Satan – Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word https://www.iswasandwillbe.com Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty Mon, 13 Jan 2025 16:41:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cropped-headerlogo-32x32.png Satan – Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word https://www.iswasandwillbe.com 32 32 Rev 12:10-13 – Part 2 – Now Is Come The Kingdom https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-1210-13-part-2-now-is-come-the-kingdom/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rev-1210-13-part-2-now-is-come-the-kingdom Sun, 22 Dec 2024 05:14:17 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=31661 Audio Download

Rev 12:10-13 – Part 2 – Now Is Come The Kingdom

[Study Aired Dec 22, 2024]

Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

True to its “is, was and will be” nature, in this verse we again see ourselves both as those who “dwell in the heavens” as well as those who were once “inhabiters of the earth and of the sea… unbelievers, abiding in God’s wrath”. Paul makes clear that both parts of this verse are ours in Eph 2.

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:

… the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

By whom does the Lord try and tempt mankind?

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him.
Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man:
Jas 1:14  but each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. (ASV)

“Enticed” by whom? Who incites man to lust after the things which the Lord has forbidden? We need not guess.

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

By whom did the Lord try Job?

Job 1:6  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
Job 1:7  And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
Job 1:8  And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Job 1:9  Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Job 1:10  Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
Job 1:11  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

“Put forth Thine hand” shows us that Satan is nothing more or less than a tool of our Lord to “create evil”, and to “work all things after the counsel of His own will.” Satan could not touch Job without the Lord’s direction to do so. Do we think this is an exception to the rule? It is not. This is the rule of Him “of whom are all things”, all the good and all the evil.

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

Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and [there is] none else.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Who was “the Lord’s” instrument to tempt King David? It is in “the sum of God’s word [that we will find the] Truth”. When we add up “the sum of God’s word” in these two verses we find that the Lord used the same adversary to tempt King David that He used to tempt Adam and Eve and Job.

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

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

The result of this provocation was that 70,000 men died as “the anger of the Lord” was poured out on Israel through the agency of Satan, who, as “an evil angel, was sent among them” to tempt King David to number Israel.

Who was sent to tempt our Lord?

Mat 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Mat 4:2  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

If we are “as He is in this world” would not we also be tempted by “the tempter… the devil?

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.

How are the seven last plagues of God’s fierce wrath administered upon us all in our own time? Is it not the same for all? Here are the verses that answer both of those questions respectively:

Psa 78:49  He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.

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.

What does “All things come alike to all” mean? What that means is that “there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked”, that is what that means. That “one event” includes the seven last plagues of God’s wrath being pour out on the wicked and on the righteous alike, in the day when we are all “made wicked for the day of evil” which comes to us all alike, and in the day when mankind will live by those words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God.

Satan comes to us with great wrath, but as we have seen in Job, Satan is nothing more than “thy hand”, and like all of us, Satan has no wrath except as it is given Him from God:

Job 1:11  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Joh 19:11  Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Let’s summarize what we have seen here: “the Lord Himself tempts no man…” Satan is specifically called “the tempter”, is called “God’s hand”, and God ‘casts the fierceness of His anger, wrath and indignation and trouble, by sending evil angels among us’. What does it all mean? What it all means is “… the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time”. That is why this chapter is placed between the introduction of the seventh trumpet in Rev 11, and the revelation that the seven plagues of the seventh trumpet fill up the wrath of God against our ungodliness and unrighteousness in chapter 16.

… because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

The scriptures reveal that the time of our trials really is nothing more than “a small moment” and “a little wrath”. I know from experience that what God calls “a small moment” seems like an eternity when it is being endured, but as the example of our Lord demonstrates, it is only after God has forsaken us for that “small moment” that we will be raised up to sit with Him in the heavens as He has been raised to sit with His Father in His throne in the heavens.

Isa 54:7  For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8  In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

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

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:

Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

Have you and I ever lived these “words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God [in this] revelation of Jesus Christ”?

Who among us has not felt defrauded, lied to, played for a fool and robbed of the fruit of our efforts by men who at best were deceived and in many cases were proven charlatans. And who among us has not to some degree been embittered when we discovered that all our lives have been wasted by a woman who is nothing more than a great harlot, who despises her true Husband and despises His words. Here is what Satan does in us to “the woman” at that moment, with the power he gives to the beast in the horns upon that beast:

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

What we are being told here is that this woman who is bringing forth this manchild here in chapter 12, is the same harlot woman we discover here in chapter 17. Do you doubt that God’s “man child” comes out of “the woman which… is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth”? Here is the scripture which tells us from whence come the Lord’s people. Speaking of this same woman, we read this:

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

As redundant as it is to do so, we must remind ourselves that the only way to avoid death is to first die, the only way to see is to first be blind, and the only way to be healed of our sickness is to first be sick.

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

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

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

In like manner, if there is anything we should be learning about living by every word of God, all things being ours, and keeping the things written in this prophecy, is that the only way to come out of Babylon, is to be in Babylon. The only way to avoid partaking of her sins is to confess that we ourselves have been the chief of sinners, and the only way to avoid receiving of her plagues is to fulfill within ourselves the seven plagues of the seven angels.

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

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

It is because the spirit of Babylon is still in us that we, as the ten horns on the beast, turn on the woman and “burn her with the fiery” words of God of which we, as carnal babes in Christ, have only recently become aware.

It is we who persecute the woman who brought forth the man child, and we do so as we are coming out of her, because the ten horns that burn her with fire are us as “carnal… babes in Christ” who, in our immaturity, are bitter toward a woman who has deceived us and has taken advantage of our ignorance.

Where do the beast and his ten horns get their power?

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

By giving the beast his power, it can rightly be said “when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child”.

Summary

We have seen that this twelfth chapter, as well as chapters 13, 14 and 15, are all introductory and preparatory chapters to the revelation of the seven plagues of the seventh trumpet, which was first mentioned in chapter 10.

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.

We have seen once again that when “the mystery of God is finished” we will finally realize that “all things come alike to all, that all things are ours, things present and things to come”, and that it is we who are instructed to “keep the things written in this book”. So we have seen that we are first the woman who brings forth this man child before we are made to become this man child who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron.

We have seen that “all the nations” within us must be subdued to the mind and thoughts of our Lord, before we will be found worthy to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection. We must “bring every thought into subjection to God” before we will be entrusted to rule the nations of this outward world or judge angels in the lake of fire.

We saw that our “strength and salvation” comes through our recognition that Christ died for our own sins, and through our testimony to that effect, and our willingness to die to the things of this world to obtain life in the next age.

We have seen that the “war in heaven” of this chapter is the same “warfare” spoken of by the apostle Paul in 2Co 10:4-5, and the “casting down of the accuser of our brothers” is nothing more or less than “the casting down of imaginations and every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” spoken of by Paul in these same verses.

2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

That is the “casting down of the accuser of our brothers.”

We saw the three different verses in the New Testament which specifically speak of “our Lord and His Christ”, and we saw that we are our Lord’s Christ, and the salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ is NOW. It is in down payment form through “the spirit of promise”, but nevertheless the salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God is ours here and now.

We saw that the strength we are given gives us power and dominion over the power of the dragon who gives our beast his power over us with all his sinful desires within us. We have seen that sin no longer has dominion over us, because God, through Christ in us, no longer imputes sin to us because we have “suffered in the flesh” with Him.

We have seen that the short time given the dragon to persecute the woman is the time he spends trying us, because we saw where Job reveals that Satan is nothing more or less than God’s own hand, to create the wicked man for the day of evil.

Job 1:11  But put forth thine hand now [Lord], and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

We also saw that the wrath given to Satan to persecute the woman is the same wrath God gives Satan to pour out “the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels” among us because “these things are all ours”.

Psa 78:49  He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.

Finally we saw that the dragon’s persecution of the woman is accomplished through us, as the ten horns who agree to give their power to the beast we are at that time and upon which the ten horns are found. We do this at the time we, as carnal babes in Christ, are coming out of Babylon, because we are not yet mature enough to appreciate the fact that all the lies and all the hypocrites of Babylon are nothing less than an integral part of “His wonderful works to the children of men”.

Next week, Lord willing we will finish this twelfth chapter and we will see what it means for this woman to be in the wilderness, and we will learn how the dragon goes about “casting water as a flood out of His mouth, to cause the woman to be carried away of the waters.” We will also see how the earth can help the woman by swallowing up the flood, and we will see what happens when the dragon is “wroth with the woman”.

Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

]]> The Book of Hebrews – Heb 11:22-29 “Through Faith we Understand that the Worlds were Framed by the Word of God” – Part 6 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-hebrews-heb-1122-29-through-faith-we-understand-that-the-worlds-were-framed-by-the-word-of-god-part-6/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-hebrews-heb-1122-29-through-faith-we-understand-that-the-worlds-were-framed-by-the-word-of-god-part-6 Thu, 18 Mar 2021 18:29:02 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=23262 Heb 11:22-29 “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God” – Part 6
[Study Aired March 18, 2021]

Heb 11:22  By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.
Heb 11:23  By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.
Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 
Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 
Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 
Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 
Heb 11:28  Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 
Heb 11:29  By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. 

This section of Hebrews speaks very loudly to the entire process of overcoming Satan who is spoken of as giving:

[“the king’s commandment” as he commands lies and says we can’t overcome (Joh 8:44, 1Jn 2:14), and is likened unto the “wrath of the king” (Rev 12:12) and is typified by Pharaoh “he that destroyed” (Rev 9:11, Joh 10:10, Rom 9:17)]

All things do work together for good to them that love God and who have been called according to his purpose so that we will overcome Satan and sin, through Christ (Rom 8:28). God’s purpose was not a salvational one for those mentioned from all these old covenant stories we have been examining, but rather points the way for true believers (Joh 4:23-24) to salvation by using the type and shadow events which greatly encourage us and remind us of the certainty of what God is going to accomplish in the lives of His elect remnant as He supplies all our needs both physically and spiritually through Christ and His body (Rom 11:5, Php 4:13, Php 4:18-19).

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

Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

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

Php 4:18  But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
Php 4:19  But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

That purpose spoken of in Romans 8:28 is described for us in a way that shows us how we can be justified and glorified by God’s power in this life. God’s purpose is being accomplished by His might, and therefore who can be against his workmanship (Eph 2:8-10) knowing that “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all” also said “how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” to accomplish that work of faith within us (Rom 8:30-32).

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

Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Looking at the old covenant types and shadows should make it abundantly apparent for us today how overcoming is accomplished by the faith of Jesus Christ and the love of Christ, and not “by the works of the law” (Gal 2:16, Rom 3:28, Rom 8:31-39). The works of the law point to Christ and are the natural events that typify what is being accomplished in our heavens through Christ, our hope of glory within (Col 1:24, Col 1:27).

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

Rom 3:27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Rom 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

As we look at this series of verses (Heb 11:22-29), we will be blessed to know and remember that it is “through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” These “worlds being framed” we have been discussing for a few weeks now are analogous of God’s workmanship in our heavens which is being accomplished as we overcome through Christ all that is in the world – “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” – which “is not of the Father, but is of the world.” So, as we overcome fruit is produced, and that fruit originates from a source that is unseen (Luk 6:43-45, Joh 13:35, Joh 15:5, Joh 20:29).

Luk 6:43  For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Luk 6:44  For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
Luk 6:45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Heb 11:22  By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 

Joseph died while Israel was still living outside of the promised land, and he asked that his bones be taken into the promised land when Israel finally took possession of the land (Gen 50:25-26). It was centuries later that Joseph’s bones were then brought personally by Moses into the promised land (Exo 13:17-19).

Gen 50:25  And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.
Gen 50:26  So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Exo 13:17  And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:
Exo 13:18  But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessedH2571 out of the land of Egypt.

harnessedH2571
– Original: חu1502 שu1473
– Transliteration: Chamush
– Phonetic: khaw-moosh’
– Definition:  1. in battle array, arrayed for battle by fives, armed

[“arrayed for battle by fives” (2Ti 2:3-5, Tit 2:11-13)]

2Ti 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2Ti 2:4  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
2Ti 2:5  And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. [Tit 2:12-13 “describes how we strive lawfully”]

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

H2571: Total KJV Occurrences: 4
•armed, 2
Jos_1:14; Jos_4:12
•harnessed, 1
Exo_13:18
•men, 1
Jdg_7:11
– Origin: pass. participle of the same as H2570
– TWOT entry: TWOT- 688a
– Part(s) of speech: Adjective
– Strong’s: Passive participle of the same as H2570; staunch that is able bodied soldiers: – armed (men) harnessed.

H2570
– Original: חu1502 שu1473
– Transliteration: Chomesh
– Phonetic: kho’-mesh
– Definition:

1. belly, abdomen, fifth ribs
– Origin: from an unused root probably meaning, to be stout
– TWOT entry: TWOT- 687a
– Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine
– Strong’s: From an unused root probably meaning to be stout; the abdomen (as obese): – fifth [rib].
Total KJV Occurrences: 4
•fifth, 4
2Sa_2:23; 2Sa_3:27; 2Sa_4:6; 2Sa_20:10

God delivers us from Satan (Pharaoh) and carefully leads us “the way of the wilderness of the Red sea” where by grace through faith [5] we are harnessedH2571 so we can come out of the land of Egypt. It is because of this typical visitation of the Lord which Israel experienced that the one hundred and ten year old bones of Joseph could then be carried up “away hence with you”. The 110 number signifies that these bones are not done with yet but have accomplished what was needed while Joseph was in his flesh.

Exo 13:19  And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

[The day of visitation has yet to occur for Israel who represents the whole world in this instance, and is occurring for God’s elect today (1Pe 2:12, 1Pe 4:17)]

Christ, who is typified by Joseph, was confident that the foundations of the church were not going to be destroyed, which is what Joseph’s bones typify (Mat 16:18).

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

Christ said “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” (Joh 17:20-21, Eph 5:30). That same idea is being typified by Moses, who also represents Christ, who continued to bring along the foundational old covenant words of God which are represented by the bones of Joseph (Exo 13:19).

