Rev 11:5-6, Part 2 The Power Of The Two Witnesses

[Study Aired Oct 25, 2024]

Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

It is good to remind ourselves that we are the earth before we are caught up to the throne of God in heaven.

Rev 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

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.

We need to remember that “all things” means the good and the evil, all the seals, all the trumpets, and all the vials, are ours to read, hear, and keep:

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;

If we are to read, hear and keep the things written in this book then we need to remember that we are all the natural man before we are given the mind of Christ:

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

As “the Lord from heaven” you and I are “the savor of death” to all who are in Babylon, for the entire time of our “a thousand two hundred and threescore days” testimony.

2Co 2:14  Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2Co 2:15  For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
2Co 2:16  To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

“The savor of His knowledge”, how Jesus Christ tastes and smells, is made manifest by His elect. We must remember Christ’s own definition of who ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ is.

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

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

Like John here in the book of Revelation, Saul of Tarsus is also a type of us before we become “the savor of His knowledge”. We are all first “the children of disobedience”, and we all first “persecute Jesus of Nazareth”. Only after we acknowledge this truth can we become “Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ”, who is persecuted by later spiritual ‘Sauls’.

So, from a Biblical perspective and indeed from Christ’s own perspective, if He has taken up His abode in us, we are “Jesus of Nazareth”, and as such we are His “two witnesses” with all the power we read of here. We are also the target of all the persecution “in the streets of that great city wherein our Lord was crucified”. How do we “bare record of the word of God”? How do we “bear record of the testimony of Jesus Christ”? We do so by “reading, hearing, and keeping the things written therein, because the time is at hand” to do so. (Rev 1:3)

Here is this same event of “killing them with fire from their mouths” in other “lines, and precepts, here a little and there a little:”

2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth [“the rain from heaven… the sign of Christ’s coming and the end of this age”] that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [Greek, withholdeth {the rain}, same Greek word translated as “withholdeth” in preceding verse] will let [ withhold], until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked [who withholds] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
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 [Through the words in the mouths of the two witnesses] shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: [be killed]
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Christ killed those who would harm Him in Mat 13:10-15 by simply informing the disciples that the multitudes were not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (Mat 13:1015). These were the same multitudes who cried, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” It was “those Jews that believed on Him”:

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

Joh 8:39  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.

It is our old man who must first be deceived and die, before he can possess the words of fire which are the words of life, and have those words of fire in His mouth.

3) The two witnesses have the power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy

Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

We have seen in our study of Revelation chapter four that the phrase “a door was opened in heaven” is the symbol of exponential growth in the knowledge and understanding of the things of the spirit. Conversely “the power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophecy”, means that those who witness for Christ will not at first understand the witness they are given. Christ’s own disciples signify this time of our lives. They were with Him 3 ½ years and the heavens were shut and it rained not during the time of Christ’s prophecy. The same was true of “those Jews which believed on Him” and yet “sought to kill [Him]”.

Christ had the power to speak life-giving words and yet kept it from raining in the days of His prophecy by blinding the eyes of those to whom He was speaking, and taking away their ability to hear His Words. It wasn’t so much that they would not hear as much as they were not given to hear His life-giving Words which are called ‘rain’ here in Revelation 11:

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

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. [No rain in the 1260 days of Christ’s prophecy]
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. [No rain in the days of His prophecy]
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

No one who comes to the scriptures reads them and immediately understands what they are reading. It varies from person to person, but we all spend a spiritually symbolic three and one half years, trying the spirits and sometimes actually trying to disprove what we are coming to see.

The clearest example of this verse is the fact that Christ witnessed to his own disciples for three and one half years, including telling them that He Himself would be “hurt”, and they did not understand. They were with Him “a thousand two hundred and three score days”, and “they understood not… in the days of His prophecy”.

Mar 9:31  For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
Mar 9:32  But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Christ’s disciples could not believe that their fellow Jews would kill their Lord, much less understand that it would be they themselves who would deny Him, just as it is hard for us to see that it is you and I who see Christ as our King and yet, at first, we still want Him and His doctrine dead.

Joh 12:16  These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

Once again, these words are for us, and it is we who live both sides of this spiritual coin and experience both edges of this spiritual “two edged sword”.

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;

We are first “those Jews which believed on Him”, and this is also us in our own appointed time, when we deny our Lord, cursing and swearing and blaspheming His name before the heathen. This is who we all once were while believing the lies of that great city wherein our Lord was crucified:

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.

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, 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 we who are first the children of disobedience and “of our father the devil”. It is we who at first “cannot understand Christ’s words” (Joh 12:16), and who want to kill him and His words. It is the knowing and revealing of this truth which is meant by:

4) … The two witnesses turning waters to blood

What are ‘waters’ in scriptural and spiritual terms? As we have seen over and over again, a two-edged sword cuts both coming and going, and the words of scripture have both a positive and a negative application within us, depending on whether they are speaking of the destruction of our old man or the increase of the new man. In spiritual reality, both are positive, because both are essential to the fulfilling of the Lord’s plan in our lives, but it is still a “sharp twoedged sword” which will “divide asunder the soul and the spirit”. It is still “bitter in the belly” and this Truth “kills” our old man.

Heb 4:12  For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In scriptural and spiritual terms, ‘waters’ means (on the negative side of this two-edged sword) the waters of peoples and the doctrines of those peoples, on which the great harlot, Babylon, sits and rules over those people. Those words and doctrines of the peoples of Babylon lead only to death.

Rev 8:11  And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter [in our belly, Rev 10:10].

Rev 17:15  And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

The positive application of the word ‘waters’ in scripture is the words and doctrines of Christ and those words in the mouths of those who are His Christ, which words are words and doctrines of life.

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.

Joh 4:13  Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

The turning of ‘wells of waters into blood’ is the revelation that we all first turn the truths of Christ’s words into lies as we reject His Truths and twist those words into lies which we use to cover the idols of our hearts (Eze 1:1-7). It is the very same thing as hurting and killing Christ and His elect, by abusing and twisting His words of life into the false doctrines of Babylon, which produce death. “The dream is one”, and those who twist Christ’s command to love thine enemies into ‘Love only your personal enemies, but not your national or your criminal enemies’, are condemned by Christ’s doctrines. Turning waters into blood by our misunderstanding and our disobedience to God’s words is what we all do before we are transformed into those who know Christ’s words, and who then turn waters into blood in a positive way, by “mortifying the deeds of the flesh” and remaining faithful to the Lord’s words in the face of the pressures of the harlot who tries to force us to conform to this world, by the threat of spiritual death and by the rejection of the “many called” of the multitudes and majorities of Babylon.

The very first people who do this, and who drink of Christ’s blood and deny Him, are Christ’s own apostles who deny Him. It is His own elect, to whom belong “all things, things present and things to come” and who “live by every word… of God” and who “keep these things written in this prophecy”. (1Co 3:21-22, Rev 1:3, Mat 4:4)

Mat 26:27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. [within you, Luk 17:20-21]

Drinking Christ’s blood is acknowledging that it is we who have shed His blood, and that He has died, and shed that blood for our sins. It is we who first deny Him:

Mar 14:27  And Jesus saith unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.
Mar 14:28  But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.
Mar 14:29  But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.
Mar 14:30  And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Mar 14:31  But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.

Refusing to acknowledge this is to “turn the waters [of God’s] word into blood”, and to “hurt” and to “kill” God’s two witnesses. It is we who all do “all things” because “all things, things present and things to come, are ours”, both the words of life, and the words of death.

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;

5) The two witnesses are given power to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

When Christ’s apostles later asked the same question concerning the time of the coming of the kingdom of God which the Pharisees had demanded of Christ in Luk 17, His answer to His disciples was the prophecy of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. Here again in Mat 24, we will see the fire proceeding out of the mouths of God’s witnesses to destroy our old man before we are resurrected with Christ, to have that fire in our mouths. The fire that proceeds out of the mouths of the two witnesses, and the smiting of the earth with all plagues as often as they will, are again one and the same because “the dream is one”.

It is also here in the 24th chapter of Matthew that we learn that all of this, including “smiting the earth with all plagues”, is within and is read, heard and kept in “this generation” which “reads, hears and keeps the words of this prophecy”. Let’s see how this is done.

Mat 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

The word ‘world’ here is translated from the Greek word ‘aion’. Christ’s disciples are simply repeating the same question the Jews had earlier asked about “when the kingdom of God should come” and now they add, “and what should be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” It is here in one of the most famous prophecies of scripture that Christ reveals that “all these things shall be fulfilled… in this generation,” whenever “this generation” is “reading, hearing and keeping the things written therein”. (Mat 24:15 and 34 and Rev 1:3)

The first thing Christ gives us as a sign of His coming is that many would come in His name, and in doing so they will be in the process of deceiving many. It is these very words of fire, pointing out that the multitudes are deceived, which proceeds out of the mouth of Christ and His witnesses, which destroy all who fail to acknowledge that we are all, in our turn, “smitten with the plagues” which are our part in living out this deception.

Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

“Take heed that no man deceive you” is like saying, “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is in the middle of the garden, you shall not eat of it.”

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Both Mat 24:4 and Gen 2:17 are “words of fire” coming out of the mouth of God’s two witnesses. Just as all who deny they are blind will remain blind,…

Joh 9:40  And [some] of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

 … so also will all who deny that they have been as deceived as walking dead men and must be killed by these fiery words out of the mouths of God’s two witnesses. “Take heed that no man deceive you” is nothing less than a prophecy that you and I will be deceived, just as ‘do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ is a prophecy that God knew Adam would fulfill and He had already prepared the sacrifice of that sin.

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

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

So much for the false doctrine of ‘free will’. It is not possible to have a sin offering in place “before the world began” without knowing in advance that Adam would disobey the Lord’s commandment to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God has always been on plan A. He really is in the process of “working all things after the counsel of HIS OWN will”, which includes giving His kingdom to His Son who in turn shares that kingdom with His elect body:

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

The “we” of verse 12 is those who were “called in Christ before the world began”. It is the two olive trees and the two candlesticks who faithfully witness to The Truths of the Word of God, all the while “despising the shame [of] being hated of all men”:

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.

We will pause our study at this point and pick it up in our next study of the power given to us as the two witness discussed in these two verses:

Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

God’s Foreknowledge

[Study Aired September 3, 2024]

Introduction

1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

The concept of God’s foreknowledge, as introduced in this verse, presents us with a profound and awe-inspiring aspect of the nature of God. It speaks to God’s omniscience – His all-knowing character – particularly as it relates to His eternal perspective on time and events. The apostle Peter, in addressing the elect, grounds their very selection in this divine foreknowledge, connecting it directly to the process of sanctification and the work of Christ.

Understanding God’s foreknowledge is crucial for grasping the depth of our salvation and the intricacies of God’s relationship with His creation. It challenges our carnal perceptions of time, choice, and divine sovereignty, inviting us into a deeper contemplation of the One who knows the end from the beginning.

As we start this study, we must heed the words of Proverbs 3:5-6:

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Our exploration of God’s foreknowledge should lead us not to pride in our own intellect, but to a humble reverence for the infinite God who chose us before the foundation of the world.

Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

As we dig into this study, our understanding of God’s foreknowledge must be built upon the solid foundation of Scripture, ensuring that our faith remains unshaken. As Luke 6:48 reminds us,

“He is like a man which built a 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.” (Jesus Christ)

Understanding Foreknowledge

The term “foreknowledge” in 1 Peter 1:2 is translated from the Greek word “prognosis.” This word is composed of two parts: “pro” meaning “before” and “gnosis” meaning “knowledge.” In essence, it refers to knowing something beforehand or having advanced knowledge.

In the New Testament, this term appears only twice:

• Acts 2:23 “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain”
• 1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”

To understand how this concept is used in Scripture, we must follow the principle found in Isaiah 28:10: “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”

• God’s foreknowledge of events: Isaiah 46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure”
• God’s foreknowledge of individuals: Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
• God’s foreknowledge in relation to salvation: Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Foreknowledge and Predestination

Let’s look at the distinction between foreknowledge and predestination. It’s important to note that while these concepts are related, they are distinct. Foreknowledge refers to God’s advance knowledge, while predestination refers to His determinate purpose or plan.

