1 Samuel 18:1–30 David and Jonathan’s Friendship

[Study Aired May 18, 2026]

David’s triumph over Goliath won him a place in Saul’s administration. Saul set David over the men of war and also as his personal attendant.  Davis also became Jonathan’s covenant friend and the darling of Israel, which drew out envy from Saul. As a result, Saul hated David and wanted to kill him. 

Saul proposed giving David to his first daughter, but intentionally cheated him of the eldest daughter by marrying her to somebody else to provoke David. Saul ended up proposing his younger daughter in marriage to David, but under conditions which would endanger his life. However, David was able to fulfill the conditions and ended up marrying Saul’s younger daughter. This made Saul afraid, which made him continue his enmity against David.

In this study, we shall look at the spiritual significance of all this. This is because it is the spirit that gives life. Just knowing the story as it is, does not give life or help us in our walk with Christ.  

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

David and Jonathan’s Friendship

1Sa 18:1  And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
1Sa 18:2  And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. 
1Sa 18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. 

In verse 1, Jonathan came to love David as his own soul. This is for us to know that as His elect, the Lord always gives us our “Jonathan”, who cares so much for us, to help us in our walk with Christ. Such people may not continue with us in life, but are instruments that the Lord uses at various stages of our walk to help us in our journey to become overcomers. As David’s story unfolds, Saul would have killed David if not for Jonathan’s intervention. 

As Paul indicated in his letter to the Romans, Priscilla and Aquila risked their lives to save him. 

Rom 16:3  Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: 
Rom 16:4  Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 

We must remember that Jonathan was initially the Lord’s elect, and therefore loving David as his own soul implies how as the Lord’s elect, we are to love one another. In verse 3, Jonathan and David making a covenant is to make us aware that as the Lord’s elect, we are covenanted to love one another. Our Lord Jesus emphasized that we must love one another. That is the only way that men may know that we are His disciples. 

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 
Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

In verse 2, Saul took David with him and did not allow him to go to his father’s house again. There is a saying in my local language which says that when a child learns how to wash his hands, he is ready to eat with kings and elders. David overcoming Goliath, his flesh, means that he is now ready to dine with kings and elders.

The first time that the phrase “father’s house” was used in the Bible, it refers to the Lord commanding Abraham to leave his father’s house. The father’s house in the negative context, refers to Babylon or the church system of this world.  

Gen 12:1  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

Saul, in this case, represents our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world. Apart from the command by the Lord to leave Babylon, the enmity of our brothers and sisters in the church system against us, His elect, helps prevent us from wanting to do anything with Babylon or our father’s house.

1Sa 18:4  And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. 

To understand what it means for Jonathan to strip himself of his robe and give it to David, we must know that later, Jonathan refused to join David in escaping from Saul’s death threat. His decision to remain with his father, caused him his death. 

2Sa 1:17  And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, 
2Sa 1:19  “Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! 

Jonathan started as the Lord’s elect with his bravery and defeat of the Philistines at their garrison with his armor bearer. However, he deemed his alliance to his father, Saul, to be more precious than the suffering he had to go through with David as the scape goat, set loose in the wilderness. He was not like Moses, who chose to suffer affliction with the Lord’s people, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 
Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 

Removing his robe, his garment and his weapons and giving to David shows how he was predicting his rejection of the Lord’s mercy or the crown promised to the Lord’s overcomers or the prize of the higher calling of God and accepting the rulership of the Lord’s elect (David) in the fullness of time. In other words, we, His elect, have received mercy at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Babylon. 

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

1Sa 18:5  And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. 

In verse 5, we see that David’s obedience to Saul, the king, won him the honor of being set over the men of war by Saul. We can say in verse 5 that Saul here represents the Lord and that our obedience to His words will cause us to be set over our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world. This is clearly portrayed in the story of Joseph who was set as ruler over Egypt and over his brothers. Our obedience to the Lord will win us the prize of being the Lord’s overcomers and therefore rulers or kings over the world and our brothers and sisters in Babylon, in the fulness of time.

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

Our obedience to the Lord will not only win us the prize of rulership in the future, but gives us favor in the sight of all men in this age.

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 

In Proverbs 3:3 above, we are told that it is through mercy and truth that we find favor and good understanding before the Lord and man. Mercy here is the grace of the Lord which chastises us or our judgment, while the truth here is our eyes being opened to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. This is what grants us favor in the sight of the Lord and man.

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

The teaching used here in Titus 2:12 means discipline or chasten  from Strong’s Dictionary G3816.

Saul’s Jealousy of David

1Sa 18:6  And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. 

Our victory over the flesh as overcomers will also be the victory of the church system of this world and the world, represented by the Israelites women singing and dancing. We shall be their saviors in the fullness of time, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. This is what it means when the Bible says that the creature is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, who are the saviors of the world.

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

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. 

1Sa 18:7  And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 

Our victory over the flesh will cause the church system of this world to proclaim, in the fullness of time, that our victory far surpasses the victory they had experienced in Babylon, represented by Saul. The saying that Saul had slain his thousands, but that David had slain his ten thousands had spiritual significance. Ten thousand is ten multiplied four times (10,000 = 10x10x10x10). This implies that David’s victory or our victory as the Lord’s elect, is a whole or total victory over our flesh in its fullness.

On the other hand, the victory of Saul over thousands, implies that when we were in Babylon, signified by Saul, we did win some victories over our flesh. However, we did not overcome wholly. Our Lord Jesus pointed out that the sin of self-righteousness, which is iniquity before the Lord, is what we were committing when we were in the churches of this world or Babylon. The thousands ascribed to Saul’s victory signifies some victories won over the flesh but excluding self-righteousness or iniquity. In other words, Saul’s victory, which represents our victories over the flesh when we were in the churches of this world, are partial and not whole or total victory, which is required of an overcomer.

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.    

1Sa 18:8  And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? 
1Sa 18:9  And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.  

Saul becoming displeased with David is of the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to come and judge David, using Saul as his instrument of judgment through his enmity with David. In the same way, our rejection by our brothers and sisters in Babylon is all part of the Lord’s judgment of us in this age. 

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.

1Sa 18:10  And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. 
1Sa 18:11  And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. 
1Sa 18:12  And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul. 

When a brother or sister becomes disobedient to the Lord and falls away, such a person is possessed by an evil spirit from the Lord, which troubles him or her. Just as the words of the Lord are spirit, false doctrines are also spirits from the devil. Therefore, Saul being troubled by an evil spirit from the Lord, means that those who fall away are troubled by the false doctrines in their hearts and minds. 

1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 
1Ti 4:2  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;    

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Therefore, Saul prophesying in the house is him spewing out false doctrines from his heart and mind. As we are aware, a spear or a sword in the positive sense represents the word of the Lord. However, the javelin or spear in the hand of Saul signifies false doctrines which comes out of the smoke from his bottomless pit or his heart and mind, which darkens the sun and the air. That is to say that the javelin thrown at David in verse 11 signifies the false doctrines which darkens our understanding of the word of truth and makes us spiritually dead. 

David avoiding Saul’s presence twice in verse 11 is to let us know that as the Lord’s witnesses, we are to avoid a brother or a sister who is always spewing false doctrines when we are with him or her. 

When the Lord is with us, those who come against us will be afraid as Saul became afraid of David. David departing from Saul in verse 12 implies that we must do away with any brothers or sister who continually spew false doctrines when we are with him or her.  

1Sa 18:13  Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.
1Sa 18:14  And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him. 
1Sa 18:15  Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. 
1Sa 18:16  But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them. 

Here in verse 13, it looks like David had been demoted by Saul from being set over the men of war to making him a captain of a thousand, which is all of the Lord with the purpose of taking David through the fire. However, we can see that David continued to please the Lord by his way of life, which made Saul afraid of him. It is obvious that David was being refined by the fire of the Lord and as we have indicated earlier, it is through mercy and truth that we obtain favor before the Lord and men.     

Pro 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 
Pro 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 

David Marries Michal

1Sa 18:17  And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD’S battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. 
1Sa 18:18  And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king? 
1Sa 18:19  But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul’s daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife. 

To understand these verses in the spirit, we have to know that in the spirit realm, there is neither male nor female. This implies that this proposed royal marriage of the king (Saul)’s daughter, Merab to David is the same as the marriage of the Lord’s elect (the bride) to Christ the royal (God’s son). As Saul indicated in verse 17, this proposed marriage can take place only through David’s heroism over the Philistines. This means that becoming the bride of Christ is only through overcoming the flesh, represented here as the Philistines. 

David’s apprehension that he was not fit to be the son in law of the king in verse 18 shows us that at the early stages of our walk with Christ, we do not have what it takes to become the bride of Christ. Saul giving his elder daughter to Adriel instead of David in verse 19 means that at a certain stage of our walk, we were not qualified to become the bride of Christ. The reason we were not qualified was because we did not have information as to how to become the Lord’s bride. In other words, we were not given the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom, to become the bride of Christ. Although, we were the Lord’s elect, we were with the multitude (Babylon) and therefore we were not given to hear the truth of the Lord’s words.

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.   

1Sa 18:20  And Michal Saul’s daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 
1Sa 18:21  And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain. 
1Sa 18:22  And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king’s son in law. 
1Sa 18:23  And Saul’s servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king’s son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed? 

In verse 20, Saul was pleased that his younger daughter loved David and was prepared to give her to David and so he commanded his servants to commune secretly with David about this in verse 22. However, the conditions for becoming the son in law of the king had not changed as shown in verse 21, where David’s marriage to Michal would be possible only after engaging the Philistines. 

David’s apprehension in verse 23, by saying that it is not a light thing to be the King’s son in law shows that becoming the bride of Christ is not an easy task as our brothers and sisters in the church system of this world think. This is because in our quest as the Lord’s elect to become the bride of Christ, we have to endure being hard pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted and  struck down. It is through suffering that we put to death our old man or flesh or the Philistines.     

2Co 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2Co 4:9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 
2Co 4:11  For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 
2Co 4:12  So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 

1Sa 18:24  And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David. 
1Sa 18:25  And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. 
1Sa 18:26  And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king’s son in law: and the days were not expired.
1Sa 18:27  Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

We can see from these verses that David finally got to know what exactly he had to do to become the son in law of the king. He had to present to King Saul, a hundred foreskins of the Philistines in order to marry Michal. Incidentally, Michal means ‘brook’, which in the context of the study today may imply that it is through the truth of the word of the Lord (brook) that we can become the bride of Christ. The fact that David knew what it takes to become the son in law of the king is to make us aware that it is until our eyes of understanding are enlightened to know the mysteries of the kingdom that we need a hundred foreskins of the Philistines to become the bride of Christ. That is to say that we have to overcome the flesh to become the Lord’s bride.

Rev 14:4  It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, 
Rev 14:5  and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. 

In verse 27, David killing two hundred Philistines and presenting their foreskins to Saul, won him the right of being the king’s son in law. Michal was therefore given to him as his wife. It is important to note that Saul requested for only a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. However, David doubled it (200 = 2×100). Our righteousness must surpass the righteousness of our brothers and sisters in Babylon.  

Mat 5:20  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Doubling the number of foreskins of the Philistines also shows us that overcoming the flesh is what serves as a witness (the significance of the number two) to becoming the bride of Christ in the fullness of time.

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.

1Sa 18:28  And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal Saul’s daughter loved him.
1Sa 18:29  And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David’s enemy continually. 

Through our victory over the flesh in this age, our brothers and sisters in the churches of this world or Babylon will come to acknowledge that the Lord was really with us and that we are loved greatly by the Lord. In this age, however, our brothers and sisters look to us as their enemy as we see Saul becoming David’s enemy continually in verse 29. If you can remember, the Jews during the time of the apostles, also hated the disciples of Christ. This is what the Lord said about this hatred:

Joh 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 
Joh 15:19  If ye were of the world, 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. 

1Sa 18:30  Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, after they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by. 

This verse has a much easier to understand translation as follows:

1Sa 18:30  Then the commanders of the Philistines came out to battle, and as often as they came out David had more success than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was highly esteemed. (ESV) 

As long as we are here in this tent of the flesh, we shall always be in battle against our flesh, signified by the Philistines coming out in battle against David. However, just as David had more success than all the servants of Saul, our victory over the flesh shall be overwhelming, far more than the small victories over the flesh won by our brothers and sisters in Babylon, represented here in verse 30 as Saul’s servants.

May the Name of the Lord be Praised for Favoring us in this Age. Amen!!

1 Samuel 12:1–25 Samuel’s Farewell Address

[Study Aired March 23, 2026]

The chapter today under review is about Samuel’s farewell speech where he vindicated his integrity, reproved the Israelites for demanding a king and warned them of the consequence of disobedience. The study focuses on Samuel’s revelation of how the Lord had shown mercies in the past to the people of Israel, and confirmed their sins by calling for thunder and rain in the time of wheat harvest. The study ends with Samuel urging the people of Israel to continue serving the Lord faithfully as he continues to intercede on their behalf. 

Samuel’s Farewell Address

1Sa 12:1  And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. 
1Sa 12:2  And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons are with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day.
1Sa 12:3  Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. 

In verse 1, Samuel represents our Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout the history of the people of Israel, the Lord has been their king. However, in asking for a king in the previous chapter, the people of Israel were rejecting the rulership of the Lord Jesus. However, the Lord told Samuel to do according to what the people of Israel desired – to have a king rule over them. It was in obedience to the Lord’s word that Saul was appointed as king of Israel.

Samuel agreeing to the demand of the people of Israel and giving them a king is therefore the Lord satisfying the desire of the people. There are times the Lord permits His people to have what they request, with the view of showing them the deceitfulness of their hearts and minds and to fulfill a larger purpose. As we know, all things are going according to the counsel of His will. This implies that both good and evil are used by the Lord to fulfill His eternal purpose. Therefore, both day and night are the same in the sight of the Lord.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

During the wilderness experience of the people of Israel, the Lord gave the people of Israel what they requested, but in the final analysis, He sent a wasting disease to destroy them.

Psa 106:13 But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.
Psa 106:14 But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness, and put God to the test in the desert; 
Psa 106:15 he gave them what they asked but sent a wasting disease among them. (ESN)

Bringing a wasting disease among the people of Israel means that although they received the physical satisfaction for their request, they experienced severe spiritual decay. This was all to fulfill His purpose of rejecting the commonwealth of Israel and choosing us in Him according to the riches of His mercy towards us.

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 
Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 
Rom 11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.

We had also rebelled against the Lord just like the people of Israel when we became futile in our thinking and therefore the Lord gave us up to our desires. The Lord led us through this evil path so that we shall come to see that our hearts are desperately corrupt. It is when we come to know that without the Lord’s intervention we cannot help ourselves, that the Lord comes with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness to lead us to Himself, such that our evil cravings are destroyed through His judgment.

