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Rev 11:7-14, Part 2 – The Resurrection Of The Two Witnesses

[Study Aired Nov 8, 2024]

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Rev 11:10  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Today, Lord willing, we will come to see how we are first the harlot city, “the city wherein our Lord was crucified”, before we “come out of her”, and in time we become the Lord’s two witnesses who are lying dead in the streets of that great city…

6) “Where also our Lord was crucified” is also speaking of us and our rejection of the Lord and our part in His crucifixion. Our Lord is crucified by the “murderers who are in the faithful city which has become a harlot”, as explained by:

Isa 1:9  Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
Isa 1:10  Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

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

Both ‘Sodom’ and ‘Babylon’ signify “the city where our Lord was crucified”. They are both types of us while we are in the churches of Babylon. We first hate God’s witnesses, and in so doing we become the harlot city which is full of murderers. While God’s rebellious people are called a rebellious wife, they are also called ‘Gomorrah’ and “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth”. It is in this city that all of God’s prophets are murdered. In other words, this all takes place within you and within me.

Rev 18:24  And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

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

This is but a repeat of what Christ said of Jerusalem:

Mat 23:34  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Mat 23:37  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

You and I are “the earth”, and it is within each of us that our Lord is crucified. It is each of us who are “chief of sinners”.

1Co 15:9  For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

Gal 1:13  For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:

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

If we place the death of Christ upon the shoulders of others, then we cannot claim that He died for our sins. That self-righteous spirit of iniquity (Eze 33:13) is exemplified by “those Jews which believed on [Christ]” but wanted to kill Him.  Signifying all of us, they could not see themselves as slaves of sin, and just like every Christian who feels justified in physically fighting their fellow man to preserve God, family and country, they were not even aware that they wanted to kill Christ:

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

If we first see ourselves as His persecutors and the persecutors of His church, and if we see ourselves as having our part in His crucifixion and then  also see ourselves as “chief of sinners”, then we will have no trouble seeing Christ as dying for our sins, and then we will know that we are that “great city where also our Lord was crucified” before we can “come out of her” and become Christ’s two witnesses. If ever we are given to see that spiritual Truth, then we will have no trouble understanding that all…

7) “The people, kindreds, tongues and nations” within the streets of that great city where our Lord was crucified are all of the affiliated false doctrines which are also within each of us, supporting each other and rejoicing that each and every one of all these “people, kindreds, tongues and nations” are now free from the constant scrutiny and torment of those who remain faithful to the words of our Lord. “They that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth”. While we are still in Babylon we rejoice because we can now…

8) “…see their dead bodies”, and because we know that no one within us will now be tormented by having to hear their words. We gloat over their dead and ineffective bodies, and we do so the whole symbolic three and one half years they are “lying dead in the streets of our great city”. That time is signified as…

9) “…Three days and an half”, during which we do not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. These “three days and a half” are not the last three and one half days of one thousand two hundred and sixty days, or forty and two months or three and one half years, rather, just as Pharaoh’s two dreams of the cows and the corn “are one”, so too, ‘three and one half days’, and all of its multiples, signify the same thing as ‘one thousand two hundred and sixty days’, ‘forty and two months’, and ‘time, times and half a time’. They all signify one half of what is complete. The new man is not complete until he has both gone into and then come out of Babylon. All these symbols signify the same period of time. The first half of our experience signifies the time when we are the self-righteous, rebellious recipients of the Lord’s witness against the kingdom of our old man. The last half of our experience signifies the time we begin to bear witness concerning the words of this prophecy. It is during that first period of time that we all…

10) “…Rejoice over the death of Christ’s two witnesses, and send gifts one to another”, celebrating the fact that these witnesses of Christ, who had been tormenting us, were at that time, having no effect in the streets of our great city where also we have crucified our Lord by turning His grace and the knowledge of His sovereignty into lasciviousness.

An outward demonstration of what we all are guilty of within, at our own appointed time, is watching two multi-millionaire television ministers literally donate 10,000 dollars to each other’s ministries, while condemning and belittling what they refer to as ‘heresy hunters who are more concerned with doctrine then they are with love, and the spreading of the gospel’. We are all guilty of justifying our own sins and rejoicing over our ability to stifle the witness of God’s word with our self-righteous false doctrines.

11) But if the Lord has predestined us to be His firstfruit elect, after three and one half days, just as it seemed that the flesh had won the battle, an event which was parenthetically prophesied back in chapter ten begins to take place… “In the days of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God” begins to be completed, and the Lord’s own will begins to fulfill His own purpose in our lives as the apostle Paul tells us:

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

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

This is referred to as being “raised with Him to newness of life” within the lives of God’s witnesses who are dying daily to their old man while simultaneously being raised from their state of spiritual death.  Let’s put these two verses side by side and observe how they are to be understood as one and the same event.

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

“The voice of the seventh angel” is the seventh trumpet which signifies the beginning of the pouring out of the seven last plagues of the wrath of God upon the kingdom of our old man and upon all of our self-righteous false doctrines of the great harlot, Babylon, in our lives. “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should… [signifying that the mystery of God begins to] be finished”. In other words, the second half of our completion begins, and Christ begins to live His life within us as our old man begins to die because, “the mystery of God is Christ in you the hope of glory” (Col 1:27).

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half [the first half of our complete experience] the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

While “the [outward] kingdoms of this world” will indeed become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ (vs 15), we will not have a part in that momentous event unless an inward “seven [Not three and one half, but ‘seven’] thousand men begin to die in our inward earthquake, signifying the appearing of Christ into our life which begins the destruction of “that man of sin” within us and the kingdoms of our own old man begin to be “destroyed by the brightness of His coming”:

2Th 2:8  And then [“when the seventh angel shall begin to sound”] shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

The destruction of all of “the people, kindreds, tongues and nations” within “the streets of that great city where also our Lord was crucified”  causes…

12) “…Great fear to fall on those who see them”. “Them which saw them” and “their enemies” signify all the self-supporting lies and false doctrines which support ‘Babylon the great’ and empower her to kill the witnesses of God’s Word within us. The loss of the dominance of all those “idols of our hearts” (Eze 14: 1-9) over our lives and minds brings great fear within us. The physical battles fought by Israel against her enemies in the Old Testament signify all the inward struggles we endure in our heavens. Here are examples of the outward Old Testament battle contrasted with the inward heavenly warfare we endure in the New Testament:

Psa 47:3  He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.

Psa 106:34  They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:

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

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies.

“Principalities and powers… the rulers of the darkness of this age”, are “the people, kindreds, tongues and nations” within “the streets of that great city where also our Lord was crucified” within each of us.

13) At this point the two witnesses hear a voice from heaven telling them to “Come up here”. This is how that happens to those who are given to witness to the truth of these words:

Eph 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
Eph 2:5 even when we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Eph 2:6 and raised us up together, and seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7 that in the coming ages He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Our warfare is spiritual and inward if we are in Christ. But as self-righteous Babylonians we are all signified by Saul of Tarsus who is still living in the first half of our uncompleted experience, and in that position we hate the True Christ and His doctrines:

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

It was “when we were dead in transgressions”, while we were still in the process of persecuting the disciples of the Lord, that we were struck down on our own ‘road to Damascus’. Only then does “the seventh angel begin to sound and the mystery of God begins to be finished” within us, so that we, as God’s two witnesses, are both buried with Christ, and raised in newness of life to witness to the very people who we ourselves were only yesterday.

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

Why does our natural man want to place all of this prophecy at the end of the age of Adam’s domination over the kingdoms of this world? It is because the words of Christ “are spiritually discerned”, and our old man “cannot see the things of the spirit for they are foolishness to him” (1Co 2:13-14).

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

Nevertheless, for the man who is granted to discern “the things of the spirit”, Rom 6:3-4 is the fulfillment in down payment form of Rev 11:12.

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

Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

It is in Christ that we are “made to sit together with Him in the heavens”. That cloud is Christ’s Christ, His witnesses, His body. It is at this point that all who know us, within and without, become aware that we are not who we once were, and in that sense they become witnesses to the fact that we…

14) “…Ascend up to heaven in a cloud”, and as our enemies see that we have done so and we are not the self-righteous Pharisee we once were. That “cloud” in which we ascend is the same as the words in the mouths of the Lord’s witnesses.   That cloud is God’s own “cloud of witnesses”, who are now beginning to be able to spiritually discern how “the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual”. It is the same cloud which has always witnessed to the truth of the words of God.

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

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

It is at this point, having been “made to sit with Christ in the heavens” (Eph 2:6), that there is…

15) “…A great earthquake”, which occurs in our lives, and this entire event begins to be repeated again as the persecution of the risen Christ within us requires a new “Saul of Tarsus” to persecute the new “Paul the apostle” who is now a witness of “the exceeding riches of His grace”, the grace of Christ “in the ages to come”.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Here is Eph 2:7 in the Analytical Literal Version of the New Testament.

Eph 2:7 so that He should show in the ages, the ones coming, the surpassing riches [fig., abundance] of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus! (ALT)

Here is how this verse is translated in the Concordant Literal Version.

Eph 2:7 that, in the oncoming eons, He should be displaying the transcendent riches of His grace in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (CLV)

Remember Christ has declared that we, just like He is, “are the light of the world”. He also declared that “as He is so are we in this world”, and remember also that it was only five verses earlier, in this same second chapter of Ephesians, that we were told that every sinful life of mankind is an age, or an “eon of this world”.

Eph 2:1  Also you– being dead in the trespasses and the sins,
Eph 2:2  in which once ye did walk according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, (YLT)

So it is that as our old man is destroyed by this great earthquake, our new man increases and is renewed day by day, and it is the renewal of our new man which continues to destroy our old man and cause him to decrease.

