Rev 10:5-11 Part 1 – In The Days of The Voice of The Seventh Angel

[Study Aired Sept 15, 2024]

Rev 10:5  And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
Rev 10:6  And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
Rev 10:8  And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go [and] take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
Rev 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take [it], and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
Rev 10:11  And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

Introduction

The first thing we will do today is to review last week’s study. After that, our attention will be focused on the statement that “There should be time no longer”, in verse 6 and the meaning of “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He has declared to His servants the prophets”, in verse seven.

Several of the verses in this week’s study were a necessary part of last week’s study, so since we did not have the time to summarize last week’s study, we need to comment on the symbols of those verses as a review of what we learned last week, and as an introduction to our study of what “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel” means.

A review of the seven symbols of Rev 10:1-4

Here is a brief overview of the seven symbols we discussed in our last study:

1) The mighty angel

Who is this “mighty angel” described in verse one? We saw that this angel with His feet on our sea and our earth, speaking as a lion roars, is Christ as the Lord of our lives, who is subduing and putting under His feet our every thought to Himself, at the expense of and making a prey of, the life of our old man.

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church

That is a principle which governs the relationship between these two men throughout scripture:

Joh 3:30  He [Christ] must increase, but I [our old man] must decrease.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming [“The eyes of our understanding being enlightened”, Eph 1:18]:

2) The little book

What is this “little book” mentioned in verse two? We saw that this “little book” is contained within the book given to the slain Lamb, the lion of the tribe of Judah, in chapter 5, by the man on the throne. This is the same book which is written within and without with “lamentations,  mourning, and woe”, upon the kingdom of our old man because it is the revelation of Christ in His Christ within us, who must enter the kingdom through “much tribulation.”

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

There is a principle revealed to us in the story of Joseph, which tells us that when the Lord gives us something twice, it is simply a second witness to a single truth. The details may differ, but the meaning is the same, and the time is imminent.

Gen 41:25  And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Gen 41:26  The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

The “book in the hand” in Ezekiel 3 and the book in the hand of the mighty angel in Rev 10, are one book. That is why both men are told to “Eat this book”. Christ told us in John 6 to “eat My flesh”. We are also told in the same sixth chapter of John that His flesh is His words, which are “the bread of life.”

Joh 6:48  I am that bread of life.
Joh 6:49  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Joh 6:50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

In this same chapter, what does Christ say gives us life? Here is the answer:

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.(ASV)

So when Christ says “I will give my flesh for the life of the world”, what He is really saying, contradictory as it may sound to the natural man is, “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life”. “Eat this bread”, and “eat this book”, is one and the same thing. Again, the book in Rev 5 which the man on the throne gives to the Lamb, had this “little book… sealed” within it, detailing through the seals, trumpets, and vials, the trials and tribulations of “Christ in us” (Col 1:27).

Eze 2:10  And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

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

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.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

So the “little book” is sweet in our mouth, but it is bitter in our bellies. Christ is “the book of the life of the Lamb”, and our lives are the life of Christ in us. Our lives are the “little book” which we are told to eat, just as Christ told us to “eat my flesh… the true bread of life.” It is “out of the books” that we are “judged according to our works”.

Rev 13:8 And will worship him [the beast within us] all those dwelling on the earth, of which not has been written the name in the scroll of the life of the lamb of that having been killed, from a casting down of a world. (EDT) Emphatic Diaglott

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.

All of Christ’s words are good for us, and we will live by them all. But our lives are not sinless as was Christ’s life, and we will be judged out of those things which were written in the lesser books, according to how Christ has worked in us as the “little book”, as the Lord’s Christ, the Christ of Christ, the anointed of Christ.

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

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

Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

3) His right foot on the sea, and His left foot on the earth

Why does He “set His right foot on the sea, and His left foot on the earth”?

We saw that whatever is under one’s feet is subjected to that person. Christ has been given all power in heaven and in earth.

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

As such He is our King over our lives and over all we do.

Eph 1:22  And [The Father] hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

4) What are “the sea and the earth”?

We saw that “the sea and the earth” are those realms below the heavens. As such they are the realm of the temporal, and the realm of death. The earth is pushed up our of the sea, but both the sea and the earth are still below the heavens, and both oppose heavenly things and are the enemies of Christ.

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

5) The mighty angel cries with a loud voice, as a lion roars

Why does this mighty angel “cry with a loud voice, as when a lion roars”?

A lion roars only when he has taken his prey. The “roar of the lion” and having “the sea and the earth under His feet” are both compatible with Christ’s destruction of His enemy, “the body of this death”. Our salvation comes only through the death and destruction of our old man. Christ is roaring as a lion against our old man as He destroys and devours him:

Isa 31:4  For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey,when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.

Joh 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God [and we all have], him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Lam 2:5  The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up [apostate] Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation.

Lam 3:10  He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
Lam 3:11  He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.

Amo 3:4  Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
Amo 3:5  Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin [is] for him? shall [one] take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

6) The connection between the little book and the seven thunders

What is the connection between this “little book” and the seven thunders which are sealed up and not written?

We saw that this little book is introduced to us just before the seven thunders utter their voices. We also saw that John, the type and symbol of God’s elect, heard the voices of the seven thunders and “was about to write” what he had heard. If this little book is Christ and His Words in us, if John is the symbol of us and Christ in us, and if thunder typifies the wrath of God upon the unrighteousness of those who are to become His elect, then the connection between the revelation of this little book and the seven thunders, is the revelation of the work of Christ’s Words upon all that is within us which is contrary to those Words of Christ.

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.

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

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

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.

7) Seal up the seven thunders

What is it that has been “sealed up and are not written”? What exactly is thunder? Exactly what is it that we are not being allowed to know?

We saw that ‘thunder’ symbolizes the wrath of God, on all that withstands His Word and His Work.

Psa 18:7  Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
Psa 18:8  There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

Psa 18:13  The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

We saw that the Lord withholds nothing good from His elect.

Psa 34:10  The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God

We also saw that it is just after telling us that the thunder of God’s wrath will destroy all that is contrary to His Words within us, we are told that “the secret things belong to God”.

Deu 29:24  Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
Deu 29:25  Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
Deu 29:26  For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
Deu 29:27  And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
Deu 29:28  And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as [it is] this day.
Deu 29:29  The secret things [The seven thunders] belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed [as we are prepared to receive them] belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Compare these words of Deu 29 with these words of Rev 10.

Rev 10:2  And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
Rev 10:3  And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
Rev 10:4  And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

Since we are told that we will not be given more than we can bear, it is obvious that what the seven thunders utter is “the secret things” which belong to God, concerning that which lies ahead of us which we are not, at this moment, able to bear.

Joh 16:4  But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
Joh 16:5  But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
Joh 16:6  But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
Joh 16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Joh 16:8  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Joh 16:9  Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Joh 16:10  Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
Joh 16:11  Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

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].

We also saw the verses of God’s Word which promise to “prepare our hearts” before we are faced with any trial.

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:

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

It is only after we have been prepared, that we, with John, are given ears to hear the voices of the seven thunders and we are prepared for our trial which lies before us. But it is always sealed up, and we only hear it when the Lord has prepared out hearts to receive it:

Joh 16:12  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come [and has prepared your heart to bear The Truth], he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come [as we are made able to bear it].

Mar 4:33  And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.
Mar 4:34  But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

It is “not written” because it is a tailor-made trial for each of us alone at that moment. “The secret things belong to God who alone does knows what we will do tomorrow, but we do not know because “The secret things [of our trials and tests] belong to God… because we have forsaken the covenant of our fathers…  [so] seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not” because:

Jas 4:13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Jas 4:14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Jas 4:15  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Jas 4:16  But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Jas 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

We will pause here and continue our study on Rev, 10:5-11 Part 2 in our next study.

The Law of Moses Versus the Law of the Spirit – Part 21

[Study Aired April 14, 2024]

Understanding that the law was added to the law of the spirit because of transgressions of the law of the spirit helps us to see that the ‘lawful’ use of the law of Moses is to bring us to Christ:

Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

1Ti 1:8  But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
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;

The law of Moses is a “carnal commandment” (Heb 7:16) and it “is not for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient…” (1Ti 1:8, 9).

This should help us to appreciate, yes, appreciate, the function of Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth. Mystery Babylon sits upon all the kingdoms of this earth and is under the law.

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

All humanity, “all nations… the kings of the earth… the inhabitants of the earth” are all dominated by all the different religions of this earth. The one things all religions have in common is their rejection of the words of Christ, who has this to say to the multitudes of His own disciples:

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

Mystery Babylon is not just the Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist religions. Mystery Babylon is also “that great city… where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev 11:8). Mystery Babylon includes Christendom, still under the law, still under tutors and governors, still looking to men to tell them what God says just as Israel did at Mount Sinai. “And they said unto Moses, speak you with us and we will hear: but let not God speak with us lest we die” (Exo 20:19). Until we are willing to die, to be “crucified with Christ”, we will be under the law, “shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed” (Gal 3:23). That is the function of Mystery Babylon, to keep us under the law, no better than a slave to sin, under tutors and governors, under the elements of this world (Gal 4:1-3). Mystery Babylon claims to be Christian. She deals in “gold, and silver and precious stones… and souls of men.”

Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
Rev 18:13  And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

“Gold, silver and precious stones” which can under the right circumstances endure the fire (1Co 3:12,13), are good works and good doctrines. If we fail to see and acknowledge the sovereignty of God in “all things”, our righteousness (our “gold, silver and precious stones”) becomes as ‘self-righteous’ “filthy rags” in God’s sight:

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

Mystery Babylon is full of “righteous… good works”, and it is these “good works” which provide the “strong delusion” which “God shall send” to those who “received not the love of the truth… That they all might be damned who believe not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

This “unrighteousness” is not blatant. It is so subtle, it is called “strong delusion”. It will all be accomplished through keeping the law, “and when the woman [Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots] saw that the tree [the law] was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes [an outward display of righteousness and nourishment] and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Gen 3:6).

The woman giving the law, the ministration of death, to her husband is the slovenly tendency of most “sons of God” to allow the church, “princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown” (Num 16:2) to tell them what to do instead of having a personal relationship with God through personal knowledge of His word. These are those who have not come out of Babylon. Their obedience is not based on the love of God (1Jo 5:2-3), but on outward signs like Sabbath (or Sunday) observance. They “observe days and months and times and years” (Gal 4:10). Thus, they testify against themselves that they have not yet entered into rest. “For we which have believed do enter into rest…” (Heb 4:3). These are those who call Israel according to the flesh God’s chosen people. God, of course, has said they are His “broken off people” (Rom 11:17-20) who  “shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman” (Gal 4:30). Thus, they testify against themselves that they are not the sons of the freewoman but are still “under the law” (Gal 4:21).

Thus Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots is serving God’s purpose. She is raising up “false christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, she shall deceive the very elect” (Mat 24:24). It will all be accomplished through literal physical miracles and through “the law”, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

In the keeping of the law Mystery Babylon will, in spite of herself, be used as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. She will keep us under tutors and governors; no more than a slave to sin, “until the time appointed of the Father” (Gal 4:1-2).

You “by the letter… doest transgress the law”:

Rom 2:27  And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

“The letter”, the law of Moses, is obviously not the law of the spirit of God. The law of Moses is rather a type and shadow of God’s spiritual law:

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

A ‘shadow’ blots out the light of the sun and that is the intended function of the law of Moses.

If we insist upon returning to the law, we are refusing to, “leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ, and we are refusing to “go on unto perfection. [We are] laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God”. It is insidious seduction because we are actually teaching “the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment”. And yet we “are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat, and we are unskilful in the word of righteousness because we are still a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are full of age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb 5:11-14). Yes, God intended all along that we should become like Him to know and discern both good and evil.