Rom 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Rom 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 
Rom 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 
Rom 1:24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

This was the situation in which the people of Israel found themselves when they requested a king and the Lord gave them their heart’s desire.

Verses 2 and 3 focus on Samuel being a witness for Christ. The Lord has called us to become His witness just like Samuel. Being His witness means living our faith through Christlike behavior, service, and love, which serves as a living testimony. It is when we become witnesses of Christ that we can bear fruit which abides.

Joh 15:16  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

1Sa 12:4  And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man’s hand.
1Sa 12:5  and he said unto them, The LORD is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.

These verses show us that we must indeed serve as the Lord’s witnesses during our time here on earth. This implies that our righteousness must be evident to all – not only to the household of faith, but all those outside the faith who come into contact with us. 

1Ti 3:7  Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

We know from the word of the Lord that it is not in our power to learn righteousness. It is only the judgment of our flesh by the Lord that makes us to become like Him – having no spot or blemish. This is what the Lord is working out within each of us, to become like Him.

Rev 14:4 These (His elect) 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. 
Rev 14:5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

The Lord’s Righteous Acts

1Sa 12:6  And Samuel said unto the people, It is the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 
1Sa 12:7  Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers. 
1Sa 12:8 When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.

Here in verse 6, we see Samuel reminding the Israelites of how the Lord intervened in their circumstances and brought up Moses and Aaron to lead their fathers from bondage in Egypt.  In our case, it is the Lord who is reminding us that He has raised His elect, represented by Moses and Aaron, to bring us out of our bondage to the flesh. Through what every joint supplies, we are able to come out of our bondage to the flesh.

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

In verse 7, we see that what the Lord did in raising up Moses and Aaron to lead His people out of Egypt is called ‘the righteous acts of the Lord.’ The Lord coming to us to lead us out of the church system of this world or Babylon, which is represented by Egypt here in verse 7, to become part of the church of Jerusalem above, or the firstborn, is all part of His righteous acts toward us.

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

1Sa 12:9  And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 
1Sa 12:10  And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. 
1Sa 12:11 And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. 

When our attention is turned from the Lord, we become a prey to our flesh symbolized by the Philistines. Sisera was the commander of the army of Jabin, king of Canaan. Both Sisera and the king of Moab in verse 9, represent the devil, who empowers our flesh. The question is, “How do we forget the Lord?” It is usually during times of prosperity, comfort, and success, that we forget about the Lord. This usually leads to self-reliance and pride instead of dependence on the Lord.

Deu 8:11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
Deu 8:12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; 
Deu 8:13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; 
Deu 8:14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;

Through the mercies of the Lord, He brings us to repentance as we cry to Him for deliverance from our flesh.  The Lord sends Jerubbaal according to verse 11 to deliver us from bondage. Jerubbaal means ‘let Baal contend’ or compete. Baal means ‘lord’ or owner and was a Canaanite god which Israel frequently turned to worship. The first step in the Lord’s deliverance from our flesh as we cry to Him is to let the false doctrines in our hearts and minds, which empower our flesh, represented here as Baal, compete with the truth of the Lord’s word. As a result, we are overcome by our flesh, giving the Lord the occasion that He is seeking to come into our lives with His judgment.

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.

The Lord then sends Bedan which means ‘in judging.’ That is to say that the Lord comes to judge us. It is through this judgment that we are gradually delivered from our flesh. The Lord then sends Jephthah which means ‘He opens.’ It is through this judgment that the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are opened to us. Finally, the Lord sends Samuel which is the name of God. In other words, the Lord comes to establish His throne in our hearts and minds.

Act 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Act 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

1Sa 12:12  And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king. 
1Sa 12:13  Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you. 
1Sa 12:14  If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God: 
1Sa 12:15  But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.

Here in verse 12, we are given a reason why the Israelites wanted a physical king, when the Lord was their king. It was because they wanted a physical king to fight their battles for them.  When we are under the control of the flesh, we seek physical instead of spiritual reality to address the issues we face. However, in the wisdom of the Lord, the demand for a physical king was all part of the Lord’s design, to bring the people of Israel to an expected end.

Verses 14 and 15 show us that our past mistakes are not relevant. What is important is to forget those things which are behind and focus on being obedient to our Lord. That is when we experience His rulership in our walk with Him. On the other hand, our refusal to submit to Christ will cause the hand of the Lord to be against us.

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. 
Php 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 

1Sa 12:16  Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes. 
1Sa 12:17  Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king. 
1Sa 12:18 So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.

In verse 16, the Lord is requesting us to stand still and see the great thing the Lord will do on our behalf. The great thing is our salvation as we see the Lord destroy the old man or our flesh for us to become overcomers. Standing still means that the Lord is the one who does the work of destroying our flesh. 

Exo 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. 
Exo 14:14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. 

In verse 17, Samuel told the Israelites that in spite of the fact that no rain falls in the wheat harvest, He, the Lord, will send thunder and rain to fall. We must remember that the Israelites in this study represent us when we were in the churches of this world or Babylon. In Babylon, the weather is just like a period of the wheat harvest. That is to say that there is no rain or the truth of the Lord’s word. However, the Lord is assuring us, His elect, that He will bring in the truth of the word of the Lord because of our time of drought in Babylon.

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail [the truth of His word] shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

As shown in verse 17, the coming of thunder and rain during the wheat harvest was for the purpose of realizing that our wickedness is great before the Lord in asking for a king. Spiritually, what the Lord is telling us is that the truth of the Lord’s words which we experience after this drought in Babylon, is for the purpose of realizing that we were like beasts before the Lord when we thought we make our own decisions and therefore, are kings of our own destiny.

Psa 73:22  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

In verse 18, the thunder and rain that day caused all the people to greatly fear the Lord and Samuel. Samuel here also represents the Lord’s elect. It is as the Lord rains down on us the truth of His word and also through His judgment or thunder that we become a blessing to those we come into touch with – they come to fear the Lord. In other words, our witness to Christ becomes more effective.

1Sa 12:19  And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king. 
1Sa 12:20  And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;
1Sa 12:21  And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.

In the fullness of time, our brothers and sisters will ask us to intercede on their behalf as we see the people requesting Samuel to pray for them. It is during this period that they will be aware of their sins and receive mercy just we have received mercy in this age.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

1Sa 12:22  For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people. 
1Sa 12:23  Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: 
1Sa 12:24  Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. 
1Sa 12:25 But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king. 

It is heartwarming to note that in verse 22, the Lord is assuring us that He will not forsake us because of His name’s sake. Before the world was created, God had desired to have a people called by His name – His elect.

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

In verse 23, Samuel assured the people of His intercession for them. As indicated earlier, Samuel represents the Lord who is interceding on our behalf before the Father.

Heb 7:24  But this man [Jesus], because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 
Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 

If we are to receive the reward, then we must follow what Samuel said in verse 23 about the good and the right way to serve the Lord. We must fear the Lord and serve Him in truth. As our understanding is enlightened to know the truth of the Lord’s word, we automatically come to fear Him and serve Him in truth.

Pro 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

It is through His word that we come to appreciate the great things He has done for us as mentioned in verse 24. On the other hand, as indicated in verse 25, if we do wickedly, we shall be consumed by the enemy, the devil. However, as Paul said, we are persuaded of better things on our behalf, that is, things that accompany our salvation. 

Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
Heb 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 
Heb 6:11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

Our confidence is not in ourselves but in the fact that He who has began a good work in us will see to its completion. Amen!

Spiritual Significance of Numbers – The Number Thirteen

Thirteen Signifies Rebellion, Lawlessness and Divine Judgment, but it also Signifies Divine Mercy and Unity

[Study Aired February 15, 2026]

The Biblical significance of the number thirteen, like all numbers, has both a negative and a positive application. It often signifies rebellion, lawlessness, and divine judgment, but it also signifies divine mercy, spiritual unity, and the promise of redemption. 

Rebellion and Defiance:

The number 13 frequently appears in contexts of rebellion. In Genesis 14:4 the thirteenth year marks the rebellion of kings against Chedorlaomer:

Gen 14:1  And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;
Gen 14:2  That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
Gen 14:3  All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
Gen 14:4  Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

Nimrod rebelled against God. He founded Babel in defiance of God’s command to go out and fill the earth:

Gen 8:15  And God spake unto Noah, saying,
Gen 8:16  Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
Gen 8:17  Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

Gen 9:7  And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

Gen 10:8  And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
Gen 10:9  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
Gen 10:10  And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Judas Iscariot was the 13th guest at the Last Supper before he left to betray Christ. This a one example of how the number 13 is associated with betrayal and spiritual apostasy in scripture.

Mat 26:20  Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
Mat 26:21  And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
Mat 26:22  And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?
Mat 26:23  And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
Mat 26:24  The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.
Mat 26:25  Then Judas [the thirteenth at the last supper], which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I? He said unto him, Thou hast said.

Thirteen is One Plus Twelve

Thirteen combines the number 1, signifying the unity of all things in God, The Father, and 12 signifying foundations, especially the foundations of Christ and His Christ:

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

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

The Positive Application of the Number Thirteen

There were thirteen marches around Jericho. There were six days of marching once each day followed by marching seven times on the seventh day (6 days plus 7 times on the seventh day = 13 marches). The fall of Jericho signifies the fall of Babylon, and it involved marching around the city 13 times (6 days + 7 times on the 7th day), resulting in victory through obedience.  

The Lord’s Priests are given 13 cities which served as “cities of refuge for the slayer,” signifying the dwellings of the Lord’s merciful kings and priests:

Jos 21:13  Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with her suburbs,
Jos 21:14  And Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs,
Jos 21:15  And Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs,
Jos 21:16  And Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Bethshemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.
Jos 21:17  And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, Geba with her suburbs,
Jos 21:18  Anathoth with her suburbs, and Almon with her suburbs; four cities.
Jos 21:19  All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

Thirteen bulls are offered in sacrifice on the first day of the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles. These thirteen bulls signify the abundant mercy and power which will be manifested at the beginning of the reign of the Lord’s kings and priests who will rule with Him for a thousand years:

Num 29:12  And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month [the first day of the feast] ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work, and ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days:
Num 29:13  And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:

Joseph was elevated from prison to the throne of Egypt in the thirteenth year of His captivity:

Gen 37:1  And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
Gen 37:2  These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

Gen 37:12  And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
Gen 37:13  And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
Gen 37:14  And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
Gen 37:15  And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
Gen 37:16  And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
Gen 37:17  And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
Gen 37:18  And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
Gen 37:19  And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
Gen 37:20  Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
Gen 37:21  And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
Gen 37:22  And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
Gen 37:23  And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat of many colours that was on him;
Gen 37:24  And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
Gen 37:25  And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
Gen 37:26  And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
Gen 37:27  Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
Gen 37:28  Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Gen 41:39  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Gen 41:40  Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:42  And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
Gen 41:43  And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:44  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:45  And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:46  And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

17 plus 13 = 30 years of age. Joseph was delivered from prison in his 13^th year of slavery.

A few years back Sandi and I were in an airport which did not have a gate thirteen. I pointed it out to her. Thirteen is popularly and superstitiously considered to be a number for bad luck. We talk about “Friday the thirteenth” as an ‘unlucky day’, but that superstition has its roots in the fact that thirteen, in its negative connotation, signifies rebellion against God. Anyone who knows God and Christ knows that there is no such thing as ‘luck.’ Anyone who knows Christ has nothing to fear from the number thirteen.

Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

That word ‘all’ takes the concept of luck completely out of the equation.

We saw earlier that the first mention of this number 13 was associated with the rebellion of the cities of Canaan again Chedolaomer and his allies in the thirteenth year of their subjugation. Now let’s look at the second mention of this number:

Gen 17:24 And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Gen 17:25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Gen 17:26 In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

Ishmael is God’s very first “rejected… broken off… cut off… of your father the devil… seed of Abraham”. Ishmael now signifies:

Joh 8:30 As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, [then] are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

These are the words which typify God’s “Son of the bondwoman” children of Abraham (Gal 4:30-31)

Joh 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
Joh 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Joh 8:41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God.
Joh 8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

How can Christ say “I know you are Abraham’s seed… [and] if you were Abraham’s children…” in the same breath to the same people? Here is why He can do that:

Joh 6:62  What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

That is always the case with Christ’s words. “All things are become new”:

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Christ has gone from dealing with the things of the flesh to dealing with the things of the spirit. The letters of the words which are used to express the things of the spirit appear in many cases to completely contradict the point being made, and they cannot be followed by those whose eyes have been darkened and given ears that are “dull of hearing”.

Here is the scripture. Here is the very reason Christ spoke to the Jews only in parables “and without a parable spake He not unto them.”

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.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see [the spirit of The Word]: and your ears, for they hear [the spirit of The Word].
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.

Mat 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: [Lazarus and the rich man is a parable]

“Seeing they see not… hearing they hear not” sounds completely contradictory to the natural man while it makes perfect sense to the mind of the spirit.

Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

“Is not and yet is…?” How much more blatant a contradiction can be made in the eyes of those who cannot see the hidden things of the spirit behind every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God? This principle extends to Christ who is called both ‘a slain Lamb’ and a ‘lion’ in the same breath:

Rev 5:1  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. [This book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ]
Rev 5:2  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Rev 5:3  And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Rev 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Rev 5:7  And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Getting back to the number thirteen… it is associated with the strength of the flesh. When offered as a sacrifice for sin, it has great spiritual strength. Thirteen oxen sacrificed on the first day of the feast of Tabernacles signify the strength of those who offer themselves as a living sacrifice in this present age:

Num 29:13 And ye shall offer a burnt offering, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD; thirteen young bullocks, two rams, [and] fourteen lambs of the first year; they shall be without blemish:
Num 29:14 And their meat offering [shall be of] flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto every bullock of the thirteen bullocks, two tenth deals to each ram of the two rams,

It is when we think that the things we do are done by our strength that we find ourselves in negative significance of the number thirteen… rebellion against God. Everything the flesh attempts to accomplish on its own ends up as rebellion against God:

Pro 14:4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

There are those who think that God reveals his Truth only to His more mature sons. Nothing could be further from the Truth:

Psa 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

Regardless of how long we have known the Lord or how mature we may be, whenever we fail to be as teachable as a young child, we are treading on dangerous ground:

Mat 18:1  At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Mat 18:2  And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
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.

Mat 21:15  And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,
Mat 21:16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

It was pointed out to me by a ‘babe in Christ’ that Christ was born in a manger where beasts come to eat. A spiritually mature believer is as humble as a little child.

Mat 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

‘Thirteen’ in the book of Esther

Est 3:1 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.

Est 3:12 Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that [were] over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and [to] every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.

Est 9:1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)

Here again we see both the negative and the positive application of this number thirteen. The thirteenth day intended for Israel’s destruction was turned into the day of their deliverance.

