Mal 1:6-14  Wherein have we despised thy name? Wherein have we polluted thee?

[Study Aired December 21, 2023]

Mal 1:6  A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? 
Mal 1:7  Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. 
Mal 1:8  And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 1:9  And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 1:10  Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 
Mal 1:11  For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 1:12  But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. 
Mal 1:13  Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD. 
Mal 1:14  But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. 

This section of Malachi is a type and shadow event that represents the yet carnal mind of a Christian that can’t as yet whole-heartedly present their bodies a living^G2198 sacrifice that is acceptable unto Him through Christ, at least not in whole, which is what God requires, the whole of our life continuing in the truth, represented by the whole tithe being brought into the temple of God. The nation of Judah was going through the motions but their devotion to God was lacking and being exposed by the wanting display of blind, lame, and torn animals that were being offered for sacrifice (Rom 12:1-2, Eph 1:6, Mal 3:10). 

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living^G2198 sacrifice, holy [process Joh 17:17], acceptable unto God (Eph 1:6), 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 (Eph 1:6), and perfect, will of God.

Christ is the only sacrifice that is able to be presented to God as faultless, and therefore we conclude that we are accepted in the beloved (Eph 1:6), as a living sacrifice, and through Him alone do we gain access to our heavenly Father and the blessed relationship of knowing Him and his son which is what eternal life is (Joh 17:3).

We know that God sees the heart and does not look on the outward appearance of a man (1Sa 16:7, Psa 51:17), and so it has nothing to do with the amount of animal sacrifices that were being brought in, but rather at the heart of the matter was whether those sacrifices were connected with a whole-hearted, humble, contrite and sacrificial heart (Mar 12:43, Mar 12:29-33). As we will see they were not with the nation of Judah, and God’s correction upon them typifies our Father’s correction on the body of Christ who are being judged in this age, and overcoming “by little and little” by the grace through faith process we’ve been called unto (Deu 7:22, Eph 2:8) so that we can mature to the point of going without the camp with Christ to offer the best sacrifice possible through Him (Heb 13:13, Php 2:12-13) [“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse“] .

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

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

Once we know to do good and God opens our eyes to the truth, we then need His strength and power to follow through with the conviction of what it is that He is showing us about ourselves so that we can change (Jas 4:17). This is the process that is being discussed in this section of Malachi and how God is able to start and finish that work in us through Christ, of going from thinking we are without spot (Rev 3:17) to coming to be washed by the blood of the lamb who takes away the sins of the world within us (Joh 3:16, 1Jn 2:16), the wretchedness that this sinful flesh is that must decrease, die daily, and be kept under as Christ increases in us (Heb 12:1-4, Rom 7:23-25). The purity of our life and ability to remain that way is only possible through Christ, and the greater our apprehension of who Christ is the better, as it is Christ alone who God can give us the spiritual increase through, so that we are becoming a sacrifice that is more and more pleasing unto our Father in heaven (1Co 3:6-7).

Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

God demonstrates through very telling questions in the verses that we will look at in this section of Malachi that He knows the deceitfulness of our hearts (Jer 17:9) and how apparent it is that we understand how to honor those we see in the earth, our fathers, the servant his master, which is not wrong when we are giving honor to where honor is due (Rom 13:7-8). However, this proper honoring, of giving “tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour”, was spoken by those in Malachi’s time who were not showing the proper reverence to God himself  (1Co 3:21-22, 2Co 10:12). Without that Godly perspective of seeing God as being sovereign over all of mankind and working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11), we are brought to a place where our sacrifices, which all belong to God and come from God, become lame and disingenuous, which is what we naturally do when we are not mature enough in Christ to do otherwise (Act 10:34-35, 1Jn 4:17, 1Jn 5:2-3, 1Co 14:37).

The lame sacrifices that are offered represent our own life that is brought to God believing in Him but not yet able to see our own blindness and need to continue in the truth that will, in time, purify the living sacrifice that we have been called to be, through our Lord and Savior (Joh 8:31-33, Joh 17:17, Joh 6:67-68).

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 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Joh 6:67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?.
Joh 6:68  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Through Christ we can grow to become fearless to what men can do to us in this life (Rom 8:26-38), and live out the rest of our days fulfilling the will of God. He makes a way for us where there appears to be none as we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” and promises to not try us beyond the measure that we can endure making a way to escape and bear the trial (1Co 10:13). This should encourage us to fight a good fight of faith as we remember that the Lord is at hand to be our helper and will never leave or forsake us in this spiritual battle we are in (Luk 12:4-5, 1Pe 4:1-2, Php 3:14, Php 2:12-13, Eph 6:12, Heb 7:26, Eph 1:18-23, Rom 8:38).

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

[This is the mindset that God tells us to lay hold of (1Pe 4:1-2) and to not see it as a strange thing; that this preparation of heart and the accompanying fiery trials is something to be expected and needed when presenting our bodies a living sacrifice in His service that must suffer in this life if we are going to rule with Him (1Pe 4:12, 2Ti 2:12)]

Be encouraged – The battle is the Lords

1Sa 17:47  And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands. 

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

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling [Col 1:27], and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. 

Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Mal 1:6  A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? 

We don’t think we despise God’s name in Babylon, “Wherein have we despised thy name?“, but what we’re learning in this first verse of our study is that we do despise God’s name when we eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel (Isa 4:1), meaning we say ‘Lord, Lord’, thinking this will take away our reproach, but don’t do the things that He commands us (Luk 6:46).

Isa 4:1  And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

If we do what is commanded of us, we demonstrate by our actions that we are a son that honours his father and a servant who honours his master (Luk 6:47-48).

Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them [Rom 2:13], I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep [1Ti 6:12], and laid the foundation on a rock [Mat 16:18]: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

Mal 1:7  Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible^H959. 

contemptible H959  bâzâh baw-zaw’

A primitive root; to disesteem: – despise, disdain, contemn (-ptible), + think to scorn, vile person.  Total KJV occurrences: 42

The bread is polluted because it is God’s word that is wrapped around the idol of our own hearts. Just as we don’t know how we have despised God’s name in (Mal 1:6), we also don’t know until we are corrected how we have offered polluted bread upon God’s altar. The “altar” spoken about in this verse is the cross (Mal 1:7), where we first demonstrate a zealous desire to please God, and to know Christ and him crucified (1Co 2:2), but without Christ giving us the power to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling as we live by the faith of the son of God, which is a gift of God (Gal 2:20, Eph 2:8), we will just naturally offer bread that is polluted with our own carnal hearts and minds, that don’t yet understand that we have to fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ for his body’s sake the church (Gal 5:16-18, Joh 6:63).

Our disdain of God’s altar is reflected in our inability to keep God’s commandments that require that we give our whole life to Him as we go from the letter that kills to living out a sacrificial life in the spirit (2Co 3:6) that loves our enemies and does good unto all men especially unto the household of faith (Luk 6:27-28, Gal 6:10). Again, if not for Christ we would have no hope in these wretched marred vessels of clay, and so we thank God that He makes a way [Rom 5:5 that empowers us (Rev 11:3, Joh 13:35) to be obedient (Heb 5:8) to God’s commands (1Jn 5:2-3)] through the Way, the Truth and the Life who is our hope of glory (obedience) within (Mar 8:35, Col 1:27). 

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 

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

Luk 6:27  But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
Luk 6:28  Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
Luk 6:29  And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.
Luk 6:30  Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.

Mal 1:8  And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 1:9  And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 1:10  Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand. 

Mal 1:10 Who, moreover, is among you that shall lock the doors so you shall not light up My altar gratuitously? I have no delight in you, says Yahweh of hosts, and an approach present I will not accept from your hand.” (CLV)

Offering such offerings to God that are blind, lame and sick, reveal the spiritual condition of the person giving the offering that is blind, lame, and sick, and more than that there is a delusional spirit at play here as well, which says, “And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means“, to which God asks after seeing this neither cold not zealous Laodicean spirit of service in full force (Rev 3:14-16), “will he regard your persons? saith the LORD of hosts.”  The answer is clear, “I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand“. 

The CLV version of verse 10 explains these actions are paramount to withholding the offering, “Who, moreover, is among you that shall lock the doors so you shall not light up My altar gratuitously?“, to which God says He will not accept these offerings that are done so haphazardly, demonstrating the lack of respect to God and the defiled condition of the one giving (1Co 11:17-22). It is not a positive example of a kindled fire that Christ will work in the body of Christ (Luk 12:49-50), but rather an admonition to be whole-hearted in our service, to not neglect so great a salvation by stirring up the spirit of God within (Heb 2:3). 

1Co 11:17  Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 
1Co 11:18  For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 
1Co 11:19  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 
1Co 11:20  When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. 
1Co 11:21  For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 
1Co 11:22  What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

Luk 12:49  I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
Luk 12:50  But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! 

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

Mal 1:11  For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts. 
Mal 1:12  But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.

God reminds us with this verse 11 that when Christ is in us, He will be “great among the Gentiles” (Col 1:27) “from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles“, and He goes on to say that all of this profaning and polluting of the table of the LORD is going to come to an end. The good news and hope we are given is certain, which is that ‘one Day’ when “in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts“. The world will one day learn righteousness when His judgments are in the earth as God’s elect are learning now (Isa 26:9), and no longer will “the fruit thereof, even his meat, is [be] contemptible” (Zec 14:7-9).

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 

Zec 14:7  But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
Zec 14:8  And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. 
Zec 14:9  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. 

Mal 1:13  Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.

This next verse demonstrates what is at the heart of the problem as to why these lame, sick and torn offering are not going to be accepted of the LORD, “Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness^{H4972 H8513} is it! and ye have snuffed at^H5301 it“. It happens because of the lack of zeal and diligence that God has to give us to keep under ourselves in His service (1Co 9:27). That is what the weariness^{H4972 H8513} and the snuffed at^H5301 words represent, which is the spirit of the slothful servant spoken of by Christ in (Mat 25:26). 

Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

From our earthly perspective we say ‘Lord why are you causing these people to err'(Isa 63:17,  Rom 9:18-20), why must the offerings become less and less throughout the period known as the thousand year reign of the saints? The answer is always the same: so that the world can learn that only Christ can be Christ and if he has determined that you will be a peculiar and zealous people that bring forth much fruit in this life and endure until the end, then this is what will happen (Tit 2:14-15, 1Pe 2:9-10) as He shows mercy to us in that regard “as a man spareth his own son that serveth him”(Rom 9:18, Rom 11:31-33, Mal 3:17). 

Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 
Tit 2:15  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. 

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 
1Pe 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 

Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

These words that we read about regarding how the nation was not bringing in the whole tithe, or properly sacrificing unto God, was written for our admonition to inspire us to move with fear, knowing that only God can make the difference in our service toward Him, and so, Lord willing, we will cry out and be heard in that we feared him (Eph 2:10, Php 2:12-13, Heb 5:7)

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. 

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

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Mal 1:14  But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. 

When we are deceived we are cursed, and only God can take away that spiritual blindness so that we stop serving him half-heartedly and with grumbling (Php 2:2-4), which is another way of sacrificing  “a corrupt thing” unto the LORD. 

Php 2:2  Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 
Php 2:3  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 
Php 2:4  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

When we withhold the male in the flock and replace that more valued animal that can produce the seed for more offspring and then offer to the LORD a corrupt thing, a lesser valued offering, it is akin to withholding the price of the land that Ananias and Saphira did (Act 5:1-11), and God will exact his judgement on our old man for doing this. Ananias and Saphira represent our carnal first nature that must be destroyed being deceived in not knowing how “dreadful among the heathen” God is. 

“I am a great King, saith the LORD of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen” is something we have to ask the LORD to keep at the forefront of our minds so that we are motivated by His commands, and not moving through this life because of fear of what men can do to our flesh, but rather being subject to one another as unto Christ and glorifying God with every situation that He is orchestrating for our growth in Him.

It takes time and much tribulation for us to get comfortable in the fire of God’s word (Act 14:22), but God promises, with our minds set on that goal of becoming more and more like Christ, that we will obtain those true riches of having His mind developed within us in this life (Luk 12:5, Eph 5:21, 1Pe 2:12, 1Pe 2:18-20). 

Luk 12:5  But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Eph 5:21  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

1Pe 2:12  Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

1Pe 2:18  Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. 
1Pe 2:19  For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 
1Pe 2:20  For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 
1Pe 2:21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 
1Pe 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

The Book of Romans, Part 11 – We Have Hope Through Tribulation

[Study Aired September 5, 2023]

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 
Rom 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 
Rom 5:4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 
Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 
Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 
Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

To understand Romans 5:1-2 in the context of the first four chapters of Romans, it’s essential to recognize the progression the Apostle Paul builds in this letter. Let’s break down these verses considering the preceding chapters:

Romans 1-4: In the preceding chapters, Paul has been establishing the foundational principles of salvation and righteousness through faith. He explains that all have sinned (Rom 3:23) and fallen short of God’s glory but are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom 3:24). He emphasizes that righteousness comes not through works of the law but through faith in Jesus (Rom 3:28).

Rom 3:21-28  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

In Romans 4, Paul uses the example of Abraham to illustrate the concept of justification by faith. He points out that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness (Rom 4:3), and this justification was not based on works but on faith (Rom 4:5). Abraham’s faith in God’s promise foreshadowed the faith that would be placed in Christ for salvation.

Rom 4:1-5 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Now, with this context in mind, let’s look at Romans 5:1-2:

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Considering Paul’s foundational teachings in the preceding chapters, this verse signifies that faith leads to our righteous declaration (justification) before God. This justification brings about reconciliation with God and, as a result, peace. Prior to faith, mankind existed in a state of separation from God, marked by sin – a condition the law, serving as our guide, revealed to us (Gal 3:24). Through faith, we are harmoniously reunited with God, erasing the enmity that once existed, ultimately resulting in peace. This peace finds its source and foundation “through our Lord Jesus Christ” because His sacrificial act on the cross is what underpins both our justification and reconciliation, as explained in Romans 3:25.

Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 

Rom 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 

Romans 5:2: “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Here, Paul continues to emphasize the role of Jesus Christ in our salvation. He explains that it is through Jesus Christ that we have access to “this grace”. Our faith opens the door to God’s forgiveness. This grace allows us to “stand” in a state of righteousness before God, firmly rooted in His favor and acceptance.

This access to grace leads to rejoicing in hope. As Paul established in Romans 4, just as Abraham hoped in God’s promise, we also hope in the glory of God. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we gain access to God’s grace, and we stand in this grace with confidence. This echoes the Old Testament’s emphasis on the importance of grace, such as in the Psalms where we find, “But he gives us more grace” (Psa 84:11, Jas 4:6).

Psa 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. 

Jas 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

In summary, Romans 5:1-2 builds upon the foundation laid in the previous chapters by explaining that through faith we are justified, reconciled to God and have access to God. This faith fills us with the hope of future glory, allowing us to stand in a state of righteousness and rejoice in our relationship with God.

Rom 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 
Rom 5:4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

In our journey, we can find joy, especially in difficult times, knowing that trials produce patience, which leads to experience and ultimately hope. This idea of finding purpose in trials is found in the Old Testament, as in the story of Joseph in Genesis, where his trials led to his exaltation and the saving of many lives.

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

The following verses emphasize that going through tribulations or trials will develop patience in us, and this patience leads to spiritual growth and maturity.

Psa 37:7-9 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

Psa 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

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

2Co 1:3-4 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

The above verses teach us to rely on God’s strength and faithfulness during times of tribulation, ultimately leading to a deeper relationship with Him.

Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

Our hope in Christ is sure and will not disappoint us, because the Holy Spirit, which is given to believers, fills our hearts with the love of God. This aligns with the Old Testament’s promise of the Holy Spirit, as seen in Ezekiel 36:26-27.

Eze 36:26-27 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

These verses emphasize the incredible love of God. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross occurred when we were still sinners and had no ability to save ourselves. This echoes the concept of God’s unfailing love found throughout the Old Testament, such as in Psalm 136.

Psa 136:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:2 O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:4 To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:5 To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:6 To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:7 To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:8 The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:9 The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:10 To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:11 And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:12 With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:13 To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:14 And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:16 To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:17 To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:18 And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:19 Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:20 And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:21 And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:22 Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:23 Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever: 
Psa 136:24 And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:25 Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa 136:26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

This Psalms reveals the process we all go through to enter the kingdom of God. We were Pharaoh, the great kings, and the famous kings. 

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

Through Christ’s sacrifice, we are justified and saved from God’s wrath to come in the lake of fire. This reconciliation through the death and life of Christ reflects the Old Testament’s teachings on reconciliation, as seen in Isaiah 53:5-6.

Isa 53:5-6 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 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.

Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Through Jesus Christ, we find joy and have received peace, atonement and the reconciliation between God and mankind. This concept of atonement for sins is rooted in the Old Testament, particularly in the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16).

Lev 16:11 And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself.

This verse states the importance of the high priest’s atonement on behalf of himself and his family.

Lev 16:15 Then shall he (Aaron) kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat.

This verse describes the people’s sin offering.

Lev 16:16 And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.

This verse underscores the comprehensive nature of the atonement, covering both the holy place and the tabernacle itself, symbolizing the cleansing of the sanctuary from the people’s sins.

Lev 16:30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord.

Leviticus 16:30 serves as a clear declaration of the Day of Atonement’s purpose. The priest’s actions on that day are aimed at cleansing the people so they may stand before the Lord free from the stain of their sins. This verse underscores the meticulous process of atonement, highlighting the central role of the priest in facilitating purification.

In a similar vein, the order and significance of salvation are elaborated upon in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28. The resurrection of Christ is pivotal, as He is the first to rise from the dead, marking the beginning of a sequence in which all who belong to Him will be made alive. This process follows a particular order, starting with Christ as the firstfruits and continuing with those who are His when He returns. Ultimately, this culminates in the defeat of death itself.

1Co 15:20-28 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 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. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 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.

This journey toward salvation, however, is far from effortless. It demands a significant price, the death of our old man. Faith becomes the sole means of achieving salvation, as relying on adherence to the law is insufficient. While the law has its role in educating us about sin, it isn’t the ultimate path to salvation.

The process is challenging, marked by tribulation and the filling of what remains of Christ’s afflictions. Perseverance until the end is the key, leading to the eventual enjoyment of the fruits of our labor. Through this journey, we move beyond the constraints of the law, having God to become the overarching and all-encompassing presence in our lives.

Rom 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 
Rom 5:4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 
Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

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.

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

Joh 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Here are our verses for our next study:

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 
Rom 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 
Rom 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
Rom 5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 
Rom 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 
Rom 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Acts 14:1-28  We Must Through Much Tribulation Enter into the Kingdom of God

[Study Aired May 7, 2023]

Act 14:1  And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
Act 14:2  But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.
Act 14:3  Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
Act 14:4  But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
Act 14:5  And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them,
Act 14:6  They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:
Act 14:7  And there they preached the gospel.
Act 14:8  And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:
Act 14:9  The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
Act 14:10  Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
Act 14:11  And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
Act 14:12  And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
Act 14:13  Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.
Act 14:14  Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
Act 14:15  And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
Act 14:16  Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.
Act 14:17  Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
Act 14:18  And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.
Act 14:19  And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.
Act 14:20  Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
Act 14:21  And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,
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.
Act 14:23  And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
Act 14:24  And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
Act 14:25  And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia:
Act 14:26  And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
Act 14:27  And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
Act 14:28  And there they abode long time with the disciples.

I have a map I want to share with everyone to give us all a perspective of where Paul and Barnabas traveled on their first missionary journey:

https://www.conformingtojesus.com/images/webpages/pauls_journeys_map1.jpg

Here is a cut and paste from Biblestudy.org which gives us some perspective of the miles these two men walked:

biblestudy.org › home › maps › n.t. churches › derbe

The Via Sebaste ran through Pisidian Antioch to Iconium, a distance of about 93 miles (150 kilometers). It then ran from Iconium to Lystra, a distance of 18.5 miles (30 kilometers). From Lystra he traveled on an unpaved track of the road about 62 miles (100 kilometers) to Derbe (Book of Acts in Its Graeco-Roman Setting, Volume 2, by Gill and Gempf, Chapter 10).

We are reviewing the first missionary journey the Lord gave to Paul and Barnabas.

In our last study they had just been thrown out of the city of Pisidian Antioch because the Jews had “stirred up the devout and honorable women and chief men of the city… and cast them out of their coasts.”

Act 13:44  And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
Act 13:45  But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Act 13:46  Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Act 13:47  For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
Act 13:48  And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
Act 13:49  And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.
Act 13:50  But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
Act 13:51  But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.
Act 13:52  And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

“The “devout and honorable women” signify the church. The “chief men of the city” signify church leaders. It was the church of Paul’s day, the synagogues and the leaders of the synagogues, who most resisted the truth of the gospel and who were the chief persecutors of the Lord’s messengers. These events here in Pisidian Antioch are nothing more than a repetition of what Saul of Tarsus, now Paul the apostle, experienced right after his conversion at Damascus and then later at Jerusalem. It will be the same in every city Paul will preach in the rest of his life. The ‘great harlot’ does not appreciate being shown her own infidelity, and she passionately hates those who do so.

When Paul and Barnabas were “expelled out of [the] coasts of… Antioch”, they “were filled with joy” that they were “counted worthy to suffer with the Lord”, and they “shook off the dust of their feet against them [of Antioch], and came unto Iconium.”

Act 5:41  And they [the apostles] departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

Act 14:1  And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
Act 14:2  But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.

Notice just how fickle our minds are. “A great multitude both of Jews and also of the Greeks believed,” and yet “the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds [the minds of the great multitude of believers] evil affected against the apostles:

Act 14:3  Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
Act 14:4  But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
Act 14:5  And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them,

When the Lord reveals to His followers that His word is being rejected, they never, ever resort to physical violence to silence their opposition, but that is exactly what will always take place when the lies of Babylon are revealed to this world in this present time. Those ministers who advocate violence are not “the voice of The Shepherd”, and we must “flee from them.”

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Here is what Christ and His Christ always do when they are rejected:

Act 14:6  They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:
Act 14:7  And there they preached the gospel.

Once again, “the Jews with their rulers [plot] to stone [the apostles], and they once again patiently obey the Lord’s admonition to us all:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Mat 10:23  But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mat 10:24  The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.

“The cities of Israel” signify the Lord’s elect, and the statement, “Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come” means that our Lord has an “Israel of God” in every generation right up until the time of His appearing. There will also always be, in every generation, “those who say they are [spiritual] Jews [the Israel of God] but are not.” These will always be there to resist the Words of our Lord and His Christ:

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

Rev 2:9  I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Those who are “of the synagogue of Satan… say they are [spiritual] Jews”, and they truly believe that the Lord loves them and their doctrines. Those who know the voice of the True Shepherd, also know the false doctrines of strangers, and will flee from those false prophets and their false doctrines:

Joh 10:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
Joh 10:2  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep [Christ and His Christ].
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.

“Know not the voice of strangers” means that they know that the voice they are hearing is not the voice of their True Shepherd, and they “will flee from [the false ministers of Satan].”

The day is coming when the whole world will know for certain who is and who is not loved of the Lord:

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

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

Christ healed two men who could not walk – the man who was lowered to Him through the roof and the man at the pool of Bethesda. Peter at the gate that is called Beautiful healed a man who was born lame and was forty years old. These men signify our old man who cannot walk with Christ. Here at Lystra Paul is given to heal another man who was born lame and had never walked:

Act 14:8  And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:
Act 14:9  The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
Act 14:10  Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

The holy spirit revealed to Paul that this man “had faith to be healed” and inspired Paul “with a loud voice [to say] stand upright on your feet”, and when the man was healed, he “leaped and walked”.

Now notice the difference between how the heathen react to a miraculous healing versus how those react who are “the synagogue of Satan… those who say they are Jews but are not, but do lie”:

Let’s notice the reaction of the synagogue of Satan first:

Joh 5:6  When Jesus saw [the lame man] lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
Joh 5:7  The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
Joh 5:8  Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
Joh 5:9  And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
Joh 5:10  The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

Joh 5:16  And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

Now let’s see how the Gentiles react to such a miraculous healing:

Act 14:11  And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
Act 14:12  And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
Act 14:13  Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.
Act 14:14  Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
Act 14:15  And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
Act 14:16  Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.
Act 14:17  Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
Act 14:18  And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.

Nevertheless, the heathen are just as unstable and just as fickle as the Lord’s own apostate church:

Act 14:19  And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.
Act 14:20  Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

The way this is written could lead one to believe that it was the day after proclaiming Paul and Barnabas to be gods that the Jews from Antioch and Iconium persuaded the very same people to stone Paul and leave him for dead. It was no doubt more than a single day, but it certainly did not take a long time to persuade the very people who thought Paul and Barnabas were gods to stone Paul, but the Lord raised him up, and he returned to the city of Lystra before ‘fleeing [“the next day”] to another city” (Mat 10:23), the city of Derbe.

It was a miraculous healing that gave Paul the strength to recover from a stoning which left him for dead, He was raised up that same day as the disciples stood about his body which was left for dead praying for him. He returned to Lystra and then began the 62 mile (100 kilometers) walk to Derbe the very next day.

It is here at Lystra, on his next missionary journey which began very soon after the conference in Jerusalem, that Paul and Silas will meet a disciple named Timothy, who will join them on their travels and will become as a son to Paul:

Act 16:1  Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
Act 16:2  Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
Act 16:3  Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.
Act 16:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. [The letter to the Gentiles which resulted form the Jerusalem conference of chapter 15]
Act 16:5  And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

1Ti 1:2  Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

2Ti 1:2  To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

The fact that Paul saw fit to circumcise Timothy soon after the Jerusalem conference is one of many things Paul did which demonstrates that Paul agreed that he, being a Jew, must keep the law of Moses at that time, even as he was telling the Gentiles at Rome and at Corinth and in Galatia that they were spiritual Jews who must not keep the law of Moses:

Rom 2:28  For he [Roman Gentile Christians (Rom 1:13)] is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a [spiritual] Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

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

Gal 1:6  I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Gal 1:7  Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth [of the letter from the apostles at Jerusalem conference], before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
Gal 3:2  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? [The apostles had sent a letter to the Gentiles telling them they need not keep the law of Moses].
Gal 3:3  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? [the law of Moses]
Gal 3:4  Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
Gal 3:5  He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

This is the first journey of Paul and Barnabas, and they did not meet Timothy or his mother on this trip.

Act 14:21  And when they had preached the gospel to that city [Derbe], and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,
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.
Act 14:23  And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

Paul and Barnabas are now on their way back to Syrian Antioch to rehearse all the Lord had done through them. As they return through the cities they had evangelized, they “confirm the souls of the disciples, and exhort them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

It would be so much easier and so much more enjoyable to preach a gospel that said, “Jesus smiled” instead of “Jesus wept.” It would be much more acceptable to teach that Christ was a very popular man whose life was full of fun instead of having to teach that He was a man of sorrows who was acquainted with grief.

Isa 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Joh 11:35  Jesus wept.

