Rev 15:5-8   No Man Was Able to Enter Into The Temple

[Study Aired March 9, 2025]

Rev 15:5  And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
Rev 15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Introduction

As we continue our study of this 15^th chapter let’s keep in mind that the ‘signs’ of this chapter are called “great and marvelous” because they signify what must be endured by those who stand on a “sea of glass mingled with fire”. These are not your average “carnal babes in Christ” of 1^st Corinthians three:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

‘Carnal-minded babes in Christ’ are divided into over 40,000 differing and conflicting denominations of men who are led about by men who look like a lamb but speak as a dragon.  ‘Carnal babes in Christ’ take great pride in which denomination of men they follow. Every denomination of Christendom is led by some man who appears outwardly as an “angel of light”, [but] inwardly they are “false apostles” and “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”  Those who are given to endure the “great and marvelous… signs” of this 15^th chapter have gotten the victory over the beast (the man of sin within), and over his image (all the denominations of men), and over his mark (keeping all the traditions and false doctrines of these divided ‘carnal babes in Christ’), and over the number (6) of his name (the inability to “abide in Christ’s words” (‘name’= Ecc 7:1; Joh 8:30-31), demonstrating their immature and incomplete spiritual status.

Just as it was in the days of our Lord, the carnal and immature will always outnumber and hate those who are given to abide in His doctrine and follow in His steps. The signs of this 15^th chapter signify the chosen few who are granted to endure the chastening wrath of God upon the kingdom of their old man within “in this present time” (Rom 8:18). In doing so we are “hated of all men” (Mat 22:10) counted as “cursed of God” just as Job’s three miserable comforters thought of him and as our Lord was mocked of those who passed by.

Job 22:5  Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
Job 22:6  For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
Job 22:7  Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
Job 22:8  But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
Job 22:9  Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
Job 22:10  Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

That is just a part of the judgments of this seventh trumpet. The judgments of this seventh trumpet consist of seven plagues which are poured out upon the Lord’s elect in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. This chapter reveals what the “fire and brimstone” and “the patience and faith of the saints” of the previous chapter consists of.

This is just another way of telling us what the wrath of God consists of:

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out [of seven ‘vials’] without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

 It consists of these seven last plagues which “fill up the wrath of God” upon the kingdom of our self-righteous old man:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

It is the fact that we are being judged in this present time by this “great and marvellous… sign… these seven last plagues…” this “great tribulation… (Mat 24:21), a manifest token of our salvation” that will make us worthy to be given a part in that “blessed and holy… first resurrection”:

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. [Seven last plagues which fill up the wrath of God]
Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

2Th 1:4  So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
2Th 1:5  Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

The seven last plagues certainly include “all your persecutions and tribulations that [we] endure”. Our persecutions and our tribulations are a token of the righteous judgment of God.

In this same 24^th chapter of Matthew , Christ tells us this was all fulfilled in that generation:

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

In these last four verses of this chapter, we will learn the spiritual significance of the word ‘opened’. In doing so we will find that when there is an “open heaven” there is an exponential increase in our understanding of spiritual or heavenly matters.

We will also learn that ‘clothing’ in scripture always alludes to our way of life, be it a life of obedience to God and the love and righteousness of Christ and His ‘linen, clean and white’, or a life of rebellion against God and His doctrines and the filthy garments of that way of life.

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

Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Zec 3:3  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
Zec 3:4  And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

We will also discover that there is a very strong connection between the four beasts which are said to be in and around the throne of God and these seven angels of this revelation of Jesus Christ.

Rev 5:8  And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Finally, we will be reminded of the meaning of the word ‘glory’ as it relates to “the glory of God”, and we will be reminded why we are told that “no man was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.”

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

This “temple of the tabernacle of testimony” is mentioned three times in the Old Testament in the King James Version, and it always refers to what is far more commonly called “the tabernacle of the congregation.” Here are those references:

Exo 38:21  This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.

Num 1:50  But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.

Num 1:53  But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.

Here is one example of the far more common phrase, “the tabernacle of the congregation”, speaking of the same tabernacle.

Exo 27:21  In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

“Aaron and his sons” is Bible-speak for God’s elect who “have an altar whereof they that serve the tabernacle have no right to eat”:

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

“They… that serve the tabernacle” are the Levites, and while the Levites are separated to “serve the tabernacle” they are not separated to ‘eat the holy things within the tabernacle’.

Lev 7:5  And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a trespass offering.
Lev 7:6  Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy.

It is the stark contrast between the Levites who are the priests, the sons of Aaron, as opposed to the Levites, who are not priests, but who are commanded to “keep the charge of the tabernacle”, which demonstrates the spiritual meaning of “Many are called but few are chosen”.

Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Only the priests, the sons of Aaron, are able to enter into the tabernacle to do the service “within the vail” of the tabernacle.

Num 18:1  And the LORD said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
Num 18:2  And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee: but thou and thy sons with thee [shall minister] before the tabernacle of witness.
Num 18:3  And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.
Num 18:4  And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, for all the service of the tabernacle: and a stranger shall not come nigh unto you.
Num 18:5  And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar: that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel.
Num 18:6  And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you [they are] given [as] a gift for the LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 18:7  Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s office for every thing of the altar, and within the vail; and ye shall serve: I have given your priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

“You and your sons” is Biblical symbolism for Christ our high priest and His elect. So when we read, “the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened”, what we are being told is that it is now being shown to us what Christ is doing in His temple to prepare it for His residence.

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened [Your heavens and the temple in your heavens being opened]; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

It is given only to Christ’s elect “as a gift of sevice”, to minister “within the vail” of the tabernacle. Numbers 18:1-7 are all summed up in this one verse in the New Testament:

Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

That is why these seven angels who have the seven vials, or bowls which “fill up the wrath of God”, are said to “come out of the temple”:

Rev 15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

The Levites who are not the sons of Aaron were never to so much as touch “the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar.” If the priest permitted that to happen, it would cost the lives of both the Levite who was not Aaron’s son and the priest who permitted it. The fact these seven angels “come out of the temple”, tells us that these angels are symbols of those who are given the service of the priests. These seven angels are the symbols of the sons of Aaron who signify Christ’s elect, who alone are given the priesthood “as a service of gift… to minister before God… within the vail” of the temple.

Num 18:3  And they [the Levites who were not the sons of Aaron] shall keep thy charge, and the charge of all the tabernacle: only they shall not come nigh the vessels of the sanctuary and the altar, that neither they, nor ye also, die.

What these verses of Numbers 18 tell us is that only the chosen elect of Christ are given to handle the word and doctrines of God, which are symbolized by “the vessels of the sanctuary.” The Truth in the hands of anyone else becomes a curse upon them, because they are not equipped or authorized or worthy to be the stewards of the Word of God.

Here is an example of how that works:

1Sa 5:1  And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.
1Sa 5:2  When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
1Sa 5:3  And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
1Sa 5:4  And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
1Sa 5:5  Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
1Sa 5:6  But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof.
1Sa 5:7  And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god.

As we saw in last week’s study, it is the priests and the priests only who were ever to be cleansed in the molten sea between the brazen altar and the temple:

2Ch 4:6  He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them: such things as they offered for the burnt offering they washed in them; but the sea was for the priests [only] to wash in.

It is upon that sea, which here is called “a sea of glass mingled with fire”, that God’s elect who overcome the mark, name, number and image of the beast, stand with golden harps, singing the victorious song of Moses.

What does “clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles” mean? As we have seen earlier, “the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.”

Rev 19:8  And to her [Christ’s elect, His bride] was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Again, it is affirmed to us that these seven angels are Christ’s own bride, who are “clothed in pure and white linen…”

What does “golden girdle” signify? It signifies Christ and those who are in Him:

Rev 1:13  And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

Here is what we are told of those who are Christ’s at this time:

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.

In our study of chapter 16, we will see that these seven angels identify themselves as God’s own elect, “our fellowservants, and of those who keep the sayings of this prophecy…” Because Christ’s offices are so numerous, many types and shadows and symbols are employed; both to hide from the “many called”, and at the same time to reveal all those various offices to the “few… chosen”. “As He is, so are we in this world.” If Christ is girded with a golden girdle and we are “in Him”, then we, too, are “girded with golden girdles.”

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Many symbols are employed to reveal all the various offices we, as Christ’s Christ, must fulfill. Here in chapters 15-16 we are called “seven angels”, but here in verse 7 we are called “one of the four beasts”. In our study of chapter 5 we saw how these four beasts tell us that they, too, are symbols of those who are “redeemed from among men” and “will rule on earth”. How can “one of the four beasts” as a symbol of God’s elect be giving the seven vials to another symbol of God’s elect? That is no more of a mystery than asking how can God’s elect, who are the temple of God, become seven angels who come out of the temple of God? That apparent mystery is explained with these words:

Joh 14:20  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

“Ye in me, and I in you.” The spirit world is far more fluid than the physical world. “At that day” is this very day which we are now studying. It is “the great day of God’s wrath” (Rev 6:17), when “the mystery of God should be finished” within us. That mystery is “Christ in you the hope of glory… Ye in me and I in you”. If indeed Christ is within us then He can give us, these seven angels, the seven vials and commission us to pour them out on our own “unrighteousness and ungodliness”:

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God [the seven last plagues] is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

This is the ‘chastening and scourging love of God which He pours out on every son that He receives.’ This is the work of the grace of God within our lives:

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

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811: ‘paideuo’ chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

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

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
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:

This is not “made manifest” to just anyone. It is only “made manifest to his saints”. If Christ is in us and we are “as He is in this world”, then these “golden girdles” on these seven angels tie us inexorably to Christ, because, as we will see later, these seven angels tell us they are symbols of us (Rev 19:10 and 22:8-9).

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

It is we who are admonished to “read… hear… and keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book”:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Rev 22:8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

It is Christ in us giving these vials to us and pouring out the wrath of God upon the sins, false doctrines and rebellions within us.

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

We have covered this verse thoroughly as we dealt with the first four verses of this chapter. “The glory of God” is not just a bright glow. “The glory of God” is the bright light that is His fiery words and doctrines which fly in the face of everything that appeals to our flesh. The smoke from that glory is the by- product of the burning up of all “the wood, hay and stubble” that is the false doctrines and pulls of our flesh which dominate our lives “till the seven plagues of the seven angels is fulfilled” within us.

Ezekiel 33:1–20 Ezekiel is Israel’s Watchman

[Study Aired September 30, 2024]

INTRODUCTION

Today’s study is about being a watchman for the people of Israel. Before we can understand what being a watchman to the house of Israel means, we need to know who a watchman is. The Hebrew word for watchman is ‘tsaphah’ and it means ‘to lean forward, to peer into the distance; by implication means to observe, behold, spy out, wait for, keep the watch.’ In the Old Testament period, because of the many enemies of the people of Israel, the city of Jerusalem was protected by thick walls around the entire city. As a matter of fact, most big cities in the Old Testament were protected by thick walls. Israel’s watchmen were therefore guards who would stand on the walls and in the towers to look out upon the land for messengers, unusual activity, and most importantly, any sign of an enemy or approaching army. Immediately when these watchmen see any sign of an enemy, they have to sound the alarm. A watchman therefore plays a leadership role in the protection of the people of the Lord.

As we are aware, the Bible was written for the Lord’s elect, first. We are therefore required by the Lord to be like watchmen. When we fail in this role, then we are just like the watchmen of Israel (Babylon) described in the Book of Isaiah as follows:

Isa 56:9  All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
Isa 56:10  His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 
Isa 56:11  Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
Isa 56:12  Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

As indicated in Isaiah 56:9, when we are not watchful, we become mincemeat to our old man or flesh. That is to say that we are dominated by our flesh. Here the watchmen are described as ‘blind, ignorant, dumb and greedy dogs, cannot bark, sleeping, and loving to sleep’. The watchman being blind implies that one cannot see the enemy’s devices. As indicated by Paul, we, the Lord’s elect, must know the devices of the enemy.

2Co 2:11  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 

Being ignorant refers to our inability to comprehend the scriptures. When we are ignorant of the scriptures, we end up establishing our own righteousness and do not understand the power of God.

Rom 10:2  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 
Rom 10:3  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 

Mar 12:24  And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? 
Mar 12:25  For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.
Mar 12:26  And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?

As indicated in Isaiah 56:11, the Israel’s watchmen were  tagged as dumb and greedy dogs which means that they cannot rightly divide the word and are also never satisfied with what the Lord has given to them. Dumb means we cannot speak and the reason we cannot speak is because we do not know how to divide the word of truth.

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

Sleeping or lying down or loving to sleep implies that as watchmen, we do not stay alert and are not sober-minded to know that the enemy is prowling around looking for an opportunity to devour us.

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

Isaiah 56:9-12 therefore show us the role of a watchman. In the New Testament, we do not read about actual watchmen anymore. However, our leaders are given the role of spiritual watchmen, to watch over our souls and to feed us His word.

Heb 13:17  Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

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

On another level, we, His elect are called to become watchmen over our bodies so that we can offer them as living sacrifice to the Lord. We are to be vigilant as we watch for any move by the adversary who is a roaring lion looking to devour us. We are also to watch our doctrine, to make sure that it aligns with the truth of the word of the Lord.

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.

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Today’s study focuses on our role as watchmen as we are given more insight into how we can become effective watchmen of our temple and the body of Christ as a whole.

Eze 33:1  Again the word of the LORD came me, saying, 
Eze 33:2  Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: 

The word of the Lord coming to Ezekiel, means the Lord coming to His elect with the spirit of His mouth and His brightness, which is His judgement. The Lord bringing the sword upon our land is His judgement of our old man or flesh. What verse 2 is therefore showing us is that when we share the word of the Lord with one another, then we are playing the role of a watchman. In verse 2, the focus is on becoming aware of the Lord’s judgement in our lives. When we know that it is the Lord coming to us with His judgement through the agency of the evil one, to bring us to an expected end, then we are strengthened to withstand the devices of the enemy.  ‘A man from their coasts’ in verse 2 means one of our brethren. Therefore, the people of the land taking a man of their coasts for a watchman means our brothers among us who share the word of the Lord with us about our impending judgement are acting like watchmen of the Lord’s elect.

Eze 3:17  Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 
Eze 3:18  When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Eze 3:19  Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Eze 33:3  If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; 
Eze 33:4  Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 
Eze 33:5  He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

These verses show us the role of a watchman in the body of Christ. As indicated, the sword upon our land represents our fiery trials or judgement which is an evil experience the Lord takes us through to refine us. As the story of Job tells us, the devil, our enemy is the executor of this sword upon our land.

Isa 54:16  Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 
Isa 54:17  No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

As the Lord’s watchmen, we are to sound the alarm or sound the trumpet to our brothers and sisters of our impending judgement. In the Book of Revelation, the voice of the Lord is likened to the sound of the trumpet as follows:

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 
Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Rev 1:12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

Rev 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Sounding the trumpet as the Lord’s watchmen therefore means speaking the word of the Lord. As we are aware, our fiery trials is the Lord’s way of destroying our old man or flesh within us to make us His sons. It is the central theme of the word of the Lord which we are to warn our brothers and sisters about it.  Even our Lord Jesus had to go through suffering or judgement during His days here on earth to perfect Him.

