "the voice of The Shepherd", His true wife is making linen garments to cover the nakedness of her husband and her children, and others also, knowing that even when we provide for our families, it is really Christ who is doing so:

Pro 31:24  She makes linen garments and sells them, and delivers girdles to the merchant.

"Her husband" is Christ, and this "virtuous woman is "His Christ", His wife, His church. Therefore her provisions are really Christ providing for His household:

Mat 6:28  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
Mat 6:29  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Mat 6:30  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

This sounds so physical, and you wives may think that you are being instructed to become physical entrepreneuers, but that is not the point being made here. This is what is really being taught to all of us as the "chaste virgin... bride" of Christ concerning how we are to serve our Lord, our Head, our husbands and our families:

Tit 2:3  The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
Tit 2:4  That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
Tit 2:5  To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

This same 31st chapter of Proverbs demonstrates very clearly that "keepers at home" does not mean that she never goes out of the house. However, she does provide for her family and her home, and she is not giving her time and efforts to others ahead of her own family.

Gal 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. [Your household comes first.]

Pro 31:16  She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

"Not false accusers" is addressed to wives in particular, but we are all the wife of Christ, and we all falsely accuse our Lord every time we forget the spiritual Truth that 'It is not I that do it but sin that dwells within me', and we forget that 'it was not you that sold me into Egypt, but God'. You as wives and we as husbands falsely accuse our own husband of adultery, fornication, neglect, oppression, or any other of the "works of the flesh", when we blame our husband (Christ) for what we think are the unjust things he is doing to us. You wives deny that your husbands' evil actions are a work of God for your good when you take it upon yourselves to withstand and attempt on your own strength to change your husband. Your attempts at assuming the headship, your attempts at manipulation, and your loud protestations against his leadership are all nothing less than a protest against the way Christ is ruling this world. All of us as the wife of Christ, are denying that it is God who is "work[ing] all things after the counsel of His own will" when we attempt to right the wrongs of this world, and we become guilty of rebelling against His work in our lives.

This is what the Lord tells us concerning the "basest of men", and how He uses us in this age:

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

I said 'us' because Daniel 4:17 is just the Old Testament way of saying what Romans 7 also teaches, which is that it is indeed 'us' who are being typified by Nebuchadnezzar as the rebellious old man within every man and woman who has ever lived. But that rebellion is really "not I", and when we act as if our sins are really our sins, then we are still that rebellious old man ourselves. Read it and believe it as it applies to your own husband, and as it applies to you:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

No one is advocating that this sad condition should be encouraged. I am certainly not telling any wife to encourage her husband to continue in sin. Absolutely not, but we are all told:

Rom 12:18  If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

If you truly believe that your husband is a weaker brother than you are, then act according to how we are instructed to treat a brother who is "weak in the faith". Bear with that weakness all the while refusing to become weak yourself.

Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

Rom 15:1  We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Rom 15:2  Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Rom 15:3  For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
Rom 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

The subtlety and gentleness with which you deal with your husband and the godly example you set for him will win your husband much quicker than any attempt to manipulate, argue with or attempt to usurp the headship that God ordained to be your husband's headship. If your husband wants junk food and junk drinks, and he insists on eating an unhealthy diet, do not attempt to force him to live with a healthy diet. Shop for yourself and your children and shop for your husband, and give him what he insists upon eating. It is not your place to take it upon yourself to change your husband. If he is on meds, give him his meds. If he refuses to take his medicine, let him learn his own way because Christ is teaching you to wait on Him. We know that the Lord works even the evil in this world through "the law of sin which is in our members", and you wives know that the evil in your husband is also being worked in him by "the law of sin which is in [His] members.

Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

We know that God works all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11), and now we are informed that we are all compelled to sin by "the law of sin... in [our] members". And who sustains that "law of sin"?

Jas 4:12  There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest [your husband]?

Have we not all cried out to our heavenly Father the same prayer Paul cried out to God?

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

It is this knowledge that God is working all things, the good and the evil, and it is the strength to apply this knowledge which is the righteousness of Christ in you wives which clothes the wife who does her husband good all the days of her life. It is the sharing of this knowledge with the younger women and the example set by the older women which is the wisdom of her mouth and the kindness that is on her tongue.

Pro 31:23  Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

Christ is known in this world only by what the world sees of His wife, which 'wife' each of us is (Mat 5:14-16, and 2Co 11:2) of whom Christ, "the light of the world" in John tells us:

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

But then He turns right around and tells us:

Mat 5:14  Ye [Christ in us] are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

A wife who dishonors her husband is not the "light of the world". Instead she dishonors Christ and blasphemes His Word (Tit 2:5).

Pro 31:25  Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
Pro 31:26  She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the law of kindness is on her tongue.
Pro 31:27  She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

This woman, who fears God, wants to serve her husband and please him, and she wants to be a Godly, God-fearing example to her children. The wife of Christ has been given to want to serve her physical and her spiritual husband enough to go to bed early enough to get her needed rest and to be able to get out of bed and prepare breakfast for her husband.

A Godly wife looks well to the ways of her household by being an example to her children and to all who know her. She considers it a blessing to be given that opportunity to feed her family. She tells her husband how much she appreciates his tireless efforts to keep her and their children fed and clothed and sheltered. She makes sure she is home to meet her husband with a loving kiss of gratitude when he gets home from a hard day's work. She does all of this without regard for how her husband treats her because 'the wisdom of her mouth' teaches her that she is to return good for evil and that her husband can trust her to strive to obey the Lord, whether she can or cannot trust him to do the same. She does all of this out of both the love she has for her husband and because she fears God who tells her to submit herself to her husband as unto the Lord. How you, as a wife, serve your husband is a direct reflection of how you are serving your Lord. If you blame your husband for his faults, you are blaming Christ Himself, because you know that Christ is working all things after the counsel of His own will.

Look again at verses 26 and 27, and consider how closely associated are those two verses.

Pro 31:26  She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the law of kindness is on her tongue.
Pro 31:27  She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

When a Godly wife "opens her mouth with wisdom" she is looking well to the ways of her household by never ever bringing up the past sins or faults of her husband, regardless of how her husband treats her. A Godly wife "opens her mouth with wisdom" which instructs her to return good for evil, and to "cover a multitude of sins", which instructions must especially be applied to her own husband, her "first love". In doing so she is acting in accordance with her knowledge that her husband's faults and sins are not his sins, but they are the Lord's work in her own life. It is only by applying all this knowledge that you as a wife will "look well to the ways of [your] household".

Pro 31:28  Her sons rise up, and call her blessed. Her husband [also], and he praises her.

Your children and your husband will call you blessed because you did not revile when you were reviled. You submitted yourself to your head, even under adverse circumstances.  Doing what Christ says to do is to be greatly admired, greatly valued and greatly praised by all.