Gen 3:22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law [“the knowledge of good and evil”]: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Rom 7:8  But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

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.

Remember it was “to those… which believed on Him” that he said “I know ye are Abraham’s seed, but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you” (Joh 8:31-37).

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue [G3306: meno, abide] 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? [Self-righteous ‘Christians’ who “believe on Christ” but have no place in them for His doctrine]
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 [You Jews which believe on Me].

If Christ were here in the flesh today it would still be those ‘Christians who believe on Him’ who would want to kill Him for saying “Love thine enemies” (Mat 5:43-44).

It is indeed “strong meat” to come to understand that both the good and the evil are of God, and that it is through this ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’,  the law which shows us our sins, whose fruit is death, that we are brought to Christ, the tree of life, and sin and death are destroyed:

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

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.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him through death [Not ‘from death’] , and was heard in that he feared.

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

How could anyone say or even suggest that we should not, as mature Christians, post the Ten Commandments in our churches and in our schools and in our public buildings and instruct all to live by this Biblical code of conduct? If everyone, everywhere, made a conscious effort to keep and live by the Ten Commandments, would not most of the problems of our land disappear as a result? Would God not then bless us as a nation and make us a blessing to all nations? Are the Ten Commandments the solution to all immorality and sin? The answer to all of these questions is ‘Yes, obeying the ten commandments makes for a peaceful society, but, no, the ten commandments absolutely are not the solution to all immorality and sin. Death still reigns supreme, and the law was never designed to deal with the hearts and minds of mankind. All it was ever intended to do was to show us our sins and to make them appear “exceedingly sinful”:

Rom 7:9  For I was alive [the dead burying their dead] without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died [Realized I wasn’t really alive after all].
Rom 7:10  And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
Rom 7:11  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it [the letter of the commandments] slew me.
Rom 7:12  Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Rom 7:13  Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

The law has been tried before, and it has failed every time. Keeping the law may indeed produce a well mannered society, as compared to a completely lawless society, but the righteousness of law keeping is “mine own righteousness… my righteousness which is by the law”:

Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

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:

Ancient Israel thought that they could live perfect lives by keeping God’s Ten Commandments. They failed miserably. The Pharisees thought that they could become righteous in the eyes of God by keeping the law and the Ten Commandments. Jesus said that they will NOT be in the Kingdom of God. Modern Ireland, divided by Protestantism and Catholicism, are slaughtering each other under this same system. Peter said it all when he called this law a YOKE “which neither our fathers NOR WE were able to bear” (Act 15:10).

Act 15:10  Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

There is a better much lighter ‘yoke:

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

In Hebrews 7:16 we are told that the law which established the Levitical priesthood and all that that priesthood represented and taught (including the ten commandments), was “a carnal commandment.” Even the most holy and solemn day of the entire year, when the high priest entered the holy place to sprinkle blood for all the sins of Israel, all these ordinances are called “a carnal commandment.” We are told in no uncertain terms by the apostle Paul that, “To be ‘carnally minded’ is DEATH…”:

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death [Being under sin… under the law (Gal 3:22-25)]; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

The laws of Moses are carnal commandments; the priests were carnal; the people were carnal; and the result has always been, is now, and always will be, DEATH! “The law [of Moses] is NOT MADE FOR A RIGHTEOUS MAN, but for the lawless and disobedient” (1Ti 1:9). The law of Moses is not made for a righteous man!! It is “the ministration of death” (2Co 3:7). There is something better, much better!

Do not confuse the Ten Commandments of the Old Covenant with the Law of the spirit of God of the New Covenant. When will we finally come to believe that there really is a NEW Covenant with NEW laws, and that it is NOT fashioned after the OLD Covenant?

Jer 31:31  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:32  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my [“but I say unto you…” (Matthew 5)] law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

This “New” Covenant is “not according to” the Old Covenant (Heb 8:9),  and the Old Covenant WAS “…even TEN COMMANDMENTS… written upon two tables of stone” (Deu 4:13).  But this “New Covenant” does have laws. Oh, yes it does! Heb 8:10 – “Imparting my LAWS… on their HEARTS…” The Ten Commandments were written on stones, not on hearts. The laws of the New Covenant are (1) NOT IN ACCORD with the laws of the Old Covenant, (2) Different from the old law from which we “died” and now are “exempted” (Rom 7:4, 6), (3) Spiritual laws (Rom 7:14) and (4) they are written “ON THEIR  [OUR] HEARTS” (Heb 8:10).

Let me give you just one (there are dozens) simple little scriptural truth to prove once and for all that the Spiritual laws of God are NOT the Ten Commandments. Anything spiritual or spirit is ETERNAL. God’s spiritual laws ARE eternal. The Ten Commandments are temporal. They are being “taken away”, “done away”, “fading away”, not to be continued. The fourth commandment tells us: “six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work…” (Exo 20:9). Is anyone so ignorant as to suggest that we will work six days out of every seven for the rest of eternity? The law of the spirit on the other hand teaches that in Christ we now to be “entering into His rest” every day:

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.

We are told that along with the change in the priesthood, there was also a necessity for a change in the law:

Heb 7:12  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

There is no such thing as spiritually keeping a carnal law. Jesus wears a NEW garment and a new priestly robe:

Luk 5:36  And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.
Luk 5:37  And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
Luk 5:38  But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.

This new garment is NOT according to that of Levi, but according to that of Melchizedek. Under the New Covenant we have a NEW priesthood, a NEW High Priest and NEW laws. NONE of them are reworkings or modifications of the old – they are NEW.

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.

These “new… things” are the true High Priest and the true spiritual laws of God, not just the shadow. The physical priesthood and carnal laws of Israel were but an inferior type of the spiritual and the heavenly realities that we have in Christ Jesus.

Heb 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [“The blood of calves and goats” (vs 19)]; but the heavenly things themselves [our hearts and minds] with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself [“Ye are the temple of God” (1Co 3:15-16)], now to appear in the presence of God for us:

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

The true temple and the True Priest are both new, they are both spiritual, and they are far, far superior to a physical temple and a carnal priest. The true temple and the True Priest give us life, and not death.

2Co 3:10  For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

Those who are now being regenerated and recreated into the very sons of God, becoming a NEW CREATION, are fully aware of the need for laws – spiritual laws. And God has provided them for us: the Law of God, the Law of Christ, the Law of the Spirit, the Law of faith, the Law of righteousness, the Law of liberty and the Law of life. All these must be in our minds and in our hearts, or we are “none of His.”

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit [mind] of Christ, he is none of his.

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Thank God that we are free from works of the carnal law, but we are anything but free from the works of God’s spiritual laws. In fact, it is through “good works” that we are, “His workmanship”:

Rom 6:17  In the past you were slaves to sin—sin controlled you. But thank God, you fully obeyed the things that were taught to you.
Rom 6:18  You were made free from sin. And now you are slaves to goodness (right living). (ERV)

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

Avoid the proverbial swing of the pendulum, and submit yourself to the perfect balance of God. We are not here to become righteous through works of the Old Testament Laws, thinking we have a free will that is able to do right if God will just give us a little encouragement. Not true! Neither are we here to sit back and do nothing, thinking there are no laws and that there is nothing we must do. God’s goal which is now “working after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11) is to SAVE “all in Adam” (1Co 15:22). And what is so amazing is that He proposes to do it “through [our] mercy” the mercy which will be shown to this world via the body of Christ:

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 “through your mercy”] he might have mercy upon all.

Now if any should think that the highest offices and the highest calling in the universe requires no training, think again. Time and again Jesus has said, “To him that overcometh…” Overcome what? The WORLD and OURSELVES! This is NEW Covenant teaching. No one under the Old Covenant had to overcome the world and overcome themselves. But then again, the only promises they could receive were physical, temporary, blessings of the land.

We must overcome “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”. That’s all. But that is a lot! In fact, that’s “ALL that is in the world” (1Jn 2:16).

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.

Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD” (Joh 16:33). We must do likewise:

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.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

“For whosoever is born of God OVERCOMETH THE WORLD…” (1Jn 5:4). And what is our reward for overcoming the world? Is it physical, temporary blessing of plenty of food, good health and protection from our enemies? Hardly.

Here are the ultimate goals and promises according to the New Covenant:

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.

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

Rev 2:17  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 hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

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.
Rev 2:28  And I will give him the morning star.

Rev 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

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

Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

These promises are only to the Lord’s overcomers, His elect, and they are all summed up in this ultimate promise:

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

May The Lord give us all to esteem the reproach of Christ greater than the riches of this world and may he give us all to respect the recompence of these rewards:

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.

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

[Study Aired January 10, 2024]

Oba 1:6  How^H349 are the things of Esau^H6215 searched out!^{H2664 (H8738 Niphal)} how are his hidden things^H4710 sought up!^{H1158 (H8738 Niphal)}

H349 – Ake, how, prolonged from H335, Ahee, where, whence, which, how, perhaps from H370, Ahyin, where, whence, probably identical with a primitive root H369, Ahyin, nothing, not, nought, have not, without, for lack of

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

H2664 – Khaphas, (Niphal) A primitive root; to seek; causatively to conceal oneself (that is, let be sought), or mask: – change, (make) diligent (search), disguise self, hide, search (for, out).

H4710 – Mitspoon, hidden treasure, treasure, from a primitive root H6845, Tsaphan, to hide, treasure, treasure/store up, lie hidden, lurk, to be hidden, be stored up

H1158 – Ba`ah, (Niphal) to be searched out, be swelling, bulging, swelling out, a primitive root to boil

This verse has only five Hebrew words. The phrase in italics –  “the things”  – is added to the scripture, so including the original Hebrew and root words where possible, the verse reads:

Oba 1:6  How is Esau disguised! That which is hidden in secret (lurking) is to be searched out (boiled).

In this study we will look at the following Hebrew words:

[1] H6845 (Tsaw-fan) meaning to hide treasure, store up, lurk

[2] H5641 (saw-thar’) meaning to hide/conceal (by covering)

[3] H1158 (baw-aw) meaning to boil, swell out, inquire

[4] H2821 (khaw-shak’) meaning to be dark

If we have been given eyes to see, we are privileged to be given to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of God in this age. His mysteries are revealed to us as we begin to see who Esau really is. The man of sin is not out there somewhere.  Instead, he is right under our noses sitting in the temple of God declaring he is God. The man of sin/ the man of lawlessness/ the son of perdition is the person in the mirror. He is Anthony Grace for Anthony Grace, and he is you for you. Esau is disguised, just as the man of sin is disguised. Because Christ has given us eyes to see, we begin to search out that which has been hidden in secret, like being able to see the creature in camouflage, the lion in the grasses of the savannah, the chameleon among the leaves of a tree, etc.

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.

1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

In Revelation we read these words:

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.

It is because of the gift of His faith within us, not of our own fabled ‘freewill’ faith, that He reveals the deep and secret things.

Dan 2:20  Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
Dan 2:21  And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Dan 2:22  He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him

In Obadiah vs 6 the word for ‘hidden things’ is H4710 and only appears once in the Old Testament. It comes from the root word H6845 (Tsaw-fan) meaning to hide, protect, den oneself up, lay up, lurk. Here is the positive application of the word:

Psa 27:4  One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
Psa 27:5  For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

A similar word for hide, and the root word from the word ‘secret’ used in Daniel 2:22, is H5641 (saw-thar’) meaning to hide/conceal (by covering).