Joh 3:30  He [Christ in me] must increase, but I must decrease.

That is described as…

16) “…a tenth part of the city falls and seven thousand men are killed in that earthquake, and the rest are frightened, and give glory to the God of heaven”. The number ‘ten’ in all of its forms, is the maturing and perfecting of this flesh, and ‘seven’ is the completion of the destruction of this mature old man. At this point we are indeed “giving glory to the God of heaven… for His wonderful works to the children of men”.

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

Now we have been prepared to become the recipients of all the fury of the old man who this great earthquake begins to kill and to crucify on a daily basis.

Summary

Let’s reread the verses we have covered today.

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9  And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Rev 11:10  And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; [and], behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Now let’s briefly summarize the meaning of the symbols of these verses. They are…

1) The two witnesses finishing their testimony, we saw, signifies the end product of the revelation of Jesus Christ, who is “the end of our faith… the salvation of our soul” (1Pe 1:9).

2) The beast ascending out of the bottomless pit making war against God’s two witnesses is the beginning of this revelation, where we are not yet aware that we are that beast and all we are interested in at this point in our walk is the…

3) … Killing [of] Christ’s two witnesses, by rejecting their fiery words, and persecuting and belittling their testimony before this world.

4) “Their dead bodies lying unburied” as we rejoice over our rejection of their testimony and their witness to the words of God. This signifies our time of deception by the false doctrines of Babylon.

5) “In the streets of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt”, is in the ways of this world within us which has rejected the ways and streets of the true Jerusalem, which will become our new mother when we are finally granted to see our own self-righteous, rebellion against the words of Christ and repent of our sinful walk in the streets of Babylon the great where we have rejected and killed our Lord and His disciples and witnesses.

6) “Where also our Lord was crucified” is again within us. It is we who have so despised our Lord and have crucified Him. That is “where also our Lord was crucified”.

7) The people, kindreds, tongues and nations are all within the city where our Lord was crucified, As such they are the symbols of all the supporting lies and self-righteous false doctrines with which we have withstood the fiery testimony of our Lord’s two witnesses.

8) We see the Lord’s witnesses as dead bodies, because we are in rebellion to our Lord’s commandments to love and forgive our enemies, and we certainly consider these two men to be our enemies, so we are gloating over their dead bodies and their inability to save us from ourselves.

9) “Three days and an half, and do not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.” Again, whether it is days or years or months, the time we spend rejecting the testimony of the two witnesses and the time we spend as the two witnesses are both “three and a half” which are both required to birth and to complete our new man. Whether it is expressed as three and one half days or one thousand two hundred and sixty days, both are in the same chapter, speaking of the same experience, and as Joseph told the Pharaoh, concerning Pharaoh’s two separate dreams concerning the cows and the corn, “the dream is one”. In this case ‘the time is one’, and that one time is the same time in which we kill the Lord’s witnesses before we are considered to be dead by those whom we witness to, in that city where our Lord was crucified. The two ‘three and a halves” sum up the time that is required to complete our new man.

10) “They… shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another” all because of the death of Christ’s two witnesses. This is us as we celebrate the fact that these witnesses of Christ, who have been tormenting us with the words of God, are now having no effect in the streets of our great city where also we are unwittingly crucifying our Lord.

1Co 2:8  Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

11) But after three and one half days, God’s witnesses are raised from their state of death. Only after we have given ourselves over to the desires of our flesh and have denied our Lord with an oath, and have done so three times, are we granted repentance, and we go out and weep bitterly. Just as the flesh seems to have won it all and the voice within us has been silenced, we are raised up from among the walking dead…

12) … Causing great fear to fall on those who see us. Yes, we have been “crucified with Christ, nevertheless we are now alive, and living by the faith of Christ”. Our new life causes all who know us to fear, just as all the “people and kindreds and tongues and nations” within us, fear the day of their demise and the waning of their influence in our hearts and minds.

13) At this point the two witnesses hear a voice from heaven telling them to “Come up here”, and so they…

14) …”ascend up to heaven in a cloud”, and their enemies see that they have done so.

15) It is at this point, when we are “seated with [Christ] in our heavens” (Eph 2:6) that there is a great earthquake, and the kingdoms of this world are shaken, as we are delivered from the dominion of sin in our lives (Rom 6:14) and as this entire event begins to be repeated again “in the oncoming ages” (Eph 2:6).

16) “A tenth part of the city falls” signifies the death of all that appeals to our flesh, signified by the number ‘10’. The fall of that great city is within us “where also our Lord was crucified” by our own hands.

17) Seven thousand men are killed in that earthquake, and the rest are frightened, and give glory to the God of heaven. ‘Seven’ is the completion of the process of the destruction of the great city within where our Lord and all saints are killed and crucified. The remnant give glory to the God of heaven because the fall of this city is the birth of “Christ in you… and having this treasure in earthen vessels”. “Our Lord and His Christ” are signified by “the remnant [who] give glory to the God of heaven”.

In our next study, if the Lord wills, we will be informed of the days when the seventh angel shall begin to sound, and we will see that this seventh angel is simply the filling up of the wrath of God that has been being displayed by all the evil angels which have already been sent to us through the seals and trumpets that have been the subject of this book to this point.

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

]]> Musical Instruments in the bible Part 12 – String Instruments https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/musical-instruments-in-the-bible-part-12-string-instruments/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=musical-instruments-in-the-bible-part-12-string-instruments Thu, 07 Dec 2023 18:09:00 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=28805 Audio Download

Musical Instruments in the Bible, Part 12 – Stringed Instruments

Nebel – Psaltery, Viol, Psanterin – Psaltery, Sabbka – Sackbut, String/percussion Sumponia – Dulcimer

[Study Aired December 7, 2023]

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excerpt from https://www.biblestudy.org/bible-study-by-topic/musical-instruments.html:

String Instruments (continued)

Hebrew: Nebel
KJV Name: Psaltery, Viol
Strong’s: #H5035
References: 1Sa 10:5, 2Sa 6:5, 1Ki 10:12, 1Ch 13:8, 1Ch 15:16, 1Ch 15:20, 1Ch 15:28, 1Ch 16:5, 1Ch 25:1, 1Ch 25:6, 2Ch 5:12, 2Ch 9:11

Nebel, in 23 Old Testament places, is translated “psaltery.” It is translated, in Isaiah 5:12, 14:11 and  Amos 5:23, 6:5 as “viol.” Jewish tradition states that the Nebel stood upright as opposed to the handheld kinnor.

The psaltery, a type of harp, may have had as many as ten strings (Psa 33:2, Psa 144:9). It was used when the Ark of the Covenant was moved (1Ch 15:28) as well as in worshiping God (1Ch 25:6).

Hebrew: Psanterin
KJV Name: Psaltery
Strong’s: #H6460
References: Dan 3:5, Dan 3:7, Dan 3:10, Dan 3:15

This instrument was used in the court of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar. It may have resembled a dulcimer that had its strings struck with small hammers.

Hebrew: Sabbka
KJV Name: Sackbut
Strong’s: #H5443
References: Dan 3:5, Dan 3:7, Dan 3:10, Dan 3:15

This instrument was used in the court of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar. It may have been a type of lyre or harp with four strings.

Unknown Type

Hebrew: Sumponia
KJV Name: Dulcimer
Strong’s: #H5481
References: Daniel 3:5, 10, 15

The KJV word “dulcimer,” found only in Daniel, is a mistranslation. Modern dulcimers are percussion based musical instruments that possess metal strings that are hit with lightweight hammers. Smith’s Bible Dictionary, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) and Wilmington’s Guide, however, all state the sumponia was possibly a type of bagpipe.

Tyndale’s Dictionary, however, argues the sumponia couldn’t have been a bagpipe, as musicologists believe no such instrument existed at the time of King Nebuchadnezzar. The uncertainty of the Hebrew makes it difficult to know what is being referenced.

End quote

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There are two distinct points being made with these last three stringed instruments we’re looking at. The first instrument we will look at is called NebelH5035 – Psaltery, Viol, and this instrument represents the best that the flesh has to offer, which is the first point.

The second and third instruments, Psanterin – Psaltery, and Sabbka – Sackbut, are both found together in each of these verses, (Dan 3:5, Dan 3:7, Dan 3:10, Dan 3:15), which is where they are being used in the negative context of exalting king Nebuchadnezzar who was commanding the flesh of men to bow down and worship him, representing how sin wants to rule over us via the powers and principalities against which we wrestle. The last instrument that we will look at in this mini-series is the Sumponia – Dulcimer, which is kind of a hybrid instrument resembling a dulcimer or maybe more like a bagpipe. It may be hard to categorize but there’s no doubt as to where it was being used, and again it was among the other instruments in Nebuchadnezzar courts (Rom 6:14-16, Rev 13:7-10, Rev 13:15, Rev 14:7).

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 
Rom 6:15  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 
Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 

Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The instruments in God’s word always represent the marred flesh that mankind is. However depending on who is playing the instrument and for what reason, we then learn if this instrument, in the context it is being used, is one that typifies someone glorifying God as an instrument of righteousness or glorifying self by being self-righteous. The natural default state that all flesh takes without Christ’s spirit in us is to love vanity and to exalt self, or to be envious of those who are more capable than us in any way shape or form (Psa 4:2, Jas 4:5-7, 1Co 3:3-5).

Psa 4:2  O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.

Jas 4:5  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 
Jas 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble [Heb 12:6].
Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 
1Co 3:5  Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed [instruments in God’s hand in other words (Php 2:12-13)], even as the Lord gave to every man?

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Starting off with the stringed instrument called Nebel –  PsalteryH5035 that is mentioned twice as having ten strings, witnessing to the perfection of the flesh in man that we naturally strive to attain, being subject to the vanity of this flesh (Psa 33:2, Psa 144:9, Rom 8:20-21).