Pro 31:29  Many daughters have done worthily, but thou excel them all.
Pro 31:30  Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, [but] a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Pro 31:31  Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

No newly married couple starts out as a mature husband and a mature wife. Only Christ within you can be submissive while you are feeling abused by your husband. It takes "Christ in you" to endure the time of adjustment needed to adjust to putting your husband ahead of all else, and it takes Christ in your husband to begin to put you, his wife above all else in this world. Your husband and your children will praise you as a wife who is submissive to Christ even when being abused for a time, because you really do "fear the Lord" enough that you obey the Lord's commandments even when your husband does not. You are obedient under such trying circumstances because you "fear the Lord", and a wife and mother who fears the Lord "shall be praised". This "good... wife" loves her Lord even more than she loves her husband and her children, and because she is willing to lose her entire family, she will be given her family in the Lord's time:

Act 16:30  And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Act 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

1Co 7:16  For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?

A Godly husband is not a domineering tyrant who gives no consideration or responsibilities to His wife. A Godly husband will leave the affairs of the home in the care of his God-fearing wife whom he knows He can trust and who will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. But that does not mean that the husband forfeits his proper place as the head of his wife and the head of his family to a domineering wife. That simply will not produce the fruits of the spirit of God.

Being subject to your husband as unto Christ is the goal of every Godly wife. A God-fearing wife wants to be subject to her own husband in everything, as unto the Lord, and as the church is subject unto Christ. This is what any Godly wife aspires to do if she has even just a cursory knowledge of her place within a Godly family. Without this subjection to her husband there is no Godly order, and there can be no peace of Christ because every properly functioning 'body' has a head which instructs that body and leads every member of that body to do that which is for the good and the health of that body, "even as Christ gives Himself for the church."

Now, since I am speaking to the wife in this study, let's read Ephesians 5 from that perspective, substituting the word 'women' for 'men' and the word 'husband' for the word 'wife':

Eph 5:28  So ought [wo]men to love their [husband]s as their own bodies. [S]he that loveth h[er] [husband] loveth h[er]self.

Remember, we are informed that the entire church is the bride of Christ:

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Rev 19:6  And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Rev 19:7  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
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 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

When we read "blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb", we are speaking of the same blessing pronounced upon those who are granted to be a part of the "blessed and holy... first resurrection":

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

"The marriage supper of the Lamb [is] the blessed and holy... first resurrection." There will not be one wife in the first resurrection who has continued to complain about her husband's faults and shortcomings. If you want to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection, which is the marriage supper of the Lamb and His bride, then stop deriding your husband and start right now "doing him good and not evil as long as [you] live." The only wife who will be part of that bride of Christ in the first resurrection will be that wife who has repented of being resentful of the trials the Lord has given her.

The wife of the first resurrection will, like Job, have overcome that great sin against herself and against her husband and against her friends and her children and her family of 'contending with, reproving and condemning her husband'. Every wife in the first resurrection will have repented of condemning God for giving her a husband whose shortcomings have only served to manifest her own self-righteousness in condemning God while thinking she is condemning her husband. All the wives who are given to be in this wedding supper of Christ and His bride will be those men and women who have learned to really mean it when they pray, "Not my will but thine be done."

Any wife will just naturally ask, "But shouldn't men seek to please their wives? Should not men be considerate of their wives?" Of course they should, but not at the expense of letting "the neck turn the head", as the wife of a world famous mega minister told the 60 Minutes TV news magazine some years ago.

When "the neck turns the head" becomes acceptable household philosophy, this is the fruit of that family, and in time it becomes the fruit of the entire nation:

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

We will stop here for now and resume this discussion next week. In that third part of this discussion we will see that it is as natural for a wife to ignore the Words of Christ and to want to lead her husband, her head, as it is for our rebellious, sinful, old man, to ignore the clear instructions Christ gives to him, and to want to usurp the headship of Christ.

These words apply equally to both husbands and wives, because in the spirit both are the wife of Christ, and both just naturally want to be the head of Christ, and both deal treacherously with their Head:

2Co 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Mal 2:10  Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Mal 2:11  Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.
Mal 2:12  The LORD will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:13  And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the LORD with tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.
Mal 2:14  Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
Mal 2:15  And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
Mal 2:16  For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
Mal 2:17  Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

We must, and in time we will, learn never to reprove, contend with or condemn the Lord who is working every trial in our lives for our good.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Rom 8:26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

So what are we to do when we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel?

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[The next part of this marriage series can be found here.]

Rom 7:24 O wretched man I [am]! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord; so then, I myself indeed with the mind do serve the law of God, and with the flesh, the law of sin.

I have a question:  Why does Paul thank God, that through Jesus Christ he is being delivered out of the body of that death…then in the last part of verse 25 state that he still serves the law of sin with the flesh?

Thanks, J____

Hi J____,

Thank you for this question,

Paul is not contradicting what he tells us in the previous chapter:

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

This entire 6th chapter repeats this message in various ways such as this:

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

And this:

Rom 6:22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Notice the word ‘dominion’ in verse 14, as well as the word ‘being’, in verse 22. This is all being stated in the aorist tense because it is a process that is taking place and “through Jesus Christ our Lord” increasing within us day by day as “the first man Adam” within us is dying day by day.

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.

Paul is not saying that he has already been perfected “through Jesus Christ”. What he is saying is that he has been given the upper hand, for the first time ever, over his sinful flesh, and now has the dominion of his old “first man Adam”.

I always point out that in the baptism which we are told is signified by the flood of Noah, all the wild beasts were still on the ark, but they were there in a subdued position, under the dominion of Noah and his family.

That is simply another way of saying:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

I was raised on a farm, and I know how a “corn of wheat… dies”. It slowly begins to rot, and as it rots it puts out a root downward and a shoot upward. The same is true of any seed or any eye of a potato. As the seed or the potato gradually dies, roots are sent downward, and a living shoot begins to reach for the light of the sun.

All of that is but another way of saying:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? [This gradually rotting, dying, seed or potato]
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; put down roots and reach for the Sun] but with the flesh the law of sin. [The rotting, dying seed or potato]

These verses might serve to make all of this a little clearer:

Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Your brother who is in the process of being perfected “through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Mike

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 46 Discussion

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Isa 10:1-4  What Will You Do... In The Desolation Which Shall Come From Far?

Isa 10:1  Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
Isa 10:2  To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
Isa 10:3  And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
Isa 10:4  Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Before we can appreciate the Lord's message in these four verses we must remember the truth we learned from our last study:

Isa 9:19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

We just naturally believe that it is our sins which have blinded us and have darkened our understanding and have caused us to believe all the lies of the churches which confirm that formula. But Isa 9:19 does not say 'Through our sins the land is darkened', rather we are clearly told that our darkened and deceived state is the result of God's wrath, and as we also saw last week, that state of being under God's wrath is a matter of being "shapen in iniquity and [being] conceived in sin":

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

There are two verses of scripture which reveal that we are all born under the wrath of God. They do so by revealing that God knew before He ever created Adam and Eve that they would disobey His commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Here are those two verses:

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

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

Obviously, if indeed we were "given... grace... in Christ before the world began", God knew in advance that Adam would disobey His commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He knew Adam would sin against Him "before the world began" and that Adam and his seed would need a savior to redeem them from their sinful condition.

How could God be so certain that Adam would choose to do exactly what he was forbidden from doing? You and I know that God knew Adam and Eve would disobey Him because He had placed within their  flesh, from the moment of their creation, "the law of sin and death" which guaranteed their disobedience and their iniquity:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Did Adam and Eve deliberately choose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Of course they did! Have any of us ever deliberately chosen to sin against our brother of our Creator? Yes, of course we all have. We are even told:

Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Jer 5:25  Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.