Jer 16:17  For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid^H5641 from my face, neither is their iniquity hid^H6845 from mine eyes.
Jer 16:18  And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

Jer 23:23  Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
Jer 23:24  Can any hide [H5641] himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

The hidden things of Esau are searched out. Nothing can hide from God. No secrets can be kept from God because he is a God “at hand”. The word for searched out is H1158 (baw-aw) meaning to boil, swell out, inquire. Here is how the word is used in Isaiah:

Isa 30:13  Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out^H1158 in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
Isa 30:14  And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.

…and…

Isa 64:2  As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil^H1158, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!
Isa 64:3  When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
Isa 64:4  For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
Isa 64:5  Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Why is the fire used to cause the waters to boil? To make His name known that the nations may tremble at His presence! The fire is what uncovers the darkness in us. It is what uncovers the hidden truth of our filthy rags and exposes us for what we really are in the flesh; an unclean thing.

For many (because many are called and few are chosen) this truth remains hidden, concealed, in darkness. However, we have been given Christ’s light to expose the darkness. The word for ‘darkness’ appears as H2822 with the root word H2821 [khaw-shak’] meaning to be dark (as withholding light); transitively to darken: – be black, be (make) dark, darken, cause darkness, be dim, hide

Mic 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
Mic 7:9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Mic 7:10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she [Babylon within each of us] be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

Pro 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Jer 13:15  Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath spoken.
Jer 13:16  Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
Jer 13:17  But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.

It is the pride of our old man that is being exposed. We have been given to be obedient to the commandment above: “be not proud.”

The reason we can “be not proud” is because our garments have been exposed as filthy rags. It is our heart that is being exposed by the light and changed:

Jol 2:12  Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
Jol 2:13  And rend (revile, tear) your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil

The man of sin, the son of perdition is our old man (within). We are to rend our hearts as we die daily because the old cannot agree with the new:

Luk 5:36  And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent (rend/tear), and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.

Just as Esau hated his brother, Jacob, the old man hates (is in opposition to) the new man.

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

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

Psa 17:8  Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Psa 17:9  From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
Psa 17:10  They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
Psa 17:11  They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
Psa 17:12  Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword.

Our new man will be delivered, just as Jacob was able to escape from Esau’s wrath. As the elect of Christ, we are able ministers who keep His word. He does not hide His commandments from us. He commands that we delight in His word/ His testimonies. It is His word that strengthens us to remain true to it.

Psa 119:17  Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
Psa 119:18  Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
Psa 119:19  I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
Psa 119:20  My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
Psa 119:21  Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.
Psa 119:22  Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.
Psa 119:23  Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
Psa 119:24  Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.
Psa 119:25  DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.
Psa 119:26  I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.
Psa 119:27  Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
Psa 119:28  My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word

The words of Christ are delivered/ revealed to His Bride:

Isa 29:12  And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
Isa 29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Isa 29:14  Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work [H6381] among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven are revealed to us, and this indeed is a marvellous work. This marvellous work is very distinguishing. We cannot take any credit for dethroning the son of perdition/the old man/ the carnal mind in our heavens. All this marvellous work is being orchestrated by our creator.

H6381 
פָּלָא pâlâ'(paw-law’)
A primitive root; properly perhaps to separate, that is, distinguish.

There are a few different Greek words for separate, here is one example:

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate [G873], saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

It is only when we are given to start distinguishing/separating ourselves from the old man (from the carnal mind and false doctrines of Babylon) that the son of perdition (Esau in disguise) begins to be revealed within us. 

It is important to keep in mind that Jacob and Esau were twin brothers, and it was difficult to distinguish them apart. Even Isaac had a tough time distinguishing Esau from Jacob, and discerned the difference not:

Gen 27:21  And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.
Gen 27:22  And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.
Gen 27:23  And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him

Discerning truth from error is an important aspect of being an “able minister” of Christ:

Heb 5:11  Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
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.

We are commanded to try the spirits.

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (G1381) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

G1381 δοκιμάζω [dok-im-ad’-zo]

to test (literally or figuratively); by implication to approve: – allow, discern, examine.

This same word [tried: G1381] appears in 1 Peter 1:7.

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

We are being tried with fire as we die daily and as we come to see that Esau is disguised as the old man in us. Our old man is decreasing as Christ increases in us so we may become a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

This process of being transformed by the renewing of our mind is Christ in us, disentangling us from the doctrines of Babylon. While at times it may be difficult to separate truth from falsehood, when we have Christ’s brightness, it becomes as clear as day just how distinct/separate the two are.

Luk 6:22  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
Luk 6:23  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Conclusion and Spiritual principle: We have been given to know/discern this mystery: The man of sin/the son of perdition is the “old man” disguised within.

We are encouraged to know we serve a God who is a “God at hand” interested in our lives and aware of all our hidden aspects. He is orchestrating the gradual process of rending our hearts so we may die daily as we, bit by bit, are separated from our old ways.

Jer 51:33-48  The Sea is Come Upon Babylon

[Study Aired October 23, 2022]

Jer 51:33  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
Jer 51:34  Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
Jer 51:35  The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
Jer 51:36  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
Jer 51:37  And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
Jer 51:38  They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.
Jer 51:39  In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
Jer 51:40  I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
Jer 51:41  How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
Jer 51:42  The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
Jer 51:43  Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
Jer 51:44  And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
Jer 51:45  My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
Jer 51:46  And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
Jer 51:47  Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
Jer 51:48  Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
Jer 51:49  As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

The first verse of our study, for those who are given eyes that see and ears that hear “the things of the spirit”, demonstrates that the time of threshing and the time of harvest are both just different ways of speaking of the day of our being judged:

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

Being in Babylon is just like being in Christ. If we are in Him, then He is also within us:

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

The same is true with Mystery Babylon and the adversary who is worshiped by Babylon:

Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Jer 51:34  Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
Jer 51:35  The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

It is Satan himself who tells us that God has given him to be “the god of this world”:

Luk 4:5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

‘The sum of [the Lord’s] Word’ reveals that the power Satan has is no power of his own, and he is nothing more than ‘the Lord’s hand’:

Job 1:9  Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Job 1:10  Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
Job 1:11  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:4  And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:5  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
Act 4:29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

Just because we are informed that the crucifixion of our Lord was by the “hand and… counsel” of God does not mean that this is a one-time thing where the Father stepped into the affairs of mankind and caused a major event to work according to His will. No, it was not a one-time event. These words are telling us that God works all things, after the counsel of His own will and not ours:

Satan is empowered and limited by our Lord. Satan does exactly and only what he is given to do. Therefore, even all the evil in this world is actually “the Lord ruling in the kingdoms of men” via “the god of this world… [His] hand”:

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

Who are the Lord’s ‘watchers’? If we are in Christ, then we are His watchers and His watchmen:

Isa 21:6  For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

Eze 3:17  Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

Eze 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

Christ and Paul tell us to be “watchers”:

Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Act 20:28  Take heed [watch] therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

1Co 16:13  Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

Whether we ‘watch and warn’ the Lord’s flock or we fail to do so and we become a “grievous wolf” it will be the Lord’s “predestinated… work”, working all things after the counsel of His own will:

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:

Fortunately for us, the outcome of this battle in our heavens does not depend upon our strength or our fabled ‘free’ will because the Lord wants us all to know:

Php 2:13  For [G1063: ‘gar’, assigning a reason, because] it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Therefore, if we will to ‘work out our own salvation with fear and trembling’ we do so only because it is the Lord working in us “both to will and to do of His good pleasure”, and we have no right to glory in our corruptible flesh.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Jer 51:36  Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
Jer 51:37  And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
Jer 51:38  They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.
Jer 51:39  In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.

Mystery Babylon is the second beast of Revelation 13. The first beast comes up out of the sea, which symbolizes all of mankind:

Isa 60:5  Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea [mankind] shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

Jer 51:42  The sea [the nations] is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Mystery Babylon is signified by another beast which comes up out of the earth:

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Mystery Babylon is secret Babylon because she appears as a lamb, but she speaks as a dragon. ‘The earth’ out of which she is coming is religious mankind who claim to know God but who “speak as a dragon” by spreading the lies of the great red dragon with all her false, lying doctrines.

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

Mystery Babylon is a mystery because the various religions and denominations within those religions are all confused, and they are pointing at each other and calling each other Mystery, Babylon the Great. The Lord has put it into the hearts of the “ten horns” on the beast that comes up “out of the sea” to rebel against the hegemony and the dominance of religion, and to throw off that influence and dominance. That change of heart toward this spiritual whore is expressed and signified with these words:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The words of warning against ancient Babylon are spiritually applicable to Mystery Babylon:

Jer 51:40  I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
Jer 51:41  How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
Jer 51:42  The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
Jer 51:43  Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

The only other place the name ‘Sheshach’ appears is in:

Jer 25:26  And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
Jer 25:27  Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.

This 25^th chapter of Jeremiah concerns the seven last plagues which are called ‘the wine cup of [the Lord’s] fury”:

Jer 25:15  For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
Jer 25:16  And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
Jer 25:17  Then took I the cup at the LORD’S hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:

“Sheshach” is obviously an epithet for Babylon. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this name and its origins:

“From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Sheshach (Hebrew: ששך), whose king is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in Jeremiah 25:26, is supposed to be equivalent to Babel (Babylon), according to a secret mode of writing practiced among the Jews of unknown antiquity, which consisted in substituting the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet for the first, the next to last one for the second, and so on. Thus the letters sh, sh, ch become b, b, l, i.e., Babel (see: Atbash cipher).^[1] This code is called the Atbash Cipher and was utilized to decrypt.

The city “Sheshach” does not appear on any map nor in any other documents, save the book of Jeremiah. The Atbash Cipher was applied and out of “Sheshach” came the word “Babel”. This is supposed to be confirmed by a reference to Jeremiah 51:41, where Sheshach and Babylon are in parallel clauses. There seems to be no reason to doubt that Babylon is here intended by this name. “ (End Quote)

Jer 51:44  And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

For Jeremiah to prophesy, “the wall of Babylon shall fall” at the time he made this prophecy would be like me prophesying that all the religions of this world will be destroyed at the appearing of the Lord. At that time, it simply did not appear possible that the wall of Babylon would ever fall. The same is true for Mystery Babylon today. It appears impossible that orthodox, historical Christianity, the largest single religion on earth, and Islam, the second largest religion on earth, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and any other religions of mankind, including the religion of Atheism, will all fall before the power of “the Lord and His Christ”, and yet that is exactly what the scriptures foretell:

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

Jer 51:45  My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
Jer 51:46  And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

These words repeat the admonitions of verses 6-8 earlier in this same chapter:

Jer 51:6  Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
Jer 51:7  Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
Jer 51:8  Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

It is the inspired words of verses 6-8 and verses 45-46 which inspired the apostle John to give us the same admonition:

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

Jer 51:47  Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

Verses 17-18 make it very clear that idols signify “falsehood[s]… the work of errors”:

Jer 51:17  Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
Jer 51:18  They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

All the lying false doctrines of all the religions of this world are at this very moment being exposed and rejected by the secular societies of every nation on this earth. The Lord has put it in their hearts to do His will and to turn against all the religions of mankind and to begin their destruction.

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The false doctrines of every religion on earth have “reigned over the kings of the earth” for thousands of years, but the Lord is preparing this world to forsake all its religions and to learn to live under the rod of iron which will be wielded by “the Lord and His Christ”:

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

“The time of their visitation“ of Jeremiah 51:18 is the same as “the time of the Lord’s vengeance” in verse 6:

Jer 51:6  Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.

Jer 51:48  Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.

This verse is telling us that the heavens and the earth and all that therein is, shall sing for the fall and the destruction of Mystery Babylon the Great.