Heb 5:6  As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
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; 
Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 
Heb 5:9  And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 
Heb 5:10  Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

Our message as the Lord’s watchmen is to proclaim the Lord’s sword upon our land and also to indicate the Lord’s way of dealing with this enemy in our land.

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
1Co 10:12  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Many of our brothers and sisters have fallen victim when the enemy came upon their land with the sword. In verse 5, the Lord is assuring us that we are exonerated from what happens to our brothers and sisters if we warn them and they do not pay heed to the warnings. In this case, their blood is upon their own heads. This is what Apostle Paul said about being a watchman which is consistent with verse 5:

Act 20:25  And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Act 20:26  Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 
Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

Eze 33:6  But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. 
Eze 33:7  So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. 

In verse 6, the Lord is telling us that if we are negligent in sounding the alarm of the Lord’s judgement in our land, we, as the Lord’s watchmen, shall be liable for the spiritual death of our brethren.  In our lives in the churches of this world or Babylon, we were never warned of the Lord’s judgement or sword in our land. On the contrary, we were told that suffering is not our portion in this life. No wonder we were swept away by the flood of the enemy and became spiritually dead. This is what we were taught in Babylon:

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

Verse 7 shows us that the Lord has appointed us, His elect, for the special role of being a watchman. As we are aware, Ezekiel who is referred to as the son of man, an accolade that Jesus used to refer to Himself when He was here on earth, is a symbol of the Lord’s elect. Therefore, being given the honor of being a watchman is part of our calling.

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

Eze 33:8  When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 
Eze 33:9  Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 

Being a watchman is not only to warn them of the impending judgement of our old man, but to tell them about the way of peace which leads to life and also the way of death, which brings destruction. This is what Joshua, an example of the Lord’s watchman, told the people of Israel:

Jos 24:14  Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
Jos 24:15  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Jos 24:19  And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
Jos 24:20  If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. 

Apostle Peter, in playing His role as a watchman, admonished us to leave our wicked ways which bring death. If through our admonition, a brother or sister continues to persist in his or her wicked ways, we are not guilty of his or her blood.

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. 
1Pe 4:3  For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
1Pe 4:4  Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:
1Pe 4:5  Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

Eze 33:10  Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? 
Eze 33:11  Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 

During our time in Babylon (house of Israel), our sins really weighed us down and as a result, we could not understand the extent of the Lord’s mercies. It is when Christ came to us that we were given to know that our Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked and that He wants the wicked to turn from their ways and live, as shown here in verse 11. Since our Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, He therefore devises means by which His banished shall be saved.

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.  

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

Eze 33:12  Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. 
Eze 33:13  When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. 

In verse 12, we are told that the righteousness of the righteous will not save him when he rebels or sins against the Lord. In the Book of Hebrew, we are also told the same thing that if after we have tasted of the heavenly gift, we end up rebelling against the Lord, then we are basically crucifying our Lord Jesus Christ again and putting Him to open shame. In that case, it becomes difficult to come to repentance and be saved. This is not speaking about falling into sin during our walk with Christ since the Holy Spirit convicts us to repent and move on. What this verse is speaking about is becoming entrenched in our sin and therefore becoming unrepentant.

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. 
Heb 6:7  For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Heb 6:8  But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 

As the word of the Lord says, if we repent from our sins and come to Him, He is able to save us.

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
1Jn 1:10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

In verse 13, we are being warned that if we trust in our own righteousness and we continue to commit iniquity, we shall die in our sins. Trusting in our own righteousness is the same as leaning on our own understanding.

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 

Eze 33:14  Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; 
Eze 33:15  If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 
Eze 33:16  None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. 

We, His elect, were once the wicked destined to die. However, the Lord came to us in His mercy to deliver us from our sins and to give us hope. This mercy that we have received from the Lord is the same mercy that will be shown to the world who now represent the wicked, in the fulness of time.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 

Eze 33:17  Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. 
Eze 33:18  When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. 
Eze 33:19  But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 
Eze 33:20  Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways. 

When we did not know the Lord, we behaved like the people of Israel who said that the way of the Lord is not fair. The Lord’s response to our accusation that He is unfair in His ways is given in the parable of the laborers of the vineyard who complained that He paid those who came late first instead of those who came first. This is the parable and His response:

Mat 20:1  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
Mat 20:2  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Mat 20:3  And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
Mat 20:4  And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
Mat 20:5  Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
Mat 20:6  And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
Mat 20:7  They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
Mat 20:8  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
Mat 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
Mat 20:10  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
Mat 20:11  And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 
Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 
Mat 20:13  But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 
Mat 20:14  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 
Mat 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 
Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Our limited minds sometime make us think that we are wise. The Lord has told us that His ways are past finding out and so we cannot comprehend many things that He does.

1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 
1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

The judgement of the Lord is what causes us to have the mind of Christ. That is why in verse 20, we are told that when our minds are different from the mind of Christ as we think that His ways are not fair, then we must go through His judgement. However, in this age, it is only the Lord’s elect who are privileged to be judged so that they have the mind of Christ.

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. 

May the Lord help us to have the mind of Christ as we die to our flesh daily!! Amen!!

“Musical Instruments in the Bible”

Part 5 – Wind [Shofar=Cornet/Trumpet – Part 2]

The shofar

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

Hebrew: Shofar
KJV Name: Cornet/Trumpet
Strong’s: #H7782
References: Exo_19:16, Exo_19:19, Exo_20:18, Lev_25:9, Jos_6:4-20, Jdg_3:27, etc.

The Hebrew word shofar is recorded 72 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, all of which are mistranslated in the KJV. It is erroneously called a trumpet 68 times and a cornet 4 times (Psa_98:6, 1Ch_15:28, 2Ch_15:14, Hos_5:8). The shofar and trumpet, according to the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, are two distinct instruments as delineated in Psa_98:6 and 1Ch_15:28.

The shofar is mentioned more than any other musical instrument in the Bible. It is the only instrument that survives in its original form that is still used in modern Jewish liturgy. It was usually made from the curved horn of a ram or goat. Shofars announced the New Moons and Sabbaths (Psa_81:3), warned of approaching danger, and signaled the death of nobility.

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In our last study we were introduced to the first two verses where the word Shofar is used in the KJV in Exodus 19:16 and Exodus 19:19. The nineteenth chapter of Exodus introduces the nation of Israel to the voice of JEHOVAH, who we know to be Jesus Christ. That voice was symbolized by the breath that is required to blow the Shofar. The horn represents the power of the beast (Ecc 3:18) that is taken away by being cut off from the animal’s head, and then the priest would use that horn to make different sounds to give various commands to the camp of Israel.

JEHOVAH can now be heard by all the camp of Israel, and His voice is so powerful it causes all in the camp to tremble with fear (Exo 19:16) as a shadow of the truth that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord who judges us (Heb 10:30-31).

Exo 19:16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.

Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The first time the word JEHOVAH is used in the KJV bible is in Exodus 6:3, where we learn of God’s covenant with Israel to take them out from under the bondage of the Egyptians which represents our bondage to sin in this life (Exo 6:1-6).

Exo 6:1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
Exo 6:2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
Exo 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
Exo 6:4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
Exo 6:5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
Exo 6:6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: (Joh 8:36)

Our deliverance from that bondage to sin can only happen by receiving God’s holy spirit (Rom 8:9) that brings fiery judgment into our lives causing us to cease from sinning (1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 4:17, 1Pe 4:1-2). The events we are reading which unfolded for the nation of physical Israel at mount Sinai are typical of the events that would happen for the Israel of God on Pentecost (Gal 6:16).

The first event in Exodus that saw three-thousand people physically die due to rebellion happened on Pentecost (Exo 32:28-30). The death of the three thousand represents the process of judgment all flesh must go through in order to be purified by God’s word to inherit the kingdom of God, which flesh and blood cannot inherit (1Co 15:50). The three thousand being added to the church on Pentecost (Act 2:41) also represents judgment in our lives which now conforms us to the mind of Christ (Rom 12:2, 1Co 2:16) through a lifelong process of mortifying the deeds of the flesh and considering ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ (3x10x10x10=3000 – Rom 6:11).

Exo 32:30 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

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.

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

Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Moses typifies Christ who says to the people “Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.” This event was typical of the true reformer Jesus Christ whose sacrificial life was the only sacrifice that could atone for all the sins of the world (Joh 1:29-32). If Christ’s life is in us (Joh 6:63) as our hope of glory (Rom 8:9, Col 1:27), then we are accepted by God through Christ (Eph 1:6). We become a living sacrifice in Him, part of that one seed (Joh 14:20, Gal 3:16) that fills up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ (Col 1:24, 1Jn 4:17), atoning for the sins of the world with Christ’s life within us. Christ gives us the strength to become a trespass offering to the Lord (Lev 14:12-14, Lev 16:8-10, Lev 14:4-8).

Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Joh 1:30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.
Joh 1:31 And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
Joh 1:32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

Lev 14:12 And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD:
Lev 14:13 And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy: [1Jn 4:17]
Lev 14:14 And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot:

Lev 16:8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
Lev 16:9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.
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 [Col 1:24, Col 1:27], and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness [“for a trespass offering”].

Lev 14:4 Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:
Lev 14:5 And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water:
Lev 14:6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:
Lev 14:7 And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field.
Lev 14:8 And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days.

The next verse where we see the word Shofar being used is also found in the book of Exodus (Exo 20:18-19), which describes the judgment of God that the people saw “the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet^H7782, and the mountain smoking” that they removed themselves from, and stood afar off, “and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.” These actions of Israel demonstrate mankind’s inability to go unto the light to be cleansed through that judgment (1Jn 1:5-8, Joh 6:44).

Exo 20:18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
Exo 20:19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die [Rom 6:11].

1Jn 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
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.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Then we come to the book of Leviticus (Lev 25:8-12) where the word Shofar^H7782 is translated “the trumpet^H7782 of jubile” that is sounded “on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet^H7782 sound throughout all your land.” This day of jubilee represents the liberty which will be given to all the world once God’s holy spirit is given to all humanity (2Co 3:17). Physically the jubilee was a time of freeing Israel of all physical land debt that may be owned. That debt being lifted is a symbol of all the sins of all the world being forgiven and washed by the blood of the lamb (Rev 21:4). The debt of our sins is paid through Christ who takes away the sins of the world through His land, his body, the church that is the body of Christ (Eph 5:30, Col 1:24), which will be used to bring the world into giving an accounting in the great white throne judgment, where mercy will triumph over judgment (Jas 2:13).

The mercy God shows to the elect today will be extended to the rest of God’s creation in the lake of fire, also called the great white throne judgment (Rom 11:29-33), and these verses (Lev 25:8-12) parallel with the 49 days that preceded the 50th day of Pentecost where liberty was given to those who were called and chosen in this age to receive God’s holy spirit, the free gift of salvation that began to be given on Pentecost. Liberty comes “by grace (5×10=50) are ye saved through faith” and “that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” That faith is “not of works, lest any man should boast, anymore than anyone in Israel had a right to boast for the free gift of having their debt taken away from them after 50 years on jubile^H8643 (Eph 2:8-9).

H8643 terû‛âh ter-oo-aw’ Jubile
From H7321; clamor, that is, acclamation of joy or a battle cry; especially clangor of trumpets, as an alarum: – alarm, blow (-ing) (of, the) (trumpets), joy, jubile, loud noise, rejoicing, shout (-ing), (high, joyful) sound (-ing).
Total KJV occurrences: 36

H7321 rûa‛roo-ah’
A primitive root; to mar (especially by breaking); figuratively to split the ears (with sound), that is, shout (for alarm or joy): – blow an alarm, cry (alarm, aloud, out), destroy, make a joyful noise, smart, shout (for joy), sound an alarm, triumph.
Total KJV occurrences: 45

How the world will ultimately feel (Rev 21:4) when they know that their debt has been paid in full through Christ, and they are given saviors who come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau, so that in time God will be all in all (1Co 15:28, 1Co 12:6, Eph 1:23) is revealed in the meaning of the word itself, which is where we get our word jubilation. The jubilee also falls on the day of atonement, reminding us that all the world will be made one with God through putting off our flesh [fasting] via the acceptable fast (Isa 58:5) that can only happen with the life of Christ within us redeeming us and making us one with our Father, who will be all in all one day (1Co 15:28).

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.

1Co 12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

Eph 1:23 Which is his body [Eph 5:30], the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Lev 25:8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
Lev 25:9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet^H7782 of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
Lev 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
Lev 25:11 A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.
Lev 25:12 For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.

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.

The last verses with the word Shofar in it which we will be looking at in this study is found in Joshuah 6:4-20, where we see the word Shofar used twelve times, but using the English word trumpet(s)^H7782. This section of scripture drives home the point of what a unified, complete [7] body of Christ has the power to do with the word of God working in our lives, and how, as priests at that time, God was showing the world with this story of Joshua (Jos 6:4-20) what His intentions were for all of humanity who would be judged and saved, each man in his own order, by those who were made kings and priests (Rev 1:6, Rev 5:10) and will be used to pour out God’s judgments upon the world having already been judged themselves in this life (1Pe 4:17). As with the previous study using chapter 19 of the book of Exodus, we are only focused on the significance of the Shofar in these verses in the book of Joshua. For a more in-depth study on the 6th Chapter of Joshua, please see these two excellent studies given by Grant: The Book of Joshua – Part 6: ‘The Irony of the Moon Standing Upon a Moon’ for its Destruction – Joshua 6:1-17 and The Book of Joshua – Part 7: Fame and Fear of the Sword Wielded by the Elect of God will go Globally – Joshua 6:18-27.

These seven angels in the book of revelation are represented by those priests who surrounded the walls of Jericho taking the symbolic actions that were accomplished to conquer this land. The book of Revelation is a repeat of this event but with greater detail of the process and order that this judgment will take (1st to 4th angel [Rev 8:6-12], 5th and 6th angel [Rev 9:1-21], the seventh angel [Rev 10:1-11, Rev 11:1-15]). It is with the entire church or complete church (7) that the complete judgment of God, symbolized by seven trumpets, will bring the walls of Jericho down. The walls of Jericho represent everything in the world that resists God and must be overcome within us if we are going to be used to save the world through God’s judgments upon the world in the great white throne judgment. God willing we are hearing His voice today, with eyes that see and ears that hear and see the meaning of the shofar that should be continually blowing in our ears until our last breath, being judged in this age and enduring those judgments until the end of our lives through Christ (1Jn 2:16, Gal 5:17).

Jos 6:4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets^H7782 of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets^H7782.