Are not those two verses basically telling us, to paraphrase Isa 9:19, 'Through [your sins against] the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother'?

The answer is, yes, our iniquities have separated us from God, and Isa 59:2 and Jer 5:25 tell us that we have sinned against God, but, as we have learned, our sins are not really our sins which separate us from God. Rather it is really, as Joseph explained to His brothers concerning their sins against Him after twice telling them that they had chosen to sell him into Egyptian slavery, why they had chosen to do that to him:

Gen 45:4  And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6  For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

That is the exact same message which Paul gives us when he twice informs us:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

So why did Adam and Eve disobey their Creator and eat of the fruit of the tree they were told, "You shall not eat of it"? Was there any way they could possibly have chosen to do otherwise? No, the Truth is that there was no way they could have possibly chosen to do otherwise because "it was not [Adam and Eve who of their own accord ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] but [it was] sin that dwelt in [them]", because "in [their] flesh dwelt no good thing." No doubt they wanted to please God, but they simply could not do so​, because the truth is that "there [was] no good thing [dwelling] in [them]. Instead, what was dwelling there within them, and in the flesh of all their children, was a "law of sin... in [their] members" which is part and parcel of being "made of clay", made "shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin". You and I are "in Adam", and we are all subject to and are "captive to the law of sin which is in [our] members".

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

We are all born as a "vessel of clay... marred in the hand of The Potter" with a carnal mind which just naturally "was shapen in iniquity", "marred in the hand of the Potter", "enmity against God..." captive to the law of sin, which is in our members:

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

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

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

So it is with "the carnal mind [which] is enmity against God" that we are 'shaped' by the Potter from our mother's womb, and as His enemy from birth, this is where we stand in relation to our Creator:

Psa 21:8  Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
Psa 21:9  Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.
Psa 21:10  Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.
Psa 21:11  For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.

As clay vessels we are carnally minded, and we simply do not believe on Christ from birth. So we are born under His wrath and must be judged and brought to repentance:

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 point being made in all these inspired statements is that our deception and darkness is not a matter of our choice to sin against our Creator. Rather our choice to sin is through His wrath which is of necessity against our carnal mind which is enmity against God.

Isa 9:19  Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

Newborns are not mature believers and certainly never will, just naturally, become mature believers in a calling which requires of us to die daily and to be daily "crucified with Christ (1Co 15:31 and Gal 2:20). Because our marred composition of being made carnally minded with natural "enmity against God" (Rom 8:7), we produce our own doctrines to replace those of Christ. His doctrine, which teaches that we are to love our enemies (Mat 5:44), is changed to say 'unless your enemy means you bodily harm, in which case you must blow him away to the glory of God'. Christ taught that all who are faithful to His doctrine "...shall be hated of all men for my name's sake" (Mat 10:22). This also is replaced with our own doctrine which twists His words into teaching that if you tithe faithfully, then you most certainly do not need not "die daily... be crucified with Christ [nor be] hated of all men". Instead we are taught that if we serve God according to the doctrines of Babylon, we will be blessed in this age with physical blessings beyond our ability to receive it.

Which brings us to the first verse of our study today:

Isa 10:1  Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

All such 'prosperity evangelism' is deception which denies, or at the very least, omits and never mentions the fact that grace chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live Godly lives in this present age" (Tit 2:11-12). In the place of "the sum of God's Word" (Psa 119:165), the beast and his father, the great red dragon, quote 'some of God's Words' and twist His Words to make them appeal to our natural mind and our deceitful hearts (Jer 17:7). All such prophets have been given by God to "deceive the whole world" with these lies and half truths, which are nothing less than the doctrines of the great harlot and all of her harlot daughters who "decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;"

At first we all come to the Lord's Words and those who teach His Words, with our minds already made up. In the World Wide Church of God, where I met my wife, we shielded ourselves from having to listen to anyone who came to us with anything which contradicted our doctrine by simply saying that if they were not keeping the weekly Sabbath and the Jewish feasts, then there was no way that anything else a person said could possibly be true. That is a perfect example of what the Lord calls 'putting the stumbling block of our iniquity before us and then coming to Him and His Word and His prophets' with our minds already made up. This is what our Lord has to say concerning all the unfaithful, harlotry of the false doctrines of Babylon and all of her harlot daughters:

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

An "idol in [our] heart" is a false doctrine into which we are fully invested before we even pick up a Bible. A few popular examples are the false doctrines of the immortality of the soul, its accompanying false doctrine of a triune God, the false doctrine of eternal torment and the false doctrine of God giving all men a will that is free from any influence from God Himself. With all such falsehoods replacing the Truth that God is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11), we then come to the Word of God and to those who know His Word, and when we do so, this is what we must accept as a work which the Lord is doing "after the counsel of His own will".

Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

At this point in our "experience of evil" (Ecc 1:13) the Lord actually answers our prayers "according to the idols of [our]... heart." If we think He has not invested anything in our lives and that He is a hard man, then that is exactly how He will manifest Himself to us:

Mat 25:24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew 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, 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:
Mat 25:27  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 25:28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

"I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed"??? What a self-righteous, contending, condemning slap in the face to a man who has just invested an undeserved "talent" upon us. This is a perfect example of "decreeing unrighteous decrees... writing and prescribing grievousness".

Isa 10:1  Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;

What is the fruit of such a spirit which is willing to condemn God and to maintain its own righteousness? This is the fruit of that spirit:

Isa 10:2  To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

We see the outward fulfillment of these words as we witness multi-millionaire ministers talking widows out of their rent and grocery money with the promise of great material blessings in return for their gullible naivety. Then they condemn that same gullible lamb for not having enough faith when the rent comes due.

However we simply cannot see ourselves as being needy, poor, fatherless widows in need of judgment. The reason we cannot see these things is that we were born under the wrath of the Lord and blind from our mother's womb:

Joh 9:1  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

This man was born blind "for [our] sakes" (2Co 4:15), "that the works of God should be manifest in him", for your and for my spiritual benefit. As the end of this chapter will demonstrate, we also are blind from birth, but we are totally unaware of our own blindness:

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

That is "the works of God [which] should be manifest in" that blind man's life. It was all done "for [our] sakes". But until the day that has been ordained in advance for our healing of our spiritually blinded condition into which we are all born, we continue to think we already 'see', we actually believe that the darkness we live in is the light, and "therefore [our] sin remains", and our judgment still lies ahead of us.

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!

So the Lord poses for us this question:

Isa 10:3  And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?

Let's not fail to see that "the day of visitation [is] the desolation which shall come from far". Being "from far" in its inward application is not to be taken literally. The fact is that God is near every one of us:

Act 17:27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Act 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

We are bluntly informed that our desolation "comes from [us being spiritually so] far" from our God and His ways:

Psa 119:155  Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.

Isa 59:1  Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
Isa 59:2  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Isa 59:3  For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

That is the occasion and the opportunity which the Lord has given Himself. That is the "far" from which our desolation proceeds into our lives to destroy the kingdom of our old man, the kingdom of the Philistines within us, as revealed to us in the story of why God had Samson to marry a Philistine woman of Timnath:

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.