Exo 13:19  And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

The bones of Joseph represent foundational truths from the old covenant that have not yet had the life of Christ breathed into them, as this prophesy in Ezekiel reminds us (Eze 37:9). The promised land is something that Joseph, who typifies the elect, sees in earnest, and that promised land for God’s elect represents how one day we will be with our Lord in fullness seeing him face to face (Eph 1:14, Php 1:23, 1Co 13:12).

Eze 37:9  Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

Joseph was moved by the faith of God to make mention and give “commandment concerning his bones” for our encouragement today to remind us that the bones of Christ, which is his body (Eph 5:30), will be brought forth from generation to generation “until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory”.

Heb 11:23  By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.

Moses’ birth is a type of our being born again as God’s elect (Joh 3:3) who by faith are also “hid three months of his parents“, our parents being God our Father in heaven (Mat 6:9) and the church, Christ’s body (Col 1:24), Jerusalem above, the mother of us all (Gal 4:26).

Our parents are not afraid of “the king’s commandment” which represents the powers and principalities that the god of this world uses to keep this entire world lying in wickedness (1Jn 5:19). God keeps us from that wicked one and strengthens us so that we can overcome evil (2Th 3:3-4, Rom 12:19-21).

1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

2Th 3:3  But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
2Th 3:4  And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do [Php 2:13] the things which we command you (1Co 14:37). [not being afraid of “the king’s commandment” (Php 1:28)]

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

[God must fight our battles in order for us to be established and kept from an evil heart that wants to seek vengeance in the flesh, and so we’re commanded to love our enemies (2Th 3:3, Mat 5:44)]

We overcome that wicked one through a process of spiritual completion, typified by Moses being “hid three months of his parents“. That “three months” also represents an early version of the one sign that Christ would give an evil and adulterous generation which is seeking after a sign but no sign was given except the one that represents our being “hid three months of his parents” in the church (Mat 16:4, Mat 12:40), where God judges us (1Pe 4:17) and receives us through chastening and scourgings so we can become obedient children or “a proper child” who obeys the commandments of God (Heb 5:8, Act 14:22). We have as much to do with this process as Jonas did with controlling where that great fish was taking him throughout the depths of the sea he was in, and yet we are told to work out our own salvation as if it did depend on us (Heb 12:6, Isa 43:16, Php 2:12-13).

Mat 16:4  A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.

[The world cannot discern the signs of the times (Mat 16:3), but those who are given to see that they are ‘the “generation” guilty of all the blood of the prophets’ are the few who are being given to discern those signs, which is the witness of Christ in His body”, the church (Luk 11:50, Joh 20:29, Col 1:24)]

Mat 12:40  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

[Christ is fulfilling this process as our hope of glory in the church, “in the heart of the earth“.There are four ‘threes’ mentioned adding up to twelve, which represents our foundation, Christ, who is matured in us through judgment (Col 1:24, Col 1:27)]

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

Isa 43:16  Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;

Jonas can’t see what is happening while he is in the great fish that represents the church, and it is God’s blind servant who works out his own salvation with fear and trembling as we confess our blindness and say we can’t see, and therefore our sins our forgiven (Joh 9:41) by the one who is leading us to repentance (Rom 2:4) and making “a way in the sea” and a path “in the mighty waters” as He works in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Joh 20:29-30, Php 2:12-13).

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.

Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Joh 20:30  And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:

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

Heb 11:24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 

It took faith for Moses to”come to years” and be able to refuse “to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter“. Pharaoh’s daughter represents the harlot churches (2Co 6:17) of this world that we refuse to be a part of, and the place of Moses’ upbringing in the courts of Egypt is typical of that place where “the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all” (Gal 4:1). We all start off being “under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father” who takes us from being children who “were in bondage under the elements of the world” and redeems us through the adoption that we have in Christ, and so, “when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world” just as Moses was until “he was come to years“. This time in Moses’ life of coming to that point of maturity represents “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Gal 4:1-4, Rom 6:21-22).

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
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,

Rom 6:21  What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22  But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

Heb 11:25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Being redeemed from under the law that we might be received as sons can only happen through experiencing God’s reproachG3680 in our lives, which can only be endured by the faith of Christ so that we can then fill up what is behind of His afflictions (Col 1:24), typified by Moses’ words which stated that he esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt” (Rom 8:18). This what we demonstrate in our life in Christ when we “come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2Co 6:17).

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:

The “pleasures of sin for a season“, if not overcome, will treasure up unto us “wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom 2:5), and so God gives us trials and struggles in this life in order to draw contrast in our heavens as Moses did regarding the fruit of his life after he was “come of years” refusing “to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter“, which typifies our rejection of our former conversation and way of life (Eph 2:1-4).

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

“Pharaoh’s daughter“, being a woman, represents an early type of mystery Babylon and the churches of this world Satan has influenced, just as Pharaoh would have had a great influence on his daughters’ upbringing. Within the confines of Egypt or Babylon or modern day Christianity, there is always some form of law for the lawless (1Ti 1:9). God has ordained that non-Christian cultures would be a law unto themselves (Rom 2:14), and the lesson for God’s elect today is that, whether Christian or gentile, there is the one lawgiver and judge who is working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Jas 4:12, Eph 1:11) to demonstrate all of mankind’s inability without Christ to embrace the one true law of liberty that is found only in Him (Gal 6:2, Jas 2:12-13) who is the way the truth and the life (Gal 3:24, Heb 6:3, Joh 14:6).

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

Jas 2:12  So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
Jas 2:13  For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

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

Heb 11:26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

It takes the faith of Christ to be able to endure “the reproachG3680 of Christ” (Mat 20:23, 1Jn 5:4-5) that represents the fiery trials which try our faith (1Pe 1:7, 1Pe 4:12) so that this faith becomes of “greater riches” than all the “treasures in Egypt“. That tried faith is necessary to endure until the end, and it is “after that ye have suffered a while” that God will “make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (1Pe 5:10) so that we can continue to have “respect unto the recompence of the reward” which represents the blessed and holy first resurrection, “the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” that we are pressing toward through Him (Rev 20:6, Php 3:14).

Mat 20:23  And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

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

Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. 

Overcoming the world that is represented by Moses forsaking Egypt requires faith (1Jn 5:4), and the “wrath of the king” which represents the powers and principalities against which we wrestle (Eph 6:12) will be overcome by “seeing him who is invisible” (Joh 20:29).  God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him who is invisible (Heb 11:6), and our Father knows that without the faith of Christ we could not even begin this sojourn out of Babylon or Egypt that typifies our human nature and the beast that we cannot make war against unless the son of man sets us free (Rev 13:4, Rev 5:4, Joh 8:36).

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

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

Rev 5:4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Heb 11:28  Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. 
Heb 11:29  By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

At the beginning of this study I mentioned how this section of Hebrews speaks very loudly to the entire process of overcoming sin in the lives of God’s people, and these verses in particular point to that reality (Heb 11:28-29). It takes faith to keep “the passover” under the circumstances Moses was brought under as it does for us in this world which we are overcoming through Christ our passover (1Co 5:7-8).

1Co 5:7  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1Co 5:8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

It took the “sprinkling of blood” of physical animals to prevent the “firstborn” who typifies the first fruits of God (Jas 1:18) from being destroyed by him who should “touch them“. Satan is the one who is called the destroyer who wants to sift us like wheat (Luk 22:31, Job 2:4-6), and yet the spirit of God witnesses in our lives that we are more than conquerors through Christ whose faith which is given to us makes it possible for us to pass “through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned” (1Jn 5:4).

Israel’s coming out of Egypt by a strong hand is analogous of our overcoming Satan’s influence in the wilderness of this life as we are washed by the blood of the lamb (Deu 26:8, Lev 16:21). It is “by the word of their testimony” and by our not loving our own “lives unto the death” that we witness to the world around us how “through faith we understand that the worlds” both within and outwardly are being “framed by the word of God”, and He has granted us to understand “that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Rev 12:11-17).

Deu 26:8  And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand,[“into the wilderness“] and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

Luk 22:31  And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

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

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.
Rev 12:12  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. [Rev 19:7] Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Rev 12:13  And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Rev 12:14  And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, [Eph 2:4-6] where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The firstborn that were killed (Exo 12:29) represent our old man who must die in order for the new man to be formed through Christ. There are many such sacrifices throughout the word of God that demonstrate to us how little regard God has for flesh and how He has called us to know that flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

“Lest he that destroyed the firstborn” was also an important part of the framing of the worlds outside ourselves to show us how our old man must be be rejected like king Saul, God’s rejected anointed, in order for King David to be anointed afterwards and who represents God’s elect, the “accepted in the beloved” (Rom 15:7, Eph 1:6).

Rom 15:7  Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

]]> The Book of Jeremiah – Jer 1:1-10 I Have This Day Set Thee Over The Nations and Over The Kingdoms https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-book-of-jeremiah-jer-11-10-i-have-this-day-set-thee-over-the-nations-and-over-the-kingdoms/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-book-of-jeremiah-jer-11-10-i-have-this-day-set-thee-over-the-nations-and-over-the-kingdoms Tue, 24 Nov 2020 21:13:30 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=21762

Jer 1:1-10 I Have This Day Set Thee Over The Nations and Over The Kingdoms

[Study Aired November 22, 2020]

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
Jer 1:3  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
Jer 1:4  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 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.
Jer 1:6  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jer 1:7  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
Jer 1:8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

The title of this study, taken from our tenth verse, is first true in “this present time” within if we are given that gift. If we are granted the “gift… in this present time” (Eph 2:8 and Rom 8:18) to rule over the nations that are within us, then, and only then, will we also be given to rule the outward physical nations of this world (Rev 2:27).

To demonstrate and display the Lord’s enduring mercy, the holy spirit has seen fit to tell us when each prophet gave his prophecy.  Doing this demonstrates that He is working all things after the counsel of His own will regardless of which king is on the throne and regardless of what we do. The reason for letting us know when the prophets prophesied is to let us know that both the good and the evil kings of Israel and Judah are all within our own flesh and are serving as nothing more than instruments in His hand to cause His glory to be declared throughout the world, just as He did with the wicked Pharaoh, who was oppressing His people:

Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

The Lord spoke to His people through the prophet Isaiah beginning in the reign of Uzziah and ending in the reign of Hezekiah:

Isa 1:1  The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

Let’s take note of the Lord’s longsuffering mercy. King Solomon’s reign was approximately 1,000 years before Christ. King Solomon was granted great wisdom, yet he apostatized and married hundreds of wives out of the nations around him. The reign of Uzziah was nine wicked Jewish kings later and approximately 200 years after King Solomon’s reign. Some were less wicked than others, but there were ‘none that did good, no not one.’

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

Jeremiah informs us that his prophecy begins “in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. What we are not told right here in Jeremiah is that one of the most evil kings ever to rule over Judah, King Manasseh, was the father of King Amon (2Ki 21:18). His reign was the longest of any king of Judah, spanning 55 years between the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Manasseh, according to both the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud, was the king who had the prophet Isaiah “sawn asunder”.

The so-called ‘faith chapter’, chapter 11 in the book of Hebrews, alludes to just such an event:

Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Here is a short summary of King Manasseh’s reign:

2Ki 21:1  Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2Ki 21:2  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
2Ki 21:3  For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
2Ki 21:4  And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
2Ki 21:5  And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
2Ki 21:6  And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
2Ki 21:7  And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
2Ki 21:8  Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
2Ki 21:9  But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.

He is considered by many to be the most wicked of all the kings of Judah, and yet his rule endured 55 years, signifying the great mercy, grace and faith the Lord has shown toward us.

Both Manasseh and Amon, his son, were extremely evil kings. King Amon was assassinated by his own servants. It was the assassination of King Amon, after only two years on the throne, which occasioned the ascent of King Josiah to the throne of Judah. The story of King Amon’s ascension to the throne includes the great mercy the Lord extended to his father, wicked king Manasseh:

2Ki 21:16  Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
2Ki 21:17  Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
2Ki 21:18  And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
2Ki 21:19  Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
2Ki 21:20  And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh did.
2Ki 21:21  And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:
2Ki 21:22  And he forsook the LORD God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the LORD.
2Ki 21:23  And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.
2Ki 21:24  And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.

Jeremiah’s prophecy began in the thirteenth year of King Josiah’s reign. So, 55 years of King Manasseh, and two years of King Amon’s reign, plus 13 years into the reign of Josiah, gives us 70 years since the time the prophecy of Isaiah ends. That is as long as the Babylonian captivity and is a precursor to that event.

It is very instructive to note what very few know or acknowledge is that the Lord brought Judah’s most wicked king, King Manasseh, to repentance, typifying the great mercy being shed upon all of us. His sins are all we hear about him. I can remember how shocked and surprised I was when I first had my eyes opened to these words several years back:

2Ch 33:1  Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:
2Ch 33:2  But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
2Ch 33:3  For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
2Ch 33:4  Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.
2Ch 33:5  And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
2Ch 33:6  And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
2Ch 33:7  And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
2Ch 33:8  Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.
2Ch 33:9  So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.

However, the Lord dragged King Manasseh to repentance:

2Ch 33:10  And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.
2Ch 33:11  Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, [all his rebellious lying false doctrines] and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
2Ch 33:12  And when he was in affliction [in Babylon], he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
2Ch 33:13  And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God.
2Ch 33:14  Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.
2Ch 33:15  And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
2Ch 33:16  And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, [In type he began to be crucified with Christ and to die daily in His service] and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.
2Ch 33:17  Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the LORD their God only.

Like their fathers before them, Judah wanted to serve God, but they wanted to do so on their own terms. Their terms permitted what the Lord did not permit. Their terms permitted them to fit in with the nations around them by keeping the traditions of those nations and claiming to do so to the Lord. This what our Lord thinks of such an arrangement:

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.