The destruction of all the lies of the great harlot, of which I was a true believer, was the greatest ‘earthquake’ ever to take place in my life. I remember telling Sandi that I had come to realize there was no ‘stay of bread nor any stay of water’ in any doctrines of any of the churches we had ever attended.

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,

‘The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water’ both signify the Word of God (Joh 6:51 and Eph 5:26). What we are being told here is that not even one doctrine of Babylon, including the death and resurrection of our Lord, is untainted by the lying false doctrines of Mystery Babylon the Great. The fact is that Mystery Babylon doesn’t believe that Christ died on the cross. Their false doctrine teaches us that Christ possessed an immortal soul which could not die and instead went to heaven to be with His Father, or He went to paradise to be with the thief, or He went to preach to spirits in prison. So even the most basic doctrine of scripture which teaches that Christ died for our sins is perverted and denied by the lying error of the idols of the heart of the ministers of Babylon.

Coming to understand just how deceived I had been was both devastating, and at the same time it was exhilarating, because the casting out of all those lies was the beginning of Christ assuming His throne in my heart and mind, and it was the beginning of being given eyes that could see and ears that could hear the things of the spirit.

My experience is common to every one of you. We have all been dragged to where we are, and remaining faithful to the Word of God is a fiery experience which costs us the friendship of this entire world.

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

It is the adulterous attitude of going along with the traditions of men to get along with men which turns us all into spiritual “adulterers and adulteresses”. Christ did not go along with the doctrines and traditions of men in His day to get along with the people of His day. He broke the sabbath, and He maintained that He was the Son of God, and for that Mystery Babylon said He must die:

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

What great love the Father has bestowed upon us that we also should be called “the sons of God”:

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

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

The resurrection of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, struck such fear in the hearts of “the great men of [Mystery] Babylon”, that they plotted to kill both Lazarus and Christ. Just imagine the fear that will strike the hearts of the men of Babylon the Great when Christ Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and all the saints of God from the days of Christ until the day of His appearing shall rise up out of their graves and meet the Lord in the sight of the whole world!!!

Joh 12:9  Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.
Joh 12:10  But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;
Joh 12:11  Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.

Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

This is the “even so” that Christ’s Father sent Him “into the world” to accomplish, and this is what Christ is now sending us to accomplish:

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

That is why you and I have come into this world. We have been sent by God to be Saviors upon Mount Zion:

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.

Jer 50:16-32  Every Shipmaster Cried When They Saw the Smoke of Her Burning

[Study Aired September 25, 2022]

Jer 50:16  Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
Jer 50:17  Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
Jer 50:18  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
Jer 50:19  And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
Jer 50:20  In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
Jer 50:21  Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
Jer 50:22  A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
Jer 50:23  How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
Jer 50:24  I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.
Jer 50:25  The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
Jer 50:26  Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.
Jer 50:27  Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
Jer 50:28  The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.
Jer 50:29  Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
Jer 50:30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.
Jer 50:31  Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
Jer 50:32  And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.

It is while we are yet in our sins, and while we are yet in Mystery Babylon the Great, that the Lord begins to deliver us from that great harlot, and He begins the painful, fiery process of dragging us out of her:

Mic 4:10  Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

When the Lord begins to cause us to question the doctrines of Mystery Babylon, He is at that point beginning to “cut off the sowers from Babylon”, and He is beginning to cut off “him that handles the sickle in time of harvest” while we are still in Babylon. It is “there [where we] shall be delivered, there the Lord shall [begin to] redeem [us] from the hand of [our] enemies”.

Just as Christ has His own sowers and reapers, both being His anointed, His Christ, so Babylon has her sowers and reapers who first appear to us as angels of light:

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
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.

The ministers of Babylon “sit in Moses’ seat”, and we give them our attention and respect at that time of our journey through this experience of evil (Ecc 1:13). However, they will be rewarded “according to their works”:

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Jer 50:16  Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.

“The sower” in Christ’s parable of the sower is the positive application of this phrase. He and His Christ are those who sow His word in His field.

“Him that handles the sickle” is the person who gathers in the fruits of the harvest. ‘The harvest’ is the time of judgment, when ‘all the tares are gathered together first to be burned’:

Mat 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
Mat 13:27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
Mat 13:28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. “The harvest” is the day of judgment. Therefore, when the ‘Householder’ tells His servants to “let them both grow together until the harvest”, He is telling His servants to let those who like their lives in Babylon to stay there until He begins to drag them out:

Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time [of the harvest, the time of judgment] is at hand.
Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

“Let them grow together until the harvest”.

In the case of spiritual Babylon, the ‘reapers’ would be the ‘enemy’, the ravenous wolves who scatter and devour the Lord’s flock with false doctrines, charging them and making them pay for all their lies, while also demanding and exacting tithes and offerings from the Lord’s flock.

It all takes place within our own lives, and it will take place outwardly in what Jeremiah is inspired to call “the time of harvest”. ‘The time of harvest’ is the time of the Lord’s wrath upon all the ‘sowers and handlers of the sickle’ who will all be “judged, according to their works”. I repeat:

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Here is the New Testament version of this time of judgment, both now in “the house of God” and at the great white throne judgment:

Rev 18:14  And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
Rev 18:15  The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
Rev 18:16  And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
Rev 18:17  For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
Rev 18:18  And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Rev 18:19  And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

The Lord’s elect are “the apple of His eye” even when He is in the process of judging and purifying them, and he will judge those whom He uses to judge His people:

Jer 50:17  Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
Jer 50:18  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
Jer 50:19  And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.

‘Carmel and Bashan, mount Ephraim and Gilead’ are all the inheritance of ancient Israel through the promises the Lord made to Abraham. As such they now signify the Lord’s inheritance in the saints:

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

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Jer 50:20  In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve. [H7604: ‘shaar’, remnant]

This verse makes it very clear that the Lord has “reserved… a remnant to [Himself]” as the Lord told Elijah and as Paul reiterated concerning ‘this present time’:

1Ki 19:18  Yet I have left [H7604: ‘shaar’, remnant] me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

Rom 11:4  But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

‘Seven thousand’ is not the precise number of the Lord’s remnant elect. Rather ‘seven thousand’ signifies the complete complement of the Lord’s remnant elect whom He has and will “reserve unto Himself” even as Babylon is being judged.

Eph 1:23 which is His body, the complement of the One completing the all in all. (CLV)

Eph 3:19 to know the love of Christ as well which transcends knowledge – that you may be completed for the entire complement of God. (CLV)

Eph 4:13 unto the end that we should all attain to the unity of the faith and of the realization of the son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the complement of the Christ, (CLV)

Jer 50:21  Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

This command to “Go up against the land of Merathaim” is just another command of the Lord for the destroyers of Babylon to ‘go up’ and do what the Lord had predestined to be done. The meaning of the name itself reveals that Merathaim is just another name for Babylon:

H4850
מְרָתַיִם
merâthayim
mer-aw-thah’-yim
Dual of H4751 feminine; double bitterness; Merathajim, an epithet of Babylon: – Merathaim.

How does the Lord reward Mystery Babylon within us?

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

Jer 50:22  A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.

“The sound of battle… and of great destruction [is] in the land” in His elect. Speaking specifically of the Lord’s judgments upon His elect we are told:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

What is this “everlasting gospel”? What is this ‘good news’?

Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Blessed are all who “offer [their] bodies as a living sacrifice unto God”, and blessed are all who “die daily”, and are “crucified with Christ… in this present time” (Rom 12:1, 1Co 15:31, Gal 2:20, Rom 8:18)

Physical ancient Babylon was the most powerful nation on earth at that time. Nebuchadnezzar conquered Tyre and Egypt, two of the greatest powers of that time:

Eze 26:7  For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
Eze 26:8  He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.

Eze 30:10  Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.

Mystery Babylon has also been given “all nations” to partake of her adulterous fornications against the Lord and His Christ:

Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Jer 50:23  How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

How is the destruction of such powerful nations accomplished? This is how it is done:

Jer 50:24  I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.
Jer 50:25  The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

The Lord’s ‘armoury’ is so well equipped that no past, present or future military power could ever hope to escape the day of His visitation.

Jer 50:26  Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.
Jer 50:27  Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

Babylon’s ‘bullocks’ are those who sacrifice themselves for the doctrines of this great harlot system, just as the Lord’s bullocks are those who present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1)

‘The day of the Lord’s visitation’, like every other Word of God, has both a positive and a negative application. “The time of their [Babylon’s] visitation” is the negative application which results in her utter destruction for her rebellious self-righteousness.

Jer 50:28  The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.

‘Vengeance’ is a Biblical doctrine. However, it never originates from those who know that the Lord has made all things, the good and the evil, for Himself, that everything is beautiful in His time; that all things are  being worked by the Lord after the counsel of His own will, and that no man can resist His will:

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

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.

2Ch 20:5  And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court,
2Ch 20:6  And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen?  and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

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

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:

If the Lord grants us the faith to believe that He is working all things after the counsel of His own will, then it will be much easier for us to also accept these words:

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

As a parent, nothing upset me more than for my children to usurp my position and authority and take it upon themselves to discipline their siblings. Discipline belongs to those who are given that responsibility. Vengeance belongs to the Lord, and the Lord’s vengeance will accomplish His good purpose in all things for all men. The Lord’s vengeance applies to each of us also because “all have sinned… and of the people there was… none righteous, no, not one”:

Isa 63:3  I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
Isa 63:4  For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

Here is a new testment take on revenge.

2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

When we read pronouns like ‘their’, ‘them’ and ‘they’, put your name there because it includes you and me as in Psalm 14:3.

Psa 14:2  The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
Psa 14:3  They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

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

“All have sinned”, and all men must go into the religious system called ‘Mystery Babylon’, and all men must “come out of her” (Rev 18:4). Babylon is not just the Christian religion. Babylon is any and every and all religion which has rebelled against the covenant the Lord made with “Noah… and his seed after him”:

Gen 9:8  And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9  And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

Remember that even Adam and Eve were in covenant with God before they became of their father the devil. Whether they are aware of it or not, all men are in covenant with God, and all men have broken that covenant with God and have entered into “Mystery Babylon The Great, The Mother of Harlots and of Abominations of the Earth”:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Those words certainly apply to Christianity, first and foremost, but Christianity is not the only religion which hates the doctrines of Christ. Every religion, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and the religion of Atheism, one and all, are “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus”. That is why Christ died for all men, and that is why “His Christ… dies daily… for His body’s sake which is the church”:

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

Because Babylon so detests Christ and is drunk with the blood of His martyrs, Mystery Babylon must be destroyed and burned out of every man:

Jer 50:29  Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.

We have already demonstrated that ‘archers’ signify teachers and ‘arrows’ signify doctrines, good or evil. Babylon within us abuses the Lord’s ‘arrows’ and disobeys His doctrines even as we teach them. Therefore, those same ‘arrows’ will be used to judge Babylon:

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

All the ‘holy men’ of this present time also “sit in Moses’ seat” because they are all “under the law”, be it the law of Moses or the law of the Gentiles. In the eyes of Christ there is no difference as the apostle Paul explained:

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15  Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

Paul goes on to demonstrate that the law of Moses is nothing more than “a carnal commandment… the form of knowledge and of the Truth in the law”.

Rom 2:19  And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
Rom 2:20  An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

Here is the Greek word translated as ‘form’ in this verse:

G3446
μόρφωσις
morphōsis
mor’-fo-sis
From G3445; formation, that is, (by implication) appearance (semblance or [concretely] formula): – form.