Psa 33:2  Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psalteryH5035 and an instrument of ten strings.

Psa 144:9  I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psalteryH5035 and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.

Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption [10 strings] into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

The other thing to note is that the Nebel or  PsalteryH5035 was being used when Saul was being anointed by Samuel to be king (1Sa 10:1-5). Saul started off with a humble attitude but became exalted in himself. That pride of life is being demonstrated with the perfection of the flesh represented in the negative sense with the NebelH5035 called a Psaltery or Viol. The lesson for God’s people is that only Christ abiding within us can keep us in a humble and contrite state so that the knowledge God bestows upon us does not puff us up as it naturally would (1Co 8:1-3, Isa 66:2, 2Co 12:7-9). King David is a type of Christ who replaces our first rejected anointed tall king (Saul, 1Sa 9:2), our old religious man whose pride in time manifests as it did with king Saul. If we are Christ’s in this age, our old man is overcome and destroyed by the brightness of His coming (1Sa 15:17-18, Rev 13:7-10, 2Th 2:2-8).

1Sa 10:1  Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? 
1Sa 10:2  When thou art departed from me to day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel’s sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say unto thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and, lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son? 
1Sa 10:3  Then shalt thou go on forward from thence, and thou shalt come to the plain of Tabor, and there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine: 
1Sa 10:4  And they will salute thee, and give thee two loaves of bread; which thou shalt receive of their hands.
1Sa 10:5  After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psalteryH5035, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy:

1Co 8:1  Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
1Co 8:2  And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. 
1Co 8:3  But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word [our Father looks to Christ in us as our hope of glory in whom we are accepted (Col 1:27, Eph 1:6)].

2Co 12:7  And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. 
2Co 12:8  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 
2Co 12:9  And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

1Sa 9:2  And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

1Sa 15:17  And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, [Luk 17:10, Rom 11:20, Rom 11:25] wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 
1Sa 15:18  And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed [Representing our overcoming the wood hay and stubble in our life in the early stages of our overcoming (1Co 3:12, Heb 6:3)].

Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 
Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 
Rev 13:9  If any man have an ear, let him hear. 
Rev 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints [We must experience what others experience but in the end through Christ we will overcome].

Rev 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity [2Ti 2:26]: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 

[The sword is the word of God which kills our old man as we decrease and Christ increases within us. We are able to “killeth with the sword” only because we have been decreasing as we die daily by the sword of God’s word, His spirit that makes it possible for us to die daily (Rom 2:4, Php 2:12-13)]

Here are the Strong’s and BDB definitions of NebelH5035.  

Notice it is all talking about the weak marred vessel which the instrument we all are represents. We are marred in the hand of the potter (Jer 18:4) and in weak and corruptible flesh (Jer 17:9), and the root word for Nebel is H5034 which root word goes on to further demonstrate who we naturally are without God’s spirit strengthening us in this weak flesh. We are “a skin bag for liquids” even now and are blessed in this age if we are Christ’s body (Eph 5:30) being filled with His spirit, both the old and new covenant words or wine that it is likened unto, that make up the sum of His word so that we can be preserved by that which will not pass away, the eternal words of God found in the old and new covenant that we can partake of if we are connected to the vine. That preservation of His word within the body of Christ is the means to the end that will be used to redeem those who are being reserved for judgment (2Pe 3:7,  Jud 1:6, Jud 1:13) in the second resurrection (Mat 9:17, Joh 6:68, Joh 15:5, Joh 5:30, 1Jn 4:17, Joh 15:1-14, 2Sa 14:14).

Jer 18:4  And when the vessel, which he was forming out of earth, got damaged in the hand of the potter, he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it.

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

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

Mat 9:17  Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

Joh 6:68  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 

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

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

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment [in the day of purging (1Pe 4:17, 1Pe 4:12)]: because as he is, so are we in this world. 

Joh 15:1  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Joh 15:9  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

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The second and third stringed instruments, Psanterin – Psaltery, and Sabbka – Sackbut, are both found together in each of these verses (Dan 3:5, Dan 3:7, Dan 3:10, Dan 3:15), which is where they are being used in the negative context of exalting king Nebuchadnezzar who was commanding the flesh of men to bow down and worship him, representing how sin wants to rule over us (Rom 6:14-16). With this in mind let’s look more closely at the definitions of these words, starting with PsanterinH6460

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The key point we can take from these instruments is that they were working in conjunction with each other along with the other instruments, at this occasion with king Nebuchadnezzar, to inspire the masses to bow down and worship him [He being a type of Satan, the god of this world who was once our father whom God used to author our former conversation (Eph 2:1-3)]. The lesson for us to realize is that this is exactly what all the world is doing right now when they turn to the traditions of men and forsake God’s word (Mar 7:7, Jer 5:30-31). It is what we all naturally do as sheep that are led astray without our true shepherd Jesus Christ guiding us and strengthening us into a life of obedience to His words (Isa 53:6, Joh 10:2-5, Php 2:12-13, 1Jn 5:2-3). 

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

Mar 7:6  He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

Jer 5:30  A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
Jer 5:31  The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof [1Pe 4:18-19]?

Isa 53:6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isa 53:8  He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation [Luk 21:32, Rev 13:10, Rev 14:12, Luk 21:19]? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Joh 10:2  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 
Joh 10:3  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

These next four verses in Ephesians encourage us greatly (Eph 2:4-8) as they tell us how God is going to replace our former conversation, so we can now be considered true worshippers who are worshiping God in spirit and in truth (Joh 4:23). That kind of holy and undefiled worship is the only kind God will accept, and it can only manifest in the church through Christ who is the head of the church, the Vine (Eph 3:10, Eph 1:22-23).

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 
Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

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.

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 

Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 
Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

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One last instrument:

The KJV word “dulcimer,” found only in Daniel, is a mistranslation. Modern dulcimers are percussion based musical instruments that possess metal strings that are hit with lightweight hammers. Smith’s Bible Dictionary, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) and Wilmington’s Guide, however, all state the sumponia was possibly a type of bagpipe.

Tyndale’s Dictionary, however, argues the sumponia couldn’t have been a bagpipe, as musicologists believe no such instrument existed at the time of King Nebuchadnezzar. The uncertainty of the Hebrew makes it difficult to know what is being referenced.

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This last instrument in our list of instruments mentioned in the bible does not have a very clear origin. However, if we look at the surrounding verses in which we find it, we see it represents an instrument used to rally the people into an ungodly position of marching to the orders of Nebuchadnezzar. We have a modern saying that speaks of the conformity of mankind marching to the beat of the same drummer, and that is what the sumponiaH5481 or dulcimer was intended to produce; compliance to the wickedness of that age.

Many are called and few are chosen (Mat 22:14), and the few are called to march to the beat of a different drummer, Jesus Christ the true Shepherd, whom we are blessed to hear in this life and take our direction from as we are led by God’s spirit (Rom 8:14-16). 

He tells us to not be afraid of what men can do to our flesh and promises never to try us beyond the measure that we can endure (Mat 10:28, 1Co 10:13). He also tells His people not to take any anxious thought for the morrow and in the day of adversity not to give thought to what we should say, for the holy spirit will give us what we should say at that hour (Mat 10:19, Eph 6:13). 

In order to be an instrument of righteousness in this life we must be apprehended by our Lord, whose life within us can give us the power to forget what is behind us and go forward with hearts and minds that can glorify Him in all we say and do (Php 3:13-14).

Let us praise him and give thanks, for the bride has been promised to be made ready, and is ready even now in earnest awaiting the redemption of our souls (Rev 19:7, Col 1:14, Eph 1:7, 1Co 1:30, Rom 8:23).

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

Col 1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood [Rev 1:3], even the forgiveness of sins [Rom 2:4]: 

Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood [Rev 1:3],  the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace [Rom 2:4];

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption [Rev 1:3]: 

Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

]]> Musical Instruments in the Bible Part 10 – Stringed Instruments  https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/musical-instruments-in-the-bible-part-10-stringed-instruments/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=musical-instruments-in-the-bible-part-10-stringed-instruments Thu, 23 Nov 2023 19:46:21 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=28738 Audio Download

Musical Instruments in the bible, Part 10 – Stringed Instruments

[Asor – Instrument of ten strings (Gittith)]

[Study Aired November 23, 2023]

Stringed Instruments

The only thing known about the Asor was that it was a ten-stringed instrument. It was likely a type of harp such as a zither or lute.

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These first two stringed instruments we’re going to study are both connected to the flesh, and we will look at the accompanying verses where they’re used to help us understand what it is telling us about our flesh that is both represented by the number ten and the instrument itself.

The ten strings of this first instrument, known as the asorH6218, symbolize the flesh of man that we are all trying to always bring into submission to Christ (2Co 10:5-6). With Christ in us, we are a somber and solemn people who acknowledge that we are that ten-stringed instrument which can’t go beyond ‘ten’ except for the grace of God. He knows how to take our empty marred vessels and make them into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it (Jer 18:4), and even fill us with praise and fervent prayer that is likened unto “the harp.”

The second stringed instrument we will look at is called the gittithH1665 and was believed to have been retrieved by King David in the Philistine city of Gath. The symbolism is hard to miss, and even if the historical comments above are vague and without spiritual insight, the point remains true that Christ must give us victory over sin, which can be symbolized by king David, a type of Christ who retrieves [is retrieving] the musical instrument called ‘the gitteth’ from the Philistine city of Gath [Joh 8:36].

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 
2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

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

Christ must deliver the captive (2Ti 2:23-26) instruments of corruption that we all start off as, residing in the Philistine city of Gath. Through the hand of our Lord, we are then able, in time, to take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ as a stringed instrument that is now in tune with the mind of Christ and able to live in harmony with the rest of the body of Christ and be at peace with all men (2Co 10:5, Heb 12:14).