To understand this distinction, we must carefully examine the relevant Scriptures, following the principle in 2 Corinthians 13:1, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”

Foreknowledge: As we’ve discussed, foreknowledge (prognosis) refers to God’s advance knowledge. It’s His ability to know all things before they occur. Key verses:

1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…”

Acts 2:23 “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God…”

Predestination: This term comes from the Greek “proorizo,” meaning to determine beforehand or foreordain. Key verses:

Romans 8:29-30 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son… Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called…”

Ephesians 1:5 “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will”

The distinction lies in that foreknowledge is an aspect of God’s omniscience – His all-knowing nature. Predestination, on the other hand, relates to His sovereign will and plan.

To understand this better, let’s consider Romans 8:29-30. Here, Paul presents a sequence: foreknowledge precedes predestination. This sequence illustrates that while foreknowledge and predestination are related, they function within different aspects of God’s omniscience and sovereign will.

As Isaiah 46:10 states, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” This verse emphasizes that God’s foreknowledge and predestination work together to fulfill His sovereign plan.

We should also consider that our understanding of time and causality may not fully grasp God’s eternal perspective. As Psalm 90:4 reminds us, “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” Also James 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.

While foreknowledge and predestination are closely related concepts, they are distinct. Foreknowledge refers to God’s complete knowledge of all things, while predestination refers to His sovereign plan and purpose. Both concepts highlight God’s sovereignty and omniscience, reminding us of His supreme authority over all creation.

God’s Nature and Foreknowledge

To understand God’s foreknowledge, we must consider His nature as revealed in Scripture. Let’s examine this, keeping in mind 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

God’s foreknowledge is intimately connected to His omniscience – His all-knowing nature. This attribute is clearly presented in Scripture:

1 John 3:20 “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.”

Job 37:16 “Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?”

These verses affirm that God’s knowledge is complete and perfect, encompassing all things.

God’s foreknowledge is also linked to His eternal nature. He exists outside of time as we understand it:

Deuteronomy 33:27a “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:”

1 Timothy 1:17 “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

These verses emphasize God’s eternal nature, indicating His existence beyond the constraints of time.

God’s foreknowledge doesn’t exist in isolation but is intimately connected with His sovereignty – His supreme power and authority over all creation.

Daniel 4:35 “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”

Psalm 33:11 “The counsel of the LORD standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.”

These passages demonstrate that God’s foreknowledge is not merely passive awareness, but is linked to His active will and purpose across all generations.

As we review these aspects of God’s nature, we must remember the words of Job 11:7-9:

“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.”

This reminds us that while we strive to understand God’s foreknowledge, we must approach this topic with humility, recognizing that our finite minds cannot fully comprehend the infinite nature of God.

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

God’s foreknowledge is an expression of His omniscient and eternal nature, working in harmony with His sovereign will. As we continue our study, we’ll explore how this understanding of God’s nature and foreknowledge relates to the themes of election and salvation presented in 1 Peter 1:2.

Foreknowledge in the Old Testament

While the specific term “foreknowledge” (prognosis) doesn’t appear in the Old Testament, the concept is clearly present. We’ll examine this through prophecies, God’s plans for His people, and foreshadowing of the Messiah. As Romans 15:4 states, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

The Old Testament contains numerous prophecies that demonstrate God’s foreknowledge. Let’s examine a few:

• The Fall of Tyre:

Ezekiel 26:3-5 “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.”

Ezekiel 26:7-12 “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. 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. And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach. With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground. And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.”

Ezekiel 29:18 “Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it.

This prophecy was fulfilled in stages, demonstrating God’s foreknowledge in predicting the destruction of Tyre.

• The Rise and Fall of Kingdoms:

Daniel 2:31-33 “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.”

Daniel 2:38 specifically identifies the “head of gold” as the Babylonian Empire: “Thou art this head of gold.” The interpretation of the other materials as representing successive empires is not explicitly named in the scripture.

Daniel 2:44 provides the climax of this prophecy: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

This verse foretells the establishment of God’s eternal kingdom, which will supersede all earthly kingdoms.

• God’s Foreknowledge in His Plans for Israel:
The Abrahamic Covenant:

Genesis 15:13-14 “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.”

This prophecy was fulfilled centuries later in the Exodus from Egypt, demonstrating God’s foreknowledge.

Exodus 12:40-41 (Fulfillment of the 400 Years):

“Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.”

This scripture shows that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years, fulfilling the prophecy given to Abram.

Exodus 3:7-8 (God’s Promise to Deliver Israel):

“And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”

This passage confirms God’s plan to fulfill His promise to Abram by delivering Israel from Egypt.

Exodus 12:35-36 (Fulfillment of Leaving with Great Substance):

“And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.”

This scripture shows that the Israelites left Egypt with great wealth, fulfilling the part of the prophecy that they would come out “with great substance.”

These scriptures collectively demonstrate the fulfillment of the prophecy in Genesis 15:13-14, affirming God’s foreknowledge in His plans for Israel.

The Return from Babylonian Exile:
Jeremiah 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.”

• Prophecies About the Messiah:

His Birthplace: Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

His Suffering:
Psalm 22:16-18 “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”

These prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, demonstrating God’s foreknowledge of events far into the future.

As we consider these examples, we see that God’s foreknowledge in the Old Testament is not just about predicting future events, but about His sovereign plan unfolding through history. This aligns with Hebrews 10:1, which states: “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.“

Foreknowledge in the New Testament

In the New Testament, we see a deeper revelation of God’s foreknowledge, particularly in relation to Christ’s work and the plan of salvation.

Jesus demonstrated divine foreknowledge in His precise predictions of His own death and resurrection:

Matthew 16:21 “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”

Luke 18:31-33 “Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.”

The apostles recognized that Christ’s death was according to God’s foreknowledge:

Acts 2:23 “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:”

Acts 4:27-28 “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, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.”

Paul connects God’s foreknowledge with His plan of salvation:

Romans 8:29-30 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

Ephesians 1:4-5 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,”

These passages show that God’s foreknowledge is intricately linked with His plan for believers, extending from before the foundation of the world to their ultimate glorification.

As we consider these New Testament teachings on foreknowledge, we see a progression from the Old Testament concept. While the Old Testament largely focused on God’s foreknowledge of events and nations, the New Testament reveals His foreknowledge in relation to individual salvation and the work of Christ.

This aligns with the principle stated in John 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.” The New Testament’s spiritual revelation of God’s foreknowledge gives us a deeper understanding of its significance in our salvation.

God’s Absolute Sovereignty and Foreknowledge

In examining God’s foreknowledge, we must recognize His absolute sovereignty over all things. As we explore this topic, let’s keep in mind Romans 9:20-21: “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

Scripture affirms God’s complete sovereignty over all events and choices:

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

Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”

These verses demonstrate that even human thoughts and decisions are under God’s control.

God’s foreknowledge is not merely passive awareness, but active determination:

Lamentations 3:37-38 “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?”

Amos 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?”

These passages indicate that nothing occurs outside of God’s direct causation.

God’s absolute sovereignty serves His ultimate purposes:

Ephesians 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:”

Romans 9:17 “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.”

These verses show that God’s control over all things, including human actions, serves to fulfill His divine plan.

As we examine these truths, we must remember Isaiah 45:9:

“Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?”

Our role is not to question God’s sovereign control, but to trust in His perfect wisdom and justice, even when we cannot fully comprehend His ways.

The Kingdom Within and God’s Foreknowledge

As we go deeper into the concept of God’s foreknowledge, it’s crucial to understand how it relates to the kingdom of God within us. Jesus taught in Luke 17:20-21:

“And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

This internal reality of God’s kingdom aligns with His foreknowledge in several ways:

• God’s foreknowledge ensures the establishment of His kingdom within believers: Ephesians 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.”
• The work within us is part of God’s foreknown plan: Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
• Our spiritual growth is encompassed in God’s foreknowledge: 1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”

Understanding that the kingdom of God is within us, guided by His foreknowledge, should lead us to a deeper appreciation of His work in our lives and a greater surrender to His will.

Understanding God’s Foreknowledge Through the Father’s Spirit:

As we seek to grasp the profound concept of God’s foreknowledge, we must rely on the guidance of the Father’s Spirit. Jesus promised in John 14:26: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
The role of the Father’s Spirit in illuminating God’s foreknowledge includes:

• Revealing spiritual truths: 1 Corinthians 2:10 “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”
• Guiding us into all truth: John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
• Helping us understand God’s gifts: 1 Corinthians 2:12 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”
As we study God’s foreknowledge, we must continually seek the guidance of the Father’s Spirit, acknowledging our dependence on His illumination to comprehend these deep spiritual truths.

Practical Implications of God’s Foreknowledge and Sovereignty

As we grow in the truths of God’s foreknowledge and sovereign control, we will apply these to our daily lives as believers. Let’s examine the practical implications, keeping in mind Romans 15:4:

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

A. Comfort and Assurance for Believers

• Security in God’s plan: Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Knowing that God is in complete control should bring comfort, as every circumstance is part of His perfect plan.
• Confidence in salvation: John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” God’s sovereign choice in salvation provides assurance of our eternal security.

B. Humility and Dependence on God

• Recognition of our limitations: Jeremiah 10:23 “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Understanding God’s sovereignty should foster humility, acknowledging our complete dependence on Him.
• Surrender to God’s will: James 4:15 “For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” We should approach life with an attitude of submission to God’s sovereign will.

C. Worship and Gratitude

• Awe at God’s wisdom: Romans 11:33-36 “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.” God’s foreknowledge and sovereignty should inspire deep worship and adoration.
• Thankfulness in all circumstances: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Recognizing God’s control over all events should lead us to gratitude, even in difficult times.

D. Trust in God’s Justice

Romans 9:14-15 “What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

We must trust in God’s perfect justice and mercy, even when we don’t understand His ways.

E. Peace in the Face of Uncertainty

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Knowing that God foreknows and controls all things should bring peace, even in uncertain times.

F. Seeking God’s Wisdom

James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

As we grapple with the deep truths of God’s foreknowledge, we should continually seek His wisdom, trusting that He will guide our understanding.

Conclusion

Understanding God’s foreknowledge and sovereignty will transform our daily lives. It will lead us to greater trust, deeper worship, and a more profound sense of peace. As we navigate life’s challenges, we can rest in the assurance that our sovereign God is working all things according to His perfect will.

Let us close with the words of Jude 1:24-25:

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”

As we conclude this study, remember that our understanding of God’s foreknowledge is a journey guided by the Father himself through Jesus Christ. Continue to seek His wisdom, trust in His sovereign plan, and live in the light of His foreknown purpose for your life.

Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

Jer 44:15-30  They Shall Know Whose Words Shall Stand, Mine or Theirs

[Study Aired July 3, 2022]

Jer 44:15  Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 44:16  As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
Jer 44:17  But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
Jer 44:18  But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
Jer 44:19  And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
Jer 44:20  Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
Jer 44:21  The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?
Jer 44:22  So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
Jer 44:23  Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
Jer 44:24  Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
Jer 44:25  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.
Jer 44:26  Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.
Jer 44:27  Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
Jer 44:28  Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.
Jer 44:29  And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
Jer 44:30  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

In this chapter we will finally discover why these Jews who claim to be the Lord’s people never had any real intention of being obedient to the Words of the Lord even though they had sought out Jeremiah to seek the Lord’s counsel for them concerning whether to return to Egypt, promising to be obedient whether the Lord’s counsel was for their good or their evil:

Jer 42:1  Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
Jer 42:2  And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
Jer 42:3  That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
Jer 42:4  Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
Jer 42:5  Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
Jer 42:6  Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

The truth was that all these men already had their minds made up to go to Egypt where they knew they would fit right in because of the traditions they had been keeping for generations. Jeremiah had told them he would speak only what the Lord told him to say, and all these Jews and their leaders knew that Jeremiah had been rescued from dying at the hands of the priests for what he was repeating for the Lord. They knew how Hananiah the false prophet had humiliated Jeremiah by taking the wooden yoke off of Jeremiah’s neck and breaking it before all the people and labeling Jeremiah a false prophet for saying the Babylonian captivity would last 70 years, and still Jeremiah remained faithful to the Lord’s very unpopular words. These Jews and their leaders knew that Hananiah had died just three months after Jeremiah had prophesied that he would die that very year. They knew all about the deprivations Jeremiah had endured when Irijah, the captain of the ward, falsely accused Jeremiah of falling away to the Chaldeans. They knew that Irijah had convinced the princes to have Jeremiah placed in prison because the Lord had instructed Jeremiah to tell the king and all the people that they must submit to the yoke of the princes of Babylon. All Judah was aware of what Jeremiah had endured while being starved in prison, and yet he remained faithful to the Lord’s words.