This word appears only one other time in the New Testament, and it conveys the same message:

2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Paul speaks of the works of Mystery Babylon “in the last days” in these words:

2Ti 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

The “form of godliness” they have is the law which they are under, and it is not “the law of Christ”, rather it is “a carnal commandment”:

Heb 7:15  And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
Heb 7:16  Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

Even Moses condemns us when we place ourselves under His dominion as those in Mystery Babylon do:

Job 15:6  Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.

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

Again, the punishment for our sins is double “according to [our] works”:

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

Jer 50:30  Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.

We are witnessing both the inward and the outward fulfillment of this verse as we witness the fiery destruction of all the false doctrines of Babylon from within our heavens, and as we watch the secular world turn on her and expose her naked hypocrisy, and eat the flesh of Mystery Babylon, and burn her with the fire of her own words:

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, [all religions of men] which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Jer 50:31  Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.

I must repeat, “the day of visitation”, like every Word of God, has both a positive and a negative application, but as despised as this Truth is, the overwhelming weight of the scriptures is always the negative application and for a very good reason, because the flesh is so quick to forget and to minimize the consequences of sin:

Psa 89:32  Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

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

Jer 50:32  And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.

It is the time of the Lord’s visitation upon Mystery Babylon, and the day of His judgment, and His vengeance. Nevertheless, the end is a good end when the Lord will visit us for our good:

Deu 8:16  Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

Jer 15:15  O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

Jer 27:22  They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.

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

[Study Aired May 22, 2022]

Jer 39:1  In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
Jer 39:2  And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.
Jer 39:3  And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.
Jer 39:4  And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain.
Jer 39:5  But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
Jer 39:6  Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.
Jer 39:7  Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
Jer 39:8  And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.
Jer 39:9  Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained.
Jer 39:10  But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
Jer 39:11  Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,
Jer 39:12  Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
Jer 39:13  So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon’s princes;
Jer 39:14  Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.
Jer 39:15  Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
Jer 39:16  Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
Jer 39:17  But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.
Jer 39:18  For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.

The first two verses of this chapter tell us how long the siege of Jerusalem lasted:

Jer 39:1  In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.
Jer 39:2  And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.

Jerusalem is the great whore in type in this story, and Isaiah makes that very clear in the very first chapter of his prophecy:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Isaiah even calls Jerusalem ‘Sodom’.

Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

Isa 3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

The reason Jerusalem is signified by a harlot is to let us know that the great whore of Revelation 17-18 is a “Mystery” to this world:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The Greek word translated as ‘mystery’ is:

G3466
μυστήριον
mustērion
moos-tay’-ree-on

From a derivative of μύω muō (to shut the mouth); a secret or “mystery” (through the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites): – mystery.

“Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots” is a ‘musterion’ because she is the Lord’s own apostate covenant people. What we all at first fail to realize is that God had a covenant with Noah and his seed long before He was in covenant with Abraham and his seed:

Gen 9:8  And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9  And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

While the only stipulations of this covenant are:

1) Gen 9:3  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

2) Gen 9:4(a)  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

3) Gen 9:4(b) “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed”.

4) Gen 9:5  And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.

This is still a covenant with Noah and his seed (Gen 9:9), therefore all men are in covenant with God, and all religions of mankind are part of the whore and her daughters.

Jer 39:2  And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up.

From the tenth month of the ninth year to the fourth month of the eleventh year means that the siege lasted 18 months, or a year and a half, and the famine in the city was severe:

Jer 52:5  So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
Jer 52:6  And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.

The number ‘nine’ as we all know, signifies judgment:

Jer 39:3  And all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate, even Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of Babylon.

In our King James version of the bible, there appears to be six princes here, two of whom have the same name. We will not go into the meaning of all these names. If we had the time to do so, it would be easy to make the case that there are just three princes with the first name being their name and the second name being their title. Here is a cut and paste from the Jamison-Fausset-Brown Commentary on the titles attached to each first name:

“Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo — proper names formed from those of the idols, Nergal and Nebo (2Ki 17:30, Isa 46:1).
Rab-saris — meaning “chief of the eunuchs.”
Rab-mag — chief of the magi; brought with the expedition in order that its issue might be foreknown through his astrological skill. Mag is a Persian word, meaning “great…powerful.” The magi were a sacerdotal [priest] caste among the Medes, and supported the Zoroastrian religion.”

Jer 39:4  And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king’s garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls: and he went out the way of the plain.
Jer 39:5  But the Chaldeans’ army pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
Jer 39:6  Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah.

As Jeremiah had prophesied, Zedekiah did indeed see the face of Nebuchadnezzar:

Jer 32:4  And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

These are the words the Lord gave to Jeremiah, and Jeremiah remained faithful to these very unpopular and unpatriotic words. With His life at stake, Jeremiah repeated the words of the Lord to wicked King Zedekiah, just before the breach of the city by the armies of Babylon. This is from last week’s study:

Jer 38:13  So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

As severe as the circumstances were, Jeremiah remained faithful to what the Lord had told him would be the fate of the king of the kingdom of apostate Judah, the Old Testament type of the great whore (Isa 1:21):

Jer 38:14  Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.
Jer 38:15  Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?

This all happened, and it is all written down to let us know that the kingdom of our own old wicked ‘king… the man of sin’ within us, is doomed to destruction and was “made to be taken and destroyed”:

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

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked [our old king] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

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

Evil men like wicked King Nebuchadnezzar are the Lord’s sword which He uses to punish His own wayward elect:

Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

The Lord even uses our own wicked old king as His sword to correct us.

Jer 2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

The ten horns on the beast of Revelation 17 symbolize our flesh when it becomes aware of how the whore has deceived and abused the beast. It is our own carnal mind which will hate the great whore and will be used by the Lord to destroy that harlot system by “eating her flesh and burn[ing] her with fire” just as Nebuchadnezzar did in a literal sense, to Jerusalem:

Jer 39:7  Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon.
Jer 39:8  And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.

While all of this has a primary inward application, Jeremiah would have been disobedient to the Lord to have only applied these words to Himself and failed to warn the great whore in whose kingdom He lived his physical life. Jeremiah had already been through the inward fire of the Lord’s Word and was now required by the Lord to proclaim an outward judgment upon the great whore of Isaiah 1:21 quoted above. The Lord first deceives us and burns out our own old man before He uses us to warn others. Jeremiah is a type of each of us:

Jer 20:7  O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
Jer 20:8  For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
Jer 20:9  Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
Jer 20:10  For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
Jer 20:11  But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
Jer 20:12  But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.

This story of how the Lord delivered Jeremiah is written to encourage each of us to be faithful to the Words of the Lord even as ‘all our familiars watch for our halting’, hoping to see us cave into the pressures of the persecutions and tribulations which we must endure to the end:

Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Our physical brothers and our physical “familiars”, our friends and the society in which we live, will hate us and persecute us if we follow in the footsteps of Christ and do the things He commands us to do and abide in His words:

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

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 [types of today’s Christians], If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth [Christ], and the truth [Christ] shall make you free.

Jeremiah typifies those who know Christ and who depend on Him for their salvation even if they are threatened with physical death. It is only if we are willing to forfeit this life that the Lord will give us life:

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mat 10:40  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Jeremiah had sunk down in the mire of the pit and was taken from the pit to witness the Lord’s judgment upon his enemies and all those who had persecuted him. So, it is with all of us who are given to remain faithful to the end:

Jer 39:9  Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained.
Jer 39:10  But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

Leaving the poor of the land and giving them vineyards and fields is an entirely physical event in the history of this unfaithful nation with whom the Lord was in a covenant. Nevertheless, this event typifies these spiritual words from the mouth of our Lord:

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The “poor in spirit” know they have what they have only as a gift from God and not of themselves. Those who take credit for their works are the opposite of being “poor in spirit”. Jeremiah knew that his life was spared by the Lord Himself and not because of anything he had done of himself. Jeremiah knew that Nebuchadnezzar’s heart was in the hands of the Lord:

Pro 21:1  The king’s heart [Your heart and my heart] is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

The Lord had made Nebuchadnezzar aware of the prophecies of Jeremiah, and the Lord gave Jeremiah favor in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar:

Jer 39:11  Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,
Jer 39:12  Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
Jer 39:13  So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, Rabsaris, and Nergalsharezer, Rabmag, and all the king of Babylon’s princes;
Jer 39:14  Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people.

This is an incredible honor being bestowed upon the Lord’s faithful elect. This event typifies the fulfillment of these inspired words:

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.

There had been many days through the years of Jeremiah’s prophecies in which he had very “little with righteousness”. He has ‘very little’ while in the pit and in the prison, but he remained faithful to the Words of the Lord, and now the Lord was making “even his enemies to be at peace with him”.

The holy spirit concludes this chapter of Jeremiah by taking us back to Jeremiah’s time in the pit and in prison to remind us that when we receive the Lord’s elect, we are receiving the Lord Himself:

Mat 10:40  He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

The Lord does not forget us when we remain faithful to Him and to His body of elect believers. He is “a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”:

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is 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.

This is what the Lord had Jeremiah to prophesy concerning Ebedmelech the Ethiopian who had been used by the Lord to save Jeremiah’s life from death in the pit:

Jer 39:15  Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
Jer 39:16  Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee.
Jer 39:17  But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid.
Jer 39:18  For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.

As we just read in Hebrews 11:6, He that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

There are many examples throughout the Bible of how the Lord preserves His faithful through the trials He places upon them. Beginning with Abel, who was slain by his older brother, Enoch, who was taken away so he would not die, and then continuing on generation after generation, the Lord reveals how He delivered His faithful from those who would hurt them. But He first must give us the gift of “faith that He is” and that He will reward us for our fidelity to Him and to His promise of life. This promise of life is not necessarily in this present time, but life eonian in the ages to come.

I will conclude this study with a few verses on just how important it is that we have faith in the promises of God:

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
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.
Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Heb 11:2  For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Heb 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Heb 11:4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Heb 11:5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Heb 11:6  But without faith it is 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.
Heb 11:7  By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Heb 11:9  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Heb 11:11  Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.
Heb 11:12  Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
Heb 11:15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
Heb 11:17  By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18  Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19  Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
Heb 11:20. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
Heb 11:21  By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
Heb 11:22  By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.
Heb 11:23  By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.
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.
Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
Heb 11:28  Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
Heb 11:29  By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
Heb 11:30  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
Heb 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.
Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

It is only if we are given the ability to believe the Lord’s Words that we will be the overcomers and the recipients of all the promises made exclusively to the overcomers of Revelation 2 and 3:

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Let us all pray that the Lord, through His gift of faith, will give each of us “respect unto the recompense of the reward” and not treat our birthright with the lack of respect that Esau treated his birthright.

[Study Aired April 24, 2022]

Jer 36:17  And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
Jer 36:18  Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
Jer 36:19  Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
Jer 36:20  And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.
Jer 36:21  So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
Jer 36:22  Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.
Jer 36:23  And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
Jer 36:24  Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
Jer 36:25  Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.
Jer 36:26  But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.
Jer 36:27  Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 36:28  Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
Jer 36:29  And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
Jer 36:30  Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
Jer 36:31  And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
Jer 36:32  Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

For chapters 35 and 36 to have their intended impact upon us we must remember that the events of these two chapters are repeated for the purpose of reminding the people of Judah and Jerusalem in the time of Zedekiah that breaking their covenant with the Lord has always brought down His wrath upon them.

Judah and Jerusalem had turned their backs on the Lord and were under the Lord’s wrath in the form of a Babylonian siege. So, they repented and covenanted with the Lord to release their Hebrew slaves, and they had released their slaves for as long as the siege against them had lasted. However, when the Lord lifted the siege and the pressure was off, they, as types of us (1Co 10:6 and 11), they immediately forgot the covenant they had made with the Lord and had brought the Hebrew slaves they had agreed to free back into bondage. That is a commentary on our flesh. We attempt to play mind games with the Lord, and it will always backfire against us.