Mankind, typified by Judah, was of that same nature even after the crushing and repentance of King Manasseh:

2Ch 33:18  Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
2Ch 33:19  His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.
2Ch 33:20  So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

King Manasseh, like King Nebuchadnezzar many years later, led the Lord’s people into great evil. Yet the Lord, in His mercy, typifying and signifying His mercy towards each of us, saw fit to bring both these extremely wicked men to repentance before they died.

So the king who initiated so much apostasy within Judah, and the Gentile King who was used to punish the Lord’s people for their sins, both come to see themselves as the “chief of sinners”, and they both serve as “types of us” if we are granted repentance in “this present time” (Rom 8:18):

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

This all places Jeremiah’s prophecy about 640 years before Christ.

Jeremiah’s prophecy continued from the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign, through the reign of Jehoiakim “unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive into Babylon in the fifth month” of Zedekiah’s 11th year.

It is interesting to note that most of the prophets are raised up by the Lord within the last 100 years of the Jewish nation. This fact typifies how “knowledge… [is] increased… in [our] last days”:

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.

In giving such a witness to His people, and at the same time hardening their hearts, the Lord is giving Himself the occasion He is seeking to bring physical Israel to an end as a nation, both within us and outwardly. Judah and Jerusalem are now a type and a shadow of “Babylon the great the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth”:

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

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The “faithful city” becoming a murderous harlot in Isaiah 1:21 is “Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth… drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.”

Such is the atmosphere of the people who claim the Lord’s name in the time of this prophecy of Jeremiah, 70 years after the end of the prophecy of Isaiah.

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
Jer 1:3  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.

The fact this “carrying away of Jerusalem captive” was in “the eleventh year of Zedekiah” indicates the confusion and chaos of the Lord’s nation of that time (you can check out this link for the significance of the number eleven: The Number Eleven). The fact that it took place in “the fifth month” indicates that sending each of us off into Babylon as captives of that false lying system is actually a work of the Lord’s chastening grace (here is the link for the number five: The Number Five). It is while we are rebelling against Him and His ways, and while we are enslaved in Babylon, that we are made aware that the Lord’s grace “chastens us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live godly lives in this present age.

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

This is how we are to be conduct our lives when we come out of Babylon:

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

Our next verses demonstrate that the Lord knows whom He has chosen as His firstfruits “while we are yet sinners”:

Jer 1:4  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 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.

These words are in complete accord with the scriptures which Jeremiah knew so well:

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

Isa 46:9  Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
Isa 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:

While we are admonished against laying our hands on a novice, because he will tend in his immaturity to become puffed up, nevertheless, when the holy spirit humbles some of us in our youth, then we are to acknowledge Christ in that person:

1Ti 3:2  A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1Ti 3:3  Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
1Ti 3:4  One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
1Ti 3:5  (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
1Ti 3:6  Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
1Ti 3:7  Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

While instructing Timothy to be careful about ordaining a novice, this is what Paul tells us of Timothy himself in the very next chapter:

1Ti 4:12  Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

It should be obvious that being “a novice” has more to do with being new to the doctrines of Christ and being new to the Word, than it does with one’s age, because we are also told this about Timothy’s background and his history:

2Ti 1:5  When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.
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.

However, our flesh just naturally resists the Lord’s calling:

Jer 1:6  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jer 1:7  But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.

Moses’ flesh had this same reaction to the Lord’s calling, but for a different reason:

Exo 4:10  And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

To which the Lord responded:

Exo 4:11  And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

It was not the devil who makes us to be dumb, deaf, blind or seeing. In whatever condition we find ourselves, it is all a work of the Lord’s hand after the counsel of His own will:

Act 4:25  Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

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:

Truth is truth regardless of the messenger of that Truth. If the Lord lays His hand upon us, nothing we can do will stop Him from using us, because He is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11). If we are “the called according to His purpose” then everything we experience, good or evil, will be made by our Lord to work together for our good (Rom 8:28). For that reason, we should…

Jer 1:8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

These words are true within, and they will be true outwardly as well if we are given a part in that “blessed and holy first resurrection. At “this present time” (Rom 8:18) the kingdom of God is within us only and so, too, are all the enemies of His kingdom which is within us.

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.

Mar 7:21  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mar 7:22  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Mar 7:23  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

How are we to do war with the nations of the enemies of the Lord’s people within us?

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Our commission to “revenge all disobedience” will be given to us only after our own obedience has been fulfilled. In other words, it will not be in “this present time”, and it will only be given us if we are the first to do warfare with and overcome all the enemies of “the kingdom of God [which] is [at the] present time… within [us]”.

Here are those inward enemies, and here are the weapons of our warfare in this age:

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood” is not meant to be understood as denying that we are to “crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts [and] put off the old man”:

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Eph 4:22  That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Col 3:9  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

What we are being told is that if we fail to realize there is a spiritual realm which controls the natural realm, then we are vastly unaware of and vastly underestimating our enemy.

Paul listed four of our spiritual enemies:

1)  Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities…

This is the Greek word with its definition from which this English word ‘principalities’ is translated:

Our “chief” enemy is not our flesh, as much as it is he whom our flesh unwittingly worships. When we worship ourselves and tell ourselves that we, with our free will, have chosen to love and obey the Lord, we are in spiritual reality worshipping “the dragon, that old serpent the devil and Satan”:

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 13:4  And they [“all men, small and great, rich and poor, free and bond”, Rev 13:16] worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Our flesh is indeed our enemy, but we need to acknowledge that it is only when we are deceived by “the god of this world” that our flesh continues to dominate our lives even as we think we are serving the Lord and doing many wonderful works in His name:

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

When the Lord turns us over to Satan for the destruction of our flesh, as the book of Job demonstrates, we are helpless against that “principality”.

2) Against powers:

This is the Greek word translated as ‘powers’:

It is the Lord’s hand which has “formed the crooked serpent, the devil. He did not fall from perfection, and there is no “great controversy” between the Lord and the serpent He created to be “the destroyer”:

Job 26:13  By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

In the book of Job, Satan did exactly what the Lord sent him to do to Job. He could do nothing more, and He could do nothing less:

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

Job 2:6  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

Both our flesh and its ‘god’…, “the god of this world”, were “made to be taken and destroyed”:

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

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

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

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

Satan’s power, against which we struggle, is given him of God. There is no power but of God:

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

Our flesh is born under unbelief, under the power of our father the devil, under the Lord’s 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.

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.

The false doctrine which teaches that Satan was created in spiritual perfection and that he chose to go bad, is a lie. The Truth is… “He was a murderer from the beginning” because the Lord’s own hand had formed him to be a “crooked serpent… the waster to destroy”.

Job 26:13  By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

Satan is “the god of this world” only because the Lord has given Him that power, and “the powers that be are ordained of God”, even “the basest of men”:

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

Luk 4:6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

3) Against the rulers of the darkness of this world,

We all begin life as unbelievers in total darkness with the wrath of God abiding upon us, as we saw earlier in:

Joh 3:35  The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
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.

“He that believes not” is in darkness, and the great red dragon, that old serpent the devil, is the god of all unbelievers whether or not they acknowledge him as such. We are all in the bondage and in the darkness of this world by default. We are powerless against our darkened flesh, and only the Lord can deliver us from this hopeless position and our corrupt composition:

Col 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Col 1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

4) Against spiritual wickedness in high places.

The word ‘places’ is in italics because it is not in the Greek. The Greek simply reads “…spiritual wickedness in the heavens”. The Greek word translated as “high places” in this verse is:

As we have seen, “the kingdom of God is within [us] to such an extent that we are told that we are being made to sit with Christ in the heavens:

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places [G2032, epouranios] in Christ Jesus:

Both the “raised us up together [and the] made us sit together” are in the aorist tense, meaning that a process is taking place which is purifying our heavens where we are being seated with Christ. It is few ‘Christians’ indeed who recognize that “the heavens” are in need of being purified as the scriptures teach with these words… “spiritual wickedness in high places”, and as we are plainly told in:

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

We are the “heaven itself” into which Christ is entering and purifying us as His heavenly tabernacle… His heavenly “temple of God”:

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

The battle before us is not a carnal battle, and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. All powers in heaven and on earth are the creations of our Lord for the purpose of working out His plan to “reconcile all things unto Himself.”

There is no “great controversy” between God and the devil. The devil, just as we are, is nothing more than “clay in the Potter’s hand”, doing exactly what ‘the Lord’s hand and His counsel determined before to be done.’

Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

Col 1:16  For by him [Christ, verse 18] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him [Christ] should all fulness dwell;
Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

It is through “the Lord and His Christ” that Christ, who is both Lord and Christ, will bring about the “reconciling of all things unto Himself”, because it was Christ Himself who was sent into the world “that the world through Him might be saved”, and it is Christ Himself who tells us:

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

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

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

It is with the goal of reconciling all of mankind to God that Jeremiah, as a type of who we are as “the Lord’s Christ”, is told:

Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

The prophet Jeremiah did this in type and in shadow. We, as the Christ of Christ, do these things both inwardly, now “in this present time” (Rom 8:18), and we will do these things outwardly in the thousand-year reign and in the great white throne judgment reigning over all men of all 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 [Jer 1:10].

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

That is our study for today. Next week we will learn how urgent our testimony is to this world, both within and outwardly, through these words:

Jer 1:11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
Jer 1:12  Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.
Jer 1:13  And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
Jer 1:14  Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
Jer 1:15  For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.
Jer 1:16  And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
Jer 1:17  Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

]]> Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 44:21-28 Cyrus in my Shepherd and Will say to the Temple, Your Foundations Shall be Laid https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-4421-28-cyrus-is-my-shepherd-and-will-say-to-the-temple-your-foundations-shall-be-laid/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-4421-28-cyrus-is-my-shepherd-and-will-say-to-the-temple-your-foundations-shall-be-laid Sun, 11 Aug 2019 04:27:13 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=19194 Isa 44:21-28 Cyrus Is My Shepherd and Will Say To The Temple, Your Foundations Shall Be Laid
[Study aired August 11, 2019]

Isa 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Isa 44:23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Isa 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
Isa 44:26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
Isa 44:27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
Isa 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

In this study we will see how the Lord uses a Gentile king as a “shepherd” to care for His people while He delivers them from their Babylonian captivity and has this Gentile King to help His people to begin to build His Temple. This is not the first time the Lord has used a pagan king to work His will.  The fact is that Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who carried the Lord’s people away into captivity is also called by the Lord, “Nebuchadnezzar, My servant”, when the Lord uses Nebuchadnezzar to carry His spiritually adulterous people into Babylonian captivity for their apostasy.

In other words, our own flesh is the Lord’s servant to make us to err (Isa 63:17), just as Nebuchadnezzar symbolizes our old man, “the beast” who rules over all men (Rev 13:16-18):

Jer 27:6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.
Jer 27:7 And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
Jer 27:8 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD , with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

Babylonian captivity is not optional. She rules over all the kings of all the world… “all nations shall serve” Babylon (Jer 27:7). Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth, also rules over all kings and all kingdoms:

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

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

Hosea tells us the same thing:

Hos 11:5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian [Babylon] shall be his king, because they refused to return.

When the Jews which Nebuchadnezzar had left in the land refused to obey the Lord’s commandment to submit themselves to the king of Babylon, they instead fled into Egypt. When they rebelled and did so then the Lord simply gave Egypt as a gift to the king of Babylon. The Lord sent Nebuchadnezzar “[His] servant” down into Egypt to destroy them right there in Egypt.

Jer 42:7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.

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.

When “[we] say, We will not… obey the voice of the Lord [then the very things we] feared shall overtake [us]…” When our own will becomes our God and we do what we want rather than trusting the Lord to protect us, at that point all of our protection has been removed, and we are a sitting duck for the adversary. When we trust in the Lord in spite of all the outward circumstances which make us want to lean to our own strength, then the Lord promises to keep and to save us:

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD , and depart from evil.
Pro 3:8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

The whole world was against the Lord and His Christ, but He, and they in Him, were given to remain faithful to the end, and because of that gift for those who remain faithful to the end will be given a part in the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Exactly what that “bless[ing]” is, and what the phrase “marriage supper” means is explained for us in the very next chapter:

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

The “marriage supper of the Lamb” is the first resurrection. The point being made in every Old Testament story of how the Lord delivers His people is that because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”, and because Babylon must be destroyed before the Lord’s kingdom can be establish, it is therefore in the destruction of Babylon we are told, “You shall go… to Babylon: there shall you be delivered”.

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

There really is an order in which the Lord is working His plan in the lives of every one of His elect “in this present time” (Rom 8:18). So it is counter-productive for us to get weary in well doing and just give up and return to Egypt. Our lives will follow the Lord’s order of events which He has laid out, and the idols of our hearts will not subvert that order. It is in Babylon that we will be delivered, and it is there the Lord will redeem us from the hand of our enemies:

Hos 11:5 He shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian [Babylon] shall be his king, because they refused to return.

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

Those who depend on the Lord for their deliverance do so with no regard whatsoever for their physical lives. Whether it was Isaiah, Jeremiah, the three Hebrew children, or Daniel, or any other Old Testament type of those who are faithful to Christ, they one and all demonstrated that their fidelity and fear was toward the Lord and not toward men.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego expressed this mindset eloquently with these words before a furious king Nebuchadnezzar when he demanded they worship his golden image:

Dan 3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king.
Dan 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Dan 3:15  Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 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.

These men are types of us if we remain faithful to the Lord to the end. As with us, this part of the “cloud of witnesses” of the Old Testament knew there was to be a resurrection, and they were given the desire of “a better resurrection”, even if they are ordained to come up in the great white throne judgment

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

The “better thing” was not provided for those who were the symbols of the true men of faith. The true men of faith are those who place the words of Christ above all the words of all the ministers of all the religions of Babylon.

It is very little understood, but the fact is that both Hebrews and 1st Peter teach us that this “better thing for us” is “not unto them… but unto us” as Peter so clearly tells us:

1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired 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.