As we are seeing in this study, the Lord has given Himself "an occasion against" our old man by making him "marred in the hand of the Potter" (Jer 18:4) for the very purpose of pouring out His wrath upon the kingdom of our old man, who He has given "dominion over [us]" by placing the law of sin and death within our members. Therefore the proper order of events is:

Isa 9:19  Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

I repeat, that is what the spirit tells us through the words of John the baptist:

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.

Yes, there is no denying that our sins place great distance between our Creator and us, but in the final analysis of scripture, our sins are nothing more than the "occasion", the opportunity the Lord has given Himself to pour out His wrath upon the kingdom of our old man.

Let's look once more at:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

There is a law in our members which gives God the right and the opportunity "before the world began" to pour out His wrath upon the fleshly, carnal, rebellious kingdom of our old man (2Ti 1:9 and Tit 1:2). These verses of Romans 7:17-20 are words which our proud flesh just naturally despises, simply because it robs our flesh of even the ability to claim dominion over our sins and rebellions against our Lord. Our sins are not really our sins at all. Rather, they are the product of a law which God Himself placed in the flesh of all men from the very beginning.

This Truth provokes Paul to inform us:

Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

We have no free choice in this matter. Where is "free moral agency" in those verses? All of our sins were predestined by Him who is "working all things after the counsel of His own will", not our will (Eph 1:11). All who are granted to see and to know this great Truth will cry out to our heavenly Father along with the apostle Paul:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

So the Truth is that it is:

Rev 16:10  And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat [Greek: thronos -  throne] of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Rev 16:11  And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Again, what is the true reason we are in such deep darkness?

Isa 9:19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

It is in our "darkness" that the pain and sores of our torment come upon us. Spiritual 'darkness' is not simply a matter of being deprived of a flashlight or a torch. Spiritual darkness entails believing lies which produce spiritual pain and torment, which "turn [us] aside from judgment" and cause us to blaspheme and condemn our own Lord and to bring us to our wits' end before we are given to see what the Lord Himself is working in our lives:

Psa 119:67  Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now [only after being afflicted] have I kept thy word.

...Which is just the Old Testament way of saying 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.

Remember this verse:

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.

Revelation 15:7-8 demonstrate that the wrath of God simply must precede believing on the Son. It is not as if we can "believe on the Son" and circumvent the wrath of God because the Truth still remains that "...no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled."

This all accords with the last verse of our study today:

Isa 10:4  Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

This is the fifth and final time in this prophecy that we see this phrase "For all this His anger is not turned away..."

Isa 5:25  Therefore is the anger of the LORD kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isa 9:12  The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isa 9:17  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isa 9:21  Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Isa 10:4  Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

Five is the number of grace through faith: [See the study on numbers here for a full explanation of the meaning of the number five] so while we will not see this phrase again, the details of our judgment and the work of grace which produces that judgment will continue to be revealed to us throughout this prophecy.

We all come into this world, "without me", without the mind of Christ. Instead we are given a carnal mind which is enmity against God and is therefore, by nature, abiding under the wrath of God (Joh 3:36).

If indeed we are the Lord's elect, then we must be the first to endure the fire of His wrath to become "the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb".

Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

The fact that we are "the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb" demonstrates there is a later harvest of souls. And it is through the unbelief of the great innumerable multitude of Revelation 7 that the 144,000 firstfruits are numbered and then used as the Lord's saviors who will redeem the rest of all those who are "in Adam" (1Co 15:22-28).

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

Next week, Lord willing, we will discover that God uses Babylon, also known as Assyria, as the rod of His anger against His own hypocritical people, against you and against me:

Isa 10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6  I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
Isa 10:7  Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
Isa 10:8  For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
Isa 10:9  Is not Calno as Carchemish? is not Hamath as Arpad? is not Samaria as Damascus?
Isa 10:10  As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
Isa 10:11  Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols?

[Questions or comments can be directed to the author at vinsmike@gmail.com]

Hi Mike,

I have been thinking deeply about the creation of Adam. I have come to believe that Adam was created MORTAL and not IMMORTAL. I don’t know what your position is on the subject, but here is why I believe what I do… perhaps you can straighten me out if I am wrong:

God placed TWO trees in the Garden of Eden: The “Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil” plus the “Tree of Life“. God gave Adam ONE command, and that was to “ not eat of the Tree of Knowledge.”

If Adam DID eat of the Tree of Knowledge, God warned that “ dying, ye shall DIE“, or “ye shall SURELY (certainly) die“). This, to me, is saying that Adam was already dying, even before He ate of the Tree of Knowledge. His death wasn’t yet “CERTAIN”, since he still had full access to the Tree of Life! (But of course, we know that he did not partake of it.)

All Adam had to do, was to eat of the Tree of Life, so that he would BECOME “immortal”! Isn’t this why God says that after He ate of the Tree of Knowledge, that He then guarded the Tree of Life, lest he eat of it and live for ever?

I look forward to your response!

God Bless,

J____

Hi J____,

It is good to hear from you again. You are right on about Adam’s original condition while yet in the hand of the Potter:

Jer 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay [ is] in the potter’s hand, so [are] ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

All of God’s “clay vessels” are “marred in the hand of the Potter” while still in His hand. That is because God has not yet finished ‘making man in His image.’ What that verse should read is “Let us be making man in our image.” The first step in that process is to make a “marred vessel of clay”. It was the result of being in this sad, “marred”, naked dusty condition, while yet “in the hand of the Potter”, that caused Adam and Eve to succumb to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the heart and the pride of life before they ever ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

1Jn 2:16 For all [sin] that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Flesh itself misses the mark of the Christ we are now to know after the spirit. So Adam, by virtue of being flesh, is sin and needs a sacrifice for what he IS, before he ever does anything. As soon as Adam does something, he is then also in need of another sacrifice for what he did. So God has given us a sin offering for the flesh that we are. He has also provided a “trespass” offering for what we do in “the body of this death.” Adam sinned because he was in a “body of this death”. He sinned because he was dying. He did not begin dying because he sinned. The lie of the serpent “thou shalt not surely die” has man thinking the opposite of the Word of God to this very day. Adam was dying when he drew his first breath:

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

“Flesh and blood” are synonymous in scripture with “corruption”. Adam was “corruptible and in corruption” from the time he drew his first breath. That is why he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was created with a fleshly mind. Adam was created of the dust. He was created with an earthly carnal mind. He was “a vessel of clay marred in the hand Of the Potter.”

I have written all this years ago in the paper on The Law of Moses Versus The Law of the Spirit.

Go to that paper on the web site. Scroll down about three quarters of the paper to the section entitled ‘Phrase # 7- Under The Law.’ The remainder of this paper discusses the original condition in which Adam was created while yet a “vessel of clay in the Potter’s hand.”

I think you will find that it confirms what you have asked me about in this letter. I would only add that the ‘flaming sword guarded the WAY of the tree of life.” This symbolizes the fact that it is only by going through that flaming fire of the Word Of God that we can partake of the ‘Tree of Life that is in the paradise of God.” The ‘Tree of Life is of course, Christ. And His word burns out of us everything that separates us from Him.

