Mal 3:6-18  Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me – Part 2

[Study Aired January 11, 2024]

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. 
Mal 3:7  Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 
Mal 3:8  Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 
Mal 3:9  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 
Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 
Mal 3:11  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 3:12  And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 3:13  Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
Mal 3:14  Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
Mal 3:15  And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. 
Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Last week we were talking about how John the baptist was the messenger of God in Malachi 3:1 who understood there was a change coming, and was used by God to point to that change, a change described in this manner: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (Rom 3:21, Luk 16:16, Joh 1:17). The elect, unlike John, have God’s spirit within them (Rom 8:9), and as a result are able to  prepare the way of the Lord before Christ’s second coming by becoming mature sons, as John was witnessing to in a type and shadow manner (1Co 10:11, 1Pe 1:12). The natural life of John which was dedicated to God’s service, led to his being beheaded, which also represents how we must lose our first Adamic mind in order to take on the mind of Christ, makes it possible for us to be prepared for the return of the bridegroom (Rev 19:7). John’s natural relationship with Jesus on the earth was the physical relationship that preceded the spiritual one that would begin with the body of Christ on Pentecost (1Co 15:46). In both relationships Christ reveals the encouragement and strength He will always bring us through our sojourn as His servants (Mat 28:20, Luk 7:22-23, Luk 13:32, 1Co 10:13). 

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; [John and Christ] and afterward that which is spiritual [Body of Christ being prepared, Christ returning in power and might].

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

Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The glorious event of seeing our Lord and King come back in power and in might will be fulfilled at the first resurrection in a moment and in a twinkling of an eye (Rev 19:7, Rev 1:6-8, 1Co 15:52). Until that time we are to “Occupy till I come” (Luk 19:13, 1Pe 1:13) by doing what John did, the difference being that John’s preaching “the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” in the wilderness is a type as well of the fiery baptism of God’s word into which we are baptized as we die daily and are baptized into Christ’s death (Rom 6:3). Neither the baptism John was administering in the flesh nor only knowing Christ in the flesh, can save us. However, when we are baptized into His death by a relationship that is made possible with the holy spirit within (Joh 16:7), then we are able to be raised in heavenly places and know the Father and the son in the spirit, which is what eternal life is (Mar 1:4, Col 1:28-29, Mat 24:14, Joh 17:3).

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

We are experiencing this relationship today in earnest, in downpayment form, as we are washed by the blood of the lamb, so those wedding garments can remain in a state that is acceptable to God through Christ being without spot (Mat 26:29, Mat 22:11-12, Rev 19:8, Eph 5:27, 1Ti 6:14, Heb 9:14, 1Pe 1:19, 2Pe 3:14).

Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

1Ti 6:14  That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:

Heb 9:14   How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

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;
1Pe 1:19   But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 

2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

The blessings that become ours are a result of being refined by God in this age through fiery judgment that removes all those spots (1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 4:17). “For our God is a consuming fire“, and the fruit of His workmanship produced through that judgment is the main theme of what we’ll be looking at in this last section of Malachi chapter 3 (Mal 3:6-18).

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Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Our God is a consuming fire (Heb 12:29), and it is for that reason that “ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” What God consumes or destroys are those things with which we naturally defile the temple (1Co 3:17-19). The way He accomplishes this is by grace through faith, which is a gift of God (Eph 2:8), that will save us if we are given that honor to endure that judgment today and be made ready as the bride of Christ (Tit 2:11-12, Heb 12:6, Rev 19:6). 

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.

We are not consumed, “For I am the LORD, I change not“, meaning with God there “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas 1:17-18). “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num 23:19, Rom 3:4, Heb 6:18-19) So all His promises are true including the promise that all men will be saved by putting off this corrupt flesh which cannot inherit the kingdom of God, each man in his own order (1Co 15:22, Luk 12:5). The corrupt flesh is connected to a corrupt heart that is either judged in this life or in the great white throne judgment (Rev 20:15).

Mal 3:7  Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, WhereinH4100  shall we return? 

In Genesis 12:18 we see the same Hebrew word ‘wherein‘^H4100 used as the word “what” and “why”. God is showing us that He does not change and what He has always desired is obedience, but He was always aware mankind would not naturally obey unless dragged to him, “Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them.”