In summary, while 13 signifies rebellion and judgment, it also signifies God’s mercy, His fidelity to His covenant, and our ultimate victory, reflecting both the positive and the negative nature of the Cloud which came between Israel and the Egyptians at the Red Sea. That Cloud was Christ, and Christ is The Word, His own Word (Exo 14: 19-20).

Pro 16:1-10 “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy”

(Aired on July 17, 2025)

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Pro 16:5  Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
Pro 16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Pro 16:8  Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
Pro 16:9  A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
Pro 16:10  A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.

God is working a desire in the hearts of His children to be pleasing in our Lord’s sight (Heb 13:20-21) who is “full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy”, and the road toward the completion of God’s workmanship is being accomplished through His judgement upon us (Heb 12:6, 1Pe 4:17) as Christ works in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Php 2:12-13, Col 1:24). Giving the kingdom of God to us in earnest is God’s good pleasure to do today through Christ, as we are raised in heavenly places (Luk 12:32, Eph 2:6).

Heb 13:20  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Heb 13:21  Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

In this chapter of proverbs there is a lot of instruction on how the Lord is working in the lives of His children to develop within us this gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy, mind, that is the very nature of our Father in heaven and Jesus Christ.

This is eternal life, “that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent”(Joh 17:3).

When we know someone we understand them and we perceive that they know us, or rather in the case of our Father and Christ, we are known of them as a result of having their life within us (Gal 4:9, Joh 14:20).

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?

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

What replaces the weak and beggarly elements within our hearts and minds is accomplished through a life that is being matured through ordained works that we are admonished to be careful to patiently keep in God’s service (Tit 3:8). The works of faith that God accomplishes in us through Christ create a foundation that stands up against the iniquity that will abound at the end of this age and produce nothing but dead works that don’t acknowledge God’s complete sovereignty over all things (Heb 6:1, 1Ti 6:19).

Tit 3:8  This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God (Joh 6:28-29) might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God (Heb 6:1-3, Joh 8:31-32, Joh 8:36-37,  Jas 2:19)

1Ti 6:19  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come (These verses Mat 24:8-12, 2Ti 3:1-4, describe the time to come and has already come for those who are dead in their graves, awaiting the first resurrection), that they may lay hold on eternal life. [through patient continuance in well doing Luk 21:19, Heb 10:36-38, Rom 2:6-7, Luk 8:15].

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

Rom 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

Luk 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

The preparation of the heart of God’s children is what is first and foremost in the mind of the Creator who is preparing our hearts so that we can worship Him in spirit and in truth (Joh 4:23-24). That right relationship is something that only God can form within us through Christ, and we rejoice in knowing that what He seeks out by the counsel of His will, He will find (Isa 14:27, Job 23:13, Rom 5:10).

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

What part of this proverb leaves room for us to say that we have free will? It takes a miracle from God to have our eyes open and see this straightforward statement from Him that tells us that all things are being worked according to the counsel God’s own will, both to will and to do. “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue” (Eph 1:11-12, Php 2:12-13), is what He has determined to do in the lives of His creation, “and who can turn him?”

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

Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

Our sins are being purged and cleansed by God, and many of them are hidden, and some are overt, which we express with the saying, sins of omission and sins of commission (Psa 19:12). Some men’s sins (Lord willing us today if we are being judged and dragged to Christ 1Pe 4:17,  Joh 6:44, Heb 12:6) “are open beforehand [commission], going before to judgment; and some men they follow after” (1Ti 5:24). This sinful flesh is a means to an end and as the carnality is burnt out of us (Tit 2:12-13), then the good works become manifest, “Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid”(1Ti 5:25).

Psa 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
Psa 19:13  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous (Rom 11:20) sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.[self-righteousness Php 3:9]

1Ti 5:24  Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
1Ti 5:25  Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

If we judge ourselves in this age, it is because the LORD is working that work within us and “weigheth the spirits” within us today. God’s judgements in our lives bring us to see ourselves for what we really are, leading us to repentance (Rom 2:24), and that is the only way we can receive a reward: from that ground of a broken and contrite heart that is being saved in this life and learning of His righteousness as a result of His judgements in our earth (Isa 26:9), otherwise our judgement will be in the great white throne judgement (1Co 3:14-15).

Pro 16:3  Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.

We commit not just our good works unto the LORD, but we also confess our faults and go humbly before our advocate in time of need and in doing so our “thoughts shall be established” (1Jn 2:1, 1Pe 5:6-9).

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Committing our good works to the LORD requires much tribulation in this life (Act 14:22), that we must go through in order to be those who first trust in Him (Eph 1:12, 2Co 1:9).

Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

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:

Our flesh naturally wants to supersede God’s will and not trust him or commit our ways to him (Pro 14:12, Pro 3:5-9), and to whatever degree we are yet conformed to this world, (1Jn 2:16), the Lord is in the process of daily burning those things out of our life little and by little (Tit 2:12-13, Exo 23:30) as we look to the Lord (these are the thoughts that God is establishing within the body of Christ Heb 12:1-2, Rom 12:1-2).

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

Sin, and the sinful flesh that we are in is a means to an end that God created for himself, so that all of His creation would be in a position of needing to be redeemed of God. The initial day of evil for Adam and Eve was the day that they were created [omission, hidden sins] in marred vessels of clay (Jer 18:4-6, Rom 9:1-3), and their inability to rightly divide God’s word when tempted of the devil was the predestined failure and overt sin of commission that all flesh must experience, the “the wicked for the day of evil”. The judgement of this marred vessel is the one event that is common to all men, and each man will be judged in the order God has ordained within His plan of the salvation of all men. The master Potter has devised a means to save all this banished wicked flesh, that is as spilt water, through those who will be the first to be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (2Sa 14:14, Oba 1:21).

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.

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.

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

Pro 16:5 An abhorrence to Yahweh is everyone haughty of heart; A hand upon hand, he shall not be held innocent.”(CLV)
Pro 16:5 Every one proud in heart is an abomination to Jehovah. Though they unite they will all be punished.(NSB)

The ecumenical world of religion that all of God’s elect have come out of, is represented by this ‘hand in hand’, proud spirit that takes God’s silver and gold and wraps it around the idol of our hearts, which actions are “an abomination to the LORD”. This wrapping around our hearts at that time in Babylon is inevitable and leaves us unknowingly with no stay of bread or water (Isa 3:1, Luk 8:18).

Isa 3:1  For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

Luk 8:18  Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

Pro 16:6  By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

It is God’s mercy and truth that purges the iniquity (Heb 9:22, 1Pe 1:18-19) in our lives if He is working with us in this age, otherwise we will have no fear of God resulting in our inability to “depart from evil”.

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; [wrapped around the idol of our hearts]
1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Only Christ can bring us to that point where we are not a foolish virgin leaning unto our own understanding, not departing from evil, which is what we do when our confidence is in our own flesh (Eph 1:12, 2Co 1:9) and not trusting in the living God (Php 3:3, 1Ti 4:10).

Php 3:3  For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

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

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

We see that enemy in the mirror every morning, and God is encouraging us with this proverb that we can be more than conquerors through Christ over this inward enemy of the cross, by dying daily and by being granted to be cursed to hang on the tree through the power of God’ holy spirit (Gal 3:13), that keeps us on that cross where we find life through death (Gal 2:20).

Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

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.(Joh 12:24)

We can only save ourselves from this untoward generation by being on the cross with Christ, acknowledging that we are the first generation to come to see that we are guilty of all (Mat 24:34), learning that our victory over sin comes by being bound to the altar which is the cross (Mat 27:40, Mar 15:30, Psa 118:27), this is what brings us peace that passes all understanding “he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him”.

Mat 27:40  And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Mar 15:30  Save thyself, and come down from the cross

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Pro 16:8  Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.

Whether we have a little or a lot, if Christ is not in the center of our life, we have nothing, even if we gain all the riches of this world (Mar 8:35-38, Mat 25:29).

Mar 8:35  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
Mar 8:36  For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

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.

Great revenues is what this world is all about, and yet God’s elect are the wealthiest people on this planet unbeknown to the world. We are that wealthy because we acknowledge that Christ must be in the center of our lives accomplishing our Father’s will for us at all times (Jas 2:5, Heb 13:5, Rom 8:28). We have peace that passes all understanding in this life as a result of God’s judgements upon us in His house (Psa 84:10-11)

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

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

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.

Psa 84:10  For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Psa 84:11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

What some may see as ‘little’ God calls ‘precious and abundant’ in his sight, as we are dragged to His son (Joh 6:44) and present our widow’s mite that represents our weak unprofitable flesh, that by God’s grace becomes a living sacrifice with Christ’s spirit that has power to go without the camp with our Lord, as an acceptable living precious sacrifice through Christ (Heb 13:13, Psa 116:15).

Heb 13:13  Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

Psa 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Pro 16:9  A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

It is not in the heart of man to direct his steps, and the way that seems right to our flesh will lead to death (Pro 14:12). The LORD is the one who directs our steps out of the darkness and into the light of a right relationship with Him as His bride symbolized by Christ’s relationship with the carnal nation of Israel (Leah) to then have a relationship with the Israel of God (Gal 6:16), typified by (Rachel)(Gen 29:16-29).

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Pro 16:10  A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.

If we are blessed to not be offended in Christ (Mat 11:6) our mouths will not transgress in judgment, because it will be the judgement of Christ working within us, both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure, which is to give us the kingdom of God.

Mat 11:6  And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

A ‘divine sentence’ can only come about by our lips being burnt with hot coals (Isa 6:6-7) that symbolize the word of God, and Peter who thought he had a divine sentence on his lips said this to Christ, “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended”(Mat 26:33) .

Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Christ’s answer to Peter represents the hot coals that in time were going to deeply burn Peter’s then self-righteous lips that represent all of us in our appointed time, “Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.”(Mat 26:34)

These actions of Christ toward Peter demonstrate what it means when we read, “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy”, and as was the case with Peter it is our own iniquities, our own self-righteousness that so often corrects us, to then bring us to see our gracious LORD, who is full of compassion, slow to anger, and a very merciful Father who is ready to forgive all our sins and transgressions if we will only be granted to confess our iniquities to him (1Jn 2:1-2).

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Rev 21:4-8 The Lake of Fire and The Great Innumerable Multitude, Part 2

[Study Aired July 13, 2025]

Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Rev 21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

We concluded our last study posing the question: “To just what extent is Christ reconciling the world to Himself?”

These are the last verses we quoted:

2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us [aorist tense], to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us [aorist tense] the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation [of the world to Christ].

Let’s look at the previous verse:

2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

What were we just told? If I am not to know you after the flesh, how am I to know you? We are never left to guess about these matters. In words that are clearly understood, we are told how we are now to know each other in Christ.

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

To make sure we do not miss this great revelation, and to confirm that it will shortly come to pass, this great Truth is repeated in chapter 22:

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

So we are now to see each other as angels of God who are sent to show these things to our brothers in Christ. We are to see this primarily as a present reality, as well as being true in John’s day and as being true in the future.

Revelation 22:8-9 is just another way of saying what Paul said in:

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

“By the church” means by you and by me, and if you think you are too insignificant to have a part in making all men to see the fellowship of the mystery “which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God”, listen to how Paul felt about being given this same gift:

Eph 3:8  Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

That angel which showed John “the unsearchable riches of Christ” signifies all who comprise the whole church. It is “by the church”, meaning “every joint” of the church, that “all men” will eventually see “what is the fellowship of this mystery”, and it is “by the church” that all men will be made to “know the manifold wisdom of God.”

Let’s go back one chapter to see just how clearly the holy spirit wants this unity of His body to be made.

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

“The ages to come” is referring to your age and my age as well as all the ages of the lake of fire. It is “by the church”, meaning the whole church, “every joint” supplying a part, that these words have been written, and it is by these written words that we are all brought to this understanding. We are admonished to never “think above that which is written”, but we are also told that every part of His body contributes to “the edifying of itself in love.”

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

Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

There is an Old Testament story which makes this point very clearly. It is the story of what happened to David and his men during the period when King Saul, signifying Babylon the Great, was seeking to kill David and his men. David and his men had been living with a Philistine king named Achish. Achish had recruited David and his six hundred men to fight with the Philistines against King Saul, but the rest of the princes of the Philistines refused to let David go up to the battle with them fearing that David would turn against them during the battle. David and his company had left their wives and families in a Philistine city under the rule of Achish. The name of that city was Ziglag. When David and his men were sent back to Ziglag they found that the Amalekites, who King Saul claimed he had destroyed, had taken the whole city captive and had burned the city to the ground. David and His people were grief stricken and some of them blamed David for the loss of their families. David inquired of the Lord and the Lord told him to pursue the Amalekites. Two hundred of the six hundred “were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.”

1Sa 30:9  So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.
1Sa 30:10  But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.
1Sa 30:11  And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;
1Sa 30:12  And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.
1Sa 30:13  And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.
1Sa 30:14  We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.
1Sa 30:15  And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.
1Sa 30:16  And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
1Sa 30:17  And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.
1Sa 30:18  And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.
1Sa 30:19  And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.
1Sa 30:20  And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David’s spoil.
1Sa 30:21  And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.
1Sa 30:22  Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.
1Sa 30:23  Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.
1Sa 30:24  For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.
1Sa 30:25  And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.

Christ’s church is also His body, and in His body the little toe of His foot is just as much a part of His body as the arms and legs. It is “by the [whole] church” that the manifold wisdom of God will be made known to “all men”:

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

So God is in the process of “reconciling the [whole] world unto Himself, and He is not imputing their trespasses unto them.” This is being done “by the church”, the whole church, even those who are not up front in the heat of the battle. “They [too] shall take part alike.”

1Sa 30:24  For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.

The Lord wants us all to know that “as He is in this world, so are we”:

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. [Every one of us]

We all struggle just to accept those words. The whole world sees our Savior as a babe in the manger; as a twelve year old child asking and answering the questions of the doctors and lawyers of the law in the temple; as a traveling evangelist, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead; as that man who fed the hungry multitudes, and finally they see Him as our dying Savior on the cross. However, we are no longer to see him that way. The Lord we know is no longer in a body of flesh in any of those capacities. He is now seated at the right hand of His Father with all power in heaven and in earth and we are seated right there with Him at the right hand of His Father.

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

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

It is a rare person who even understands that if “all power” is now in Christ’s hands, why is there still evil in this world? Could it be that Christ is actually actively involved in the process of sending strong delusion via the dragon, the beast and the false prophet? Have we not all been deceived by this trio?

Rev 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

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.

2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

Who was it who had us deceived?

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

Does any of this refer to God’s saints? Yes, it does. The fact is that all of this is written, at this time, only for God’s saints. God’s words are not even designed, at this time to be understood by those who are not given to see and understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God in this present age.

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.

Even the Lord’s elect are by His design first overcome and deceived by the lies of the adversary:

Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him [the beast within us] to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

It is only by believing and by “living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” that we are prepared by God and are proven and qualified to become the merciful, loving and caring kings and priests we are intended to be.