Going back to the days of King Jehoiakim, well over a decade earlier, chapter 35 reminded those of Zedekiah’s day of the covenant the Rechabites had made and had kept with their patriarch, Jonadab. The Lord then contrasted the fidelity of the Rechabites with the infidelity of Judah and Jerusalem in bringing their Hebrew slaves back into bondage in the days of King Zedekiah.

Chapter 36, again going back to the time of King Jehoiakim, over a decade earlier, reminds us that the Jews, as types of us (1Co 10:6 and 11), have already been warned in the scroll which was read to them from the mouth of Jeremiah, by Baruch the scribe, that the Lord has already poured out His wrath on their (our) disobedience and He is about to do so again in an even greater way. King Jehoiakim demonstrated His disdain for the fiery Word of the Lord from Jeremiah (Jer 5:14) by burning the scroll in the fire in the hearth of the fireplace in his winter home.

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.

King Jehoiakim is a type of our self-righteous, old man, and King Solomon has warned us of the fate of our rebellious old man:

Pro 29:1  He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

It was the princes who actually feared the words of the Lord from Jeremiah, as the last verse of our last study informed us:

Jer 36:14  Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.
Jer 36:15  And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
Jer 36:16  Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.

This sets the stage for our study today which informs us of the fate of our own old man and his kingdom:

Jer 36:17  And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
Jer 36:18  Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
Jer 36:19  Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
Jer 36:20  And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.

The story of King Jehoiakim is the story of our own rebellious, self-righteous old man when he is first confronted with the gospel of the chastening grace of God:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: paideuo, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Being “purified” is no longer a matter of taking a physical bath. In scripture, spiritual purification is a matter of going through “fiery… chastening” trials:

Mal 3:3  And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [G3811: paideuo], 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?

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

At first none of us are aware that we are all by default to begin with “of [our] father the devil” before we are dragged to see ourselves as such. In fact, those words are addressed to “those Jews which believed on Him”. It is while we are “of [our] father the devil” that we believe in “another Jesus”. While serving this false Jesus we, typified by King Jehoiakim, hate the doctrine of the true Christ, and we want Him dead “because [His] word has no place in [us]”:

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 [We are Christians, we ‘believe on You’], 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.

This is all being said for our sakes. Christ knew these ‘Jews which believed on Him’ did not consider a life of sin to be spiritual bondage. Not even His own twelve apostles had yet been given any spiritual understanding. That did not come until the day of Pentecost. Nevertheless, “for [our] sakes” the Lord informs these Jews who typify us while we are in Babylon:

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed [I know you believe in Me]; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
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.

King Jehoiakim signifies our self-righteous carnal mind which does not see itself as either self-righteous or carnal. After all he is sitting on the throne of King David, and as such he is “the Lord’s anointed”. In this stage of our “experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13), the doctrines of the beast with two horns like a lamb appeal to us, and we hate the doctrines of the true Lamb of God:

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9  If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

What is “the patience and faith of the saints”? It is the ability to acknowledge that we are the ones who have “opened our mouths in blasphemy against God… made war with and overcame the saints… and have worshipped the beast and his image”, which ‘beast and his image’ is within every one of us. If we cannot confess to the Truth of these verses, then we do not yet have “the patience of the saints [nor] the faith of Jesus”:

Rev 13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Do you “dwell on the earth”? If you do, then you have worshiped the beast and must be repenting of having done so. We have all been deceived by the beast that ‘comes up out of the earth’:

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

There is a spirit that rules over this beast within us. Christ tells us who that spirit is. Again, remember that these words are addressed to “those Jews which believed on Him”. These words are addressed to those today who have “two horns like a Lamb [but they] speak as a dragon”:

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 [G3306: meno, abide] in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth [Christ (Joh 14:6)], and the truth [Christ] 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?

It is “those Jews which believed on Him” who contend with our Lord telling Him they have never been in bondage to any man and asking Him how He can say, “If ye continue in my Word, then are ye my disciples indeed and ye shall know the Truth and The Truth shall make you free.”

It is the same ‘Jews which believed on Him’ whom the Lord informs are of their father the devil even if Abraham is their physical patriarch:

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed [I know you believe on Me]; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
Joh 8:38  I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. [‘Christians’ are notorious for killing other ‘Christians’. They do so because they cannot ‘abide in His Word’.]

The Jews which believed on Christ while He was here on this earth in a body of flesh and blood signify the multitudes of Christians who profess to believe in Christ yet have no place within themselves for His Word:

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. [‘We are Christians… Christ is our Savior’]
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.

We may read these words and wonder how anyone could want to kill the very person who had taught them the Truth, healed all their sick, and fed them all with His loaves and fishes. Yet that is exactly what each of us did while we ‘had no place for His Word within us’ and while we ‘could not hear His Word’. That is a perfect description of where I was for most of my own life, and that is the circumstance into which every man is born in this dying world. This world has no place for His Word, and we “cannot hear [His] Word” because we do not understand it.  His Word really is foolishness to our old man (1Co 2:14), who is typified by King Jehoiakim:

Jer 36:21  So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
Jer 36:22  Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him [That is the same month in which King Jehoiakm had proclaimed a fast (vs 9)].
Jer 36:23  And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
Jer 36:24  Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
Jer 36:25  Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.

Jeremiah and Baruch the scribe had ‘made friends of the mammon of this world’, and this story is one of many in scripture which demonstrate how they receive us into “everlasting habitations [Greek: skene, tabernacles]” when the Lord causes us to “fail” at being received with His Word:

Luk 16:8  And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
Luk 16:9  And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations [G4633: skene, tabernacles]
Luk 16:10  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
Luk 16:11  If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Luk 16:12  And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?
Luk 16:13  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

“The mammon of unrighteousness” is the same as “the children of this world” because “where your treasure is there will your heart be also” (Mat 6:21):

The Lord wants us to know that our works are actually “His workmanship” (Eph 2:10) and that when we do “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” it is still “God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

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

If Christ is living His life within us, then He will bring forth good works, but those good works are not our works. They are “His workmanship… which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

If we are granted to walk in “good works”, and we desire to have faith that Christ is living His life within us, then we do so for this reason and for this reason only:

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

God works our will, and He works our actions “of His good pleasure”. What is ‘His good pleasure’? Are we being told that ‘His good pleasure’ involves only pleasant blessings which deliver us from all the fiery, painful trials of this temporal dying life? The answer to that question is that ‘His good pleasure’ includes both the good and the evil things of this present time. Consider what the scriptures state so clearly for all who are given eyes that can see and ears that can hear the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Mat 13:9-17). This is the Truth concerning God’s control over all evil, all the wicked, and His control of our very thoughts:

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

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. [Oh, how true that is!]

“The proud in heart” deny that their evil thoughts and actions are made for the Lord’s own purposes. We are all by nature ‘proud in heart’, and we want to at least be responsible for our own sins and transgressions. However, this is what the Lord wants us to know about our own sins and transgressions:

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

Amo 3:6  Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

But doesn’t James tell us:

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he [G848: hautou, Himself] any man:

There is one thing wrong with this King James Version translation of this verse. The Greek does not say ‘neither tempeth he any man’. The truth of “the sum of [the Lord’s] word” (Psa 119:160 ASV) is that the Lord tempts every man just as He tempted Abraham and King David:

Gen 22:1  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
Gen 22:2  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

2Sa 24:1  And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.

This apparent contradiction is easily understood when we observe how the Lord sent Satan to tempt Job and used Satan as “[His] hand”:

Job 1:11  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

How does the Lord “put forth [His] hand”?

Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

It is the Lord who instructs Satan just exactly how far he can go in trying Job. He is given to do as he will with all Job owns but He is instructed “Upon himself put not forth thine hand”. Satan does exactly as He is instructed. No more and no less.

The exact same story is repeated in the next chapter:

Job 2:4  And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:5  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

Once again Satan is given precise instructions which he obeys to the letter. He covers Job’s body with boils for head to toe “but save[s] his life”.

The sum of the Lord’s words gives us the Truth on any matter:

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

When we get the sum of the Lord’s words together, we find that this verse summarizes all the Lord reveals to us about the extent of His involvement in the affairs of His creatures:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them. (ASV)

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

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:

Add to all these verses which reveal “sum of Thy Word” that James actually says is “neither tempteth He Himself any man”, and it becomes clear that the Lord tempts us by sending an evil spirit from the Lord to trouble us:

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man: (ASV)

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

So, the Lord does tempt Abraham, and King David, but he does so through a proxy as this verse clarifies how the Lord tempted King David to number the people:

1Ch 21:1  And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

If we are given to accept that our own wicked man is made by the Lord for our own “day of evil”, then we must acknowledge it is also true for all wicked men. When we are given to acknowledge this great Truth, we are no longer able to blame anyone for erring from the Lord’s ways. When the Lord hardens our hearts we cannot do His will, and that is the preordained first experience of all men:

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

Jeremiah, who typifies who we are in Christ, knew that these words of Isaiah applied to wicked King Jehoiakim. He and the scribe Baruch hid from their king, but they did not blame him for the wickedness he was made to do against them.

Jer 36:26  But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.

Remember “the friends of the mammon of unrighteousness” (Luk 16:9) had warned Jeremiah and Baruch to hide themselves and tell no man where they were:

Jer 36:19  Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be [Not even the princes themselves].

Jer 36:27  Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 36:28  Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
Jer 36:29  And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?

King Jehoiakim typifies the beast which comes up out of the earth:

It is easy to confuse physical Babylon with spiritual “Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the World”:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Mystery Babylon is a mystery because it was this great whore who physical Babylon carried away captive. When Nebuchadnezzar, the king of physical Babylon, carried the Lord’s adulterous wife away into physical Babylon he caused these words to come to pass in physical type:

Rev 18:21  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all [The harlot city, Jerusalem (Isa 1:21)].
Rev 18:22  And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Rev 18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Rev 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Physical Jerusalem, the capital of the land of the Lord’s own people, is the harlot who typifies this great harlot of Revelation 17-18. “In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth” certainly includes the Lord’s two witnesses and our Lord Himself, which we are specifically informed is the case:

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, [the two witnesses] the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

It is the great harlot who insisted upon the death of the Lord. It is the great harlot who wanted Jeremiah and Baruch put to death. Nebuchadnezzar and physical Babylon typify the ten horns on the beast which hate the whore and will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.

Rev 17:16  And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, made Jerusalem desolate and naked. He ate her flesh, and he literally burned her with fire. Mystery Babylon is a mystery because she is the Lord’s own rebellious creatures who have turned their backs on their true spiritual husband.

Physical Jerusalem typifies all the religions of mankind which are all in rebellion against their Creator from the time of the Tower of Babel. We have all been a part of this spiritually promiscuous system of worship. Thinking we are worshiping Christ, we are brought to see that we are taking part in her sins and are destined to receive of her plagues until the Lord drags us out of her. Jehoiakim typifies our old man who slays our Lord and His witnesses. He typifies our old man who cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven (1Co 15:50).

Jer 36:30  Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
Jer 36:31  And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
Jer 36:32  Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

Even the Lord’s elect must endure the fiery judgment of the Lord’s purifying words, but if we are given to be judged in this present time the suffering of that judgment is not worthy to be compared with glory which will be revealed within us and the manifested sons of God:

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

Hi Mike,

Mat 13:1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
Mat 13:2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mat 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

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 13:9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Joh 10:4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

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.