Gen 12:18  And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What^H4100 is this that thou hast done unto me? why^H4100 didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

The desire of God has always been for all the world to “Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts“, but the reality is that our fleshly carnal hearts, without a miraculous gift of being spiritually healed, cannot return to God and keep his “ordinances.” So we reply unto God, “But ye said, Wherein shall we return?” Return to what? Why? What value is there in serving the Lord?  We say all this at first if we are not being dragged to Christ and continuing on in the truth to become disciples indeed who are granted to overcome and witness Christ make war against the beast within that we otherwise could not (Isa 4:1, Mat 7:1, Luk 6:46, Joh 8:31-32, Rev 13:4).

Paul says this about his own life in Acts 20:24 regarding how we ought to think about our own day to day dealings with the world (Luk 6:38), knowing that through Christ we can be preferring others before ourselves (Php 2:4, 1Ti 5:21, Rom 12:10) that we “might finish my course with joy” by losing our life for His sake, presenting it a living sacrifice wherever we are led of the Lord (Mat 10:39, Rom 8:14-16). This all ties in with the verses we are looking at tonight which tell us to bring “all the tithe” into the temple (Mal 3:10), all our lives committed to our Father as unto a faithful Creator (1Pe 4:18-19).

Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

The disciples all had the same question about being a living sacrifice, and questioned the Lord himself about all that they had given up to follow Him (Mat 19:27-29). They matured into a conviction of seeing there is nothing to hold onto in this life (Php 1:23-24), and that with the mind of Christ we ought to be doing only one thing with the earnest of our inheritance within (Php 3:13-15, Rom 12:1-2).

Mat 19:27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mat 19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Mal 3:8  Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 
Mal 3:9  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 

“This whole nation” is cursed, meaning our whole land is cursed, which land represents our cursed flesh in the earth going the way that seems right to us but leading to death (Pro 14:12) because of our thoughts and actions that are not yet in accord with the will of God at this point (1Jn 2:15-17). 

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

It is only when we are blessed to have our old man cursed, by hanging on a tree, which symbolizes our dying daily process (Deu 21:23, Gal 3:13), that we are then able to mortify the deeds of the flesh as we live by the faith of Christ (Gal 2:20). What begins as a curse when we see our wretchedness in these bodies of death leads to life, as we’re given victory over the giants of our land through Christ, little and by little (Deu 7:22), taking away that curse in the land so we no longer rob or defraud God of our lives that belong to Him (Isa 43:1).

Isa 43:1  But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

We first rob ourselves of the blessing He has now given to us to see, “the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (of verse 10) (Gen 13:15, Mat 19:28-29).

Gen 13:15  For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mat 19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

The carnal mind also asks the same question as in verse 7: “wherein‘^H4100 have we robbed thee?” We do not see our blindness which is the curse Christ has pronounced upon all the world and will remain until the eyes of humanity are opened by Christ, “Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation” (2Co 4:4). It is when our eyes are open that we can then confess our blindness that naturally questions God’s motives with questions like, “Wherein^H4100 have we robbed thee?” and “Wherein^H4100 shall we return?” of  verses 8 and 9 (Joh 9:39). All the world has been blinded by Satan (2Co 4:4), and it is all to the glory of God, “but that the works of God should be made manifest in him”  (Joh 9:2-3, Rom 9:20).

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

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?

Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

The key point to be realized in this verse is the word “all“. God does not play second fiddle to our flesh that is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer 17:9), so how are we actually going to bring “all” our life, represented by the ‘tenth’, the “tithe”, “into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house?” There’s only one way, and that way is through Christ (Rom 7:24-25).

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

God knows our hearts perfectly and makes His strength perfect through the weakness of our flesh so that we do seek Him with all our hearts and consequently find Him (Jer 29:13, Heb 11:6,  Php 2:12-13). He knows our doubting hearts can’t imagine how we can make war against the beasts that we are (Rev 13:4) and yet challenges us over and over as His children: “and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.“

The reality is that everything is of God, our blindness which He causes, our bringing our life as a living sacrifice into the storehouse, our doubting of what He can do through us, and then ultimately the victory He brings us when we are brought to our wits’ end and dragged to our safe haven in Jesus Christ. That is when He “pour[s] you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” and that blessing that is poured out is the life of Christ within each of us being shared, being poured out for each other as a joint that supplies in love (Psa 107:27-31, Eph 4:16).

Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. 
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Mal 3:11  And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:12  And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

The “delightsome land” represents our bodies that are the Lord’s (Rom 12:1), and He will fight our battles for us. “For the battle is not yours, but God’s” (2Ch 20:15), and we will be victorious, “I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground.” That victory is all predicated on whether we bring “all the tithe” into the storehouse which represents the throne of God, where the body of Christ resides (Heb 10:25). No man can come to Christ unless the Father drags us to him, so “what can we say to these things?” If God is for us, who can be against us (Joh 6:44, Rom 8:31-39)? Clearly there is no room for boasting in the life of a Christian who is living by the faith of Christ and being dragged to Him to accomplish predestined works of our Father (Luk 17:10).

“Neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time^H7921 in the field, saith the LORD of hosts” is another way of saying that with Christ in us as our hope of glory, our spiritual fruit will come to maturity, and we will provide spiritual meat in due season as this is what God has ordained from the foundation of the world will happen within the body of Christ (Eph 2:10). 

H7921 shâkôl  shaw-kole’   A primitive root; properly to miscarry, that is, suffer abortion; by analogy to bereave (literally or figuratively): – bereave (of children), barren, cast calf (fruit, young), be (make) childless, deprive, destroy, X expect, lose children, miscarry, rob of children, spoil.  Total KJV occurrences: 23

Isa 66:9  [In the same way,] I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born.” (ERV)

It is not just in the body of Christ in this age that God is working, but also the work that God will continue to do throughout the thousand-year reign of the saints, which is a symbolic number identifying that the elect will be judging all the world and preaching to all nations at an ordained time “in the field” which field represents the world (Mat 13:38). The inward application of this verse is revealed in how God’s church is blessed today to receive the word and be washed with that word in our heavens so we can overcome all the sin of the world that is within us, and that field belongs to the Husbandman who has an “early and latter rain” representing all of humanity, each man in his own order (1Jn 2:16-17, Jas 5:7).

We are always a “blessed” and “delightsome land” when we can fulfill the will of our Father, and that is what God is going to be accomplish in all men in time, bringing all the land into subjection, which is the ultimate goal of our great Father in heaven who is likened to a patient husbandman (1Co 15:28, Eph 1:23, 1Co 12:6, Jas 5:7-8). 

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.

Jas 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 
Jas 5:8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Mal 3:13  Your words have been stout^H2388 against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? 
Mal 3:14  Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
Mal 3:15  And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. 

These three verses do not demonstrate the converted mind that becomes as a child of Matthew 18:3 but rather a  stout^H2388 (self-willed stubborn, obstinate, hardened) heart that replies back to the Creator, “What have we spoken so much against thee?” This self-willed child says, “It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?” Not seeing the value in all God’s words is a curse, and not seeing the need to die daily and to walk “mournfully before the LORD of hosts” is also a curse (Ecc 7:2-4), and produces the fruits of that cursed ground, as mentioned in these terms, “now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” This is the spiritual condition of the world we live in today, and David contemplated this supposed stability in the earth (that we all were in our appointed time), and He concluded, as we can through Christ, that they were all, the “now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered” on slippery ground. David says it is better to be in the house of mourning being judged by the Lord than to align oneself with those who were prospering in the earth (Psa 84:10-12, Psa 37:1-11)

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. 
Psa 84:12  O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Psa 37:10  For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be [Mal 3:18].
Psa 37:11  But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace [Mal 3:12].

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

The way to deal with the wickedness of this world and the iniquity that is abounding more and more in this time as evil men wax worse and worse at the end of the age is to not forsake the assembling of ourselves (Heb 10:25) which commandment is being related to us in these words, “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.” When we fear the LORD and think upon His name, we are blessed and given peace that passes all understanding (Php 4:7). Thinking on things pure, honest and just (Php 4:8) is also what brings us peace. It is in the confines of this healthy relationship of thinking that “a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.” Christ is the author and finisher of that book representing those who have kept the commandments of God and are ready now to judge the rest of the books of humanity in the great white throne judgment (Rev 20:12).