2Ti 2:23  But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. 
2Ti 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 
2Ti 2:25  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 
2Ti 2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. 

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Christ must deliver the captives from captivity:

Luk 21:22  For these be the days of vengeance, [1Pe 4:17, 1Jn 4:17, Rom 2:4] that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
Luk 21:23  But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people  [within and without].
Luk 21:24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: [Rev 13:9-10] and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled [Rev 11:2-5 – after God’s elect are judged and found worthy to be in the blessed and holy first resurrection, then the time of the Gentiles begins and will be fulfilled in the lake of fire, great white throne judgment].

Rev 13:9  If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

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.

Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity  captive, and gave gifts unto men. 

2Ti 2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. 

2Ti 3:6  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women [churches of Babylon we are called out of] laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 

Rev 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity [2Ti 2:26]: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints [The sword is the word of God that kills our old man as we decrease and Christ increases within us. We are able to “killeth with the sword” only because we have been decreasing as we die daily by the sword of God’s word, His spirit that makes it possible for us to die daily (Rom 2:24, Php 2:12-13)].

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Here are the three verses where we find the word AsorH6218 being used, (Psa 33:2, Psa 92:3, Psa 144:9), and there are a number of expressions that are used in the context of these verses which tell us something about our relationship with our heavenly Father and Christ, made known when the AsorH6218 is in use. 

In Psalm 33:2 we are told to do this:

Psa 33:1  Rejoice in the LORD, [Php 4:4, Rev 19:7] O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. 
Psa 33:2  Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten stringsH6218 (“Asor“).
Psa 33:3  Sing unto him a new song; play skilfullyH3190 with a loud noise. 
Psa 33:4  For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth  [Col 1:27, Php 2:12-13, Joh 14:6].

Rejoicing in the Lord is a way in which we praise God, and give Him thanks for the victory over the sin within us. When we play an instrument of ten strings skillfullyH3190, God’s word is telling us that we can have dominion over the flesh through Christ, but we go on to perfection only on the third day (Exo 15:1, Rev 14:2, Rev 15:2, Luk 17:10, Luk 13:32).

Gen 4:7  If thou doest wellH3190, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

In Psalm 92:1-6 we are told to do this:

Psa 92:1  A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
Psa 92:2  To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
Psa 92:3  Upon an instrument of ten stringsH6218 (“Asor”), and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn soundH1902.

Psa 92:4  For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands [Psa 139:14-16, Eph 2:10]. 
Psa 92:5  O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. 
Psa 92:6  A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.]

Psa 139:14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 
Psa 139:15  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 
Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Psa 139:16 Your eyes saw my embryo, And my days, all of them were written upon Your scroll; The days were formed When there was not one of them.”[CLV] [author and finisher of our faith, of our books (Heb 5:9, Heb 12:2)]

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We are the “ten strings”H6218 that God is mercifully working with, and we acknowledge we are nothing more than instruments in His hands which He likens to “psaltery”H5035, and it is in this place “the harp”H3658 can make its “solemn sound” that the Lord is forming through those who sigh and cry a solemn and somber cry (1Pe 5:7-9) in this age for the abominations He is allowing to unfold (Eze 9:4).

In Psalm 144 we are told to do this:

Psa 144:9  I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten stringsH6218 (“Asor”) will I sing praises unto thee.

This “new song” is presented nine times in the KJV (Psa 33:3, Psa 40:3, Psa 96:1, Psa 98:1, Psa 144:9, Psa 149:1, Isa 42:10, Rev 5:9, Rev 14:3), and it is in the last instance mentioned, with its surrounding verses, that we are also told ‘no man could learn that song but those which were redeemed from the earth… not defiled… virgins… which follow the Lamb… redeemed from among men… firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb… no guile… without fault before the throne of God.’

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. 
Rev 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 
Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. 
Rev 14:5  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

As our heavens are cleansed of false doctrines, these false riches are replaced with the true riches of knowing God and Christ and His body (Joh 17:3), and we can now sing a new song of praise, meaning we are able to worship God in spirit and in truth now that all things are new in Christ (Joh 4:23, 2Co 5:17) having had our heavens cleansed of all filthiness (2Co 7:1). 

All of this is worship unfolding within the earnest condition (Eph 1:14, Rom 8:23, Rom 8:19, Php 1:20) we are in  “upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings”, the ten now representing the positive relation of the number ten being fulfilled in a life that is being led by the spirit of God (Rom 8:14) and glorifying Him with all our thoughts and actions which power He is giving us through Christ to bring into subjection unto him (Rom 8:16, 1Co 10:31, 2Co 10:5).

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We will now explore the use of the Hebrew word GittithH1665, that is found in the first verse of each Psalm this Strong’s number is found (Psa 8:1, Psa 81:1, Psa 84:1).

The word GittithH1665 is both “a wine-press” and a “harp”, according to Brown-Driver-Briggs and Strong. There is definitely a correlation between these Psalms that helps us understand the process of judgment God’s elect have been going through, and are going through, and will be going through, as our Father grants us to be the first grapes, or kind of first fruits (Jas 1:18), being dragged to this “wine-press” which represents what it means to be connected to the Vine who crushes those grapes (Joh 15:5, Mat 21:44). Christ is working this wine-press in our lives all according to the counsel of our Father’s will (Eph 1:11, Col 1:27, Joh 5:1 , Joh 12:29, Heb 13:8).

Psa 8:1  To the chief Musician upon GittithH1665, A Psalm of David. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 
Psa 8:2  Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 
Psa 8:3  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 
Psa 8:4  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 
Psa 8:5  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Psa 8:6  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 

In Psalm 8:1 we learn of the excellency of God in what He does in His workmanship which we are; a workmanship that is typified by the earth and the heavens (Psa 8:1). The earth is the church (Jer 22:29), and the heavens represent where Christ abides within us as our hope of glory (Col 1:27, Heb 9:23).

Psa 81:1  To the chief Musician upon GittithH1665, A Psalm of Asaph. Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. 
Psa 81:2  Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. 
Psa 81:3  Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. 
Psa 81:4  For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. 
Psa 81:5  This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
Psa 81:6  I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

In the second verse that uses the word GittithH1665 (Psa 81:1), we see how that workmanship of God offers up the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving (1Pe 2:5, Heb 13:5, 2Co 4:15, 2Co 9:11, Php 4:6, Col 4:2-3) to our Creator, “unto the God of Jacob” (Psa 81:1).

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

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

2Co 9:11  Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.

Php 4:6  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Col 4:2  Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
Col 4:3  Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bond

Psa 84:1  To the chief Musician upon GittithH1665, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
Psa 84:2  My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 
Psa 84:3  Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. 
Psa 84:4  Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah. 
Psa 84:5  Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.

In the third use of the word GittithH1665 (Psa 84:1), we learn of the longing and groaning that comes forth from the body of Christ because of the judgment that is upon us as fellow laborers in Christ (1Co 3:9, Mat 9:37-38, Rev 6:11) and the fruit of having a strong desire to know God that only comes about through that judgment (Isa 26:9, Psa 84:12).

The sons of Korah (ref. vs 1) are Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph [three sons, representing the process of judgment on the new man typified by Korah’s sons], and they formed the tribes known as the Korahites who were the children of Korah (1Ch 9:19). Korah was a Levite who rebelled against Moses, and the two hundred and fifty men who rebelled with Korah represent our old man who must be swallowed up by the earth and die (Num 16:2, Num 16:19–30). The number [250] represents a multiple of the number five, which is grace that is experienced when we die and are baptized into Christ’s death (Tit 2:12, Heb 12:6, Rom 6:3). Korah and the men of renown within us must die [typifying rebellious Babylon in our flesh]. The seed must die [250 men of renown] in order to bring forth fruit (Joh 12:24), and that fruit is represented by the sons of Korah found in 1 Chronicles 6:31-48, “whom David set over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after that the ark had rest” (1Ch 6:31). It is only when we are granted to rest in the Lord that these works can be accomplished in the body of Christ by our Lord (Php 2:12-13, Col 1:27).

Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

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

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Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the next two stringed instruments in our study of instruments in the bible, the Kathros or Harp, and Kinor which is another type of harp.

Hebrew: Kathros
KJV Name: Harp
Strong’s: #H7030
References: Daniel 3:5, 7, 10, 15

Found only in the book of Daniel, the kathros (an Aramaic word) was a stringed instrument played at Nebuchadnezzar’s court. It was possibly a type of lyre.

Hebrew: Kinnor
KJV Name: Harp
Strong’s: #H3658
References: Genesis 4:21, 31:27, 1Samuel 10:5, 16:16, 23, 2Samuel 6:5, 1Kings 10:12, 1Chronicles 13:8, 15:16, 21, 28, 16:5, etc.

The kinnor has the distinction of being the first musical instrument recorded in Scripture. Its creation is credited to a man named Jubal who was of Cain’s lineage (Genesis 4:16 – 21). The kinnor is sometimes referred to as David’s harp.

This instrument is small enough to be played while walking (1 Samuel 10:5) and made of wood. Its strings were crafted from sheep tripe. David, when an evil spirit bothered King Saul, would play his kinnor and chase the demon away (1 Samuel 16:23)! The kinnor was used to worship and praise God (2 Samuel 6:5, Psalm 43:4), utter prophecies (1 Chronicles 25:3), and bid farewell to loved ones (Genesis 31:27).