“The angels desire to look into… the glory that should follow… the sufferings of Christ”.

This is how our last study ended:

Isa 44:19 And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
Isa 44:20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

Everything that will burn up is the same as “ashes”. When all of our doctrines are false lies, then all of our spiritual nourishment is “ashes”. The Lord would have us to ask ourselves if we would be so foolish as to craft our own doctrines, and He poses the question for us:  “Is there not a lie in my right hand”.

But He tells us “a deceived heart has turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul”, and He also tells us:

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

Then He tells us:

Isa 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

He tells us “remember these, O Jacob and Israel” because we just naturally forget that our thoughts are not His thoughts, and that is exactly what we have all done, and yet, in spite of our sins against Him, He still informs us of what He is doing with us. [We] are [His] servant [simply because that is what He] has formed [us] to be. We may indeed forget Him but “[We] will not be forgotten of [Him]”.

Paul says the same thing in these verses:

2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
2Ti 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
2Ti 2:14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.

Look at the harmony of Isaiah with Paul. Through Isaiah the Lord tells us:

Isa 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

Through the apostle Paul the message is the same:

2Ti 2:14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers…

2Ti 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

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;

This being true, we will indeed deny the Lord just as Peter did. Peter typifies all of the Lord’s elect in that he denied the Lord, and the Lord denied Peter’s fearful, unfaithful, old man, but Peter himself was not forgotten by the Lord, and the Lord abode faithful. He could not deny Himself, He could not deny His entire body, which is what Peter’s denial typifies. Peter typifies all of us:

Luk 22:54 Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off.
Luk 22:55 And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.
Luk 22:56 But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him.
Luk 22:57 And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.
Luk 22:58 And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not.
Luk 22:59 And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilæan.
Luk 22:60 And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.
Luk 22:61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Luk 22:62 And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

The bitter tears of repentance are the fire which will try every man’s works:

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.

Works which are burned up have an application to us in this present time as well as those whose works are destined to burned up in the lake of fire. But “in this present time”, Christ will not forget His elect, and we will be made to know that our salvation is completely His work in spite of us, and we will be made to know that we accomplish nothing of ourselves:

Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Isa 44:23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.

Where is our righteousnesses in those verses?

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

Where are any of our “idols of [our] hearts”? It is the Lord who redeems us, and we will “hold [our] peace”:

Exo 14:11 And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Exo 14:12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.
Exo 14:13 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.
Exo 14:14 The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

The Lord does all of our fighting for us, and the least we can do is to shut up and watch Him work His work. But even the ability to do that must be given to us.

Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD , thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

That is right. The very thoughts in our ‘heavens’ as well as our words and works on this earth “are of the Lord”:

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

The Lord “knows our thoughts” because He gives them to us. The preparations of our heart takes place in our thoughts, and those thoughts, good and evil, are a work of the Lord.

So, it behooves us to know that these next words also apply to the Lord’s elect as well as all the rest of mankind:

Isa 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

The Lord delights in making our old man, and mankind as a whole, to be manifested for the ignorant fools we are by nature:

Psa 53:1 To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

Pro 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
Pro 1:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

These words here in Isaiah 44:25 are just filling in some of the details of what we are made to know by these words which were written several generations prior to Isaiah:

Pro 16:3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

The liars and diviners of verse 25 are the so-called wise men whose supposed wisdom is revealed by the Lord for the foolishness it really is.

These words are addressed to us first and foremost. It is the Lord who makes our old man ‘wicked’ for our own “day of evil”, and there is no way to short circuit the way in which He is working inside each of us. When He makes us to err from His ways, we will err from His ways:

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.

Isaiah 63:17 confirms:

Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

“That they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken” is also confirmed by:

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

This next verse explains why we must first be deceived and be made to err from the Lord’s ways and fall backward and be snared:

Eze 14:11 That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.

If we don’t even “think above that which is written” (1Co 4:6), the Lord’s word will always confirm itself, as the Lord assures us:

Isa 44:26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:

The Lord “confirms the word of His servant, and [He] performs the counsel of His messengers” simply because:

Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

“His messengers” do the same because we are very careful never to think above that which is written:

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

We are as Christ is in this world (1Jo 4:17). Therefore, like Him we can never “think above that which is written”. We are very careful to speak only His “words [and His] counsel”. If we never “think above that which is written”, then like Christ we will “of [our] own selves do nothing” and we will never “seek… [our] own will”. It is our own will and our own idolatrous words to which “the deep” and “[our] rivers” refer in our next verse:

Isa 44:27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

The Hebrew word translated ‘deep’ in this verse is:

H6683
צוּלָה
tsûlâh
tsoo-law’

From an unused root meaning to sink; an abyss (of the sea): – deep.
Total KJV occurrences: 1

‘Tsulah’ is one of those few words which is a root word but is not used anywhere else in scripture. But considering the negative context this word, it has very much in common with the ‘deep’ found in these two verses in Proverbs:

Pro 22:14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.

Pro 23:27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

“Strange women [and] a whore” are both types of false religions with false doctrines. So when the Lord tells us:

Isa 44:27 [He] saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

Right after telling us:

Isa 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

It is obvious that the Lord is telling us that any false doctrines within us, and even the religions of this world, will in His timing be subdued by those who are serving Him and His purpose.

Just as our old man is used by the Lord as the man of sin who sits in the temple of God saying he is God, and is even now being judged, so the Lord uses the wicked of this world to work as His servants to rule over the nations of this world and to do and to work His purpose in the kingdoms of this world:

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

In Job 1 and 2, Satan is called “Thy hand”, meaning the Lord’s hand:

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD , and Satan came also among them.
Job 1:7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD , and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD , and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
Job 1:11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

In the second chapter this whole process is repeated, and the Lord sends Satan to afflict Job with boils “from the sole of his foot unto his crown”:

Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD , and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Job 2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

The Lord simply uses the Devil, and those who are “of [their] father the Devil”, to work out His plans for us and for all of mankind.

The Lord plainly tells us that “even the wicked” men are the work of His hand:

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

He tells us that “the wicked [are His] sword”:

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

He calls wicked King Nebuchadnezzar “My servant”:

Jer 27:6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him.

And here He calls another pagan king “[His] shepherd [who] shall perform all [His] pleasure”:

Isa 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

So Nebuchadnezzar was used to punish the Lord’s people for their sins, and when that was accomplished, He used another wicked man to punish Nebuchadnezzar and rebuild His temple. All these wicked men are one wicked man, the man of sin, whom the Lord uses both to destroy our old man, and in that destructive process He uses our corruptible flesh to begin the process of rebuilding and producing in us, our new man, a rebuilt temple, “another vessel”, conformed to the image of Christ.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

But it all begins much earlier in our lives than we tend to think. The fact is, God knows each of us before we are ever born:

Jer 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.

Rom 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

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;

What an all powerful, loving, heavenly Father we serve! Nothing is left to chance; not the hairs of our head, not the sparrows that fall (Luk 12:4-7).

Our God is love, and He has devised means that even His banished be not forever expelled from Him:

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

That “means… He has devised… that His banished be not expelled from Him” is you and me, and the mercy we will show to all who are cast into the lake of fire if indeed we are His “very elect”:

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

In our next study, we will continue to see how the Lord works with our corruptible flesh to bring us to His mind. We will see how He, and He alone, can “create evil” and bring good out of evil and light out of darkness. We will see how He forms “the mind of Christ” and conforms us to the image of Christ, via our own flesh, our own Cyrus:

Here are the verses for our next study:

Isa 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
Isa 45:2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:
Isa 45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD , which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
Isa 45:4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
Isa 45:5 I am the LORD , and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD , and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

]]> Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 44:9-20 – Part 2, He [That Builds an Idol] Warms Himself, and Says, Aha, I am Warm, I Have Seen the Fire https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-449-20-part-2-he-that-builds-an-idol-warms-himself-and-says-aha-i-am-warm-i-have-seen-the-fire/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-449-20-part-2-he-that-builds-an-idol-warms-himself-and-says-aha-i-am-warm-i-have-seen-the-fire Sat, 20 Jul 2019 19:33:22 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=19095
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Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 44:9-20 – Part 2, He [That Builds an Idol] Warms Himself, and Says, Aha, I am Warm, I Have Seen the Fire - Discussion

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Isa 44:9-20 – Part 2- He [That Builds an Idol] Warms Himself, and Says, Aha, I Am Warm, I Have Seen The Fire

This is the second part of our study on how the Lord makes us plant, nourish and work so very hard at twisting the Lord’s words and constructing the idols of our hearts that we actually think we have endured the fire that is His Words. We work so hard we actually tell ourselves “Aha, I Am Warm, I Have Seen The Fire” of the Lord’s Word (Jer 5:14), all the while being in “strong delusion” and “feeding on ashes”, totally unaware that “a lie is in [our] right hand”.

Here are the last verses we covered in last week’s study:

Isa 44:14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
Isa 44:15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
Isa 44:16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:

Notice that the emphasis is upon all the effort we put into building this idol. Look at the personal pronouns in these verses… “the strength of his arms… his rule… he marks it… he hews him down cedars… which he strengthens for himself… he plants an ash…”, etc. Not one mention of God and what He does in any of these verses.

What is an ‘idol’ in spiritual terms? It is always good to be reminded of the meaning of the words we are studying in light of the scriptures themselves. Here is the spiritual meaning of and ‘idol… an image or a molten image’:

Eze 14:1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD ; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

It is because of what is in our hearts that we are said to be worshipping an ‘idol’ or an ‘image’ or a ‘molten image’. A molten image cannot of ourselves be moved and therefore it is “fastened with nails that it should not be moved… that it might remain in the house”.

Isa 41:7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.

Going back to verse 13:

Isa 44:13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

“He fastens it with nails that it should not be moved… that it may remain in the house” tells us just how attached we all are to our false doctrines, and to the idols of our hearts. When the Lord Himself deceives us then there is nothing which we of ourselves can do to deliver ourselves out of our own deception:

Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

So much for that “idol of [our] heart” which teaches us that God would never have punished Adam and Eve for doing what He made them to do. These verses tell us that when Adam and Eve were deceived it was the Lord Himself who deceived them and then He punished them by casting them out of the garden of Eden, and cursing the ground and making it bring forth “thorns and thistles”, typifying the fruit, of the lies and deceits of our cursed composition.

The Hebrew word for ‘figure’ in verse 13 is:

H8403
תַּבְנִית
tabnı̂yth
tab-neeth'
From H1129; structure; by implication a model, resemblance: - figure, form, likeness, pattern, similitude.

We just naturally make our heart’s idols after “the figure of a man” (Isa 44:13). Our heart’s idols are thought and doctrines which fit the patterns of our own thinking and our own minds and our own understanding. That is the meaning of “after the figure [pattern] of a man”.

The most common translation for this Hebrew word, ‘tabnyith’, is the English word ‘pattern’.

H8403
תּבנית
tabnı̂yth
Total KJV Occurrences: 20
pattern, 9
Exo_25:9 (2), Exo_25:40, Jos_22:28, 2Ki_16:10, 1Ch_28:11-12 (2), 1Ch_28:18-19 (2)
likeness, 5
Deu_4:16-18 (5)
form, 3
Eze_8:3, Eze_8:10, Eze_10:8
similitude, 2
Psa_106:20, Psa_144:12
figure, 1
Isa_44:12-13 (2)

Here is a very good example of how the holy spirit has used this Hebrew word, ‘tabniyth’:

Exo 25:9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern [H8403: tabniyth] of the tabernacle, and the pattern [H8403: tabniyth] of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

The point the spirit is making is that “the figure of a man” is “enmity against” (Rom 8:7), [and] contrary to God and “to the image of His Son”.

We are specifically told:

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We are even plainly told:

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Only if we are given to realize that our ways are not His ways, that our thoughts are not His thoughts and only if we are given to lean not to our own understanding, only then will He begin to conform us to the pattern, the ‘tabnyith’, and the “image of His Son”. It is all His work:

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

We must be made aware that the scriptures do not teach what the King James English teaches:

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

This is a grievous mistranslation based upon the idol of our hearts which teaches that we are “free moral agents”, with flesh and blood, which can and will inherit the kingdom of God in complete and total contradiction to what the scriptures actually teach from Genesis to Revelation, which is:

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.

The scriptures teach that our days are written for each of us in advance, “before the world began”, and that flesh and blood was never intended to inherit the kingdom of God:

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

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

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;

We are the Lord’s ‘tabernacle’, and when our hearts, minds and doctrines are “conformed to” the mind and doctrines of Christ, that is when we will begin the process of having no “idols of [our] hearts”, and we will then begin to be “conformed to the image of His Son”. Then His ‘tabernacle’ will be being built “according to all [He has shown us”, and He will begin to be pleased to dwell within us. Our old man will begin to decrease and the mind of Christ increases in us day by day:

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

2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day

Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

The Hebrew from which the word ‘created’ is translated in Genesis 1:27 is in the Qal stem and is the equivalent of the Greek aorist tense. It denotes a simple statement of fact without any regard to tense.

The Concordant Version captures the proper translation of:

Gen 1:27 And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.

God is in the process of creating man in His image, and that process will not be completed until we “cease from our own works as God did from His [and we] enter into His rest” from our sins. There remains yet another step before we are completed and we are truly “created in His image [and] conformed to the image of His Son”:

Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

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

With this understanding, let’s return to the idols of our hearts which we are ‘creating’ in “the figure of a man”, according to the thoughts of a man and not according to the mind of God:

Isa 44:13 The carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure [Hebrew: ‘tabnyith’] of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.

This word, ‘tabniyth’ also appears in:

Exo 25:40 And look that thou make them after their pattern [‘tabnyith’], which was shewed thee in the mount.

“The pattern shown you in the mount” is the house plans for the Lord’s house. Moses was commanded to build the tabernacle according to the exact pattern, the exact ‘tabniyth’, which was shown to him by Christ Himself.