Mike

Part 2

Hi Mike,

Thank you for clarifying this issue regarding the nature of Adam! I loved the bit on us being “marred in the hand of the potter“. Thank you!

I have a couple “concerns” however. I understand that Gen 1:26 says…

“And God said, Let us make [Heb: ” Asah” – “be making?”] man in our image, after our likeness”

Perhaps this is saying “let us be making“…

But how about Gen 1:27…

“So God creatED [Heb: ” Bara“] man in his own image, in the image of God creatED [Heb: ” Bara“] he him; male and female creatED [Heb: ” Bara” – not “is making”] he them”

Doesn’t Gen 1:27 confirm that man was CREATED (past- tense) in God’s image? God CREATED (past- tense) Male and Female… God isn’t still “MAKING/ MOLDING” a male version and a female version of man. It was done at the moment of creation, was it not?

Also, Paul seems to completely confirm that man IS (past- tense) the image of God in 1Co 11:7…

“For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he [man] IS the IMAGE and glory OF GOD.“

This doesn’t say that man is BEING MADE in God’s image; Paul says [or does he?] that man IS [NOW] the image of God.

Any thoughts on this one?

Thank again Mike!

J____

Hi J____,

The truth is that both the ‘making’ and the ‘creating’ are Hebrew and Greek verbs which are most commonly in the Qal Stem in the Old Testament and in the Aorist tense in the New Testament.’. Greek and Hebrew do not speak as we speak. They speak in what we would call the present progressive. They do not use or have a present perfect as we do in English. So God is making man in His image, and a marred vessel of clay is the first step in that process. God is also in the process of creating man and “conforming him to the [spiritual ] image of his Son. The first step in that process is to make man a marred vessel of clay.

1Co 11:7 is written to Christians who are supposed to be being conformed to that spiritual image. It is stated to those who can receive it in those terms. If we are indeed “seated with Him in heavenly places,” then we are indeed “conformed to the image of his Son. All physical types in the old testament are only true as shadows and types; they are never true in spiritual reality. The ‘bread from heaven’ of Exodus 16:4 was not the true bread from heaven even though the Old Testament says that it is.

Joh 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

The reason Christ can contradict the old Testament is that He knew that all of the law was only a “form” and a shadow of good things to come:

Heb 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

Do you see that “not the very image”? That should read “Not the true image.” The “first Adam is a figure of Him that was to come.”

Christ is the true image of God to which we are to be conformed.

Speaking to the Jews, Paul had this to say of all things in the law:

Rom 2:17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
Rom 2:18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
Rom 2:19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
Rom 2:20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

The “form” is not the reality. It is but a shadow of the reality. It must never be taken as the fullness of the truth.

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

What does that verse say for the law. What does it say about the statement in that law that God made man in His image?

I hope this helps you see that all the truths of the Old Testament are true only as shadows of the spiritual realities. They are never to be taken as the fullness of knowledge, the ‘epignosis of Christ.’ That epignosis is only to be found in Christ.

Mike

Hello – I came across this verse today:

Rom 7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

Am I understanding correctly that this is saying that we will be subject to the flesh until the day we die? Do we have this working within us: “Rom 7:25 … with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin…”

2Co 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Are we acknowledging of the second death within us “when we are weak” “as reprobates”??

2Co 13:7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
2Co 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
2Co 13:9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.

From this stems my new confusion: how do those predestined for the outward second death experience the law of sin if they are physically dead? Can the law of sin only be served “with the flesh”? I seem to be confused in general about mind/ body/ spirit – mind and heavens are synonymous for those having it….. but is it possible for spirit to be corrupt? I feel like this verse is not saying that:

1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

Thank you for any insight,
N____

Hello N____,

Thanks for pointing these verses out and also asking a few questions. I would add a few things from scripture that came to mind as I was reading yours thoughts and questions.

Am I understanding correctly that this is saying that we will be subject to the flesh until the day we die? That we have this working within us: “Rom 7:25 … with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin…

We definitely will contend with what the flesh wants versus what the spirit tells us to do. In other words, we are told to OBEY and NOT SACRIFICE. I only emphasize with all caps because the Lord makes a big deal out of us listening to Him out of belief [ Faith] versus us doing something for the Lord or ourselves. “Lord, let’s get the show on the road!” We can do nothing without Christ, including the very acts of the things which cause “all that is in the world” to lead to SIN.
It is only when LUST has conceived that sin is born. This is so important because we are DOOMED to live out this law that plays in our members, but we ARE eventually…. day by day, given dominion over the “giants in the land” and the “mountains” that we need to “throw into the sea”. The Lord has created us this way, but He has also created a Way out, praise God!

Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

We can’t say we are tempted of God, because it is God who knows fully well that He has created the clay of the ground to “hold the water” just perfectly. It is a perfectly created “sinning machine”, but so too, is the perfectly created “Son- ning machine.” We are created to be enticed away, each and every one of us.

Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

The difference with Jesus Christ, of course, is that in His temptation He was given the Holy Spirit without measure and was then able to be the only one not to succumb to sinning.
It is interesting that right after we are told that all of mankind are pulled away and enticed, we are then confronted with things pertaining to the heavenly realm. Ha! It is all the same battle and war!

Jas 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Given that we are in war now and KNOW that we are the chief of sinners who will always succumb to the “will of our flesh”, LET US MOVE ON TO PERFECTION, yet we will never have it without shedding this flesh first just as Christ did and ascended to the Father. We are not left to wonder how this happens either, so continuing in James we see:

Jas 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jas 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Jas 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, DECEIVING YOUR OWN SELVES.

I remember so clearly that it hit me hard when I finally realised that I can’t trick God. That seems like a simple statement, and it is, but when it finally hits a person that there is a tally being taken that only God and they know of and the importance of the fact that God SEES everything… then it starts to work in you differently. I don’t mean in a condemning way either, but when God has ordained all in all and you come to see His ways ARE ABOVE your ways, then it becomes much easier to want to “take” that yoke from His hands and put it around your own neck, which is what I felt.
It really is a Godly “willingness” which God Himself has placed inside me because He first starts with His Son and then as Christ ascends to the “above your ways” place seated at the right hand of God the Father, He imparts His wisdom to me to WANT and DESIRE to OBEY His Way – the narrow Way – what ALWAYS appears to be the reprobate way because it is being called out of babylon that starts this process. We too, must come out of babylon.

We are acknowledging of the second death within “when we are weak” “as reprobates”??

You got it, and it is just as Paul says that we can do a lot of things, but we ourselves must “prove ourselves” lest we truly be reprobates while “being hearers and not doers”. They called John the baptist names, they called Jesus Christ names, and they call us names, but we truly only have One name that matters and that is of our Husband. It is not of ourselves that Christ took us in as poor, blind, miserable, wretched and naked whores, but we are nonetheless hated for it and are looked at as reprobates.