Php 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Php 4:9  Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

It is our Father in heaven who tells us that we are His workmanship (Eph 2:10) in this manner, “And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.” He has shown great mercy to us and given us great riches and honor to be judged first in this life, to be spared from the plagues to come upon all the world (having gone through them already), and as such we are called God’s spiritual jewels, being formed through fiery trials, sore pressed on every side at times, just as physical jewels are formed over time with great heat and pressure in the earth (Rev 15:8, Rev 18:4, Rom 8:18, Heb 11:25-26).

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

It is when we are judged and go through much tribulation in this life (Rev 3:18) that we begin to “discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not” (Heb 5:14).

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 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

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

Our being dragged to Christ is for the express purpose of purifying us (Heb 12:6) so we can become discerning sons and daughters of God being spared, “and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (1Jn 3:1-2).

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. “and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him“.

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 
1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

(Key verses: Gen 16:1-16)

Our natural mind is made to be ruled by spiritual darkness by God’s design and purpose, and we are naturally destitute of the wisdom of God (Psa 69:5; Joh 1:5; 1Co 1:20; Jer 17:9). God created the darkness first in us before He brings the Light (Gen 1:2-4; Isa 45:7; Jer 18:4; Rom 8:20; 2Pe 1:19). In this darkened state of mind we joyfully follow our own foolish counsel, also referred to as the “wisdom of this world” (Pro 12:23; 1Co 1:20; 1Co 2:6; 1Co 3:19):

Pro 15:21 Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly. .

Pro 19:3 The foolishness of man [Hebrew: “âdâm”] perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD.

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

In this discussion on the foundational theme of faith, we will find that folly is indeed a subtle counterfeit of faith which few can see before they experience its devastating effects in their own lives. We all, like Job, witnesses this in others first before we see it in ourselves:

Job 24:12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them.
Job 24:13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

When folly also masquerades as faith it takes on a deeper deception. Foolishness has the appearance of light when it ministers to us its own righteousness and wisdom:

2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

All things God reveals about the kingdom of heaven in us have a dark (a negative application) and a light side (a positive application), for those who can receive this. So also is the spiritual meaning of the number five in scripture. Through the scriptures, we learn that the number five is spiritually linked to God’s grace which comes through faith (Exo 25-27; Lev 1-5; Eph 2:8-9). Foolishness also has a counterfeit application through the number five:

Mat 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

Foolishness relates to our natural disregard to heed God’s word (His spiritual oil) when following the advice of our natural mind. Our old man Adam is the fool in us as he is naturally “full of words” which in the end will swallow and judge him (Luk 19:22):

Ecc 10:12 The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
Ecc 10:13 The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness: and the end of his talk is mischievous madness.
Ecc 10:14 A fool also is full of words: a man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell him?
Ecc 10:15 The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

This is also what we learn through the life of Abram (later called Abraham) – one of the main characters in the Old Testament whom God used to bring to us a picture of what the faith of Christ in us also has to endure. We will never receive the righteousness of Christ by following our own foolish ideas of flesh:

Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

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.

In this discussion we will focus on how the folly of our own understanding obscures the path of the faith of Christ in us for which we will pay painful lessons which God causes to achieve humility in us. Abram, his wife Sarai and his offspring help us to see how foolishness plays itself out through bitter and regrettable decisions we all make. The first time we meet Sarai in the scriptures, we see her as a woman who is unable to bring forth children:

“Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children”

Gen 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Bareness is indeed a reflection of our first spiritual condition from the hand of the Potter as we all bear the terrestrial body of flesh with its dark carnal mind (Psa 51:5; 1Co 15:40). The second time we read about Sarai’s barrenness another interesting lady is mentioned in the same breath:

Gen 16:1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

Hagar was part of “all that he had” when Abram went out of Egypt after he went there to get away from the grievous famine in Canaan:

Gen 12:9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
Gen 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

Gen 13:1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

Longsuffering and patience are parts of the fruit of the spirit of God and are therefore not part of the natural mind as created by God in the beginning (Gal 5:22-23). The natural mind is lawless and cannot please or obey God, which Adam and Eve also proved by their disobedience in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:1-24; Rom 8:6-8; 1Ti 1:9). The carnal mind wants everything instantly or in the shortest time period and will actually come up with ingenious ways and means to get what it wants. One of the biggest deceptive schemes of the carnal mind is to convince us that we are actually walking in faith, when it is actually following its own twisted concept of faith – when we believe in our faith and not in God:

Gen 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

After ten years in Canaan, the flesh of Abram and Sarai revealed its inherent impatience. This is a sure sign of folly in our lives. The number ten spiritually indicates completeness of flesh as we also think we can please God through our fleshly ideas of the operation of faith. Like faith, folly will also make sacrifices, and this case Abram and Sarai sacrificed their marriage to accomplish God’s will for them to have children – or so they thought and were sincerely convinced about. By God’s design, it is our carnal striving and impatience which sets us up for our biggest battles which will teach us so much of how we need to wait on the Lord. Here again we see a pattern which was started in the garden of Eden when Adam listened to the words of Eve instead of the Word of God. Godly faith comes via the Word of God exclusively (Rom 10:17):

Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Sorrow and cursing are what we reap when we follow our flesh – our deceived wife and not the Head, Jesus Christ and His Word (Hos 1:2; Pro 7:10; 1Co 11:3; 1Ti 2:14; Rev 17:1-6). This is what Abram will also learn since this action of theirs brought forth an offspring which will be a thorn in the flesh until this day. How deceitful is the heart of natural man when it brings a beautiful solution but hide the enormous price attached to it (Jer 17:9). The folly of the flesh is actually seen as a work of faith when we do not as yet have the patience to wait for God’s perfect time (Ecc 3:1; Luk 21:19):

Pro 8:33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
Pro 8:34 Blessed is the man that heareth me [this is Godly wisdom talking], watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
Pro 8:35 For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.
Pro 8:36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

Isa 30:15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

Our natural folly “would not” listen to wise counsel because it cannot – it is an obstinate and stubborn beast (Isa 48:4; Hos 8:9; Psa 32:9; 2Co 2:14). Living according to our physical understanding is what God ordained in order that we should not see His purposes and plan until His appointed time:

Ecc 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Our folly is witnessed in our words and actions – through the fruit we bear, God reveals to us what tree we are living of (Gen 2:9; Mat 7:16). Abram and Sarai are learning the folly of laying hands on someone in haste (Heb 6:1-2; 1Ti 5:22):

Gen 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

Hagar’s heart could not resist the despising of her mistress. She found favour from God above her mistress. Our natural offspring will always be there long before the spiritual fruit can be brought forth, and very few can resist the temptation to show off their physical blessings in this age. Our own sins will reveal to us our folly, and this is what Sarai also found out (Jer 2:19). Sarai did what all natural minds do when caught – it shifts the blame ‘out there’, even as Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:12-13). In Sarai’s eyes Abram was the main culprit. Like Adam, Abram also brought in the “hand of man” to solve the problem (Gen 9:5; 1Ch 21:13):

Gen 16:5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.
Gen 16:6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

King David said these words which reflect the mercilessness of the natural hand and heart in all of us, which Sarai also showed to Hagar. This is yet another sign of folly in our lives – harshness – when we forget that we have received mercy (Rom 11:29-32):

2Sa 24:14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

This is what also happened to Hagar – she mercifully fell into the hand of the Lord:

“the angel of the LORD”

Gen 16:7 And the angel [Hebrew: “malak” = messenger] of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

The phrase “the angel of the LORD” appears 59 times in the KJV, and this is the first time this phrase is used in the scriptures. Here in Genesis 16 the identity of this angel is also revealed through Hagar’s words:

Gen 16:13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

It was the Lord Jesus Himself who spoke to Hagar. Jesus is indeed “the angel of the LORD” as He is the angel of God to whom the Father said these words:

Heb 1:13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Jesus said that these words of David refer to Him as the Christ and the Son of David, as “the angel” at the right hand of God, the Father which the Pharisees could not see:

Mat 22:41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,
Mat 22:42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.
Mat 22:43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
Mat 22:44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

The angel of the Lord appeared to Hagar in the desert and posed some of the most important questions humanity is struggling with:

“….where did you come from? and where will you go?”