As a contractor I have built many homes from the ground up, and I had to sit down with the people who were paying me to build their home and sign a contract, a “covenant”, agreeing to build their house according to their plans. No contractor worth a dime would dare to vary from the plans he is given. To do such a thing is a legal breach of contract, and that contractor will not be paid for refusing to follow the plans he was given and which he signed a contract to follow.

Yet that is exactly what we have all done with the Lord’s house plans, which are His Word. We are not at liberty to add to or to take away rooms and doors and windows and the quality of the materials with which we are building His house. All of that is meticulously specified in our contract with the Builder with whom we have contracted to build Him a house.

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Our “spiritual sacrifices” are our attentiveness to our Lord’s words and the zeal we have in being faithful to His doctrines and His Words. Those are the quality materials He has ordered for the construction of His temple.

He has ordered “stones” for His walls, and we have taken it upon ourselves to build His house with “bricks for stone”. He has ordered the highest quality mortar, and we have substituted “slime… for morter”:

Gen 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

Those are the materials with which we have built our own ‘tower of Babel’, and they are fitting types of all the false doctrines with which we first attempt to build a house for our God.

The New Testament consistently reveals that we are that ‘house’, and that the Lord dwells in us as His temple:

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

The only temple in which Christ dwells is one in which His mind and His thoughts and His doctrines dwell. If we believe false, lying doctrines then He is not going to live within us. Being purged of false doctrines is a process that takes time, and Christ will “bear with the weak” babes who are simply not yet able to consume the strong meat of His doctrines, but He will not ‘bear with’ a mind that is ‘enmity against God’ and is rebelling against His Words, nor will He bear with a mind which cannot be entreated. When Christ is truly dealing with us and dragging us to Himself, He makes us “easy to be intreated” by His Words:

Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

On the other hand, if we are “filled with bitter envying and strife” then we certainly cannot claim to be “endued with [Godly] knowledge:

Jas 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
Jas 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

When such non-entreatable men tell us: “You must believe what we are saying”, while ignoring all the scriptures which command us to seek “a multitude of counselors” (Pro 11:14; 15:22; and 24:6) and “be persuaded of your leaders and be deferring to them” (Heb 13:17 CLV), those who know the True Shepherd’s voice will very soon discern that spirit and “will not follow… a stranger”:

Pro 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellers there is safety.

Pro 15:22 Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellers they are established.

Pro 24:6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellers there is safety.

Heb 13:17 Be persuaded by your leaders, and be deferring to them, for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls, as having to render an account, that they may be doing this with joy, and not with groaning, for this is disadvantageous for you.

Joh 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

"A graven image" is a false God. A false God is false because everything he stands for and teaches is a lie or has been tainted by lies.

Satan was made to be a very accomplished deceiver and to lie to all men. Neither Adam nor Satan experienced a ‘fall’ to become what they are. Rather, by the mouth of our Lord Himself, Adam was flesh and blood, which was never meant to inherit the kingdom of God and Satan is what He was “from the beginning”. Satan did not ‘fall from heaven’ to become Satan. Satan was and is in our heavens from birth just as “that old serpent the devil” was in the garden of Eden “from the beginning”.

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.

It was the Lord Himself who created him as such simply because His plan called for an adversary, so He made Himself an adversary.

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

Lest we miss the point that the Lord’s “hand has formed the crooked serpent”, the Lord also poses this question:

Ecc 7:13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

The first and and most enduring lie of the “crooked serpent” was and is "You shall not surely die". As with many lies, this lie is mixed in with the Truth "You will become as Gods, knowing good and evil".

Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [The most enduring lie of all time]
Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. [True! Verse 22: "The man is become as one of us, to know good and evil..." ]
Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

Truth mixed with a lie makes the entire conversation a lie, and "the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water [is] taken away” and replaced with idols of our hearts.

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,

According to the holy spirit, that first sin embodied all the sin that is in the world:

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh [the tree was “good for food”], and the lust of the eyes [it was “pleasant to the eyes”], and the pride of life [“a tree to be desired to make one wise], is not of the Father, but is of the world.

When Adam and Eve first disobeyed their Lord, they committed the first act of idolatry by placing the words of the serpent above the words of the Lord.

Now let’s continue to see how the idols of our hearts subject us to the same act of idolatry and the same fruit of that sin:

Isa 44:15  Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
Isa 44:16  He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire:
Isa 44:17  And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.

These words are a perfect description of how we plant, nourish, and manufacture our own doctrines with no fear of adding to or taking away from the truths of the Word of God:

Deu 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

At first we have no fear in either adding to or taking away from the Lord’s Words. We have all believed many lies such as, “You shall not surely die…”, "Why, you are made in God’s image, and you are already endued with an immortal soul which cannot die’." It is a lie, but we are given over to believing a lie, and in so doing, we are both adding to and taking away from the words of our Lord.

Isa 44:18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

As we all know, the “He” here is not referring to the Devil who is Satan. It is referring to God Himself, whose plan and design, from the beginning, requires that we are first “marred in the Potter’s hands” (Jer 18:4). The scriptures consistently teach:

Job 26:13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

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

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

When we are given by God “eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear, then this is how we react to the Lord’s counselors and His teachers and the leaders He gives us:

Isa 44:19  And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?

Earlier we were told that this is all speaking of the work of our own hands, meaning our own minds and hearts. This entire chapter is all about how we construct our own idols of our own hearts. We plant these lies and false doctrines. Then we nourish and refine them and then we harvest them and manufacture our hearts idols. In this deceived state everything that happens confirms to us that our heart’s idols are truly our God, because we are told that God will ‘answer him that comes to the prophet with his idols of his heart’ “according to the multitude of those idols”. They are multitudinous and so are the Lord’s answers to such men.

Just look at these words:

Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, [Isa 44:16]
Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Let’s take the time to look at what we were told earlier in this same study:

Isa 44:14 He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
Isa 44:15 Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
Isa 44:16 He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire: [Rev 13:13]
Isa 44:17 And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
Isa 44:18 They have not known nor understood: for he [the Lord Himself] hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.

We have all lived out every one of these words. We have all been full of our own “idols of the heart”, and we have truly seen and are experiencing, “the fire” which is the word of God (Jer 5:14). These words apply to “every man [and they apply to] every man’s works”:

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.

This truth concerning this certain fire, which is the word of God, is repeated in the book of Revelation:

Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
Rev 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

These seven last plagues “fill up the wrath of God… against all… unrighteousness of men” including, and especially all the “idols of [our] hearts”.

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;

I say ‘especially the idols of our hearts’ because it is evident that while the Lord disapproved of the adultery of the woman brought to Him, and He even told her “Go and sin no more”, His real ire was reserved for the self-righteous religious old man within us who dragged that poor blatant sinner before Him to be stoned, while being completely unaware of our own far more insidious spiritual adultery and hypocrisy and spiritual nakedness and idols of our hearts, which have us looking down on those who our flesh deems as spiritually worse sinners than ourselves. These words are addressed to “He that has and ear let Him hear…”

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

“The Lord dwells in the heavens” in which all of these things are taking place:

Psa 123:1 A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

“The heavens themselves” are our hearts and our minds into which He has entered to cleanse and to purify for Himself a house fit for His dwelling:

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

Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens [the physical temple in Jerusalem] should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves [our hearts and minds] with better sacrifices than these. [Calves and goats - vs 19]
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands [the literal, physical], which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself [our defiled hearts and minds], now to appear in the presence of God for us:

The Lord’s plan requires that some of those who are chosen and who are anointed of God to be “enlightened… taste of the heavenly gift… be made partakers of the holy spirit… taste the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come” and the outward and inward nature of that age and that kingdom, will “return to [their] vomit and [their] wallow in the mire” from which they were delivered:

Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

2Pe 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
2Pe 2:18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

These words are the answer to the question Peter poses in his first epistle concerning those whose judgment is not completed “in this present time” (Rom 8:18).

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

1Peter 2:21-22 is where they will appear. They will appear with those who return to their vomit and their wallow in the mire at the time of the great white throne judgment, the resurrection of judgment (Joh 5:28-29), the resurrection of the cursed (Mat 25: 41), the lake of fire, which is the second death (Rev 20:15), and indeed “it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness” and the way to avoid leaving the body of Christ, than to have known these truths and then rejected them for their own pride and the idols of their hearts.

We have all sinned willfully, and we have all returned to our vomit and to our wallow in the mire, and we have still been brought to repentance because:

Mat 19:23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 19:24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Mat 19:25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
Mat 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

“The eye of a needle” is not a gate in Jerusalem which, if a camel gets on its knees it can go through that gate. If that were the case, then it would not be impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. However, it is indeed “impossible” for men to restore to repentance those whose hearts the Lord has hardened, and it is “impossible… to make straight that which the Lord has made crooked”:

The Lord has written into His book “before the world began” (2Ti 1:9 and Tit 1:2) that some will taste the heavenly gift, partake of the holy spirit, know the power of the age to come in this present time and still reject Him and His doctrine and be cast into the lake of fire. He has already made that decision as to whom will be those so cursed. We are all “marred [and] made crooked” in this present time, but some are given by the Lord’s hand and foreknowledge to do what is impossible for men and to repent in this present time. Our crooked ways are His work just as much as our repentance and obedience:

Lam 3:9 He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.

And when He makes our ways crooked, then it is true that we plant, nurture and work very hard at manufacturing our own doctrines in complete rebellion against the doctrines of our Lord:

Isa 44:20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

So it has all been predetermined, and the best thing we can do is to follow the Lord’s instructions which He gives us right after posing the question, “If the righteous scarcely be saved where then shall the ungodly and sinner appear?"

1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

That is our study on how the Lord deals with the idols of our hearts. Here are our verses for our next study in which we are again encouraged to “commit the keeping of [our] souls to Him in well doing [because He is] a faithful Creator” who loves all of His creatures.

Isa 44:21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.
Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Isa 44:23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD , thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
Isa 44:25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
Isa 44:26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
Isa 44:27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
Isa 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

]]> Who Does Michael Represent When He Contended with Satan? https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/who-does-michael-represent-when-he-contended-with-satan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=who-does-michael-represent-when-he-contended-with-satan Tue, 07 May 2019 03:04:57 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=18753

Hi Mike,

I was hoping you could help me understand something.

In Jude 1:9 we read:

Jud 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, the Lord rebuke thee.

I have two questions with this passage:

1) Who does Michael represent in this situation?

and..

2) Why did Satan want the body of Moses?

If you have already addressed this topic please direct me to the appropriate page. Thanks, Mike, for taking the time to help me with this.

Sincerely,

C____

Hi C____,

Thank you for your questions:  1) “Who does Michael represent in this situation?”, and 2) “Why did Satan want the body of Moses?”

Here is your very concise e-mail:

The short answer to both of your questions is that “the body of Moses” is the type of “the body of Christ”, and the dispute between Michael and Satan is the anti-type of the dispute between the apostle Paul (Christ) and those who believe that circumcision and obedience to “the law of Moses”, aka “the body of Moses” are essential to our salvation:

Act 15:1 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
Act 15:2  When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, [Michael disputing with the devil about the body of Moses] they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

That contention between Michael and Satan continues down to our time.

Look at the very next verse here in the book of Jude:

Jud 1:10 But these [who dispute with Michael about the body of Moses] speak evil of those things which they know not [the body and doctrines of the words of Christ]: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

Let’s continue to read about those who “dispute about the body of Moses”:

Jud 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
Jud 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Jud 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
Jud 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
Jud 1:15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Jud 1:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.

Here is a quote from Black’s Law Dictionary, demonstrating how we speak of “the body of laws” until this day:

(The Law Dictionary Organization: Body of Laws)

All the words Christ spoke are referred to as “the law of Christ”, and He poses the question:

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

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

The devil could not withstand the words of Michael because Michael was speaking the words of “the law of Christ”, which Christ Himself refers to as “My body”:

Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh [“My body”], which I will give for the life of the world.

1Co 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

We are all eating either the body of Christ in the New Testament, or we are eating the body of Moses in the carnal commandments of the Old Testament.

Those who continue until this very day to insist on a two-part ‘body of Christ’ are those who want, as does the devil, to cling to “the body of Moses” and to nullify the revelation that God is in Christ “making of two one new man”. This is what Satan disputed with Michael about at that time, and this is what he is still disputing with Michael about until this very day:

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Not one minister or priest or Rabbi in a thousand believes those words. They almost all think that “those who are called circumcision” are still the Lord’s elect, and that “the son of the bondwoman… Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children” will yet “be made heir with the son of the freewoman”, as ‘the body of Moses’ dictates:

Deu 26:19 And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.

Deu 14:2 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law [“Dispute with Michael about the body [of the law] of Moses”], do ye not hear the law?
Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. [The law of Moses was given at Mount Sinai which “answers to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”]
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28 Now we [Gentile Galatians], brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Who Does Michael Represent?

Michael, in this situation in Jude, represents the same person he is presented to be in all situations:

Dan 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Dan 10:14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.
Dan 10:15 And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.
Dan 10:16  And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.

“Thy people” are “the children of promise” of Galatians 4:28.  From these words it is clear that it is the Lord Himself who is speaking to Daniel… “one like the similitude of the sons of men”, the very phrase Christ used most often in reference to Himself:

Mat 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Mat 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,

Christ is telling Daniel that the prince of Persia withstood Him “one and twenty days” until “Michael, one of the chief princes came to help [Him]”, and now the Lord Himself, “one like the similitude of the sons of men”, is now here “to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days”.

In verse 21 of this same chapter of Daniel, Michael is referred to as “…your prince”:

Dan 10:21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.

So, Michael is “one of the chief princes” of the spirit realm who assists Christ in carrying out His Father’s will as it pertains to the Lord’s chosen people. Christ is the very most “chief… Prince of Peace” through whom the Father is working all things after the counsel of His own will”:

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Dan 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

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

“The prince of Persia” is a spiritual ‘prince’. He could be Satan or ‘one of his princes’. His function is to be an adversary to Christ. Satan himself is called “the prince of the power of the air”, of whose ‘body’ we are all first a part:

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.