I am not saying that Jesus never smiled. I am sure He did. What I am saying is that the scriptures just simply do not once tell us that while He was here in a body of flesh that ‘Jesus smiled’ or was popular with the church of His day or that He had a lot of fun in this life. That simply is not the tone of the scriptures.

Life would be so much easier if we could prophesy only smooth things and preach the deceits of the ‘prosperity gospel’ and the gospel of a life of ‘coffee and doughnuts’ as opposed to having to teach the truth of the gospel, which is that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

Isa 30:8  Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9  That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10  Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:

“The time of reformation” of the law of Moses was under way, and the new church was growing exponentially here right after its birth. The powers that be, the rulers of the churches, the rulers of the synagogues, expelled the apostles, from every city they came to. Nevertheless, there were very many who believed the gospel. There were so many that Paul and Barnabas “ordained them elders in every church.”

Derbe is the last city in which Paul and Barnabas preached on this first journey before returning through all the cities they had evangelized; Lystra, Iconium, Antioch and Perga in Pamphylia. As they pass back through Perga we are told “they preached the word in Perga”, which we are not told they did when they first passed through that city. From Perga they travel to another seacoast city called Attalia, and from that city they sail back to Syrian Antioch, the city from which the Lord had first sent them out into His field, and into His vineyard.

Act 14:24  And after they had passed throughout Pisidia, [meaning Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch] they came [back] to Pamphylia.

They are traveling back through Pisidia, back through all the cities they had evangelized, including Antioch, and from there they will return to Pamphylia, where Perga is located.

Act 14:25  And when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down into Attalia:
Act 14:26  And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.
Act 14:27  And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
Act 14:28  And there they abode long time with the disciples.

It is while Paul and Barnabas are back in Antioch, “[w]here they abode long time with the disciples” that certain men come down to Antioch from Jerusalem telling the Gentiles they must be physically circumcised before they can be saved. It is at this point, soon after the first missionary journey, that Peter and Barnabas both temporarily and hypocritically side with these false prophets “from Judea”. Paul rebukes them both before all. Peter and Barnabas are forced to face their own hypocrisy because they both had been eating with the Gentiles before those men came down from Judea pointing out that Moses said one must be circumcised:

Gen 17:10  This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

Gen 17:12  And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
Gen 17:13  He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
Gen 17:14  And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

They no doubt felt that they had the Bible on their side, but both Peter and Barnabas knew the miraculous way the holy spirit had made it very clear that a reformation of the law was under way in and through Christ.

Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

Heb 7:11  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?
Heb 7:12  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

That is what we will be dealing with in next week’s study in chapter 15, Lord willing.

[Study Aired February 9, 2023]

2Ki 18:13  Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. 
2Ki 18:14  And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 
2Ki 18:15  And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house. 
2Ki 18:16  At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. 
2Ki 18:17  And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field. 
2Ki 18:18  And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.

Last week we were introduced to King Hezekiah who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as David his father had done” who had faith in the Lord, the God of Israel, “so that there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah who were before him.“

In this study we are looking at 2 Kings 18:13-18, which is focused on “Sennacherib king of Assyria” who came up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them, putting Hezekiah in a position where he sought peace with Sennacherib by giving him gold and silver from the temple of God, which actions only emboldened Sennacherib to further want to overtake the nation of Judah in war. Hezekiah turned to the Lord for deliverance with a humble and contrite heart that sought and hoped in the Lord in times of trouble. 

In this section of the study we will also look at how Hezekiah, who as a type of the elect  comes to learn that you cannot make concessions with this world and expect that your trials will somehow be circumvented as a result of those actions.

Hezekiah’s lapse in good judgment regarding giving of the temple’s silver and gold to Sennacherib brought a curse on the nation of Judah and demonstrates for us that regardless of how zealous we are for the LORD, as Hezekiah was, we still make mistakes and fall seven times in this life (Pro 24:16). No matter who we are, we come short of the glory of God until God is glorified in us through the spirit He gives to those who can then obey Him (Rom 3:23, 2Co 3:18, Act 5:32). The obedience is accomplished by Christ, and the giving of the holy spirit from God is what makes it possible for us to fulfill His will (Php 2:12-13).

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Act 5:32  And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him [Rom 5:5]. 

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

God must help us remember that the greatest enemy we have is within ourselves, comprised of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, everything that is found in the world that we are not to love, either in ourselves or in this perverse generation in which we live. We love our neighbor as ourselves, but we don’t love the world that is going to pass and is passing first within the body of Christ (1Co 10:11)  which is being judged now (1Pe 4:17). We are in the world but not of it (Joh 17:15), and while we are in these earthen marred vessels, we are told to do good to all men, especially to them of the household of faith  (1Jn 2:16, Php 2:15, Gal 6:10). 

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [1Jn 2:16] are come.

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

Php 2:15  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

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

Thanks be to God that all these things within us (1Jn 2:16) that make up the ‘wretched man that I am’ (Rom 7:24) can be subdued and overcome through Christ little and by little as we stay in the light as He is in the light and have fellowship with one another (1Jn 1:7, Heb 10:25). The effect of this relationship or communion (1Co 10:16) that we have is that, in time, our ways will please the LORD more and more as we go from glory to glory (2Co 3:18) and he will make those enemies to be at peace within us through the dominion we have over them (Rom 6:14, Pro 16:7, Rom 6:14).

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Christ had outward enemies His whole life (Mat 2:12) and especially at the end of His life (Luk 24:7), so the outward application of having your enemies be at peace with you of Proverb 16:7 is not contradicted by the statement ‘you shall be hated by all men’ (Mat 10:22); it’s just that if our ways please God, He will stay the hand of the enemy to His glory, softening our enemies’ hearts as he did Pharaoh so they are at peace with us, until such a time God allows that hatred of man to be manifested outwardly as was the case with Christ and His body. All events work according to the counsel of His own will, including the strength He gives us to endure the attacks of the adversary. Another example of peace that is no peace at all is the thousand-year reign that ends in worldwide rebellion against the camp of the saints (Act 4:27-28, Rev 20:8).

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.

1Co 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

Pro 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

2Ki 18:13 now in the fourteenth year of king (strengthened by Jehovah)Hezekiah did (the destroyed thorn)Sennacherib king of (plain)Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of (praised)Judah, and took them. [PNBkjv]
2Ki 18:14  Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent a message to the king of Assyria at Lachish. Hezekiah said, “I have done wrong. Leave me {alone}. Then I will pay anything you want. [ERV]

God uses king Sennacherib to teach Hezekiah a deep lesson about how to make war against our enemies, of which Sennacherib is one, and as his name suggests, “the destroyed thorn” he typifies for God’s elect today is a thorn in our flesh who is going to be destroyed to the glory of God through Hezekiah, “strengthened by Jehovah.”

It is in Hezekiah’s fourteenth year of rule that this siege takes place against Judah which was used to bring Hezekiah to see that God is faithful to His elect of whom Hezekiah is a type. Fourteen is a number associated with the generations of Christ (Mat 1:17) as well as the passover (Lev 23:5). and this story typifies for the elect how we come to see that our strength is found in trusting in Christ who is our passover lamb (1Co 5:7). We are of the generation who have no confidence in the flesh, and our strength comes from being buried into Christ’s death (Num 29:13, 15, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32). Hezekiah is a type of the elect who is going to learn this truth of God’s faithfulness in battle beginning in the fourteenth year of his reign.

At this point in the story, Hezekiah is in a weakened position and tries to appease his enemy by giving the king of Assyria “three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.” These actions of Hezekiah remind us that we are not to cast our pearls before swine and hope beyond hope that we can conquer our enemies within us by these physical means of silver and gold that point to a negative example of the process of judgment [300 silver – 30 talents of gold] that will be of no effect on the unbelieving Sennacherib. Hezekiah’s actions were like trying to pay off the school bully in hopes that his heart would change and he would just go away. Of course, the leopard cannot change his spots and king Sennacherib does not go away (Jer 13:23).

Jer 13:23  Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

So not only did Hezekiah waste that silver and gold, but then Sennacherib turns around and tramples on Hezekiah just like the proverb says our enemies will do when we trust in ourselves to figure out how to make war against the beast within us (Mat 7:6, Rev 13:4). Thankfully, and by the grace of God, after these events Hezekiah was brought to his senses and zealously turned to the Lord to overcome his enemies (Rom 8:28-29, 2Co 7:11). 

Mat 7:6 give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 

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

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

2Ki 18:15  And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house. 
2Ki 18:16  At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.

This situation with Hezekiah is akin to our lack of fidelity with the word of God when we first come into the knowledge of the truth, and we are so ready to give “all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house” thinking this will surely appease those who are against us. Eventually and little by little we become more wise and able to know how to walk “in the midst of wolves” being  “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Mat 10:16).

There is a parallel with Peter zealously cutting off the ear of the servant Malchus (Joh 18:10), and this story with Hezekiah who “cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid“, symbolizing how such actions take away access to (‘cutting off’) the door [Christ]. The pillar without the gold is like a pillar of salt that does not have the savour of Christ’s righteousness (gold). Hezekiah was flagrantly using the gold and silver to bribe his enemy instead of trusting that God would deliver him. This proverb comes to mind (Pro 23:23):

Pro 23:23  Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

2Ki 18:17 and the king of (plain)Assyria sent (release the dragon)Tartan and (chief eunuch)Rabsaris and (chief cup bearer)Rabshakeh from (man’s walk)Lachish to king (strengthened by Jehovah)Hezekiah with a great host against (founded in peace)Jerusalem. And they went up and came to (founded in peace)Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field. [PNBkjv]

It is going to be in our most severe trials of life that God will reveal where we have been placing our hope, and this event of the king of Assyria sending “Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem” is typical of what God’s elect must go through (1Co 3:13-15, Heb 12:7). 

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

Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

God uses Satan as His sword (Psa 17:13) to accomplish His purpose, trying our faith, which is what the process of judgment produces in the lives of those who are granted to endure that judgment until the end, resulting in tried faith that is precious to God (1Pe 1:6-7, Php 4:13, Mat 24:11-14, Rev 2:10, Psa 116:15). 

1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

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: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Psa 116:15  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

The three men who the king of Assyria sends up against Hezekiah represent that process of judgment [3] that is upon the body of Christ today (1Pe 4:17) [1-Tartan and 2-Rabsaris and 3-Rabshakeh] and the only way we can endure that judgment until the end is to be “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1Pe 1:5 1Co 10:11)”. 

Tartan as we read earlier means “release the dragon” and is a type of the events that happen to “the whole world” who will be attacked by Satan by way of “three unclean spirits like frogs” (Rev 16:13) that will not overcome the elect who are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in “the last time” (1Pe 1:5).

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

The ‘last time’ for us may be the season we draw our last breath or when we are changed in a moment and the twinkling of an eye in the first resurrection, Lord willing. Having “done all” by the faith of Christ, we will be able to withstand these attacks of the devil (Mat 24:24) prior to being changed into spirit beings in that blessed and holy first resurrection. Verse 15 of  Revelation 16:1-15 and verse 13 of Ephesians 6:13 are saying the same thing to us regarding being made ready of the Lord as the bride of Christ (Rev 19:7-9).

Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, [“keepeth his garments“] that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, [“the last time“] and having done all, to stand.

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 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, [“keepeth his garments“] clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 
Rev 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Rabsaris is the second man mentioned, and his name means “chief eunuch” meaning Satan comes up against the church with the chief rulers who have no spiritual seed or truth in them that can produce life [spiritual eunuchs] (Act 4:27-28). 

Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done [Eph 1:11, Rom 8:28].

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.

The last man mentioned is Rabshakeh, which means “chief cupbearer” symbolizing Mystery Babylon who bears a cup that is full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication of Revelation 17:4:

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:

When these three men come up against Hezekiah, or against Jerusalem, we are told “they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.“

This location is significant as it symbolizes the place where a narrow escape against the powers and principalities of this world will be granted to the body of Christ, seeing it is connected to the prophecy of the birth of Christ (Isa 7:3-14).  Being as we are as He is in this world (1Jn 4:17), it is also a prophecy of the first resurrection (our birth), that blessed event given to the remnant who will be scarcely saved by His power.

Isa 7:3  Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field;
Isa 7:4  And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
Isa 7:5  Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
Isa 7:6  Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:
Isa 7:7  Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
Isa 7:8  For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.
Isa 7:9  And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. 
Isa 7:10  Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, 
Isa 7:11  Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
Isa 7:12  But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
Isa 7:13  And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? 
Isa 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The physical waters that flow into the beloved city are symbolic of how the man of perdition that sits upon the throne of God on our hearts is destroyed by the brightness of His coming from east to west with living waters (2Th 2:8, Mat 24:27), from Gihon to the west side of the city of David (1Co 10:13, Luk 12:32, 1Pe 4:18, Isa 7:3-15,  2Ch 32:30). 

Easton’s Bible Dictionary: A water-course or channel (Job 38:25). The “conduit of the upper pool” (Isa 7:3) was formed by Hezekiah for the purpose of conveying the waters from the upper pool in the valley of Gihon to the west side of the city of David (2Ki 18:17;  2Ki 20:20; 2Ch 32:30).

Gihon, H1521 = bursting forth
one of the four rivers of the Garden of Eden
a spring near Jerusalem where the anointing and proclaiming of Solomon as king took place

Strong’s: From H1518; stream; Gichon a river of Paradise; also a valley (or pool) near Jerusalem: – Gihon. 

Total KJV Occurrences: 6 
Gihon, 6
Gen_2:13; 1Ki_1:33; 1Ki_1:38; 1Ki_1:45; 2Ch_32:30; 2Ch_33:14

David H1732 = beloved
youngest son of Jesse and second king of Israel

Strong’s: From the same as H1730; loving; David the youngest son of Jesse: – David.