2Co 13:7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.
2Co 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.
2Co 13:9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection.
From this, stems my new confusion: how do those predestined for the outward second death experience the law of sin if they are physically dead? Can the law of sin only be served “with the flesh”? I seem to be confused in general about mind/ body/ spirit. Mind and heavens are synonymous for those having it… but is it possible for spirit to be corrupt? I feel like this verse is not saying that:
1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

I am not sure I follow this first part of the question fully, but those who will experience the “lake of fire” are going to experience the same fire but just second in line. So, their second death is simply going to be a rehashing of their lives and giving an account to the Lord of what they need to do to move on to perfection themselves. There are definitely corrupt spirits, but as you have listed here, the Spirit of God is not corrupt, and the Spirit that He gives us of Himself .. His body and our new ones… is incorruptible. However, even when raised as spiritually- body beings… the INSIDE of the CUP has to be cleansed….. it is no different for Satan, demons or us when we are in the spiritual realm! All must be washed!
I hope that helps with your questions somewhat and only as the Lord wills it.

YBITC,
Steven

Steve,

Thank you so much for your response. Your answers do help, and I have come off the tail- end of searching this topic for almost a week (along with help from Mike & Mitch) and false doctrines are starting to be exposed within. Our souls being God’s knowledge of who we are has been HUGE and softened a lot of the confusion.
Everything we have of Christ’s is simply and purely God’s mercy towards us. I am in shock and awe of the work He has begun in me!

Isa 49:15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Isa 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Isa 49:17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

Thanks,
N____

[ Steve Crook can be reached for comment or further questions at scrook(at) gmail. com] >

Video Links

Job 15:14-27 The Heavens Are Not Clean In His Sight

Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Job 15:15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.
Job 15:16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
Job 15:17 I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;
Job 15:18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
Job 15:19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.
Job 15:20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
Job 15:21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
Job 15:22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
Job 15:23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.
Job 15:24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.
Job 15:25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.
Job 15:26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
Job 15:27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

In today’s study we continue to see ourselves as Eliphaz who for the second time is quick to condemn those who are suffering as “sinners above all who are in Jerusalem”. That is how Christ describes for us this spirit of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. Here is the spirit that is in each of us by nature:

Luk 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
Luk 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Those words are directed to you and to me while we are under the bondage of the spirit of Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. These men typify all men who look down on those who they perceive to be less righteous than themselves. According to the dictates of many who are still in Babylon, all who are not being physically blessed are sinning against God and are responsible for their own trials.
If it is true that God himself makes us all wicked men for our own day of evil, then we have no right to look down on anyone, and the Truth is:

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

If it is true that you and I are not responsible for our own sins, then we have no cause to hold each other responsible for any of our misdeeds, and that is exactly what the scriptures teach:

Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

If there is a God- ordained and sustained “law of sin” working in our members, then none of us is responsible for our own actions. This in no way denies that we will give an accounting of our wicked and sinful actions in these vessels of clay, but it does say that we are not responsible for our own sins, and therefore we have no reason to look down on what God has done in the lives of any other of His children.
There are ‘four’ men here because the number ‘four’ is the Biblical symbol for the whole of either heaven or earth:

Mar 13:27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

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

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

What is becoming clear is that Job is not the only person in this group of four men who is “full of confusion”.

Job 10:15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;

Apparently Eliphaz is just as confused as Job. Here is what he said during his first discourse with Job:

Job 4:7 Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?
Job 4:8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

The implication was that Job’s own sins were responsible for the suffering Job was enduring. But now Eliphaz, while still intent upon condemning Job for his sins, confesses that mankind in general is neither ‘clean’ nor ‘righteous’.

Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

Eliphaz was certainly “born of a woman” but as is always the case with us all while we are in Babylon, he makes so many truthful statements concerning what constitutes mankind and the state of all who are “born of woman”, but we always think our truthful statements apply to others instead of ourselves. The scriptures agree with Eliphaz, but as only mankind is capable of doing, Eliphaz states the Truth, but then he applies it to anyone and everyone but himself. Nevertheless the scriptures teach that this is a universal Truth.

Psa 14:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psa 14:2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
Psa 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Psa 53:1 To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
Psa 53:2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
Psa 53:3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Rom 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

That is God’s assessment of all flesh. Three times we are told without reservation “there is none that doeth good, no, not one”. That is why we are also told:

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

Job 15:15 Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.

Without the work of the spirit of God in the fleshly body of His Son, there would be no hope for anyone who has ever been in a body of “sinful flesh… and blood”.

Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

We have demonstrated many times that the flesh of Christ was just as much “in the likeness of sinful flesh” as your flesh or my flesh, and that it was the supernatural power of the spirit of His Father which restrained Him from sinning while in that body of “sinful flesh”. Christ’s flesh of itself could not resist sinning any more than our flesh can. Christ Himself tells us this is so:

Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

God put no trust in Christ’s flesh, but instead He gave Christ His spirit without measure to assure us that we would have a spotless sacrifice for our sins.

Joh 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

So “man born of woman” is neither clean nor righteous. This is the condition of all flesh and of all “men born of woman”:

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

Our heavenly Father never depended on the flesh of Christ to redeem mankind. He used that flesh, but He was depending only upon Himself, His own spirit within a body of sinful flesh, the flesh of our Savior, to live a spotless life and then to die for our sins.
Here it all is out of Christ’s own mouth:

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

“There is none good but… God… I can of mine own self do nothing…” So was Christ perfected while in a body of “sinful flesh”? Is it possible to be perfected while in a body of flesh? Let’s let Christ Himself answer that question:

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

No, not even Christ was perfected until “the third day”, the day of resurrection. So Eliphaz has made a profound statement – “Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.” Yet he cannot see that his own words apply to himself as well as all other men. This is a simple and basic spiritual truth.
But “the things of the spirit” are hidden and veiled by the flesh, even by the flesh of Christ:

Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

So with the death and resurrection of our Savior we are finally given to know that the physical realm is more than just a history lesson. We are now granted to understand that the physical heavens are nothing more than a type and a shadow of the spiritual heavens of the scriptures, which are located within each of us. It is into that inward heaven that our Lord has entered and is even now in the process of cleansing and purifying:

Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [ the blood of bulls and goats]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself [ our hearts and minds], now to appear in the presence of God for us:

So if Christ says of Himself that “there is none good but… God”, and He tells us plainly that He will not be perfected until “the third day”, how true then must be these words of Eliphaz:

Job 15:16 How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?

Is this true? Is mankind really abominable and filthy? Are you and I by nature ‘abominable and filthy’? What do the scriptures teach? I will repeat:

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

And to that I will add:

Rom 7:17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

So yes, it is true, mankind is abominable and filthy [ and he] drinketh iniquity like water”, and without a sacrifice for his sins mankind would be doomed to destruction.

Job 15:17 I will shew thee, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;

Each man wants his words to be heard. He wants to declare the things he has seen. Job has told his three friends what he thinks of their observations and their admonitions, and he too, wants them to hear his words:

Job 13:1 Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, mine ear hath heard and understood it.
Job 13:2 What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you.
Job 13:3 Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God.
Job 13:4 But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.
Job 13:5 O that ye would altogether hold your peace! and it should be your wisdom.
Job 13:6 Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips.

What is missing in the “pleading of [ the] lips” of both Job and his detractors is the truth of these verses of scripture:

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.