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

The word “conversation” is an old English way of saying ‘way of life’. We all first have our own ‘way of life… by nature [being] the children of wrath’. What that means is that we are all first of “the body of Moses… made of a woman, made under the law… for the lawless”. That is where Satan works to keep all men:

Mat 19:8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
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,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

Being “under the law” is being “in bondage under the elements of the world”. “But in the fullness of time” we are “redeemed [from being] under the law… of the lawless, [and we become] the sons of the freewoman, [no longer] under the elements of the world… the law of Moses… the law… for the lawless”.

“Made under the law” is to be “under… the body of Moses” about which Satan and Michael disputed. Here is another verse which cannot even be seen by those who still subscribe to “the body of Moses… the law of Moses”:

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

“The body of Moses… the law [of Moses] is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless… murderers… whoremongers… thieves… liars… and… any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine”.

Satan knows what the ministers of his Babylonian religious system do not know. “The law [of Moses] is for the lawless and disobedient”, who would have us all to remain “under the law… shut up unto the faith [of Jesus Christ] which should afterward be revealed”:

Gal 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
Gal 3:13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Gal 3:14  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 But after that faith [of Christ] is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster [the body of the law of Moses].

That was and is the contention between Michael, who helps Christ and His Christ, and Satan, who wants to keep all men under “the body of [the law] of Moses”. All Michael had to do was to quote Galatians 3-4 and Ephesians 2, and in so doing he was saying, “The Lord rebuke thee Satan.”

I hope this helps you to better understand the contention that exists until this very day between “Michael, the prince of your people… the church which is His body [Christ’s body, with Christ’s doctrines], versus Satan, who wants to keep us all “under the curse… of the law for the lawless… the body of Moses”, with all of his “carnal commandments”:

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:

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

For a much more in-depth look into this subject take the time to read the lengthy paper entitled:

The Law of Moses Versus the Law of the Spirit

Your brother in “the body of Christ” as opposed to “the body of Moses”,
Mike

]]> Does the Sacrifice of Christ Cover Satan and His Angels? https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/does-the-sacrifice-of-christ-cover-satan-and-his-angels/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=does-the-sacrifice-of-christ-cover-satan-and-his-angels Mon, 04 Mar 2019 02:38:08 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=18351 Does The Sacrifice o​f Christ Cover Satan ​a​nd His Angels?

Hi T____,

​Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

​I am excited to see you are trusting the Lord to do what He wills because He knows what is best for you and for all of mankind.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them according to his purpose.
Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

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:

​The words “firstborn among many” is referring to those who​m​ “He did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son”, as the very next verse in Ephesians 1 confirms:

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.

​Those who are predestined to be to the praise of His glory are not those who are cast into the lake of fire and experience the second death. It is only those who experience death first and “who first trusted in Christ” that are “to the praise of his glory”.

​But you would think that the blindest person in the world could see that the word “first” clearly intimates and demands that there is a second death and a second resurrection and a second group who will also “trust in Christ” at a later date. But that is not possible for a person whom the Lord Himself has blinded to see​ at this time.

​As for the evil spirit that troubled King Saul, it does not matter whether that spirit was Satan himself or one of his legions. Just as Christ identifies with us, so “the god of this world” identifies with his own:

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

Joh 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 

This is that “glorious gospel”:

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

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1Ti 4:9  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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

​What you may not realize is that through Christ, “in the dispensation of the fulness of times [the Father] might gather together in One, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are one earth, even in Him”​ (Eph 1:10)​

Notice the context of that verse:

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
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 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.

​Lest we somehow miss what is being said to us here, let’s add another ‘precept’ to make it a little clearer:

Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

​”All things” is defined for us in the previous verses:

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

​”All things” which will be “reconciled… unto Himself” include all “that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be throne, or dominions, or principalities, or powers.​” That certainly includes the “powers and principalities… the rulers of the darkness of this world… [the] spiritual wickedness in high places”​ [Greek:​ the heavens], against whom we strive:

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

​And so it should be because Satan really is nothing more or less than a tool in the Lord’s hand, as the verses to which you allude demonstrate:

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

​Satan and his legions are cast into the lake of fire and brimstone/the second death/the white throne judgment, to be judged and reconciled to God along with all of mankind:

Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. [Greek: the ages of the ages]
Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

​I hope you find all these verses to be positive and uplifting. 

Your brother in Christ, Mike

]]> Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 25:1-12 Death is Swallowed up in Victory https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-251-12-death-is-swallowed-up-in-victory/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-251-12-death-is-swallowed-up-in-victory Sun, 17 Jun 2018 02:25:25 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=16511
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Isa 25:1-12 Death is Swallowed up in Victory - Discussion

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Isa 25:1-12 Death Is Swallowed Up In Victory

Isa 25:1  O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
Isa 25:2  For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.
Isa 25:3  Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.
Isa 25:4  For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.
Isa 25:5  Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.
Isa 25:6  And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
Isa 25:7  And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
Isa 25:8  He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Isa 25:9  And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Isa 25:10  For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.
Isa 25:11  And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.
Isa 25:12  And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

Verse 8 of our study today says, "He will swallow up death in victory", and this verse is quoted in 1 Corinthians 15:

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Testifying to the certainty of this Truth, we begin with this statement:

Isa 25:1  O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

"[The Lord's] counsels of old are faithfulness and Truth." If the holy spirit tells us, both here in Isaiah 25 and again in I Corinthians 15, that "death is swallowed up in victory", then that is what "of old" has been proven to be true, and that is what will happen. His counsels have never yet failed to be "faithful and true". How, then, is it that the great harlot and her daughters almost all claim either that death will instead send most people to an eternal lake of literal fire to be tormented for all eternity, or else they will be annihilated in that "lake of fire". Annihilation IS death, and eternal torment can hardly be called "death [being] swallowed up in victory". That blasphemous doctrine of eternal torment at the hands of a loving heavenly Father is rather more like telling us that 'peaceful rest in death is swallowed up of a monstrous hate-filled father who enjoys the spectacle of unending torment for the sake of torment, with no lesson to be learned and with no hope and no end in sight.'

We all know that the scriptures actually teach what we see here in this chapter and in 1 Corinthians 15. Death really will be swallowed up in victory, and death will not have so much as one victim over whom it can claim victory because we are told by the same holy spirit that "AS in Adam all [men] die, EVEN SO in Christ shall [that same] all [men] be made alive" and given victory over death.

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Here, and in many dozens of other scriptures, we are assured that in the end, Christ does not will that anyone should perish in death, but that instead it is His will that all should come to a knowledge of the Truth and be saved:

1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (KJV)

Most translations use the words 'wants all men to be saved... wishes... or desires all men to be saved'. The Bible In Basic English (BBE) is typical of most translations:

1Ti 2:4  Whose desire is that all men may have salvation and come to the knowledge of what is true. (BBE)

The Greek word translated here variously as 'will, desire, want, and wishes' is the Greek word 'G2309 theleo', and all of those English words are worthy and acceptable translations of that Greek word. However, what you and I need to realize is that the sum of the Truth is revealed to us in this verse of scripture and many others like it, which declare very plainly to us:

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

What we are being told is that our Creator is not quite like you and me. His wishes and desires are not in question of being fulfilled. "What His soul desires, even that [very thing] He does [because] He performs the thing that [He has] appointed for me." Also, we just happen to know that "[His] desire is that all men may be saved and come to the knowledge of what is true" (BBE).

Now here are these same two verses in Job 23 from the BBE translation:

Job 23:13  But his purpose is fixed and there is no changing it; and he gives effect to the desire of his soul.
Job 23:14  For what has been ordered for me by him will be gone through to the end: and his mind is full of such designs. (BBE)

"By Him will be... He performs the thing that is appointed for me... what has been ordered for me by Him..." These words all sound very much like that doctrine which the Lord's word really does teach us from Genesis 1:1 to Rev 22:21, which is:

Psa 139:16  Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all [my] days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began. (NWT)

Just out of curiosity I checked to see what Greek word the ABP+ had chosen to translate the Hebrew into the Greek here in Job 23:13, and low and behold:

Job 23:13  But if evenG1499.1 heG1473 judgedG2919 thus,G3779 whoG5100 isG1510.2.3 the oneG3588 contradictingG471 him;G1473 G3739 forG1063 heG1473 wantedG2309 andG2532 did.G4160

Yes, that's right, there it is! They chose the Greek word 'theleoG2309'. So while they may be blinded to what they have revealed to themselves, the Truth remains, "What His soul desires, that He does [in] all things!"

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:

Isaiah 25 is a brief summary of 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 17-22, as we will demonstrate as we proceed through the twelve verses of this chapter, beginning with:

Isa 25:1  O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

This is just one more verse which verifies that:

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

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:

As proof of His sovereignty over "all things" we are told:

Isa 25:2  For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

The city under consideration has not changed. It is the same as the one just mentioned in this same narrative:

Isa 24:10  The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
Isa 24:11  There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
Isa 24:12  In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

"The city of confusion" isn't even aware of the fact it is so confused and conflicted. This is our prized and most valued 'city' within us. Our old man defends this 'city' to the death. Yet "confusion" is the very definition of Babylon. Babel was so named because that was where the Lord confused the languages of mankind and from whence the Lord scattered men around the globe:

Gen 11:5  And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
Gen 11:6  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Gen 11:7  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
Gen 11:8  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
Gen 11:9  Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

The book which gives us the Revelation of Jesus Christ within ourselves tells us this about ourselves as we are made to partake of the doctrines of "the city of confusion":

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
Rev 17:7  And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

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.

Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

So this 'woman' is not a literal 'woman' at all. The 'waters' are not literal, and the 'great city' is not a literal city. This 'woman' is called "that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth". We know from the scriptures the 'earth' symbolizes those to whom the Lord is speaking through His words:

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

The words "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord" are addressed to the great city of the capital of our 'earth' which is "Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children" within us. When Christ comes into our hearts and delivers us from this 'woman', we are no longer under her dominion, and we come to see just how confused we were while we were under the influence of "the bondwoman":

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

Not one minister in a million, much less all those who are led by their ministers, has been given eyes that see that "Mount Sinai in Arabia... answers to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children". Neither can they see the plain and simple Truth, which is "the son of the bondwoman shall NOT be heir with the son of the free woman". For that reason Paul, under the inspiration of the holy spirit, concludes, "So then, brothers, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free." It is these 'children of the freewoman' who are here in Isaiah 25 called "the strong people", and the son of the bondwoman are here called the "city of the terrible nations":

Isa 25:3  Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

"The city of the terrible nations" is "the city of confusion", which is being destroyed within us, and we are told that city, too, will come to "fear [the Lord]". However, that blessed state of mind comes only through fiery judgment upon "the city of confusion", which simply cannot receive the things of the spirit because they are foolishness to us at that time in our walk.

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 things of the spirit" are understood only by those who are "poor in spirit" but are "rich in faith":

Jas 2:5  Listen, my beloved brothers, did not God choose the poor of the world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those who love him?

We are the "heirs of the kingdom", and as such we are hated of "the son of the bondwoman", also called "the terrible ones":

Isa 25:4  For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

This is "the fiery trials" which are the "judgment [which is now on] the house of God" (1Pe 4:12 and 17). It comes to us through the 'great harlot, the terrible ones, the son of the bondwoman'. "The dream is one" (Gen 41:25-26). These are all symbols of the very religious, very self-righteous children of the bondwoman, who are the religions of this world. Only by coming to see ourselves as first being "the terrible ones" do we ever overcome that cursed spiritual affliction of hating those who are "born after the spirit".

Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

But we are assured that the Lord's loving, chastening and scourging will come to "all in Adam", and we are told that it will come to them "by the church", through those who have been given to triumph over the beast and his image and the number of his name and over "the terrible ones" who we all are in our original marred condition:

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

"The beast" is the "terrible ones" of our next verse.

Isa 25:5  Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

Satan does not usher in his own imprisonment. That task is given to "an angel... from heaven" who has the key to the bottomless pit. It will be those of us in Christ who will place Satan in that abyss for "a thousand years":

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

"Judgment was given... to them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus." It is given to "them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus" to judge both this world and angels like Satan:

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?

When we "try the spirits to see whether they are of God", we are already "judg[ing] angels" in preparation for placing Satan and all of his angels under the house arrest of the abyss of the flesh of mankind for a symbolic thousand years, before he is to be released to again deceive this world. All of this must first take place within us as Satan was restrained within us by the law of Moses, only to be released again to give the Lord the "occasion" He is seeking to destroy forever the kingdom of our rebellious old man. When we are given to "try the spirits to see whether they are of God" and to  be able to say with our Lord:

Joh 8:28  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

And with the apostle John:

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

Then, and only then, will we be positioned and qualified to spread out a feast for all those whom the Lord will drag to that feast:

Isa 25:6  And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
Isa 25:7  And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

"Wine on the lees" is the saving of the 'best until last' (Joh 2:10), and we know that "wine" is "my blood" of the New Testament.

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.

That kingdom is within us, and we are drinking that wine with Christ at this very moment (Luk 17:20-21).

This feast is given and presented only by those whose faces have had "the vail that is spread over all the nations... destroyed, [and] the face of the covering cast over all people" will then be destroyed, and we can then feast upon the "fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined... [of] the things of the spirit" (1Co 2:13-15).

But this will only be accomplished "in this mountain". We will see this phrase again in verse 10, and there we will learn when and where "this mountain" must appear, and when He "will destroy... the face of the covering cast over all people and spread over all nations".

Isa 25:8  He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

These words are repeated in the revelation of Jesus Christ, for us to keep and observe (Rev 1:3), before we can be qualified to feed others:

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

No more tears and no more death! "He shall swallow up death in victory, and the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces", and the rebuke of His people he will take away from off all the earth, not because of anything we do, but simply because: "the Lord has spoken it."

