Isa 21:1-10 Babylon Is Fallen, Is Fallen - Part 2

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Isa 21:1-10 Babylon Is Fallen, Is Fallen - Part 2

Isa 21:1  The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.
Isa 21:2  A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
Isa 21:3  Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.
Isa 21:4  My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
Isa 21:5  Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.
Isa 21:6  For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.
Isa 21:7  And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:
Isa 21:8  And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:
Isa 21:9  And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
Isa 21:10  O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

This is the second part of our study on the first ten verses of Isaiah 21 which concern themselves with the fall of Babylon. Last week we stopped our study in the scriptures which demonstrate the tremendous loss we experience as we are given to come out of her. As the apostle Paul puts it:

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.

We covered just the first two verses of this chapter in our last study. These two verses just begin to inform us of the great sense of loss we feel when we are finally dragged out of the harlot system which we thought loved us and cared for us. Indeed that system hates to lose any who contribute to her welfare, and she will do all in her power to keep us addicted to her lies and her fornication.

Here is a little about that loss which we went over at the end of our last study:

Isa 24:16  From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
Isa 24:17  Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
Isa 24:18  And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
Isa 24:19  The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
Isa 24:20  The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
Isa 24:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
Isa 24:22  And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
Isa 24:23  Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

"The foundations of the earth do shake" because we discover that everything we have ever been taught by this self-centered whore is a lie. "The earth" in these verses symbolizes world-wide Babylon, the religions of mankind, who refuses to hear the Words of the Lord. It is "that great city wherein our Lord was crucified... Babylon the great" (Rev 11:8) to whom these words are addressed:

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

These words are addressed to the Lord's own apostate people:

Jer 22:1  Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
Jer 22:2  And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates:

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Babylon had brought great distress and sighs and groaning to many nations, and now their sighs are ceasing as Babylon is being destroyed. This is a reiteration of what we were told in:

Isa 14:3  And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy travail, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve,
Isa 14:4  that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say: How hath the oppressor ceased! the exactress of gold ceased!
Isa 14:5  The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rulers,
Isa 14:6  That smote the peoples in wrath with an incessant stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.
Isa 14:7  The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing.
Isa 14:8  Yea, the cypresses rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon: 'Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.'

How sweet it is to "come out of her" and no longer bear all of her many demanding burdens. How liberating it is to come out from under either the law of Moses or the law of the Gentiles. Both are called in scripture "the elements of this world" (Gal 4:1-3 and 9-10), and both make us slaves to "the traditions of men" (Col 2:8):

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 is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Rom 2:14  For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

But we do not come out from under the law without paying the ultimate price, and that price is the death of our old man and the destruction of his entire rebellious kingdom. That is why Isaiah, as a type of you and of me, walked naked before Israel as a sign of what God was doing to Egypt and Ethiopia within us, and that is why we now read these words regarding the fall of Babylon and how that destruction also affects the kingdom of our old man:

Isa 21:3  Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.

Isaiah confesses that the fall of Babylon "filled [him] with pain." He confesses, "I was dismayed at the seeing of it". When we are told, and when we finally come to see, that the son of the bondwoman, the symbol of our old man, cannot be made heir with the son of the free woman, we all just naturally cry out with Abraham:

Gen 17:18  And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

Also, the apostle Paul, being the original "replacement theologian" he was, tells us and the Gentile Galatians:

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.

Being human we feel the loss of the things of our flesh, and it is so severe that we say:

Isa 21:4  My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.

Here is the fulfillment of these words concerning the fall of Babylon and how it affects us in the book of Revelation:

Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

It is painful to watch our own flesh be destroyed and die.

Isa 21:5  Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.
Isa 21:6  For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.

We are this watchman, and as such we have an altar, a "table", at which they that serve the tabernacle  have no right to eat:

Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

It is Babylon and her daughters who are really in the service of Christ, our "tabernacle", and unlike the daughters of the harlot who all subscribe to the mantra "agreement in the essentials, tolerance of the non-essentials, but love in all things", God's elect know there are no "non-essentials" and instead:

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

It is only Christ's elect who have His mind which teach the exact opposite of Babylon's all-inclusive mantra with these words:

1Co 1:10  Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

It is our heart that pants, that is "affrighted" and turned into fear. We are afraid because we are this "watchman", and it is we who see what is coming upon Babylon within us.

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

So we are the Lord's watchmen in every generation, and as such we had better have this mindset, which Christ told Peter to have:

Mat 24:32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Yes, those words do prove that the words of Christ are spirit, but that fact does not mean that the aions (eons) do not have a consummation or that this age will not come to a climactic end. This age will come to a climactic end, and we need to have a scriptural mindset concerning the end of this age for which Peter tells us to always be prepared, and not to have the mindset of those who died in the flood of Noah:

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

"The world that then was [and] the heavens and the earth, which are now" are two of the three steps of the process of judgment. There is still a "shall be" third step to that process of "fiery... judgment and perdition of ungodly men" and that third step is the perdition and death of our flesh which produces a new man who is conformed to the spiritual image of Christ.

There are yet many people, to this day, who still think "all things [will just simply] continue as they were from the beginning of the creation", and they do not believe that "the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout" and raise those who "are asleep in Christ" to reign with Him a thousand years:

1Th 4:14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [Greek: phthanō - precede] them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

I pray that none of us are of that false spirit, and that rather we have this Biblical mindset concerning end time events:

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.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2Pe 3:14  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Notice that Elam and Media of verse 2 here in Isaiah 21 are the same as "the Medes" of chapter 13:

Isa 13:17  Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.

Later these same peoples are called the Medes and the Persians. As the Assyrians and the Babylonians before them, they are both one and the same people.

Daniel tells the last Babylonian king, King Belshazzar, to whom his kingdom is being given:

Dan 5:28  PERES; Thy kingdom [Babylon] is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

This prophecy of Isaiah was prophesied many years before the prophet Daniel. Then Daniel witnessed the outward physical fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies concerning the physical downfall of the kingdom of Babylon at the physical hands of "the Medes and the Persians".