God simply has not yet revealed to these men, who are types of us while we are in the Babylonian Christian world, that He has deliberately “made us… marred in the hand of the Potter” for the purpose of building within these clay vessels a spiritual temple for His dwelling place, and that when that temple is built, then these clay vessels must be dispensed with and destroyed. Here is how Christ expresses this process:

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

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

We have all “defiled the temple of God”, and we must all “lose [ our] life” in order to find it. Until that Truth is revealed to us, like Eliphaz we judge our brothers as if God’s judgment were something we can and should somehow avoid. That is what Eliphaz means when he tells Job:

Job 15:18 Which wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid it:
Job 15:19 Unto whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger passed among them.

What Eliphaz is telling Job, is what Babylon tells us all. Eliphaz sees physical blessings as proof of God’s approval of the way we are conducting our lives, and physical trials are proof only of how displeased God is of how we are conducting our lives. He is telling Job that wise men have always taught this doctrine, and have always passed this wisdom on to their children.
“Unto whom alone the earth was given and no stranger passed among them” must apply physically to Noah and his sons, and therefore it must spiritually apply to all the descendants of Noah, who still hold to that doctrine:

Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, [ which knows no strangers] the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

Eliphaz, as the type of the church which is still in the world, does not like the gospel of Christ which teaches the necessity of losing our lives before we can hope to find life. The spirit of Eliphaz loves the false doctrine of a substitutionary death which eliminates the necessity of being “crucified with Christ”, and “fill[ ing] up in my body that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ”.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
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:

Eliphaz was the original ‘prosperity evangelist’. He was, as we all are at first, devoid of understanding the need for “dying daily” (1Co 15:31). All trials of our faith are proof positive to the Eliphaz within us of a man who is a sinner above all in Jerusalem, rather than proof that all in Jerusalem are sinners who must be judged.

Job 15:20 The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.
Job 15:21 A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
Job 15:22 He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.

This is a very seductive message which “the first man Adam” finds very appealing. After all who wants to endure the words of those three verses? Who wants to be “hated of all men… lose [ his] life… [ have his] enemies… be they of his own household”, etc.? Eliphaz sees Job’s judgment as something he does not need because of his own righteousness. So he continues to describe Job’s position to him.
Because of spiritual immaturity, with which we all struggle as spiritually “carnal… babes in Christ”, Eliphaz, is incapable of understanding that the troubling of “an evil spirit from God” precedes the judgment of all men just as surely as King Saul preceded King David, and as surely as the first man Adam precedes the last Adam.
Why did King David lust after Bathsheba? He did so for the same reason Joseph’s brothers sold him into Egypt and for the same reason there is “evil in the city”.

Gen 45:4 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Gen 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Gen 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
Amo 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

If it seems sinful to us for God to ‘make wicked men for their day of evil’ (Pro 16:4), ‘create evil’ (Isa 45:7), ‘make us to err from His ways’, and send evil spirits to make this all happen (1Sa 16:14-15), then we are still both Job and Eliphaz, contending with, reproving, and condemning God for His ways. We all do that in our own time:

Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

But we are all blinded to those words while we tell these words to others who we see as less honorable than ourselves.

Job 15:23 He wandereth abroad for bread, saying, Where is it? he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand.

Here is the New Testament way of expressing the point Eliphaz is imputing to Job because of his sins:

2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Job 15:24 Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid; they shall prevail against him, as a king ready to the battle.

Job himself had already told us that the thing he had feared was exactly what had happened to him.

Job 3:25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

While the love of God which our Savior taught was unheard of in the Old Testament, the effects of not knowing that love were well known by Job as the type of us before we know what is the love of God:

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Once again, Eliphaz does not know that mankind must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Mat 4:4). He does not know or believe that “all things, the world, life, death, things present, and things to come are all ours (1Co 3:21-22), and it had not yet been revealed that the time is at hand to keep the things written in the words of this prophecy (Rev 1:3 and 22:7). So he condemns Job for the things that must necessarily be within his own sinful flesh:

Job 15:25 For he stretcheth out his hand against God, and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty.
Job 15:26 He runneth upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers:
Job 15:27 Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.

Eliphaz, being at ease in this life, thinks of himself being above ever contending with, reproving, or condemning his Creator. He thinks that Job’s former prosperity had caused Job to forget his God, and to have “strengthened himself against God”. God Himself tells us that this is exactly what we all do under such circumstances. Moses told Israel that is what they would do, and Jeremiah told them that was what they did. Remember you and I are Israel.

Deu 32:15 But Jeshurun [ a name for Israel] waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Jer 5:7 How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
Jer 5:8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
Jer 5:9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

In our own way we all live out every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Those who are given to do so will rejoice in knowing what is the secret of God which He has revealed to only very few.
Next week, Lord willing, we will see the rest of Eliphaz’s accusations against his friend, Job.

Job 15:28 And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps.
Job 15:29 He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the perfection thereof upon the earth.
Job 15:30 He shall not depart out of darkness; the flame shall dry up his branches, and by the breath of his mouth shall he go away.
Job 15:31 Let not him that is deceived trust in vanity: for vanity shall be his recompence.
Job 15:32 It shall be accomplished before his time, and his branch shall not be green.
Job 15:33 He shall shake off his unripe grape as the vine, and shall cast off his flower as the olive.
Job 15:34 For the congregation of hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.
Job 15:35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

Hi Mike,

I’m wondering if you can give a deeper explanation of how the lake of fire is the same for God’s elect now and supposedly the same for unbelievers later in the resurrection to judgment. I’ve read much of what you say about the fire, that it saves, and is not literal but a metaphor for God’s judgment. I get that and agree. I experience the fire of God on a daily basis, sometimes more intensely than other days, but I experience it because judgment is now on the house of God, of which house God is making me. But you also say unbelievers that come up in the resurrection to face the symbolic lake of fire will face the very same fire. I’ve heard you say unbelievers will face the exact same fiery trials, but just at a later date in a less desirable resurrection. I’m not sure I can agree the fire will be exactly the same for unbelievers later as it is for believers now. There will be differences in the fiery experience. I think you will agree if I give some examples.
For example, one difference in experiences is that I’m flesh and blood human right now facing fiery trials, but those in the second resurrection you say will be resurrected with a spiritual body and face fiery trials. Do spiritual bodies fight disease? Right now I have some health problems to battle. Will spirits in the second resurrection face fiery trials of disease? If not, isn’t that a difference? Right now, I am flesh and blood and know I will face the fiery trial of death one day, but spirits in the lake of fire will have memory of already having died and coming alive again. They will be resurrected in a spirit body that can no longer die. Isn’t that a difference? Right now, I face the fiery trial of doubt, as I even doubt sometimes that God exists, and maybe there is something to evolution that the scientists say is true. Once resurrected in spirit bodies, unbelievers will no longer have room for doubt. They will have proof God exists! Isn’t that a difference? Right now I don’t directly see or interact with God’s resurrected humans and angels, but spirits brought up in the lake of fire resurrection will directly see and interact with Peter, James, John, the angels, Jesus, etc. You say God’s elect will be directly and visibly administering that lake of fire. Isn’t that another difference in experiences? Right now, I can go commit sex sin with a prostitute if I want to.
But in the lake of fire, I’m assuming one of the fiery trials spirits will face is the inability to commit their favorite sins. I assume God will prevent sex sin and probably all sins that spirits may want to commit in the lake of fire. Am I right there? If so, isn’t that another difference? For that matter, do spirit beings even have genital organs? Isn’t that a fleshly thing? Maybe the spirits in the lake of fire won’t even have ability to have sex? If they don’t have genitals, do they even have sexual desire? If not, wouldn’t that be another difference? I could go on and on. But I think you get my point. The fiery trials I face now as a flesh and blood human being are very much different I think than the fiery trials resurrected spirit beings will face in the lake of fire. I’m sure there will be many similarities in the experiences, but also vast differences in the experiences. I don’t think you can say it is “the exact same fire” that both groups will face, and the only difference is some face that fire now, and most others will face the exact same fire later. It is a much different experience in many ways and the fire will have to manifest in quite a different way. I think you could say the fire may be similar in alot of ways, but also vastly different in many ways. Would you agree? Please share your thoughts and explain these discrepancies if you can.