So, Jeremiah had proven to be faithful to the Lord’s words, which words he now addresses to all the leaders and all the people who had coalesced around Gedaliah whom Nebuchadnezzar had made governor over the land after Nebuchadnezzar had deposed Zedekiah from the throne of Judah. Now these remaining Jews are sending this proven prophet to the Lord to inquire of the Lord what they should do after Johanan had rescued them from the hand of Ishmael and his men. This was the Lord’s answer to the people and their leaders. This is what they had taken an oath to obey:

Jer 42:8  Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
Jer 42:9  And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
Jer 42:10  If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
Jer 42:11  Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
Jer 42:12  And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Jer 42:13  But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
Jer 42:14  Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
Jer 42:15  And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
Jer 42:16  Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

‘Abiding in the land’ signifies abiding in the words of Christ:

Joh 8:30  As he spake these things, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31  Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed him, If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples;
Joh 8:32  and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (ASV)

Fearing “the king of Babylon” is fearing to break away from the bondage of this world and its king, the adversary and His ways, of “keeping days, months, times, and years… the traditions of men”. These are the Lord’s words for those who are given to abide in them:

Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements [G447: stoicheion] of the world:

This Greek word ‘stoicheion’ is defined in Colossians 2 as “the tradition of men”, and it is defined in this chapter of Galatians as the “keeping of days, months times and years” (vs 9).

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, [under ‘stoicheion’, ‘after the tradition of men’]
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Gal 4:7  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Gal 4:8  Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9  But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements [G4747: ‘stoicheion’], whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

What are these “weak and beggarly elements” which kept ancient Israel in “bondage to the stoicheion of this world” and which the holy spirit is concerned is keeping us in bondage to the elements of this world. For all who are given to abide in the Lord’s words, this is what the holy spirit is talking about:

Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

Paul is inspired of the holy spirit to repeat this dire warning in:

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [G4747: stoicheion] of the world, and not after Christ.

The tradition of men, the rudiments and elements of this world, are “not after Christ” and that, it turns out is why these Jews did not want to stay in the land wearing Christ’s cloths and eating His bread:

Jer 44:15  Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 44:16  As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.

These words from these Jews graphically demonstrate how important it is to keep and live by this verse of scripture:

1Th 5:12  And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
1Th 5:13  And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.

There are two parts to this commandment from the Lord. We are both 1) to know them which labor among us, and 2) we are commanded to “esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.” Love is defined by scripture as being obedient to the Lord:

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

These Jews knew Jeremiah’s decades-long history of fidelity to the Lord’s very unpopular message, but they did not at all ‘esteem him highly in love for his work’s sake’.

What happened to this promise these same people made just ten days before they rebelled against their own words with “the Lord [as] a true and faithful witness”?

Jer 42:5  Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
Jer 42:6  Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

It does indeed bode well for us “when we obey the voice of the Lord”. On the other side of that same coin, if we do not believe and obey the Lord, we abide in His wrath and things will not go well for us, and the very things we fear will overtake and destroy us:

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

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

You may be the richest, most powerful man in the world, but what good is that if you “abide [under] the wrath of God”?

Mat 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mat 16:27  For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Like Esau, we all think of future promises as inconsequential to present needs and desires, and we willingly ‘sell our birthright’, our most valuable possession, to satisfy the present momentary needs and desires of our flesh:

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

Our ‘birthright’ inheritance is in Christ, and in this story, Christ is signified by the land which was the inheritance of these Jews. The Jews in this story had already, long ago sold any claim they had to the land because of the hypocrisy of their way of life. They know this better than anyone, and they also know that their way of life will fit in with life in Egypt better than having to listen to the prophets of the Lord in the promised land.

Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also [in Christ] we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Col 3:24  Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Israel and Judah typify the Lord’s apostate wife who has always had an eye for the ways of this world, and who hates the apparel and food of her own husband. They have “come to the prophet with the stumbling block” of their self-righteous iniquity and with the multitude of the idols of their own hearts:

Jer 44:17  But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.

The same is true today. “We, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities” of every nation on earth “burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her” by observing “days, months, times and years” according to “the traditions of men” in every country on earth, with absolute impunity, as if Galatians 4:10 and Colossians 2:8 were not even in the scriptures, to which scriptures these very same professing Christians give so much lip service. It is for their self-righteous iniquity that the Lord answers them “according to the idols of their hearts” (Eze 14:1-9), and this is what they and Christians today truly believe:

Jer 44:18  But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
Jer 44:19  And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?

Exactly when did these Jews, or any of our ancestors, ever “leave off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her”? Even the American pilgrims, who outlawed the observance of Christmas and Easter as the Pagan holidays and the times of debauchery they were, still kept either the seventh-day sabbath or the first day of the week as a “Christian sabbath”. Neither had these Jews ever ‘left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven’.

It may appear impossible that a people who have “burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her”, and who had just three months earlier had been carried off into Babylon as slaves and are now fleeing into Egypt for fear of the Chaldeans, could possibly be so blind as to make such a statement, defending the queen of heaven. However, we ourselves have all lived under such hypocrisy, and we have witnessed how the Truth is loathed by those to whom this degree of “strong delusion” is given. This all happened to these Jews, and it is recorded for our admonition (1Co 11:10). It should serve only to make us to tremble at the Lord’s ability to send to us such blind, self-righteous hypocrisy, and we should all take heed to the apostle’s warning:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: 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.

Jer 44:20  Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
Jer 44:21  The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?
Jer 44:22  So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
Jer 44:23  Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.

Notice that Jeremiah doesn’t even acknowledge that they had ever “left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven” because he knows it never happened. Jeremiah is as non-plussed by the absolute, total blindness of his own people to their own rebellious ways as you and I are when things like this happen. He is asking them,  “Can’t you see what your rebellion against the Words of the Lord have produced??? Can’t you see the results of the Lord’s anger, and His wrath towards you for ignoring His commandments and observing the days, months, times and years of the queen of heaven??? Your brothers are in Babylon as slaves, and you are back in Egypt fleeing from the same people who carried your brothers away captives.”

Jer 44:24  Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:

Notice how the holy spirit has chosen to tell us to whom Jeremiah is speaking. We are told that he is addressing “all the people and… all the women.” The captains and “all the proud men” are not mentioned in this case, because the word ‘woman’ signifies the church and all of her daughter churches, “Samaria and her daughters, and Jerusalem and her daughters.”

Eze 16:1  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 16:2  Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

Eze 16:26  Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.

The Lord’s people identified more with the pagan Egyptians and their traditions than they did with the Lord and His commandments; especially this commandment:

Deu 12:29  When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30  Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31  Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

By sending Jeremiah to enquire for them of the Lord these self-righteous, rebellious types of us, demonstrated that they were burning incense to the queen of heaven and thinking they were doing so to the Lord their God. When forced to face their hypocrisy, they did what we all just naturally do, and they refused to repent and continued on in their rebellion.

Ezekiel was a prophet of the Lord who had been carried away into Babylon, and the Jews in Babylon were of the same rebellious spirit as these Jews in Egypt. Speaking specifically of those Jews who had been carried away into Babylon, this is what he tells them as types of us:

Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou [Jerusalem (vs 1-2)] and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

There was “no place found for repentance” in either group.

Jeremiah continues:

Jer 44:25  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.

Judah and Jerusalem had long been in league with Egypt, as an ally against Assyria and Babylon. They had been “committing fornication” with the Egyptians and the Assyrians for many decades. It was all done “after the counsel of [the Lord’s] own will” (Eph 1:11). The Lord gives us our very thoughts. Our hearts are in His hand, and He is intent upon turning our hearts to the destruction of our flesh and to the destruction of the entire kingdom of our old man:

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

Judah and Jerusalem were doing what the whole world was doing. They were doing what Egypt had been doing all along, and they knew they would fit right in down in Egypt just as the Jews who had been carried away to Babylon felt right at home in that country.

Jer 44:26  Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.

Even the churches of this Babylonian system acknowledge that ‘Egypt’ signifies this wicked world into which we have all been placed by virtue of being born. This 26^th verse is the Lord placing a curse upon His own people… “My name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt.” This curse typifies what Christ is telling us when He cursed the fig tree:

Mat 21:19  And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

This ‘fig tree’ signifies the Lord’s people of that time.

Joe 1:6  For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
Joe 1:7  He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

At that time the kingdom of God was an outward kingdom. It was the kingdom of physical Israel with ‘a lawgiver’ still residing in Judah:

Gen 49:10  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

This is the definition of ‘Shiloh’:

H7886
שִׁילֹה
shı̂ylôh
shee-lo’
From H7951; tranquil; Shiloh, an epithet of the Messiah: – Shiloh.

The sceptre would not depart from physical Judah “until Shiloh come”, and in the very first recorded sermon of His reformative ministry, immediately following His baptism by John and His temptation by the devil, Christ prophesied of the gospel going to the Gentiles and that teaching almost cost Him his life:

Luk 4:24  And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luk 4:25  But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Luk 4:26  But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
Luk 4:27  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
Luk 4:28  And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Luk 4:29  And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
Luk 4:30  But he passing through the midst of them went his way,

Christ repeated this prophecy to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well:

Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Joh 4:21  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Jeremiah’s curse upon the Jews in Egypt that “[the Lord’s] name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt” was a prophecy that the Lord would place a curse upon His own people, as Christ cursed this fig tree, which in turn signifies His own people of that time:

Jer 44:27  Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
Jer 44:28  Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.

If “there be an end of them” because they are “consumed by the sword and by the famine… until there be an end of them” then the only way they will ever “know whose words shall stand, mine or theirs” is if their own wickedness corrects them:

Jer 2:18  And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? [the Nile, referring to the Jews in Egypt] or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? [referring to the Jews in Babylon]
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.

It is only Christ “whose words shall stand [and] shall not pass away”:

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

Jer 44:29  And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:

Seeing signs from the Lord means nothing to those who are devoid of spiritual eyes and ears. It all happened to them, and they benefit nothing from their own chastening, because it all happened to them and is written simply for our admonition (1Co 10:11).

Jer 2:30  In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
Jer 2:31  O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

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.

These words in Jeremiah chapter two… “We are [our own] Lords; we will come no more to thee” are a prophecy of what these remnant Jews tell Jeremiah in this 44^th chapter which we quoted above, and I will repeat here:

Jer 44:17  But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
Jer 44:18  But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
Jer 44:19  And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?

Jer 44:30  Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

Indeed ‘our own wickedness will correct us, and our backsliding will reprove us’, and if we are blessed of the Lord to do so, we will be given to see and know “in this present time” that it is indeed a bitter thing for us to ‘forsake the Lord and to have His fear taken away from 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.

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.

If it is the Lord’s will, it is you and I upon whom the Lord’s glory will be revealed and upon whom “the creature [all men of all time is] waiting for [our] manifestation”.

Jer 11:13-23 Pray Not for This People

[Study Aired June 20, 2021]

Jer 11:13  For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.
Jer 11:14  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
Jer 11:15  What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.
Jer 11:16  The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
Jer 11:17  For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.
Jer 11:18  And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings.
Jer 11:19  But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
Jer 11:20  But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
Jer 11:21  Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:
Jer 11:22  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine:
Jer 11:23  And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.

Here are the last two verses of our previous study and a few words of that commentary:

“Jer 11:11  Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.
Jer 11:12  Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.

“Yes indeed! That is exactly how it is when we are on the raging seas of our rebellious, carnal life, and being brought to our wits’ end. That storm is not our doing. It is a work of the Lord Himself. That God-ordained storm in our lives is what it takes to drag us to “[our] wits’ end], and make us to cry out to the Lord, “Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” At that time, the Lord Himself has forsaken us and does not hear us as we are brought to face the fact that our false doctrines, the idols of our hearts, are doing nothing to give us any relief from the desperate straits in which we find ourselves.” (End Quote)

The “gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble” refers to our heart’s idols (Eze 14:1-9). The false doctrine of a secret rapture or a place of safety will not save us from the day of the Lord’s wrath upon the kingdom of our old man.