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

It is in this very reassuring spirit that our Lord continues to comfort us with these words:

Rev 21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

These words of comfort apply “specially to them that believe”:

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

They are also meant for all men “each in his own order”, who will all come up through great tribulation and will be given “the water of life freely”:

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

This is what the scriptures teach?

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.

The wages of sin is death, and death is slated to be destroyed by “the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Do the wages of sin come only upon some men? How absurd! The wages of sin come upon all “in Adam.” So we are told:

Rev 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

It is “as in Adam [that] all die”, and just as all die in Adam, “even so in Christ, shall all be made alive.” It is through this “lake which burns with fire and brimstone” that all men will be saved.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day [of judgment] 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.

Here is what Strong’s Concordance reveals about this word ‘brimstone’.

G2303
θειον
theion
thi’- on
Probably neuter of G2304 (in its original sense of flashing); sulphur: – brimstone.

When we look up this G2304, the Greek root of this word ‘theion‘, this is what we find.

G2304
θειος
theios
thi’- os
From G2316; godlike (neuter as noun, divinity): – divine, godhead.

So “brimstone” or ‘theion‘ is “godlike” and “divine”; and what is God?

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

The only thing “our God” consumes is all the “wood, hay, and stubble” which signifies all the lying, self-righteous, false doctrines in our lives, and “through [that] fire” we are being “saved” by learning to love God and keep His commandments:

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day [of judgment] 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 [Rule with Christ a thousand years and judge angels in the lake of fire, (Rev 20:1-6)].
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. [‘Fire’ does indeed torment and destroy our old man but it saves our new man]

“Our God is a consuming fire” but that ‘fire’ is His love toward us:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth [with His fiery Word, (Jer 5:14)] every son whom he receiveth.

1Jn 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

How long does his mercy last?

Psa 106:1 Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Is His mercy just for believers?

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

For this present time His mercy is only being shed on those who believe and obey the Lord. After the thousand-year reign of “the Lord and His Christ” there will be what Christ called “the resurrection of judgment”, the resurrection of the great white throne judgment, and through that fiery judgment life will be given to all men.

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [G2920: ‘krisis’, judgment, “according to their works”, (Rev 20:12-13)].

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

Now we can begin to understand why this second judgment is called a “great white throne judgment.” It is a ‘godlike’ merciful judgment. It is not called ‘a great black throne.’ It is a great white throne.’ Christ died for the ungodly, not just for believers, and He did so while we were yet in our sins.

Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

“This mercy of [ours]” is coming to the very unbelievers ‘through whose unbelief we are given this mercy.’ It will be given to them through the very same “one event”, and the same “goodness of God” experience through which “one event” you and I have been “shown mercy”.

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.

This is not contrasting Jews with Gentiles. The contrast here is between “the righteous and the wicked… the good and the sinner”, and we are plainly told “All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked”, and we are “yet sinners” before we become aware of any of this.

Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

It is as “the fearful and the unbelievers” that Christ died for us. It is in that state that the apostle Paul poses this question:

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

The answer to this question is a resounding, yes! At first we all despise “the goodness of God which brings us to repentance.” We despise it so much that we are brought “to our wits’ end” by that very “goodness”. Here is that “goodness of God” which Paul speaks of in Romans 2:4.

Psa 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then [and only 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 [and only 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 [His chastening grace, (Heb 12:6)], and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

It is with this hope set before us that through all the trials and tribulations which we endure on a daily basis, we can still say with the apostle:

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

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

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will begin to see that it is only “in the spirit” that we are able to see and understand that we are “the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”

Rev 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.
Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Rev 21:11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Rev 21:12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

Ezekiel 46:1–24 The Prince and the Feasts

[Study Aired Feb 3, 2025]

Introduction

In today’s study, we see that this latter temple was shut for most days and was opened only on the Sabbaths and the New Moons. This differs from the initial temple which was opened on a daily basis. The Prince, as mentioned in this chapter and in other chapters of this vision of the latter temple, represents our Lord Jesus Christ. He also signifies His elect. When the temple is opened, the prince offered voluntary offerings of burnt offering, peace offering and grain offering. In order to understand today’s study, we need to look closely at what these offerings signify. 

A burnt offering is an offering of an animal to the Lord where this sacrificial animal is burnt completely on the altar. It is therefore a complete destruction of the animal in an effort to renew the relationship between God and sinful man. The Hebrew word for “burnt offering” actually means to “ascend” and it literally means “to go up in smoke”. The smoke from the sacrifice ascended as a soothing aroma to the Lord”.

Lev 1:1  And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, 
Lev 1:2  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. 
Lev 1:3  If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. 
Lev 1:4  And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 
Lev 1:5  And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 
Lev 1:6  And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces. 
Lev 1:7  And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:
Lev 1:8  And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: 
Lev 1:9  But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

Technically, any offering burned over an altar was a burnt offering, but in more specific terms, a burnt offering was the complete destruction of the animal (except for the hide) in an effort to renew the relationship between Holy God and sinful man. The burnt offering therefore signifies our admission as being sinful or having sinned and therefore giving the Lord the occasion to destroy our flesh through His fiery trial or judgment denoted by the fire. It is through this experience that we learn righteousness and become a sweet aroma of Christ.

2Co 2:15  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 
2Co 2:16  To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 
2Co 2:17  For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.  

This fire destroying our flesh is a life-time experience and not a one-time fire. The fire is the word of the Lord, and our evil deeds represent the wood which serves as fuel for the fire. The burnt offering is carried out in the morning which implies that it is not every time of our lives that we are being judged. The fact that the burning is in the morning means that the destruction of our flesh is what causes the sun, which is Christ, to rise in our lives. 

Lev 6:12  And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.   

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 (our deeds) wood, and it shall devour them.

The peace offering was a sacrificial gift made to express gratitude and fellowship with the Lord. It was voluntary and included animal, grain and bread. Peace offering is also called fellowship offering. Most sacrifices in the Old Testament system were not eaten by worshipers. However, regarding the peace offering, it was meant to be eaten by the worshipers with only a portion of the animal or grain brought to the altar for burning. It signifies that fellowshiping with the Lord is through knowing Him through His words which is denoted by what is offered to the worshiper to eat. The fact that the whole of the sacrifice was not given to the offerer means that in this life, we don’t see the whole picture of the word of the Lord.

1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 

Lev 7:11  And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the LORD.
Lev 7:12  If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried. 
Lev 7:13  Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings. 

Lev 7:15  And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning. 

The grain offering or meat offering was also a voluntary sacrifice of grain to God as a way to express devotion and recognize God’s goodness. While other sacrifices had very specific instructions from God as to how they were to be offered, the rules governing grain offerings had some flexibility. The grains offered in the grain offering must be finely grounded and have oil and salt in it. The person bringing the offering to the priest can choose what amount of grain to present. When the priest receives the grain offering, only a small portion was burnt as a memorial to God. The rest of the grain offering is given to the priest to eat. 

Lev 2:1  The LORD continued, “Now, if any of you bring a grain offering to the LORD, your offering must be flour. Pour olive oil on it, and put incense on it. 
Lev 2:2  Then bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. Take from this a handful of flour with olive oil, and all the incense. The priest will burn it on the altar as a reminder. It is an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the LORD. 
Lev 2:3  The rest of the grain offering will belong to Aaron and his sons. It is very holy, set apart from the LORD’S offering by fire. (GW) 

The grain offering being flour mixed with olive oil and given to the priests signifies that it is only the Lord’s elect who are given to know the spiritual significance of the Lord’s words as the oil represents the spirit. This is the portion of the Lord’s elect or priest. It is instructive to note that the grain must be finely grounded. That means we must rightly divide the word of truth.

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

The part that is burnt on the altar represents the false doctrines we have imbibed which must be burnt out of us. It is through understanding His words that we come to see the goodness of the Lord, and it causes us to offer ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice.

With this understanding of the burnt offering, peace offering and meat or grain offering, it becomes easier to understand today’s study where the priest is required to offer these offerings.

Worshiping on the sabbath and on the New Moon

Eze 46:1  Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. 

The east is where the sun rises in our lives. This implies the beginning of our walk with the Lord as the sun represents the Lord Jesus Christ. Our walk with the Lord starts with our lives in Babylon or the physical churches of this world before the Lord comes with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness to drag us to Himself. It is instructive to note that the first time the word “east” is used in the Bible, it has to do with the river that flows east towards Assyria (Babylon) with the river becoming the Euphrates. The next use of the word “east” has to do with the judgment we must go through because of our sins in order to access the tree of life which represents Christ.

Gen 2:14  And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. 

The east gate of the inner court being shut for the six working days in verse 1 therefore shows us that we could not worship the Lord in truth and in spirit for six working days which symbolizes the period of our walk in the churches of this world or Babylon where we lived like the people of the world (significance of the number six) when we thought we could work out our own salvation. It is insightful to note that it is until the sabbath or the New Moon that the door of the east gate is opened for us to worship. The sabbath signifies rest. It is only when we come to rest in the Lord that we can worship the Lord in truth and in spirit. This period is herald by the Lord’s judgment of our old man or flesh which causes us to learn righteousness by knowing that we do not have our own righteousness but that our righteousness is of Christ. In other words, it is the Lord’s imputed righteousness that matters and not ours.

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.  

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.

The New Moon is the beginning of the month in Israel, and it is a time to sit with the king to eat and also to hear the voice of the Lord, as shown in the following verses:

1Sa 20:5  And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even.

1Sa 20:24  So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. 

Psa 81:3  Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. 
Psa 81:4  For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

The king here is Christ who comes to us with His brightness to cause us to hear His voice distinctively like a trumpet and to understand what He is saying. Hearing His voice means that our hearts and minds (the inner court) are open during our new beginning (New Moon) in Christ. 

The inner court which was closed during the six working days of the week also indicates our inability to receive Christ in our hearts and minds which is filled with the smoke of the burning of our flesh with the coming of the Lord into our lives with His judgment.  

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.

Eze 46:2  And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening. 
Eze 46:3  Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons. 

The prince here in verse 2 represents our Lord Jesus Christ who comes to us with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness into our hearts and minds. As we have learned in the introductory portion of this study, His coming is the time for the burning or destruction of our flesh signified here by the burnt offering that we, His priests prepare for the Lord. The peace offering or the fellowship offering that we, His priests, offer symbolizes the strengthening of our fellowship with the Lord through our understanding of His words as shown by the fact that most of the peace offering was to be eaten by the worshiper.

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. 

As priests, we are to worship at the entrance of the gateway and then leave. This is to remind us of our role as saviors in the sense that our brothers and sisters in Babylon must pass through us to enter the inner court, since we are at the entrance of the gateway. As shown in verse 3, our brothers and sisters in Babylon are currently worshiping at the door of the gate before the Lord. This implies that the gate has not yet been opened to them to enter the entrance of the gateway, where the Lord’s elect are worshiping. This gate in verse 3 represents the gulf between us as shown in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

Luk 16:24  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 
Luk 16:25  But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 
Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 

In verse 3, the sabbaths and the new moon have negative application. These sabbaths and New moons represents the beggarly elements which has kept our brothers and sister in bondage in Babylon, such that they cannot go beyond the gate to worship the Lord. 

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. 

Eze 46:4  And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the LORD in the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish. 

The six lambs represent the Lord’s elect who are living their lives without blame before the Lord. The ram represents the Lord who was without sin and offered Himself to God for our sake. The fact that these were offered as a burnt offering means that it is through the judgment of the Lord that we are offered without blame before God, just as Christ was judged to offer Himself blameless to God. 

Eze 46:5  And the meat offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah.

The grain offering that we must present to the Lord with a ram must be an ephah, which was a Hebrew measure equivalent to about 9 gallons. In the case of the lambs, the grain offering is dependent on what we can offer. All these offering must go with a hin of oil to an ephah. The hin is a Hebrew unit of liquid measure equivalent to one gallon. All of these are offered on the sabbath day. The significance of this is that it is when we come to rest in Christ that we are given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of the Lord.

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 

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

Eze 46:6  And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish. 

The young bullock and the ram all represent our Lord Jesus Christ. As indicated, the six lambs represent us, His elect. It is in the day of the New Moon or the beginning of our lives in Christ as we are now part of the church of the first born (New Moon) that we can offer ourselves to God even as Christ offered Himself for God’s purpose.

Eze 46:7  And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah. 

Again, it is our new beginning in the assembly of the Lord’s elect (New Moon) that we are given to understand spiritually, the truth of the Lord’s words.

Eze 46:8  And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof. 
Eze 46:9  But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it. 
Eze 46:10  And the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in; and when they go forth, shall go forth. 

The prince enters the gate from the east (verse 1) and exits through the same gate. As indicated, the east represents the rising of the sun, which is Christ. Thus, what we are being told is that the Lord’s presence in our hearts and minds is a lasting experience. In other words, in our going out and coming in, we are assured of the Lord’s presence. On the other hand, in the case of our brothers and sisters in Babylon, represented by the people of the land, they shall encounter the north gate which symbolizes the Lord’s judgment either when they are coming into the temple or going out. This means that they shall be judged by the Lord to also experience Christ in them in the fullness of time.

Jer 1:13  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
Jer 1:14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Jer 4:6  Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

In verse 10, we are told that the prince shall be in their midst in their going in and coming out of the sanctuary. This implies that we shall be in their midst during the lake of fire age throughout their going in and their coming out as Christ comes to live in them. 

Eze 46:11  And in the feasts and in the solemnities the meat offering shall be an ephah to a bullock, and an ephah to a ram, and to the lambs as he is able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah. 
Eze 46:12  Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering or peace offerings voluntarily unto the LORD, one shall then open him the gate that looketh toward the east, and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he did on the sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate. 
Eze 46:13  Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering unto the LORD of a lamb of the first year without blemish: thou shalt prepare it every morning. 

The grain or meat offering here in verse 11 that the prince shall prepare consists of an ephah of bullock, ram and lambs as well as a hin of oil. As indicated in the introductory section, the purpose of the meat offering is to express devotion to the Lord and recognize the Lord’s goodness. The fact that we are instructed to have an ephah of bullock, ram and lambs and an hin of oil suggests that the words of the Lord that we receive are measured out to us according to our capacity. 

The peace offering is also called fellowship offering, and it is a sacrificial gift made to express gratitude and fellowship with the Lord. The fact that the east gate is opened for the prince to offer his burnt and peace offering is to let us know that it is when Christ rises in our hearts that we can offer these offerings.

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

As shown in the introduction section of this study, the essence of the burnt offering is to destroy our flesh through the judgment of our flesh. The peace offering is to deepen our fellowship with the Lord through knowing Him through His words which is denoted by what is offered to the worshiper to eat. 

The gate that must be shut when the prince leaves signifies that without us, His elect, the way to Christ is shut to our brothers and sisters in Babylon and the people of the world.

Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.   

The requirement to offer a daily burnt offering unto the Lord means that we die daily.

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

The offering of a lamb of one year old without blemish for a burnt offering indicates that offering ourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice entails being one with Christ or having the same mind of Christ. 

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 

Eze 46:14  And thou shalt prepare a meat offering for it every morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of an hin of oil, to temper with the fine flour; a meat offering continually by a perpetual ordinance unto the LORD. 
Eze 46:15  Thus shall they prepare the lamb, and the meat offering, and the oil, every morning for a continual burnt offering. 

We are to prepare a meat offering to the Lord every morning. As shown earlier, the purpose of the meat or grain offering is to enlighten our understanding of the word of the Lord as we study daily. The grain being finely grounded indicates that we must rightly divide the word of truth. 

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

As indicated in the comments on the previous verses, the continual nature of the burnt offering (verse 15) reveals to us that we must die to the flesh daily.

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

The Inheritance of the Lord’s Elect

Eze 46:16  Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons’; it shall be their possession by inheritance. 
Eze 46:17  But if he give a gift of his inheritance to one of his servants, then it shall be his to the year of liberty; after it shall return to the prince: but his inheritance shall be his sons’ for them.
Eze 46:18  Moreover the prince shall not take of the people’s inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; but he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession. 

As the Lord’s elect, we are His sons, and as sons, we are heirs of the Lord’s promises. 

Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 
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. 

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

Our status is therefore different from servants who are to return a gift of an inheritance on the year of liberty. The servants here signify our brothers and sisters in Babylon who work as servants in the Lord’s vineyard but are not qualified to become children or sons.

Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 
Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 
Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 
Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.     
Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 
Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

In verse 18, we are warned as the Lord princes, not to take by force the property of the people. In other words we are not to be envious of what people have. However, in Babylon, the prosperity messages that these false teachers carried are all based on covetousness. No wonder we could not worship the Lord in a strange land. 

2Pe 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 
2Pe 2:2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 
2Pe 2:3  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 

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: 

Boiling Places for Offerings

Eze 46:19  After he brought me through the entry, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers of the priests, which looked toward the north: and, behold, there was a place on the two sides westward. 
Eze 46:20  Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meat offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people. 

Being brought into the holy chambers of the priests which were towards the north is to let us know that it is through the judgment of our flesh that we are made holy or separated for the Lord’s purpose, since the north signifies judgment. 

Jer 1:13  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
Jer 1:14 Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Jer 4:6  Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

There were places for the boiling of the offerings and the baking of the meat offering at the entry into the inner court. The boiling places is where the food and the meat for consumption are prepared. They therefore represent the preparation of the gospel of peace which means being ready and prepared to share the word of the Lord. 

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 

Here we are cautioned not to bring the offerings into the outer courtyard so that we do not transfer holiness to the people. This is another way of saying to the Lord’s elect that we should not give what is holy to those who do not appreciate the truth of the word of the Lord.  

Mat 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 

The holy and the pearls in the verse above all signify the truth of the word of the Lord. The prophet Haggai was also led by the Lord to say the same thing as follows:

Hag 2:12  If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. 
Hag 2:13  Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. 
Hag 2:14  Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. 

We cannot make anybody holy through the word of the Lord except those that the Lord drags to us. 

Eze 46:21  Then he brought me forth into the utter court, and caused me to pass by the four corners of the court; and, behold, in every corner of the court there was a court. 
Eze 46:22  In the four corners of the court there were courts joined of forty cubits long and thirty broad: these four corners were of one measure. 
Eze 46:23  And there was a row of building round about in them, round about them four, and it was made with boiling places under the rows round about. 
Eze 46:24  Then said he unto me, These are the places of them that boil, where the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people. 

The outer court is the place for the people of Israel who are not priests to come and worship. It therefore represents the physical churches of this world where our brothers and sisters in Babylon worship. The fact that Ezekiel was caused to take note of the four corners of the court in verses 21 and 22, is to emphasize that it is the whole of the church system of this world that is not given to be holy. This implies that the worshipers in the church system of this world are not holy. The negative application of the measurement of the length and width of the court speaks volumes of the nature of the worshipers. The court was 40 cubits in length and thirty cubits in breadth. The number forty represents those who continue to err in their worship of the Lord and therefore are not given rest in the Lord. 

Psa 95:10  Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 
Psa 95:11  Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.   

The number thirty in the negative context signifies those who are being put to death through the sword, that is, false doctrines.

Jdg 20:31  And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel. 

Jdg 20:39  And when the men of Israel retired in the battle, Benjamin began to smite and kill of the men of Israel about thirty persons: for they said, Surely they are smitten down before us, as in the first battle.

There were rows of boiling places in the outer court for the offerings of the people. However, these boiling places, which represent the preparation of the word of the Lord, do not make the worshipers and their ministers holy. 

We thank the Lord for showing us mercy at the expense of our brothers and sisters in Babylon. 

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 

Amen !!!

The Book of Joel

Joe 2:18-27, Part 3-Section A, verses 18-24

 “Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.” – Pro 5:18.  

[Study Aired Aug 24, 2024]

In our previous study of Joel, Chapter 2:1-17, the Bride of Christ, characterised as Aholibah, is made highly aware that she is before her elder sister Aholah (Ezekiel 23) to see her sins in her season starkly today, her “Day of the Lord”. Even though both girls came from the same mother, meaning the world, the greater sinner was Aholibah, the younger (spiritually depicted in Ezekiel 16) of the two, and she alone is symbolically granted to “Return to the Lord” before the First Resurrection. In this study, she understands her Lord’s compassion is expressly reserved for her in this age since the cross to receive Him, her inheritance. Consequently, she, as the Bride of Christ, sees that her Lord has “pity” on her, collectively called “his people”, and is the primary theme of this study. Of course, the Lord’s “pity”, or mercy, covertly and much later, extends to every person conceived since Adam to the end of the seemingly unappealing Lake of Fire.

Eze 23:1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 
Eze 23:2  Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother: 
Eze 23:3  And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity. 
Eze 23:4  And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names; Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah [Representing the Bride, the Kings and Priests under the authority of their Husband, Christ]. 

Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom [signifying Aholah, the elder serving the younger], that she defiled the land [All of Israel], and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 
Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah [Aholibah – treacherous because she, unwittingly represented as Judah was effectively the Priesthood, the Elect of God] hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. 
Jer 3:11  And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel [Aholah, Babylonian Christianity] hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah [Aholibah, the incipient Elect when she gets her jaw-dropping reality of what’s at stake ~ that is marriage to Christ and co-rulership over the world!]. 

The Lord Had Pity

Joe 2:18  Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 
Joe 2:19  Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: 
Joe 2:20  But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.
Joe 2:21  Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. 
Joe 2:22  Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. 
Joe 2:23  Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 
Joe 2:24  And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. 
Joe 2:25  And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 
Joe 2:26  And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. 
Joe 2:27  And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

Significations

Recapping the last verse in the previous study:

Joe 2:17  Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 

The Lord Had Pity

Joe 2:18  Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 
Joe 2:19  Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen:

Our Lord designed Eve’s curse to afflict all women, manifestly in wives soon after fulfilling their innate need to bear children to grow weary of their husband’s never-ending ravishings for her. Hence, and particularly since Christ was born of a woman subject to sin in corruptible flesh, He knows the “weaker vessel’s” frailty to airily, with repetitious ingeniousness, undervalue His spiritual connectivity. Although her ardour for Him choosing her as His wife is short-lived, He remembers her fountain of youthful espoused enthusiasm with immense mercy, knowing her painful future will bring forth in her unspeakable joy to beckon her Aholah-like sisters their hope in the guarantee of life eternal.

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

The stakes of her calling are incredibly high, yet because of the holy spirit, her ambassadorship is paradoxically ridiculously easy as she gradually learns to submit with growing joy. He is a devoted Husband to his Aholibah-like wife, the budding Elect of God, with Godly jealousy since he will not suffer another Aholah-Israel in the wilderness-like wife a second time since that is the equivalent of remarrying old Israel and is fornication! (Mat 19:9, Jer 3:1, Rom 7:2-3, 1Co 7:4, 1Co 7:11, 1Co 7:39)

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. 
2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 

The fatness of the land He lavishes her with wheat (corn), wine, and oil illustrates the richness of His word and the all-encompassing holy spirit that He is, but not until after the cross does the ‘rain’ on her increase, her spiritual harvest. As seen in Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream, just as it rains on the just and unjust, Israel’s exile into Babylon collectively expands to envelope the entire World (Dan 4:4-18).

Dan 4:10  Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and behold a tree [mankind represented as Babylon semi-consciously setting himself up as god] in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. 
Dan 4:11  The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth: 
Dan 4:12  The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. 

Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil [richness in Babylon] and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

It is only the just Elect of God who sees the Lord’s significations of corn, wine and oil while her Aholah-like sisters in Babylonian Christianity, to this very day, richly sit on God’s throne, unconsciously by her actions, glad to be rid of their former Husband’s singularity of his espoused spiritual dues. Aholah and Aholibah, depicting Israel today in Babylon, continue their fornications with the world’s religions and governments and find them far more arousingly fulfilling (Eze 23:3) as she plunders the wealth of the world’s poor physically, monetarily and particularly spiritually. Much later, the younger sister, Aholibah, the symbolised and spiritually fornicating worse sinner of the two, Judah and Jerusalem, is appalled to discover that all along, the symbolic centre of her covenant was exposed for the world to see and ‘hiss’ at her “reproach” meaning H 2781 – taunt, scorn, shame or disgrace.

Isa 3:24  And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

Joe 2:20  But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. 

Lam 2:13-17  What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?

Even though it is a digression from the study’s “pity” theme, the most outstanding biblical “breach” can be understood in Tony Cullen’s study in the accompanying link, and to quote him for a similar connection with the symbolism of the seas either side and in Palestine, and particularly between Samaria (greater Israel in the north) and Judah in the south, he says: “A “breach” H919 is symbolic of a schism in the body of Christ that needs to be healed just as you would physically stop a leak or fill in a crack in a wall of a building or ship that was in need of repair (1Co 12:24-27). God is the one who causes these schisms to come about so we can learn to have compassion on each other as we go about healing those schisms with the gifts God has given us to accomplish this (1Co 12:28).” [end quote] https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/study-of-the-book-of-kings-2ki-121-21-jehoash-and-the-temple-money/

Jer 14:16  And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. 
Jer 14:17  Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow. 
Jer 14:18  If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not. 
Jer 14:19  Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble! 

Mankind is born out of the sea; he is the Beast that emerges from that “deep” where Leviathan, our first father, the Devil, lives. (Rev 13:1-10). The depths of the ocean are directly opposite to the symbolic heavens of God’s habitation and an emblematic yet literal spiritual breach between man and God. That ‘breach like the sea’ can outwardly be directly likened to the Red Sea separating Egypt from Sinai and, later, Israel, even as the Jordan River separated Ephriam, Manasseh, Israel from Esau, and wilderness-dwelling Ishmael all separated by the Mediterranean and Indian Seas. Spiritually a breach is a schism in the Body of Christ that our Lord will not suffer to remain unhealed. Our Lord’s deliberate breach (H919) between Old Israel and the Bride can only be healed by his chastising fiery grace for both parties to bring forth fine gold that heals or “caulks” (plugs or seals) the breach.

Breach: H919 bedeq beh’-dek 

From H918; a gap or leak (in a building or a ship): – breach, + calker.

Lam 2:14  Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banishment. 
Lam 2:15  All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth? 
Lam 2:16  All thine enemies have opened their mouth against thee: they hiss and gnash the teeth: they say, We have swallowed her up: certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it. 
Lam 2:17  The LORD hath done that which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries. 

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. Repair the breaches of the house.

2Ki 12:4  And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the dedicated things that is brought into the house of the LORD, even the money of every one that passeth the account, the money that every man is set at, and all the money that cometh into any man’s heart to bring into the house of the LORD,
2Ki 12:5  Let the priests take it to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found.

Paradoxically, it is Babylon, the “northern army” of Aholah bathed in excessive luxury to this day, who doesn’t know that she is spiritually poor, wretched, blind and naked, desolate, just as Ohholibah only just since the cross astonishingly discovered her skirts up around her thighs (Jer 13:26).

All of Ishmael represented as the Arab nations unwittingly corruptibly equal with Jews who say that they are Jews and are not, though living in the outwardly mostly desolate land of the ‘Middle East’ between the ‘hinder utmost sea of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea to the East centred on ancient Babylon, depicting the entire world that stinks of self-elevation to godship.

The most merciful “great thing” our Lord in Joel 2:20-21 has done is to kill the man of flesh within us who opposes all that is God. That death and dung of our old man fertilises the new pasture and springs of our former wilderness to bring forth the fruit of the spirit.

2Th 2:1  Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 
2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 
2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first [a falling away of Babylonian lies, particularly spiritually], and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition [with a shiver from head to toe, you and I!]; 
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 

Dan 11:36  And the king [You and I while in the world, Babylon] shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. 

Dan 11:38  But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 
Dan 11:39  Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god [another Jesus – 2Co 11:4-6], whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain [Sell the word of God to multiple billions of souls]. 
Dan 11:40  And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 
Dan 11:41  He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 
Dan 11:42  He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 
Dan 11:43  But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps [depicting the desolation of the world’s spiritual understanding equal with Sodom and Old Jerusalem]. 
Dan 11:44  But tidings out of the East and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 
Dan 11:45  And he shall plant the tabernacles [Feast of booths = temporary dwellings] of his palace between the seas [the centre of the known world] in the glorious holy mountain [Jerusalem at odds with the Lord’s Heavenly Jerusalem within]; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

Even though all of those scriptures are represented historically, they are kept today inwardly in God’s creation of the young Bride of Christ. She is hidden from the world, though figuratively standing in full spiritual sight on the Moon, her Babylonian sister, bathed in the full brilliance of Christ’s light for her sole understanding.

Rev 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman [the Bride of Christ] clothed with the sun [Christ, her Husband], and the moon [Babylonian Christianity and the world] under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars [Depicting the twelve sons of Israel]: 
Rev 12:2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered [Bringing forth fruit of the Kingdom in marriage to Christ to help heal the breach]. 

Psa 72:7  In his days shall the righteous flourish [grow in peace, knowledge and understanding]; and abundance of peace so long as the moon [Body of Christ, the Bride and her sister] endureth. 
Psa 72:8  He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 
Psa 72:9  They that dwell in the wilderness [Babylon, the World] shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust [Jews who say that they are Jews and are not – Rev 3:9]. 
Psa 72:10  The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 
Psa 72:11  Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. 
Psa 72:12  For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper [Today in the Elect, and the rest of the world in the Resurrection to Judgement]. 
Psa 72:13  He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. 
Psa 72:14  He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
Psa 72:15  And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. 
Psa 72:16  There shall be an handful of corn [the parable of multiplication of seed, the stars of heaven] in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. 
Psa 72:17  His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. 
Psa 72:18  Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. 
Psa 72:19  And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. 