In this first verse (Jos 6:4) we’re introduced to the seven priests who bear seven trumpets before the ark, and compass the city seven times, and then they blow with trumpets^H7782. What this is showing God’s elect today is that there is work to be done as fellow labourers in Christ, who must be about our Father’s business as Christ was (Joh 5:17, 1Jn 4:17). This entails us overcoming the sin within our members by completely [7] encompassing the cities within us as one body of Christ, each member being a joint that supplies to that body. Then in the following verses, we will see what that unified work of Christ through His body will ultimately produce within those who are blessed to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Rev 20:6). The fruit of the elect’s life is demonstrated today in the unity or singleness of mind God gives us (Php 2:2). Our discipleship in the Lord alone makes it possible for us to love one another and grow as one body that is overcoming by grace through faith (Joh 13:35, Rom 5:5, 1Jn 5:2, Eph 2:8, 1Co 13:7-9).

Jos 6:5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpets^H7782, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

Babylon will fall in one symbolic hour, meaning it won’t take long for all the world to know they have been deceived by the devil, as we all were, and in the day that the seventh trumpet sounds, Babylon will fall. That falling will be a process for the world just as it will have been for the elect who were the first to have the corruptible nature of Adam judged (Rev 14:8, 1Co 15:52-53, Rev 11:15).

Rev 18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Rev 18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,

Rev 18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

Jos 6:6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets^H7782 of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.

Joshua gave command to the priests to “take up the ark of the covenant” symbolizing the life of Christ, our hope of glory within us (Col 1:27). Going before the ark there were seven priests bearing seven “trumpets^H7782 of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD” symbolizing how all the words of the Lord go before us (Psa 119:160, Mat 4:4) as one body of Christ with His banner of love over us (Son 2:4, Psa 60:4, Rom 5:5). The priests are seven, symbolizing the complete church with the unified message of the salvation of all being completely proclaimed with seven trumpets [complete] to all nations with a unified message or blast of the trumpets (we are many trumpets but the same spirit that blows each trumpet [1Co 12:4, 1Co 12:8-9]).

Jos 6:7 And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.

Joshua, a type of Christ, gives us our marching orders as we are led by the spirit of God where we will find liberty in Christ (Rom 8:14, 2Co 3:17). Those who are armed “pass on before the ark of the LORD” and represent the elect who are the first to experience this promised victory of God Who arms us with the mind of Christ and the whole armor we need in this spiritual battle in which we are engaged (Rom 13:12, Eph 6:11-13).

Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Jos 6:8 And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets^H7782 of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets^H7782: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
Jos 6:9 And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets^H7782, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets^H7782.

The imagery created in these two verses (Jos 6:8-9) demonstrates how we are surrounded by God’s mercy and how nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ before or behind (Rom 8:36-39). The armed men represent the strength of Christ that goes before us as we go into battle and blow the trumpets which declare our imminent victory in him. Then “the rereward^H622 came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets^H7782” to demonstrate how both flanks are covered, the back and the front, to remind us that nothing shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (1Sa 17:47).

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.
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.

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.

H622 rereward ‘âsaph aw-saf’
A primitive root; to gather for any purpose; hence to receive, take away, that is, remove (destroy, leave behind, put up, restore, etc.): – assemble, bring, consume, destroy, fetch, gather (in, together, up again), X generally, get (him), lose, put all together, receive, recover [another from leprosy], (be) rereward, X surely, take (away, into, up), X utterly, withdraw. Total KJV occurrences: 199

Jos 6:10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.

The lesson in verse 10 for God’s elect is to not operate in our flesh: “Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.” God is not concerned about our opinions but is wanting us only to do what He commands us, and to speak when He wants us to speak, which takes a miraculous event in our heavens (Mat 6:2, Mar 13:10-13).

Mat 6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mar 13:10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
Mar 13:11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
Mar 13:12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
Mar 13:13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Jos 6:11 So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
Jos 6:12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
Verse 11 reminds us that we are in the world but not of it as “the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.” Christ, our hope of glory within us, is represented by Joshua who rises early in the morning as a shadow of the one who is working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure in this life (Php 2:12-13). His pleasure, as his workmanship, is that we seek for the Lord early, and in doing so we will find Him (Pro 8:17, Jer 29:13, Heb 11:6, Mat 6:33) as priests who take “up the ark of the LORD” (Col 1:27).

Jos 6:13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets^H7782 of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets^H7782: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets^H7782.

The same message from Joshua 6:8-9 is repeated for us here in verse 13; how the Lord protects us so that the message of the kingdom of God can reach every nation as a witness, “and then shall the end come” (Mat 24:14). It is a joyful and light burden to bear “seven trumpets^H7782 of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD” (Rom 8:18, 1Pe 4:13) and it is a work we must continually be about, which our Father in heaven knows, and so He makes provision for us. “The armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets^H7782.”

Jos 6:14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.
Jos 6:15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.

Now the second day comes, and the same series of events follow for the priests and the people involved in this typical great cloud of witness event (Heb 12:1). The gospel message has a glorious and exciting redundancy to it that is shown on this second day and right through until the sixth day. Then the seventh day comes about, and on this day “they rose early about the dawning of the day” symbolizing the mindset of those virgins who will be made ready (Rev 19:7) just prior to Christ’s return having risen early to trim their lamps, all the while looking to the Lord (Mat 25:1-5, Rev 3:18, Mat 25:10, Psa 25:14-15). This section of scripture (“And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times” – Jos 6:15) coincides with Revelation 8:1-6 where we read:

Rev 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
Rev 8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
Rev 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.
Rev 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Rev 8:6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

Psa 25:14 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
Psa 25:15 Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Jos 6:16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets^H7782, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.
Jos 6:17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

‘The Lord has given you the city’, meaning God will ultimately give us all victory over our sinful flesh, each man in his own order (1Co 15:23). That victory is preceded by the priests blowing with the trumpets^H7782 and obeying the command of Joshua to shout (1Th 4:15-18).

1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

The city that is “accursed” represents our flesh that hangs on a tree (Deu 21:23), and the one who survives this war is “only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house” who represents the body of Christ who were part of the harlot system and now come out of her by God’s grace. Rahab and all that were with her in her house were as good as dead, like Jonah in the belly of the great fish, yet God had planned to show mercy to them all (Rom 11:20-22, Rom 11:30-31). The ‘all’ denotes “we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.” The function of those who come out of Babylon today is to hide “the messengers that we sent” as we are hidden in Christ (Col 3:3-4). To that end, we may grow together in the grace and knowledge of our Lord (2Pe 3:16-18) and be saved in a moment and a twinkling of an eye at the last trump (1Co 15:52). The whole world was falling around Rahab and all that are within her house (like today), yet God was faithful to the ones who feared Him and delivered and spared them in the midst of this judgment upon the city (1Pe 4:17-18, Mal 3:16-18).

Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

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.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved [typified by Rahab and her house], where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

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

Jos 6:18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
Jos 6:19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

In verse 18 we are admonished to keep ourselves from the accursed thing, which represents the false doctrines and lies of Babylon found within the city that has been destroyed, and so were admonished in like manner with these spiritual admonitions given from Christ by the apostle Peter (2Pe 3:14-18).

2Pe 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2Pe 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness [“keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it“].
2Pe 3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

The riches that we take out of Babylon are represented by “all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD”. These are the spoils of war that must needs be purified by the judgement and purification process that comes upon us via the destruction of the old city (Heb 10:32, Heb 12:6), and then “they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.” The treasury of the LORD represents where we lay up the true refined and purified treasures of God’s word in our hearts that tell us we now have been blessed to lay hold of exceedingly great and precious promises “that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (Mat 6:19-21, 2Pe 1:4, 2Co 4:7-10).

Mat 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
2Co 4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
2Co 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Jos 6:20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpets^H7782, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

How we take the city is by hearing “the sound of the trumpets^H7782” and then acting upon that command, both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Rom 2:13, Php2:12-13). We know it is by the faith of Christ within us as our great shield, that we have been blessed to receive (Eph 6:16, Rom 3:27), that we will take the city as expressed with these words “the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.”

Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified [Rom 10:17].

Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Rom 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith [Eph 2:8].

Conclusion

The verses that come to mind that I want to end this study off on regarding the Shofar are found in (Heb 11:32-38) which says “And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets.” There were so many men and women of God who “through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions” and “Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to fight the armies of the aliens.” Also “Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented.”

The reason I mention these verses in particular is to remind us that all these victories that God gave to those mentioned in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, are typical of the victory that can be ours if we are granted to hear the voice (shofar^H7782) of the true Shepherd and heed the warnings that are being given to us in this age as the trumpets blow in the church, where the manifest knowledge of Christ is being made known in His body (Eph 3:10). All that they endured (Heb 11:32-38) reminds us that we must arm ourselves with the mind of Christ (1Pe 4:1-2), knowing nothing less will be expected of the body of Christ who will enter into the kingdom of God through much tribulation (Act 14:22) and affliction that will be accompanied with God’s mercy that will endure forever, seeing us through it all (1Co 10:13).

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.

Eph 3:10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

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

Next week I plan to look at the next and last of the wind instruments, the Ugab, which is an organ, along with the sumponia which is a dulcimer.

“Musical Instruments in the Bible” Part 3 – Wind – [Hatsotserah=Trumpet]

[Study Aired September 28, 2023]

In this week’s study we will look at another wind instrument called the Hatsotserah, which is a trumpet. Below is the Strong’s number for this word and the verses that you will find it in.

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Hebrew: Hatsotserah
KJV Name: Trumpet
Strong’s: #H2689
References: Num10:2-10, 31:6, 2Kings 11:14, 12:13, 1Chronicles 13:8, 15:24, 28, 16:6, 42, 2Chronicles 5:12-13, 13:12, etc.

The hatsotserah, a different musical instrument than the shofar, is mentioned 29 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. Hatsotserahs were trumpets that were straight, narrow and quite long (possibly .9 meters or 2.9 feet). They were constructed out of silver (Num 10:1-2) or gold, had a flared end and produced a high shrill tone.

This type of trumpet was used to signal the Israelites, when they wandered the wilderness for forty years, to assemble and break camp (Num 10:5). It was an important part of temple worship (1Ch 15:28, 2Ch 15:14) and considered one of the sacred utensils (2Ki 12:13, Num 31:6). The hatsotserah was blown on New Moons and other festive occasions as well as at the temple’s daily offerings (2Ki 11:14, Hos 5:8, Psa 98:6).

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I’ll start our study off with the first time that the word Hatsotserah is used in the bible which is found in Numbers 10:2-10, and look at the surrounding verses that will bring out the spiritual meaning of what the Hatsotserah trumpet signifies for the body of Christ today.

Num 10:2  Make thee two trumpets^H2689 of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
Num 10:3  And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 
Num 10:4  And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.
Num 10:5  When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward. 
Num 10:6  When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. 
Num 10:7  But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm.
Num 10:8  And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations. 
Num 10:9  And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. 
Num 10:10  Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.

These last words in Numbers 10:10 (“I am the LORD your God”) are what these previous verses are all pointing to as we learn that Christ is ‘the LORD your God.’ Christ is the true witness in our lives, the two silver trumpets [witness] that become such in the lives of God’s elect as a result of their being able to hear the voice of the true Shepherd and be led by the spirit of God (Rom 8:14). When we clearly hear the sound of the trumpet of Christ’s voice (1Co 14:8, Joh 10:27), we are hearing the message of being judged in this age (1Pe 4:17). That judgment produces direction in our lives that glorifies God and gives us victory over our enemies in the land which represents our bodies (Num 10:3-10). In Numbers 10:8 we learn that it is Aaron’s sons, representing the elect, who blow the trumpets telling the congregation to “assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Num 10:3). Being ‘assembled at the door’ is typical of coming before Christ as our high priest Who is the door (Joh 10:9, Rev 3:20).

Num 10:10  Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.

1Co 14:8  For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 

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

Joh 10:9  I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

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 [Joh 6:44].

When we are blessed to hear the voice of the true Shepherd and not despise His leading us to repentance (Rom 2:4), then we see that we are connected to the whole body, “a whole piece shalt thou make them” (Num 10:2), and our repentance (“make thee two trumpets of silver“) to which God leads us makes us zealous for the congregation (2Co 7:11, Rom 10:10) to provoke each other to love and good works, which is what these words signify “that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.”

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 

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. 

Rom 10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation [silver trumpets are blown].

This ‘journeying of the camps’ of those who are hearing the trumpets blown by Aaron’s sons is all symbolic language representing how God’s elect are to be led by the spirit of God today (Rom 8:14-16) in order to overcome in this age. When we mortify the deeds of the flesh and bring our bodies into subjection to Christ (Rom 12:1), we are fulfilling the typical example of those actions in this verse, “And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee” (1Jn 2:15-17). 

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: 

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

The enemy that oppresses us in our land represents the powers and principalities that we fight against (Eph 6:12) that only Christ is far higher than and able to overcome (Eph 1:21-22). All Israel needed to do was “blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies”, telling us that all we need to do is confess our faults, represented by the blowing of the silver trumpets (Rom 10:10), then we will be remembered by the Lord “and ye shall be saved from your enemies” (Num 10:4, Num 10:9, Lev 26:40-42, Psa 32:5, Joh 8:36). 

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 1:21  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, [Joh 8:36]
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. 

Lev 26:40  If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; 
Lev 26:41  And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
Lev 26:42  Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. 

Psa 32:5  I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. 

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

The heads of thousands [10x10x10=1000] (Num 10:4) represent the leadership roles God has ordained in the body of Christ in order to help bring the entire body of Christ, typified by the camp of Israel, into subjection to Him “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 4:13). This happens through a lifelong process of having our life judged (10X10X10=1000)

In Numbers 10:5 the movement of the camp is from the east part that shall go forward, and this is mentioned first as our spiritual journey or sojourn begins on the right foot when Christ the morning star is rising in our hearts and shining forth from the east to the west as He works in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Rev 22:16, Rev 2:28, Mat 24:27, Php 2:12-13). 

Then in Numbers 10:6 we read of the alarm being blown a second time to tell the camps in the south to take their journeys. Moving from the south is not possible without the first alarm being blown that tells the camp from the east to move forward. Israel moved in many directions as a congregation, but the point being shown here is for our edification. The Israel of God (Gal 6:16) moving forward and overcoming in this life is accomplished by our being judged by God who is going to destroy the man of perdition on the throne of our hearts so we take our direction from Christ and not operate in our flesh (2Th 2:8, Tit 2:12, Eph 2:8). When we are in subjection to our head, we are able to go where the Lord directs us. 

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

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

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

These two verses (Num 10:5-6) discuss the only way we can move forward spiritually in this life, represented by the south that only moves after that symbolic judgment begins as the eastern camp which moves forward after hearing the silver trumpet.

Num 10:5  When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward. 
Num 10:6  When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.

When all the congregation is gathered together, a trumpet is blown, but no alarm is mentioned being blown in Numbers 10:7, telling us that although we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities, there must be times when we are not in the thick of the battle but given rest and prepared together as a congregation of saints to prepare for future battles. Every conference I’ve ever gone to has refreshed the body of Christ and been followed by some large to great trial or series of trials. Lord willing, this refreshing of the saints that is coming up in November in Mobile, AL will be more great preparation for ruling over the kingdoms of this world (Rev 11:15). That time will come soon enough and God will not tarry (Heb 10:37-38) whether this is the season it occurs or not, and then the saints will begin to fulfill the role spoken of in Numbers 10:4.