We concluded that study with the recognition that it is through the Lord’s judgments we learn righteousness:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

The only way we “will learn righteousness” is “in the way of [our Lord’s] judgments”. We are told that all the judgments of the Old Testament are types of our own judgment:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples [G5179: ‘tupos’, types]: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Here is how this Greek word ‘tupos’ is translated in the Concordant Literal Version of verse 6 of this same chapter:

1Co 10:6 Now these things became types of us, for us not to be lusters after evil things, (CLV)

Being “types of us” obviously does not mean that we must literally eat of the physical tree of the knowledge of good and evil, commit physical adultery and then literally murder a man to cover up our adultery as King David did with Bathsheba. Nor does it mean that we each must literally kill the prophets or literally nail Christ to the cross. So, what is the meaning of “the way of thy judgments”?

Christ answers this question for us and makes clear “the way of [His] judgments”. First, He poses a couple of questions for us to contemplate:

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

Our Lord’s words, “Suppose ye…” indicate that is exactly what those who were telling Him of what Pilate had done to these men were “supposing”. That is just the way we all just naturally think. Why in the world would the Lord consider you or me to be worthy of the same deaths as those whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices? Why would He consider you or me to be worthy of dying as untimely a death as those on whom the tower in Siloam fell?

The scriptures answer that question, and in doing so reveal the meaning of “the way of [His] judgments”.

This is “the way of His judgments”:

Mat 23:29  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Mat 23:30  And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Mat 23:31  Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that  ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Mat 23:32  Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Mat 23:33  Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

There it is! The reason we are just as worthy of death as the men whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, and the reason we are just as worthy of death as the eighteen men upon whom the tower in Siloam fell is that we are no better than any of them, and “all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias… may be required of this generation” reading these words, as Luke tells us:

Luk 11:48  Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.
Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Notice that the word ‘some’ is in italics in the King James Version. Italics in the King James indicates that the word is not in the original Greek manuscripts and was added by the translators. I have emboldened that word to make the point that it simply does not belong in the 34^th verse of Matthew 23, or in the 49^th verse of Luke 11. As we will see in a few moments, Young’s Literal Version leaves out the word ‘some’ in Matthew 23:34, but even Young’s fails to catch this mistake in Luke 11:49.

Before we read Young’s version of these verses containing the word ‘some’, let’s look at this question which the first Christian martyr, Stephen, posed to this very same ‘generation’:

Act 7:52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them  which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

The obvious implied answer to Stephen’s question is that there was not one single prophet of God who had not been rejected and persecuted by the established religious leaders of their day. It certainly was not “some of them”. No, it is every single true prophet who is always rejected and persecuted by the religious establishment of their day.

I used to read these verses stating that the blood of all the prophets would be required “of this generation” and I thought, “Wow, that must have been an exceptionally wicked generation into which Christ was born over 2,000 years ago!” Such thinking is that of a spiritual babe who has missed the entire point the Lord is making. That point is that the sins of all men of all time, from Adam to the great white throne judgment, are found within the flesh of every one of us who are “in Adam”. In that sense we are one and all guilty of the blood of all the prophets and the blood of Christ Himself. It is in that sense that you and I, along with all the rest of mankind, are guilty of all evil done from Adam to the great white throne judgment:

Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

That is “the way of [His] judgments”.

It is you and I who say, “If I had lived in the days of our fathers, I would not have partaken of the blood of the prophets…. I am not as wicked as those men whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifice, nor the men on whom the tower in Siloam fell. If I had lived in Christ’s day, I would not have crucified Him.” Nothing is further from the Truth. All the wickedness that has happened from Adam until now, and all the wickedness which will happen from Adam to the great white throne judgment, is in your flesh and in my flesh, and it is in that sense we are all guilty of all of those sins, including a self-righteous spirit which tells us we would never in a thousand years be that wicked when this is the Truth of the Lord’s very elect before “judgment… begins with us”:

Lam 1:8  Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her,  because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
Lam 1:9  Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully [“Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen…”]: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself.

“Jerusalem [the Lord’s very elect] has [at first] sinned grievously… therefore she came down wonderfully [and] she had no comforter”. It was not “some of them” whom she had persecuted and killed. It was all the Lord’s Truths and all His prophets telling us of His judgments that we have rejected and killed. Young’s Literal Version caught the fact that the word ‘some’ did not belong in Matthew 23:34:

Mat 23:29  `Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the righteous,
Mat 23:30  and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Mat 23:31  So that ye testify to yourselves, that ye are sons of them who did murder the prophets;
Mat 23:32  and ye–ye fill up the measure of your fathers.
Mat 23:33  `Serpents! brood of vipers! how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna?
Mat 23:34  `Because of this, lo, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and of them ye will kill and crucify, and of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and will pursue from city to city;
Mat 23:35  that on you may come all the righteous blood being poured out on the earth from the blood of Abel the righteous, unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar:
Mat 23:36  verily I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation. (YLT)

The religious world loves its own false prophets who speak only smooth things:

Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

This world loves its own, but it is “of them”, of those few who are ‘faithful to the end’ to the Lord’s words, of whose blood we have all “taken part” in our own time, when we reject and persecute and hate them and their uncompromising fidelity to the Truth, “the way of [His] judgments” (Isa 26:8-9).

However, Young’s Literal Version fails to correctly translate this exact same Greek phrase in Luke:

Luk 11:49 Therefore, also, God’s Wisdom said, ‘I shall be dispatching to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will be killing and banishing,'”
Luk 11:50 that the blood of all the prophets which is shed from the disruption of the world may be exacted from this generation,
Luk 11:51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house. Yea, I am saying to you, It will be exacted from this generation!”

No, no, it is not ‘some of them’:

Act 7:52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
Act 7:53  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

What happened to Stephen for simply pointing out that the rejection of “the ways of the Lord’s judgment” is a complete and total rejection from those who claim His name and claim to be His people:

Act 7:54  When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
Act 7:55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
Act 7:56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
Act 7:57  Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
Act 7:58  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
Act 7:59  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon  God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Are you and I above stoning Stephen? No, of ourselves we are not. Had we been on that Sanhedren council, you and I would have been the ones doing this vile act. “This generation” is not just the generation into which Christ was born:

Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come  upon this generation.

No, it is rather “this generation…. whoso readeth [in every generation] let him understand”:

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)

With that understanding, we will continue to ask the Lord to help us to appreciate the depth of our apostasy and deception and “the [loving] way of His judgments” as revealed in today’s study:

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

The Lord has made us err from His ways and has hardened our hearts from His fear for this very purpose:

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.

This is the depth of our apostasy. This is just how hard He has made our hearts to be. This is just how little we fear our own Creator:

Jer 11:13  For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.

According to “the number of your cities [and] according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem” is just another way of saying that our apostasy is complete and thorough to this extent:

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,
Isa 3:2  The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
Isa 3:3  The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Isa 3:4  And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.

“The… bread… and… the water” are both types and symbols for the Words and doctrines of Christ. We all apostatize just that thoroughly while we are in the grip of the great whore, Babylon.

As we read in our last study, God knows just how to deal with us at this point:

Jer 11:14  Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.
Jer 11:15  What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.

There is a time in our lives when the Lord puts us out of His presence for the destruction of our flesh. It is a time of being tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb.

This time of our judgment is called “the patience of the saints”. It is called the keeping of His commandments [to read, hear and keep the things written in this book (Rev 1:2)] and the faith of Jesus”:

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,
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.

If we are His very elect in this present time, the Lord will “look on [our] affliction” and rebuke the adversary who exalts himself against us. These words of Jeremiah 11 are setting the stage for what this same prophet reveals to us about ourselves in the book of Lamentations, which I repeat:

Lam 1:8  Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.
Lam 1:9  Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction:  for the enemy hath magnified himself.

Even our own old man despises the hypocrite we have become at this point in our lives. Thank the Lord for “the ways of [His] fiery judgments” (Isa 26:8-9):

Jer 11:16  The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.
Jer 11:17  For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.
Jer 11:18  And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings.

“Their doings” are our doings. Until the day Christ brings us to appreciate our need for “the ways of [His] judgments”, we will continue to self-righteously place the blood of all the prophets upon others and deceive ourselves that we would never have partaken of their blood, nor ever refused the Lord’s words and doctrines, even as we do just that. That is why this next verse must first be required of you and me:

Jer 11:19  But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.

This is essentially what we first do to Christ when He sends His prophets to witness us of “the ways of [His] judgments”:

Mat 21:38  But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mat 21:39  And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
Mat 21:40  When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
Mat 21:41  They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
Mat 21:42  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Mat 21:43  Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.

When Jeremiah is speaking these words, he is applying them to “the men of Anathoth”, his home town:

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah,  of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:

The men of Anathoth, like the men of Nazareth, symbolize our self-righteous, carnal-minded, Babylonian old man.

Jer 11:20  But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously,  that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
Jer 11:21  Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand:

As ‘the men of Nazareth’ demonstrate, our self-righteous, judgmental old man wants Christ to “die… by our hand”. This is what you and I have done to Christ:

Act 8:32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

This is the story of Philip’s witness to the Ethiopian eunuch, who was reading this verse of Isaiah when Philip approached his chariot:

Isa 53:7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

In this verse of Jeremiah, the holy spirit is simply building upon what it had already revealed to King David of “the ways of [His] judgments”.

Psa 44:22  Yea, for thy sake are we  killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

This theme will carry over into next week’s study:

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

Paul refers to just how thoroughly we reject the judgments of Christ and His Christ:

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

This brings us to our last two verses of this 11^th chapter of Jeremiah and “the ways of the Lord’s judgments” against the self-righteous kingdom of Babylon within us:

Jer 11:22  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine:
Jer 11:23  And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation.

There will be no ‘remnant’ left to the kingdom of our self-righteous, carnal-minded old man who is enmity against God and “the ways of His judgments” (Isa 26:8-9).

That concludes our study for this week. In our next study we will “talk with [the Lord] of His judgments”:

Jer 12:1  Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?
Jer 12:2  Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.
Jer 12:3  But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
Jer 12:4  How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.
Jer 12:5  If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
Jer 12:6  For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
Jer 12:7  I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.
Jer 12:8  Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.
Jer 12:9  Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour.

Psa 12:1 To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
Psa 12:2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
Psa 12:3 The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
Psa 12:4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
Psa 12:5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
Psa 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Psa 12:7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
Psa 12:8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

The verses in this study tonight have impressed upon me our need to be grateful for the forgiveness that God grants his people as we grow in being able to hear the word and actively do what we ought to be doing unto our own flesh and bones, the body of Christ.

Jas 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Isa 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

And tonight’s study comes on the heels of the question posed in last week’s study of Psalm 11 – “How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?”, where we were reminded that in order to grow in compassion and love for the body of Christ we need to be dragged to our refuge (Christ and His body) where we are judged, and made to see that we are lacking in that living sacrifice of Christ and needing to fill up what is behind of his afflictions (the bird that needs to be washed seven times by the blood of the other dove).

Lev 4:17 And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail.

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:

We are blessed beyond any today to know that this verse applies to us and that our sins are many, meaning all the sin of the world, and if we are given to acknowledge that complete forgiveness that we need for being guilty of all (Rom 2:4), we will be able to love much.

Luk 7:44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Luk 7:45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
Luk 7:46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Luk 7:47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Luk 7:48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

It is through the critical stripes, trials and tribulations that God is giving that we are maturing in our Lord and being made able to comfort each other with the comfort that He comforts us with through this life which is preparing us through those events to be saviours who come up on mount Zion. The only way we will ever be able to bring healing to the nations will be through the comfort that God has given us in our own life through Christ, which is the experience we go through for their sakes.

Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

2Co 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

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.

The obstacles that God allows to be in our way in this life are put there to demonstrate His sovereignty over the process of our growth as He gives the increase that manifests as a result of going through the fiery trials. He will not lose any through the fiery experiences that we must go through in order to be purified and become unified through those struggles.

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.

Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

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

1Co 12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

1Co 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

We are not alone in this experience of evil through this life, and these trials are common to the body of Christ and to all men, however our trials are working together for good in our lives if Christ is in the midst of the fire, and that good as we have mentioned will be to bring healing to the nations.