Total KJV Occurrences: 1074 

This section of Kings we are studying encourages us to hope in what God has promised He will do in the body of Christ with those living waters He is giving us (Rom 5:5), showing us that we are more than conquerors through Christ, who is our hope of glory within (Col 1:27), and there is no weapon which has been formed that can overtake the elect (Isa 54:16-17), although the devil will be given to try to do so (Mat 24:24), as demonstrated in the type and shadow attacks that took place on Jerusalem in the days of king Hezekiah. This is all written to remind us that we will be more than conquerors through those many diverse temptations and much tribulation the Lord has promised us (Jas 1:2-5, Act 14:22).

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing [2Th 1:4].

2Ki 18:18  And when they had called to the king, there came out to them (god establishes)Eliakim the son of (Jehovah’s portion)Hilkiah, which was over the household, and (grown)Shebna the scribe, and (Jehovah is his brother)Joah the son of (collector)Asaph the recorder.

This last verse we’ll look at speaks to the witness God’s elect will give to this world. When these three men Tartan (release the dragon) and Rabsaris (chief eunuch) and Rabshakeh (chief cupbearer) come up against Jerusalem, they call for king Hezekiah, and three men are sent out to give a report on behalf of the king.

Those three men’s names represent something significant for us as well, in the positive use of the process of judgment: 

When God judges us, “Eliakim–god establishes“, it is for the purpose of perfecting us on the third day and establishing and settling us so that, no matter what storms come our way, we will be able to stand (1Pe 5:10, Mat 7:25).

The second is “Shebna the scribe–grown” reminding us that it is through the process of judgment that we grow as God gives the increase or growth in our life (1Co 3:6). 

The third one is “Joah–Jehovah is his brother“, that reminds us that Christ is our brother and high priest who watches over us through our entire life of judgment of which he is the author and finisher of (Php 1:6).

Next week, Lord willing, will look at the third part of the chapter (2Ki 18:19-37), which is focused on how Sennacherib used Rabshakeh, who was a field commander, to send messages to Hezekiah and his foot soldiers to undermine their confidence in what Hezekiah could do in war against Assyria with the God of Israel as his helper and hope.

The question “In what are you placing your hope” is revealed to God’s elect by reflecting on this story of a king who, through the tribulation of his life, was made strong in battle bringing him to eventually see that the battle is the Lord’s (1Sa 17:47). This story is yet another demonstration of how faithful our Lord is to see us through every trial in this life and every tribulation we must go through (1Co 10:13) in order to inherit the kingdom of God (Act 14:22).

1Sa 17:47  And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, [“we must go through“] that ye may be able to bear it.

Act 14:22  Confirming^G1991 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.

–Confirming^G1991  Episterizo
to establish besides, strengthen more
to render more firm, confirm
– Strong’s: From G1909 and G4741; to support further that is reestablish: – confirm strengthen.

Total KJV Occurrences: 4 
confirmed, 1
 Act_15:32

confirming, 2
Act_14:22; Act_15:41

strengthening, 1
Act_18:23

[Study Aired September 12, 2022]

Exo 23:1  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 
Exo 23:2  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
Exo 23:3  Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.
Exo 23:4  If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
Exo 23:5  If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
Exo 23:6  Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
Exo 23:7  Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
Exo 23:8  And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
Exo 23:9  Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exo 23:10  And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
Exo 23:11  But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
Exo 23:12  Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.
Exo 23:13  And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.
Exo 23:14  Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.
Exo 23:15  Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)
Exo 23:16  And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.
Exo 23:17  Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
Exo 23:18  Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
Exo 23:19  The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

The first part of this chapter continues to deal with the laws of Moses pertaining to justice and mercy. It also focuses on the rules regarding the sabbath and the three feasts of the Jews.

Exo 23:1  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

Raising a false report is being a propagator of false doctrines. In other words, we are not to be ambassadors of preaching another Jesus as we see our brothers and sisters do in Babylon.

2Co 11:4  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.

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Being a witness or preacher of these false doctrines means putting our hand with the wicked. This means that we become partners with the wicked and are therefore ensnared by our own works.

Psa 9:16  The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

The wicked are also referred to as workers of iniquity as shown below:

Psa 28:3  Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.

They speak peace to their neighbors, meaning they come in the name of the Lord, but their hearts are ruled by the beast, the chief of mischief.

Exo 23:2  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

A simpler version of verse 2 reads as follows:

Exo 23:2  You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, (ESV)

The people of Israel in the wilderness represent multitudes and therefore, verse 2 refers to the people of Israel.

Deu 1:10  The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.

1Ki 4:20  Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

As we are aware, the people of Israel in the wilderness represent Babylon which is in bondage with her children. Verse 2 therefore means that we are not to be part of Babylon. That is why we are admonished to come out of her so that we do not partake of her evil or sins.

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

Here in verse 2, siding with the many means bearing false witness or perverting justice.

Pro 12:17  He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.

Pro 14:5  A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

Exo 23:3  Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. 

We are admonished not to be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. In this case, a poor man is cast in a negative context, and it refers to anyone who is spiritually bankrupt or devoid of the truth. Being partial to a poor man in his lawsuit is the same as pursuing their course or being partakers of their sins. Verse 3 is therefore another way of saying that we should not be part of those who do not serve the Lord, but rather their own appetites.

Rom 16:17  I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.
Rom 16:18  For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
Rom 16:19  For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. (ESV)

Exo 23:4  If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 
Exo 23:5  If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.

The enemy here is the devil. The enemy’s ox or ass are those who have been taken captive by the devil or are carnal. An ass lying under his burden in verse 5 means those who are weighed down by sin. We are admonished by the Lord to help them, but we must not have company with them.

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. 

2Th 3:14  And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. 
2Th 3:15  Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

Exo 23:6  Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. 

In a positive sense, the poor here represent the elect.

Pro 28:11  A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out.

Psa 70:5  But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!

The word “wrest” (Exo 23:6) refers to twisting, or turning aside, or perverting judgment or justice. Verse 6 therefore means we should not pervert justice due to the poor. Spiritually, this verse refers to us not to disregard or turn aside the Lord’s judgment of the elect. As we are aware, it is through the Lord’s judgment of our old man that results in our obedience. Ignoring or turning aside His judgment is therefore iniquity.

Eze 16:49  Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

Exo 23:7  Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

We are to rid ourselves completely of false doctrines. The innocent and the righteous refer to the elect. This verse therefore suggests that the elect die spiritually through false doctrines. The wicked here refers to those who propagate false doctrines. These will be required to give an account to the Lord. These false doctrines, together with their propagators, have a form of godliness but they deny the power of Christ. Apostle Paul admonished us to turn away from these false doctrines together with their propagators.

2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2Ti 3:6  For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 
2Ti 3:7  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 
2Ti 3:8  Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 
2Ti 3:9  But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.

These false doctrines creep into our heavens or temples and make us captives of the flesh. In 1 Timothy 3:6, the silly women refer to Babylon or Jerusalem which is in bondage with her children. It is these false doctrines which have enslaved Babylon, as she is led away by diverse lusts resulting in being burdened with sin.

Exo 23:8  And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

According to the sum of the Lord’s words, we know that all we have received in this life, both physically and spiritually, are gifts from the Lord.

Ecc 3:13  And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

Ecc 5:19  Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.

Eze 46:16  Thus saith the Lord GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons’; it shall be their possession by inheritance.

Psa 119:160  The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. (ESV)

One of the key characteristics of children is that they love gifts!! I remember when my children were kids, whenever I came home in the evening from the office, they were eagerly waiting expectantly for their gift. As we know, we understand spiritual things by the things that are made.

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

According to Strong’s Dictionary, the word “gift” used here means reward. One of the hallmarks of our carnal walk in Babylon is the desire to receive reward from the Lord in this life. It is the quest for immediate reward for our service to the Lord here on earth that we are admonished not to pursue in verse 8. This is because our quest to be rewarded here on earth will cause us to be blinded from reaching for the ultimate goal of being part of the first resurrection. This pursuit of the physical reward here on earth will also cause our words to be perverted as indicated in verse 8. In other words, we will end up becoming propagators of false doctrines.

Jud 1:10  But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 
Jud 1:11  Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 

2Pe 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 
2Pe 2:2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 
2Pe 2:3  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

Exo 23:9  Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The question is, “What does a stranger signify spiritually?” The following verses show us what a stranger signifies:

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 
Heb 11:9  By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 
Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Heb 11:11  Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 
Heb 11:12  Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 
Heb 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

The verses above show us that the elect is a stranger in this world. We are therefore to make sure that we do not oppress or vex the members of the church of the firstborn as we are all strangers in this world. To oppress means to keep under subjection and hardship, especially the unjust exercise of authority. As the body of Christ, none of us must exercise unjust authority over one another since we are all strangers in this world and children of God. The whole church system of this world is characterized by pastors keeping under subjection the people of God. This is what the Lord Jesus has to say about that subjection:

Mat 20:25  But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
Mat 20:26  But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27  And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Paul, Peter and Solomon also said the following regarding this matter:

2Co 1:24  Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

1Pe 5:3  Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.

Ecc 8:9  All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

To vex means to make someone feel annoyed, frustrated or worried. When our message focuses on what we are required to do without bringing forth the enabling power of the Lord to assist us to do what He wants, we become frustrated or worried since we see that we do not have the capacity to do what is required. Our time in Babylon was characterized by frustration because we thought that everything depended on us. One of the verses which has been abused is that of working our salvation with fear and trembling in Philippians 2:12. We were always mentioning this without knowing that it is the Lord who does the work in the next verse.

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

Exo 23:10  And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:

The number six refers to mankind. The six years we are to sow in the land signifies the period of our lives here on earth as we sow either to the flesh or to the spirit. Whatever we sow, we shall reap a harvest. If we sow to the flesh, we shall reap corruption. On the other hand, if we sow to the spirit, we shall harvest eternal life.

Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Gal 6:9  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Gal 6:10  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Exo 23:11  But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.
Exo 23:12  Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

The seventh-year rest refers to the period of our walk with Christ where we cease from our own strivings and come to rest in the Lord to do His work in us. We, the elect, are the ox or ass or the stranger that will be refreshed through rest given to us by the Lord.

Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 
Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 
Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 

Heb 4:8  For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Externally, our lives here on earth are characterized by six days. On the seventh day when we inherit the purchased possession, we shall fully rest in the Lord in the next age.

Exo 23:13  And in all things that I have said unto you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

We are admonished here to be circumspect not to be propagators of false doctrine. This verse is another way of saying the following:

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

Exo 23:14  Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

A feast is generally a celebration characterized by eating and drinking sumptuously. This means that keeping a feast spirituality has to do with periods in our lives where our heavens are opened to understand or feast on the Lord’s words. Keeping a feast three times in a year in verse 14 is significant. The number three symbolizes the process of spiritual maturity through judgment. What this means is that through the Lord’s judgment of our old man, our understanding becomes enlightened, and it is through this judgment that we become spiritually mature.

These feasts become possible through what every joint supplies.

Est 9:22  As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.

The sending of portions one to another is what every joint supplies.

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 
Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 
Eph 4:15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 
Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Exo 23:15  Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty:)

Passover is perhaps the most important of Jewish festivals in the Old Testament. On the evening before the fifteenth day of the first month in the Jewish calendar, Israelites were to sacrifice a lamb and place its blood above their doorposts as a sign that the angel of judgment passed over them when they were in Egypt, sparing their lives. After the Egyptians had received judgment through the death of their firstborn, they admonished Israel to leave immediately. In preparation for this exodus, the people were to make bread without leaven, for it had no time to rise. They were to eat their meal in haste knowing that the following day would be the day of their deliverance. As a memorial, the Feast of Unleavened bread continued to be practiced.

The people of Israel were required to eat unleavened bread for seven days during the feast of unleavened bread. The seven days refer to the period of our lives where we have come to know the truth of the word of the Lord from falsehood and from the letter of the word.

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

Exo 23:16  And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

This feast of harvest, typically called the feast of weeks or the feast of ingathering, celebrates the culmination of the Exodus at Mount Sinai. The Feast of Weeks occurs seven weeks and one day following Passover, thus the Greek term Pentecost, meaning “the 50th (day)” following the historical account in Exodus 19:1-3 of Israel’s arrival at Sinai fifty days after the Passover.  The Feast of Weeks included giving grain offerings to God and included a “holy convocation” and a day of rest.

Num 28:26  Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto the LORD, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work:

The “holy convocation” is a call to holiness or declaration of holiness which is reminiscent of the assembly at the foot of Sinai wherein God called His people to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. During the festival, grain offerings were given as freewill offerings to God in gratitude for redeeming His people and calling them to holiness.

Exo 19:3  And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; 
Exo 19:4  Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
Exo 19:5  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
Exo 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

The Lord descended upon Sinai at Pentecost, in Exodus 19, in the form of fire and smoke to call the people to holiness. In the same way, the Holy Spirit was sent upon the Church at Pentecost in Acts 2, offering the apostles and all who would follow, the enabling grace to respond to His call to holiness.

Exo 19:18  And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.

As indicated, a feast represents a time where our heavens are opened to know the Lord exponentially. Regarding the feast of ingathering, our understanding is enlightened to know more about the Lord’s judgment and how it enables us to walk in holiness. The judgment we are all facing now is part of the process of making us holy.

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

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

During this period, we begin to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord by living a life of Christ’s righteousness.

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.

Exo 23:17  Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD. 

This verse means it is only when we become spiritually mature through the Lord’s judgment of our old man (the meaning of the number three) that we shall appear before the Lord just before the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Exo 23:18  Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning. 

We are warned here in verse 18 not to continue to use leavened bread. In other words, we should not sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth. If we continue to do that, we shall be cast out into outer darkness.