Thanks,
D____

Hi D____,
Thank you for all of your questions.

I cannot take the time to answer them all one by one, but I will answer a few of them to demonstrate for you scripturally that the spirit world really is understood “by the things that are made”.

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

That verse means what it says. We can understand the invisible things of the spirit world by observing the things that are made, even God’s “eternal power and Godhead”. If the Lord grants you to grasp that principle, then you will understand that spirits can and do experience everything the natural realm experiences.
It will be of great help to you to always keep in mind that the “fire” of “the lake of fire” is God’s Word. It does not become something else at that time. It is the same fire then that gives us our own “fiery trials” now.

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

You ask if spirits must fight diseases, and the answer is, yes, they certainly do. Not physical diseases, but spiritual diseases. All diseases bring discomfort, hence the word ‘dis- ease’. Can and do spirits experience discomfort? Let’s let the spirits themselves answer that question:

Mat 8:29 And, behold, they [ evil spirits, sent by God to afflict two men with insanity] cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

You ask:

Right now, I am flesh and blood and know I will face the fiery trial of death one day, but spirits in the lake of fire will have memory of already having died and coming alive again. They will be resurrected in a spirit body that can no longer die. Isn’t that a difference?

When Christ spoke of death, He seldom ever spoke of physical death as death. To Christ physical death was nothing more than taking a nap:

Mat 9:24  He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
Joh 11:11  These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

So real death is what spirits in rebellion against God do experience. Fear has torment, and those who fear death are tormented:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

So death itself is not the problem, but is the solution. The problem is the fear of death and the torment of that fear:

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Death is the solution for the torment of fear. That is why “the lake of fire is called “the second death”.

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

So torment in a body of spirit that cannot die, but which knows that it must be changed, is no different than us knowing that we must “die daily”. It is the exact same experience. Satan and all of his minions must “die daily” until they, just as we are doing now, are changed into the image of Christ. It simply is not physical death, disease, blindness, fear, etc.; it is spiritual.

You say:

Right now I don’t directly see or interact with God’s resurrected humans and angels, but spirits brought up in the lake of fire resurrection will directly see and interact with Peter, James, John, the angels, Jesus, etc. You say God’s elect will be directly and visibly administering that lake of fire. Isn’t that another difference in experiences?

You may not be aware of it, but your every move is directly administered by the spirit realm. That realm is called “a law”, and it is “the law of sin and death” which works in our flesh and in our members. It is administered by the spirit realm.

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [ how] to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

The same is true in the lake of fire. At God’s own appointed time, a change begins to overcome us and “the law of sin and death” no longer has control over us. It is a process, but eventually we can see that we “have passed from death unto life”. At that point the next verse begins to have the hegemony:

Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

Then we can look back and say with the apostle:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

All of this takes place in the lake of fire just as it is working in us now. Spirits in the lake of fire have this exact same experience because their ‘fire’ is the same fire we experience.

You ask:

Right now, I can go commit sex sin with a prostitute if I want to. But in the lake of fire, I’m assuming one of the fiery trials spirits will face is the inability to commit their favorite sins. I assume God will prevent sex sin and probably all sins that spirits may want to commit in the lake of fire. Am I right there? If so, isn’t that another difference? For that matter, do spirit beings even have genital organs? Isn’t that a fleshly thing? Maybe the spirits in the lake of fire won’t even have ability to have sex? If they don’t have genitals, do they even have sexual desire? If not, wouldn’t that be another difference? I could go on and on. But I think you get my point.

Indeed we could go on and on because the experience there in the spirit realm, is “understood by the things that are made.” Physical sex is but a type of obedience to God and being at one with the spirit realm. If we use sex illicitly, in disobedience to the commandments of God that it be only between a married man and woman, then we are fornicators, whores or whoremongers. In that case we are of our father the devil. On the other hand, if we are given to fear to disobey God and we are given the desire to please Him and Him only, then we are at one with Him, and through Christ, He is our spiritual Husband.
So, the answer again is, yes, spirits ‘have sex’. Once again it is not physical sex; it is spiritual oneness and unity with the spirit realm.

You conclude with this question:

I don’t think you can say it is “the exact same fire” that both groups will face, and the only difference is some face that fire now, and most others will face the exact same fire later. It is a much different experience in many ways and the fire will have to manifest in quite a different way. I think you could say the fire may be similar in a lot of ways, but also vastly different in many ways. Would you agree? Please share your thoughts and explain these discrepancies if you can.

As I said at the opening of this exchange, “It will be of great help to you to always keep in mind, that the “fire” of “the lake of fire” is God’s Word. It does not become something else at that time. It is the same fire then that gives us our own “fiery trials” now.”

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.

So the answer to your question is, no, I cannot agree that “the fire is vastly different”. The details of how we experience that fire are different for every person now, just as they will vary from person to person in the lake of fire. But the fire itself is the Word of God, hrist, and “Christ does not change”.

Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

“For ever” in Heb 13:8 is ‘aion’, and since the lake of fire is called ‘aionian’ or ‘eternal’ judgment, Christ and His fiery Words will be the exact same fire then as now.
You asked for my thoughts, and I hope I have not given you my thoughts but Christ’s. I hope this all helps you to see the Truth that is these 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 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Rom 8:1-2 seems pretty clear.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

If a minister or brother does not believe that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” he just may not be where he ought to be “in Christ Jesus.”

So, “to teach otherwise is to teach false doctrine.” If exposing false doctrine is un- Christian, then Christ was not very Christian. But of course Christ is the very definition of Christian. And no one exposes false doctrine as much as Christ exposes false doctrine. So exposing false doctrines is actually a very important part of being a true Christian. But just for the record, even the old covenant prophets dispensed with this doctrine long before Christ came along. Here it is in Ezekiel 18:

Ezekiel 18:1 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,

Ezekiel 18:2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?

Ezekiel 18:3 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.

So how does God now deal with “the sins of the fathers?”

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Ezekiel 18:10 If he[ anyone in Israel] beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,

Ezekiel 18:11 And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour’s wife,

Ezekiel 18:12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,

Ezekiel 18:13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

Ezekiel 18:14 Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,

Ezekiel 18:15 That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour’s wife,

Ezekiel 18:16 Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment,

Ezekiel 18:17 That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

Combine all that with Rom 8:2, and you have two scriptural witnesses that every man is held accountable for his own sins. God says plainly, ” He shall not die for the iniquity of his father…”