Ecc 1:13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

2Co 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Dan 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
Dan 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Dan 3:19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

Tonight we will look at how God is maturing us to be as He is in this world, so that when Christ says “Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none”, we do come to understand that this is made possible through the relationship of love (obedience to his commands Joh 14:15) that God is building in the body of Christ who will be used to save the rest of world one day and lose none.

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

Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

1Ti 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

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.

Our first verse:

Psa 12:1 To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

It is revealing to see that God lets evil men wax worse and worse at the end of the age, in order for the new man to be formed within His people. Sheminith is a symbol of that new man as his names meaning suggest and he crys out, as do we “help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth”.

2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Christ had many things to say about the faithful failing “from among the children of men”, and in this we learn that it is Christ alone who can bring us through this narrow way that leads to life and few there be that find it.

Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Two stories that demonstrate who we are except by the grace and faith of Christ and written for our edification, exhortation and comfort today can be found in the new covenant (love not this land, this world, Christ tells us in 1Jn 2:15).

Act 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
Act 5:2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Act 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Act 5:4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
Act 5:5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

2Ti 4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

We must identify with every word written in God’s word and see ourselves as the unfaithful “Ananias and Sapphira who kept back part of the price of the land” and with this mindset do away with the conceit in our flesh that would tell us ‘I would never withhold anything from Christ’. The truth is we are all Demas and Crescens and Titus withholding the land and go back into the world, except God chastens us and receives us through the scourging experience of grace and faith which is going to save few in this age and prevent us from continuing in sin. When we cease from sinning we are living our lives to fulfill the will of God which replaces the natural carnal will of man that wants only to fulfill the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes with hearts that are filled with pride. That is what we do first, to demonstrate that “the faithful fail from among the children of men” and that only Christ can be Christ as our hope of being able to go from glory to glory in this life.

Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

1Pe 4:1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

1Pe 4:2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Psa 12:2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

That’s what flesh is; it is all vanity, passing away, and not able to inherit the kingdom of God (Ecc 1:14, 1Co 15:50). So we all start off as the preacher says speaking “vanity every one with his neighbour” even with “flattering lips” and “with a double heart” do we speak.

The only way to destroy this unstable double-minded earthly man is to have him judged as we discussed last week, and it is through those fiery trials of judgment that we gain the singleness of mind that is found in Christ that does away with vanity and flattering lips.

Jas 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity^G572 [singleness] that is in Christ.
2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus (a fleshly gospel, a health and prosperity gospel as opposed to acknowledging that ‘all is vanity’), whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Psa 12:3 The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
Psa 12:4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?

Christ’s body acknowledges that we are the false prophets at first who worship God in vain (Mar 7:7) and wrap His words around the idols of our double minded hearts (Eze 14:3), that operate our flattering lips that have not yet been touched by the fiery coals that we need to have Christ minister to us in order to purify and circumcise the “flattering lips”, and the “tongue that speaketh proud things”(Isa 6:7).

These verses speak of the unruly tongue spoken of in James that is deceived into thinking it does not have to bring our thoughts into subjection unto Christ and will not let anyone rule “over us”. The end result of the way that seems right unto a man is a great fire, a great fall, and Babylon crashing to the ground, as we will read here in James.

Jas 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
Jas 3:2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word (2Co 10:5), the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
Jas 3:3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body [symbol for us today of running with horses through Christ (running with men in the court first, then running with Christ in the heavens) Jer 12:5].
Jas 3:4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth [symbol of our ability through Christ to overcome the false doctrines of Babylon by being led into all truth with the comforter which is the governor Eze 27:25, Joh 16:13].
Jas 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell [this fire can be both positive and negative, but when it is the coals from the altar of God spoken of in (Isa 6:6) it is going to set “on fire the course of nature” the first man Adam].

God has made us subject to this vain tongue for so long, so that the contrast will be there when we see the results of the new purified tongue that is now subject unto God and able to bring forth living waters as a result of the tree of life abiding within us (Joh 7:38, Jas 3:11).

Pro 3:18 She is a tree of life [the church, the body of Christ] to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Psa 12:5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffethH6315 at him.
Psa 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

These two verses show the mercy that God has upon us by destoying the beast by the breath of life that He puffs at us so that the words which are initially wrapped around the idols of our hearts can become the purified words “The words of the LORD [which] are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times”

puffethH6315 [H8686 = Hiphil] pûach
BDB Definition: 1b) (Hiphil)
1b1) to cause to exhale or breathe
1b2) to puff, snort
1b3) to excite, inflame
1b4) to puff, pant for it
1b5) to breathe out, utter
1b6) to blow, blast

Strong’s: A primitive root; to puff that is blow with the breath or air; hence to fan (as a breeze) to utter to kindle (a fire) to scoff: – blow (upon) break puff bring into a snare speak utter.

Eze 21:31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.
Eze 21:32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

Psa 12:7 Thou shalt keep^H8104 [guard/hedge] them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve^H5341 [guard/hidden] them from this generation for ever.

In order to be kept/preserved, we must be of the generation which is judged in this age, and only by this chastening and scourging and much tribulation and being dragged to Christ do we cease from sinning and start to truly lay up store in heaven and trim our lamps and make our selves ready for the return of Christ; is, was and will be.

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

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.

Psa 83:3 They [“them from this generation”, within and without] have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

1Pe 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

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.

To be of “them” that “Thou shalt keep… [and] preserve from this generation”; “for ever^H5769” is simply telling us that “them” that God keeps^H8104 “keep those things which are written therein” (Rev 1:3) and preserve^H5341 the word or keep as a watchman the word so that we can be of that generation^H1755 who have the gold of God purified in their heavens. Interesting to note the word d’or in French looks very similar to this word for generation^H1755.

Psa 12:8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.

As long as we are in this flesh, “wicked walk on every side” (within and without) because God allows “the vilest men” to be exalted in the earth today, again to create contrast and to remind us that our calling is on the backs of their unbelief and that we can only overcome those chief of sinners within us through Christ. Had God not dragged us, being purified in this age, in this generation, we would have continued in our sin and died (Joh 8:24, 1Jn 3:3) and not been preserved from this wicked and adulterous generation that we are in today.

When we all first read the words “Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none” (Joh 18:9), we did not understand that we would have to be shown so much about “the vilest men” within us who could only be dethroned by the brightness of his coming.

We had no idea what we would have to suffer as Paul learned (Act 9:16), so that “the wicked” who “walk on every side” within us could be destroyed and through that destruction of the man of sin, a new life would be born that exalts only God and gives God all the glory for every part of this purification process that we are called unto.

Christ will convince His wife that His love is stedfast for her, and that His desire for her is perfect and holy, as is his ability to save her so that she can drink that cup and be matured through this life so that she can go out and do what Christ has done for us, saying, “Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none”. Saviours will come up on mount Zion (Oba 1:21).

Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Our prayer is that God will help each and every one of us to not neglect so great a salvation by stirring up His spirit, within this little flock, not only providing for the physical as God provides the means, but through encouragement, comfort and exhortation — which is the true spirit of prophesy that we abundantly need as His children in this ever darkening world.

Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

2Ti 1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

1Co 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

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

1Th 5:20 Despise not prophesyings.

One last question: who is it to whom Christ is giving us to say, “that none shall be lost”?

Joh 18:9 That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

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.

Joh 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Audio Links

The Biblical Overview of The Plan of God – Part 12

Prophecies Concerning The Year of Jubilee – “That God May Be All In All”

Lev 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Introduction

We ended our last study with these words:

“In our next study we will show that many of the prophecies which the churches of Babylon apply to the millennium have been misapplied to that period of time, and are in reality to be applied to the kingdom of God which is even now within God’s elect, and to the time that follows the millennium. This is the time when God will be all in all.”

All the prophecies in Isaiah, which we have been told refer to those who live at the time of the millennium, are in fact referring primarily to the condition of the kingdom of God which is even now within His elect, those who are being prepared in this life to rule this world with Christ during the millennium. But because Christ’s words “shall never pass away” (Mat 24:2), they will also apply to all the rest of mankind who will be resurrected with spiritual bodies in the great white throne judgment, to be judged in the lake of fire.

This is how Christ instructs us to view His kingdom at this time:

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not [in this age] with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, [at this time] the kingdom of God is within you.

That being true, and the kingdom of God being within us at this time, it is now that ‘the wolf is dwelling with the lamb’ (Isa 11:6) within those who will first be the rulers of this world and then will judge angels.

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

This prophecy in Isaiah 11 applies to all men, each in his appointed time. But that appointed time for all men is either primarily now, while we are being judged in these clay vessels prior to the millennium, then, secondarily these prophecies, which are prophecies about God’s judgments, will apply to all men after the millennium when they are being judged in the lake of fire.

Notice how these prophecies which have been attributed to the time of the millennium actually refer to a time of judgment, and not to a time of being ruled with a rod of iron, leading up to a time of universal rebellion against “the Lord and His Christ”.

Isa 11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Isa 11:5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

What does this fiery judgment produce? It produces “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” with which all who now know Christ are so gratefully familiar.

Here are the very next few verses:

Isa 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
Isa 11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Isa 11:8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
Isa 11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Does the knowledge of the Lord cover the earth as the waters cover the sea during a time which leads up to the destruction of the nations in the four quarters of the earth? No, obviously it does not. But it is doing just that in all those who are being judged at this time, and the knowledge of the Lord will also fill the earth as the waters cover the sea when the lake of fire is doing its purifying work on all men of all time following the universal rebellion of all mankind after the millennium.

Those verses in Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 will also have a secondary application to each person who is cast into the lake of fire, but they have no application to those who are being ruled with a rod of iron during the millennium as they are so commonly misapplied.

Here are two more prophecies which are commonly misapplied to the time of the millennium:

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isa 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isa 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

And:

Mic 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Mic 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.
Mic 4:5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
Mic 4:6 In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;
Mic 4:7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.

These two prophecies are almost identical and certainly are speaking of the identical same “last days”. But that phrase ‘last days’ is not to be understood as the time of the millennium or the “little season” of rebellion which follows the millennium. That “little season” would be the physical ‘last days’ and the physical ‘time of the end’. But Christ tells us that His words are spiritual words (Joh 6:63), and spiritual words are never to be understood as having their exact same primary physical meaning. Physical death, for example, is never to be confused with spiritual death, and Christ is not a physical ‘lamb’; rather He is “the Lamb of God… slain from the foundation of the world”.

Luk 9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

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.

Not even “the kingdom of God” is yet to be taken literally and in its primary physical sense:

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

These prophecies concerning “the last days” will apply to those who live through the time of the millennium only after they are cast into the lake of fire, and through that judgment “in the last days”, they will be purged of their rebellious carnal minds. For the millennial age to be a time for mankind to “freely repent and believe the Gospel, personally choosing Christ as Savior and Lord” would work against the very purpose for which God has ordained for Satan to be released and granted to “deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth”. The very purpose for the feast of tabernacles and the last great day is to provide God the occasion He is seeking to “destroy death”.

In their final application, all these prophecies in Isaiah concerning “the last days” of physical “Judah and Jerusalem” will be fulfilled only after the fire of God’s word, which is the same ‘fire’ of “the lake of fire”, has purged “Judah and Jerusalem [as well as] Sodom and Samaria” of their rebellious, carnal mind, which is also the mind of their father, the devil, who will be right there in that “lake of fire with them”.

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

Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

In Romans 11 we are told what happens to physical Israel “in the last days”. In that chapter we are informed “that blindness in part is happened to [physical] Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
Rom 11:27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Rom 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they [“Israel… according to the flesh] are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Here now are some verses which have been hidden in plain sight from the day they were written until the day we are given to see them. These verses of scripture will most always be avoided by those who teach that the millennium is a time when physical Israel will rule this earth, and that during the millennium mankind will “freely repent and believe the Gospel, personally choosing Christ as Savior and Lord”. These are the verses which gives us the time table for when “the fulness of the Gentiles [is] come in, [and when] the gifts and callings of God are without repentance, [and therefore when] all [physical] Israel shall be saved”.