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. 

Rom 10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Heb 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 
Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 

Num 10:4  And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.

Getting back to the instruments themselves, these beaten-out long and straight silver instruments which were blown to tell the camp of Israel that they needed to move, represent the elect who have been worked with by God’s grace and through the faith of Jesus Christ (Tit 2:12, Heb 12:38, Eph 2:8), and the message we blow is the same as John the Baptist; to make straight the ways of the Lord (Joh 1:23). The message is loud and clear and with the flared end of the trumpet the sound is further amplified, typifying how the gospel will be preached far and wide to all nations as a witness, then shall the end come. It is first clearly and properly heard, however, only in the hearts and minds of those whom God has ordained to have eyes that see and ears that hear in this generation (Mat 24:14, Mat 13:16).

Joh 1:23  He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

Num 10:2  Make thee two trumpetsH2689 of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. 

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

In verse ten we see more of an example of how the silver trumpets, the Hatsotserah, are incorporated in our walk with the Lord:

Num 10:10  Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.

We see here that there are also festive occasions connected with the trumpet, where we are brought into remembrance of God’s great deliverance from the enemies within our lands, which we have seen represent the bondage sin brings. This liberty God gives us through Christ is “the day of your gladness” and spoken of as being “in your solemn days”H4150  reminding us that there is a season for all things, “a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Ecc 3:4). It is also “in the beginningsH7218 of your months” that the trumpet is blown, showing us that when we come into this relationship with our Father and Christ and one another it is a lifelong journey which has a beginning, middle and end through and unto which we pray we will all be able to endure (Mat 24:12-13). 

“Solemn days” H4150
mô‛êd    mô‛êd    mô‛âdâh
mo-ade’, mo-ade’, mo-aw-daw’
From H3259; properly an appointment, that is, a fixed time or season; specifically a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand): – appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn (-ity), synagogue, (set) time (appointed).

Total KJV occurrences: 223

“Beginnings” H7218 rô’sh roshe

From an unused root apparently meaning to shake; the head (as most easily shaken), whether literally or figuratively (in many applications, of place, time, rank, etc.): – band, beginning, captain, chapiter, chief (-est place, man, things), company, end, X every [man], excellent, first, forefront, ([be-]) head, height, (on) high (-est part, [priest]), X lead, X poor, principal, ruler, sum, top.

Total KJV occurrences: 598

Ecc 3:4  A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 

Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

We “blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings”, actions that bring us into remembrance of how our Sovereign God and Father has given us the life of Christ through His spirit so we can be nourished by the burnt offerings and peace offerings which Christ and His Christ represent. That rich life of Christ within us, Who is our sufficiency (2Co 3:5), comes to us through a lifetime of overcoming and confessing our faults symbolized by the blowing of the silver trumpets over these offerings, both burnt and peace (Rom 10:10). 

Num 10:10  Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.

2Co 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 

Rom 10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation [silver trumpets are blown].

Next week, Lord willing, we will look at the next two wind instruments, the Kehren which is a Cornet and the Mashroqiy which is a flute. The following week I plan to look at the Shofar which is called a Cornet or Trumpet in modern language.

Hebrew: Kehren
KJV Name: Cornet
Strong’s: #H7162
References: Daniel 3:5, 7, 10, 15

This musical instrument, found only in the book of Daniel, was commonly used in the court of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar. According to Clarke’s Commentary, it was a horn that could make a deep and hollow sound as well as one that was piercing.

The cornet, along with other instruments, was used by Nebuchadnezzar at the dedication of a huge golden statue in his likeness. The statue was 60 cubits (at least 87.5 feet or 26.7 meters) tall by six cubits (8.75 feet or 2.67 meters) wide.

Babylon’s officials, as well as the people, were commanded to bow down and worship the image when they heard the instruments play (Daniel 3:3 – 5). All those refusing to do so would be put to death in a fiery furnace. Daniel’s three friends, who rejected this idolatry, were thrown into this fiery trial of their faith but were miraculously saved by God (Daniel 3).

Hebrew: Mashroqiy
KJV Name: Flute
Strong’s: #H4953
References: Daniel 3:5, 7, 10, 15

This instrument is found only in Daniel in the KJV. It, along with others, were used by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to signal when those he ruled over were to worship a huge golden statue made in his likeness. The mashroqiy may have been the Chaldean name for a flute with two reeds. Tyndale’s Dictionary and the ISBE believe it was similar to Pan’s pipe.

Hebrew: Shofar
KJV Name: Cornet / Trumpet
Strong’s: #H7782
References: Exodus 19:16, 19, 20:18, Leviticus 25:9, Joshua 6:4 – 20, Judges 3:27, etc.

The Hebrew word shofar is recorded 72 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, all of which are mistranslated in the KJV. It is erroneously called a trumpet 68 times and a cornet 4 times (Psalm 98:6, 1Chronicles 15:28, 2Chronicles 15:14, Hosea 5:8). The shofar and trumpet, according to the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, are two distinct instruments as delineated in Psalm 98:6 and 1Chronicles 15:28.

The shofar is mentioned more than any other musical instrument in the Bible. It is the only instrument that survives in its original form and is still used in modern Jewish liturgy. It was usually made from the curved horn of a ram or goat. Shofars announced the New Moons and Sabbaths (Psalm 81:3), warned of approaching danger, and signaled the death of nobility.

Numbers 10:1-36 The Making of the Silver Trumpets for Communicating with the People of Israel

[Study Aired July 3, 2023]

Num 10:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 
Num 10:2  Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
Num 10:3  And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 
Num 10:4  And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee. 
Num 10:5  When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.
Num 10:6  When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. 
Num 10:7  But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. 
Num 10:8  And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance forever throughout your generations. 
Num 10:9  And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. 
Num 10:10  Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God. 
Num 10:11  And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony. 
Num 10:12  And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran. 
Num 10:13  And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses. 
Num 10:14  In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 
Num 10:15  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethaneel the son of Zuar. 
Num 10:16  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. 
Num 10:17  And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle. 
Num 10:18  And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur. 
Num 10:19  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 
Num 10:20  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 
Num 10:21  And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the other did set up the tabernacle against they came. 
Num 10:22  And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud. 
Num 10:23  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 
Num 10:24  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni. 
Num 10:25  And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward, which was the rereward of all the camps throughout their hosts: and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 
Num 10:26  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. 
Num 10:27  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. 
Num 10:28  Thus were the journeyings of the children of Israel according to their armies, when they set forward. 
Num 10:29  And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses’ father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the LORD hath spoken good concerning Israel. 
Num 10:30  And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred. 
Num 10:31  And he said, Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes. 
Num 10:32  And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee. 
Num 10:33  And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. 
Num 10:34  And the cloud of the LORD was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp. 
Num 10:35  And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. 
Num 10:36  And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel.

Introduction

Chapter 10 focuses on the making of two trumpets for the assembling and journeying of the people of Israel. In addition, the chapter shows the order set out by the Lord when the people of Israel were journeying from one place to another, and finally, Moses desires his father-in-law to accompany them on the journey since he knows the wilderness very well. As we can see, the trumpets were for communication among the people of Israel and with the Lord. It is through communication that we can get ourselves prepared such that we are not caught unaware when our Lord comes. The Lord has warned us that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief is coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 

Luk 12:35  “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 
Luk 12:36  and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 
Luk 12:37  Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 
Luk 12:38  If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 
Luk 12:39  But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 
Luk 12:40  You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” 
Luk 12:41  Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” 
Luk 12:42  And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 
Luk 12:43  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 
Luk 12:44  Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 
Luk 12:45  But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 
Luk 12:46  the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 
Luk 12:47  And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 
Luk 12:48  But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. (ESV)

We can only communicate with one another when we gather together. This is what the Lord told us about the importance of gathering together:

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 
Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

The second part of the chapter deals with the order by which the tribes of Israel were to make their journey in the wilderness. Spiritually, this is to let us know the order for the salvation of the world. The elect (the firstfruit) comes first before the rest of humanity.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

The third part of the chapter talks about Moses’ request for his father-in-law to go with them to Canaan as he was well-versed in the wilderness terrain. This is to show us the tendency to rely on something tangible as we wade through the wilderness of life. As we know, this journey of life is by faith and not by what we see.

2Co 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight 

Num 10:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 10:2  Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
Num 10:3  And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

The making of the two trumpets of silver is to show us the process the Lord takes us through to use us as vessels to communicate His will and purpose to His people. Positively, silver refers to the redeemed (the elect) since it is highly valued and much desired. 

Gen 45:22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred [pieces] of silver, and five changes of raiment.

The two trumpets therefore signify the elect as witnesses of Christ who speak on Christ’s behalf to His people to bring to their attention the need to assemble together and to guide us in our walk here on earth. It is in the assembly of the Lord’s people that we exhort one another as we see the day of the Lord approaching. As we speak to one another, the Lord hears us and comes to our aid.

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

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.

In Joel chapter 2:15-17, we are given more insight as to the categories of the Lord’s elect that are to meet regularly and what our gatherings achieve.

Joe 2:15  Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 
Joe 2:16  Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 
Joe 2:17  Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? 

As shown in verse 16, our gathering includes the elders, children and those that suck the breasts. The elders here signify those who are mature or maturing while the children refer to those who have just left the basics or the milk doctrines of Christ but need to be matured. Those still sucking the breast are those who are still learning the basics or the milk doctrines. 

Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

We are all to come together for the purpose of being sanctified, as shown in Joel 2:16. Being sanctified is being made holy and being made holy is the result of the Lord’s judgment on our old man. It is as we are judged that we begin to live the life of Christ. That is what it means for the bridegroom to come out of his chamber. The bride coming out of her closet is another way of saying that our righteousness shall be seen.

The sounding or the blowing of the trumpet spiritually signifies the speaking of the words of the Lord which happens when we gather before the Lord.

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 

Num 10:4  And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee. 

If one trumpet is blown, then the princes, who are leaders of the Israelites are required to gather together. The princes or leaders here are those who have matured. Verse 4 is therefore suggesting that if we all, as the Lord’s elect begin to say the same thing (the blowing of one trumpet) as we all have the same mind of Christ, then it means that we have matured spiritually, and our gathering is that of those who have matured and have our senses exercised to distinguish good from evil. 

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.

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.

Num 10:5  When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.

The trumpet being used to blow an alarm means that as the Lord’s elect, we must be warned through the words of the Lord about our impending judgment of our old man.

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 
Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

Here in Joel 2:1, we are shown that it is only in Zion that the alarm is blown. Zion here is the gathering of the Lord’s elect. As shown in verse 5, the blowing of the alarm causes those who are camped in the east to move forward. Those who are camped in the east represent the elect who are those in whom the sun of righteousness rises first in their hearts in this age. As we hear of the Lord’s judgment through the alarm blown, it prepares us to move forward. In other words, it prepares us to be judged, and through the judgment we face, we learn righteousness and therefore become more mature (move forward).

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

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.

In another perspective, the sounding of the trumpet as an alarm is also referring to the first resurrection of the elect as shown in the following verse:

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 
1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

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.

Num 10:6  When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. 

The camps from the south side represent those who are close to the sea and are dominated by the flesh in this life and therefore will not be part of the first resurrection. The blowing of the trumpet, as an alarm for the second time, signifies the second resurrection of all the human race which will usher in the Lake of Fire age. The alarm here refers to judgment, leading to the second death. 

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. 

Num 10:7  But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. 

When all humanity is shown the Lord’s mercy through the lake of fire, then we shall all blow the trumpet and not sound an alarm. This means we shall all have the mind of Christ and speak the same words of the Lord. We shall not sound the alarm as we have all been judged. 

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. 

Num 10:8  And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance forever throughout your generations. 

This verse is to let us know that it is only the elect, represented by Aaron and his sons, who are qualified to blow the trumpets, that is, speak the words of the Lord. As we can see in the Book of Revelation, it is the seven angels who were blowing the trumpets of the Lord’s impending judgment. In the Old Testament, seven priests blew the trumpets which caused the walls of Jericho to fall. The number seven means the complete elect from every generation. We are all speaking the same words of the Lord.

Rev 8:6  And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

Jos 6:13  And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets. 
Jos 6:14  And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. 
Jos 6:15  And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times. 
Jos 6:16  And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.

Num 10:9  And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. 
Num 10:10  Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.

The enemy that oppresses us is our flesh or the old man. The sounding of the alarm with the trumpet is the words of the Lord warning us that the judgment of our old man is at hand. Being remembered before the Lord means being saved from our enemies, which is our flesh. Our deliverance is through the Lord’s judgment of our old man so we can walk in His righteousness.  Blowing the trumpet in our days of gladness and in our solemn days is another way of saying that this book of the law shall not depart from our mouth and that we should meditate on it day and night so that our ways become prosperous.

Jos 1:8  This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Num 10:11  And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony. 
Num 10:12  And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran. 
Num 10:13  And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

The Israelites spent a long time at Mountain Sinai as they received the commandments of the Lord and instructions about building the tabernacle of the Lord according to the pattern shown Moses, which is Christ. Finally, the cloud lifted from the tabernacle and the Israelites followed the cloud as they journeyed through the wilderness until they came to the wilderness of Paran where the cloud rested. In Deuteronomy, we are given more information as to what precipitated their decision to leave Sinai. The cloud lifting from the tabernacle served as a witness that they had to move from Sinai as the Lord had already told Moses that they must leave. We must always seek a witness as we seek to please the Lord. 

Deu 1:6  The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 
Deu 1:7  Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.

Num 10:14  In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 
Num 10:15  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethaneel the son of Zuar. 
Num 10:16  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. 

The rising of the cloud from the tabernacle was a signal to the Israelites that they must move from where they were dwelling. However, the Israelites must move according to the Lord’s order. The rising of the cloud symbolizes Christ rising within us. Those who were camped on the east side of the Tabernacle of congregation were to move first. The tribes camping in the East were Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. The East side is towards the rising of the sun. In other words, the sun rises from their end. Having been given eyes to see, we know that Jesus Christ is the Sun of righteousness. What we are being told here, therefore, is the fact that this group represents the elect who are first to see Christ rise in their lives. The names of the tribe affirm this assertion that this group represents the elect. Judah means to praise the Lord. Issachar means ‘he will bring a reward’ and that of Zebulun means ‘habitation’. So, this group represents the elect who will praise the Lord as they dwell here on earth (habitation) and will definitely receive a reward.

Mal 4:2  But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall. 

The leading tribe of this group is Judah. As we are aware, Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah. As we can see from the prophecy of Jacob regarding Judah, Judah is described as a lion or an old lion. Jesus is therefore the leader of the elect or this group. Incidentally, the leader of the tribe of Judah in verse 14 is called Nahshon which means ‘an enchanter’. Jesus, who is our leader, is the one who has enchanted us with His love to follow Him.

Jer 31:3  The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Rev 5:5  and one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof.