These physical events "happened unto them and they are written for our [spiritual] admonition" (1Co 10:11). The inward spiritual and the outward end time fulfillment of the fall of spiritual Babylon is symbolized by "ten kings" who will destroy the harlot, Babylon, and then they will fight against, and be conquered by, "the Lord and His Christ":

Rev 17:12  And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Rev 17:13  These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
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.
Rev 17:18  And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The spiritual details of the work of these "ten horns", who "shall make [the whore] desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire" are given us in Revelation 18. Those details of Babylon's destruction are not the topic of our study today. However, it is in Revelation 18 that we read the words from this chapter of Isaiah, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen..." as we are about to see:

Isa 21:7  And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:
Isa 21:8  And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:

The watchman saw "horsemen... asses... and camels" and yet He answers, "A lion my Lord". Having discussed this in great detail with our brother Dave Rogers, I have come to see that the word 'lion' is as out of place as it appears to be, and that the Septuagint is apparently a better translation here in this verse. Here is how the Septuagint translates verse 8:

Isa 21:8  And call Uriah to the watchtower of the lord! And he said, I stood always by day, and over the camp I stood all the night.

Uriah was the high priest in the time of this writing, and he typifies who we are with Christ as His watchman. Uriah the priest symbolizes us, as the Lord's Christ, the watchman who witnesses the fall of Babylon and shares what he came out of with others whom the Lord is dragging out of Babylon, just as the angels dragged Lot and his wife and two daughters out of Sodom:

Gen 19:15  And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
Gen 19:16  And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
Gen 19:17  And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

As such we have this same vigilant spirit and mindset which Peter also admonishes us to maintain. We tell the Lord "I stood always by day, and over the camp I stood all the night" as we sound the alarm at the impending fall of Babylon:

Isa 21:9  And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.

This is the first appearance in scripture of the phrase "Babylon is fallen, is fallen", and it comes out of the mouth of the Lord's watchman whom He has placed there to inform His people. There is no warning of the fall of Babylon as there is against the evil shepherds here in the book of Isaiah. We look behind us and see what occurred in Babylon in our lives, but we had no warning. However, we are admonished to warn the Lord's flock against false doctrine (Act 20:28).

Eze 3:20  Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

Eze 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

We simply witness to what has happened within ourselves, and we share that experience with others: "Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods He has broken to the ground!"

This is who we are within the body of Christ:

Eze 33:1  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 33:2  Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
Eze 33:3  If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
Eze 33:4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
Eze 33:5  He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
Eze 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
Eze 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

In the book of Revelation the "the graven images of her gods" are the false doctrines which are called "idols of [her] heart" (Eze 14:1-9). In the book of Revelation, however, those same false doctrines are called "her fornication", and it is "her fornication" which precipitates the wrath of God upon the religions of this world.

The warning given by the Lord's watchmen is His Truth in opposition to all the lies which are constantly attempting to invade and destroy the Lord's flock. When we fail to point out the lies of the treacherous shepherds which come to us and attempt to destroy and scatter the Lord's flock, the Lord says "his blood will I require at the watchman's hand", and we are guilty of that blood. Here are the words of Ezekiel 33:6 in the words of the apostle Paul:

Act 20:26  Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

The Greek word for 'overseers' is 'episkopos', and it is most often translated as 'bishop', but a Godly 'bishop' of the Lord's flock is a good "overseer" of the Lord's flock. Paul was "innocent of the blood of all men" simply because He had fought hard against all those who would devour and scatter the Lord's flock. While He was able, he did not let the fornication of spiritual Babylon infect the Lord's flock:

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

Isa 21:10  O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

"That which I have heard of the Lord... have I declared unto you." Or as Paul puts it:

Act 20:26  Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

These prophecies are not pleasant to have to give to the Lord's Israel or to Babylon. Nevertheless "that which [we] hear of the Lord [is what we must] declare unto you." Neither Christ nor the apostle Paul preached "smooth things". They "preach[ed] the Word... in season and out of season."

2Ti 4:2  Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

It was the word they had heard of the Lord. Their message never changed. Christ was right up front with His disciples, and He is right up front with all of us when He tells us:

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

If we are good watchmen and we are given to 'lose' our life in Christ's service, then we have this promise:

Mar 10:28  Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
Mar 10:29  And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,
Mar 10:30  But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Mar 10:31  But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

Next week, if the Lord wills, we will cover these verses:

Isa 21:11  The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
Isa 21:12  The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.
Isa 21:13  The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.
Isa 21:14  The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.
Isa 21:15  For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
Isa 21:16  For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:
Isa 21:17  And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken it.

(Key verses: Gen 37:12-17; Gen 38)

The theme of spiritual glorification is intimately connected to the caring for God’s flock and the salvation of all, as we also see typified in the life of Joseph. The following words come from the mouth of Joseph as written in scripture. These are words Joseph spoke to his brothers after they sold him to slave traders who brought him to Egypt, where he eventually, through much tribulation, ended up as ruler in Egypt under the Pharaoh:

Gen 45:5 Now do not be troubled or angry with yourselves for sending me away, because God sent me before you to be the saviour of your lives. (BBE)

Gen 45:5 Now do not be upset or blame yourselves because you sold me here. It was really God who sent me ahead of you to save people’s lives. (GNB)

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Joseph was sent ahead of his brothers by God not only to supply food for his own family, but eventually to save many people’s lives. This is what God’s elect are called to be – saviors. However, they are admonished by scripture to be diligent even in the process of caring for those who have been given to them in this age (Oba 1:21, Joh 21:15-17, Rom 12:10, Gal 6:10, Php 2:4, Tit 1:5-10, 1Ti 5:8, 1Pe 5:2-4):

Pro 27:23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

The elect of God are called to be good shepherds, among other things, but we all need to be aware that there are also thieves and robbers who are indeed strangers and bad shepherds among God’s flock whom we need to be able to discern (Joh 10:1-5). The distinction between the good shepherd and the stranger is something few are given to discern properly in this life. The basic distinction is first given to us in the lives of the first two sons of Adam and Eve – one who loved to feed the sheep, which points to an honest caring attitude for others. The other son was more focused on “the ground” – focused on the self and ensnared in what man thinks and says (Deu 1:17, 1Sa 15:24, Pro 29:25, Gal 2:12):

Gen 4:2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper [Hebrew: “râ‛âh” = feed/pastor/a companion] of sheep, but Cain was a tiller [Hebrew: “âbad” = servant/in bondage/worshippper] of the ground [Hebrew: “ădâmâh” from “âdam” and link to “âdâm” = man].