The timetable to which Paul refers in Romans 11 is given to us in Ezekiel 16. This entire chapter is addressed to “Jerusalem”. We will read just the most pertinent verses:

Eze 16:2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

Eze 16:17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men [false doctrines of men], and didst commit whoredom with them,

Eze 16:20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them [your false doctrines] to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,

Eze 16:33 They give gifts to all whores: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every side for thy whoredom.

When will physical “Jerusalem” be judged for all of her sins? When are these “last days” of Isaiah 2 and Micah 4 and Ezekiel 16, which are also addressed to “Judah and Jerusalem”? Let’s read it again so we will know when these “last days” will be:

Isa 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

Mic 4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Now when does this take place? When is “the fulness of the Gentiles come in” (Rom 11:25)? When will all physical Israel be saved (Rom 11:26)? Here is when the scriptures reveal all these things will happen. This is “the last days” of carnal Judah and Jerusalem. Continuing with the prophecy of Ezekiel 16:

Eze 16:53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:
Eze 16:54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
Eze 16:55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

Sodom and Samaria are “returned to their former estate” only in the lake of fire, which begins its purifying work only after the “little season” of rebellion which follows the millennial reign of Christ and His elect with a rod of iron over the kingdoms of this earth.

Where is the phrase ‘a thousand years’ in any of these prophecies concerning Israel and Jerusalem? Of course the answer is that it is not there. Rather, here is what we are told takes place during that symbolic “thousand years” period of time:

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

And this is the outcome of the thousand-year reign:

Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

The death of the spiritual “old man’, the rebellious carnal mind, is also the outcome, the product, of the lake of fire which will follow the millennium and the last great day, also known as “a little season”.

This now is the product of the lake of fire. Continuing with what is revealed to us in Isaiah 30:

Isa 30:20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction [“saved, yet so as by fire” 1Co 3:16], yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
Isa 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Isa 30:22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.

“Eyes that see [and] ears [that] hear” are both the fruit of the repentance and obedience that are the result of the lake of fire which follows the feast of tabernacles and the last great day.

Continuing in Isaiah 30:

Isa 30:23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
Isa 30:24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
Isa 30:25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. [Rev 20:7-9]
Isa 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
Isa 30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
Isa 30:28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
Isa 30:29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.
Isa 30:30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
Isa 30:31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.
Isa 30:32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
Isa 30:33 For Tophet [Also called ‘Gehenna’ and ‘the lake of fire’] is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. [vs 25 and Rev 20:7-9]

Don’t allow words like “rain… ground… earth… cattle… oxen… and pastures” lead you to believe that these words have no spiritual application to the time of the lake of fire. “The invisible things of God are understood by the things that are made” (Rom 1:20). “Tophet” is “the [spiritual] lake of fire”, and the “wood” that kindles the flames of Tophet is just as much a spiritual term as the “rain… the ground… the earth… the cattle… the oxen… and the pastures” which are the spiritual fruit of that “fire and much wood”. The spiritual flames of spiritual Tophet come from the mouths of God’s elect as Isaiah informs us:

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

These words summarize the “one event” of judgment which all men of all time must experience, “every man in his own order” (Ecc 9:2 and 1Co 15:23)

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

“Every man… shall be saved… by fire”. That is what we have just read. The fire that saves those who must be condemned to the lake of fire, is the very same fire, the words of God, which save God’s elect at this time, as the apostle Peter plainly tells us:

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

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

We have already answered Peter’s rhetorical question. Death and the grave, and all that are in them, are cast into the lake of fire to face the same fiery trials of 1Pe 4:12, but in resurrected spiritual bodies:

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

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

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 [All who were not in the first resurrection, Rev 20:6] was cast into the lake of fire.

This all serves to demonstrate that many of the prophecies we have been told refer to the time of the millennial reign of Christ and His elect over the kingdoms of this world, are found to be much more applicable to the kingdom of God within us at this time, and to the time when we will, as the lake of fire, give to all men of all time the mercy we have been given. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance” does not prove that God’s calling of physical Israel will be fulfilled at the time of the millennium, rather we have seen that gift and that calling will be fulfilled “when Sodom… and Samaria return to their former estate” (Eze 16:55).

Now notice a principle which is revealed in the verses which immediately follow the declaration that “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance”:

Rom 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Rom 11:30 For as ye [Gentile Romans – Rom 1:13] in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Being “a Jew… Israel… Abraham’s seed” has now become a matter of spiritual relationship with God and is no longer attached to a physical pedigree:

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

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

So it will be spiritual Jews, spiritual Israelites, repentant sinners taken from every nation on earth who will be used by God to show mercy to the physical Israelites through whose unbelief we have believed and have been shown mercy. The truth is that Rom 11:30-31 is addressed to Gentile Romans whose belief had come to them through the unbelief of the physical nation of Israel:

Rom 1:13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

It will be through us, through spiritual Israel, that the all in all goal of the plan of God for all men will be accomplished, even as all of the holy days of the three seasons of the year are also being fulfilled through us:

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,
Eph 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
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.

“The church which is His body [is], the fulness of Him that fills all in all”. It is a rare person who is even given to understand that this is so, because Christ’s “inheritance [is] in the saints”.

It is even fewer who realize that this “all in all” is also typified for us outside of the seven festivals of the three seasons of the year. The goal of the plan of God, God being all in all, is outside the scope of this earthly vessel of clay. Therefore it is represented, not in a day which follows seven sevens of weeks, but in a year which follows seven sevens of years which we are given in the Old Testament law of the year of the jubilee:

Lev 25:9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
Lev 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.

You will notice that the trumpet of the jubilee is sounded on the day of atonement, the day when the scapegoat was offered for the iniquities of Israel. We will stop here for today, and next week we will see what was to take place in the year of the jubilee, and we will find, as we have already pointed out, that even this goal of the plan of God for all men is accomplished through “the church which is His body… the glory of His inheritance in the saints”.

[Click here to go to the next chapter.]

Hi Mike,

When I got saved, I was so hungry that I read everything in God’s Word, even marking with magic marker to make sure I didn’t miss a thing… all the begats… everything.

I remember sorta feeling sorry for Satan that he lost his place in heaven, but after meeting some that had been involved in satanism and killing animals and babies, I started to believe that there is an evil that will not be redeemed — some horrible things have been done and there was a reason some would burn forever. Of course, having the Bible that stated these things – using words like hell for eternity, etc., fueled my belief this way and I accepted it. It wasn’t until recently when I started praying for the Tribulation Saints that I discovered your site and this new teaching.

My question is to have clarification on these marks, etc. I love the scriptures in Exo 13 and Deu 6, 7, and 11 and had believed that I have God’s precious Word tied to my hand and forehead and heart and soul and strength… I just wasn’t aware of how to avoid the mark of the beast, and you say that I already have that. Yikes! When I believed in eternal fire – was that the beast mark? When I believed that people need to accept Christ to be saved – was that the beast mark? I am confused – please be patient with me! I just want to be sure that I get rid of the beast mark if I have it; I want to be with Jesus in the millennium. I have not chased life here because I want to be there with HIM! How can I be sure that I have gotten rid of the beast mark?

God bless you!

C____

Hi again C____,

I appreciate your hunger for the “hidden wisdom” of the “things of the spirit.”

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world [ leaders of orthodox Christianity] knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. [ It was “the church in the wilderness,” God’s own people who hated and crucified Christ]
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
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.

“… The Holy Ghost teaches [ by] comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” It will teach you nothing as long as you look for physical things. “The words that I speak unto you are spirit…” (Joh 6:63). When the scriptures talk of a lamb, they do not mean a wooly animal. A lion is not a literal jungle beast. A star is not a star. A candlestick is not a candlestick. A woman is not a woman. A manchild is not a manchild. The earth is not the earth. The sea is not the sea. Waters are not waters. Beasts are not beasts. Jezebel is not just Jezebel. Men are not men. Mountains are not mountains. Locusts are not locusts. Nakedness is not nakedness. Gold is not gold. Eye salve is not eye salve. Seven is not seven. And Asia is not Asia. And while I could go on and on to mention every symbol in the book of Revelation, I will close this list with, a mark is not a literal mark. The right hand is not the right hand, and the forehead is not the forehead.

This entire book is SIGNified:

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and sign ified it by his angel unto his servant John:

This is a book of signs and symbols. It is a book that you are to “KEEP.”

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:

It is a book that was for the people of John’s day and is for every generation since, because as each generation comes along, it can truthfully be said “the time IS at hand… keep the sayings of this book.” This book will be applicable to every generation of the future, until the last soul emerges triumphant from the burnings of the lake of fire.

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.
Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

This assertion appears eleven times in this book alone. Notice that IS, is always first. “Whoever reads and hears the words of the prophecy of this book, IS to keep these sayings in his generation. This book has little to do with end- time events as orthodox Christianity understands the phrase ‘end- time events.’ “The time was at hand” two thousand years ago, and if God opens your eyes to see and gives you ears to hear, then “the time is at hand” for you today. The “end of the age” comes to each of us because “This life is but a vapor that appears for a moment then vanishes away.”

Jas 4:14 … For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

This book is only for those who are “given eyes to see and ears to hear.” But ‘to hear’ and ‘to see’ does not mean to literally hear and to see.

Luk 9:44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.
Luk 9:45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

Not even the apostles of Christ could understand the “things of the spirit” until after the spirit was given to them on the day of Pentecost. “The things of the spirit of God… are spiritually discerned.” And the “things of the spirit…” are foolishness to the natural man.”

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.

God’s word is in a spiritual code that is not left to our imaginations to interpret. The scriptures must interpret the scriptures. So instead of placing this entire book over in the middle east and out in the future, it must be understood as a book we are to keep. If we ignore this plain introductory statement, then the warning at the end of this book will fall on us. Notice how the introduction in chapter one verse three is repeated in the last chapter of this book:

Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.[‘The time is at hand’]
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Suppose we put “the sayings of the prophecy of this book ‘out there’ in the far past or ‘out there’ in the distant future or ‘over there’ in the middle east instead of “keeping the sayings of the prophecy of this book?” Well, if we take the orthodox Christian approach to the sayings of the prophecy of this book, then this is what will happen:

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

If we add to the sayings of the prophecy of this book, and say that this book has only to do with those who happen to be living in the last generation before the return of Christ, instead of remaining faithful to the fact that two thousand years ago, and for every generation since, “The time [ has always been] at hand,” then God will add to us of the plagues which are written in this book. This warning alone proves that this book is to be experienced in each of us. But look at what is prophesied for us if we should decide to “take away from the sayings of the prophecy of this book:”

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

I have emboldened the words I want you to notice. I cannot take the time right now to tell you how you experience the seven seals and the seven trumpets and the seven vials, but if you do not see that you are to “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book, then you have no concept what this book is all about. This is a book that is sweet in your mouth and bitter in your belly.

Rev 10:1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face [ was] as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
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.
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.

Why is John told to “eat the book?” “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings.” Now remember the introduction and close of “this book:”

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.
Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

How can we “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book” if we are only being informed of future end- time events? Again I tell you this book has little to do with end- time events. Two thousand years ago “the time was at hand.” It is always “at hand” for all who have been given eyes to see and ears to hear.

The mark of the beast is nothing more than the carnal beastly mind with which all men are born.

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. [… It is the number of mankind” Rev.13:18]
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.

John tells us that all sins fall into three categories:

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

Eve had the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, before she ever ate of the tree. That is why she ate of the tree. At that point she became aware of her already existing naked, sinful condition. Eve and Adam along with David could truthfully say:

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen [ By the Potter – Jer 18:1-5] in iniquity; and in sin did my mother [ Creator] conceive me.

I hope to write more about this in the future. I hope that what I have said has opened your eyes to see the true purpose for the sayings of the prophecies of this book.