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

The names of the leaders of the other two tribes, Issachar and Zebulun, were Eliab and Nathaneel. Eliab means ‘God is father’ and that of Nathaneel means ‘given to God’. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our leader, is also God our father, and His life is given totally to God.

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

In verse 14, we are told that those in the camp of Judah shall set forth first. We, the elect, are the ones to set forth in this life to engage the enemy, which is our flesh. Our leader has already assured us that being of the camp of Judah, we shall be the first to defeat the enemies as we break our enemies’ necks.

Gen 49:8  Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. 

Num 10:17  And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle. 
Num 10:18  And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur. 
Num 10:19  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 
Num 10:20  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 

The second group to move consists of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad who were encamped on the south side. Before this group comes the sons of Merari and the Gershonites, who were Levites. They bear the tabernacle when the Israelites journeyed. Pitching their camp on the south side of the tabernacle of congregation means that their dwelling portion in this life is toward the sea. In other words, these Levites and this group are those who start their journey with the Lord. However, the pull of the sea of flesh denies them from attaining the higher calling of the Lord in this age.  

Eze 48:28  And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea.

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 

In the fullness of time, this group, together with the Levites, will also have Christ rise in their hearts.

Eze 16:55  When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

Num 10:21  And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the other did set up the tabernacle against they came. 
Num 10:22  And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud. 
Num 10:23  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 
Num 10:24  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni. 

Before this group comes another group of Levites who also takes care of the tabernacle of the congregation. These Levites, together with this group which is composed of the tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin, follow after the tribes led by Reuben. The tribe of Ephraim is the dominant tribe of this group. This group is required to pitch their tents on the west side of the tabernacle of the congregation. The west is where the sun sets. This implies that those in this group will definitely be visited by the Lord at the end of the ages through judgment. The names of the leaders also confirm this assertion. The leaders of the tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin are Elishama, Gamaliel and Abidan. Eliashama means ‘God has heard’. Gamaliel means ‘God is my recompense’ and Abidan signifies ‘the Father judges’. What these names signify is that at the end of the ages, when the sun sets, this group shall have God as their reward when He hears them through His judgment.

Rev 7:9  After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 
Rev 7:10  and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 

As the scripture says, the Lord was not pleased with the tribe of Ephraim. This is what He says about the tribe of Ephraim:

Hos 4:17  Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.

Hos 5:3  I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

Hos 7:8  Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

Hos 7:11  Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

Hos 8:9  For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath hired lovers.

As a result of the sins of Ephraim, who leads this group, they shall surely undergo the Lord’s judgment at the end of the ages before they come to drink from the rivers of water. 

Num 10:25  And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward, which was the rereward of all the camps throughout their hosts: and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 
Num 10:26  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. 
Num 10:27  And over the host of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. 
Num 10:28  Thus were the journeyings of the children of Israel according to their armies, when they set forward. 

This last group was dwelling on the northern part of the tabernacle of the congregation and consisted of the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphtali. Being in the north, which is the opposite of the south, means they are far from the sea of flesh. The dominant tribe in this group is Dan. In Judges we see the children of Dan setting up a graven image, which became a stumbling block to many people of Israel. In addition, they used Gershom and his sons, who were from the tribe of Manasseh, to become priests which was against the Lord’s requirement. Dan here or this group therefore represents Babylon where we worship another Jesus.

Jdg 18:30  And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
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. 

The names of the leaders of the tribes in this group tell us about the nature of this group. The leaders of Dan, Asher and Naphtali are Ahiezer, Pagiel and Ahira respectively. Ahiezer means ‘brother of help’, Pagiel stands for ‘meeting with God’ and Ahira signifies ‘brother of evil’. What these names imply is that our brothers and sisters in Babylon cause us a lot of evil but they are also a help to us, the elect. As we can see in the scriptures, the Levites are given to help the elect. At the climax of the ages, our brothers and sisters in Babylon will also have the chance to meet the Lord. 

Num 10:29  And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses’ father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the LORD hath spoken good concerning Israel. 
Num 10:30  And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred. 
Num 10:31  And he said, Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes. 
Num 10:32  And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee. 

These verses show us our tendency to rely on the arm of the flesh even though we have seen the Lord’s overwhelming provision and protection as we journey through the wilderness of this life. The Lord didn’t allow Moses to go with Hobab, his father-in-law. In a similar vein, the Lord will rid us of all that we depend on so that we can rely wholly on Him as we come to appreciate His guidance and support. May His name be praised!!

Jer 17:5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. (NIV)

Num 10:33  And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them. 

This verse signifies that our walk with the Lord in this life is aimed at finding rest in the Lord, and this is accomplished by the process of spiritual maturity through judgment (the significance of the three-day journey). When we cease from our works and depend entirely on Him, then we have found rest in Him. 

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.  

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

Num 10:34  And the cloud of the LORD was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp. 
Num 10:35  And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. 
Num 10:36  And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel.

As we journey on this earth, symbolized by the ark setting forward, the Lord is judging our old man, and it is this judgment which is scattering or decimating our old man or letting him flee from us. During the period that we shall rest from our labors, the Lord will return and show mercy on all humanity, represented by the many thousands of Israel. This period is the Lake-of-Fire age.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

May His name be praised forever more. Amen!!

The Book of Joshua – Part 11, Joshua 10:1-15 ‘I know that You hear Me always…’

“And I know that You hear Me always, but because of the people who stand by I said it, so that they may believe that You have sent Me.” – John 11:42

[Study Aired May 6, 2023]

Central to this Study in Joshua 10 is the mind-boggling impossibility against all laws of physics by the sun and the moon standing still in the heavens.

Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stood still, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? And the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down about a whole day.

If the sun instantly stood still in the heavens, it means that the Earth instantly stood still since the revolution of the Earth gives the appearance that the sun rotates around it. The Earth rotates in one day at the rate of 1,037 km/h, and if the Earth suddenly stops, everything, tall buildings, homes, trees, all living things and the scoured ground, loose boulders and the oceans, would chaotically detach instantly at a little lower than 1,037 km/h (644 mph) to the east. Our near neighbour, Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere, only travels at a bit over half that speed.

I’ve belaboured the point thus far in the study of Joshua that the Lord is graphically etching in young Israel’s heart and soul that the successful outcome of all wars and tribulations is by His power alone. Of course, the Body of Christ immutably knows that Israel, without the holy spirit, is a fruitful and bright understanding for the Elect’s sake and a fruitless experience for old Israel until the resurrection to judgment. Yet, some dedicated souls like Moses, Joshua and Job, to name a very few, did their fleshly best, learning to keep the laws of the Commandments by the Lord’s power’ roughly perfectly’ (false negative). Through Israel’s tumultuous journey, God was ramming home to our spirit that our works are utterly useless without him, and Israel was our patsy (Rom 9:20-21).

Joh 6:63 The spirit is the life giver; the flesh is of no value: the words which I have said to you are spirit and they are life. (BBE)

Yet, no number of outrageous miracles to titillate our senses without His spirit ever changed Israel or us. The sun and the moon stopping in the heavens is as excessive as a miracle can get. It is like God saying, “Is your power frustrating you yet?”

Job 38:1 And the Lord made answer to Job out of the storm-wind, and said,
Job 38:2 Who is this who makes the purpose of God dark by words without knowledge? 
Job 38:3 Get your strength together like a man of war; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers. (BBE)

So, let the Moon (New Jerusalem above)  stand still in the glory of the Sun (Christ) and be strengthened by the holy spirit for us to be that man of war, mighty confident in lockstep with Christ and learn from Israel’s endless frustrations.

Jos 10:1 And it happened, when Adoni-zedek (Phonetic: ad-o”-nee-tseh’-dek) king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it (as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king) and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 
Jos 10:2 they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all of its men were mighty.
Jos 10:3 And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying,
Jos 10:4 Come up to me, and help me, so that we may strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel.
Jos 10:5 And the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves. And they went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon, and made war against it.
Jos 10:6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Do not withhold your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us. For all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered against us. 
Jos 10:7  So Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of war.
Jos 10:8 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands. There shall not a man of them stand before you.
Jos 10:9 And Joshua came to them suddenly, coming up from Gilgal all night.
Jos 10:10 And Jehovah troubled them before Israel, and killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Beth-horon, and struck them to Azekah, and to Makkedah.
Jos 10:11 And it happened, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the descent of Bethhoron, Jehovah cast down great stones from the heavens on them to Azekah, and they died. The many who died from hailstones were more than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
Jos 10:12 Then Joshua spoke to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun! Stand still on Gibeon! And, moon, stand still in the valley of Aijalon!
Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stood still, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? And the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down about a whole day. 
Jos 10:14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah listened to the voice of a man. For Jehovah fought for Israel.
Jos 10:15 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal.

Study Exposition:

Jos 10:1 And it happened, when Adoni-zedek [ Phonetic: aw-done’– Definition: 1. firm, strong, Lord, master] king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it (as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king) and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them,
Jos 10:2 they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all of its men were mighty.

Just as the Lord endlessly drives home the same message to old Israel in the wilderness, today our belief and faith are empowered to believe that our Lord will kill our enemies without an outward miracle.

Before being dragged to the Lord, we sat in our temple as King of Old Jerusalem, garnering support for our false doctrines from striking hands in oaths against our Lord from our leering friends. If the Lord ever got frustrated with us, it is because of disbelief that He is good on His word against us being god, and we sit masterly and resolutely in the temple of God.

Mat 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him here [boy with a demon] to Me. 
Mat 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and he departed out of him. And the child was cured from that very hour. 
Mat 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus apart, and said, Why could we not cast him out? 
Mat 17:20 And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there. And it shall move. And nothing shall be impossible to you.

All of our enemies fear Christ, Who goes before us to fight our battles, just as the demons of the two demon-possessed ones in the country of the Gergesenes feared Christ. Likewise, these five kings infesting the Promised Land were stricken with dread for the same God of Israel. A Gergesene means H1086 – ‘a stranger drawing near’, and its people are Girgasites, the very same “clayey soil” enemies Israel fights.

Mat 8:28 And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, two demon-possessed ones met Him, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one might pass by that way.
Mat 8:29 And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time? [Lake of Fire]

As we discovered in Part 10 of Joshua, the Girgasites were part of “seven nations stronger than you (Israel)” (Deu 7:1. Jos 3:10. Jos 24:11), symbolised as being cast into the resurrection to judgment. These kings and their peoples are symbolised as legions of evil spirits whom Israel tormented by fear and death before their typified time in the Lake of Fire.

Jos 10:3 And Adonizedek [‘aw-done’] king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, and to Piram king of Jarmuth, and to Japhia king of Lachish, and to Debir king of Eglon, saying, 
Jos 10:4 Come up to me, and help me, so that we may strike Gibeon. For it has made peace with Joshua and with the sons of Israel. 
Jos 10:5 And the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem [‘aw-done’], the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves. And they went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon, and made war against it [against Gibeon!].

The definitions of the other four kings:

Hoham king of Hebron – Definition: Hoham = whom Jehovah impels. Origin H2267 – Hebron, association; company; magician; charmer.

Piram king of Jarmuth – Definition: Hebron. [Location only] Origin H2267 association; company; magician; charmer. Jarmuth – Phon’ ‘yar-mooth’ – def’ ‘heights; to rise up; to be set on high; exault’.

Japhia king of Lachish – Phonetic: yaw-fee’-ah. 1. a town on the border of Zebulun and Issachar. Origin: H3313 1. to shine, shine forth or out, cause to shine, send out beams.

Debir king of Eglon – Debir – ‘deb-eer’ means ‘sanctuary’; the holy of holies; temple; an oracle-god. Eglon – ‘eg-lawn’ – calf-like; bull calf.

From that aggregate of meanings for the Kings and their locations for our spiritual understanding, we see our God-given broad company of 44,000 odd Babylonian Christian doctrines within ourselves. While in Babylon, we were unwitting magicians charming the laity with falsehoods from the traditions of ‘godly’ fellow Christians, exalting ourselves while preaching another Jesus (2Co 11:4). We were giddy with the delusion that we were saved by ‘greasy grace’, and unwittingly reflected the light of the first “moon” so that we were blinding ourselves by our brightness. Little did we know we were ‘holy cow’ worshippers, Canaanites. The five kings all have the same spirit of mind for our glorious chastisement (Rev 3:19) to be given faith by grace. They all are represented by their principal king Adonizedek [‘aw-done’], of the (first) desolate Jerusalem that much later developed into more of a “city of peace”, as projected for our understanding.

The armies of all five kings fought their countrymen of Gibeon, which we remember, ironically means the city of Benjamin. We see within the same pattern that happened much later with Ammon and Moab.

2Ch 20:23 For the sons of Ammon and Moab stood up against the people of mount Seir to completely kill and destroy. And when they had made an end of the people of Seir, everyone helped to destroy another.

Pro 16:7 When a man’s ways please Jehovah, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Since Gibeon (the Hivites) is Israel’s city through Benjamin, they are typified as our Babylonian Christian brothers and sisters. Typically, they are interested in a different Jesus with only enough fear to believe that the Lord, and in this case, Israel, will save their hides, yet, they can be us if we haven’t been given to go the distance to keep all the Lord’s Commandments.

Jos 10:6 And the men of Gibeon [symbolic of our Babylonian Christian near kin, Benjamin] sent to Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Do not withhold your hand from your servants. Come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us. For all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered against us.

Mat 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works? 
Mat 7:23 And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness! 

The Hivites (from the land of Gibeon) are our Gentile Christian kin of the world with whom we rub shoulders every day. They are not too dissimilar in appearance to Israel and blend in with Israel’s inherent affability (when Israel should have generally been more circumspect for the Lord’s commands). While the Lord’s focus was Israel, all these heathen nations of the ‘world’, including the Hivites, helped sculpt Israel for our immense spiritual benefit.

Joh 17:9 I pray for them [the Elect of God]. I do not pray for the world, but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
Joh 17:10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11 And now I am in the world no longer, but these are in the world, and I come to You, Holy Father. Keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one as We are.
Joh 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those that You have given Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition [us, if we go back to being a worldly Hivite] that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 
Joh 17:13 And now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world that they might have My joy fulfilled in them.
Joh 17:14 I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15  I do not pray for You to take them out of the world, [away from the subtle lies and bombastic ruling of the laity of our Babylonian kin] but for You to keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16 They [the Lord’s people ~ aliens Lev 19:34; 1Pet 2:11] are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through Your truth. Your Word is truth.

Jos 10:7 So Joshua [Christ and his Christs] went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of war. 
Jos 10:8 And Jehovah said to Joshua, Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hands. There shall not a man of them stand before you.

For those verses and the longstanding Saints’ awareness, it seems banal to state the obvious (and we will), that our ravished hearts for the Lord’s word is demonstratively Shulamite; there is always a hidden gem hidden for our finding and child-like joy when a Body member reveals the discovery of a sapphire or nugget. And, so…

We don’t half-step into battle. “All the people of war” are the Lord’s Elect and are “mighty men of war” ~ how?