Heb 10:26  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 
Heb 10:27  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 

Mat 8:12  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

In verse 18, we are required not to let the fat of our sacrifice remain until the morning.

Lev 16:25  And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.

Lev 17:6  And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the LORD.

The fat here represents all that is within us that must be burnt out of us in order to offer to the Lord a sacrifice pleasing to Him. Retaining the fat of our sacrifice until the morning means not being able to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord when He comes!! In this case, we shall suffer loss.

Exo 23:19  The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

“Thou shall not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk” means that we cannot be offered as a living sacrifice pleasing to the Lord while we are still spiritually immature.

May the Lord grant us the grace to mature in Him through His judgment of our old man. Amen!!

Gospels In Harmony – Through Much Tribulation We Enter into the Kingdom of God

John 16:1-33

[Study Aired December 14,2021

John 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
John 16:3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
John 16:4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
John 16:5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
John 16:6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
John 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
John 16:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
John 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
John 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
John 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
John 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
John 16:17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?
John 16:18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.
John 16:19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?
John 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
John 16:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
John 16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
John 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
John 16:25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
John 16:26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
John 16:27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
John 16:28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
John 16:29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
John 16:30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
John 16:31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?
John 16:32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

In this study Christ continues to comfort the disciples and give them His warnings of how the world will seek to destroy them.

John 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
John 16:3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
John 16:4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

If you are a disciple of Christ, you will be persecuted by the world. The world within and outwardly are both our persecutors. At this stage in our walk we believed that Christ was our savior, but we were unable to continue in His word. He must return to the Father so He can send the Comforter, making us able to continue in his word.

John 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

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

The Comforter will reprove the world, our old man, of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. We are the world.

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

Of sin, because they, the unbeliever within, believe not on me;

Mark 9:23-24 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more, after the flesh;

2 Cor 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

Of judgment, because the prince of this world, our father the devil, is judged.

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Here is the reason why we lack the ability to continue in his word.

John 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

We are mere babes in Christ and are yet carnal even when the Comforter first comes to us.

1Co 3:1-4 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 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. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

The receiving of the Spirit of truth begins the process of overcoming the world within and without.

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
John 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
John 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

When the Spirit of truth is come we begin to understand the mysteries hidden from the world.

1 Cor 2:6-16 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 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. 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. 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. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

We are given the mind of Christ so that we can overcome the world within.

John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
John 16:17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?
John 16:18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.
John 16:19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?

The disciples still do not understand what Christ is describing. He uses a parable to describe what is going to happen to the disciples once the Comforter comes.

John 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
John 16:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
John 16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
John 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
John 16:25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.

Christ told the disciples they are the woman of this proverb and will suffer until the man child, Christ, arrives. The process of pregnancy is nine months which represents the process of judgment.  Numbers in Scripture – “Nine = The Number of God’s Judgment”

John 16:26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
John 16:27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
John 16:28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
John 16:29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
John 16:30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
John 16:31 Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?
John 16:32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

There it is! We are promised tribulation while in the world and told to be of good cheer. What kind of doctrine is this? Joy from suffering? This is the doctrine of Christ.

Acts 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.

[Study Aired August 15, 2021]

Jer 15:10  Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
Jer 15:11  The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.
Jer 15:12  Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
Jer 15:13  Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
Jer 15:14  And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
Jer 15:15  O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
Jer 15:16  Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
Jer 15:17  I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
Jer 15:18  Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
Jer 15:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
Jer 15:20  And I will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 15:21  And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

As we study the words of the prophets, we must keep in mind that “these things happened to them, [but] they were written for our admonition [because it is we] upon whom the ends of the ages have come”:

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

Jeremiah typifies the Lord’s elect who are “born again” of “Jerusalem above, the mother of us all” (Gal 4:26). It is this ‘mother’ to whom he refers when he says:

Jer 15:10  Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

The ‘mother’ whose ‘son’ is “a man of strife and a man of contention… cursed [by every] man” is our new mother, spiritual “New Jerusalem”.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children [The self-righteous “great whore” of Rev 17-18].
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

We must first be born of a harlot before we can be “born again [of] Jerusalem which is above…”

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Our first ‘mother’ is a harlot whom the Lord is in the process of destroying. The Lord had the prophet Hosea marry a harlot and bear children by that harlot just to tell us that our first spiritual mother is a spiritual whore, who is not faithful to Christ and His doctrine.

Hos 1:2  The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
Hos 1:3  So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
Hos 1:4  And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
Hos 1:5  And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.

“The bow of Israel” here is Israel’s weapon for her defense, but our rejected ‘Israel’s bow is her own rebellious self-righteousness, and Jeremiah will mention later in our study what the Lord will do to Israel for her rebellion against Him.

Jeremiah’s complaint to his ‘mother’ is exactly what Christ tells us is the lot of all who are faithful to Him and to His doctrine:

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

“Jerusalem above” is our new “mother” who births us again for the very purpose of being hated of all men for Christ’s name’s sake, and for being obedient to Him and to His doctrine:

Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

As children of “Jerusalem above” we must expect to be “hated of all men”. Yet as this study will reveal, the fact remains that God’s elect really are “the apple of His eye”, and it is not advisable for our old man to touch the Lord’s anointed to do them harm. King David acknowledged this solemn Truth even while his own life was being threatened by the Lord’s rejected anointed, King Saul:

1Sa 24:1  And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.
1Sa 24:2  Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
1Sa 24:3  And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.
1Sa 24:4  And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.
1Sa 24:5  And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt.
1Sa 24:6  And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.
1Sa 24:7  So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.
1Sa 24:10  Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’S anointed.

David, for our admonition, was given a second opportunity to disobey the Lord and kill the Lord’s rejected anointed, and again he feared God more than he feared his own men who he reminded:

1Sa 26:11  The LORD forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.
1Sa 26:23  The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed.

Notice that the Lord’s elect acknowledge that “the man of sin” is ordained and “anointed” of the Lord. As such there is no animus proceeding from the Lord’s accepted anointed towards the Lord’s rejected anointed. Our flesh wants to hate our old man, but our new man knows that the dominion of our flesh is a necessary evil for a time, and he willingly and humbly acknowledges this fact.

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

This Truth is demonstrated for us when Jacob bowed himself seven times to Esau, calling him “My lord Esau”:

Gen 32:3  And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
Gen 32:4  And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
Gen 33:3  And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

We do well to acknowledge that the flesh has no power to be anything of itself but go into death and corruption. To think we do anything at all to save ourselves is nothing less than denying that the Lord makes us wicked for our own day of evil, that He creates both good and evil, and we were made subject to vanity. The Lord will have none of it:

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

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

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

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 into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

As evil as the wild beast within us is, it is not in the purview of our flesh to change itself, and as Jacob and his entire family demonstrate we must “bow down” to the Truth that the Lord Himself has made us all “subject to vanity”:

Gen 33:1  And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.
Gen 33:2  And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.
Gen 33:3  And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
Gen 33:4  And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
Gen 33:5  And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.
Gen 33:6  Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.
Gen 33:7  And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

The fact that “Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept” is an example of the truth of the second verse of our study today:

Jer 15:11  The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

Esau, the twin brother of the Lord’s accepted anointed, knew that he was destined to be supplanted and replaced by the Lord’s accepted anointed, just as King Saul was made to know that King David was destined to replace and supplant him, and these words make that fact clear:

Gen 27:35  And he [Isaac] said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.
Gen 27:36  And he [Esau] said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? For he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
Gen 27:37  And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?
Gen 27:38  And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

Twin brothers have much more in common than do the earlier half-brothers Ishmael and Isaac. It is much easier to distinguish between an anointed and an unanointed, between Isaac and Ishmael respectively than it is to distinguish between two twin brothers who are both anointed; one being the accepted anointed and the other being the rejected anointed:

1Sa 10:1  Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his [Saul’s] head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

1Sa 15:28  And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou [His accepted anointed].

1Sa 16:13  Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him [David] in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

1Samuel 24 and 29 reveal that King Saul, the Old Testament type of the Lord’s rejected anointed, Babylon, knows who the Lord’s accepted anointed is, and it torments him and them to know that we are destined to supplant them, as Esau understood that Jacob would supplant him. Our rejected anointed  knows he is to be supplanted by our new man, our accepted anointed:

Mat 21:45  And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

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

When we say, “We see” what we are saying is that we prefer our false doctrines and “smooth things” to His fiery words. Our old man identifies with the Lord’s rejected anointed, and our rejected anointed identifies with this world and is at war with Christ and His Christ who twice tell us:

1Ch 16:22  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

Psa 105:15  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

The Lord, through humbling fiery trials and by giving His elect eyes that see and ears that hear, has given His elect the strength to do as David did. David had already been anointed to replace King Saul by the same prophet who anointed King Saul, but he feared the Lord’s words concerning His anointed.

King Saul typifies the beast within us who comes up out of the earth and is anointed for the purpose of being taken and destroyed:

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

2Pe 2:12  But these, as natural brute beasts [our self-righteous “man of sin… in the temple of God” (2Th 2:3-4)] made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

If the Lord is in the process of taking and destroying our own “man of sin [in] this present time” (Rom 8:18), He will preserve and protect us through every trial. He provides Pharaoh’s own daughter and Saul’s own son to protect and preserve His elect when it seems His elect about to be destroyed by the powers that be, and by the Lord’s rejected anointed in times of great stress and great tribulations.

As the Lord’s elect, we must endure the “great tribulation” which is also spoken of as “much tribulation”:

Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

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.

When we are enduring our own “great tribulation” it is indeed “much tribulation”, and while we are enduring “much tribulation” it seems, from our fleshly perspective, to last a lifetime, and we along with all the prophets cry out:

Jer 15:10  Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

This verse is part of the foundation for this statement made by our Lord concerning “His anointed”:

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

Now look at what the Lord has to say about His anointed:

Jer 15:11  The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

This is what happened when Esau met Jacob while Jacob was returning to the Lord from Laban and company from ‘Babylon’.

Notice how abruptly the Lord goes from speaking of our new man to speaking of our old man:

Jer 15:12  Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?
Jer 15:13  Thy substance and thy treasures [of the kingdom of our old man] will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.
Jer 15:14  And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.

The question to us is, “Can your self-righteous, rebellious ‘steel’ break the ‘steel’ of those I am sending to administer judgment upon you?”

The mention of “the north” lets us know that it is the Lord’s judgment which is under discussion:

Eze 9:1  He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
Eze 9:2  And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate,  which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

These next verses are the foundation for the words from the mouths of “the souls under the altar” in:

Jer 15:15  O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
Jer 15:16  Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
Jer 15:17  I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.
Jer 15:18  Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

Verse 18 here is Jeremiah’s version of these words of King David. They both felt forsaken of the Lord in their own appointed time:

Psa 22:1  To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

Being ‘as Christ in this world’, we live out these words in the New Testament. We are not calling the Lord a liar, but like Christ Himself, we do feel that He has turned His back upon us and has forsaken us:

Mat 27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

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.

We are spiritual martyrs who are spiritually “slain… killed… [and] beheaded for the word of our testimony” and because the Lord’s words were “the joy and rejoicing of [our] heart”. Yet it seems at a certain point, when we are “at [our] wits’ end” (Psa 107:27), that the Lord has forsaken us:

Rev 6:9  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Rev 6:10  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Rev 6:11  And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

In Revelation 20 we read of this same group of people but under different far more favorable circumstances:

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Jer 15:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.

Being ‘slain’ and being ‘beheaded’ are two different forms of murder, and this is the ‘slaying,’ and the ‘beheading’ to which we are more commonly submitted:

1Jn 3:15  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

These are extremely sober words of warning to each of us because it is so easy for the Lord to give the adversary the ability to allow a spirit bitterness to spring up against a brother or a sister whom the Lord has placed in our midst to show us just how much our flesh is still corruptible flesh. It is sobering when the Lord reminds us of how weak our flesh is from time to time.  So, we are very solemnly warned:

Heb 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

A root of bitterness has “defiled… many”, and taken them out of the body, family, house, and temple of the Lord. If and when this “root of bitterness” takes hold of us, we are essentially placing the responsibility of a brother or sister’s offense upon them, and we are bitter toward them, instead of remembering that it is the Lord who is working “all things after the counsel of His own will”. These next verses should help us to look within when a spirit of bitterness attempts to set up house within our “temple of God”:

Psa 119:164  Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.
Psa 119:165  Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

The Lord is not judging this world at this present time. It is us He is judging now, and the sin and self-righteousness which is still within us, and that is where our focus must be.  If we truly believe the Lord is judging us in this present time, then “nothing will offend [us]”, because we know that all things are being worked after the counsel of His own will.

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

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

We are told “all things are for your sakes”, and “all things” includes “the day of evil” (Pro 16:4). We are all predestined to experience our own personal “day of evil”, and that “day of evil” is custom made for our own “wicked… man of sin”. These things are all an integral part of the “all things [which] are for [our] sakes:

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.

It is through our spirit of gratitude for the Lord’s chastening spirit… “through the thanksgiving of many” for our trials, that God is glorified.

Knowing that all things are for our sakes (2Co 4:15) gives us confidence in these very reassuring and encouraging words of the last two verses of our study today:

Jer 15:20  And I will make thee [you and me] unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 15:21  And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.

It is no accident that Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel all say the same thing.

Eze 3:1  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel.
Eze 3:2  So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.
Eze 3:3  And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness [Rev 10:10].
Eze 3:4  And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
Eze 3:5  For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;
Eze 3:6  Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.
Eze 3:7  But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
Eze 3:8  Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
Eze 3:9  As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

Ezekiel 3:3 is the foundation for these words in the book of Revelation:

Rev 10:9  And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10  And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.