Mike

Hi,

It’s been difficult for me to accept the concept that we have no free- will. It’s difficult to accept because there is so much evil in the world, that I don’t like to think God causes evil, even though he might have a good purpose in it. I’ve done lots of evil and sin in my life, and I’m currently being punished mightily by God for it all. I’m reluctantly coming to accept that none of us has free- will in the way most people think we do. Humanly speaking, it doesn’t seem fair that God would punish me so severely for things He caused me to do. But like Joseph tormenting his brothers in the symbolic “lake of fire”, I’m being made to give an account to Christ right now in the flesh. It’s not a pleasant experience at all. I don’t know if I’ll be in the first resurrection or not. From my perspective, it will never be a done deal, though I know from Christ’s perspective it is. I just don’t know how God is going to save such a sinner as myself. I’m the “chief of sinners”, “Judas”, and the incarnation of “Satan” himself. But the Spirit tells me God loves His enemies, and forgives His enemies, and that is why I am made to suffer. I experience the fiery Spirit of God’s judgment daily. I suffer chastening and scourging by the Spirit on a daily basis, though sometimes it is more severe than at other times.
I’ve actually been so pressed by God that I’ve literally lost my mind in the torment and had psychotic episodes. I’ve been hospitalized on more than one occasion and put on anti- psychotic medication to control symptoms of what the world labels “bipolar disorder”, though I know an evil spirit has been sent from the Lord to torment me. The world doesn’t understand this and when I try to tell my psychiatrists what I think is happening to me, they just write it off as part of the delusions I have when I’ve been hospitalized. I feel so alone. Nobody understands what I’m going through (feels like anyway). You would seem to have some understanding, as I’ve heard you speak of enduring God’s fiery judgments, but I don’t imagine you have been burned as severely like me to actually lose your mind.
Why is God so hard on me, Mike? Humanly speaking, I’m not so bad. I’ve never done anything that would ever get me in trouble with man’s laws. But I’ve transgressed God’s laws of course. Not major sins by the world’s standards, but my top sins as I perceive it. I also don’t serve my earthly masters like I should, as I’m bored with my job and don’t like it. It makes me feel lazy and no good, though if I was doing work that I found more interesting, I think I could be a better worker.
Despite all God has put me through, I desire to return to the Lord, have a good relationship with Him, and serve Him. To me, the lake of fire is a spiritual experience that I’m experiencing right now. I don’t take it literally.
But does it ever end? Do I have to be punished the rest of my natural life for mistakes of the past? Will God ever end this “great tribulation” I’m going through? What does God want me to do?

How can I get out of this spiritual prison I am in, where I am tormented daily by spiritual tormentors? I’m already in the lake of fire! Will I yet have to endure the second resurrection and more judgment in this mysterious “lake of fire”? I suspect I will be there and that’s what scares me. As it is, I am left to speculate what the second resurrection to judgment will be like. I speculate that I will be given a spiritual body that can’t die, and just endure more literal, physical, manifestations of what God is already doing to me in the spirit. That would mean literal scourging with whips, literal fire sometimes, etc… until I’ve paid all my dues and repented and totally transformed my character…. that’s what I’m speculating anyway.

Can you shed any light on what I think? If you have the time, this is a question I’d like answered. I also can’t help but wonder, if God thinks pain and suffering is a valid way to show His love (i. e. He scourges ever son that He receives), then will pain and suffering always be with us, even as spirit beings in the Kingdom of God? Will God always have to have the threat of suffering to keep His creation in line? Because if living forever is going to be anything like I’m experiencing now, I for one would like to have no part of it. I’d just like to non- exist. I’m tired of what God is putting me through and can’t imagine an eternity of it.
Thanks for any insight you have on my issues,

N____

Hi N____,

I want you to know that I certainly can commiserate with the pain and mental torment with which you are dealing at this time. Your letter makes clear that you have come to see the overall work that is being done by our heavenly Father with His creatures. You may be struggling to accept it, but you seem to know deep down that God really is “working all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11). That certainly includes the pain and suffering with which you are dealing.
But our pains and our sufferings continue until we see them as God sees them. That is the one thing lacking in this e- mail. Like every one of us in our appointed time, you feel that God has forsaken you and is punishing you beyond what is needed. “Believing on Christ” is not a matter simply of acknowledging Him as the Son Of God. It is rather taking on His way of thinking, His grateful, “Not My will but thine be done,” spirit and attitude. We all, at our appointed time, tell God that we do not deserve the pain of the trials He is working in our lives, and as long as this ungrateful attitude persists, we all “abide in His wrath.”

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

You tell me:

I’m the “chief of sinners”, “Judas”, and the incarnation of “Satan” himself. But the Spirit tells me God loves His enemies, and forgives His enemies, and that is why I am made to suffer. I experience the fiery Spirit of God’s judgment daily.”

And still in your next paragraph, just as we all do, you wonder why God deals with you as He does, considering that there are others who are far worse than you have been, who don’t seem to be suffering as you.

Why is God so hard on me Mike? Humanly speaking, I’m not so bad. I’ve never done anything that would ever get me in trouble with man’s laws. But I’ve transgressed God’s laws of course.

You seem to realize that your job performance should be “as unto the Lord” and yet admit that it is not.

I also don’t serve my earthly masters like I should, as I’m bored with my job and don’t like it. It makes me feel lazy and no good, though if I was doing work that I found more interesting, I think I could be a better worker.

Col 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

You ask:

But does it ever end? Do I have to be punished the rest of my natural life for mistakes of the past? Will God ever end this “great tribulation” I’m going through? What does God want me to do? How can I get out of this spiritual prison I am in, where I am tormented daily by spiritual tormentors?

It should be clear from the examples of our Lord, and His apostles that we must all “endure to the end” in order to be saved.

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.

As Christ increases in you, your old man will decrease. As that transformation takes place, the wrath of God subsides upon your ungodliness, and the “peace that passes understanding” will come upon you and be with you as you endure to the end.

Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

There it is! There is the answer to your dilemma. “In EVERYTHING by prayer and supplications WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known unto God.
The fire of 1Co 3:13 is God’s wrath, and every man will endure and abide in it until what needs to be burned out is burned out.

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

All prophecy of scripture is designed to comfort us and increase Christ in us as our old man decreases.
Job felt exactly as you feel, and Job is every one of us. We all feel, at our own time, that God has forsaken us and taken away our judgment. In reality, we are in the process of being judged, and it is that process that is so painful:

Job 27:2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
Job 27:4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
Job 27:5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
Job 27:6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

Read the entire 29th chapter of Job, and you will see that Job simply could not see himself as deserving the afflictions God had placed upon him. Here is an excerpt from that chapter where Job declares his unworthiness of the trials he is given:

Job 29:1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
Job 29:2 Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
Job 29:3 When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
Job 29:4 As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
Job 29:5 When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
Job 29:6 When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
Job 29:7 When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street!
Job 29:8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
Job 29:9 The princes refrained talking, and laid [ their] hand on their mouth.
Job 29:10 The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
Job 29:11 When the ear heard [ me], then it blessed me; and when the eye saw [ me], it gave witness to me:
Job 29:12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had] none to help him.
Job 29:13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
Job 29:15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
Job 29:16 I was a father to the poor: and the cause [ which] I knew not I searched out.

Job could see that he was at one time in God’s favor, and he cannot understand why God sees fit to stop the favor which He shows to babes in Christ, and replace that favor with trials which only a more mature child can endure. This whole chapter continues in this tenor, Job unable to accept himself as worthy of the trials which have come upon him and yet knowing that both good and evil come only from the Lord.

Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

To this point Job had not “sinned with his lips.” But when he later proclaims himself righteous and accuses God of “taking away his judgment”, this is what God has to say to Job.

Job 40:6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

Only then did Job see what we all have to come to see:

Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

That is what we are all guilty of doing. We fail to see and appreciate God’s judgments upon our vile flesh which He has given us. He gave it to us to bring us to see it for what it is, and instead of seeing all flesh as vile and worthy of death, we justify and glorify and celebrate the flesh.
What should be our attitude towards our fiery trials? Here is God’s ideal attitude toward the trials we all endure at His hand in these vessels of clay:

Psa 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psa 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Four times we are told of the trials God sends upon us just as He tried Job, and four times the words of Psa 107:21 are repeated. In other words we must come to see our trials for the blessings they are. Until we come that point we will never know the meaning of “His works” and “the sacrifice of thanksgiving”. It was only when God brought Job to appreciate the trials he had been given that God lifted His wrath off Job’s unrighteous self- righteousnesses.

Psa 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

No, I have never been in a psychiatric ward, but we are all given the trials we need. To the extent we do not have the mind of Christ, it could be said that is the extent we are all of unsound mind. We are not given the trials that others need. God knows who needs which trials, and we are explicitly instructed:

2Co 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

All scripture is intended to edify, exhort, and comfort us. That is what I hope these verses of scripture accomplish in you.

1Co 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

We must not fear for the future, but take heart that in bearing the trials God puts on us, we show soundmindedness, and if we are to live godly lives in Christ Jesus, we must partake of those afflictions.

2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2Ti 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Let us not compare ourselves among ourselves, but rather “offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving… for all the wonderful works of God to the children of men.” Let us be thankful that he has seen fit to “command and raise the stormy winds” in our lives, and “bring us to our wits’ end.” These are his “wonderful works” and what the story of Job reveals. Job is each of us, and Job lost everything he owned, including his seven sons and three daughters, all in one day. While it appeared outwardly to Job’s flesh and to our flesh, to be the worst day of his life, as I too, have learned, our devastating trials are really the best days of our lives, because they and they alone drive us to our knees before He who commands and raises the stormy winds and raises the waves and brings us to our wits’ end. It is at “our wits’ end” that we are closest to our Creator, and that is what we need more than all this life has to offer.
I cannot keep you from “filling up in your body what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ”, but I can exhort you to be comforted by the scriptures.

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

I pray that these words from the word of God will give you both comfort and hope. I pray that you are given by God to offer Him the sacrifice of thanksgiving for the fact that you have been counted worthy to suffer with Him in order to be in His service.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Hi,

This is a question for Mike. It’s been difficult for me to accept the concept that we have no free- will. It’s difficult to accept because there is so much evil in the world, that I don’t like to think God causes evil, even though he might have a good purpose in it. I’ve done lots of evil and sin in my life, and I’m currently being punished mightily by God for it all. I’m reluctantly coming to accept that none of us has free- will in the way most people think we do. Humanly speaking, it doesn’t seem fair that God would punish me so severely for things He caused me to do. But like Joseph tormenting his brothers in the symbolic “lake of fire”, I’m being made to give an account to Christ right now in the flesh.
I’m the “chief of sinners”, “Judas”, and the incarnation of “Satan” himself. But the Spirit tells me God loves His enemies, and forgives His enemies, and that is why I am made to suffer. I experience the fiery Spirit of God’s judgment daily. I suffer chastening and scourging by the Spirit on a daily basis, though sometimes it is more severe than at other times. I’ve actually been so pressed by God that I’ve literally lost my mind in the torment and had psychotic episodes. I’ve been hospitalized on more than one occasion and put on anti- psychotic medication to control symptoms of what the world labels “bipolar disorder”, though I know an evil spirit has been sent from the Lord to torment me. The world doesn’t understand this and when I try to tell my psychiatrist what I think is happening to me, they just write it off as part of the delusions I have when I’ve been hospitalized. I feel so alone. Nobody understands what I’m going through (feels likeanyway).
Why is God so hard on me, Mike? Humanly speaking, I’m not so bad. I’ve never done anything that would ever get me in trouble with man’s laws. But I’ve transgressed God’s laws of course. Not major sins by the world’s standards, but my top sins as I perceive it. I also don’t serve my earthly masters like I should, as I’m bored with my job and don’t like it. It makes me feel lazy and no good, though if I was doing work that I found more interesting, I think I could be a better worker.
Despite all God has put me through, I desire to return to the Lord, have a good relationship with Him, and serve Him. To me, the lake of fire is a spiritual experience that I’m experiencing right now. I don’t take it literally. But does it ever end? Do I have to be punished the rest of my natural life for mistakes of the past? Will God ever end this “great tribulation” I’m going through? What does God want me to do? How can I get out of this spiritual prison I am in, where I am tormented daily by spiritual tormentors? I’m already in the lake of fire! Will I yet have to endure the second resurrection and more judgment in this mysterious “lake of fire”? What more can God do to me, I can’t imagine, but if I am to endure it, I wonder what it is? I’ve read alot of your site and you say much about judgment and that God’s judgment is the fire of God. I agree. If you know exactly what the second resurrection lake of fireis going to be like, I’d like to know your explanation, as I’d like to sort of mentally prepare for my death and the second resurrection. If you have the time, this is a question I’d like answered. I also can’t help but wonder, if God thinks pain and suffering is a valid way to show His love (ie He scourges ever son that He receives), then will pain and suffering always be with us, even as spirit beings in the Kingdom of God? Will God always have to have the threat of suffering to keep His creation in line? Because if living forever is going to be anything like I’m experiencing now, I for one would like to have no part of it. I’d just like to non- exist. I’m tired of what God is putting me through and can’t imagine an eternity of it…
Thanks for any insight you have on my issues,

D____

Hi D____,

I want you to know that I certainly can commiserate with the pain and mental torment with which you are dealing at this time. Your letter makes clear that you have come to see the overall work that is being done by our heavenly Father with His creatures. You may be struggling to accept it, but you seem to know deep down that God really is “working all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11). That certainly includes the pain and suffering with which you are dealing.
But our pains and our sufferings continue until we see them as God sees them. That is the one thing lacking in this e- mail. Like every one of us in our appointed time, you feel that God has forsaken us and is punishing us beyond what is needed. “Believing on Christ” is not a matter simply of acknowledging Him as the Son of God. It is rather taking on His way of thinking; His grateful, “Not My will but thine be done” spirit and attitude. At our appointed time, we tell God that we do not deserve the pain of the trials He is working in our lives, and as long as this ungrateful attitude persists, we all “abide in His wrath.”