All of those previous verses portray our Lord’s “pity”, his mercy first upon his fleshy Bride, who is today being changed spiritually ahead of her sisters in Babylon and thus being created in Christ’s image. Since the cross is her ‘day’ of very timely symbolic gentle rain of fiery chastisements healing the breach.

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans [not just the Loadiceans but the entire Seven Churches of Asia] write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 

Joh 10:34  Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock [The few very Elect of God]; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom [Christ her Husband and inheritance]. 

From Adam to the end of the One-Thousand Year reign for Babylonian Christianity, inclusive of the world, is an undervalued ‘rain’ of God’s word held by them unrighteously, becoming heavier and more troublesome because of forced rulership consummating in a deathly baptism of fiery ‘rain’ at the end of the OTY reign.  

Israel, no doubt confused because of the dire warnings of imminent exile, the Lord in the Minor Prophets and here in these subsequent verses in Joel is prophesying the very forebodingly clouded understanding of God’s word depicted as ‘rain’, God deliberately confused as ‘fire’, felt much later in the One-Thousand Year rule with the rod of iron followed by a much heavier flood of fire in the Resurrection to Judgment. It all, indeed, is a dreadful Day of the Lord because they are not given an understanding of the signs and symbols the younger sister, the Lord’s Bride, is given to receive gloriously. The deluge of Ezekiel-like’ rain’ on the Eighth Day, hidden in and separate from the Last Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, is, for her elder sister and the world, a flood of God’s ironically baptising fiery word in the Lake of Fire, and the initially unappreciated Joel 2:18-like “pity” of immense proportions.

Both Aholah and Aholibah, representing all of Israel and indirectly the entire world are utterly witless to being The Great Whore of Revelations; all rejoice together, imagining that they are now saved since the cross and expect that the One Thousand Year reign is a time of incredible physical richness when the Lord will do unimaginably great physical things (Joel 2:20-21). They believe that the rod of iron in that age is for the evil people who don’t believe their version of Christ and will be condemned to an everlasting burning fiery hell. However, it is the diminutive element of Aholibah, the Bride of Christ, who, in this age, since the cross, is given an understanding of types, symbols and the shadows of Christ’s word to leave Babylon.

Rev 18:3  For all nations [Aholah and Aholibah] have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her [own] fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, [the Elect of God] that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

Joe 2:21  Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. 
Joe 2:22  Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field [first the Elect spiritually while the world luxuriates in Babylon without fear]: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. 
Joe 2:23  Be glad then, ye children of Zion [the New Heavenly Jerusalem], and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 
Joe 2:24  And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.

Ever since the cross, the budding Bride of Christ has had her eyes and ears increasingly amplified to discern the times and rescued from the desolation from the famine of his word.

Luk 12:54  And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is. 

The gentle ‘shower’ on our spiritual growth doesn’t wash out the newly planted seedlings as..

Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them [the giant humiliating sins] out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. 

Luk 12:55  And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. 
Luk 12:56  Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? 

In these last days, Elijah, the prophet, represents the Lord’s Elect. They are given the “pity” to discern the times and are already soaked with timely rain in the due season since the cross. Elijah represents the Elect of God, who runs ahead of Ahab, while Ahab represents the Elect’s sisters and the world, unaware of the possibility of having their carriage bogged by the flood of God’s word before getting to the entrance of Jezreel (Jezreel means “God sows”) for the early rain and subsequently the little first harvest of souls to lead in the later, abundant harvest, the world, in the Resurrection to Judgement. Knowing her calling, the Bride of Christ is today, gladly in the seemingly oxymoronic (to her Babylonian sisters) ‘great and dreadful day of the Lord’. Not a soul in Babylonian Christianity can fathom why anyone would delight in that day of dark gloominess and dreadful foreboding. Yet the Bride, as did ancient Israel before the crossing of the Red Sea, clearly sees her Egyptian enemies while her enemies could barely see their hands in front of their faces (Exo 14:19-20).

Mal 4:5  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet [Christ represented in his Christs] before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 

1Ki 18:41  And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 
1Ki 18:42  So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 
1Ki 18:43  And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 
1Ki 18:44  And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. 
1Ki 18:45  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. 
1Ki 18:46  And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. 

The first four thousand years of man’s torturous existence capitulated in proof that God’s Laws in Israel without the holy spirit are impossible to keep is, in essence, a type of tribulation (Symbolised by the number 4) for the whole of that period. 

Ecc 2:23  For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity. (Job 14:1).

The unbelieving world since the cross entered the subsequent 2,000 years, adding up to 6,000 years of the flesh before an unwelcome effective ‘little rain’ of obligatory submission in the 1,000-year reign with the rod of iron by Christ and his Wife will be a very disturbing forced Sabbath Day-type rest from their self-righteous rule. Proof that man cannot do the will of God in the One Thousand Years without the holy spirit doing the work, will abruptly end in the entire earth of mankind being salted with firey rain, killing all humanity and typified by sulphurous fiery rain upon Sodom and the cities of the plain, sterilising the nearby sea, which became named the Salt Sea, now called the Dead Sea. 

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

In stark irony, the Dead Sea epitomises the ‘abussos’, 400 metres or 1,300 feet below mean sea level, into which mankind primarily depicted as Sodom, yet collectively Egypt, Babylon and old Jerusalem, the world, is symbolically purified by salt, a byproduct of burning sulphur.

Geographically, the shape of Israel resembles the body of our Lord’s first wife, with the snow-fed waters from Mt. Hermon in the north representing the head and mouth, flowing south in the Jordan River. Ephraim and Manasseh are located on either side of the Jordan River and can be seen as her lungs and heart, the centre of dispassion for her Lord’s ardour. The cities of the plain, highlighted by Sodom and Gomorrah, are likened to her stomach, where the riches of the crossroads of merchandise of the known world characterised as filthy food and dead works, are sterilised in the sulphurous fire and resulting Salt/Dead Sea. Her dung then geographically exits and is buried in the sandy, “impoverished” wilderness of sin in Edom, Esau’s habitation (Mal 1:4, Amos 9:11-12, Joel 3:19).

Job 20:20  Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. 

Mat 15:17  Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 
Mat 15:18  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 

Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters [Meaning, within and outwardly holding and teaching the unrighteous doctrines, the merchandise of men]; 
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 104:25  So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable [where ‘marine snow’ of dead sea creatures and men of noble and poor alike in ships decay and are eaten by unclean creatures, the corrupt men], both small and great beasts. 
Psa 104:26  There go the ships [to do business {Psa 107:23-31} in the abussos with the Devil]: there is that Leviathan [Satan, the Devil], whom thou hast made to play therein. 
Psa 104:27  These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. 

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. [Bottomless Pit G12. Abussos – Phonetic: ab’-us-sos- Definition: 1. bottomless 2. unbounded 3. the abyss a. the pit. Deep]

Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Rev 20:7-10). 

Adam to the Cross is a time frame of 4,000 years + 2,000 years from the cross to today, equaling 6,000 years of man’s rule ushering in the First Resurrection. At the end of which is a little rain of fiery death depicted as the “little season” where all flesh is consumed prior to the subsequent instant resurrection to the all-consuming flood of baptismal Fire, the Resurrection to Judgement. 

To Babylon, it will be a most ironically “confusing” (meaning of Babylon) time depicting our Lord’s “pity” (this study’s theme) for the entire world! However, as seen in Joseph’s brothers’ bothered realisation of their brother’s sudden appearance, all of humanity ever to be conceived will gradually become clear to their understanding of their fiery baptismal death physically and spiritually.

Mat 3:11  I indeed baptise [submerge; wash] you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptise [submerge; wash] you with the holy ghost, and with fire: 
Mat 3:12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 

The passage from the cross to the First Resurrection is symbolic yet close enough to 2,000 years = 6,000 years, the timeframe from the first day of creation, which the Roman calendar calls Sunday, to the seventh day, Saturday, of man’s rule. The transition from the First Resurrection to the Resurrection to Judgement is (symbolically or literally) 1,000 years = 7,000 years, a Sabbath Day and forced rest from man’s works in the One Thousand Year rule, depicting the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles. At the end of 7,000 years, the Feast of Tabernacles to the conclusion of the “Eighth Day”, meaning the Resurrection to Judgement is the Last Great Day for the entirety of humanity ever to be conceived.

Lev 23:33  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Lev 23:34  Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. 
Lev 23:35  On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 
Lev 23:36  Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein. 
Lev 23:37  These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day: 
Lev 23:38  Beside the sabbaths of the LORD, and beside your gifts, and beside all your vows, and beside all your freewill offerings, which ye give unto the LORD. 
Lev 23:39  Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, [The completion of flesh before the Resurrection to Judgement] when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, [The whole storehouse to God] ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.

The first day of the Feast of Tabernacles is a Sabbath day and lasts six more days to the following Friday. The final Eighth Day of the Feast is an entirely separate “holy convocation” Sabbath dedicated to representing the coming in of the Great Harvest of souls in the final baptismal deluge of fire known as the Lake of Fire. The incredibly seeming incongruousness of that event is that it produces the Joel 2:24 wealth of spiritual wheat and fat of spiritual growth through the holy spirit represented as wine and oil.

Link to understanding the Feast of Tabernacles: https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-biblical-overview-of-the-plan-of-god-part-7/

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

To be continued next week in Section B.

Revelation 7:1-3 – Part 5, What Hurts the Earth, Sea and Trees?

[Study Aired June 2, 2024]

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 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Introduction

We will look at the scriptures which show us what trees represent in the scriptures first. The main question we will address today is, exactly what is it that hurts the earth, sea and trees, and we will ask why are the four angels told to wait “till we have sealed the servants of our God” in their foreheads? We are plainly told that it is “the four angels, to whom it is given to hurt the earth and the sea.” We saw in our previous study that those four angels represent the whole of God’s spirit, and the whole of the spiritual realm, working with and upon the ‘four corners’ or the whole of ‘the earth’, His physical creatures, the sons of Adam. We saw that ‘four’ or ‘the whole’ is symbolic of God as “the father of [all] spirits.”

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

The scriptures make it clear that God uses both good and evil spirits to both trouble and to bless His creation, and they also make clear that whether that creation is being troubled or blessed, it is all working together for the good of all in the end.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

What is it that judges us all?

So the “four spirits” are the whole of God’s spirit realm, and we are told by Christ that realm is dealt with and sustained “by the word of His power.”

Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

What is that “word of His power?”

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

Psa 148:7  Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:
Psa 148:8  Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:

So it is these very words which we are studying which will “hurt the earth, and the sea, and the trees.” Why do these words “hurt” God’s creation? The reason is that “judgment is upon the house of God”, and that judgment is a “fiery trial.”

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

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

These words are spirit and life, but they are also fiery words which are judging us at this very moment.

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

“Judgment must begin at us… for the time is at hand.” What happens at this point in our walk? We need to count the cost and know what happens when we discover that we all have to eat these words and live these words and realize that the flesh and the outward “profit nothing.” Here is what happened when Christ revealed that His Words, “every word”, was spirit and life which must be eaten and drunk as His flesh and His blood.

Joh 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

What a well-numbered chapter and verse – 6:66! Remember that; when you come to the point of understanding that Christ’s words are not to be understood as outward, physical words, but they are to be understood as inward spiritual words, your own flesh and the flesh of all men will “go back and walk no longer with our Lord.”

So let’s first ask…

What is the spiritual significance of trees in scripture?

The first time this word ‘tree’ appears in scripture is in Genesis 1:11 as part of the creation narrative.

Gen 1:11  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Here is Strong’s definition of the Hebrew word which is often translated as ‘tree’ in the Old Testament.

H6086
e ts
ates
From H6095; a tree (from its firmness); hence wood (plural sticks): –  + carpenter, gallows, helve, + pine, plank, staff, stalk, stick, stock, timber, tree, wood.

Notice that the Lord caused “the fruit tree” to be “brought forth… upon the earth.” Where did Adam and Eve go to hide themselves after they disobeyed God? They went where we all go when we simply “cannot hear” Christ’s Word.

Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Yes, Adam and Eve were the only two people on earth at that time, but we will now see that scripture reveals trees are simply one more type of God’s Adamic creation, and Adam and Eve hiding themselves among the trees of the garden is just a type of our own sheepish instinct to hide among great numbers of men when we cannot yet receive the words of our Lord.

Look at how this word is used in the words of prophecy:

Son 2:3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit [was] sweet to my taste.

Jer 17:7  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Jer 17:8  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

How does prophecy refer to men who place their trust in their own flesh and take God’s glory to themselves?

Isa 7:2  And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind [“The four winds of heaven… the four winds of the earth”].

Christ Himself is called “the tree of life”:

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Rev 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

How easy it is for God to effectuate change on this earth when He declares that it is time to do so. “The heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.” That is what we are studying today. We are being told that God uses His spirit to move in the hearts and minds of His people. Back to the meaning of the word ‘trees’ in prophecy:

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.

It is interesting to note that the word translated ‘wood’ in Jeremiah 5:14 is the same Hebrew word translated ‘tree’ in Genesis 1:11. Once again, people are trees.

Look at how Christ and the New Testament speak of us as trees:

Mat 3:10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Jud 1:12  These [apostates] are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

The fruit of the life of a righteous man, on the other hand is called “a tree of life”:

Pro 11:30  The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Throughout the Bible trees are types of men, and the fruit of the trees are the works of men. Since we are to “read, hear and keep” the things written in this revelation of Jesus Christ, the trees in this prophecy are each of us, and our works are our fruit.

Later in this revelation of Jesus Christ, we will see that one of the heads of our beast within receives a “deadly wound.” However, we will find that “deadly wound is healed”, and we become a completely healthy beast once again. So it is us whose “fruit is [at our own time] withered, and we are without fruit”, and we must be “twice dead and plucked up by the roots.” This is all an ongoing ‘is, was and will be’ process within us which must continue “to the end” until the symbolic “third day.”

A sister in Christ pointed out to me that Christ was hung on a ‘tree.’

Act 10:39  And we [Peter at Cornelius’s house] are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:

Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Where is that written?

Deu 21:22  And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
Deu 21:23  His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Realizing the spiritual meaning of a ‘tree’ makes it clear that Christ was hung upon our sins so that His blood covers our sins, and that is it “through our offenses” that He was delivered up.

Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

The Greek word translated ‘for’ in both cases in this verse is not the Greek word ‘gar’, which means ‘because’. Rather, it is the Greek word ‘dia’, meaning ‘through.’ Romans 4:25 should properly be translated “Who was delivered through our offenses and was raised again through our justification.” So in a Biblical sense, Christ was delivered up and hung upon us, and it was upon us and our sinful flesh and blood that His blood was shed. He was “hung upon a tree.” In this book of symbols there are seven nations and many men within those nations. It is into that one beast that the kingdom of God, with which this book is concerned, must be established, as the King of that kingdom grows within each of us.