]]> Study of the Book of Kings – 1Ki 8:61-66 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/study-of-the-book-of-kings-1ki-861-66-let-your-heart-therefore-be-perfect-with-the-lord-our-god/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=study-of-the-book-of-kings-1ki-861-66-let-your-heart-therefore-be-perfect-with-the-lord-our-god Thu, 27 Jan 2022 16:21:02 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=25144 1Ki 8:61-66 “Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God”
[Study Aired January 27, 2022]

1Ki 8:61  Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day. 
1Ki 8:62  And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD. 
1Ki 8:63  And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. 
1Ki 8:64  The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings. 
1Ki 8:65  And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. 
1Ki 8:66  On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people. 

The word “perfect”H8003 in the first verse of our study (1Ki 8:61) means ‘complete’, ‘made ready’ and ‘whole’, and it comes from H7999 which means ‘to make amends’, ‘recompense’, ‘render’, ‘requite’, ‘make restitution’ and ‘restore’.

Within the 28 occurrences that the word perfectH8003 is used, we read in 1 Kings 6:7, “And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made readyH8003 before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.”

“There was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building” is another way of telling the elect of God that we have been been ordained from the foundation of the world to be “made ready”H8003 (Eph 2:9-10, 1Pe 1:20, Rev 13:8) through Christ who restores us and makes restitution for us by reconciling us by His blood (“are madeG1096 [G5675] – Aorist tense) nighG1451 by the bloodG129 of ChristG5547” (Eph 2:13, Col 1:20, Eph 2:13, Rev 19:7, Rev 7:14).

Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. [We are made ready by walking in them. (1Jn 1:7, Heb 10:25)]

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 

1Pe 1:20  Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

[As God’s will is fulfilled in our life in earth as it is in heaven, we believe that God is working all things according to the counsel of His own will in order to redeem all of His creation in time (Mat 6:10, Eph 1:11, 2Sa 14:14)]

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nighG1451 by the blood of Christ. 
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 

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

Rev 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 

Knowing what the word perfectH8003 means helps set the stage for the rest of our study as we learn of the type and figure actions of king Solomon that were written for our sakes to help us understand how we can go onto perfection on the third day as the bride of Christ as we keep His commandments (2Co 4:15, Luk 13:32).

2Co 4:15  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

1Ki 8:61  Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day. 

King Saul, a type of the rejected anointed, did not act perfectly “with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day” (1Sa 13:13):

1Sa 13:13  And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.

If we contrast this verse against the following three verses that have the word perfectH8003 in them, we learn that it was because of Solomon’s being turned away by his wives when he was old that his heart was not perfectH8003 with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. “His wives” represent the churches of Babylon that produce the false doctrines which prevent us from keeping his commandments until we are called ‘out of her, my people’. King Saul/old king Solomon, representing our old man, must die daily in order for us to go onto perfection on the third day  (Deu 25:15, 1Ki 8:61, 1Ki 11:4, 2Co 6:17, Luk 13:32).

Deu 25:15  But thou shalt have a perfectH8003 and just weight, a perfectH8003 and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened (Eph 6:2) in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 

1Ki 8:61  Let your heart therefore be perfectH8003 with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

1Ki 11:4  For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfectH8003 with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. 

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

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

1Ki 8:62  And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD. 
1Ki 8:63  And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. 

“The king” represents Christ in this verse who offered 22,000 oxen as “peace offerings” (Eph 2:14, Php 4:7), which is a witness [22] of the spiritual strength that Christ [the Oxen] has over the flesh that must go through a process of judgment (22x10x10x10=22,000).

The 120,000 sheep represent the whole church [4] or body of Christ that must go through a process of judgment (Rom 8:36-37) while in the flesh [3×10 and 120,000/30=4000] (1Pe 4:17).

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter [“an hundred and twenty thousand sheep“].
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 

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

God’s spirit will not always strive with man, “for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (Gen 6:3). The striving we are experiencing now of spirit against flesh (Gal 5:17-18, 1Co 15:22-23, Rom 8:21-25) is for the benefit of the rest of the creation that will be judged by the church that will have been made ready to execute those judgments at the great white throne judgment as a result of our wrestling through the night [12 hours] with Christ in this shadow of the valley of death time called flesh (1Co 15:24-25, Gen 32:24, Psa 23:4). It is by our Father and Christ reigning through us that we will put all enemies under his feet (Isa 41:15), which feet represent God’s elect who will go where our Head directs us to put an end to all carnal thinking or fleshly thinking represented by the one hundred and twenty years that will be conquered and established on [“an hundred and twenty thousand sheep“] (Oba 1:21).

Gen 6:3  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. [120]

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 
Gal 5:18  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 

Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

Gen 32:24  And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 

Psa 23:4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 

Isa 41:15  Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. 

It took both ‘groups’ of sacrifice for the house of the LORD to be dedicated, “So the king and all the children of Israel” telling us that Christ and His body are the living sacrifice required in order for God’s plan of saving all of mankind to be accomplished upon the foundational sacrifice of Christ includes His head and body [typifying Christ, “Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen” and the elect “an hundred and twenty thousand sheep” offered at the hand of a fit man, Christ Lev 16:10, Lev 16:21]. The dedication of the altar is accomplished by the living sacrifice that God calls the body of Christ to be, who follows the example of our head, Jesus Christ (Eph 4:15-16).

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

Eph 4:15  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all ways into Messiah, who is the Head. 
Eph 4:16  From Him the whole body is fitted and held together by every supporting ligament. The proper working of each individual part produces the body’s growth, for building itself up in love. 

1Ki 8:64  The same day did the king hallowH6942 the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

The temple was dedicated through sacrifices, and there was an order as to what was first ‘sanctified’ or ‘hallowed’, as was demonstrated in these verses explaining how different parts of the temple were being hallowed with the same types of sacrifices in 1 Kings 8:63-64.

1Ki 8:63  And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD. 
1Ki 8:64  The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too little to receive the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

What we are being shown is that the day of the Lord, typified by the words “the same day“, is a day of visitation that comes upon us at an appointed time (Luk 19:42), the one event that is common to all men, and so this verse reads: “The same day did the king hallowH6942 the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD” reminding us that “for if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches” (Rom 11:16-21).

Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 
Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 
Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 
Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 
Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 
Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 

Christ died for the sins of the world, and the elect are represented by the priests who present their lives a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1) who offer “burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings” that are washed with the water from the “brasen altar“. The priest who represents the elect also offers the same “burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings” in “the middle of the court” which represents our preaching the gospel to all nations, to every man, in hopes that some “should be saved” (Act 2:47, Act 27:20) through that gospel message which is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Mar 16:15, 1Co 9:22,  Luk 8:12, Rom 1:16). We know and believe that the word of God will not return void (Isa 55:11), so our witness of being a living sacrifice and laboring in the Lord is never in vain, which is also symbolized by these sacrifices that are being made in “the middle of the court” as well as at the “brasen altar” (1Co 15:58).

Act 2:47  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. 

Act 27:20  And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. 

Mar 16:15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 

Luk 8:12  Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 

Isa 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Today is a day of salvation and not the day (2Co 6:2 [CLV]), and it is very few who are called in this age to continue in that belief (Joh 8:31-32) as most are offended when they realize we must fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ by eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ. Flesh just naturally prefers someone else doing the work (Jas 2:20) which is what the false doctrine of the substitutionary atonement is all about (Col 1:24, Joh 6:52-66).

2Co 6:2  For He is saying, “In a season acceptable I reply to you, And in a day of salvation I help you. Lo! Now is a most acceptable era! Lo! Now is a day of salvation!” [CLV]

Jas 2:20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 

Joh 8:31  Jesus, then, said to the Jews who have believed Him, “If ever you should be remaining in My word, you are truly My disciples,
Joh 8:32  and you will know the truth, and the truth will be making you free.” [CLV]

Joh 6:52  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 
Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Joh 6:59  These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 
Joh 6:60  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 
Joh 6:61  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
Joh 6:62  What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Joh 6:64  But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 
Joh 6:65  And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

1Ki 8:65  And at that time Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of HamathH2574 unto the river of EgyptH4714, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. 
1Ki 8:66  On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people. 

If we look at the definitions of these two words [“Hamath” and “Egypt”] it becomes clear that “from the entering in of HamathH2574 unto the river of EgyptH4714” is symbolically speaking of the time that we live out, as the generation in our flesh that yet has a wall of partition about our hearts that is not yet broken down, witnessed by the numbers “seven days and seven days, even fourteen days“(Eph 2:14). Our wilderness experience is represented by two (2) sevens, the duplicitous completely double-minded man we all start off as in our former conversation (Jer 17:9, Jas 1:8-9, Eph 2:1-3) who is held in the bondage of sin until the son of God sets us free through a lifetime of overcoming and enduring until the end, if we are God’s elect in ‘this age’ (Joh 8:36).

Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down [Tense-Aorist See (G5777)] the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished [Tense-Aorist See (G5777)] in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 

Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 
Jas 1:9  Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 

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

It is “on the eighth day he sent the people away” which is symbolic of the new man who is sent off as Christ and the elect were (Joh 20:21, Joh 12:47) after we’ve been drawn to the temple of God which is where Christ abides (Luk 2:42, Luk 2:46,  Joh 6:44) and where we are reconciled by His life, symbolized by Solomon who is a type of the elect who is used to pronounce these blessings and dedications of the temple of which we previously read in 1 Kings 8:63-64. Those sacrifices typify our life being sacrificed and dedicated at the altar which is the cross of Christ (Gal 2:20).

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

Joh 12:47  And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

Luk 2:42  And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. 

Luk 2:46  And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 

It is “a great congregation” and “all Israel with him” who come to this great “feast” that is held by Solomon. Solomon represents those who are called to the supper of the great God, and now, in the positive sense, are feasting on the flesh of the world, meaning we are destroying the carnality of man through judgment which is leading to the new man symbolized by this feast (Rev 19:17-18).