This distinction between the two types of shepherds becomes more disguised and needs much deeper discernment as we are all fooled by our own deception (Jer 17:9). This is also what we learn through the family of Jacob while they lived in the promised land. Under the direction of God, Jacob gathered a special breed of flock for himself in the last six years of the twenty years he worked for his uncle Laban in Haran (Gen 31:10-12). Back in Canaan Jacob trusted the care of his flock to his sons, but they did not always inform their father concerning the wellbeing of these flocks. Jacob had a keen interest in his flock and regularly inquired as to the wellbeing of this flock and the welfare of the sons, as he also appointed his favourite son, Joseph, to help in this regard:

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

Gen 37:12 And his [Joseph’s] brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
Gen 37:13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
Gen 37:14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

In this instance, Jacob was under the impression his sons were attending to his sheep in Shechem, but Joseph could not find them there. They were not at the appointed place. Even a certain stranger whom Joseph met in the field knew more about the whereabouts of these ten sons than Jacob knew at this point in time:

Gen 37:15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
Gen 37:16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
Gen 37:17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

The manner in which these ten brothers cared for the flocks of their father became more apparent when we read that they even killed a kid of one of the goats of Jacob to cover for their evil deed of selling Joseph to the slave traders:

Gen 37:31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood.

The way they treated Joseph, their own brother, is a further testimony against these brothers’ shepherding and caring attitudes. These brothers of Joseph not only had no respect for the life of Joseph and the father’s flock, they also saw no problem in using lies and deceit in the process of reporting to their father on the status of their own brother and the flock:

Gen 37:32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.
Gen 37:33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
Gen 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Gen 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

Although Reuben, the eldest of the twelve sons of Jacob, was the first to save Joseph’s life by giving his fellow brothers the idea to cast Joseph in a pit, the role of one of the other brothers, namely Judah, also becomes very interesting:

Gen 37:26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
Gen 37:27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.

The words “for he is our brother and our flesh” reveals something about Judah’s caring heart which will become more apparent as we follow this man’s life, as he also distanced himself physically from his brothers after this ordeal with Joseph:

Gen 38:1 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

It is especially through the story of Judah, and his life away from his brothers, that certain aspects of Judah’s life are brought to our attention. We also know through Jacob’s words on his deathbed that Judah’s future role in his own family and in God’s plan becomes clearer:

Gen 49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
Gen 49:9 Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

It is through the generations of Judah that the true kingly offspring and pastoral leadership of the physical Jews came, as we also see in the life of king David. This, of course, typifies the rulership of Christ and the role of God’s elect who will be kings and priests (shepherds) for God in the symbolic thousand-year reign on earth and judges in the spiritual eon (1Co 6:2-3, Rev 20:4-15). Judah took leadership among his brothers in many instances, especially on his return to the family later in negotiations with Joseph, whom they did not recognize at that time (Gen 37:26, Gen 43:8-10, Gen 44:14-34, Gen 46:28). The word “Jew” is an abbreviation of the word “Judah” which gives us an idea how his leadership eventually covered all the twelve tribes of physical Israel, also in the unified kingdoms under David and his son Solomon. Here again we see the relationship in the roles of Judah and Joseph and why both these typify vital aspects of our own position of rulership within the spiritual kingdom of God:

1Ch 5:2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s.

So while Joseph would endure thirteen years of hardship in Egypt, the spirit of God brings our focus to Judah’s life in this same time period. Before Judah’s leadership was further entrenched among his brothers, however, he mingled with the uncircumcised of the land and had an intimate relationship with one of their daughters in his time away from his brothers:

Gen 38:2 And Judah saw there [when he was with his friend Hirah] a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah [in Hebrew this means ‘wealth’]; and he took her, and went in unto her.

Spiritually Canaanites symbolize the false shepherds who have uncircumcised hearts, meaning also our own time when we are still filled with pride and the lusts of the flesh although we understand spiritual things and are within the promised land (Gen 24:3, Gen 27:46, Gen 28:1, Deu 7:3, 2Co 6:14-16, 1Jn 2:16). Through this marriage of Judah, he fathered three sons, which also indicates the process through which our own heart is revealed to us and how we will be established as a true shepherd of God:

Gen 38:3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.
Gen 38:4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.
Gen 38:5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

The place where Judah lived at this time was called “Chezib”, which means “falsified” relating to living a lie. The names which Judah gave to these three sons are also significant in terms of this falsified state of his thinking at this stage. We all encounter this part of our journey when God works out the old false shepherd in our own hearts to establish the characteristics of the true Shepherd in us. The first characteristic of a true shepherd in the flock of God is revealed through the name which Judah gave to his first son – he called him Er, and it means “to be watchful”. Er married a certain Tamar whom Judah chose for Er as a wife:

Gen 38:6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.

Tamar means “palm-tree” which is also the stature of the bride of Christ as seen on the doorposts, doors and walls in the spiritual house of God, which is His temple and His heavenly city (Son 7:7, 1Ki 6:29-33, Eze 40:16, Eze 41:23-25). Here are a few characteristics of the palm tree and the true shepherds who are watchful:

Psa 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Psa 92:13 Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
Psa 92:14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
Psa 92:15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

This stature of the true shepherds is a reflection of God’s righteousness with unfeigned love of the brethren:

1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.

Not to be watchful and sincere in our love and care for our heavenly Father’s flock is a wicked thing, and what happened to Er is a serious admonition to God’s shepherds:

Gen 38:7 And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.

God admonishes His true shepherds to always be diligent in taking “heed unto thyself” first of all, but also in their watchfulness in leadership within the flock of God as we are our brother’s keeper (1Co 16:13-14, Eph 4:11-12, Col 4:2, 1Th 5:6, 1Ti 4:16, 2Ti 4:5, 1Pe 4:7, Rev 3:1-3). The sheep need a constant watchful eye because the spiritual wolves are always busy bringing their worldly care, which is just a camouflage to enlarge their own profile (1Sa 17:34-35, Isa 40:11, Joh 10:11, Heb 13:17, Rev 7:17):

Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Er was the firstborn of Judah, and he died without fathering any children. This also links to our own firstborn, our flesh and its failure to be a true shepherd of God’s spiritual offspring. There is truly little profit in fleshly care as that will not bring us to spiritual glorification (1Co 15:50, 1Ti 4:8):

1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

The second son of Judah was named “Onan”, which means “to be strong or courageous.” This is another important characteristic of a true shepherd, especially seen in the life of David, who is another example of a true shepherd of God (1Sa 17:34-36). Judah gave Onan a special command:

Gen 38:8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

To raise seed for one’s brother was also codified later in the law of Moses (Deu 25:5-6). This is just another way of saying that life comes through death, which the flesh is also incapable of producing (Joh 6:63, Rom 5:12-21). It is only through Christ, the life-giving spirit, that anyone can be a good shepherd to do the Father’s commandments (Joh 15:16). The true Shepherd is strong indeed and will see to it that the sheep will be cared for and that they will produce and bring forth the fruit of the spirit to the glory of the Father (Gal 5:22-23). However, Onan revealed cowardice and a selfish spirit and did not honour his father’s request:

Gen 38:9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

This spirit in Onan also reveals how those fleshly shepherds are “measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves” (2Co 10:12). Flesh is selfish and is always looking for its own glory and whatever benefits it can get hold of as quickly as possible. Self-centeredness runs in every fiber of the first Adam, and no one is immune to that. This is the spirit that rules in the false shepherds who live from the sheep instead of caring for the sheep:

Eze 34:2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
Eze 34:3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

Onan was also slain by God as flesh can never please God in terms of the true caring for others (Mat 7:22-23, Rom 8:8):

Gen 38:10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.

Another characteristic of a true shepherd is revealed through Judah’s third son, whom he called Shelah, which means “to make a request or petition.” True shepherds always look for green pastures for their sheep. Spiritually this also links to being meek and humble in making petitions on behalf of our brethren in Christ with words of encouragement and deeds of compassion (Psa 23:1-2):

Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Tamar typifies the church and its elected shepherds who are patient to be rewarded with an offspring (1Co 15:58, Gal 6:9, Jas 5:7-8):

Gen 38:11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

Judah reneged on his promise to Tamar and his duty to look after the welfare of his daughter-in-law, whom we have seen is a type of the church. Judah was more concerned with the preservation of his own physical offspring, which again admonishes God’s true shepherds as to where their compassion and care should be:

Mat 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Judah’s own wife died afterward, and after his time of mourning, he and his friend Hirah went to Timnath to his sheepshearers there. Again this theme of shepherding is taken to another dimension through the life of Judah:

Gen 38:12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath [Hebrew: “timnâh” from “mânâh” – to count/an assigned portion], he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

True shepherds are more interested in feeding the flock to the glory of God and for the benefit of the Father, as typified in many of the Old Testament types like Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and David (Gen 4:2, Gen 37:2, 1Sa 17:15, 1Pe 5:1-3). Shearing of our flocks, in its negative application, reveals our desire to benefit personally from God’s works in being preoccupied to give ourselves a reward in this life (Gen 31:19, 1Sa 25:1-4, 2Sa 13:23-24, Isa 53:7). The false shepherds are more attracted to the shearing, or fleecing, of the sheep – receiving benefits for themselves (Gen 31:19, 1Sa 25:2-3, 2Sa 13:23-24, Eze 34:1-8). This fleecing and covering ourselves with wool is not allowed in the clothes of God’s true priests who serve the inner court of the temple:

Eze 44:17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court [of the temple], they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

This fleecing of the sheep of God is also connected to the covering provided by a self-righteous heart and the glorification of self and our own fleshly works, as also seen typified in the life of Job:

Job 31:19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering;
Job 31:20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep.

We are admonished to recognize that all things are of God, and to Him we bring honor and glory for His covering of righteousness for us (Rom 11:36):

Deu 15:19 All the firstling males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the LORD thy God: thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep.

Tamar heard about these activities in the life of Judah, and she removed her own clothing of mourning (that is when we stop to die to self), and wanted to get what is rightfully hers as was promised by Judah:

Gen 38:13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.
Gen 38:14 And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

Tamar is indeed a type of the church, and here she shows the road we all must travel, even playing our part in the veiled harlot church which we cannot recognize as such when we are in that state of delusion, as seen here through Judah’s inability to recognize Tamar. Tamar in her blinded state sexually seduced her own father-in-law to enable her to be impregnated by his seed.

Gen 38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.

Judah in this context also represents the false shepherds in that harlot church who are veiled from the truth:

Gen 38:16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
Gen 38:17 And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?

Judah’s payment for this was a kid from his flock which he pledged with his signet, bracelets and staff which he gave to this veiled woman who was also unknown to him at this stage:

Gen 38:18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff [Hebrew: “maṭṭeh”/“maṭṭâh”] that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
Gen 38:19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

Two of these symbols, the signet and the staff, point to election, strength and rulership in the scriptures (Isa 14:5, Exo 7:12, Num 17:2):

Hag 2:23 KJV In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.

Psa 110:2 The LORD shall send the rod [Hebrew: “maṭṭeh”/“maṭṭâh”] of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

The bracelets connect to divine authority and leadership as the same Hebrew word is also translated as the blue laces which were to be found in the attire of the high priest in the physical temple (Exo 28:28, Exo 28:37, Exo 39:3). Judah’s leadership role among his brothers, typified by these three symbols as seen in the scriptures, was transferred in this sense to Tamar and the offspring that would be conceived through this act (Gen 37:26, Gen 43:8-10, Gen 44:14-34, Gen 46:28). When Judah wanted to fulfill this pledge to this harlot, she was nowhere to be found:

Gen 38:20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.
Gen 38:21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.
Gen 38:22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.
Gen 38:23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

Afterward the veiled lady was revealed to Judah as Tamar, his own daughter-in-law, to the shame of Judah.

Gen 38:24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.

The false shepherds in Babylon are very zealous, but not according to knowledge because they cannot even see that they are intimately involved in spiritual harlotry (Rom 10:2). The false shepherds want sinners to burn forever in the literal hellfire because they have no love in their hearts, but when we see that we are that harlot church, the focus shifts inside. We all are ashamed of our deeds and words spoken in spiritual Babylon when this harlot is revealed to us (Rev 18:1-24):

Gen 38:25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.
Gen 38:26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.

God always uses evil for good, and twins were born to Judah through Tamar:

Gen 38:27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.
Gen 38:28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.
Gen 38:29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.
Gen 38:30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah.

The concept of a twin here all points to Christ, and it shows that Christ is both the first and the last (Rev 1:8, Rev 1:11). Pharez (or Phares) was a forefather of the fleshly Christ whom we meet first (Mat 1:3, Luk 3:33). The name of the twin brother of Pharez was Zarah, and it means “rising” or “east”, even as our spiritual Sun rises in the east “afterward” with spiritual healing for all (Mal 4:2, Rev 22:16).