Here is where this word appears elsewhere in this revelation of Jesus Christ.

Rev 8:7  The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

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

So now that we know it is the whole of the spirit of God that is given to hurt the earth and the sea, and the trees of the earth…

Why must the four spirits “wait till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads?”

Rev 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

If the “four angels standing on the four corners of the earth” are the symbol of the whole of the spirit realm under “the Father of spirits”, then who is this “other angel” who ascends from the east and commands the four angels not to blow upon or hurt the earth, the sea or the trees “till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads?” What is this seal, and why is it “in their foreheads?”

Once again, we must look “line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little” to discover what the spirit is signifying with these words.

Isa 28:9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

To understand what is meant by being sealed with the seal of God in our foreheads, we must first ask…

What is the spiritual significance of one’s ‘forehead’?

Here is where the forehead is first mentioned in scripture:

Exo 28:36  And thou shalt make a plate [of] pure gold, and grave upon it, [like] the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
Exo 28:37  And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be.
Exo 28:38  And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.

The words “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” were to be engraved in a “plate of pure gold,” and it was to always be “upon his forehead,” as a symbol of what God wanted within Aaron’s mind and spirit.

Here is how Jeremiah uses this word ‘forehead.’

Jer 3:3  Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou [Israel, God’s own people] hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.

A whore is not ashamed of being a whore because her heart and mind is corrupted because she is not following the heart and mind of God. Therefore she has a whore’s forehead.

Here is how Ezekiel uses this symbolic word, forehead:

Eze 3:8  Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
Eze 3:9  As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

What is it that God uses to make Ezekiel’s forehead “as an adamant harder than flint… against their foreheads?” Here is what affects our foreheads. It is in the very next verse:

Eze 3:10  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.

Here is how the holy spirit contrasts the mark of God with the mark of the beast:

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

Where is the name of the great harlot to be found?

Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

What are God’s words, “all My Words” of Ezekiel 3:10? What is it that gives us the ability to withstand all the fiery darts of the enemy? We simply cannot get away from the fact that it is God’s Words which “are spirit” which are “fire, hail: snow, and vapour; stormy wind [which all] fulfill His word.”

Psa 148:8 Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:

Why are the four angels told to wait until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads?

It is “all My words” which we read, hear and keep through which “judgment is now on the house of God.” It is “the things which are written therein” which will fulfill all we read about in the seven trumpets and in the seven vials which are the seventh trumpet. “Every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” is part of the revelation of Jesus Christ within us all “fulfilling His word.” It must all be placed within our hearts and minds. When it is given us to receive these, His words, then we will have been sealed in our foreheads, and it is then that we can begin to receive the judgments of the revelation of Jesus Christ, which judgments are within these seven seals, trumpets and vials. Only after we have been prepared by our loving heavenly Father will the fiery trials of that judgment, which is these seals trumpets and vials, begin to be poured out upon us.

“Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” is just another way of saying that God prepares the heart of His people for every move He makes in their lives. It is in His love and consideration for our frame that He reveals nothing to us before He prepares our hearts and makes us “able to hear it.” It is in His love and mercy that he places on us none of the “fiery trials that are to try us” until after He has prepared us to bear that trial.

Mar 4:33  And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.

1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

The way of escape is demonstrated to be through the flood, through the prisons of Egypt, through the Red Sea, through the lion’s den, through the fiery furnace and through the death of the cross. It is wonderful comfort that we are never given Truth which we cannot bear or a trial for which we have not first been prepared to receive and endure to the end.

King David asked the Lord to prepare the hearts of His people to build Him a temple, and that is our prayer also:

1Ch 29:10  Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.
1Ch 29:11  Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.
1Ch 29:12  Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

1Ch 29:16  O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.
1Ch 29:17  I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.
1Ch 29:18  O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

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

Jer 12:3  But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

When we accept that God’s Word is a two-edged sword, then we will understand that “the day of slaughter… works together for good” in us as our old man dies daily and we are crucified with and buried with Christ. When we accept that “all things are ours”, that we must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, only then does the “day of slaughter” become words of comfort in and to the new man within us. Only then can we see that the table prepared for us in the presence of our enemies is also within us.

Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

It is for all these reasons that we read:

Rev 7:2  And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

Summary

We have seen once again in this study that the fire that judges us all is “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” We have seen that the word ‘trees’ signifies men, mankind or Adam, upon whom God’s judgment must come. We took note that the word translated ‘tree’ is even more often translated ‘wood’, and that it is wood which the fire issuing out of  the mouth of God’s former elect burns out of His latter elect. We have seen that the word ‘forehead’ in scripture typifies and signifies what is in the hearts and minds of God’s elect. God’s elect first have the forehead of a whore, and in time that old whore is destroyed and replaced by Christ who gives us a new mark in our foreheads and in our hands. Finally, we saw that while we “keep the things written therein”, we will not keep them until we have been prepared to do so by a loving heavenly Father who will not suffer us to be given either knowledge or trials for which He does not first prepare us and for which He does not first prepare our hearts.

Next week, Lord willing, we will learn why the tribes of Ephraim and Dan are missing from the list of the twelve tribes of Israel. We will also learn why there are only 144,000 who receive the seal of God in their foreheads, but “after this” there is also “a great multitude which no man could number” who are dressed in white robes, and we will learn why there are two groups mentioned here and what the difference is between these two groups.

Book of Obadiah – Oba 1:11 The Lot has Been Cast Against Jerusalem

[Study Aired February 14, 2024]

Oba 1:11  In the day of thy standing over-against, In the day of strangers taking captive his force, And foreigners have entered his gates, And for Jerusalem have cast a lot, Even thou art as one of them!

Oba 1:11  In the day^H3117 that thou stoodest^{H5975 (H8800 Qal)} on the other side,^{H4480 H5048} in the day^H3117 that the strangers^{H2114 (H8801 Qal)} carried away captive^{H7617 (H8800 Qal)} his forces,^H2428 and foreigners^H5237 entered into^{H935 (H8804 Qal)} his gates,^H8179 and cast^{H3032 (H8804 Qal)} lots^H1486 upon^H5921 Jerusalem,^H3389 even^H1571 thou^H859 wast as one^H259 of^H4480 them.

H3117 – Yome, day, time, year, a working day, a day’s journey, days, lifetime, period (general), today, yesterday, tomorrow, from an unused root meaning to be hot

H5975 – Amad, (Qal) to stand, remain, endure, take one’s stand, be in a standing attitude, stand forth/up/upright/with, take/make a stand, present oneself, attend upon, be or become servant of, stand still, stop, cease, tarry, delay, remain, continue, abide, endure, persist, be steadfast, hold one’s ground, remain standing, rise, be erect, be upright, arise, appear, come on the scene, appear, rise up/against, be appointed, grow flat/insipid, a primitive root

H4480 – Min, from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than, some of, after (of time), from…even to, both…and, either…or, too much for, through, because, from H4482, Mane, musical chord, a stringed instrument from an unused root to apportion

H5048 – Neged, what is conspicuous, what is in front of, in front of, straight forward, before, in sight of, in front of oneself, straightforward, before your face, in your view/purpose, corresponding to, in the sight or presence of, parallel to, over, for, in front, opposite, at a distance, from the front of, away from, from before the eyes of, opposite to, at a distance from, from before, in front of, as far as the front of, from a primitive root H5046, Nagad, to be conspicuous, tell, make known, declare, announce, report, expound, inform of, publish, proclaim, avow, acknowledge, confess, messenger, be told, be announced, be reported

H3117 – see above

H2114 – Zoor, (Qal) to become estranged, strange, another, stranger, foreigner, an enemy, loathsome, strange woman, prostitute, harlot, a primitive root

H7617 – Shabah, (Qal) to take captive, captive, lead captive, a primitive root

H2428 – Khayil, strength, might, efficiency, wealth, army, ability, force, from a primitive root H2342, Khool, to twist, whirl, dance, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained, whirl, whirl about, bear, bring forth, wait anxiously, be made to writhe/bear, be brought forth, be born, whirling, writhing, suffering torture, wait longingly, be distressed (Used five times in OT)

H5237 – Nokriy, foreign, alien, foreigner, foreign woman, harlot, unknown, unfamiliar, from H5235, Neker, calamity, disaster, misfortune, from a primitive root 

H5234, Nakar, to recognise, acknowledge, know, respect, discern, regard, be recognised, observe, pay attention to, pay regard to, notice, perceive, be willing to recognise/acknowledge, acknowledge with honour, be acquainted with, distinguish, understand, make oneself known, act or treat as foreign or strange, disguise, misconstrue, disguise oneself, act as alien

H935 – Bo, (Qal) to enter, come, go, come in/with/upon, fall or light upon, attack, come to pass, attain to, be enumerated, a primitive root

H8179 – Shahar, gate, from a primitive root H8176, Shawar, to split open, reason out, reckon, estimate, (Qal) to calculate, think Proverbs 23:7 (Used once in OT)

H3032 – Yadad, (Qal) to throw lots, cast lots, love, loving-one, friend, a primitive root

H1486 – Gowral, lot, pebbles used for systematically making decisions, portion, recompense, retribution, from an unused root meaning to be rough (as stone)

H5921 – Al, upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against, on the ground of, on the basis of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, in the matter of, as regards, to, over to, unto, in addition to, with, adjoining, next, at, around, down upon, on, from, up upon, up to, towards, over towards, against, because, although, properly, the same as H5920, Al, height, above, upwards, on high, from a primitive root H5927, Alah, to go up, ascend, climb, meet, visit, follow, depart, withdraw, retreat, come up, to spring up, grow, shoot forth, go up over, rise, extend, excel, be superior to, be taken up/away, be brought up, take oneself away, be exalted, bring up, cause to ascend, cause to go up/ascend, bring against, take away, draw up, train, rouse, stir up, offer, exalt, be carried away, be led up, be taken up into, be inserted in, be offered, lift oneself

H3389 – Yerooshahlahim, Jerusalem = teaching of peace, probably from a primitive root H3384, Yarah, to throw, shoot, cast, pour, lay, set, shoot arrows, throw water/rain, be shot, to point out, show, direct, teach, instruct, and a primitive root 

H7999, Shalam, to be in a covenant of peace, be at peace, peaceful one, one in covenant of peace, make peace with, cause to be at peace, live in peace, be complete, be sound, be finished, be ended, be sound, be uninjured, complete, finish, make safe, make whole or good, restore, make compensation, pay, requite, recompense, reward, be performed, be repaid, be requited, perform, make an end of

H1571 – Gam, also, even, indeed, moreover, yea, neither, neither…nor, but, yet, though, yea though, again, alike, by contraction from an unused root

H859 – Attah, you, a primitive pronoun of the second person

H259 – Ekhad, one (number), each, every, a certain, an (indefinite article), only, once, once for all, one…another, the one…the other, one after another, one by one, first, eleven (in combination), eleventh (ordinal), a numeral from a primitive root H258, Akhad, to go one way or another, to be sharp, (Used once in OT)

H4480 – see above

Sibling rivalry, especially among brothers, is a significant theme in scriptures. Here in Obadiah vs 11, instead of Edom being considered a brother, he is labelled as “one of them”. Edom didn’t act like a brother to the Israelites. Instead, Edom is considered to be just as bad as the invading enemy of Jerusalem, because like Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire, Edom was allowed to participate in looting Jerusalem. Instead of acting as a protective brother, Edom acted with violence and treated his brother as a stranger, acting with violence and spite toward Israel. 

Esau hated Jacob because of the original betrayal:

Gen 27:41  And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

Pro 18:19  A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.

Esau hated Jacob in chapter 27 of Genesis, but two chapters prior we are told that in fact it was Esau who hated his birthright and had sold it to Jacob

Gen 25:29  And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
Gen 25:30  And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
Gen 25:31  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
Gen 25:32  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
Gen 25:33  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
Gen 25:34  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

The spiritual type and shadow of Esau despising his birthright is that Edom despises things of the spirit. Or more accurately, Edom values the things of the flesh (a bowl of pottage, food) more than the things of the spirit (birthright). 

Is it wrong for Esau to be angry for what Jacob did to him? Is it wrong to hate your brother if he trespasses against you? Esau’s hatred for Jacob is contrary to the commandment given in Deuteronomy, Leviticus and in Luke:

Deu 23:7  Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.

Deu 23:19  Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:
Deu 23:20  Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

Lev 19:17  Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

Luk 17:3  Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
Luk 17:4  And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him

Here is a further distinction between how one treats a brother versus a stranger

Cain even asks this question concerning how he is to behave toward his brother:

Gen 4:9  And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

We know that ultimately, it is God’s sovereignty that sparked this original murder, and likewise all brotherly division, since, as it says in Luke 12:

Luk 12:49  ‘Fire I came to cast to the earth, and what will I if already it was kindled?
Luk 12:50  but I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I pressed till it may be completed!
Luk 12:51  ‘Think ye that peace I came to give in the earth? no, I say to you, but rather division;
Luk 12:52  for there shall be henceforth five in one house divided—three against two, and two against three;
Luk 12:53  a father shall be divided against a son, and a son against a father, a mother against a daughter, and a daughter against a mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.’

It is better to be divided from the world and united in Christ, and as we know, in God’s time, all shall one day be all in all.

Mat 18:8  Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into (aonion) fire.

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.

The Hebrew word for brother is H251 (Awkh) and the Greek word is G80 (Adelphos). Here are some of verses of how it appears in the New testament:

1Jn 2:9  He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

1Jn 2:10  He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

1Jn 2:11  But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

1Jn 3:10  In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

1Jn 3:12  Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

1Jn 3:14  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

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

1Jn 3:17  But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

1Jn 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

1Jn 4:21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Here is how we are commanded to treat our brothers, we are commanded to walk charitably with him (G26: Agape, affection and benevolence)

Rom 14:15  But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.

It is encouraging to see we have brothers who are companions in tribulation, as stated by John.

Rev 1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

We show agape (love) to our brothers through showing mercy and compassion, as well as executing true judgment.

Zec 7:9  Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
Zec 7:10  And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart

It is encouraging to see that Christ loves us more than a brother.

Pro 27:17  Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend

Pro 18:24  A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

Edom treated Jacob like a stranger instead of a brother. We reap what we sow, and a consequence for Edom treating Jerusalem with violence was they were, in turn, also to be considered as a foreigner.

Oba 1:11  In the day of thy standing over-against, In the day of strangers taking captive his force, And foreigners have entered his gates, And for Jerusalem have cast a lot, Even thou art as one of them!

In turn, Christ treats our old man as a foreigner. Christ is a stranger to our old man, and a loving friend to our new man; a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Rev 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Mat 21:42  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Mat 21:43  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

The voice of a stranger is treated as a heathen man and a publican.