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Revelation 17:1-6

[Study Aired April 1, 2021]

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 
Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 
Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 
Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 
Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheep skins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 
Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

God’s elect are called to “subdue^G2610 [G5662=aorist tense] kingdoms” (of verse 33) within, the “power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” of Ephesians 6:12. We are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us and who is able to give us victory over those nations within because He is “far above” all these things mentioned; the powers, the might of this world, the dominion that nations hold for the time being, and every name that is named in this world, and those who are yet to be resurrected. Christ is above them all and will subdue them all through His body, bringing all the world and all angels into subjection unto Christ (1Co 6:3) who is subject to our Father who will be all in all when all is said and done (Rom 8:37, Eph 1:21, 1Co 15:28).

It is by putting on the whole armour of God that “ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph 6:13), and it is within all these incredible examples of faith of which we will read in Hebrews 11:32-40 that we can learn more clearly what Christ’s faith can produce in us by looking at these examples of (1Co 10:11) “suffering affliction, and of patience” for our sakes (Jas 5:10, 2Co 4:15). All these examples we will look at obtained a good report through faith, and that was accomplished for our sakes, “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect“. Their trials, their suffering, their overcoming in the natural all portray for us what God can and will accomplish within the elect through His chastening grace which will abound in our life through Christ (Tit 2:12-13, 2Co 9:8, Rom 5:20).

Putting on “the whole armour of God” of Ephesians 6:10-20 is how we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling knowing that it is God who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12-13). God wants us to see and grow in our confidence in His power by looking at these old covenant examples of faith so we can be reminded of what is possible through Christ today. We will see how our labours are not in vain in him as He receives us through His chastening grace which abounds toward us so we can learn that we truly are more than conquerors through Christ who takes us through the fiery trials of this life as the God of all comfort which He is (1Co 15:58, Heb 12:6, Pro 3:11, Dan 3:25, 2Co 1:3-4).

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Eph 6:20  For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets”  …and all those whose books are being written by God through the faith of Christ today (Rom 5:1-5, Rom 3:20-23, 1Jn 5:4-5).

Those/our books are intertwined in each member that makes up the body of Christ and contrasted with those who are not found in the book of life, just as these six men represent fleshly types and shadows of Christ’s faith which justifies us (Rev 20:12-15).

Rom 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Rom 5:3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

[The reason we are studying Hebrews 11:32-40 is to learn of that pattern of patience and faith which was exemplified through so many before us (Jas 5:10)].

Rom 5:4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us [Rom 8:28].

Rom 3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Rom 3:21  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets [Jas 5:10];
Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith [“by faith of Jesus Christ“].
1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

How interconnected this body is remains to be revealed to the world. However, when the first resurrection occurs, the “mystery which hath been hid (Col 3:3) from ages and from generations” (Col 1:26-27) will be revealed in fullness, and the world will then be brought to understand how this was all made possible by God’s power in our lives (Php 3:7-12, 1Co 15:52, Mal 3:18).

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages [Col 3:3] and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29  Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily [Php 2:12-13].

Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
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,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, [Rom 12:4-5] 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 [(1Ti 6:12):  You and I have the words of eternal life (Joh 6:68)]
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings [1Co 10:16], being made conformable unto his death [Col 1:24];
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus [Php 2:12-13, Rom 5:10].

Paul tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12), and Christ tells us that fear is to be directed toward God (Luk 12:5). The world cannot see that we are working out that salvation for each other as the body of Christ, each joint supplying in love that is accompanied with Godly fear (Eph 4:16, Joh 13:35). We are a body interconnected which sees and believes how important our fervent prayers are for each other as we covet them and build each other up with our faith-filled prayers that will avail much (Jas 5:16). Each of us can then be “offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith”, for this fact: “I joy, and rejoice with you all” (Php 2:17-19, Php 4:4).

As we look at this last section of Hebrews chapter eleven, we can rejoice knowing that all these stories were not written to terrify us (Php 1:27-30), but rather to give us great assurance of what God can accomplish through the body of Christ as these types and shadows, these patterns,  point to the promise of how Christ will cleanse the temple that we are (Heb 9:23).

Php 1:27  Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Php 1:28  And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
Php 1:30  Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices [Rom 12:1, Eph 1:6] than these.

He will finish the work of faith that he has started within us (Php 1:6) by framing those worlds within our heavens (Heb 11:3) to His glory as we’re given the faith to believe and be persuaded of these typical stories that were written for our sakes upon whom the end of the world is come (1Co 10:11-14).

They “without us” (vs 40) have experienced great trials of faith, but not for salvational reasons in their age, “God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” These things happen to them so we can have this confidence in our Lord now, confidence that we will indeed be able to drink the cup, that we will overcome the great stresses that will come and have come upon the body of Christ, even as we remember the words of our Lord in Matthew 10:19-22. We continue to build each other up in our most holy faith (Jud 1:20-21) that is strengthened through our coming together often in His name with His truth that if we are granted to continue in will set us free (Joh 8:31-32).

Jud 1:20  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

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.

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

These six men, each with their own story of faith, along with all the prophets remind us that God has used the same spirit of faith over and over to teach us through these examples what is required to overcome the powers and principalities which are constantly at the door of our hearts, trying to bring us into bondage (Gen 4:7). The power given them to do battle is always instructive for us as we learn what God can accomplish with certainty in the spiritual warfare we are fighting within our heavens and overcoming by the grace through faith process that we are privileged to be experiencing through Christ (Tit 2:12, Rom 5:10, Heb 9:23, Eph 2:8). As we look at each example, a great sense of urgency should form in us as we consider today “that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” (Rom 13:12-14, Eph 6:10-11, Rev 12:12, Rev 19:7-8).

Excerpt from Clarks commentary in regard to these six men:

Gedeon – Who by faith in God, with 300 men, destroyed a countless multitude of Midianites and Amalekites, and delivered Israel from oppression and slavery (Joh 8:36). Judges 6, 7, 8.

Barak – Who overthrew Jabin, king of Canaan, and delivered Israel from servitude (Joh 8:34). Judges 4.

Samson – Who was appointed by God to deliver Israel from the oppressive yoke of the Philistines; and, by extraordinary assistance, discomfited them on various occasions (Rom 8:37, Php 4:13, 2Ti 2:3). Judges 13-16.

Jephthae – Who, under the same guidance, defeated the Ammonites, and delivered Israel (Judges 11, Jdg 12:1-15). [Jepthae’s name is taken from H6605 (Joh 8:36)]

H6605 pâthach paw-thakh’  A primitive root; to open wide (literally or figuratively); specifically to loosen, begin, plough, carve: – appear, break forth, draw (out), let go free, (en-) grave (-n), loose (self), (be, beset) open (-ing), put off, ungird, unstop, have vent.

David H1732  King of Israel, whose whole life was a life of faith and dependence on God; but whose character will be best seen in those books which contain an account of his reign, and the book of Psalms, to which, and the notes there, the reader must be referred. It is probable he is referred to here for that act of faith and courage which he showed in his combat with Goliath. See 1 Samuel 17.

[My comments now: It is the beloved son who has been promised that they will overcome through Christ which is why David’s name is what it is pointing to the victory that God will give His elect over the giants in our land within. [Mat 3:16-17, Rom 6:3-4, 1Jn 3:1-2].

H1732 dâvid  dâvı̂yd
daw-veed’, daw-veed’
From the same as H1730; loving; David, the youngest son of Jesse: – David.

H1730 dôd  dôd dode, dode
From an unused root meaning properly to boil, that is, (figuratively) to love; by implication a love token, lover, friend; specifically an uncle: – (well-) beloved, father’s brother, love, uncle.

Mat 3:16  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

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.

Samuel – The last of the Israelitish judges, to whom succeeded a race of kings, of whom Saul and David were the two first, and were both anointed by this most eminent man. See his history in the first book of Samuel.

H8050 shemû’ê  shem-oo-ale’  From the passive participleof H8085 and H410; heard of God; Shemuel, the name of three Israelites: – Samuel, Shemuel.

H8085shâma‛  shaw-mah’  A primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively to tell, etc.): –  X attentively, call (gather) together, X carefully, X certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, X diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear (-ken, tell), X indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim (-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, X surely, tell, understand, whosoever [heareth], witness.

H410‘êl ale  Shortened from H352; strength; as adjective mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity): – God (god), X goodly, X great, idol, might (-y one), power, strong. Compare names in “-el.”

[We see the singleness or oneness that is in God when we are blessed to hear the word of God and be obedient to it, words that describe what Samuel’s name meant (Mar 12:29, Jer 22:29, 2Co 11:3)]

The important point to remember regarding the prophets is how their lives witness to us how our flesh can be put off through God’s power, typifying how God’s spirit can give us the power to mortify the deeds of our flesh as we continue in the truth so that we can be set free by “denying ungodliness and worldly lusts” as we “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” (Joh 8:31-32, Tit 2:12). Prophecy is defined as “edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (1Co 14:3, 1Th 5:11) and so the lives of these prophets encourage and exhort us and minister unto us when we see how the events of their lives unfolded for our encouragement today “but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost” (1Pe 1:12).

God’s elect are called to a life-long process of being cleansed and washed through the longsuffering and patient process of repentance to which God has called us that requires the patience and faith of the saints to put off our flesh and become a new creation through Christ (Jas 5:10, Rom 2:4, Rev 14:12, 2Co 5:17, Lev 12:3). God has to give us the desire to overcome and be obedient unto death (Heb 5:8) and chastens and scourges every son He receives in love (Heb 12:6) so that we can become zealous in our service to the living God as was typified by Hezekiah who tore down all the “high places” in the land (2Ki 18:4) and was obediently zealous toward the Lord in doing so (2Co 7:11).

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.

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

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?

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

2Ki 18:4  He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

2Co 7:11  For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 

Each of these above examples of overcoming specific events in the flesh are patterns that we observe and learn. They all have their counterpart in the spirit, and become profitable unto us if we are granted to see how these ensamples apply to how our heavens are being cleansed today by God’s word (Heb 9:23).

To say, “Thy will be done and not our own” requires faith (Luk 22:42) that will subdue the kingdoms of this world within us which are being overcome so God’s kingdom within (Luk 17:21) will reflect the righteousness of Christ within us as we obtain the promise of eternal life by overcoming or stopping the mouths of “lions” that represent all the false doctrines proceeding from the mouth of Satan and his ministers which come to us as angels of light (2Co 11:14). We overcome them with Christ’s sharp two-edged sword in our heavens (Rev 19:15, Heb 4:12). The violence of fire represents the “strange fire” that men put on the altar of God that represents false doctrine once again (Lev 10:1). Escaping the edge of the sword is another way of saying we quench all the fiery darts of the devil by the faith that God gives us (Eph 6:16). God makes His strength perfect through our weakness (2Co 12:8-9) so we can wax “valiant in fight” and turn “to flight the armies of the aliens” – those armies representing alien and strange doctrines which would otherwise darken the sun and prevent us from seeing the truth clearly if it were not for the army of the Lord that does battle (Joe 2:11, Rev 9:2-3).

Joe 2:11  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

The “better sacrifices than these” is being accomplished through each joint that supplies in love (Eph 4:16) what is needed to help tear down the powers and principalities we are warring against (Eph 6:12) as we come together often as a living sacrifice to the glory of God (Rom 12:1-2).

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 
Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 
Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheep skins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

If a person is wise, noble or great in this life, that is a gift of God to be so, and John was just such a person and was acknowledged as such by Christ himself (Mat 11:11). Part of why John was so highly spoken of by Christ was that he understood how great Christ was and was humble in his spirit (Joh 1:27).