Rev 19:17  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 
Rev 19:18  That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

Satan is given power to feast on the flesh of man during those symbolic fourteen days from Abel to Zacharias (Luk 11:51), but when the eighth day comes, flesh is put off and we are told in symbolic language what the world will then proclaim unto God with these words, typical of the day coming when God will be all in all (1Co 15:28). All the world will acknowledge His greatness and what He has done through Christ His servant (Mar 10:45, 1Jn 4:17): “On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.“

Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

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

Mar 10:45  For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. 

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 

The title of our study is “Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God“, and because God has granted the elect to see that we are the generation guilty of “the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias” and in need of presenting our lives as a living sacrifice which can only be done through Christ, we can “therefore be perfect with the LORD our God” going on to perfection on the third day having an abased heart that understands our existence and state of mind (1Co 2:16, Php 2:5-7, 1Co 1:25-27) are all a gift from God (Mat 23:12, Psa 51:17, Isa 66:2, Luk 13:32, Eph 2:8-10).

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

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 
Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 
Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 

1Co 1:25  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 
1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 

Mat 23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 

Isa 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

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

]]> Gospels in Harmony – Luke 17:11-19 Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers, Part 1 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/gospels-in-harmony-luke-1711-19-jesus-cleanses-ten-lepers-part-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gospels-in-harmony-luke-1711-19-jesus-cleanses-ten-lepers-part-1 Tue, 28 Jul 2020 18:39:29 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=21203 Gospels in Harmony – Luke 17:11-19 Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers, Part 1
[Study Aired July 27, 2020]

Luk 17:11-19 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Tonight’s study will focus on the “ten men that were lepers” and “Go shew yourselves unto the priests”. The number ten deals with the “completeness of the flesh”. Here is a link to the spiritual significance of the number ten.

The Spiritual Meaning of the Number Ten

Leprosy is a symbol of sin or lack of understanding of the doctrines of Christ. The flesh of Christ, His body, must be healthy to understand the doctrines of Christ in order to overcome the world and its carnality.

Pro 4:1-2 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

Joh 7:16-18 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

2Jn 1:9-11 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

We need to review Leviticus 13, 14 and part of 22 to understand how leprosy is diagnosed and how it is cleansed.

The leper is sent to the priest or one of the sons of the priest and they will determine if there is a leprosy present.

Lev 13:1-3 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

Aaron and his sons represent the elders of the church. The priests examine the spot in the skin. In spiritual-speak the elders review the suspected lack of understanding that is within the member(s) of the body of Christ.

Lev 13:4-6 If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days: And the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague in his sight be at a stay, and the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more: And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is but a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.

After determining there is no leprosy, seeing this is just a sore, the priest pronounces him clean, but he must still must wash his clothes. In other words, only part of the body has succumbed to this sin (lack of understanding), and they have their understanding corrected by the “washing of the water”. Notice there are two seven-day periods during which the priest shut up the leper.

Eph 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Now the scab is spread throughout the body and is pronounced unclean. This leprosy (sin of the body) is now spreading throughout the whole congregation.

Lev 13:7-8 But if the scab spread much abroad in the skin, after that he hath been seen of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the priest again: And if the priest see that, behold, the scab spreadeth in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a leprosy.

Lev 13:9-11 When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought unto the priest; And the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the rising be white in the skin, and it have turned the hair white, and there be quick raw flesh in the rising; It is an old leprosy in the skin of his flesh, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean, and shall not shut him up: for he is unclean.

What is an “old leprosy”? It is mixing the old law with the new not understanding there has been a change in the law.

Heb 7:11-12 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

Mat 9:16-17 No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

Next, the “leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and it is all turned white” tells us that the sin or lack of understanding that was in part of the body has been exposed and corrected.

Lev 13:12-13 And if a leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague from his head even to his foot, wheresoever the priest looketh; Then the priest shall consider: and, behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: it is all turned white: he is clean.

Psa 51:6-7 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

The following section of Leviticus 13 shows us there are many things that can cause us to be unclean and the changes of the skin can show us the leprosy has been cleansed. The unclean person is considered contagious and therefore must be separated from the congregation.

Lev 13:14-15 But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean. And the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean: for the raw flesh is unclean: it is a leprosy.

As we all know, flesh is corrupted and cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.

Gen 6:11-12 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

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

Gal 6:7-8 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 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.

If the raw flesh is changed to white, it becomes clean.

Lev 13:16-17 Or if the raw flesh turn again, and be changed unto white, he shall come unto the priest; And the priest shall see him: and, behold, if the plague be turned into white; then the priest shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: he is clean.

Psa 19:12-13 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous (proud) sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

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

Just because there is some healing, does not mean the leper is completely clean.

Lev 13:18-20-22 The flesh also, in which, even in the skin thereof, was a boil, and is healed, And in the place of the boil there be a white rising, or a bright spot, white, and somewhat reddish, and it be shewed to the priest; And if, when the priest seeth it, behold, it be in sight lower than the skin, and the hair thereof be turned white; the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague of leprosy broken out of the boil.

Several times, as part of the process of determining if the leper is clean or unclean, they are shut up for seven days up to fourteen days. This represents a time of maturity or lack thereof.

Lev 13:21-22 But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hairs therein, and if it be not lower than the skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days: And if it spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a plague.

Now a new symptom is added to the diagnosis – Burning.

Lev 13:23  But if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not, it is a burning boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean. 

Lev 13:24-25 Or if there be any flesh, in the skin whereof there is a hot burning, and the quick flesh that burneth have a white bright spot, somewhat reddish, or white; Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the hair in the bright spot be turned white, and it be in sight deeper than the skin; it is a leprosy broken out of the burning: wherefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy. 

Lev 13:26-27 But if the priest look on it, and, behold, there be no white hair in the bright spot, and it be no lower than the other skin, but be somewhat dark; then the priest shall shut him up seven days: And the priest shall look upon him the seventh day: and if it be spread much abroad in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is the plague of leprosy.

Lev 13:28  And if the bright spot stay in his place, and spread not in the skin, but it be somewhat dark; it is a rising of the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him clean: for it is an inflammation of the burning. 

This burning has a negative and a positive meaning – One causing death (lack of understanding) and the other saving life (understanding).

Num 26:60-61 And unto Aaron was born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the LORD.

Psa 118:18 The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. 

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. 

There is another part of the body that can be affected – The head.

Lev 13:29-30 If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard; Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard. 

Lev 13:31-34 And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it be not in sight deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days: And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague: and, behold, if the scall spread not, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the scall be not in sight deeper than the skin; He shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up him that hath the scall seven days more: And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall: and, behold, if the scall be not spread in the skin, nor be in sight deeper than the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.

Lev 13:35-36 But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing; Then the priest shall look on him: and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he is unclean.

Lev 13:37-41 But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean. If a man also or a woman have in the skin of their flesh bright spots, even white bright spots; Then the priest shall look: and, behold, if the bright spots in the skin of their flesh be darkish white; it is a freckled spot that groweth in the skin; he is clean. And the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean. And he that hath his hair fallen off from the part of his head toward his face, he is forehead bald: yet is he clean.

Lev 13:42-45 And if there be in the bald head, or bald forehead, a white reddish sore; it is a leprosy sprung up in his bald head, or his bald forehead. Then the priest shall look upon it: and, behold, if the rising of the sore be white reddish in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, as the leprosy appeareth in the skin of the flesh; He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head. And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.

The leprosy in the head is a symbol of having “another Jesus…another  spirit” or “another gospel”.

2Co 11:1-4 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Lev 13:46  All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.

1Co 5:1-6 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

There is another thing that must be checked for leprosy. It is the garments which are worn.

Lev 13:47-57 The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it be a woollen garment, or a linen garment; Whether it be in the warp, or woof [woven or knitted material]; of linen, or of woollen; whether in a skin, or in any thing made of skin; And if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a plague of leprosy, and shall be shewed unto the priest: And the priest shall look upon the plague, and shut up it that hath the plague seven days: And he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of skin; the plague is a fretting leprosy; it is unclean. He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woollen or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire. And if the priest shall look, and, behold, the plague be not spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; Then the priest shall command that they wash the thing wherein the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more: And the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without. And if the priest look, and, behold, the plague be somewhat dark after the washing of it; then he shall rend it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof: And if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in any thing of skin; it is a spreading plague: thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire.

Lev 13:58-59 And the garment, either warp, or woof, or whatsoever thing of skin it be, which thou shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean. This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or any thing of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.

Garments represent “righteousness”.

Psa 132:9 Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy.

Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

In our next study we will review chapter Leviticus 14 to see how we can cure the disease of leprosy.

]]> Job 19:1-14 “He Has Kindled His Wrath Against Me” https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/job_19_1_14/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=job_19_1_14 Sun, 10 Jun 2012 16:41:16 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=3152 Audio Links

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Job 19:1-14 He Has Kindled His Wrath Against Me
Job 19:1  Then Job answered and said,
Job 19:2  How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?
Job 19:3  These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
Job 19:4  And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.
Job 19:5  If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:
Job 19:6  Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.
Job 19:7  Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.
Job 19:8  He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
Job 19:9  He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
Job 19:10  He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
Job 19:11  He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.
Job 19:12  His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.
Job 19:13  He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
Job 19:14  My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

Introduction

Job is a type and shadow of those who have been given “the patience and faith of the saints”. Job is extolled by the holy spirit as such:

Jas 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

But none of us are born patient. We are immediately screaming at the top of our little helpless lungs to be given what we need. Patience is not an inherited virtue. Patience comes only through overcoming impatience.
It is the entire story of Job’s trials which demonstrates for us “the end of the Lord”. It is this book which demonstrates “that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy”. The message is that just as any loving father chastens his children for their own good, our heavenly Father was very patient in His dealings with Job’s reproofs, contending and condemnations against his own heavenly Father. In being patient with Job’s faults, we are told in this verse of Jas 5 that Job “endured”, and it was through his enduring the patient chastening and scourging of his heavenly Father that Job learned to be patient.
Job’s patience certainly will not be evident in Job as we go through today’s study. Patience is a virtue which by its very definition requires the endurance of trials which trials require the passing of time which one does not want to endure. So Job demonstrates for us that patience is learned only through first being impatient.
Do any of these words demonstrate “the patience of Job”?