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

Zarah showed his hand first which points to the spiritual Christ which was first with the Father, but appeared to us as the second born (Col 1:15-17, Rev 3:14):

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.

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

Numbers in Scripture
Who Spiritually is Tamar?
Awesome Hands Part 27 – Twins Were in Her Womb
Awesome Hands Part 28 – He Thought Her a Harlot
God’s Four Sore Judgments – Part 3, Famine-A
Colors in Scripture – Red, Part 2
Numbers in Scripture – Three, The Process of Spiritual Completion

What Is Christ?

The scriptures instruct us:

Rom 10:6  But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 
Rom 10:7  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 
Rom 10:8  But what saith it? The word [Christ] is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

The apostle Paul had no doubt that what he was preaching was “Christ… the word of faith, which we preach”. These verses, reveal, for those who have the eyes to see it, that Jesus Christ is the fire that comes out of the mouth of His witnesses. “Christ… The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth…”

Rev 11:1  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
Rev 11:2  But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Rev 11:3  And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
Rev 11:5  And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
Rev 11:6  These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 

Christ is the fiery words in the mouth of His witnesses, and while it is very little understood or appreciated, God Himself has empowered those in whom He dwells to devour their enemies with His fiery words which proceed out of His mouth. He has even empowered them to shut off the waters of heaven from their enemies, and to “smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will”.

Christ’s witnesses are a power for their enemies to contend with, simply because they know Him, and they have His words in their mouths. Christ Himself made this same statement earlier in Mat 18:

Mat 18:18  Verily I say to you, Whatever things ye may bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever things ye may loose on the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.

The things which have been bound and loosed on the earth, and the things which have been bound and loosed in the heavens are all the Words of Christ, which are always true.

If we are not even aware that we have these powers, it is because we do not have them. Paul knew his own powers in the spiritual word of God, and he did not waver in that power.

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 

I have emboldened the words “my speech and preaching was… in the power of God”, because it was what Paul said and preached that demonstrated the spirit and power of God. If I say anything of my own, it is nothing but “enticing words of man’s wisdom”. But when I demonstrate what the scriptures actually teach I am “demonstrat[ing] the spirit and power” of God.

When we live in and by His word that is what Christ meant by “abid[ing] in my word”. (Joh 8:30-31)

1Co 7:40  But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

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

“I have the spirit of God… we have the mind of Christ… The word of faith [is what] we preach, [and we] know the Truth”.

Joh 8:31  So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
Joh 8:32  and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (ASV)

“If you abide in My Word” means that you and I must know Christ before we can abide in Him. If Christ is in any man, that man knows Christ is there, and he also knows Christ when He hears Christ’s voice in another man:

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

“Know not the voice of strangers” actually means the exact opposite of what it appears to say. What that means is that anyone who “know[s Christ’s] voice, recognizes when they are not hearing Christ’s voice. “They know not the voice of strangers” means they do not identify with a stranger’s voice, and the word voice means the “speech and… preaching” is recognized as the “enticing words of man’s wisdom” instead of “the demonstration of the spirit and of power” which “spirit” is the Word of God:

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

So that is ‘what’ Christ is. He is His Word, and His Word is Him:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3  All things were made by him [the Word]; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Who Is Christ?

As Saul of Tarsus, Paul wanted to know who had struck him down on the road to Damascus, and the Lord answered him in no uncertain terms:

Act 22:7  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

We, too, want to know who Christ really is, because Christ warned us that there would be many people who would come in His name and claiming to be Him who would not really even know Him at all:

Mat 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:4  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Exactly when is this going to happen? Here is the answer to that question which the apostles asked our Lord:

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

Christ has been in those who know His voice in every generation since He was raised from among the dead. Here is who He tells us long before He told Saul of Tarsus who He is:

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
Mat 25:38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Mat 25:39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
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.

“The least of these my brothers” is not just those in whom Christ dwells. “The least of these my brothers” includes the man who was robbed and beaten on the way down to Jericho. It includes anyone the Lord brings before us at any time. We must treat everyone as though “the least of these my brothers” is Christ Himself, nevertheless Christ and His body should come first as we deciding who Christ is and when we are pouring out our own alabaster box of precious ointment:

Mat 26:6  Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
Mat 26:7  There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.
Mat 26:8  But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
Mat 26:9  For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
Mat 26:10  When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
Mat 26:11  For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
Mat 26:12  For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
Mat 26:13  Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

The holy spirit repeats the message contained for us in this story in these verses:

Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. 

‘Do good to all men’, but we are all commended for pouring out of our own precious ointment “on my body… especially unto them who are of the household of faith”.

That is who Christ is. He is “especially [His own] household of faith, [His] disciples”.

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

Where is Christ?

Earlier we read in Revelation 11:

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

“Them that worship therein” are those who know that Christ is His Word. They “know His voice when they hear it, and they worship in His temple.

Where is that 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.

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

That is where Christ is. He is in His temple. But we are also told that His temple is in the heavens:

Rev 14:17  And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

Rev 15:5  And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:

The meaning of “in heaven” becomes much clearer when we understand the demonstration of the spirit and power of God in these words:

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 [you and I if Christ is within us] with better sacrifices than these.

When we come into that house of God we are commanded to watch our steps:

Ecc 5:1  Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
Ecc 5:2  Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.

It is best to simply quote Christ’s words which are spirit and life, rather than to say anything. It is best to let Him do all the talking because that is where Christ is; He is in His temple, and He is in His “temple which is in heaven”. “[We] are the temple of God [if] the spirit of God dwells in [us]”. It follows that “the heavenly things themselves” are also those in whom Christ dwells because it is we who are “purified with… better sacrifices than… the blood of calves and goats”. (Heb 9:19) Christ has always been in His people, and that is what He Himself has promised us:

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

This is what, who and where Christ is, and where He has always been since His resurrection. He is His Word, He is those who are persecuted for His sake, and he is within His temple which is within the heavens.

This is what, who and where you and I are, if we are abiding in His Word. We are not just a group of men who are playing church for filthy lucre’s sake. We are filling up in our bodies what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ for His body’s sake, which is the church. We know the voice of the True Shepherd, and we flee from the voice of a stranger, because we “know the Truth” and we will both symbolically and literally die to be with Christ and His Christ in that blessed and holy first resurrection.