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

You tell me:

I’m the “chief of sinners”, “Judas”, and the incarnation of “Satan” himself. But the Spirit tells me God loves His enemies, and forgives His enemies, and that is why I am made to suffer. I experience the fiery Spirit of God’s judgment daily.

And still in your next paragraph, just as we all do, you wonder why God deals with you as He does, considering that there are others who are far worse than you have been, who don’t seem to be suffering as you.

Why is God so hard on me, Mike? Humanly speaking, I’m not so bad. … I’ve never done anything that would ever get me in trouble with man’s laws. But I’ve transgressed God’s laws of course.

You seem to realize that your job performance should be “as unto the Lord,” and yet admit that it is not.

I also don’t serve my earthly masters like I should, as I’m bored with my job and don’t like it. It makes me feel lazy and no good, though if I was doing work that I found more interesting, I think I could be a better worker.

Col 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:
Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

You ask:

But does it ever end? Do I have to be punished the rest of my natural life for mistakes of the past? Will God ever end this “great tribulation” I’m going through? What does God want me to do? How can I get out of this spiritual prison I am in, where I am tormented daily by spiritual tormentors?

It should be clear from the examples of our Lord, and His apostles that we must all “endure to the end” in order to be saved.

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.

As Christ increases in you, your old man will decrease. As that transformation takes place, the wrath of God subsides upon our ungodliness, and the “peace that passes all understanding” will come upon you and be with you as you endure to the end.

Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

There it is! There is the answer to your dilemma. “In EVERYTHING by prayer and supplications WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known unto God.
The fire of 1Co 3:13 is God’s wrath, and every man will endure and abide in it until what can be burned out is burned out.

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

All prophecy of scripture is designed, in the end, to comfort us and increase Christ in us as our old man decreases.
Job felt exactly as you feel, and Job is every one of us. We all feel, at our own time that God has forsaken us and taken away our judgment. In reality, we are in the process of being judged, and it is that process that is so painful:

Job 27:2 As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
Job 27:4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
Job 27:5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
Job 27:6 My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.

Read the entire 29th chapter of Job, and you will see that Job simply could not see himself as deserving the afflictions God had placed upon him. Here is but an excerpt from that chapter where Job declares his unworthiness of the trials he is given:

Job 29:2 Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me;
Job 29:3 When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
Job 29:4 As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
Job 29:5 When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
Job 29:12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had] none to help him.
Job 29:13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.
Job 29:15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
Job 29:16 I was a father to the poor: and the cause [ which] I knew not I searched out.

Job could see that he was at one time in God’s favor, and he cannot understand why God sees fit to stop the favor which He shows to babes in Christ, and replace that favor with trials which only a more mature child can endure. This whole chapter continues in this tenor, Job unable to accept himself as worthy of the trials which have come upon him, yet knowing that both good and evil come only from the Lord.

Job 2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

To this point Job had not “sinned with his lips.” But when he later proclaims himself righteous and accuses God of “taking away his judgment,” this is what God has to say to Job.

Job 40:6 Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7 Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8 Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

Only then did Job see what we all have to come to see:

Job 40:1 Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

That is what we are all guilty of doing. We fail to see and appreciate God’s judgments upon our vile flesh, which He has given us. He gave it to us to bring us to see it for what it is, and instead of seeing all flesh as vile and worthy of death, we justify and glorify and celebrate the flesh.
What should be our attitude towards our fiery trials? Here is God’s ideal attitude towards the trials we all endure, at His hand, in these vessels of clay:

Psa 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psa 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Four times we are told of the trials God sends upon us just as He tried Job, and four times the words of Psa 107:21 are repeated. In other words we must come to see our trials for the blessings they are. Until we come to that point, we will never know the meaning of “His works” and “the sacrifice of thanksgiving”. It was only when God brought Job to appreciate the trials he had been given that God lifted His wrath off Job.

Psa 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

No, I have never been in a psychiatric ward, but we are all given the trials we need. We are not given the trials that others need. God knows who needs which trials, and we are explicitly instructed:

2Co 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

All prophecy is intended to edify, exhort and comfort us. That is what I hope these verses of scripture accomplish in you. Let us not compare ourselves among ourselves, but rather “offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving… for all the wonderful works of God to the children of men.” Let us be thankful that he has seen fit to “command and raise the stormy winds” in our lives and “bring us to our wits’ end.” These are his “wonderful works” and the story of Job reveals them. Job is each of us, and Job lost everything he owned, including his seven sons and three daughters, all in one day. While it appeared outwardly to Job’s flesh and to our flesh, to be the worst day of his life, as I too, have learned, our devastating trials are really the best days of our lives, because they and they alone, drive us to our knees before He who commands and raises the stormy winds and raises the waves and brings us to our “wits’ end”. It is at “our wits’ end” that we are closest to our Creator, and that is what we need more than all this life has to offer.
I cannot keep you from “filling up in your body what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ”, but I can exhort you to be comforted by the scriptures.

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

I pray that these words from the word of God will give you both comfort and hope. I pray that you are given by God to offer Him the sacrifice of thanksgiving for the fact that you have been counted worthy to suffer with Him in order to be in His service.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

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Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

Introduction

When we started these studies in this Revelation of Jesus Christ with the first three verses of chapter one as our guide to unlocking the meaning of the symbols of this revelation of Jesus Christ, I was commanded not to do so by one for whom I had the greatest respect. There was a lot of adversity against the concept of ‘reading, hearing and keeping the things written therein’, as the stated purpose of this revelation of Jesus Christ within those who were given to ‘read, hear and keep’ what is written in this prophecy. It was, and still is, truly “war in the heavens”.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
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.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

This heavenly battle will always be waged against those who dare to replace the doctrines of Preterism or Dispensationalism with the living and powerful and sharp words of Christ, which He plainly states are always “at hand”, will “shortly come to pass” and “shall not pass away”.
Here are those first three verses of Revelation one. Here are the instructions we have followed faithfully in our study of every word of this “revelation of Jesus Christ” within us.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and sign ified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
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.

Here we are plainly told that this is a prophecy which has been given by God to Christ to “show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass”. We are not told these things will have no application for the next 2000 years. In fact it is emphasized and reiterated that “the time is at hand”. We are informed that this is a book which has been “signified… by His angel to His servant John”, and then we are told to “Keep the things written therein: for the time is at hand”.
We believe those words, and have handled this entire study with those instructions held close as our guide to our application of every word. Only if we acknowledge that it is we who are to “read, hear and keep the things written therein”, within, and never attempt to make these words, either the good or the evil, to apply to someone else, somewhere else, or at some other time than right now in this life, will the words of this prophecy have any personal benefit for the person who is reading the words of this revelation of Jesus Christ within us. We have acknowledged that the beast, the false prophet and the great red dragon, with all of their weaknesses and false doctrines, are within each of us, and we have acknowledged that we cannot enter into the temple of God in heaven until the seven plagues of the seven angels has been fulfilled in our own lives.
With that same heart and spirit, which has been our guide throughout these studies, we will now examine verses 6-10. We will begin by looking at verses 6 and 7, and comparing those two verses to Rev 1:1-3. Here is Rev 22:6-7:

Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Here again, in the very last chapter of this revelation of Jesus Christ, we are clearly instructed as to how this prophecy is intended to be approached and understood. Let’s read again verse 1-3 of chapter one and take careful note that the very same instructions are given us at the very beginning:

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
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.

Revelation one tells us God gave Jesus Christ this revelation to show it to His servants. Revelation one tells us this revelation is “things which must shortly come to pass”. We are told this revelation is signified by His angel. We are told to read, hear and keep the things which are written therein because the time is at hand.
Here in chapter 22 we are reminded of the exact same instructions. We are told “These saying are faithful and true”, but here it is revealed that Christ Himself was “the Lord God of the holy prophets, who sent His angel to show His servants the things that must shortly be done, and it is this same “Lord God of the holy prophets” who declares “Behold I come quickly: blessed is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book”.
So the only real difference between the instructions of the first chapter and the last chapter is that the first chapter informs us that this revelation of Jesus Christ is “signified by His angel”, while the last chapter reaffirms that what is written here is “faithful and true”, which is just another way of saying “My Words shall not pass away” (Mat 24:32-35). In every other way these are the exact same instructions we were given informing us how to approach this prophecy.<.

Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

It is Christ alone who opens our eyes to see the things of the spirit which are written in the Words of this prophecy. The fact that we are told that John twice attempted to worship this angel reveals that we all tend to place too much emphasis upon the messenger, instead of the giver of the message. Nevertheless it is also Christ who “sends His angel” to show these things to us.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

We saw back in chapters 17 and 19 that this angel is “one of the angels which had the seven last plagues”.

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 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

So whether it is “the judgment of the great whore” or “the bride the Lamb’s wife”, both are revealed to us by “one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues”. This helps us to understand why God wants us to know that “those who speak often one to another… and think upon His name” are just that instrumental in revealing Christ within us

Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Mal 3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Mal 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

It is these seven angels who have the seven vials of the seven last plagues, who are granted to “return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves Him not.”
So once again let us consider who are these seven angels:

Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

So these seven angels are those who are our “fellowservants” who like us, “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book”, and while we are twice admonished against worshiping the angels which shows us these things, we are also told this concerning those among us who “labor in the Word”.

1Ti 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

So as it is with all things, we must strive to be balanced in our regard to “those who labor in the word and doctrine” among us. There are many who give of themselves selflessly working in the Word and doctrine, who really are worthy of “double honor”. It is through their efforts that these things are being shown to many all around the world. For that we highly esteem them, but we want to never place them in the place of our Lord, who is worthy of our worship, and who once again tells us this:

Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

How often do we see those words “at hand” in the New Testament? That phrase just happens to appear 21 times in the New Testament. But this entire phrase “the time is at hand” is found again in verse three of chapter one of this prophecy.

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.

When we are granted to connect those statements together with phrases like ” things which must shortly come to pass”, and “things which must shortly be done”, both at the beginning and at the end of this prophecy, then the urgency of our calling should begin to become obvious to those who are being called to be chosen and faithful to the end.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

But let us also take note that John is commanded “Seal not the saying of the prophecy of this book…” Now let’s compare these words to the instructions given to Daniel, concerning the prophecies he was given for those of his day:

Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

This natural man takes these words to mean natural, physical, scientific knowledge, but to the man of the spirit, this is a promise to his knowledge of ‘the things of the spirit”, and to have his knowledge of “God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent” increased in “the time of the end”.

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1Co 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
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.

And when is this “time of the end” of which Daniel speaks? Here are those upon whom “the ends of the world are come”.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

So the Old Testament prophets were told thattheir prophecies were not even for themselves in this life, and they were told plainly to “shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end:”
For whom then were all their prophecies? To whom were they ministering, if not to themselves or the people of their time? Here is the plain scriptural answer to that question:

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.

There were many great works done by Christ through many Old Testament men of God. Nevertheless we are plainly told that God had “something better for us”.

Heb 11:39 And these all [ All the great men of faith of the Old Testament], 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.

In our next study, Lord willing, we will cover these verses:

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.
Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.