Eph 6:10 Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world’s rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 
Eph 6:13 Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Therefore stand, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness 
Eph 6:15 and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Eph 6:16 Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, 
Eph 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. 
Eph 6:19 And pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 
Eph 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in bonds; so that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Jos 10:9 And Joshua came to them suddenly, coming up from Gilgal all night.

The Lord’s people are given to see perfectly at night since Christ is their pillar of fire (Exo 13:21), who came suddenly in our long spiritual darkness, rousing us from our sleep while drunk on Babylonian wine (another Jesus).

Israel is a witness to their Gibeonite kin so that in the Resurrection to Judgment, humanity, particularly ‘Christian Gibeonites’, will remember that the Lord’s Elect was powerfully among them in the one-thousand year reign when judged on the eighth day. However, for the moment, the lukewarm Benjaminites of Gibeon are prophetically reminded of their inherent nature.

Gen 49:26 The blessings of your father are above the blessings of my ancestors [for this parallel, Benjamin], to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him, the ruler, the leader of his brothers.
Gen 49:27 Benjamin is a wolf that tears in pieces. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Jos 10:10 And Jehovah troubled them [the Five Kings and their armies] before Israel, and killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Beth-horon, and struck them to Azekah, and to Makkedah. 
Jos 10:11 And it happened, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the descent of Bethhoron, Jehovah cast down great stones from the heavens on them to Azekah, and they died. The many who died from hailstones were more than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.

The hail that is the fiery word of God smashes all lies, culminating in the resurrection to judgment when all people therein will be reminded of their deliberate and unwittingly believed lies from their former flesh. For the marginally astute sons of God, that hailstone event is synonymous with the one-thousand year reign with a rod of iron. The many who died from those hailstones will be the entirety of humanity since Adam, who are not counted in the First Resurrection.

Eze 38:22 And I will judge him [Gog and Magog now, within], with a plague and with blood [I die daily]. And I will rain on him, and on his bands, and on the many peoples with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.
Eze 38:23 So I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself. And I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am Jehovah. 

Rev 16:19 And the great city [you and I] came to be into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the anger of His wrath. 
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and mountains were not found [including the Kings within (us), Joshua prefigured as fighting].
Rev 16:21 And a great hail, as the size of a talent, came down out of the heaven on men. And men blasphemed God [The Elect steeply decreasing blasphemy, but all nations blaspheming now, but more so at the end of the OTY rod of iron reign] because of the plague of the hail; for the plague of it was exceedingly great.

Isa 28:14 Therefore hear the Word of Jehovah, scornful men who rule this people in Jerusalem [Babylon today and within]. 
Isa 28:15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and we have made a vision with hell; when the overwhelming rod shall pass through, it shall not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood, [… For she says in her heart, “I sit as a queen, and I am not a widow…” (Rev 18:7)]
Isa 28:16 therefore so says the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I place in Zion a Stone for a foundation, a tried Stone, a precious Cornerstone [Christ], a sure Foundation; he [the Christs] who believes shall not hurry [why hurry; patience is a virtue; Christ is creating the pot at his leisure] 
Isa 28:17 Also I will lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Jos 10:12 Then Joshua spoke to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun! Stand still on Gibeon! And, moon, stand still in the valley of Aijalon! 

The sun and the moon effectively stand still today for the Elect of God as they are given to slaughter every enemy king and child within until all their brothers and sisters are done being killed.

Rev 6:10 And they [Elect] 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 [while the sun (Christ) stands still for the Moon, the Church], until their fellowservants [Moon…] also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. 

Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stood still, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? [Contemporary alleged works of Jasher are spurious; its word doesn’t correspond to the Lord’s spirit in the rest of the Bible] And the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down about a whole day.

Christ, our sun, shines with increasing brightness on His Bride, the Moon. He is standing still for us today while we are given time to kill a great slaughter of the lies within. (Incidentally, I remember harvesting wheat at 2 am one night in Queensland many years ago. The moonlight was so bright that I easily read newsprint). 

Christ says vengeance is His, and since the Elect of God are Christs (plural), vengeance is theirs, like Joseph was to his brothers and the Elect to humanity in the Resurrection to Judgement.

Deu 32:31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges [Job 15:6  ‘… I will judge you out of your own mouth, wicked servant!’ Luk 19:22]
Deu 32:32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall. Their clusters are bitter.
Deu 32:33 Their wine [twisted word of God] is the poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of asps. [As opposed to the words on the roof of the Lord’s mouth the Shulamite deems better than wine Son 7:9-10]
Deu 32:34 Is not this laid up in store with Me and sealed up among My treasures?
Deu 32:35 Vengeance and retribution belong to Me. Their [the world] foot shall slide in time [order of salvation], for the day of their calamity [fiery judgement] is at hand, and the things that shall come on them make haste. 
Deu 32:36 For Jehovah will bring His people justice; and He shall have compassion on His servants, for He sees that their power is gone, and only the imprisoned and abandoned remain.

Jos 10:14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah listened to the voice of a man [in that age of old Israel]. For Jehovah fought for Israel.
Jos 10:15 And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp to Gilgal.

The Father listens to the man, Jesus, our Lord and God, who stands still for a little moment while His Moon gathers His brightness to soon receive the full complement of His spirit in dazzling white linen robes.

Isa 54:7 For a little moment I have left you; but with great mercies I will gather you.
Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says Jehovah your Redeemer.

Joh 11:41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
Joh 11:42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
Joh 11:44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

Our Joshua is Christ who speaks to the Father “in the day” to whom the Father listens, just as the Father listens to His Elect who are washed by their Husband’s words.

Joh 9:4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me, while it is day. Night comes when no man can work.
Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.

Soon, we who are hopeful for the resurrection to life will hear the loud voice of the Archangel and a trumpet call when the physically dead in Christ will rise, followed soon after by those who are alive.

1Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. 
1Th 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall ever be with the Lord. 
1Th 4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Jdg 7:1-25: The People are too Many for Me to Give the Midianites into Their Hands

[Study Aired April 12, 2021]

Jdg 7:1  Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 
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. 
Jdg 7:8  So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley. 
Jdg 7:9  And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. 
Jdg 7:10  But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: 
Jdg 7:11  And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host. 
Jdg 7:12  And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. 
Jdg 7:13  And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 
Jdg 7:14  And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
Jdg 7:15  And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. 
Jdg 7:16  And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 
Jdg 7:17  And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. 
Jdg 7:18  When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 
Jdg 7:19  So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. 
Jdg 7:20  And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. 
Jdg 7:21  And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. 
Jdg 7:22  And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath. 
Jdg 7:23  And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. 
Jdg 7:24  And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. 
Jdg 7:25  And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan. 

This chapter is divided into three components: the selection of those who were going to war against the Midianites, God’s assurance of victory over the Midianites and the defeat of the Midianites. In order to understand this chapter, we need to understand what the Midianites represent.

In an earlier review, it was shown that the Midianites represent the false doctrines which make us focus on receiving our full reward while living here on earth.  Therefore, we end up fixing our attention on the cares of this life, and so when the word of God is sown in our lives, it is choked and does not bear any fruit.

Mat 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

The Selection of Those to Wage War

Jdg 7:1  Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 

It was at the well of Harod that the Israelites under Gideon gathered in preparation for the battle against the Midianites who were in a nearby valley by the hill of Moreh. ‘Harod’ means ‘fear’, and the well represents the word of God. So it is through the word of God that we learn the fear of the Lord.  The fear of the Lord makes us walk in His ways, causing us to love Him and serve Him with all our heart and soul. As a result, our Lord causes our enemies within and without to fear us, making us victorious in our walk with Him.

Deu 10:12  And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

Deu 11:25  There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

It is important to note that the Midianites were gathered on the north side of the Israelites. This is to show us that the Midianites were instruments God was using to judge them as out of the north comes judgment. So the false doctrines (the Midianites) we have imbibed in our heavens serve as fuel for God’s judgment in our lives. The result of this judgment is that we learn righteousness or the fear of the Lord.

Jer 1:14  Then the LORD said unto me, out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Jer 10:22  Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.

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.

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.

This verse is telling us that God does not want any flesh to glory in His presence. That is why God chooses the stupid things of this world to confound the wise who think that their own decisions are responsible for their current status. One of the false doctrines that makes us think our own hands have saved us is the doctrine of man’s free will. God clearly says in His word that it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. Romans 8:21 says that the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly. All these verses of scriptures make it clear that we do not have our own free will to make decisions but that everything is of the Lord.

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.

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

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,

Therefore, it is God who chooses who should come to serve him and who is not blessed to serve him in this life. Those who are blessed to be chosen are those who are selected to wage war with the flesh. These are those who get caught in their sins now but those who are not part of the elect are those whose sins do not show up until later.

1Ti 5:24  Some people get caught in their sins right away, even before the time of judgment. But other people’s sins don’t show up until later. (CEV)

This is how God chooses the stupid things of this world:

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. 

The total number of those who had gathered to battle the Midianites were thirty-two thousand. In the Book of Chronicles, the same number of warriors (32,000) got themselves ready to wage war. So this number symbolized those who are responding to calls to wage war against the old man or the flesh. However, it is one thing to be called to wage war against the flesh, but it is another thing to follow up this call to start engaging the enemy in battle.

1Ch 19:7  Thirty-two thousand troops, as well as the king of Maacah and his army, came and camped near Medeba. The Ammonite troops also left their towns and came to prepare for battle.

One of the ways that separate those who actually engage the enemy in battle from those who are called but never pursue the enemy is the fear factor. In verse 3, those who are fearful and afraid were allowed to return home, and as a result, twenty-two thousand people left. The question is, “what does it mean to be fearful and afraid?” To be afraid or fearful means we regard ourselves as being incapable to drive the enemies (false doctrines, fleshly desires, etc.) from our land as we cannot think of life without them. We therefore try to stone those who are urging us to let these false doctrines, desires, etc. go. That was what happened to Caleb and Joshua as the Israelites almost stoned them.

Num 14:6  And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
Num 14:7  And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
Num 14:8  If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.
Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.
Num 14:10  But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

The consequence of refusing to start this war is that we end up worshiping the beast saying, “Who is like the beast or can make war with the beast?” We are the fearful and afraid at certain periods of our walk with Christ when we are being called out of Babylon but we do not think we have what it takes to come out of the wilderness of Babylon to confront the giants (our false doctrines, desires and addictions) within us.

Rev 13:4  and they worshiped the dragon who had given its authority to the beast. They also worshiped the beast and said, “No one is like this beast! No one can fight against it.”

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. 

Verse 4 emphasizes the point once again that it is the word of God (represented by water) that separates the sheep from the goat. It also makes us aware that it is God who chooses who should wage this war in this life and who should not. This is to make us aware that our will does not play a part in God’s salvation.

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. 

Those who scooped up water in their hands and lapped represent those who test the spirit to see if it is from God because false prophets have gone out into the world. They do this by comparing spiritual with spiritual. The number of those who were selected was three hundred. The number 300 = 3x10x10. The number three signifies the process of spiritual completion through judgment, and the number ten stands for the completion of the flesh. Thus, the number three hundred stands for those who are in the process of being judged to become spiritually complete in this life (flesh).

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Those who bow down on their knees to drink water are those who have no discernment and just take in whatever is thrown at them without testing the spirit to see if it is of God. They are the foolish Galatians who have been bewitched so they cannot obey the truth. At a certain stage of our walk with Christ, while we were in Babylon, we were those who bowed down on our knees to drink water of the great swelling words emanating from the traditions of man’s wisdom to pollute our heavens. In this way, we behaved just like the Israelites who were ready to stone those who told them that they could overcome the giants in the land.

Gal 3:1  O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

2Pe 2:18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.

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.

As indicated, the three hundred men are those who are in the process of being judged to become spiritually complete in this fleshly life. These are the people that are able to wage war against these false doctrines in our heavens represented by the Midianites and remove them from their land.

Jdg 7:8  So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

This verse reflects the giving of food and other resources of those sent away to the three hundred men who were going to wage war with the Midianites. Spiritually, this is the same as saying that those sent away were made disobedient so the elect will be shown mercy. In other words, the food and other resources meant for those turned away were given to those going to wage the war. Later on, they will also be given the food and other resources (will be shown mercy) by the three hundred warriors who have received mercy in this life.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
Rom 11:31  even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.

Assurance of Victory over the Midianites

Jdg 7:9  And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. 
Jdg 7:10  But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host: 
Jdg 7:11  And thou shalt hear what they say; and afterward shall thine hands be strengthened to go down unto the host. Then went he down with Phurah his servant unto the outside of the armed men that were in the host.

Our Commander in Chief, our Lord Jesus Christ, knows how to motivate us to wage war against the flesh as we engage in this long drawn-out war with the old man or the flesh. Without assurance of victory, we may likely draw back and concede that there is no way we can win this war, just as the whole world think that this war cannot be won. This is because we may be discouraged at some points in our walk due to the intensity of the battle. That is why we are admonished that we should never draw back but walk in faith.

Heb 10:38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Our Lord is always assuring us of this victory throughout the word of God.  For example, when Joshua and the Israelites were getting ready to fight Jericho after crossing the Jordan River, Joshua had an encounter with the Lord who assured him of victory as follows:

Jos 5:13  And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
Jos 5:14  And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
Jos 5:15  And the captain of the LORD’S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

Of course, the captain of the Lord’s host is Jesus our Lord, and if He is for us who can be against us? All that the Lord requires from us based on this encounter with Joshua is that we should loose our shoes from off our feet as we are standing on a holy ground. That means that we should change from our old ways of walking with Him as we get to know Him. Standing on a holy ground means our eyes are seeing and our ears are hearing the word of God.

We have been assured, just like Gideon and Joshua, throughout the word of God that victory is ours. Thus, we are not to retreat or surrender but move forward always even if the situation seems like we are losing the fight!!

As long as we see the Ark of the Covenant being carried by the priests, we are to move on. This was the command Joshua, representing Christ, told the elect (the officers) to tell the Israelites. The Ark of the Covenant represents Christ who is the word of God, and the carrying of this Ark by the priests signifies the elect who speak and walk according to the word of God. So, as long as our eyes are seeing and our ears are hearing the word of God, we must move on irrespective of our failures, which includes the sins which easily beset us, our addictions, etc., and victory will definitely be ours!!

Jos 3:2  And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
Jos 3:3  And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.
Jos 3:4  Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

As we follow the Ark, there must be a space of two thousand cubits. This means that as we are understanding the word of God, we must always be conscious of not neglecting the testing of the spirit to see if it is of the Lord by comparing spiritual with spiritual. Two thousand cubits space can be broken down as: 2000 =2x10x10x10. This means that as fleshly beings (number 10), we must always remember to have a witness (signified by number 2) concerning the word of God which is the Ark.

Jdg 7:12  And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude. 

The Midianites, the Amalekites and the children of the East are described here as grasshoppers for multitude because they are without number, and they enter into the land to destroy it. According to Strong, grasshoppers and locusts are the same. From Revelation 9:3, we read that these locusts come out of the smoke from the bottomless pit (our sea of flesh). The smoke that darkens the sun and the air are the false doctrines which keep us from seeing the light of Christ. The locusts therefore are the product of our darkness which further deepens our darkness as they cover the earth bringing the land in darkness. That is, this oppression of the Midianites in our lives sends us into more darkness, blocking us from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. We all, at a certain period of our lives, have encountered their effects in our lives.

Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Exo 10:13  And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
Exo 10:14  And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.
Exo 10:15  For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

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

Jdg 7:13  And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 
Jdg 7:14  And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
Jdg 7:15  And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian. 

As indicated, our Lord allowed Gideon to hear what the enemies were discussing to assure him of victory as promised by the Lord. The cake of barley bread that tumbled into the host of the Midian and into the tent typifies the fiery word of God which destroys our false doctrines (the Midianites) from our tents which is our hearts and minds. This is confirmed in verse 14 when one of the Midianites said that the cake of barley bread is the sword of Gideon, which is the word of God.

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

The Defeat of the Midianites

Jdg 7:16  And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 

The dividing of the three hundred men into three companies signifies that the defeat of the enemies in our lives is done little by little just as the trials we face in our lives are carried out little by little, less we faint.

Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

Rev 8:8  And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

Rev 8:10  And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

Rev 9:15  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

The trumpet in the hands of those selected to fight symbolizes the need for the elect to sound the alarm for us to wage this war against the old man. The empty pitchers with the lamps within the pitchers represent the treasure, which is the lamp (the word of God) in our earthen vessels (pitchers).

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

Jdg 7:17  And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do.

In this verse, Gideon represents Christ, and as our Chief Commander, we are to look up to Him and follow Him by doing what He did while walking here on earth.

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.

Jdg 7:18  When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

One of the things that our Lord Jesus did while walking here on earth is that He warned us of this impending war with the old man. That is what it means to blow the trumpet as we see Gideon instructing the people with him to blow the trumpet after him. In His dialogue with the disciples, Jesus was always warning them of this war as follows:

Joh 12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

To love your life means you are not ready for war.  The process of losing your life is this war we are talking about.

Joh 2:13  And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
Joh 2:14  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
Joh 2:15  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

This war is the clearing of our temple of all that offends as Jesus did.

Joh 2:18  Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Joh 2:19  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Again, the destroying of our temple is what this war is about. Our old man representing this temple must be destroyed before the new man comes.

Jdg 7:19  So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands.
Jdg 7:20  And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

This call to war against the flesh (blowing of trumpets) is about the breaking of pitchers.  To break the pitchers means that the beast within is being taken and destroyed. It is only when it is destroyed that the lamp, which is the word of God or Christ concealed within us, begins to shine forth in our lives. So the breaking of the pitchers signifies the dying of the old man and the simultaneous birth of the new man after the image of Christ.

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

The weapon we need to win this war is the sword of the Lord and of Gideon as proclaimed by the warriors. The sword is the fiery word of God which is a consuming fire and is able to burn into ashes all our false doctrines, additions, fleshly desires and our self-righteousness.

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

Deu 4:24  For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Jdg 7:21  And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. 
Jdg 7:22  And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.
Jdg 7:23  And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. 

Although we are called to wage war against the enemies within, we do not do it by our own strength.  The battle is the Lord’s!! Our God fights our battles for us. The scriptures have demonstrated in several places that it is the Lord who fights our battles for us, and all we have to do is to desire His righteousness above all else as we stand still to see the salvation of the Lord. Standing still therefore means having confidence in the Lord that what He has started in us, He is able to finish!! There is also this element of patience as we stand still to see the salvation of the Lord, for without patience we cannot inherit the promises.

Deu 20:4  For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

Exo 14:13  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.
Exo 14:14  The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Heb 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Did the Israelites have to do anything to defeat the Egyptians? The answer is absolutely, “No!!” If victory depends on us, then who can be saved? Incidentally, this was the question that the disciples asked Jesus when He told them about the requirement for an overcomer.

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

The rich man here is you and me who trust in our own righteousness.  In other words, he thinks it is within our means to become righteous. This is contrary to those who are poor in spirit, that is, those who come to realize that they are the worse sinners.

Jdg 7:24  And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan.
Jdg 7:25  And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

Our victory inspires others to also join this fight and win this war of the flesh as demonstrated by the men of Ephraim joining the war when Gideon and his warriors started winning the war. It was through the men of Ephraim that the two princes of Oreb and Zeeb were captured and killed. In a similar vein, the victory of David over Goliath inspired the Israelites to go after the Philistines and victory became theirs.

1Sa 17:50  So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
1Sa 17:51  Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
1Sa 17:52  And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

May the Lord help us to win this war and so inspire others to also overcome the flesh!!

[Study Aired April 5, 2021]

Jdg 6:25  And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: 
Jdg 6:26  And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. 
Jdg 6:27  Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. 
Jdg 6:28  And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. 
Jdg 6:29  And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. 
Jdg 6:30  Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. 
Jdg 6:31  And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. 
Jdg 6:32  Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. 
Jdg 6:33  Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel. 
Jdg 6:34  But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. 
Jdg 6:35  And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. 
Jdg 6:36  And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 
Jdg 6:37  Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. 
Jdg 6:38  And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 
Jdg 6:39  And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 
Jdg 6:40  And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. 

The first half of Judges Chapter 6 deals with the oppression of the Midianites and the calling of Gideon by the Lord to wage war against them. Before we can wage any war in our heavens, we must have an encounter with Christ. This encounter with Christ means that our eyes begin to see and our ears begin to hear the word of God. That is the same as seeing Jesus face to face. That is when we are assured that we shall not die. In other words, we are not going to be hurt by the second death, which is the lake of fire.

Jdg 6:22  And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face.
Jdg 6:23  And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die.

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

The second part of Chapter 6 which we are reviewing today has to do with further preparations that we need in order to start this war with the old man or the flesh.

Jdg 6:25  And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:

It is while we are still in darkness that Christ comes to us to lead us to the way of peace. Gideon was instructed by the Lord to take the second bullock, who was young, and one seven years old to offer a burnt offering to the Lord. The first bullock is Adam, and the second bullock is Christ who was offered at a young age for our sins. The bullock being seven years old means that the bullock is complete in the sense that it was without spot or wrinkle. That is another attribute of Christ that made His sacrifice acceptable to God. As indicated, the first bullock is Adam or us who are earthy and cannot be used as a burnt offering for our sins.

It is only when we take hold of this second bullock (come to know Christ) that we can overthrow all the false doctrines which have permeated our heavens, signified by the altar of Baal and the grove by it, which represents the goddess Asherah.

Exo 29:10  And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.
Exo 29:11  And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Exo 29:12  And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Jdg 6:26  And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. 

The altar to be built for the Lord must be on top of a rock, which is Christ. The foundation upon which we offer ourselves must be based on Christ or the word of God. Anything else means we are laying a foundation on sand which will tumble down when the winds blow and the rain and the floods come. The winds, the rain and the floods represent our judgment.

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Mat 7:26  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

It is the wood of the grove that is used as fuel for the burnt offering. This is another way of saying that it is our own sins which serve as fuel to burn all the chaff within us, making us able to present ourselves as living sacrifices to God. So God uses our own sins to correct us.

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Jdg 6:27  Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. 

The number 10 signifies the completion of the flesh. Gideon taking ten men to destroy the altar of Baal and the grove is an indication that he was yet carnal when he decided to destroy the altar of Baal. This is confirmed by his fear of his father’s household and the men of the city. The fact that the demolition of the altar was carried out in the night also attests to the fact that Gideon was not out of the woods of darkness yet.  He had started the journey to come out of darkness into His marvelous light, but he was not there yet. Scriptures say that the fear of man is a snare in the sense that such fear are like traps which lead us into darkness.

Pro 29:25  The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

Jdg 6:28  And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. 
Jdg 6:29  And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. 
Jdg 6:30  Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. 

These verses speak of the hatred we experience when we start our journey out of Babylon. Jesus warned us of this hatred when He said that we will be hated of all nations for His name’s sake. There are several reasons why we are hated. In this case, they wanted to put Gideon to death because he had cast down the altar of Baal and cut down the grove by it. Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing he received from his father, and Joseph’s brothers hated him because their father loved him more. In all cases, the underlying issue here is what the woman at the well revealed to Jesus during their dialogue. That is, in leaving Babylon we are saying, just like the woman at the well, that the New Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship God instead of the mountains (Jerusalem which is) where our brothers and sisters are worshiping.

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.
Mat 24:10  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Gen 27:41  And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

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

Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Thanks be to God who always delivers us from those who hated us.

2Sa 22:18  He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.

In Gideon’s case, God used his father to come to his rescue as follows:

Jdg 6:31  And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. 
Jdg 6:32  Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. 

What Joash said to the people who wanted to kill Gideon is the same as what Gamaliel said when the Sanhedrin wanted to kill the apostles for preaching in the name of Christ. “Let Baal plead” for himself is another way of saying that if what Gideon has started is of the Lord, it shall stand and nothing can withstand it, but if it is of man, then definitely it will not stand. As we encounter issues in our walk with Christ, let us be guided by this truth. That is, whatever is of the Lord shall stand (means it will be for our good), and whatever is of man’s origin shall not stand. We are all going through a lot, whether sickness, relationship gone sour, putting food on our table, loneliness, etc. However, in all of these, we are more than conquerors. It will work for our good!!!

All those who have gone before us (the elect) have also had their fair share of what we are going through. For example, Paul went through periods of loneliness and neglect apart from the physical beatings he endured. However, in the end he was able to overcome.  We also shall overcome!!

Act 5:33  When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.
Act 5:34  Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;
Act 5:35  And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
Act 5:36  For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
Act 5:37  After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.
Act 5:38  And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
Act 5:39  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.

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.

Jdg 6:33  Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.

Both the Midianites and the Amalekites are related to the Israelites. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham’s son Midian, and the Amalekites were descendants of Jacob’s brother’s (Esau) grandson.

The term “children of the east” seems to have been applied to the inhabitants of any part of the country East of Palestine. It is stated that Jacob, when he fled from Esau, “came to the land of the children of the east” (Gen 29:1), and the place to which he came was Haran in Mesopotamia. It was from there that Jacob had his wives Leah and Rachel.

Therefore, the children of the East are also related to Israel. What is being pointed out here is that these enemies are fleshly related to Israel. In other words, this war is about the enemy within us or our flesh. Collectively, these enemies are called the old man, the flesh, the beast, etc.

Gen 29:1  Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.

Gen 29:4  And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we.

Gen 29:9  And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them.

It is important to note that these enemies pitched their tent in the valley of Jezreel. According to Strong, the name Jezreel means “God will sow”. The question is, “What does God sow?” Remember that the parable of the sower says that the sower is Christ who went out to sow. Of course what he sowed was the word of God, and it is sown in our hearts and minds. Therefore, the place where all these enemies have gathered for battle is our hearts and minds. This battle is the same as the war in our heavens in Revelation 12:7 where Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. The outcome of this war in our heavens is that the dragon and his angels (the enemies within) will prevail not and neither will their place be found anymore in heaven (Rev 12:8). This outcome should give us confidence and hope that we will win the war of our heavens!!

Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Jdg 6:34  But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him. 

The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and as a result, he blew the trumpet to gather his people for battle. As Jesus taught us, the words He speaks are spirit. Thus, another way of saying that the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon is that Gideon’s eyes of understanding concerning the word of God were enlightened. So verse 34 means that when we start seeing and our ears start hearing, that is the time that we declare war on the enemies in our heavens by blowing the trumpet. As indicated in an earlier review, blowing a trumpet may signify a call to gather or a call to war. In this case, blowing of the trumpet by Gideon was a call to gather and also a call to war.

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

Num 10:1  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 10:2  Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
Num 10:9  And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.

When Gideon blew the trumpet, the Abiezrites gathered after him. The Abiezrites were the descendants of Abiezer, the son of Gilead. Joash and Gideon were members of this clan, and Gideon describes the Abiezrites, as “the weakest in [the tribe of] Manasseh.” This is to confirm to us the characteristics of those whom God is selecting as the elect to wage war with the enemy within.

Jdg 6:15  And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.

In the Book of Samuel, the elect are described as follows:

1Sa 22:2  And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.

Are you in distress? Are you in debt? That is, do you feel you owe God so much because of your sins? Are you discontented with your current state in terms of being poor in spirit? If your answer is yes, then you are heading toward the right direction with God!! The reason God is choosing such people is that He does not want any flesh to glory in his presence.

Paul also described the qualification of those God is selecting as follows:

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.

Jdg 6:35  And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. 

Gideon sent messengers to specific tribes of Israel to come wage war against the Midianites. Our Lord Jesus Christ (representing Gideon) is sending messengers (His elect) to the following tribes of God’s people (Israel) to wage war against the flesh – those from Manasseh, Naphtali, Asher and Zebulun. We can know what these tribes represent if we get to know the blessings Jacob pronounced on these tribes in Genesis 49.

Manasseh: The tribe of Manasseh came out of Joseph, as Manasseh was the son of Joseph, and so the blessing proclaimed to Joseph is also relevant to Manasseh. Joseph or Manasseh is described as being the target of an archers’ attack, who shot him and harassed him severely. However, he was made agile by the hand of the Lord. Archers are the propagators of false doctrines who are Satan’s messengers. So what this means is that we have to come to realize that we are those whose heavens are the target of all false doctrines, and as a result, we have defiled our heavens with these false doctrines.  So it is only those who recognize that their heavens have been defiled by these false doctrines who are being called by the Lord to wage this war against the false doctrines (Midianites). We are assured that the Mighty one of Jacob will come to our aid and fight our battles for us.

Gen 49:22  “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall.
Gen 49:23  The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely,
Gen 49:24  yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
Gen 49:25  by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

Zebulun: It is said in Genesis 49:13 that Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea. It is at the shore of the sea that we see the beast rise from the sea. So those who are being called to wage this war against the flesh are those who have seen who the beast is – that is you and me. Without seeing the beast, there is no way we can wage war against it.

Gen 49:13  “Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon.

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Asher: This tribe is described as having his food (bread) rich (fat). Our food being rich means that we have the true word of God. So those who are being called to wage this war against the flesh (Midianites) are those who have started knowing the truth of God’s words, that is, their eyes are seeing and their ears are hearing.

Gen 49:20  Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Naphtali: These represent those who are being set loose from the clutches of Babylon (worldly church system) and have the word of truth. These are those who are being called to wage the war.

Gen 49:21  Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.

The Sign of the Fleece

Jdg 6:36  And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, 
Jdg 6:37  Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
Jdg 6:38  And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 
Jdg 6:39  And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. 
Jdg 6:40  And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. 

Gideon’s test to assure himself of God’s hand in his life in delivering his people from the Midianites signifies the unveiling of God’s plan of salvation for the elect and for the world at large. A fleece is the woolly covering of a sheep or a soft warm fabric with a texture similar to sheep’s wool. It is therefore the covering of a sheep, and so this speaks of our righteousness in Christ which comes to the elect (His sheep) through the fiery word of God represented here by the dew of heaven.