We all, like Simon the Pharisee (Luk 7:36-40), invite Christ into our home, and we want to feed Him and curry His favor and claim His name. Nevertheless we are still the son of the bondwoman with the name of Jerusalem, which now is and is in bondage with her children written on our forehead. When Christ puts the name of His city, the New Jerusalem, on our forehead, then we can minister to Him as His true bride, as symbolized for all generations by Mary the sister of Lazarus whom Christ raised from the dead when she did for Christ what Simon the Pharisee simply could not yet do:

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.

At that very moment Mary was spreading a feast for Simon and for you and for me, if we are granted in this age to partake of that feast:

Isa 25:9  And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

It is not natural to wait on the Lord, but those who are given to do so are greatly rewarded:

Psa 37:9  For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

Isa 40:28  Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
Isa 40:29  He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isa 40:30  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
Isa 40:31  But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Waiting on the Lord is the same as "the trial of [our] faith". It is a fiery trial, and none of us can avoid the pain of that 'fiery' trial because our "fiery trials" are the "chastening [and] scourging" of the Lord, of which we are told:

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

"Chastening and scourging" are included in the "fiery trials" we are admonished to expect as we become more and more attuned to the mind of Christ and less and less attuned to the mind of our old man. This is the process of the daily dying of our flesh and the loss of the kingdom of our old man with all of his fear of men and all the idols of his heart:

Psa 107:17  Fools [you and I] because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Psa 107:18  Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
Psa 107:19  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:20  He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
Psa 107:28  Then 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!

Do the words "because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities" in any way contradict the scriptures which declare the Lord's sovereignty over our sins? Absolutely not! The two are not mutually exclusive; rather they are both true, because the Lord has ordained that light would come out of darkness, good would come out of evil, and obedience would only follow disobedience. "Then [we] cry unto the Lord... then are [we] glad" can come to us only after our iniquities and transgressions have been fulfilled (Gen 15:16), and after we "are at [our] wits' end", as Job so graphically illustrates:

Job 34:5  For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

We take it upon ourselves to critique the Lord's ways, and we must be judged for that before we can see our own self-righteousness. We question the Lord's judgments as we are being judged by the Lord. It is this part of "sin in our members" which precipitates the Lord's fiery judgments upon our own self-righteousness:

Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

It is revealed to us that the whole process, from beginning to the end, "is of the Lord":

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 20:24  Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

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.

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

We, as the Lord's clay vessels, are "marred in [His] hand", and He never makes a mistake. He made us with "sin in [our] members", and He made us subject to "the law of sin... in [our] members". This is the simple truth of why the Lord has ordained His judgments upon His own Creation:

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

James tells us:

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

The devil does not uphold the law of sin in our members. That law was placed there and is sustained by the Lord Himself to give Himself the occasion He is seeking to judge us and to teach us through that judgment by His righteousness.

I repeat what is the most ignored part of the gospel and of confessing  who is Jesus Christ:

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 hand of the Lord" is His judgment upon the kingdom of our old man, variously defined by the names of all the peoples round about His people, "the Israel of God". In these verses, our old man is called 'Moab':

Isa 25:10  For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.
Isa 25:11  And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.
Isa 25:12  And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

Here in verse ten we again for the third time see the phase "in this mountain", and now we are being told that not only will "the vail... upon all nations [be] destroyed", but we are now also being informed that "Moab shall be trodden down under Him... and He shall bring down their pride... to the ground, even to the dust".

"This mountain" which is referenced three times in these few verses is:

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.

You and I are that mountain because a 'mountain' in scripture symbolizes a kingdom, and we all already know this doctrine of our Lord:

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.

This mountain, "the kingdom of God is within you" and you will "trod down... Moab [your old man] under [you]... and bring down [his] pride [within you], because "the vail that is cast over all nations [is being] taken away" from your heart, and you and I are being given liberty and "are changed into the same image [of Christ] from glory to glory".

Now let's put verse seven together with 2 Corinthians 3:14-18, and see what, when, and where this mountain is and all that takes place within it:

Isa 25:7  And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

2Co 3:14  But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
2Co 3:15  But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
2Co 3:16  Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
2Co 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

You will say to me: 'It said this vail will be removed from "all people and all nations", and I will say to you, Amen!, but just like the judgment that will come upon all men, the removing of this vail must "begin at the house of God", and "the manifold wisdom of God" will be made known to all men "by the church", which is "the body of Christ":

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?

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

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:

So "this mountain" comes to be within us "in that day", and that day is "the time [which] is come that judgment must begin at the house of God... this generation will not pass away till all these things shall be fulfilled" within the lives of those who read and understand (Mat 24:15 and 34-35).

Knowing of the Lord's judgments upon the kingdom of our old man, what are we to do? This is what we are admonished to do:

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

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

Our next study will include the verses about the fruit of the Lord's judgments in our lives which I have already quoted so  many times:

Isa 26:1  In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
Isa 26:2  Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
Isa 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isa 26:4  Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
Isa 26:5  For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.
Isa 26:6  The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
Isa 26:7  The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.
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.
Isa 26:10  Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
Isa 26:11  LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.

]]> Prophecy of Isaiah – Isa 19:8-10 The Fishers…Shall Mourn https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-198-10-the-fishers-shall-mourn/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=prophecy-of-isaiah-isa-198-10-the-fishers-shall-mourn Sun, 17 Dec 2017 01:25:30 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=15176
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The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 72 Discussion

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Isa 19: 8-10 The Fishers... Shall Mourn

Isa 19:8  The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
Isa 19:9  Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.
Isa 19:10  And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.

It is very important that you and I remember that we, too, are called "fishers of men":

Mar 1:17  And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

So rest assured that when this judgment is fulfilled upon the 'fishers' of Egypt and of Babylon, God's elect will be caught up in the hatred of the ten horns on the beast which 'will hate the whore and will burn her with fire and will eat her flesh':

Dan 2:13  And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.

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

As we often do for the purpose of supplying context, we need to begin our study by repeating the last few verses of our last study:

Isa 19:5  And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
Isa 19:6  And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.
Isa 19:7  The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

"The water... the river... and the brooks [of Egypt] shall [all] be emptied and dried up... and everything sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more", and now we continue to be shown the dreadful results of the Lord's judgments against the great harlot within us when He begins to dry up the waters of Egypt. These 'waters of Egypt' are as nourishing to those who love Egypt as the "rivers of living waters" are to those who believe on Christ.

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

Christ's fiery words are "rivers of living water" which nourish and feed our new man, while at the same time those words and doctrines of Christ burn up all the "wood, hay and stubble" which are the doctrines of our old man. But the doctrines of our old man nourish and feed our old man's kingdom with all of its lies and falsehoods, and it is the rejection of all the lies of Egypt and Babylon which are the emptying and drying up of the waters of Egypt and the Euphrates River.

Here is the New Testament version of the message Isaiah is delivering to us when he tells us that the waters of Egypt and everything that depends upon those waters "shall wither and be driven away and be no more". This prophecy here is Isaiah 19 is that very same message we are given in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ which we must "read... hear and keep" (Rev 1:3):

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

I have said many times, "Every time the harlot butts heads with the beast, she, the harlot (all the religions of mankind), will come out on the short end of the stick", and I base that statement upon these verses in Isaiah 19 and these verses here in Revelation 17:15-17.

Just last Tuesday we saw this prophecy outwardly play out once again before our very eyes. The senatorial race in the state of Alabama was between a fundamentalist Christian and a very secular man who places the health of a fabled sick physical planet above the needs of the people who live on this planet. The secular candidate is pro-abortion, and manifestly anti-Biblical.

Alabama is considered a religious state, and yet, by God's design, its people elected a secular, anti-Christian as its senator. That race was being watched all around the world, and the whole world saw the harlot once again being rejected by those who only yesterday were her lovers and were partakers of the waters of Egypt which give Egypt her nourishment. There were many reasons given for why things happened as they did, the number one reason being the sexual harassment charges against the fundamentalist Christian in the race. Those charges no doubt contributed to the outcome, but one thing that has not been given the credit it deserves for why fundamental Christianity always fails is the fact that those in that camp teach that a loving heavenly Father will burn you in eternal flames of hell if you do not believe on their version of Jesus Christ.

Notice that the secular media will always ask a Christian political candidate if he believes that Jews and Muslims are going to hell if they do not believe on Christ. Pointing out that the Christian candidate's doctrine teaches that, and getting that candidate to admit it, is enough to destroy the candidacy of most Christian politicians, never mind the fact that the Jews and Muslims feel the very same way about Christians. In a secular world, secular candidates for public office have the advantage. The concept of "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" through fiery judgment is never even spoken by any of the principles who make up this harlot system, which is coming to be hated by the "ten kings" who represent the perfection of our flesh, and who are beginning to "hate the whore and... make her desolate and naked, and [to] eat her flesh, and burn her with fire". The 'fire' of these ten carnal kings is not the fire of God's Word. Rather it is the words and laws which are the 'law for the lawless', all of which teaches an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. These ten kings symbolize the secular world which hates those who "cast angle into the brooks and they that spread nets upon the [unsuspecting] waters" of mankind. The ten kings of Revelation 17 represent the multitudes who are beginning to see through the hypocrisy of their favorite whore, and they are given by Christ Himself the work of rejecting her lies and turning on her and destroying her. That is the meaning of the drying up of both the waters of Egypt and the drying up of the Euphrates.

So now we will continue with the revelation of how this will all go down before we turn our backs on the great harlot:

Isa 19:8  The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
Isa 19:9  Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.
Isa 19:10  And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.

The "waters of Egypt" are what gives Egypt its life, just as "the rivers of Babylon" give life to Babylon. But Christ revealed to us that when we live in darkness and blindness, we don't know we are blind, and when we are living and thriving on the waters of Egypt and "by the rivers of Babylon" (Psa 137:1), according to the scriptures, we actually believe at that time that we have been and are drinking of the waters of life, just as the spiritually blind are totally unaware of their spiritually poor, blind and naked condition:

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

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

All these phrases: "the fishers... all they that cast angle into the brooks... they that spread nets upon the waters... and... all that make sluices and ponds for fish", are one and all speaking of all the ministers of Babylon who are 'fishing for men', as Christ reveals when He told His own disciples:

Mar 1:17  And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

However, the rivers of Babylon and the waters of Egypt are not the words of Christ. The rivers of Babylon and the waters of Egypt are the doctrines of the kingdom of our rebellious old man. Those doctrines defy the doctrines of Christ while making a loving heavenly Father, who chastens those He loves for the purpose of improving them and bringing to Himself, into a monster who intends to torment His own creatures in unspeakable, excruciating flames of literal fire for all eternity with no purpose or end in sight. While painting our heavenly Father as such a monster, the "fishers and those that cast angle and spread nets" for the unsuspecting masses of mankind speak "smooth things" like the doctrine of a ten-second sinner's prayer to avoid those eternal flames which will ensnare only those who do not believe all their lies, with which they are constantly feeding their unsuspecting victims. We were all there at one time, and it is only by the sovereign work of God within our lives that our eyes were opened through His fiery judgments, and He made us to understand that it is He who has taken "the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water" away from all those whom He has caused to turn their backs on Christ and His Words. We learned the exact same lesson of this 19th chapter back in:

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.
Isa 3:5  And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.

Apparently the removing of the waters of the Lord's Words and 'the people being oppressed, everyone by... his neighbor' come together as a package deal and cannot be separated the one from the other. The reason for this action is that when we turn our back on our heavenly Father, His judgments are certain to come upon us. When we reject His counsel and lean on our own counsel, we simply do not know the way of peace, and inevitably we refuse to discipline our children and we refuse to love our neighbors, much less our enemies.

Lev 19:18  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Deu 20:16  But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

They that cast angle and spread nets against us are our enemies, and we will and we do resent them when we become aware of how deceived we were by these men. To a greater or lesser degree we all hate her (the whore of Babylon) and burn her with fire simply because we are "yet carnal... babes in Christ" (1Co 3:1-4).

We must get past that resentment because we come to know that none of us are free to do the things we do (Rom 7: 17-23). Knowing that our deception was actually a work of God for our good makes all the difference in the world, and it helps us love those who hate us and those who have taken advantage of our ignorance. Christ even tells us that He spoke in parables "because it is not given [to the multitudes of Christianity] to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God":

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.

Just this week we saw how true those words of our Lord are: "To them it is not given... to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven". This was graphically demonstrated for us when we read that the Pope, the leader of the largest single Christian church on earth, wants to change the wording of 'the Lord's prayer' to make the Lord's words to comport with the Pope's false doctrine that God does not "lead us... into temptation", [He does not] "make us to err", [He does not] "create evil" [and He does not] "work all things after the counsel of His own will".

The Pope and most of those who 'cast their nets upon the waters' want us to believe what they tell us and simply ignore what the inspired Word of God tells us:

Luk 11:4  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

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

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

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:

The Pope and most of the harlot daughters of Babylon want you to believe that Satan, the tempter, operates completely independently of the will of God, and that it is Satan who leads us into temptation, not God. That doctrine makes Ephesians 1:11 to be a lie. It makes Matthew 13:11 to be a lie. If Christ does not give to the multitudes the ability to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, then all Satan does in blinding the masses is what God intended for Satan to do, and that is exactly how we see Satan being used of God in Job chapters one and two:

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

Who is calling the shots in this story? Satan says, "Put forth your hand", and the Lord tells Satan, "Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand."

Satan comes when he is called, and then he does exactly what he is sent by God to do, and he goes not one inch further than what he is sent to accomplish. So who is it who is really tempting Job? Yes, it is true that it is not God Himself, but it is God's messenger who does exactly what he is given to do for God. This whole scene is repeated in chapter two where Satan is commanded to "put forth his hand upon [Job]", but is again told to go no further:

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

God works His will through Satan. Satan is nothing more than the Lord's hand, as Satan himself acknowledges.  God works His will through Satan just as He tells us He works His will within us "both to will and to do of His good pleasure:"

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

Yet we see the leader of the largest Christian church on earth apparently completely unaware of any of this story in Job. Neither can he see these verses of scripture:

Gen 22:1  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

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

It was against the law of Moses to number the people without taking a tax of them at the same time.