Job 19:1  Then Job answered and said,
Job 19:2  How long will ye vex my soul, and break me in pieces with words?

Neither Job nor his “miserable comforters” display any patience with each other.

Job 19:3  These ten times have ye reproached me: ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.
Job 19:4  And be it indeed that I have erred, mine error remaineth with myself.

“These ten times” is obviously an idiom conveying the sense of many or endless times. If we count the number of speakers we have only Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, and only Eliphaz and Bildad have spoken twice. So that form of calculation gives us only five attacks upon Job. If we consider every verse as an attack we have multiple tens of attacks against Job. As we know this number ’10’ is associated with the completion and perfection of the flesh, and we see this phrase used in this sense elsewhere in scripture:

Gen 31:7  And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
Lev 26:25  And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Lev 26:26  And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
 Num 14:22  Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Dan 1:17  As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

Dan 1:20  And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them [ Daniel and Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego] ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

If we understand Jacob’s uncle Laban in Gen 31 to be a type of the lying false prophet, he certainly lied more than ‘ten times’.  
If we understand these women in Lev 26 to be a type of the church and her daughters, there are far more than a literal ‘ten’ false churches feeding us with ‘bread’ which does not satisfy our hunger for God’s Truth.
While there are efforts to make Israel’s rebellions against God a mere literal ten times until the rebellion at the spying out of the land here in Num 14, the Truth is that we, as Israel, are always in rebellion against our own Savior until we are crushed to powder and given His faith and His mind.
Since “God gave [ Daniel and his three friends] knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom”, it is obvious that they were far more than a mere literal “ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all [ the] realm [ of Babylon]”.
“… Ye are not ashamed that ye make yourselves strange to me.”
The Hebrew word translated ‘strange’ is ‘hakar’, and according to Strong’s, it means to injure. ‘You are not ashamed to injure me when you said you were my friends and that you were coming to comfort me in my severe suffering. How can you do this?’ That is the sense of what Job is saying. Yet that is exactly what we all just naturally do to all who we see suffering severe trials in this world.
We are all guilty of doing this, but when we do so we do so unto Christ Himself:

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.

What we are unwittingly doing is ‘magnifying ourselves’ against Christ Himself, and we do so by pleading the fact that it is after all He who is hanging there with known thieves upon that reproachful cross.

Job 19:5  If indeed ye will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:
Job 19:6  Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.

“God hath overthrown me…” The one thing which Job and his friends realize, which we often do not realize, is that God is sovereign even over the evil that is in this world. Neither Job nor his friends had yet come to see that God uses evil to produce good, but they all realized that what had happened to Job was what God alone had caused to be done to Job.
This book of Job is a Biblical demonstration of the function of the work of grace within the lives of all of God’s elect.

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

The Greek word for ‘teaching’ in Tit 2:11 is ‘paideuo’. ‘Paideuo’ is most often translated as ‘chasten’, and that is the function of God’s grace. “Who the Lord loves He chastens [ Greek – paideuo]”.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [ Greek – paideuo], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

This 12th chapter of Hebrews ends with these words:

Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

“Our God” is our God’s Word, and it is His fiery Word which consumes and condemns our unrighteous and ungodly ways (Jer 5:14).
But the law and the prophets knew nothing of the work of “grace through faith”, and we are all under the law “until the time appointed of the Father”.

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.
Gal 3:26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors [ the ‘schoolmaster’ law] until the time appointed of the father.

Paul has just informed us that the ‘faith’ that justifies us and which brings us out from under the law which is our “schoolmaster to bring us to Christ”, is “the faith of Jesus Christ which is “given to them that believe”.

Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

It is obvious that Paul considered being “under the law” and being “under sin” as one and the same. So our faith is not ‘our faith’ at all. It is the “faith of Jesus Christ”.
But Job and his friends are types of us while we are still in Babylon and while we are still under the law of Babylon.

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

As such we all act and react just as Job and his friends who, we are seeing in every verse, have neither love nor patience with each other
or with God and His ways.
It is while we are still “under the law” that Christ warns us all never to condemn others as greater sinners than ourselves just because He is performing His work of grace in the lives of those others whose old man He is in the process of destroying.

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

What God is saying to us as we are typified by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, is “Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? Those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”.
But as typified by Job and his friends, we cannot see this, so we just naturally condemn those whom God uses to cause us our pain, and in so doing we are doing nothing less than condemning our own Lord who is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11).

Job 19:7  Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud, but there is no judgment.

“There is no judgment”? No, that is not the case. What is the case is that we simply do not want to be judged. We resent God’s destructive judgment upon the kingdom of our beast.
“I cry out of wrong”? Job knows who has brought all of this upon Him. He tells us exactly who is doing it all:

Job 1:20  Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Job 1:21  And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Is the Lord really “taking away” all that we have in this world? Is He truly intent upon destroying our “first man Adam”? Is His wrath really being poured out upon us for what He has made us to be? Does God truly count our ‘old man, the  first man Adam’ “as one of His enemies”? Job and King David as types of God’s elect tell us this:

Job 19:8  He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths.
Job 19:9  He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken the crown from my head.
Job 19:10  He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
Job 19:11  He hath also kindled his wrath against me, and he counteth me unto him as one of his enemies.

Psa 90:3  Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

Why does God “turn man to destruction”? It is right here in this same 90th Psalm:

Psa 90:5  Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
Psa 90:6  In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
Psa 90:7  For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
Psa 90:8  Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
Psa 90:9  For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
Psa 90:10  The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Psa 90:11  Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.

Is not King David a type of Christ and His elect? Did not God pour out His wrath upon King David as he did upon Job?

Psa 88:6  Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
Psa 88:7  Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
Psa 88:8  Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

Both Job and King David are made to be an abomination to their acquaintances just as we all are made to be when our old man is being destroyed by God’s wrath. 

Job 19:12  His troops come together, and raise up their way against me, and encamp round about my tabernacle.

Who are God’s “troops” who “raise up their way against” Christ’s elect? Job reproves, contends with and condemns His own Savior, but, as the type and shadow of God’s elect, he is brought to repentance in advance of his critics, and through Job’s prayer for his detractors they are saved. This same prophetic event will all be repeated later in the story of Joseph who is God’s instrument of salvation for his brothers who hate and reject and persecute him just as Job’s friends treat Job with such little regard.

Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, t hey hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Job’s rejection by his friends is the type and shadow of those upon whom “judgment must… first begin…” (1Pe 4:17).
So who are God’s “troops” whom He uses to “raise up their way against [ God’s elect]”? Who did he raise up against His own Son, our Savior?

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

Yes, it was His own people who delivered our Lord up to the Gentile Romans to be crucified. But it was all do by “Thy hand and Thy counsel”.
Here is another verse which tells us who are God’s “troops” who accomplish what ‘God’s hand and God’s counsel have determined before to be done’.

Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
Psa 17:14  From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

Before we can become worthy of being delivered as “the apple of [ God’s] eye” (Psa 19:8), we must first come to see ourselves as “the wicked which is thy sword”.

Job 19:13  He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.
Job 19:14  My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

The body of our Lord hanging upon the cross is the type of us as His elect while we are in this world. His ‘brethren’ were made to be “far from [ Him]”.

Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We are as that serpent on a pole at which all men dying in their sins must gawk before they can be saved:

1Co 4:9  For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.
Luk 23:35  And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

We too, are to be “crucified with Christ”. We too, are rejected of all men and forsaken by our closest acquaintances. After all, Christ is our example, and He too, was rejected of all men and was betrayed by his own disciple:

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

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

When we are granted to see ourselves as all that is in “the first man Adam”, including Judas and all the other disciples who forsook their Savior to save their own skins, we will be granted to understand how this verse is a verse we all “live by”.

Joh 13:18  I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.

“I speak not of you all” refers to the fact that not all will continue to deny our Lord to the time of being cast into the lake of fire after the millennium. It does not refer to any of Christ’s disciples being innocent of denying our Lord. We are all guilty of that sin.

Mar 14:50  And they all forsook him, and fled.
Mar 14:51  And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him:
Mar 14:52  And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

“They all forsook Him”, means we all forsake Him, and we all flee from Him naked when we do so.
“That the scripture may be fulfilled” refers to King David’s experience, which the holy spirit through the apostle John, without explanation, appropriates to Christ’s sad experience with Judas:

Psa 41:9  Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.

Again in Psa 55:

Psa 55:12  For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:
Psa 55:13  But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.
Psa 55:14  We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.

If we think that Judas or David’s ‘guide and his acquaintance’ is not within our own flesh as the type of our own ‘old man, the first man Adam’ within us, then these words will be falling on deaf ears and will be being read by blinded eyes. “It was you…” means what it says. We are that man!
Next week, if the Lord wills, we will see that Job, in type, comes to “see God”:

Job 19:15  They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.
Job 19:16  I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
Job 19:17  My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children’s sake of mine own body.
Job 19:18  Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me.
Job 19:19  All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.
Job 19:20  My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.
Job 19:21  Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
Job 19:22  Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?
Job 19:23  Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book!
Job 19:24  That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever!
Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
Job 19:26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Job 19:27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
Job 19:28  But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?
Job 19:29  Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.