As overseers of the Lord’s flock we are first to “look well to [ourselves]”:

Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

But we are also commanded to “take heed… to the flock over the which the holy spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God”. A godly overseer is a godly shepherd whose whole life in invested in the sheep under His care, and He is not just a hireling:

Joh 10:11  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 
Joh 10:12  But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Joh 10:13  The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 
Joh 10:14  I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Joh 10:15  As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Christ’s sheep know who it is who “gives his life for the sheep”. The Christ of Christ is known of His sheep. The true shepherd, lays down his life for the sheep, and does not allow wolves to catch and scatter the sheep.

The true shepherd is still in a vessel of clay and is not yet perfected. Yet he lives for the sheep laboring in the word and in doctrine. Here is how we are told to treat the good shepherds among us, who “give [their] lives for the sheep”.

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

Tit 1:7  For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

A true shepherd of Christ must be blameless because He really is a steward of God, and this is how we are to act when we are counseled of our elders who preside well over, and have proven themselves to be good stewards of, the Lord’s flock:

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.”

Conclusion

God’s true shepherds are not hirelings. They are proven leaders who have given their lives for the Lord’s flock, and we are told to count them worthy of double honor, and we are told to “be persuaded of your leader and be deferring to them for they are vigilant for the sake of your souls.”

Nowhere is it ever said that a good shepherd has been perfected, but we are told that they have proven that they will lay down their lives for the Lord’s flock.

Video Links

Awesome Hands – Part 36

“.. every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians...”

Every son of God is destined to be sent into Egypt, so that they can be called out of Egypt. For those with a spiritual mind, this should sound familiar to the calling out of Babylon that we go through as Christians.

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

The Truth of the matter is that we WILL and do partake of the seven last plagues if indeed we are God’s chosen people.

It may seem like a glaring contradiction, but in order for us to partake of the goodness of God, the mystery (Rev. 10:7) of Christ in us, we must go through the seven last plagues being fulfilled.

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.

As was mentioned in the last study, coming from the “land of Canaan to the land of Egypt” and then eventually being called out of Egypt, isn’t an easy journey and the Lord knows this perfectly.

So, He provides for us and “doesn’t put more on us than we can bear”.

Gen 45:26 And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.
Gen 45:27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
Gen 45:28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

The wheat and the tares will grow together until the time of the harvest and as we saw in the story last study, and we are now at that time in our walk with the Lord as we reflect on what the Lord is doing with us.

Mat 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

We will be brought to the land of Goshen, “drawing near” to God as He brings us to a point where His remnant can continue to grow into the next phase of His ultimate deliverance.

Israel took his journey with all that he had:

Gen 46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
Gen 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
Gen 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Gen 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

There are several striking revelations that are contained within these few verses and I hope you are able to “see” the same types and shadows with me.

First notice that Israel goes to Beersheba to offer sacrifices unto God. Beersheba is where Abraham makes a covenant with the Philistines in the form of Abimelech.

Abimelech is also the king of which Abraham lied to about his wife Sarah and caused Abimelech to take Sarah because he thought that Sarah was just Abraham’s sister.

Gen 20:2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
Gen 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.
Gen 20:4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
Gen 20:5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
Gen 20:6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
Gen 20:7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

Now notice that it is in a dream by night that the Lord comes to Jacob similar to when he comes to Abimelech.

This is all type and shadow to show us what the process is for those with whom God is working directly with. We are being raised up as kings and priests in training and the “course work” for this training is similar to all of us, the same as it was for Christ.

There is going to be a separation between the old and the new man, and that is exactly why we see God speaking with Jacob at this junction of his life.

For us, in type and shadow, Jacob is being dealt with as the old man and the old man must die for the new man to be born.

Here is where the old man goes to commune with God.

Gen 21:1 And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
Gen 21:2 For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
Gen 21:3 And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
Gen 21:4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Gen 21:5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.
Gen 21:6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.
Gen 21:7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.
Gen 21:8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
Gen 21:9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
Gen 21:10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

And then a few verses later…

Gen 21:14 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

Gen 21:19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
Gen 21:20 And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
Gen 21:21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

See, the seed of the bondwoman will not inherit the Kingdom of God. God will not have this, and He has laid a foundation which must be adhered to in order for this process to work.

So, what is this process you ask? We must go into Egypt to be called out of Egypt. Our “marriage” is not with the gods of Egypt, but rather with the God of who controls Egypt and everyone in it.

Joseph, typifying Christ, will put his hands on our eyes upon our death. This is what God promises Jacob (Israel) in Gen 46:4, so how are all of these various ideas and thoughts connected?

The answer is Egypt or to us spiritual Babylon.

Joseph is caused to go into Egypt at a young age and is later taken out via his bones.

Moses is caused to go into Egypt to later be called to come “out” of Egypt so that he can be used as a savior to Israel.

Christ is caused to be taken to Egypt as a young boy to flee the slaughter that Herod committed against all the two year old and under boys, but He too was called up out of Egypt to be a savior.

So, is it any mystery that we too must go into Egypt in order to be used as saviors later?

What does God say to us about this?

Gen 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
Gen 46:3 And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
Gen 46:4 I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.

Here is Moses’ story of being spoken to by God for what he is going to be caused of the Lord to do.

Exo 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
Exo 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
Exo 3:3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
Exo 3:4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
Exo 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
Exo 3:6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
Exo 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
Exo 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Exo 3:9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
Exo 3:10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

We are taken “onto a mountain” in order to be delivered, but this isn’t an easy process.

Instead, it will seem almost impossible and indeed is without the Lord doing the work. The “work” we must do, is to BELIEVE what we are given to see.

After all, it is not everyone who has “Joseph” put his hand on their eyes in death! Here is what we are given to see, Lord willing.

Mat 2:13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Mat 2:14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:
Mat 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

A huge part of the process of salvation is that Egypt is NEEDED to nourish us for a time. When we have our “deadly wound healed,” so that we leave our first love, it is very much when we are contending with a babylonish mindset.

We can NOT fear this process though because the Lord fights for US!

“Jesus…. bringeth them up into an high mountain apart..”

This same process is shown to the very disciples of Christ. There are three disciples taken UP high enough to see this mountainous process.

Mat 17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
Mat 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Mat 17:3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
Mat 17:4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
Mat 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Mat 17:6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
Mat 17:7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
Mat 17:8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.
Mat 17:9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
Mat 17:10 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
Mat 17:11 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
Mat 17:12 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
Mat 17:13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

Do you believe? Do you see? What do you hear?