Gen 16:8 And He said, Hagar, Sarai’s slave, where did you come from? and where will you go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

Our human answers are limited to what we can perceive in our earthly lives from physical birth up until this point in time. Hagar answered according to her limited understanding of things. Through this interaction we also learn how to submit to God as He is the One who wrote all our days in His book (including all our thoughts and actions), and everything in our lives is 100% according to His plan (Psa 139:16). Flesh and blood has no truth of its true origin without the Word of God, neither does it have any idea of the destination or the purpose to its existence. So God answers us according to our level of faith and understanding at each point of our journey (Psa 18:25-26):

Gen 16:9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
Gen 16:10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

The promise of the angel of the Lord also relates to these words of God to Abram:

Gen 13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

A split in the offspring of Abram is first introduced here, as Hagar will bring forth a multitude from the seed of Abram. This multitude must be seen in terms of the multitude (or the “many”) that will be the enemy of the few in this age. It refers to those who cannot hear the spiritual words of God (Luk 22:47; Luk 23:1; Act 16:22; Act 21:36):

Mat 13:34 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude 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 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Hagar and her offspring in us are very much part of God’s plan. During our whole lifetime in the flesh, the same “multitude” will always be there to be a servant to God to humble us and force us to always look to God and not depend on our own ideas and solutions. Hagar and her offspring are those who can see only as far as the Lord can supply their physical needs:

Gen 16:11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
Gen 16:12 And he will be a wild man [Hebrew: “pereh”]; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
Gen 16:13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
Gen 16:14 Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi [“well of the Living One seeing me”]; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

The “wild man” is also referred to as a wild ass (the same Hebrew word is used: “pereh”) whom God has set free in the wilderness, and there He also provides for the “wild asses” (Job 39:5-6)

Job 24:5 Behold, as wild asses [Hebrew: “pereh”] in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children.

Jer 2:24 A wild ass [Hebrew: “pereh”] used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

The flesh also has a well of water which God supplies for our temporary needs, even as we “eat…every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink…every one the waters of his own cistern” (2Ki 18:31; Pro 5:15). The well where the angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar was between Kadesh and Bered. Bered means “hail” and hail is a symbol of God’s judgment on all the lies and folly in our hearts (Isa 28:15-17). However, this judgment is only reserved for the true sons of God, the house of God, which Abram’s offspring through Isaac spiritually represented (Gal 3:29):

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?

Kadesh (meaning “holy”) links with the name “Kadesh-barnea” which is significant in physical Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness (Deu 9:23-24; Num 13:26; Num 32:8; Num 20:1-16; Num 27:14; Num 33:1-49). Miriam died here, and it is also the place where the impatience and folly of Moses was displayed to the whole nation when he hit the rock twice instead of speaking to it, which action prevented him from entering the promised land (Num 20:1-12; Psa 106:32). Kadesh is also where the report of Joshua and Caleb was different from that of the other ten spies about the land which they were to enter (Num 13:1-33; Num 32:8). It was at Kadesh where the separation came between those whom God ordained to enter the land and those who died in the wilderness because of unbelief and foolish rebelling against God (Num 13-14). This split is very significant in terms of Sarai and Hagar and our own distinction between what is of faith and what is of folly in our own walk (Psa 29:8):

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 4:30 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.

Abram’s firstborn is the type of our own “wild man” who thinks he has a free will. Our flesh with its carnal mind is also representing “the abomination of desolation” who sits in the temple of God thinking he is God (Mat 24:15; 2Th 2:3-4). That is the man of sin who lives in the wilderness in a house which is built on sand and will indeed fall during the judgment of God (Mat 7:26-27; 2Th 2:7-8):

Gen 16:15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
Gen 16:16 And Abram was fourscore and six [eighty six] years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

To obey God has nothing to do with our clever and intelligent ideas, but everything to do with keeping His commandments according to our level of faith in God’s provisions and timing at all times. God willing, we will receive the faith to see that it is our own pride and lusts which are the driving forces when we want to show God and others our commitment to fulfill His plan long before it is ordained to take place (Isa 40:30-31). Before that happens we will follow the devastating route of folly, and we will indeed reap what we sow (Gal 6:7-9):

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

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

Numbers in Scripture
Job 24:1-13 “Yet God Layeth Not Folly To Them”
Ecclesiastes 10:11-20 “The Labour of The Foolish Wearieth Every One of Them”
Is Christ an Angel of God?
Revelation 7:9-17
Why Are the Multitudes Not Given to Understand?
Christ is Preached Even in Babylon