Mat 18:17  And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Conclusion & Spiritual Principle: Christ acts as a stranger to our old man, but as a loving friend/brother to our new man. His love “grinds us to powder.”

Pro 27:6  Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

We have nothing to fear, even if our brothers try to trap us and attempt to kill us, as Joseph’s brothers did. Joseph’s brothers treated him like a stranger (Gen 37:20 “Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams”) but we know that Christ orchestrated all that evil for good, to save many alive. We reap what we sow, and as Joseph’s brothers treated him as a stranger, many years later, it was Joseph’s turn to treat them as a stranger:

Gen 42:7  And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food

This was not an easy thing for Joseph to do, but he was executing true judgment (Zec 7:9  Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother).

Gen 42:23  And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
Gen 42:24  And he turned himself about from them, and wept

After a period of judgment, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers:

Gen 45:2  And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.
Gen 45:3  And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.
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.

Like Joseph, Christ does not blame us for our poor decisions. We are told not to be angry with ourselves as Christ shows compassion and mercy upon us as the weaker vessel. Christ treats us as a friend. He guides us and walks with us as a true shepherd. We have nothing to fear because Christ and God is within our midst, and the God of Jacob is our refuge:

Psa 46:2  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Psa 46:3  Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
Psa 46:4  There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
Psa 46:5  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
Psa 46:6  The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
Psa 46:7  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Psa 46:8  Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
Psa 46:9  He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
Psa 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Psa 46:11  The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Mal 2:1-17  And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you (Going from a corrupt seed to a holy seed!)

[Study Aired December 28, 2023]

Mal 2:1  And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. 
Mal 2:2  If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
Mal 2:3  Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
Mal 2:4  And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:5  My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. 
Mal 2:6  The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. 
Mal 2:7  For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 2:8  But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 2:9  Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law. 
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 spent two studies with chapter one of Malachi which points to a type and shadow event that represented the yet carnal mind of Christians who could not as yet whole-heartedly present their bodies a living^G2198 sacrifice acceptable to Him through Christ. The nation of Judah was going through the motions, but their devotion to God was lacking and being exposed by the wanting display of blind, lame, and torn animals that were being offered for sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2, Eph 1:6, Mal 3:10). 

In this second chapter of Malachi, the focus is more on the priests, as stated in the first verse “And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.” The commandment is for the priests who represent the ministers of Babylon today who are not able to lay the commandments of God to heart, and contribute to the contemptible way in which the people have brought their blind, lame and torn animal sacrifices to the altar (Isa 9:15-16). The elect are typified as coming out from these priests and people in the persons of Levi (Mat 20:16). God has ordained from the foundation of the world for a royal priesthood (1Pe 2:9-11) to “come out of her, my people” through judgment (1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17, Heb 12:6), to be made kings and priests by His great power (Rev 1:6).

Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. 
Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 
1Pe 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy [Rom 11:30-32].
1Pe 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 

Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen [Rev 5:10].

The remnant spoken of in this section of Malachi, “Yet had he the residue^H7605 of the spirit” (Mal 2:15), are the typical remnant of God (Rom 11:5) which represents those who have been granted to live by the faith of the son of God in this life that saves us (Gal 2:20, 1Jn 5:4). 

residue H7605 she‘âr  sheh-awr’  From H7604; a remainder: –  X other, remnant, residue, rest.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me [Php 2:12-13]: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God [1Jn 5:4], who loved me, and gave himself for me.

These words, “And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts” (Mal 2:4) are an old covenant type and shadow statement that is declaring that God has a remnant [Levi – the elect]  that He is going to use to save all Israel [all the world] in time. In this section of Malachi we are learning how the people cannot obey the commandments of God because God has not put in their hearts and minds his law as he typically was doing in the life of Levi who represents the elect of God in this case (Rom 11:26-27).

The priests continue to be admonished for leading the people astray and corrupting the covenant relationship with Levi in the following verses (Mal 2:8-11), especially regarding Judah who has “profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.” Those daughters represent “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” and her daughters that have deceived the whole world (Rev 17:5).

Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

The remaining verses of Malachi (Mal 2:12-17) go on to explain the curse that the whole earth is under and reminds Judah, as a type of the Christian religious world today, how they have despised the covenant of Levi, which covenant represents our first love with Christ which over time is corrupted and dealt treacherously with and lost (Rev 2:4-5). 

Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

It is very few who see God’s modus operandi which is to give all of humanity a heart that is not able to lay to heart the commandments of God (Rom 3:10, Rom 7:14, Rom 10:4), even losing our first love. Then out of those masses ( the many called) a few come to have those commandments written on their hearts (Mat 22:14), who few in turn will witness against those who were not dragged out of Babylon in this age, all summed up with the words in these verses found in Malachi 2:4 and Romans 11:11-12.

Mal 2:4  And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.

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

Mal 2:1  And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. 
Mal 2:2  If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.

This commandment is for the priests, so it is for the body of Christ as well as for the ministers of this world. Its effectiveness on the ears who are hearing the commandment is completely dependent on whether God gives us spiritual ears to hear or not hear the command (Luk 10:24, Mat 11:25, Mat 13:16).

Luk 10:24  For I tell you, that many prophets and kings 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.

Mat 11:25  At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

These verses reveal that God is not holding out any hope for the nation of Israel or Judah to give “glory unto my name”, but rather we are being told that God already knows the condition of the heart of mankind, just as He did Adam and Eve in the garden. So, this is what is written, “I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart“ (dying you shall die – Gen2:17)

Gen 2:17  but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die. [LITV]

Mal 2:3  Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

None of this is going to be averted. God has promised that the first seed of the woman is going to be corrupt (Gen 3:15) and that we are going to be carried away into Babylonian captivity by way of the traditions of men “and one shall take you away with it.“

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

Mat 15:9  But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Paul looked back and considered his captivity under the law for the lawless (1Ti 1:9-14) as part of the loss of all things he talked about, and as dung in comparison with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, or the law of Christ (Gal 6:2). Like dung, the law if used correctly (1Ti 1:8) is like fertilizer, the schoolmaster God used to bring about all the growth and zealous works that were accomplished through apostle Paul when the time came for those to become a reality (Php 3:8, Gal 4:1-2, Gal 3:23-24). 

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 
1Ti 1:10  For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; 
1Ti 1:11  According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. 

Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. [“under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father“]
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 

The nation of Judah was not using the law lawfully, and God is the one who worked all of those actions of the nation and administered the punishment for their disobedient hearts expressed in these words: “Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.” Once again we see God causing the nation to err and then correcting them. This was all according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11), which was all written for our sakes (1Co 10:11) to learn how God works with our own hearts and minds as His workmanship that goes from being marred in the hand of the Potter to becoming something new and glorious “as seemed good to the potter to make it.” (Isa 63:17, Rom 9:19-21, Eph 2:10, Jer 18:4-6).

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

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

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.

Mal 2:4  And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. 

God sends His commandments to us as He did to Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, knowing that we will not be able to keep those commandments. He also, at the appointed time, gives us the ability to keep that commandment and reveals those who can’t by heresies that are made manifest so we can discern who is approved in our midst through their disobedience (1Co 11:19). The world will understand in time that God’s covenant was with the elect who were predestined to fulfill God’s purpose in this life (Eph 1:11-12) which is what “ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi” means.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. [2Co 1:9, 1Co 15:31]

Mal 2:5  My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. 
Mal 2:6  The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. 
Mal 2:7  For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 

These next verses typify for us the covenant relationship God has with the elect today, and it all points to the life of Christ within us that gives us “life and peace” (Joh 6:63, Php 4:7) along with the proper fear wherewith we fear him and tremble at His words because we know that those words are “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Rom 1:16, Luk 12:5).

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

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

God’s indwelling spirit within the body of Christ (Rom 8:9) makes it possible for all of these things listed in verse 6 to be a reality just as they were with Christ when He walked on this earth (1Jn 4:17).

1: The law of truth was in his mouth 
2: Iniquity was not found in his lips 
3: He walked with me in peace and equity 
4: Did turn many away from iniquity 

In order for these four points to become a reality, we are then told, “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts” (verse 7), meaning all of this is being obtained through Christ who is our sufficiency in this life, to whom our heavenly Father is dragging us (2Co 3:5, Joh 6:44) making it possible for us to keep knowledge (Rev 1:3), as He blesses us with the hunger and thirst to “seek the law at his mouth” (Mat 5:6, Heb 11:6,  Col 1:29); and all of this telling us that the “messenger of the LORD of hosts” is blessed to come in His name (Psa 118:26) to perform these actions of righteousness through Him who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure, which is to give us the kingdom (Php 2:12-13, Luk 12:32). “Levi” here typifies those who are coming in the name of the Lord as His messengers with the true gospel of Jesus Christ that brings us to worship our Father in spirit and in truth (Joh4:24).

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is [1Jn 5:4] impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Psa 118:26  Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD. 
Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Mal 2:8  But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 2:9  Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.

Corrupting “the covenant of Levi” by being “partial in the law” is what is in review here, and the lesson for the body of Christ is that when we depart “out of the way” we can cause others to “stumble at the law” (Heb 12:14-17).  The law in question is speaking about the old covenant laws which represent a type and shadow admonition for the elect of God today to not depart from the law of Christ “out of the way” and from the obedience to God’s commandments (1Jn 5:2-3).

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 
Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Whatever we sow we are going to reap, knowing it is God who causes us to corrupt “the covenant of Levi.” This departing from the way by the nation of Judah typifies for us how we lose our first love and expresses how Babylon has caused “many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi.” The many who stumble at the law are the many called, and out of those many God calls a few to repent of our iniquities and sins and overcome through Christ (Rom 8:26-28). It is all of the Lord and demonstrates His sovereignty over the vessels of clay to make one unto honor and one unto dishonor as He determines and for His purposes (Rom 9:20-24).

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 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?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 
Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

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. 

“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?”

Of course the answer to this rhetorical question is that we do have one father and that we do “deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers.” God has made us that way, marred in the hand of the Potter to be made something anew in His perfect time and order, each man in his own order (1Co 15:23-24). The marred clay is also referred to as the “same lump” and God purges, chastens and scourges His children in this age so that they can become a “new lump” that comes out of the old lump  (Rom 9:21, 1Co 5:7, 2Co 5:17, Heb 12:6).

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? 

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

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

The whole world is deceived by Satan (2Co 4:4, Rev 12:9), and in that regard we also all start off with one father in the negative sense of a father (Joh 8:44), to whom we are unknowingly subject as the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2, Rom 6:16).

It is Judah who has dealt treacherously, where an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem that represent God’s people. That abomination spoken of typifies the abomination of desolation within the temple of God that we are (Mar 13:14, 1Co 3:13), which must be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming (2Th 2:2-4) if we are going to overcome the beast who wants to rule in that temple and sit on the throne of our heart that belongs to Christ himself. “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.” The initial union we have with the false doctrines of Babylon is represented by “the daughter of a strange god” whom we have married, and whom God calls us out of if He is working with us in this age (Rev 18:4).

Mar 13:14  But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: 

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

The way that, “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” [as a man who offers these things in the condition of one who “hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved and hath married the daughter of a strange god”]  is by having men trust in their own righteousness, which is what the wisdom of man produces through the master and the scholar, rather than trusting in God’s power that can only come from Him via the faith of Christ “the righteousness which is of God by faith” (1Co 2:5, Luk 18:9, Php 3:9).

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 
1Co 2:6  Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
1Co 2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 

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

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:  

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. 

God is continually showing us who we are through these old covenant examples and how it is impossible to change the spots of the leopard unless the Lord intervenes and does so (Jer 13:23). Esau, who represents our flesh that must be put off, sought the Lord with bitter tears, “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.” Esau’s heart was not changed, and God knew this about him just as He did with the nation of Judah, and reminded the nation, “yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant“, meaning this “wife” represents a covenant that you were not able to keep, and you were together with her in name only and not in spirit, typifying Christianity today (Isa 4:1).

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

The nation of Judah had the same question in mind as Esau when they were being tried by the Lord, “Yet ye say, Wherefore?”  God is showing us who we are (that we are beasts), and this evil experience is a witness God gives us through which we must go in order to be brought to our wits’ end and acknowledge that reality of our existence “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.” It is only when we miraculously take heed to that witness that we ‘come out of her my people’, as the Lord drags us to Christ through His power (Joh 6:44, Joh 8:36)

Where we fall short is in the most important and treasured relationship we have in the earth, with the wife of our youth [that represents our covenant relationship with Christ], and the Lord uses that failed relationship to show us that we are incapable of being anything other than the basest of beasts, which we are without His mercy being shown to us that leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4), changing us from within. He knows the end result of our falling seven times in the wilderness will one day lead to all the world being reconciled to Him, and how blessed we are today then, to know that He calls us friend (Joh 15:14-15). We are His companion, we are “the wife of thy covenant” if Christ is our head and we are obeying His commandments.

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

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?

God did make one lump (Rom 9:21), and out of that same lump He purposed from the foundation of the world to have a remnant, a kind of firstfruits to be saved first “Yet had he the residue of the spirit.” So the question is asked, “Why one lump?” The answer is “That he might seek a godly seed” that holy seed (Gal 3:16) being the means by which He would redeem all his banished in this life, all humanity (2Sa 14:14). 

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

What are we to do now as the body of Christ while we tarry and wait for our Lord’s return is answered with these words, “Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.” This wife of our youth represents our new covenant relationship we have as the wife of Christ, and we are being warned to judge ourselves, and keep under ourselves, as the body of Christ with these words, “For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, [our garment, our own righteousness excusing our bad behavior] saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously” (Heb 12:15, Eph 4:31, 1Pe 4:17-18). 

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

If we don’t do this, we will be cut off (Rom 11:20-21), and yes, God hates “putting away.” However, if we are granted to “take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously“, then we will not have to be cut off. The last verse expresses the fruit of our losing our first love, which spirit wearies the Lord and must be repented of. It’s not someone else. It’s the beast I see in the mirror every morning who has the potential to do what is written here, “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?“

This phrase “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?” is an expression of that Laodicean spirit God hates and will spew out of His mouth, when we call light dark and dark light, leaning to our own understanding and thinking that we won’t reap what we sow. In doing so we forget that we are to seek his judgments against our hearts every day as we die daily (Psa 139:23-24, Rev 3:18, 1Co 11:31, Heb 12:15).

Psa 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 
Psa 139:24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire [1Pe 4:19], that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

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

1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 

The Lord can keep us, but it will only be through His judgements that are upon us that we will continue to be able to hold fast to the crown of righteousness (Rev 3:18) that is being forged through Christ who is going to make the bride ready (Rev 19:7). This is the covenant relationship Christ has with His bride, and it will not fail (Rev 3:11-12, Mat 24:24, Mat 16:18).

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Rev 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. 

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

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Mat 24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, [Rom 8:36-39] they shall deceive the very elect.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.