What I see and hear is that it is out of a cloud that the voice of Lord comes a shouting.

What I see and hear is that it is when we are in FEAR of the Lord and His words that we fall on our face only to LIFT our eyes UP so that we see no man but ONLY JESUS.

It takes a very strong event such as being faced with a mountain in our lives that when we are we are able to cast a mountain into the sea.

It is the faith of the Son of God and the Son of man which will cause us to believe that a mountain can be MOVED.

It is with this mindset that we see at the start of Gen 46 verses 1-4 just what we are being told.

We are seeing the process of the old man being separated from the new man but before the new man can be given life, the “old man” must die.

Gen 46:5 And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
Gen 46:6 And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
Gen 46:7 His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

Indeed, the process of going from Canaan to Egypt is just as needed as coming from Egypt into the promised land. During each stage of our walk, we “grow thereby”, but there is going to be a lot of war taking place while we are still in this tabernacle of flesh.

We will “rise up” from the place where we have “digged a well in the earth” (Babylon the great whore), and we will move on to the next stage of progression of coming out of her my people.

It took Israel to go through a lot of war before they were sent David with a sack of five stones to slay Goliath and it will be no different for us.

Of a Truth, it is when we DON’T include Joseph and his seed that we have 66 in “our family,” when what we are made up of is NOT whole unless we add “a few more”.

Gen 46:26 All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;
Gen 46:27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.

Whenever we see the Lord saying something twice, we know it is important. When we are being called by “our name” TWICE, we know the Lord is working with us… and for the chosen elect in particular, we have a witness that He is dealing with the old man in a particular way.

Gen 46:2 And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

Exo 3:4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

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:

It isn’t when we use our name that we are heard as with “the voice out of the cloud”; rather, it is when the NAME of the LORD is used (which is written on our forehead) that He is heard.

Exo 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exo 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

When we are sent to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” we do not come in our name “here I” but rather we come in the name of “Here I am”.

Do you hear the voice of the True Shepherd? If you do, you have been called to “come out of her my people” for Shepherds are an abomination to Egypt.

Gen 46:28 And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
Gen 46:29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
Gen 46:30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.
Gen 46:31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
Gen 46:32 And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
Gen 46:33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?
Gen 46:34 That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

The Way, Truth and Life of the narrow way is that we are placed in Canaan for a season to be called out of Canaan.

We are called into Egypt to later be told to “come out of her.”

However, the lesson of this study today is to reflect on the spiritual concept of the types and shadows that point us to knowing that EVEN while we are in these various stages with our walk with the Lord,

He is with us and places us in a land that only causes us to “draw near” to Him.

No matter where and of us are in our spiritual walk, or whatever trials the Lord is placing us in at any given time, we are the Lord’s people and He is with us.

Appearances can be deceiving just as being given the land of Goshen to dwell in WHILE in Egypt seems like a good thing until we later realize we are thrown into slavery.

Fear not though, because the Lord tells us clearly that this process of our walk with Him is indeed holy ground.

Exo 3:5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

Video Links

Awesome Hands – Part 37

“ The land of our Fathers”

The walk the Lord places His people in is holy ground, a “holy walk”. The Way the Lord sends us on is very narrow, but it isn’t given to us alone to have to bear the “burden” which we find ourselves in.

Christ tells us His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Mat 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

As we explore the story of how God is working with Joseph and his family and by extension, “us” His chosen people, we know that Christ has promised that He will be with us during whatever it is He causes to happen in our lives.

We left off in the last study learning that Joseph’s families’ occupation is that of being shepherds.

Gen 46:31 And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;
Gen 46:32 And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
Gen 46:33 And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?
Gen 46:34 That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

Learning that the shepherds are an abomination unto the Egyptians should be not be unfamiliar to our spiritual understanding and knowledge of Christ considering it is the Lord that has sent us among His enemies and causes us to be the “stench of death” to them.

2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2Co 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
2Co 2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
2Co 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

As we are going to see in Gen 47, the Lord shows us tremendous grace by blessing us while we have a war going on in our spiritual heavens.

“Five men presented unto Pharaoh”

Gen 47:1 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
Gen 47:2 And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
Gen 47:3 And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
Gen 47:4 They said moreover unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

As we are given to see ourselves in these stories, we can see that the types and shadows given are for our admonition.

We are sent as Jesus the Christ to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but we soon find out that in the entirety of “the world”, we have no pasture for our flocks.

In other words, within the context of “the land we dwell in,” there is nowhere for us to live, graze, and rest. The Lord provides us a place by creating in us a dwelling place of “drawing near” to Him.

This may seem far- fetched to some, but even Christ came preaching the same thing from the beginning of His ministry.

Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mat 4:18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

As we walk in the valley of the shadow of death in this age, we know the Lord walks with us. The very rest He gives us is found while we dwell in the land of our enemies, while being in the land of Goshen.

Gen 47:5 And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
Gen 47:6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

Gen 47:6 The landH776 of EgyptH4714 is beforeH6440 thee; in the bestH4315 of the landH776 make(H853) thy fatherH1 and brethrenH251 to dwell; H3427 in the landH776 of GoshenH1657 let them dwell: H3427 and ifH518 thou knowestH3045 any menH376 of activity H2428 among them, then makeH7760 them rulersH8269 over myH5921 H834 cattle. H4735

H2428
chayil

khah’- yil

From H2342; probably a force, whether of men, means or other resources; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strength: – able, activity, (+) army, band of men (soldiers), company, (great) forces, goods, host, might, power, riches, strength, strong, substance, train, (+) valiant (- ly), valour, virtuous (- ly), war, worthy (- ily).

H2342

chu l ch yl

khool, kheel

A primitive root; properly to twist or whirl (in a circular or spiral manner), that is, (specifically) to dance, to writhe in pain (especially of parturition) or fear; figuratively to wait, to pervert: – bear, (make to) bring forth, (make to) calve, dance, drive away, fall grievously (with pain), fear, form, great, grieve, (be) grievous, hope, look, make, be in pain, be much (sore) pained, rest, shake, shapen, (be) sorrow (- ful), stay, tarry, travail (with pain), tremble, trust, wait carefully (patiently), be wounded.