Exo 30:11  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Exo 30:12  When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.
Exo 30:13  This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.

Again we are told exactly how the Lord went about "mov[ing] David" to number the people without requiring a ransom for their souls:

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

The pattern given to us in the story of Job is how God "works all things after the counsel of His own will". Evil spirits are always themselves sent "from God". They do nothing of themselves, as the Pope and all the daughter harlots of Babylon would have us believe. Notice how clearly this is demonstrated for us in the scriptures:

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

1Ki 22:23  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

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

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

Will the Pope and all the ministers of Babylon have us to change all these words of God to make them conform to the lying spirit the Lord has placed within their mouths? Like the three Hebrew children, we must make it known that we fear God far more than we fear men or what men can do to us. We must be willing to die for these words:

Deu 4:2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Deu 12:32  What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

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.

These are the ministers in whose mouths the Lord has placed a lying spirit.

1Ki 22:23  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

The Pope and all those who cast angle and spread nets for unsuspecting men will no doubt want to change those words, too, but let's take their lying spirit on directly so we will be able to convict those who deny the words of God.

These ministers will always point to this verse to deceive the vulnerable babes who are not yet given to try the spirits to see whether they are of God (1Jo 4:1):

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

We just saw several examples of how the Lord sent evil spirits to trouble King Saul and King Ahab and pronounced evil against both kings. We are even told that it was the Lord who sent Joseph as a slave into Egypt:

Gen 45:5  Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Gen 45:7  And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

If thirteen years as a slave in Egypt were not a trial for Joseph, then nothing is a trial. So we need to understand that the KJV translation of James 1:13 is not a correct translation, because the translators mistranslated the Greek word 'hautou' as "He" instead of "Himself". Here is what that Greek word means:

So when God sent Joseph as a slave into Egypt by the hand of his own ten brothers, He did so by sending an evil spirit to tempt them to do that evil deed. When the Lord sent all of Job's trials upon him, He did so via Satan. He sent an evil spirit to trouble King Saul, and He sent a lying spirit into the mouths of all of King Ahab's prophets, and He sent Satan to move King David to number the people.

But the key to understanding the Word of God is through "the sum of [His] Word":

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

What this means is that we must read everything the Lord says about any subject before we formulate doctrine. For example, concerning the offerings made to the Lord, we read this:

Lev 2:11  No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.

This commandment is reiterated two other times in the law of the offerings.

Lev 6:16  And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.
Lev 6:17  It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.

Exo 34:25  Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.

But when we read the sum of His Word we find that there is an exception to "no leaven... in any offering of the Lord made by fire" when we read of the firstfruits offering on the day of Pentecost:

Lev 23:16  Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Lev 23:17  Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Lev 23:18  And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.

"Ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire". Yet the offering made by fire for the firstfruits unto the Lord "shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord." This offering typifies us if we are given to endure to the end:

Jas 1:18  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

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

We are the firstfruits to God and the Lamb, and as such we are also what the scriptures call "the Lord['s] ...Christ":

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

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

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

Christ as our Passover is the first of the firstfruits. He was a spotless sheep "who knew no sin".

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

He was never afflicted with the "the leaven of the Pharisees", unlike His body, His Christ, we who have all known sin and have been corrupted by the leaven of the Pharisees. As His firstfruits, we are His witnesses who have known sin and are therefore represented by two loaves offered by fire baked with leaven, unlike any other offering.

The reason I have taken the time to point out this exception is that there is also an exception to the statement that "neither does God himself tempt any man":

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God is without temptation of evils, and he himself tempts no man.

We saw how God sent evil spirits and Satan himself to serve as "[His] hand" in Job 1 and 2, and in many other situations where He "made the wicked for the day of evil" (Pro 16:4), and He created and used evil to work "all things after the counsel of His own will" (Eph 1:11). However, there is one exception to that rule, just as there was with the commandment:

Lev 2:11  No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.

Here is that one exception to the Lord Himself tempting no man:

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

This trial which the Lord Himself placed upon Abraham was the commandment to offer up his only son as an offering to God, and we are clearly told in this one instance "God did tempt Abraham" to offer up his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering to God.

This is the only exception to the truth of James 1:13, but it is an exception which is used by those who are not given faith to conclude that the scriptures contradict themselves, which is no more true than the Lord telling Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice and then telling Abraham, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad":

Gen 22:10  And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Gen 22:11  And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
Gen 22:12  And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
Gen 22:13  And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

God has given those who 'cast angle and spread nets for men' the opportunity to twist His words and to reject them, but He brings us all to see the double-tongued hypocrisy that is the waters of Egypt and Babylon, and in the end the fishers in those waters shall mourn, and they "shall be broken in the purposes thereof".

In our next study we will see that the Lord truly is working all things after the counsel of His own will. We will see that He tells us it is "the Lord [who] has mingled a perverse spirit in the midst of... Egypt":

Isa 19:11  Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?
Isa 19:12  Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.
Isa 19:13  The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.
Isa 19:14  The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
Isa 19:15  Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.

]]> Studies In Psalms – Psa 93:1-5 “I The LORD Search The Heart…” https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/studies-in-psalms-psa-931-5-i-the-lord-search-the-heart/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=studies-in-psalms-psa-931-5-i-the-lord-search-the-heart Tue, 10 Oct 2017 23:25:46 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=14772 Psa 93:1-5 “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins”

The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things it says in Jer 17:9, even to the point where it thinks that we can ascend above the clouds and be like the most high as these scriptures remind us.

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Eze 28:2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

Num 16:3  And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

Putting ourselves above God would be the ultimate expression of deceit and a desperately wicked heart, and yet God tells us that the world, and especially the religious world around us, is in this untethered state (our former conversation) as those who are being controlled by a harlot system of which we are commanded to come out and acknowledge that it is God who has set in motion the false Christs and false prophets who are showing great signs and wonders which He has given them the ability to do according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11), so that they shall deceive the very elect or untether us from the body “if it were possible”.

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

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

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

Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

The Lord searches our hearts and tries the reins through the strong delusion that is in the earth (physical healings for example) and in the heavens (bringing fire down from heaven, which is the false doctrines that deceive) or the leaven of the Pharisees that Christ warns us against. All these weapons of the devil mentioned will not destroy the elect but will make us stronger if we are granted the ability to tear down the lies of the devil and see through an entire religious system or the world (Babylon) that has been deceived by the devil.

Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Mat 16:6  Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

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

2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

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.

Going back to these two verses (Isa 14:14, Eze 28:2) that are typically thought of as referring to Satan by the churches of Babylon, we are reminded that when the world within us puts these verses on someone else (like Satan for instance) and we don’t see their inward application, we are in effect not recognizing our own man of sin who, except for the grace and faith of Christ, would want us to speak from our own hearts and ascend and go into the heavens of our brothers and sisters in Christ with our own voice as we reason from our own minds not judging righteous judgment with the mind of Christ but rather by the wisdom of men.

Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Eze 28:2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

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.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Pro 14:12  There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Joh 7:24  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

It will and does take an ongoing miracle for us to be still and possess our souls with the fruit of longsuffering (patience) that God gives us so we can hear the word in a good and honest heart, which then enables us to bring forth fruit unto maturity that reflects Christ’s words which are no longer wrapped around the idols of our heart and are being provided for each other in due season, in the order and measure of faith that God would have us deliberate those good and perfect gifts that He gives from above.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Luk 8:15  And that in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Luk 21:19  In your patience ye shall win your souls.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think as to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith.

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

The Lord is in the process of destroying that man of sin within us who is typified in these verses (Isa 14:14, Eze 28:2) and is tearing down and demolishing all those conversations within ourselves that would just naturally exalt themselves above the congregation (Eph 6:12, 2Co 13:5). There is a negative and positive way to approach being raised above in heavenly places, and the man of sin who is at door of our heart (Gen 4:7) always wants to express his voice within our heavens or force his or her way into the kingdom of God some other way as opposed to the entreatable mind of Christ that is like a child in its ability to listen and be corrected and prove all things holding fast to that which is right. The fruit of Christ’s life in us is borne through patience and abasing ourselves over and over (dying daily) so the Lord can then be exalted in our heavens in all that we say and do, doing it all to His glory (Ecc 5:1, Mat 23:12, 1Co 10:31).

Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Eze 28:2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Mat 11:12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Jas 3:17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

This study focuses on the process of growing in grace and knowledge through the miracle of having God try the reins of our hearts, which heart He knows perfectly, to the end that we may become more than conquerors through Christ as we witness to the world (within and without) of His righteousness which is being formed solely within the body of Christ today.

Pro 21:2  Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.

Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

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

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

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.

Psa 93:1  The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
Psa 93:2  Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.
Psa 93:3  The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
Psa 93:4  The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
Psa 93:5  Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.

Psa 93:1  The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.</>

Clothing is connected to God’s majesty and his strength with which he girds himself, but not only does he gird himself, but he also establishes His righteousness in the earth through judgment that is in the earth, so that eventually “it cannot be moved”.

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

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

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.

Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

God is clothed with light, and yet from our vantage point in the flesh, God is invisible. He should not be invisble however to the life of Christ within us.

Psa 104:1  Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
Psa 104:2  Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

Heb 11:27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

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

1Ti 6:16  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Exo 13:21  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Exo 13:22  He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Joh 14:10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Joh 14:11  Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

With these few verses in mind, let’s consider the next two verses after Isa 45:5. It takes the entire process for us to come to know God, from the rising of the son of righteousness destroying the darkness within us unto the west, an experience of evil for our flesh that God gives us so that we come to see and give an accounting that He “form[s] the light, and create[s] darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. “

Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Psa 93:2  Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.

God’s throne is being established on our hearts today, and His plans and conception of what He has in store for those who love him and for all the world one day are and were “established of old”.

Rev 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

Rev 19:4  And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.

1Co 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen (Heb_11:27), nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

This expected end comes about through a process of redemption which God had “established of old” as well.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

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

Psa 93:3  The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.

The floods that lift up are a witness to show us that we must be lifted up or puffed up at first for a symbolic “forty and two months” treading under foot the gentiles as we lift up our voices, as a foaming wave of the sea “foaming out their [our] own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.”

Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

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

Jud 1:13  Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

That “blackness of darkness for ever” is the condition that all men are in until the brightness of His coming destroys that man of sin who sits on the throne of our heart proclaiming that He is God and that no one can make war with the beast, which is the lie that the devil wants us to hold onto.

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

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

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:

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Psa 93:4  The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

The previous verses we read that talk about “The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves” all represent that first proud beast we are in our former conversation, the old man, who is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts (Eph 4:22) and “The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of [those] many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea”.

1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Isa 43:16  Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;

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:

These following  verses in Rev 13:1-5 describe the beast that God tells us is mankind (Ecc 3:18, Rev 13:18) and reveal the same beast spoken of in Dan 7:2-8 only with different details and connected to the same gentile spirit that is in all men in the court where we are not being measured or judged (Rev 11:2). The court represents the law for the lawless or the gentile mind which is a law or island unto itself (1Ti 1:9, Rom 2:14).

My purpose in showing these verses below is to point out the correlation with the man of sin who rises out of the sea, with a mouth as a lion (that is man’s heart subject to Satan who devours us by controlling our thoughts Mat 16:23), and how this beast is connected to the man of sin or gentile spirit which is controlled in each of us at first by our father the devil for those symbolic forty and two months. This symbolic language used in Revelation and Daniel which talks about all these beasts that thrash about in the sea of humanity are the floods that God has allowed to lift up so that He can show His power in all the earth and all the sea because “The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.”

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Dan 7:2  Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
Dan 7:3  And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
Dan 7:4  The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
Dan 7:5  And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
Dan 7:6  After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
Dan 7:7  After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
Dan 7:8  I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

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

Psa 93:5  Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.

God’s testimony is “very sure” because it is Christ who is working out all the details by His power within us both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure and purpose, which is so vast, and yet it is a plan that we know is working all things together “for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose”.

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

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:

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.

His pleasure or joy is to seek out a people who will worship him in spirit and in truth in the temple of God which we are.

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.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

One day the world will understand the correlation with the miraculous judgment of God, which is His goodness working in the hearts of very few today (Mal 3:18, Rom 2:4, Mat 24:14) as opposed to the judgment of the law for the lawless which only cleans the outside of the cup (Mat 23:26) and does not change the inner man the way Christ is doing within His bride today as He “make[s] known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Rev 11:1, Col 1:27, Rev 19:7).

God’s children have that privilege to have their names written in heaven today (Luk 10:20) so that Christ in them who is our new name, can give us the power to tear down the powers and principalities that we must overcome through Christ in order to go unto maturity in Him.

We rejoice tremendously to know that “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins”, because we know that through that searching of our hearts and trying of our reins all things will become new as God goes about creating a new heart within us, who are “thy testimonies” and “thy house” that  “is becoming holiness” by and through the author and finisher of our faith whom we confidently and stedfastly look to (Eze 36:26, Php 1:6, Heb 12:2).

Psa 93:5 Your testimonies are very faithful; Holiness befits Your House, For length of days, O Yahweh.” (CLV)

Psa 93:5   Thy testimonies, are strongly confirmed, To thy house, befitting is holiness, O Yahweh—to length of days. (Rotherham)

Psa 93:5 Your testimonies are very sure; holiness becomes Your house to length of days, O Jehovah.  (LITV)

Psa 93:5   Thy testimonies have been very stedfast, To Thy house comely is holiness, O Jehovah, for length of days! (YLT)

Psa 93:5  G3588 Your testimoniesG3142 G1473 are trustworthy —G4104 exceedingly.G4970 [3 to G3588 4your houseG3624 G1473 2is becomingG4241 1Sanctification],G37.1 O lord,G2962 forG1519 the durationG3117.1 of days.G2250 (ABP+)

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