All the Lord’s prophets have this same experience in common. They rejoice to learn the Truth, but being faithful to that Truth is a bitter pill to swallow. It is the Lord’s people who have turned against Him, and when that takes place the Lord turns against His people, and He is at this very moment in the process of judging us by bringing every conceivable enemy against us until the kingdom of our old man is utterly destroyed:

Isa 6:1  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

Just like Jeremiah, Isaiah is sent as a type of each of us, to be a witness against the kingdom of our old man whose self-righteous rebelliousness make him fit right in with the kingdoms of this world:

Isa 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Jeremiah is following in Isaiah’s footsteps declaring that the Lord will judge and is judging His people and will destroy the kingdom of our rebellious old man within us all:

Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Jeremiah makes this same declaration when he tells us in the first verses of this chapter:

Jer 15:1  Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
Jer 15:2  And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
Jer 15:3  And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
Jer 15:4  And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

“Manasseh” typifies our own rebellious ‘man of sin’ sitting in the Lord’s temple and demanding that we worship him and do what he demands of us. To which the Lord always replies:

Jer 15:6  Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

Isaiah said the very same thing concerning how the Lord deals with our carnal-minded old man. He gives him no quarter and shows him no mercy:

Isa 6:11  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,

This 15^th chapter of Jeremiah starts with the Lord declaring His opposition to His own people who have turned their backs to Him. He declares “Therefore will I stretch out my hand against you and will destroy you”.

The Lord’s message to us through Jeremiah, who is prophesying over 70 years after Isaiah’s prophecy, has not changed in the least. Repeatedly, the Lord declares that it is He who is judging His own people first before He will judge the nations of this world:

Notice how the 29^th chapter of Isaiah parallels this 15^th chapter of Jeremiah. Both chapters begin with the Lord declaring that He will first punish and destroy all that offends within His kingdom.

Isa 29:1  Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
Isa 29:2  Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
Isa 29:3  And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
Isa 29:4  And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
Isa 29:5  Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
Isa 29:6  Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire [Jer 5:14, the Lord’s chastening words].
Isa 29:7  And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
Isa 29:8  It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
Isa 29:9  Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
Isa 29:10  For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.
Isa 29:11  And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
Isa 29:12  And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
Isa 29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Isa 29:14  Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
Isa 29:15  Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
Isa 29:16  Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

To our natural mind it seems impossible, but the Lord is ‘calling light out of darkness’, and He is saving us “few” now to become the saviors of all the rest of mankind at a later resurrection of the dead:

Isa 29:17  Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
Isa 29:18  And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
Isa 29:19  The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 29:20  For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
Isa 29:21  That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
Isa 29:22  Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
Isa 29:23  But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
Isa 29:24  They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

I hope to have demonstrated in this study that all the words of judgment, which are so dire and destructive to our old man, are the darkness out of which we are called. That is why Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and all the Lords prophets, go from speaking of the destruction of our rebellious old man to the blessing of our obedient new man in the same breath. This method of operating is summed up in these few words:

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

That is the theme of the prophets, and that is our study for today. We will begin chapter 16 next Sunday if the Lord wills. Rest assured we will come to know our Lord a little better, but it will be through the same Modus Operandi.

Here are the verses for our next study:

Jer 16:1  The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
Jer 16:2  Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
Jer 16:1  The word of the LORD came also unto me, saying,
Jer 16:2  Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
Jer 16:3  For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
Jer 16:4  They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Jer 16:5  For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
Jer 16:6  Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
Jer 16:7  Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
Jer 16:8  Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
Jer 16:9  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
Jer 16:10  And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?
Jer 16:11  Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
Jer 16:3  For thus saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
Jer 16:4  They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth: and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
Jer 16:5  For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
Jer 16:6  Both the great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
Jer 16:7  Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.
Jer 16:8  Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
Jer 16:9  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
Jer 16:10  And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?
Jer 16:11  Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;

[Study Aired February 7, 2021]

We ended our last study explaining how the Lord has devised means by which His banished adulterous wife will not be expelled from Him. No one here, nor in scriptures, is saying that His rebellious, adulterous wife will remain in that state, but what scripture is saying is that the Lord has arranged that “through death” we can and will all be brought back to Him. His “bride” will be first, then His wife’s children, who are all the rest of mankind.

We will begin today by repeating the last couple of paragraphs from our last study:

“While it defiles the land to return to an adulterous wife, the Lord has provided a means to put us to death and raise us up as a new man who can return to our husband and not defile the land, the place of His abode, the place of His dwelling:

Rom 7:1  Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Rom 7:2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Rom 7:3  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Rom 7:4  Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Rom 7:5  For when we were in the flesh [alive “to the law”], the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Rom 7:6  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in [the physically impossible] newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

2Co 11:2 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.

If we are “dead to the law through the body of Christ”, how then can we possibly fall away from such a wonderful and blessed position to become Aholibah, the younger sister whose whoredoms exceed that of her older sister, who is and was still under the law? We do so through that most insidious of sins, the sin of Job, which is the sin of self-righteous apostasy:” [End Quote]

Job 27:1  Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
Job 27:2  As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
Job 27:3  All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
Job 27:4  My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
Job 27:5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
Job 27:6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
Job 27:7  Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

As chapter 40 shows us, as well as chapters one and two, it was Christ Himself who had risen against Job, and it was God Himself with whom Job was contending, reproving and disannulling His judgment so Job could condemn God and make himself righteous:

Job 40:1  Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2  Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3  Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5  Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 40:6  Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn Me, that thou mayest be righteous?

Job typifies each of us as first Ahola, and then as self-righteous, yet even more wicked, Aholibah, because, like Job, we turn the grace of God into lasciviousness:

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Ungodly  men, turning the grace of God  into lasciviousness” is typified in Ezekiel 23 as Aholibah within us, whose adulteries were worse than those committed by the New Testament church while it was yet under the law.

Eze 23:11  And when her sister Aholibah saw this, she was more corrupt in her inordinate love than she, and in her whoredoms more than her sister in her whoredoms

Not being under the law, we do not see ourselves as “lascivious”. We see ourselves as under God’s all-forgiving grace, and we have not yet been given eyes to see that grace does not nullify judgment, rather grace brings us into the Lord’s chastening and judgment:

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

True Godly righteousness is the fruit of the Lord’s judgments:

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

This is our spiritual attitude as Aholibah:

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

As Aholibah we have not been given eyes that see the need for being judged according to our works:

Ecc 11:9  Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
Ecc 11:10  Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

In other words, ‘Grow up and quit acting like an immature fool’. That is the admonition of scripture.

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day [of judgment] shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

These “ungodly men [within us who] turn the grace of God into lasciviousness”, don’t believe they are denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ”. This is what they believe:

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

By giving us over to such self-righteous and foolish thoughts, the Lord has given Himself the occasion He is seeking to judge a blessed few in this present time, and judgment in the scriptures always comes out of the north:

Jer 3:12  Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

The Lord tells us, “I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity.” It simply is not in our flesh to acknowledge our own self-righteousness which is the most insidious of sins. This is a humanly impossible requisite which requires a supernatural solution.

The Lord simply does not grant many of mankind in this present time to “acknowledge [their] iniquity” and admit that they “transgressed against the Lord”. What He has given the vast majority of mankind is to do a lot of very good works in His name. He Himself deceives the masses of mankind by answering their prayers for healing and for direction, “according to the idols of their hearts”:

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;
Eze 14:5  That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Eze 14:6  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Eze 14:7  For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:
Eze 14:8  And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

As we already demonstrated, “He has devised means whereby His banished will not be expelled from Him”, and that ‘means’ is “through death”.

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

Rom 7:4  Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh [1Co 15:31, Eph 5:30] through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

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

When the Lord offers such a great honor, He gives that honor only to those whom He is preparing to be willing to die for Him and His doctrines. He does not give such honor to those whom He answers according to the idols of their hearts. He certainly does not  give it to those who do good works and think they do so of their own ‘free will’:

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

This is exactly what Job said to the Lord, and Job is a type of every man:

Job 27:2  As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;
Job 27:3  All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;
Job 27:4  My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
Job 27:5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
Job 27:6  My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.
Job 27:7  Let mine enemy be as the wicked, and he that riseth up against me as the unrighteous.

Job 40 makes clear that it was not Job’s comforters with whom he was contending. Just as with Joseph’s brothers (Gen 45:4-8), which we quote so often, it was actually God with whom Job was “contending… reproving… disannulling His judgment and condemning God to make himself righteous”:

Job 40:2  Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.
Job 40:3  Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4  Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5  Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.
Job 40:6  Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

The honor of becoming “the bride, the Lamb’s wife… ruling with Him for a thousand years, and judging angels [in the] white throne judgment” is given to very few of the “many called”. They alone are given to acknowledge the vileness of their own self-righteousness and acknowledge they have actually condemned their own Creator to maintain their own righteousness. Lord willing, that is you and me. Only the Lord’s elect will remain faithful to the doctrines of Christ and be willing to withstand the pressures of this life, the “suffering of this present time… being hated of all men… and “endure… much tribulation… to the end”. This is how Christ explains His calling and His own sifting process:

Jdg 7:2  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
Jdg 7:3  Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
Jdg 7:4  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
Jdg 7:5  So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
Jdg 7:6  And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
Jdg 7:7  And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

Here is another of the Lord’s perspective of those who are ‘called but not chosen’ (Mat 22:14) to become saviors on Mount Zion (Oba 1:21):

Mat 22:1  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
Mat 22:2  The kingdom of heaven [within you] is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
Mat 22:3  And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Mat 22:4  Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
Mat 22:5  But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
Mat 22:6  And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them [‘hated them’ (1Jo 3:15)].
Mat 22:7  But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Mat 22:8  Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Mat 22:9  Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
Mat 22:10  So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: [The humility of Job after he was judged]
Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but  few are chosen.

What we fail to see is that the book of Job reveals the guests who finally came to the feast are typified by Job Himself. It was He who first refused his own judgment, and while he was being judged, he accused God of “taking away [his] judgment”:

Job 27:2  As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul;

Job typifies each of us. We are all first Ahola, the elder sister harlot, then we are Aholibah, the even more wicked younger sister whose name means:

H172
אָהֳלִיבָהּ    אָהֳלִיבָה
‘ohŏlı̂ybâh    ‘ohŏlı̂ybâhh
o”-hol-ee-baw’, o”-hol-e-baw’
(As with H170 the first form is in form a feminine of H168, but is in fact for the second form); from H168; my tent (is) in her; Oholibah, a symbolic name for Judah: – Aholibah.

Here in the Old Testament are those “few [who] are chosen” (Mat 22:14) to endure tribulation (Mat 10:22) and suffer with Christ for His body’s sake and die daily (1Co 15:31) with our Lord:

Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, [Aholah and Aholibah] saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family [“few chosen”], and I will bring you to Zion:

This is an important spiritual message for us as we struggle to be found pleasing to our own ‘husband, our Lord. “Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God”. Do not think you or I can cleanse ourselves, because we cannot. Neither should we think we can defile our Lord, our Husband to whom we are married, because we cannot, and that is why He tells us:

Eze 23:36  The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;

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

As Jacob, who stole his brother’s blessing, as King David, who stole another man’s wife, and as the weak apostles of our Lord who “all forsook Him”, we do not appear to this world to be any different from any other ordinary sinner. The Lord Himself appeared very ordinary to the world of His time. The chief priests and the elders had to pay Judas to point Christ out to them because He looked so very ordinary:

Mat 26:14  Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,
Mat 26:15  And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
Mat 26:16  And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

Contrary to the doctrines of the great harlot, Christ or His elect did not have a visible halo over their heads. The Lord’s elect are always considered to be “ignorant and unlearned” by the leaders and peoples of this world:

Act 4:8  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
Act 4:9  If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
Act 4:10  Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Act 4:11  This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Act 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Act 4:13  Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
Act 4:14  And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

While the world cannot see or recognize the Lord’s elect or His doctrine, we certainly are aware that they hate His doctrine and anyone who lives by that doctrine. It is the Lord’s doctrines which are in the hearts and minds of His chosen few elect. It is by those doctrines we are “marked”. Israel of old was marked in their right hand and in their foreheads by the Lord’s doctrine in their minds and in their hearts.

Deu 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Deu 6:6  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
Deu 6:7  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deu 6:8  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes [forehead].

We are unrecognized by this world, but we know each other as those who are spiritually ‘marked [in] our hands and in our foreheads’:

Eze 9:4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

Being given eyes that can see this “mark” is just another way of saying  we  have been given “eyes that see and ears that hear” the voice of our Shepherd, Christ. It takes ‘Christ’ to know Christ, and to recognize His “voice”:

Jer 3:15  And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

The Lord has done just that for each of us, and we all “feed [the Lord’s] sheep with knowledge and understanding” if we are given to know His voice.

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.

If we know His ‘voice’, we are given to “sup with [Him]” on the words of His doctrines:

Rev 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

If we are given to know His “New Testament” doctrine, then we will never return to the old doctrine, because we will not be one of the many who say, “The old is better.” Instead, we will be one of the few who say ‘the new is better’:

Luk 5:36  And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.
Luk 5:37  And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
Luk 5:38  But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
Luk 5:39  No man also having drunk old wine [the Old Testament] straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.

When we are given to see that the new is actually better than the old, then we will be given to understand how Aholah and Aholibah will now both be made “one new man, so making peace” and “the stick of Judah will be made one with the stick of Israel:

Eze 37:15  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
Eze 37:16  Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
Eze 37:17  And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
Eze 37:18  And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
Eze 37:19  Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
Eze 37:20  And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
Eze 37:21  And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
Eze 37:22  And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
Eze 37:23  Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
Eze 37:24  And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

Here is this exact same message in the New Testament:

Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Eph 2:21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

We are “builded together for an habitation of God through the spirit” was prophesied to come to pass here in Jeremiah 3:

Jer 3:16  And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.