Total KJV Occurrences:68

pain, 6

Isa_13:8, Isa_26:17-18 (2), Jer_30:23, Eze_30:16, Mic_4:10

formed, 5

Deu_32:18, Job_26:5, Job_26:13, Psa_90:2, Pro_26:10

forth, 4

Pro_8:24-25(2), Isa_45:10, Isa_66:8

brought, 3

Pro_8:24-25(2), Isa_45:10

pained, 3

Joe_2:4-6(3)

calve, 2

Job_39:1, Psa_29:9

fall, 2

Jer_23:19, Jer_30:23

fear, 2

1Ch_16:30, Psa_96:9

grieved, 2

Est_4:4, Jer_5:3

grievous, 2

Psa_10:5, Jer_23:19

shaketh, 2

Psa_29:8(2)

stayed, 2

Gen_8:10, Lam_4:6

travail, 2

Isa_23:4, Isa_54:1

travailed, 2

Isa_66:7-8(2)

tremble, 2

Psa_114:7, Jer_5:22

trembled, 2

Psa_97:4, Hab_3:10

wounded, 2

1Ch_10:3(2)

abide, 1

Hos_11:6

afraid, 1

Psa_77:16

anguish, 1

Deu_2:25

bare, 1

Isa_51:2

bring, 1

Isa_66:8

dance, 1

Jdg_21:21

danced, 1

Jdg_21:23

driveth, 1

Pro_25:23(2)

great, 1

Eze_30:16

grievously, 1

Jer_23:19

hope, 1

Lam_3:26

look, 1

Job_20:21

made, 1

Job_15:7

patiently, 1

Psa_37:7(2)

rest, 1

2Sa_3:29

shapen, 1

Psa_51:5

sorrow, 1

Jer_51:29

sorrowful, 1

Zec_9:5

tarried, 1

Jdg_3:25

travaileth, 1

Job_15:20

trust, 1

Job_35:14

wait, 1

Psa_37:7

waited, 1
Mic_1:12

For sake of time in this study, I will get to the “root” of what “men of activity” are, for this is what Pharaoh commands Joseph to seek out.

Psa 114:7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;

Jer 5:22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

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

Deu 32:17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
Deu 32:18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

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.

What we are being told by the Lord our God is that He has set into motions all of the events in our lives, both “good and bad” so that we can BRING FORTH FRUIT meet for repentance.

The reason He sends us into Egypt, into Babylon, is so that in GREAT PAIN and LABOUR we can be DELIEVERED by the “birth of the new man”.

Joh 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
Joh 16:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
Joh 16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

The Pharaoh (God the Father) tells Joseph (Christ His Son) to seek out “any men of activity”, and those “men” are, we ….. “us”….. the sons of God, to look after His flock.
“And they will be known by their fruits……”

“Unless a grain of wheat fall, it cannot bring forth fruit……”

Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
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.

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 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Joh 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

The “men of activity” of which we are sent to “set over” the “cattle of the Pharaoh” are those who do the will of the Father and the will of the Father is:

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.

Christ is Truth.

Joh 14:5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
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.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

The darkness that Joseph’s family was rescued from came in the form of a very grievous famine that gripped the entire world. Now, as they are being rescued and the will of the king is being revealed unto them, they are being told how to perform the work for which they are made to do.

Eph 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

The “blessings of Pharaoh”

Gen 47:7 And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
Gen 47:8 And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?
Gen 47:9 And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
Gen 47:10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
Gen 47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
Gen 47:12 And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.
Gen 47:13 And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

What we are discussing in this study is the Truth that the “days of our pilgrimage” are no different in how few they are and how much evil they contain. Truly, there is “one event unto all”.

However, the true blessing of our pilgrimage is that while we are “here”, we are given the best of the land. We have been made a covenant with the Lord.

We are given a promise that we will go to the promised land, but while there we will STILL have to “fight giants and have war.” However, in this war, we will be given victory while in this age and in the ages to come.

How does this play itself out?

Gen 47:14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
Gen 47:15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.
Gen 47:16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
Gen 47:17 And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
Gen 47:18 When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:
Gen 47:19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
Gen 47:20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.
Gen 47:21 And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.

What is being described to us in detail here is that the Lord has a plan, a process for how He achieves His will in us to “bear fruit of the spirit in all goodness and righteousness and truth”.

The Lord first requires anything that we have “gained” to be given to Him. In other words, He takes all the “filthy lucre” and replaces it will His “goods”.

He then requires that which get us wealth and money in the first place, and that is all of “out cattle”.

The last thing remaining is that the Lord requires all of us…. all of the land, our very bodies, all of us.

He then places us where He can sustain us. Remember, Joseph (Christ) stored all the food in the cities. So, in type and shadow, the Lord brings us to where He can look over us, into the cities He has “built up”.

Gen 41:48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.

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 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

Remember, this is a process for everyone, and we all go through this same process. Additionally, there are those who have simply gone before us in this process and have “grown daily”, Christ increasing in them, who are the “pillars of the temple” and partake of the altar.

These are the clouds we saw last week which “a voice from a mountain comes from”. There are the “kings and priests” the Lord is training up!

Gen 47:22 Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

This is simply telling us that these priests have no need to “sell their land” because their land was ALREADY GIVEN to them for a POSSESSION.

1Co 9:13 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
1Co 9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

1Ti 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
1Ti 5:18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.

The reward the “priests” have is that of Christ in US, our hope and glory!

Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Gal 6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Gal 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

2Th 3:7 For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;
2Th 3:8 Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:
2Th 3:9 Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.
2Th 3:10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

Before we are given “the land” and a portion with our “Pharaoh the King”, we first must sell all that we have for a pearl of great price!

Gen 47:23 Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
Gen 47:24 And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.
Gen 47:25 And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.
Gen 47:26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part; except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s.

When this pattern is followed (and it is always followed by His elect due to God working it all) we will “find grace” in the sight of the Lord and we will grow and prosper.

Gen 47:27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.
Gen 47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.
Gen 47:29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:

Christ will give Israel life from the “valley of the shadow of death” which Egypt and Babylon represent.

Putting the hand under the thigh represents the covenant or oath that takes places while making this gesture. Abraham, “the father of the faithful,” fashions this covenant because He knows that our marriage is to our Lord and of His people and not to those of whom we find ourselves living amongst.

Gen 24:1 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
Gen 24:2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
Gen 24:3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
Gen 24:4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

In other words, we are the bride of Christ and we have a country we are seeking, which is the country of “our Fathers.” Christ promises to deliver us there.

Gen 47:29 And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
Gen 47:30 But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.
Gen 47:31 And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.