Mat 11:11  Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Joh 1:27  He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

We behold our calling and see “how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1Co 1:26).  How is it then that “he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”, meaning John? We are greater than John because of our Father who has given us the power through Christ (Col 1:27, Rom 9:8) who is the end of the law (Rom 10:4), to remove the “latchet” of Christ’s feet that represents the law. Removing the latchet which John felt he was not worthy or able to do in his age [coming out from under the law] can be contrasted with the command that Christ should wash Peter’s feet. Peter objected to this until Christ made it clear that he could have no part with Him unless He did this (Joh 13:8-10, Joh 13:14-16, Col 1:27). We would have no part in the first resurrection if we didn’t bear each other’s burdens (Rom 8:17, 2Ti 2:12) and so fulfill the law of Christ which was symbolized by the foot washing where Christ washed the disciples’ feet and told them to do the same (Joh 13:14-16, Joh 13:35).

We can see that desiring to be in a “better resurrection” spoken of in Hebrews 11:35 is only typical of those who are striving for “the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:14). Speaking of that first resurrection, we are told that the way is made to be hard, and we will be scarcely saved, not to discourage us, but to remind us that we are more than conquerors through Christ (Act 14:22, Rom 8:37). The world will know one day that our deliverance was of God and not of ourselves (1Pe 4:18) just as the typical deliverance of which we are reading in Hebrews 11:35-37 was certain to happen and was accomplished by God’s power.

We are called to be armed with the mind of Christ so that we can be found in that blessed and holy first resurrection the truly “better^G2909 resurrection”^G386 with nobility that does not stem from our own might or power but by God’s holy spirit which makes it possible for us to accomplish what would otherwise be impossible (Mat 19:23-24, Zec 4:6, Rom 8:9).

G2909  kreittōn krite’-tohn    Comparative of a derivative of G2904; stronger, that is, (figuratively) better, that is, nobler: – best, better.

G2904   kratos krat’-os   Perhaps a primary word; vigor [“great”], (literally or figuratively): – dominion, might [-ily], power, strength.

G386  anastasis an-as’-tas-is   From G450; a standing up again, that is, (literally) a resurrection from death (individual, general or by implication (its author)), or (figuratively) a (moral) recovery (of spiritual truth): – raised to life again, resurrection, rise from the dead, that should rise, rising again.

All of these seemingly horrible and unbearable events of Hebrews 11:35-37 are written to remind the body of Christ today that through Christ we can endure all things (Php 4:13), and can be armed with his mind, and as a result, always be able to “Always [be] bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” so that our walk and the fiery trials (1Pe 4:12) promised to accompany that walk can nourish and purify our life, which is what the foot-washing event was all symbolizing for us today (2Co 4:10, 1Pe 1:7).

Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 

We should therefore not be surprised if we must be nomadic and wander “in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” which means we have no place to lay down our head in this earth being as Christ (1Jn 4:17-19) as we seek a heavenly country whose builder and maker is God, even while we are hid in the Lord (Psa 31:20, Col 3:3) Who is the mountain to Whom we look as our refuge in this life (Luk 9:58-60, Heb 11:14-16, Psa 121:1).

Luk 9:58  And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Luk 9:59  And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Luk 9:60  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

Heb 11:14  For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
Heb 11:15  And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

A “good report”^G3140 is obtained through faith and represents the mature witness that we become through Jesus Christ who is the author and finisher of that report of faith in each of our lives (Heb 12:2, Php 1:6). Christ is the one who increases within us as we decrease so we can become mature sons (Joh 3:30, Eph 4:13).

good report G3140 martureō   mar-too-reh’-o  From G3144; to be a witness, that is, testify (literally or figuratively): – charge, give [evidence], bear record, have (obtain, of) good (honest) report, be well reported of, testify, give (have) testimony, (be, bear, give, obtain) witness. [“ambassador for Christ” (2Co 5:18 21, Joh 3:32, Joh 5:37), “and you are witnesses^G3144 of these things” (Luk 24:47-48)]

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

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

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

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

“These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise” because they could not look into the things we can read, hear and keep as a result of not having God’s spirit within them (Rom 8:9). Boasting is excluded by faith, and therefore we should be bearing each other’s burdens and not be competing with each other in any way knowing that God simply called us to receive this incredible blessing at His hand (Rev 1:3, Rev 5:5, Rom 11:18, Rom 3:27, Gal 6:2, Php 2:3-4, 1Pe 3:9).

Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee [The strong ought to support the weak, in other words (Rom 15:1)].

Rom 3:27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

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

Php 2:3  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Php 2:4  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

1Pe 3:9  Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing [Luk 6:27-38]; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

Luk 6:27  But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Luk 6:28  Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
Luk 6:29  And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.
Luk 6:30  Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
Luk 6:31  And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
Luk 6:32  For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
Luk 6:33  And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
Luk 6:34  And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
Luk 6:35  But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Luk 6:36  Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Luk 6:37  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Luk 6:38  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

[They, too, will receive the blessing of salvation. Their lives were not lived with such suffering in vain, but they were sacrificed for our sakes as ensamples “that ye should inherit a blessing“]

That provision of “some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect” is only accomplished through God’s holy spirit, and the “some better thing for us” is nothing short of a “promise” of being in that blessed and holy first resurrection if we are His royal priesthood which He is framing with His word in our heavens, preparing us to be kings and priests (Rev 20:6, 1Pe 2:9, Rev 19:16).

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

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:

Rev 19:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

[Study Aired at Indianapolis, IN Conference September 27, 2020]

The answer to the above question is, “Yes, we do,” and as with all the other offerings, this offering is also Christ, but not in the sense of the burnt, meat, peace and sin offerings. Christ Himself is all the first four of the five offerings, and in and through Christ we also offer ourselves up with Him as a sweet-smelling savor offering to the Father:

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

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.

2Co 2:15  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:

If Christ died for our sins, which He certainly did, why is Paul exhorting us to present our bodies a sweet savor living sacrifice to be crucified with Christ?

Here is the answer to that question:

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

In what church at any time have you ever heard a sermon on “that which is behind, [that which is lacking] of the afflictions of Christ”? I am 73 years old and have been in the ‘Bible belt’ of the U.S. most of my life, and I have never heard such a sermon in any of the many churches I have attended over the years.

Why does Paul exhort us to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice? He does so to “fill up what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ.” However, notice why and for whom Paul is filling up in his body those afflictions of Christ which are lacking. He tells us he is doing this “for His body’s sake which is the church.”

Knowing this adds great spiritual weight to these words Christ uttered when He appeared to His disciples in a locked room “the same day” in which He was resurrected from the dead. His appearance with the wounds of His crucifixion scared his disciples to death, so He calmed their fears with these incredibly profound words:

Joh 20:19  Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
Joh 20:20  And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 

Exactly what had the Father sent Christ to do? The scriptures are very clear what the Father had given Christ to accomplish, and “as [His] Father sent [Him] even so [He] has sent us”:

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

How was Christ to accomplish that goal? That question is answered in equally clear words:

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

So, Christ is still in the process, through us, of accomplishing the mission His Father gave Him to accomplish, which is “that the world through Him might be saved”. There is one thing, as we will see, which a spotless, sinless Savior needs for us to be capable of accomplishing that mission to fill up what is behind of His afflictions.

Contrary to what is taught in the churches, Christ did not become a sin offering by being nailed to the cross. He was “made sin” by being “made of a woman, made under the law, made flesh” which flesh is itself “corruption” and which “cannot inherit the kingdom of God”:

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

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

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, [“made sin” 2Co 5:21]

2Co 5:21  For the man who knew no sin was made sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. (ACV)

Flesh is sinful “corruption”, and Christ was given of His Father to be “made sin” by being “made flesh”, but it was not given Him to “know sin”, as it is given to us as “His body which is the church”. Though we are all “shapen in iniquity, and conceived in sin” (Psa 51:5), Christ still identifies with us to the extent that He says we are Him:

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

Christ even calls us “Jesus of Nazareth”:

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 

Therefore it is by living His life of dying daily within each of us, that Christ fulfills the trespass offering, even though He Himself “knew no sin” (2Co 5:21).

This is such an important and integral part of the plan of God that there is only one “living sacrifice” of all the sacrifices mentioned in the Old Testament. That one “living sacrifice” is given to “bear the sins of the people with Him”. The Lord has seen fit to give us just one “living sacrifice” in all of the offerings which are listed in the law of Moses, and that one “living sacrifice… with the Lord’s goat… bears upon him all the iniquities of the children of Israel”:

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
Lev 16:22  And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

It is also “for His body’s sake which is the church” that the scapegoat is offered as a living sacrifice:

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

Christ’s body is called ‘the church’, and ‘the church’ is also known as “the temple of God”:

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

In Leviticus 16 Christ is called “the Lord’s goat”, and it is He who is physically crucified as a sin offering for the sins of the people, while we, the scapegoat are offered as a living sacrifice “before the Lord to make an atonement with [Christ, filling up what is behind of His afflictions] and [we are] let… go for a scapegoat into the wilderness”:

Lev 16:9  And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

The scapegoat, along with “the Lord’s goat”, bears the sins of the congregation, and the scapegoat is offered along with Christ, “filling up what is behind of His afflictions” on the day of atonement to atone for the sins of the people:

Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

At “this present time”, the blood of Christ is not cleansing the court that is outside the tabernacle or the temple. At this present time, it is only being applied to “His body which is the church. That is the meaning of:

Lev 16:15  Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering [Christ our head], that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:
Lev 16:16  And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
Lev 16:17  And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.
Lev 16:18  And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the [Lord’s] goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.
Lev 16:19  And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
Lev 16:20  And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, [After the death and resurrection of Christ and His Christ] he shall bring the live goat:
Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:
Lev 16:22  And the [scape] goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

Lev 16:29  And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:

That is why we are told in the book of Hebrews:

Heb 13:10  We [the living sacrifice, the scapegoat] have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

This is the reason John, in the book of Revelation, tells us:

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

Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

We are the temple of God, and we are the living scapegoat sacrifice. All of this is what Paul is telling us when He says:

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

Then Paul tells us that is what he himself has done in following his own admonition to us, but this time he is inspired to reveal to us the fact that Christ’s afflictions can only be filled up through us, and he tells us what is the significance of us offering our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.

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

What we are being told is that we are this scapegoat, which is the only sacrifice which is “presented alive before the Lord”. What we are also being told is that this “living sacrifice” is not offered until after the tabernacle and the altar have been reconciled to God:

Lev 16:20  And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:

Rom 11:15  For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

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.

We are plainly told that we “are the temple of God” and we are very clearly told that in “this present time” (Rom 8:18) we have an altar at which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat, because the Lord has given them all to be ‘carried about with different and strange doctrines and with meats which have not profited them that have been occupied with those strange doctrines’.

Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Heb 13:11  For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Heb 13:12  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

It is only Aaron, an Old Testament type of Christ, our high priest, and His sons who are permitted to eat before the golden altar in the holy place within the tabernacle/temple.

Lev 6:16  And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.

Being the scapegoat, who “with the Lord’s goat” makes an atonement for the people”, we are in the very next verse encouraged to be that “living sacrifice… going unto Him without the camp, with the Lord’s goat…” bearing His reproach, “upon [us]… bearing all the iniquities of the people”:

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

Lev 16:22  And the [scape] goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.

I hope this helps you to see how we have a trespass offering. It is through the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from generations… Christ in you the hope of glory, that we are given through Him to become a trespass offering as a scape goat savior, and to fill up Him who fills all in all:

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.

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. 

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

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

It is through “Christ in you the hope of glory” that we are this scapegoat, sin offering on behalf of “Him who knew no sin”.