The physical ‘ark of the covenant’ with the two tablets of the ten commandments for the lawless and disobedient (1Ti 1:12), the golden pot which had manna and Aaron’s rod within it, was prophesied to become obsolete way in the prophecy of Jeremiah. In Christ we will never again return to our self-righteousness which we had while we were under the law.

Deu 6:24  And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.
Deu 6:25  And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

Luk 18:18  And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 18:19  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
Luk 18:20  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
Luk 18:21  And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
Luk 18:22  Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
Luk 18:23  And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

This “ruler” was “rich” in two ways. He was both physically rich and rich in his own works. He was a type of Job, and Job typified this ruler and each of us.

In Christ we take credit for nothing and proclaim only that our righteousness is now of Christ and of Him alone:

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

The reference to “those days” in Jeremiah 3:16 have arrived within us in ‘earnest’ and in down-payment form because we have been made to see and acknowledge that we have indeed been Aholibah, the “chief of sinners” whose whoredoms have exceeded the sins we committed while living under the “carnal commandments” of the law of Moses and the law of the Gentiles, which are one and the same:

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

Heb 7:16  Who [“Christ in us” (Col 1:27)] is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment [the law of Moses], but after the power of an endless life.

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law [of the spirit] might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

We have all to a greater or lesser degree committed spiritual adultery exceeding Aholah, our older sister, by turning the precious gift of grace which brought us out of Aholah into self-righteous lasciviousness, and we have thereby exceeded her in her adulteries:

Jud 1:3  Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jude would not need to mention this to us if we were not guilty of doing this. If we “only acknowledge [our] iniquity, that we have transgressed against the Lord” more treacherously than our elder sister Aholah, then in spite of our gross sins and self-righteous iniquities, we will be His tent where He will dwell:

H172
אָהֳלִיבָהּ    אָהֳלִיבָה
‘ohŏlı̂ybâh    ‘ohŏlı̂ybâhh
o”-hol-ee-baw’, o”-hol-e-baw’
(As with H170 the first form is in form a feminine of H168, but is in fact for the second form); from H168; my tent (is) in her; Oholibah, a symbolic name for Judah: – Aholibah.

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

This sounds like a request, but when we put the sum of the Lord’s words together, we realize that these verses are a prophecy that our sovereign Lord, who “works all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11) is working within us:

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

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

“The pride of life” is self-righteousness. That is the most insidious of sins, and that is the sin with which the entire book of Job concerns itself. It is the final of the three all-encompassing sins that are within every man:

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

It is just naturally impossible for us to acknowledge our self-righteous iniquity. Only “Christ in us” can humble us and give us the grace and mercy needed to overcome that proud wild beast which we all are by nature, and which we all are “in the Potter’s hand” (Jer 18:4).

Jer 3:13  Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14  Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

When we begin to overcome the pride of the great red dragon within us, then we will begin to be born into Jerusalem above, and we will begin to be  caught up to the throne of God to be seated with Him in the heavens:

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:

“Even when we were dead in sins” reminds us of what we are when the Lord calls us:

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

God is demonstrating through us that He does not need us. He is demonstrating this by using the foolish, weak, base, and despised and people who are not capable of being kings and priests, and He is making us a nation of kings and priests to rule with Him over the nations of this world:

Jer 3:17  At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

That is our “new name” which is known only to those that have it. That is where the Lord dwells, and ‘Jerusalem’ is where He sits upon His throne in His temple:

Rev 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

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

Only Christ can be ‘Christ’. Only He knows His new name, and only He knows His ‘voice’, and only He knows to flee from the ‘voice’ of a stranger:

Joh 10:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
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.

We are blessed to know Christ and to know others who “know His voice”. We are “one body” with “one mind”, and we speak with one voice, the voice of the True Shepherd, the Word of God:

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

That is our study for today, and here are our verses for our next study. Our next study will confirm the doctrine of being “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” which will bring Israel and Judah to be one again in Christ. We will see what that entails in our next study.

Jer 3:18  In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
Jer 3:19  But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me.
Jer 3:20  Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:21  A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.
Jer 3:22  Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.
Jer 3:23  Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
Jer 3:24  For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
Jer 3:25  We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

[Study Aired September 17, 2020]

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit. 
Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 
Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 

Christ is providing a vision for his bride-to-be that will sustain us through the spiritual wilderness of this world through His word that we are being sanctified with (Joh 17:16-18, Psa 119:105).

Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. [Lev 16:10, Col 1:24]

The church that is likened to the scapegoat, of which Christ is shepherding and will not lose sight, is continually the apple of His eye (Zec 2:8, Psa 17:8). We will get to where we have to go at the hand of a fit man spoken of in Leviticus 16:10 and 21. That “fit man” of Levitus 16:21 symbolizes the fact that He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1Jn 4:4) and that Christ in you as our hope of glory (Col 1:27) is working in you both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure which is to give us the kingdom of God (Joh 10:14, Joh 18:9, Php 2:13, Eph 2:10, Luk 12:32).

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

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

Vision is a gift the Lord gives the body of Christ today through the church (Col 1:24) via the faith that is mixed with the word of God (Eph 3:10, 2Ti 4:2, Heb 4:2) that enlightens what is a “dark place” (2Pe 1:5-12, 2Pe 1:19) which is now illuminated through the ongoing victory which Christ, who is the author and finisher of that faith, can give us as we die daily (Rom 10:17, 1Jn 5:4, Heb 12:2, Php 1:6). These scriptures in 2Peter 1:5-12 describe the work that needs to be accomplished in order to maintain spiritual vision, which is something in which we grow as Christ gives us the power to add one thing to the other (Php 2:12-13), so we can learn how all those spiritual qualities “work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

2Pe 1:5  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
2Pe 1:6  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
2Pe 1:7  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
2Pe 1:8  For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:9  But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off [Pro 29:18], and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
2Pe 1:10  Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall [Jud 1:24]:
2Pe 1:11  For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:12  Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

We study to show ourselves approved so that we can learn to speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15) in a world where we know the whole stay of bread and water has been taken away by God’s design (1Co 14:8, 2Ti 2:15, Rev 1:3, Isa 1:3, why Israel does not consider – Isa 3:1).

The word of God needs to be rightly divided in our heavens so we can be about our Father’s business of being doers and not just hearers of the word, deceiving our ownselves (2Ti 2:21, Jas 1:22, Jas 2:20).

2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

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

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

How we gain vision in this life is explained in Romans 12:1-2 as we look to the example of our Lord and follow each other as we follow Christ (Heb 12:2, 1Co 11:1) who is the One who creates the vision needed in the church so we don’t perish as we continue to build each other up with our “most holy faith” of which He is the author and finisher (Jud 1:20-24, Mal 3:16, Heb 10:25).

Jud 1:20  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. [We look for the mercy of God through the trials (1Co 10:13, Psa 91:3-9)]

Christ is our high priest to whom we turn in our “time of need“, meaning when we are having our senses exercised through trials (Heb 4:15-16, Heb 5:14). He causes us to mature beyond “the first principles of the oracles of God” (Heb 5:12) through the strong meat that manifests in our heavens when we are received of our Father through chastening and scourgings (Heb 12:6). Those trials and much tribulation are necessary to give us dominion over all that is in the world within us and outside of us. “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (Luk 13:32, 1Jn 2:16-17).

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

The three times Christ was tempted in the wilderness by the devil are something that was accomplished for our sakes to show a pattern of overcoming the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, which Christ was able to accomplish through the spirit given to him in the midst of great tribulation (Joh 3:34, Mat 4:2). It is through the process of judgment which the church experiences (1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 4:17) that we mortify the deeds of the flesh in our lives so that we can then discern and fulfill the will of God. Christ’s flesh was mortified with forty days of fasting prior to this pivotal event in His life that was only the beginning of sorrows for our Lord, who would be given victory over Satan and later go on to die for the sins of the world (Mat 24:7-9, Isa 53:3-4, Mat 16:21).

Mat 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

Isa 53:3  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

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

After Christ was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” (Mat 4:1, Jas 1:14), He overcame him and then came and preached the gospel (Mar 1:14). The physical event of Christ overcoming the devil with God’s spirit as He wrestled against these powers and principalities that proceeded forth from Satan (Eph 6:12, Rom 1:20) occurred prior to Him then being sent to preach the gospel and parallels what the elect will do as we are granted to overcome the devil in this world (1Jn 4:4) by overcoming the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life represented by the three consecutive temptations Christ overcame by God’s power (1Jn 2:16).

The lust of the flesh would be represented by the temptation with bread; the lust of the eyes represented by Satan trying to tempt him with all the kingdoms of the world which were Satan’s to offer; and the pride of life is simply doing what we want in our proud flesh instead of obeying God, and tempting the Lord thy God would have been just such an act of disobedience from Christ, which we know was not going to happen (Mat 4:4-10, Heb 4:15).

So, those three principal events represent what we must overcome and can overcome through Christ who experienced these things in the most extreme manner (Heb 4:15) for our sakes so we can be comforted (2Co 1:3-4). We are like Christ today, and with His help we can count it all joy when we fall into diverse temptations (1Jn 4:17, Jas 1:2). We count it all joy because “the trying of your faith worketh patience” knowing that through Christ we can “let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” Wanting nothing means that by the grace and faith of God we can overcome the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life so we can live the rest of our lives doing the will of God as opposed to being entangled with this world which will pass away (1Jn 2:16-17, 1Pe 4:1-2, Tit 2:12).

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

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Hopefully this introduction sets the stage for us to understand how we can fulfill the will of God by filling up what is behind of His afflictions in this life (Col 1:24). That affliction is what is needed in order to “let patience have her perfect work” (Jas 1:4-8) so that “ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” To be entire in Christ is to go beyond “the first principles of the oracles of God” as we are nourished by our trials that make it possible for us to put off our fleshly carnal thinking so that we can remain focused on doing the will of God as we rejoice now, and again I say rejoice, because of that vision with which He has blessed us (Php 4:4, Pro 29:18).

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

Php 4:4  Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Heb 6:1  Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 

This opening statement is very specific in what it is asking us to do and reveals to us that a “foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God” has to initially be laid in the lives of those whom God is going to continue to drag to Christ and bring unto perfection.

“Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ” is the only way that we can go on to perfection, and as Paul showed us in these verses (Php 3:13-15), it is those who are granted a mature or maturing mindset in this life who can continue on in His word in this manner so that we can become disciples indeed through “not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works” which is what it means to  leave “the principles of the doctrine of Christ” (Joh 8:31-32).

Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Php 3:15  Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

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.

Take note that Paul says in Philippians 3:13 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended” which accords with verse three of our study which says “And this will we do, if God permit“.

The admonition for God’s elect in this age is to forget “those things which are behind” and to reach “forth unto those things which are before” as we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:14).

That pressing forward and forgetting what is behind is what it takes to build on the foundation that was initially laid in our lives by Christ as we recognize the hope of glory within us (Mat 16:18) which makes this transition possible through a purifying process that takes our entire life (Col 1:27, 1Jn 3:2-5, Rom 8:14-16, Rom 8:35-37).

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
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.
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Heb 6:2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3  And this will we do, if God permit.

We now have those foundational principles of Christ described for us that explain what we build upon, and the first one that is mentioned is “the doctrine of baptisms” that represents a truth we hopefully know and have settled in our hearts that it is through much tribulation (1Pe 4:12, Act 14:22) we enter into the kingdom of God, as we die daily and are baptized into Christ’s death (Rom 6:1-5).

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

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

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
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. [Newness of life after the trial, after the baptism (2Co 7:11)]
Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

We are “planted together in the likeness of his death” and as such are dead to sin and alive in Christ (Rom 6:11), not continuing in sin so that grace may abound, which would bring us to have to lay “again the foundation of repentance from dead works” demonstrating that we are not going beyond that principle that was all ready laid out for us.

The truth follows that if we don’t remember we are “planted together in the likeness of his death” “baptisms” we are not going to know that we are the temple of God (1Co 3:16) and have been raised in heavenly places (Eph 2:4-6) which should be the mindset of those who have the earnest of the inheritance within them (Col 1:27, Eph 1:14) being filled with hope that the “resurrection of the dead” is an ongoing I-die-daily event God is making possible through Christ who gives us the power to live with this understanding (Gal 2:20-21).

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.
Gal 2:21  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Christ’s death is in vain if we keep frustrating the grace of God by bringing up our past sins that have been covered by the blood of Christ, but again thanks be to God, He is greater than our sometimes carnal conscience that tries to do this (1Jn 3:20). You can be sure that is what the accuser of the brethren wants to do within us and without us 24/7 (Rev 12:10), and so we need to beseech God to keep us focused on the joy that has been set before us as Christ did (Heb 12:2).

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

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.

That joy set before us is the vision we need in order to endure until the end, and that vision was typified by events at the time of Stephen’s death who was given the vision he needed to put off his flesh at this appointed time in his life as he beheld “the Son of man standing on the right hand of God“. Eternal life is to know the Father and the Son (Joh 17:3), and to behold them as Stephen did was a symbolic event that was for our sakes to reassure us what God will do for His little flock who does not need to fear what men can do to our flesh as we look to the vision we can receive through our Father and Jesus Christ and His body that will lead us to eternal life (Act 7:54-60, Eph 3:10). We provide that vision for each other as a joint that supplies in love, and God uses the body of Christ to strengthen us in that regard with prophecy (Eph 4:16, Heb 3:13, 1Th 5:11, 1Co 14:3).