]]> Born Again_Gestation Mystery Solved! https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/born-again_gestation-mystery-solved/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=born-again_gestation-mystery-solved Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:00:01 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=1990

R____ wrote:
Born Again From A to Z
I have long had the question in my mind as to when is the exact moment that we are considered born again. I have also long questioned….
1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
… as to why Paul called these Corinthian believers (babes). A babe is one that is born.
I have also long considered, is there a gestation period when we are begotten but as yet unborn?

Is it possible to make a close comparison with physical begettal, gestation, then born, then as born babes that go on to maturity, with a spiritual process that duplicates the physical? And make these comparisons from scripture?
    
Let’s start with begettal. When is one begotten and with what?
Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
The above verse gives the answer. When we start our journey in accepting the word into our minds, this is Him begetting us, and this being His will and not ours. He impregnates us with His physical word. This is the first coming of Christ.
This begettal would mark the beginning of the process of gestation. Is there a spiritual gestation? Not long ago I learned that the number 10 in scripture signifies completion of the flesh. I also came to see that human gestation Isa 280 days. We have all heard that it takes nine months to make a baby. But God did not use the Pope’s calendar. God’s calendar as revealed in scripture has 28 day months. So this 280 day gestation equals 10, 28 day months. 10 months to complete the process of human gestation, or completion of the flesh.
    
When we as beasts suffer a deadly wound, we die in type by the sword of the word. We at this point experience a begettal of the word. We as the first beast are dying by this deadly blow from the word or impregnation of His word. We then go through a gestation period in the church and are (being) born, or (being) resurrected as a worst beast. This is how Paul can call the Corinthians (babes) on milk. This is the 40 day period of judgment represented by the time of Jesus’ resurrection to ascension, 40 days in the wilderness, and also Jesus’ 40 day fast. This was shadowed by the rain in Noah’s day, when it rained forty days and nights and then raised the ark, which was full of beasts (the body of Christ). We are (now) being raised from the dead, (the church). Then we have a ten day period from ascension to fullness at Pentecost. The beast suffers another wound unto death, which we that are God’s elect are in (now), dying daily until we die. This is marked by the receiving the spirit of His word. Another begettal of the spirit. Ten representing gestation (the completion (the end) of the flesh. We are born again babes, and at the same time in a gestation period toward fullness. Jesus is the firstborn that has totally passed from death unto life (born). We have only received in earnest. We are dying daily by the sword as beasts. We are born babes maturing into the image of Christ, and we are in a gestation period as yet unborn toward the full spiritual birth.
    
This is comparing spiritual with spiritual.
So in review, the first begettal is the first coming. We are born of water. The water of the word. Raised from death in baptism. The first deadly wound. But the beast rises from this deadly wound. A type of being born. And becomes a babe on milk. But does not mature.
    
Then there is a begettal of the spirit. This is the second coming. That which is born of spirit is spirit. This is the final slaying of the beast that ends in death. Now the new man (Christ) is being resurrected (born). He now eats the meat of the word, and is past the milk.
Always in the past I have seen this doctrine as comparing spiritual with physical. Only now I see it as comparing spiritual with spiritual by the physical. And now I believe my understanding of this doctrine is far more complete than in the past.
I hope I have explained this sufficiently.
If there is anything that you do not agree with let me know. I know we have been over gestation before, but the Lord would not let my mind rest about this. I was never satisfied with how 1Co 3:1 could call those not yet born, babes. They are born of water. God’s elect are born of the spirit.
Your brother in the Christ,
R____

Hi R____,

When God told Adam, “Dying you shall die,” God was not speaking about anything physical. It was all spiritual. Adam was created of the dust of the ground and was counting down the number of breaths he had before he ever ate of the tree. When God said “Dying you shall die, He was telling us that Adam began dying spiritually when he ate of the tree. Before that happened, Adam simply had not yet done the inevitable, that which flesh and blood is created as, to sin.
The life Adam had before he ate of the fruit of the tree was the same life of the woman in this verse of scripture:

1Ti 5:6 But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.

The whole message is missed unless we compare spiritual things with spiritual. That is the only way the holy spirit teaches.

1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

We cannot understand spiritual truths by comparing physical things with spiritual. We must see the physical things with spiritual eyes and compare that spiritual understanding with spiritual truths revealed in the New Testament or we will miss the point of scripture.
That is where what you have written here comes in. I think you know that if I saw anything wrong with this I would say so, but I don’t. The invisible things really are understood by the things that are made, but it is simply not in us of ourselves to realize that the physical is only demonstrating the spiritual and that we must compare spiritual things with spiritual things if we are to have any hope of understanding what Christ meant by telling us plainly that “man must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
That too, cannot be understood if you take any part of that statement as being understood in the physical realm. There are many “words that proceed out of the mouth of God” which we do not live by physically, but there is not one word which “proceeds out of the mouth of God” which is not lived spiritually.
We may not commit physical adultery, but we are all guilty of spiritual adultery. We may not commit physical murder, but we are all spiritual murderers, etc. This is what we see when we compare spiritual things with spiritual.

Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

But adultery and murder are of the spirit, “in his heart,” before it is ever accomplished physically.
Now God has shown you that if we are indeed true to this principle of comparing spiritual things with spiritual, we must think that way about the first as well as the second birth. As you put it at the very top of this e- mail, “born again from A to Z.,” and I am sure that you are saying that it is spiritual from A to Z, both the first birth and the second birth are spiritual, both the gestation and the birth are spiritual.
I simply cannot see anything here contrary to the mind of Christ, and I thank you for sharing this with me once again.
This is the best thing I have ever read which gives spiritual expression to the fact that there is a physical gestation, and yet recognizes the fact that it is all spoken of in scripture from a spiritual perspective concerning both births.
The only thing I might change is that first line. Instead of ‘Born again from A to Z” I might change that to ‘Comparing Spiritual With Spiritual From A to Z..’
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

]]> Numbers in Scripture – “Ten = Completeness Of The Flesh” https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/numbers_ten/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=numbers_ten Thu, 21 Jun 2007 00:00:01 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=3577

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TEN IS COMPLETENESS IN THE FLESH

Ten Is 5 (grace through faith) twice (first and second resurrections)
Ten Is 4 (the whole) plus 6 (mankind- the flesh).
Ten Is 1 (God) plus 9 (judgment).
Ten Is 3 (the process of maturing) plus 7 (completion-Rev 2:10).
Ten Is 2 (witnessing) plus 8 (the new beast) which is “of the seven and goes into perdition.”

Ten In The Old Testament

Noah was the tenth generation from Adam:

Gen 5:1 (a) This is the book of the generations of Adam… Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methusalah, Lamech, Noah

Ten nations complete Abraham’s victory over his enemies

Gen 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
Gen 15:19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
Gen 15:20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
Gen 15:21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

After ten years, the patience of our flesh is exhausted.

Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Ten righteous men would have saved Sodom from judgment:

Gen 18:32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

It took ten camels to carry “ all the goods of Abraham.”

Gen 24:10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.

Babylon will rob us completely of our wages:

Gen 31:7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.

The complete complement of Babylon will come to God’s elect when the famine of the Word is come:

Gen 42:3 And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.

Gen 42:6 And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.

It took ten asses to carry “the good things of Egypt:”

Gen 45:23 And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.

It took ten commandments to make the “law for the lawless:”

Deu 4:13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.

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

God used ten plagues to destroy Egypt:

Exo 9:14 For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.
Exo 9:15 For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth.
Exo 9:16 And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

The completed flesh separates us completely from God.

Exo 26:1 Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.

Exo 26:16 Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the breadth of one board.

Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

Ten completed the number of rebellions of Israel against God:

Num 14:22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
Num 14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
Num 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

Ten days of patience do no good for the foolishness of the flesh – Nabal:

1Sa 25:38 And it came to pass about ten days after [he learned of David’s intentions to destroy him], that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died.

Ten In The New Testament

The flesh is completely bankrupt and totally incapable of ever paying for its sins:

Mat 18:23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

Ten minus two leaves us with a very carnal perception:

Mat 20:20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping [him], and desiring a certain thing of him.
Mat 20:21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
Mat 20:22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
Mat 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but [it shall be given to them] for whom it is prepared of my Father.
Mat 20:24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.

As long as we are in the flesh, “we shall suffer persecution and tribulation”.

Rev 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days [Our entire lives in the flesh]: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

We are not persecuted only for ten days before we die.

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

The church in its entirety while still in these ‘earthen vessels.’

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

Both fives will be saved by the only formula for salvation – “Grace through faith.”

Mat 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Mat 25:11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Mat 25:12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

Where do we ‘buy’ the spirit of God?

Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Ten thousand has no chance against twenty thousand:

Luk 14:31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Luk 14:32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
Luk 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

It takes two fives to redeem all mankind:

Luk 15:8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?

All of Adam’s descendants are leprous:

Luk 17:12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

All of Adam’s descendants will be cleansed, but not all are grateful for this truth:

Luk 17:17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

Ten ‘pounds’ or ‘talents’ are all that is to be accomplished while in this flesh, “till I come…”

Luk 19:11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
Luk 19:12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
Luk 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
Luk 19:14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this [man] to reign over us.
Luk 19:15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
Luk 19:16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
Luk 19:17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
Luk 19:18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
Luk 19:19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
Luk 19:20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, [here is] thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
Luk 19:21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, [thou] wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
Luk 19:23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
Luk 19:24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give [it] to him that hath ten pounds.
Luk 19:25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
Luk 19:26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
Luk 19:27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

‘Ten thousand’ can signify what is unnecessary and is contrasted with what is good and what is needed:

1Co 4:15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
1Co 14:19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

Ten thousand is the number of God’s saints redeemed from the flesh.

Jdg 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

The salvation of all flesh is expressed in tens of thousands:

Rev 5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

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