If we are dying daily (1Co 15:31) and being raised in heavenly places today (Eph 2:6), then we are being judged (1Pe 4:17), and if we are being judged now, the spirit of God is bearing witness with our spirit that we are His sons who are learning of His righteousness (Rom 8:14-16, 1Jn 3:1, Isa 26:9) which witnesses that Christ within us as our hope of glory can lead us into all truth in order to set us free (Joh 16:13) as we continue in the truth believing (Joh 8:31-32) that we are enduring what we are enduring through in this age by the grace and faith of Christ for a reason (Rom 8:18-23).

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

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.

These trials of our faith are happening so we can be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Php 1:29) coming up as those saviors or kings and priests who can discern good and evil and who will have been prepared (Rev 19:7) to rule under Christ and judge the nations who will all be saved (Oba 1:21, 1Co 15:22). The salvation of all mankind will occur in the lake of fire, or great white throne judgment, and is a judgment that will be administered by those few who have been baptized into Christ’s death today and have been raised into heavenly places today. Our role as saviors will be demonstrated via the “eternal judgment” that the rest of the world will experience at the hand of God’s elect, and “this will we do, if God permit” (1Co 6:3). If it is written in our books, we will do this, and God will be glorified in showing the world that what He says He is going to do will get done, and there is no plan B (Psa 139:16, 2Ti 2:19, Psa 118:27).

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.

Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

Psa 118:27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.

Heb 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 
Heb 6:5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 

You and I can be “enlightened” and have “tasted of the heavenly gift” and been “made partakers of the Holy Ghost” along with having “tasted the good word of God” and “the powers of the world to come” and still not endure until the end if God has not written this in our book.

Why does God allow those who have been “enlightened” and “have tasted of the heavenly gift” and been “made partakers of the Holy Ghost” and “tasted the good word of God” and “the powers of the world to come” to be in the midst of God’s elect in the first place?

The truth of God’s word is that they are sacrificed for us in their unbelief that God may have mercy upon all (Rom 11:32), and we are beloved for the gospel’s sake and represent the things that were written for our sakes (1Co 10:11) and show us what would manifest within in us unless the Lord did not chasten and scourge us in order to be received of Him today (Heb 12:6).

[Rom 11:28-32 – The 250 men of renown are chastened and scourged within us, and that number represents a multiple of grace that must occur in our lives if we are going to be saved in this age through much tribulation 25X10 (Heb 12:6). The mindset of God’s elect is a gift from God (1Co 2:16) that, Lord willing, we will never take for granted by being highminded (Rom 11:20-21).]

It is because of the unbelievers’ unbelief which manifests in heresies, that we learn [by reason of use having our sense exercised (Heb 5:14)] who it is that is approved in our midst (1Co 11:19) and who it is that has been granted the mind of Christ who can try those lying spirits and recognize through the grace and faith God gives, those who are approved and those who are an enemy of the cross (Deu 13:3, Php 3:18).

Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

1Co 11:19  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

Deu 13:3  Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Php 3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:

The struggles God has given to the body of Christ through the years which have caused us to grow in grace and in knowledge have primarily been from those of our own household who were against us, and that statement of Christ found in Matthew 10:36 is both true at the onset of our being dragged out of the world with our physical families who are against us, as well as those in our midst who claim to be spiritual Jews and are not (Rev 3:9, Rom 1:20).

Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

It is God who caused the two hundred and fifty men of renown to rebel, along with the whole congregation of Israel (Num 16:2-3, Num 16:19), to demonstrate to us that their unbelief and rebellious spirit would have been ours except for the grace of God that chastens us and scourges us as we are received of our Father and learn that God is no respector of persons (Act 10:34-35). He will have mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and who He wants to harden, He will harden (Rom 9:18). This is the severity and goodness of God which is being revealed to very few in this age showing us what God thinks of all flesh that is all being worked according to the counsel of the Master Potter’s will, who will have every man saved, each man in his order (Eph 1:11, Jer 18:4, Rom 9:20-21, 2Co 4:15-16).

It is indeed impossible to renew those whom God deems “the rest of the dead” of Revelation 20:5:

Heb 6:6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

With all that we have studied and come to see regarding God’s sovereignty over the years, God willing, it is clear today in our hearts and minds who it is that is causing the falling away of those who were in our midst and were “enlightened” and “have tasted of the heavenly gift” and been “made partakers of the Holy Ghost” and “tasted the good word of God” and “the powers of the world to come“, and how they were never meant to go on to perfection in this life or to be renewed “unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” which is what it means to be an enemy of the cross as found in Philippians 3:18.

Php 3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
Php 3:19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

God wants us to know and be assured that those who could not go beyond the “foundation of repentance from dead works” were broken off for our sakes and that they will be grafted back again in the lake of fire, but not in this age. These events that God caused were all done according to the counsel of His will (Eph 1:11) to show His goodness and severity and His power over the clay or the light and darkness over which He is in perfect control (Isa 45:7).

These events spoken of in Hebrews 6:4-6 are written for the elect’s sake in this age but also for those in the ages to come who will learn that all things were for the elect’s sake initially so “that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God” so, “that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

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 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

We are a many-membered body of Christ which needs to continue to pray and ask God for that gift of phophecy (1Co 14:1-3) so we can be used to provide the vision (Pro 29:18) that we will need in this ever increasingly evil world that we can overcome through Jesus Christ who is the one who can provide the vision to do so (Heb 12:2).

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

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.

We sigh and cry for the sins of this world, showing a mind of compassion and care for this dying world, and at the same time we know that Ishmael cannot come along, and so we must separate ourselves from this world and do so by loving the Lord with all our hearts, minds and strength, and “this will we do, if God permit“.  It will be demonstrated through the fruit of our lives, the obedience to God’s commandments which witnesses that His love is being shed abroad in our hearts (Eze 9:4, Gen 17:18, 2Co 6:17, Joh 14:15, 1Jn 5:3, Rom 5:5).

These final verses of our study show us clearly that when we keep God’s commandments, the law of Christ (Gal 6:2), we will in fact have vision and will be happy!

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Joh 13:15  For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
Joh 13:16  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
Joh 13:17  If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

Pro 29:18  Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Isa 51:6-11 Put on Strength O Arm of the Lord - Discussion

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Isa 51:6-11 Put on Strength O Arm of The Lord

[Study Aired December 15, 2019]

Isa 51:6  Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. 
Isa 51:7  Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. 
Isa 51:8  For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. 
Isa 51:9  Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? 
Isa 51:10  Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? 
Isa 51:11  Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

The Lord wants His elect to know “the heavens shall vanish away like smoke… and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.”

As impossible as those words may seem to be, the truth is:

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

The truth is that “the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal”, but our flesh cannot accept this fact. We simply are not just naturally given to see or understand the things of the spirit (1Co 2:13-15). It is especially hard for us to believe that a transition from one realm to another, from this old physical world to another realm, the realm of the spirit is even possible.

For that very purpose and for our sakes, the Lord has given us the entire experience of Noah. The story of Noah demonstrates how none of us of ourselves can believe in things which we cannot see. Noah was given the faith to believe the seemingly impossible fact that a flood was coming upon the whole earth. Because it had never rained in all the history of mankind, everyone believed nothing would ever change. The whole world considered Noah to be a delusional mad man who was building a huge ship on dry land which had never seen rain, much less an impending destructive flood which would destroy all in whom was the breath of life. It was in this atmosphere that Noah warned the world for 120 years that the Lord was going to destroy all life on earth. Noah, we are told, was preaching to people who were all bound in a prison of their own preordained unbelief and lack of faith in something they could not physically see:

1Pe 3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
1Pe 3:19  By which [spirit] also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; [When did Christ “preach to spirits in prison? The answer is:]
1Pe 3:20  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by [Greek: dia, through] water. [Not fire]

Luk 3:16  John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

Another similar story with the same lesson for us is the account of the two messengers who were sent to take Lot and his family out of Sodom before the Lord destroyed that city and all the cities of the plains around the Dead Sea. No one in Sodom believed anything would be changing any time soon. Here is that story. This time it was done by fire, typifying the coming destruction of all flesh:

Gen 19:9  And [the men of Sodom] said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
Gen 19:10  But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
Gen 19:11  And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
Gen 19:12  And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
Gen 19:13  For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. 
Gen 19:14  And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this  place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

Luk 3:16  John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

Those two stories, the story of Noah and the story of Lot, should give you some sense of how this world thinks of the idea of anyone “making war with the beast within” or of a literal kingdom of God ruling over the kingdoms of this world for “a thousand years”. It simply does not seem possible, and it is so hard to believe that many of our own brothers have lost faith in these very plain words:

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. [Greek: ages of the ages]
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.

“He shall reign for ever and ever” should read ‘He shall reign for the ages of the ages” meaning the thousand years and the time of the great white throne judgment mentioned in the last half of Revelation 20. It is here in Revelation 20 that some of the details of the reign of “the Lord and His Christ [over] the kingdoms of this world” are revealed to us:

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 
Rev 20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Immediately following this “little season” of rebellion against the sovereignty of “the Lord and His Christ” we are shown that there will be a second judgment before the great white throne, which is but another symbol for “the Lord and His Christ”, the same “priests of God and of Christ [who] reigned with Him a thousand years”:

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Noah “preached to spirits in prison” for 120 years, all while being ridiculed by that generation. Nevertheless, the flood came just as Noah had been warning. Lot preached for a very short time to His sons-in-law, “But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law”. However, Sodom was destroyed that very same day. This brings us to the first two verses of our study today concerning how we should be thinking of what was prophesied thousands of years ago concerning what the Lord has in store for us and for the world of today:

Isa 51:6  Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. 
Isa 51:7  Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

It is only the Lord’s elect who ‘listen to the Lord, know righteousness, and whose heart is in the Lord’s law’. It is we who are admonished, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner:”

That these words, “The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old as a garment” are addressed to us is made clear when they are repeated in the books of Hebrews and 2nd Peter:

Heb 1:10  And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
Heb 1:11  They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
Heb 1:12  And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 
2Pe 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 
2Pe 3:11  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 
2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

This is not some new doctrine the Lord is giving Paul and Peter. It is all right here in the book of Isaiah. “The things that are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal”:

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Isaiah continues with this theme:

Isa 51:8  For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. 

The fact that we are speaking of moth and worms and something that lasts “from generation to generation” indicates that these words are addressed to those who reign with Christ for a thousand years before judging angels in the lake of fire and before the “all in all” (1Co 15:28 and Eph 5:23)

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

1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
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.

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.

Still speaking to us, the Lord continues here in Isaiah:

Isa 51:9  Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? 
Isa 51:10  Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? 

There will be those who will read this study and say to themselves, “We were not there in the ancient days. We have not cut Rahab or wounded the dragon.  We have never dried up the sea or made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over, and we certainly are not the Lord’s arm.” Those who speak thusly will be judged out of their own mouths. Those of that mindset do not yet believe that mankind must “live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God”:

Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man [Greek: ‘anthropos’, mankind] shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

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:

Psa 18:25  With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
Psa 18:26  With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

If we are of the mindset that God created His weak, carnal-minded creatures knowing He would send most of them away into an ever-burning lake of fire to be tormented with excruciating pain for all eternity, as most Christian denominations  as well as the Jewish and the Muslim religions believe, then that is exactly how the Lord will present Himself to you when you are being judged. Yes, the Lord has “cut Rahab and wounded the dragon”, but when our eyes are opened to see the meaning of the Hebrew word ‘olam’ and the Greek word ‘aion’ we are then given to understand that nowhere in all of scripture is anyone ever once threatened with eternal torment. Such a thought has never once entered the Lord’s mind. His judgments are always corrective and redemptive in their purpose and in their implementation. God’s judgments correct us and teach us His righteousness:

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

To what is “the world… condemned”?  They are ‘condemned’ to a later “judgment” which follows the thousand-year reign of “the Lord and His Christ”, and that ‘judgment’ is called the “great white throne… judgment”:

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

There we have it… the “great white throne” is “judgment”, and what do the scriptures teach is the purpose for all of the Lord’s judgments, including this “great white throne… judgment”, which is also called “the lake of fire/second death”? This is the Truth about all of God’s judgments:

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world [to the later “great white throne… judgment”]

Who is the Lord’s “arm” with which He will administer this ‘white throne judgment [of] the dead small and great’ (Rev 20:7-15)? As we learned right here in this prophecy of Isaiah, it will be administered by “the righteous [who are even now] dwell[ing] with the devouring fire [and] everlasting burnings”:

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

It will be “He that walks righteously [in] this present time” (Rom 8:18) who are given to have part in “the resurrection of life… [of] the righteous”. It was Christ who inspired Isaiah to write these words here in chapter 33, who also tells us:

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. [Greek: ‘krisis’, judgment]

The Lord’s elect, “they that have done good [in] this present time”, (Rom 8:18) are being judged in ‘this present time’ and will have no need to come up “unto the resurrection of judgment”. “When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world… unto the resurrection of judgment.” Nevertheless, even those who are condemned to the resurrection of judgment are still being judged of God, and when His judgments are in the earth men will learn righteousness, even those in the lake of fire/second death/great white throne judgment:

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

It is only by the Lord’s sovereign will that some few are given to be judged in “this present time”. If we are blessed to be part of “the house of God [in] this present time”, then we will also be given to believe these words of the apostle Paul concerning this the greatest of all honors:

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

It is because of “the glory which shall be revealed in us” that we will experience the “everlasting joy” of the last verse of our study today:

Isa 51:11  Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

Nowhere in all of scripture are we ever told “and sorrow and mourning shall flee away” in this age and at this time. To the contrary, we are told that only “if we suffer with Him, [then we are] joint heirs with Christ…[and] we shall also reign with Him…”:

Rom 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.