Now the first test of Gideon was for the fleece to be soaked with dew and the earth remaining dry. This signifies that salvation (being clothed with Christ’s righteousness through the word) first comes to His elect, and it is through the elect that the whole of the earth will be saved (the dew will also fall on the earth, the second test). So that was what Gideon’s test teaches us – that is the elect being saved first in this life. Later, they will be used by the Lord to save the world.

Rom 11:30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

So what Gideon’s test was trying to prove was whether God will save the world (represented by the Israelites) through His elect (Gideon’s hands).

Verse 38 says that after squeezing the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water was obtained. This is to make us aware that those whom God is redeeming now to become saviors of the world must know the full counsel of the word of God and be able to rightly divide the word. Our bowl (our hearts and mind) must be full of water (the word of God) and not half full.

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

[Study Aired March 28, 2021]

Jer 6:1  O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.
Jer 6:2  I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.
Jer 6:3  The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.
Jer 6:4  Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
Jer 6:5  Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
Jer 6:6  For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
Jer 6:7  As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.
Jer 6:8  Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
Jer 6:9  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.
Jer 6:10  To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
Jer 6:11  Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.
Jer 6:12  And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.
Jer 6:13  For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
Jer 6:14  They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
Jer 6:15  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

Benjamin, Tekoa, and Bethaccerem are all tribes and cities of the southern kingdom of Judah with its capital city of Jerusalem.

Jer 6:1  O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.

“The trumpet” and “a sign of fire” are both symbols of the impending judgment of which the Lord has been warning His people for many decades prior to the actual invasion of Judah and Jerusalem. Over seventy years earlier the prophet Isaiah had warned:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
Isa 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Isa 1:24  Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:

The Lord warns us of our sins for decades before He judges us and brings us face to face with how we all reprove, correct, and condemn Him for His ways, while simultaneously playing the part of a self-righteous harlot (Job 40:1-8). “The faithful city” means ‘the once faithful city’ is now become a spiritual harlot who is anything but faithful. Just as Gamaliel warned the Sanhedrin against punishing Christ’s witnesses, His apostles, the Lord still to this very day uses Babylon’s own prophets to warn Babylon that they may find themselves warring against God Himself:

Act 5:34  Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;
Act 5:35  And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take      heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.
Act 5:36  For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
Act 5:37  After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.
Act 5:38  And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
Act 5:39  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.

The Lord uses this world and Babylon to bring us to where He can begin judging us. That is why we are told:

Deu 23:7  Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother: thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.

As we mature with the mind of Christ, we are given to appreciate both our time in Babylon, symbolized by “an Edomite… your brother” and “an Egyptian”, symbolizing the world into which the Lord brought us.

Jeremiah continues with this theme of the infidelity of the Lord’s wife and her impending judgment:

Jer 6:2  I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.

Every harlot was first an untested, untried virgin, and every spiritual virgin must come to see herself as having become a self-righteous harlot, full of the false doctrines of her lovers.

Jer 6:3  The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.

Our spiritual ‘lovers’ are first false prophets who utterly and maliciously hate the doctrines of our true Husband, Christ. Throughout scripture, whether in Eden or in Noah’s day or in the days of the patriarchs or the judges or the kings, the Lord always caused men to err from His ways, hardened their hearts and then judged their sinful flesh and blood as unworthy to inherit the kingdom of God.

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

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

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God [because the] Lord has… made us to err from [His] ways, and hardened out hearts from His fear, and the wages of sin is death.” The Lord has “made [us] wicked” (Pro 16:4), “given [us all] an experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13) by “making [us, by His design] of the earth, earthy… [and] corruptible:

1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Why is all of this as it is? The answer is made clear in nature itself. Every larva is an earthbound worm before it becomes a flying insect. So it also is with mankind:

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The scriptures liken us all to a worm as “we… bear the image of the earthy”:

Job 17:14  I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.

Job 25:6  How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?

Psa 22:6  But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

The reason why mankind is living in sinful flesh and blood is that the creation process is not yet completed. God is still in the process of ‘creating man in His image’:

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

The number six signifies the incomplete state of mankind who was created on the sixth day along with all the other beasts, and the scripture makes clear that without Christ in us, we are mere beasts:

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

The scriptures also make truly clear that mankind will not be completed until he enters into the Lord’s rest on the seventh day. The seventh day signifies entering into Christ and dying to our old man and all his works:

Heb 4:1  Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

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 (into Christ), lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

The Truth of the scriptures is that flesh and blood never was intended to inherit the kingdom of God:

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

As nature itself demonstrates, our “flesh and blood” bodies, like the larvae of a fly or the caterpillar of a butterfly, are nothing more than belly-crawling worms which must die and be “dissolved” before they can be transformed into the flying insects which they were intended from the beginning to become.

What this all means is that our old man was doomed to destruction by God’s design from the very beginning in Eden. The “woe” and dying, and destruction of our old man is the dissolving process through which our new man is being perfected.

Jer 6:4  Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
Jer 6:5  Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

Are the shepherds preparing war “at noon” or are they “going up by night” to destroy the palaces of the people of God? Hosea answers this question calling the shepherds “the prophet, [and] priest”. We fall “in the day, and the prophet also shall fall in the night”:

Hos 4:5  Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.
Hos 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

As “Jerusalem above is the mother of us all”, so also is physical Jerusalem the ‘mother’ of the nation of Judah, and she is still the typical ‘mother’ of all Babylonian Christians. All efforts to the contrary, her judgment is already decreed and will be carried out by the Lord. The efforts of all the united churches of Babylon to “stand with Israel” does not make His rejected anointed any more acceptable to the Lord than was King Saul:

1Sa 15:20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.
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 15:24  And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words:  because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
1Sa 15:25  Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.
1Sa 15:26  And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
1Sa 15:27  And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
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.

We cannot blatantly disobey the Lord, spit in His face, and then tell Him we did so to let Him know how much we love and respect Him. Such a person is the Lord’s rejected anointed. “The Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”

Inwardly we are experiencing that judgment now, in this present time, and as such we are not being rejected because we ‘acknowledge our iniquities and transgressions’:

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.

Insincere ‘repentance’ always attempts to justify itself:

1Sa 15:20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD [partially], and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
1Sa 15:21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

Outward Jerusalem is simply groaning and travailing in pain together with us, in this present time, but with none of the benefits of being judged spiritually at this time:

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.

So “ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the spirit” groan within ourselves [because] “the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God”, and that judgment is indeed a “fiery trial”:

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

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Our judgment is decreed, and the Lord will not go back on His own Words:

Jer 6:6  For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
Jer 6:7  As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.

Our rebellion begins while we are still in the promised land and while we serve as shepherds who lead the Lord’s people away from His ways. Our self-righteous life of blinded, defiant ‘Christians’ who were all along serving “another Jesus”, had us casting out [our] wickedness” while violently denying the doctrines of Christ. Inwardly we should all see ourselves as Job came to see himself, as “vile [and as] chief… of… sinners”:

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.

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

Such an attitude does not just naturally manifest in our self-righteous old man, and we are not “easy to be entreated” when we are blatantly teaching and living lives in direct contradiction to the life and words of our Lord:

Jer 6:8  Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.

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

In this context, “Jerusalem” is the great whore of Revelation 17-18. She cannot be instructed simply because she “cannot hear [the Lord’s] words”. Here are the Lord’s words to our rebellious old man while we are yet in our old harlot mother, ‘Jerusalem’:

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Our old man is our carnal-minded, rebellious flesh and blood which “cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” and was “made to be taken and destroyed:

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter:

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

We are all “natural brute beasts” before Christ comes to His temple and begins to judge us and to take our old man and destroy him daily with the brightness of His coming:

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

1Co 15:31  I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I [my old man] die daily.

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

When Christ is finished purifying His house, it will be a very thorough house cleaning, a purifying of our heavens:

Job 15:15  Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens [His saints] are not clean in his sight.

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens [“His saints”, Job 15:15] should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves [“His saints”, Job 15:15] with better sacrifices than these.

This is what the Lord is doing with us, as His firstfruits, at this very moment:

Jer 6:9  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.

This verse is addressed first and primarily to “the remnant of Israel”, the Lord’s elect. It is you and I who must first be judged by the Lord’s fiery wrath against our carnal-minded old man. Being the first to endure that judgment is “the patience of the saints, the keeping of the commandments, and the faith of Jesus”:

Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rev 14:13  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

There is a ‘death’ which is “blessed” and there is a “second death” which is “cursed”. One ‘death’ precedes the other, but both ‘deaths’ are the fruit of enduring the same fiery words of the judgments of our Lord. The “few” who are granted to be judged first are blessed and holy, and the rest are “Ye cursed”:

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

Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
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].

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 [Had already endured the fire and brimstone judgment of Christ], 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.

Anything the Lord does is done thoroughly. However, He makes it abundantly clear that it is very few who are given to be purified first in “this present time”, in ‘this age’:

Jer 6:10  To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

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

This “many are called but few are chosen” doctrine pervades scripture. Few indeed are given to even acknowledge their own iniquity and to see or hear the words of our Lord:

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

Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

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:
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.

These verses here in Matthew 22 demonstrate that we are even now sitting with Christ in the kingdom of heaven (Mat 22:1 and Eph 2:6) and in “earnest” (Eph 1:14) are risen with Him (Rom 6:4) and are dining with Him at His “marriage supper” (Rev 19:9). This is not speaking of the first resurrection as the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph 1:14), because there will be no one mistakenly given part in the first resurrection (Rev 20:6). It is in this present time that “many are called, but few are chosen.” It is in “this present time” that we are groaning together with those who are not given a wedding garment:

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 8:20  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.
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 [Those without a wedding garment], 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.

Christ and His Christ are those “pastors [who] feed [us] with knowledge and understanding”, but only if we are given His garments and are given eyes that see and ears that hear:

Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

The Lord must give Himself an occasion against the flesh of our old man (Jdg 14:4). He does so by giving us eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear so He can pour out His fury upon the kingdom of our rebellious, self-righteous, carnal-minded, old man:

Jer 6:11  Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.

We just naturally read those words and apply them to some really bad people ‘out there somewhere’. However, the scriptures consistently teach that there is no one who is exempt from the fiery judgments of our Lord, and no one can “enter into” His house until His purifying fury has been “poured out upon “every man”:

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.

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

It is a thorough cleansing and purifying, and it begins at the house of God. It begins with us. No one is exempt from the fiery judgment of the words of our Lord:

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

So, these fiery words “must begin at the house of God”:

Jer 6:12  And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.
Jer 6:13  For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

Notice that it does not read, “Everyone but (put your own self-righteous name here).” It simply reads, “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.”

We cannot “come out of [Babylon]” and say we never partook of her falsehoods, covetousness, and sins and therefore we must not receive of her plagues. The plea to do so in Revelation 18 is a plea for the Lord’s elect to avoid the judgments of the lake of fire, which is the second death. The first ‘judgment, death and resurrection’ took place in chapters 14-16. It is the first judgment, death and resurrection which is called “the patience of the saints [who] keep the commandments and faith of Jesus Christ”:

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Rev 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 [in “this present time” Rom 8:18-23], 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 [verse 4] 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 20:13  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 [at the first resurrection] was cast into the lake of fire.

There are cherubim which turn every way to guard the way of the Tree of Life:

Gen 3:23  Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Gen 3:24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

These verses in 1Corinthians 3 and in Revelation 15 demonstrate that no one can get to the Tree of Life without going through those fiery swords of the cherubim:

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.

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

The false doctrines of the prophets and pastors of the Lord’s apostate wife would have us believe that we are exempt from His judgments. The false doctrines of purgatory, the secret rapture, a place of safety or a blessed area are all false doctrines which teach us that we can in some way avoid the wrath of God upon our rebellious, carnal-minded old man. That false doctrine in its many forms is the message of our next verse:

Jer 6:14  They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

It is our lying false doctrines which “heal… slightly… the hurt of the daughter of my people”. All our faith is in these lies and false doctrines at that stage of our “experience of evil” (Ecc 1:13), but they are still lies and not the Truth. In that ignorance we have no shame and will not acknowledge our iniquity and transgressions:

Jer 6:15  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

We “cannot… acknowledge our iniquity [or our] transgressions” until after the Lord visits and judges us. The Lord has given us “eyes that cannot see, ears that… cannot hear [His] Word” and we cannot “blush [or be] ashamed” of what we perceive to be comforting truth which slightly heals our hurting. As the story of Samson’s parents reveals, everything that happens to us and to this world, happens right on His schedule… “at that time”:

Jdg 14:1  And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.
Jdg 14:2  And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.
Jdg 14:3  Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.
Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

The Philistines are the Biblical type of our uncircumcised flesh which dominates us while we live promiscuously in the promised land and claim to be the Lord’s people. They are a deeply religious people whose God was called Dagon, the type of “another Jesus”. The ‘Philistines’ within us are cast off only through our death:

Jdg 16:30  And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.

“At the time I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.”

That is our study for today, and these are our verses for next week’s study:

Jer 6:16  Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
Jer 6:17  Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
Jer 6:18  Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
Jer 6:19  Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
Jer 6:20  To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.
Jer 6:21  Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
Jer 6:22  Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
Jer 6:23  They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
Jer 6:24  We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
Jer 6:25  Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
Jer 6:26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
Jer 6:27 I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
Jer 6:28  They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
Jer 6:29  The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
Jer 6:30  Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

Isa 66:20-24 As the New Heavens and the New Earth, so Shall Your Seed and Your Name Remain

[Study Aired November 8, 2020]

Isa 66:20  And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.
Isa 66:21  And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
Isa 66:23  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:24  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

The first question we must ask is who are the ‘they’ of verse 20? Verse 19, as well as verse 21, makes very clear to whom the ‘they’ of verse 20 refers:

Isa 66:19  And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.

“Those that escape” are those who “come out of Babylon” (Rev 18:4). “Those that escape” are us, the Lord’s “very elect”, if we are granted to “endure to the end”.

Isa 66:20  And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.
Isa 66:21  And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

Here is the “offering… in a clean vessel [which we] bring… into the house of the Lord”:

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy [“clean”], 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.

“Your seed, and your name” is speaking of the seed of Christ and His Christ being of the same mind and knowing “what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”

Isa 61:9  And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.

This is what Christ has to say about what He is doing through us:

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.
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

The process of being “sanctified” is the process of being judged in this present time. This is accomplished only “through the Truth”. All the lies of all the religions of this world do not make a single Truth. The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water had been taken away from us at that point in our experience. It is then that the eagles in our heavens will be nourished by the flesh of the carcasses of all the dead bodies of all the beastly self-righteous false doctrines that have been occupying the Lord’s throne in our hearts and minds for so long. It is at this point these words will come alive to us:

Isa 66:23  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:24  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Christ said the same thing in these words:

Luk 17:33  Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Luk 17:34  I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
Luk 17:35  Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Luk 17:36  Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Luk 17:37  And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

It is our new man who is “left”, and it is our old man who is “taken” and whose carcass is devoured by our new man, who is typified by an eagle around the throne of God:

Rev 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Rev 4:7  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

We are living in “the times of reformation”. The phrase, “From one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me…” in terms employed in the “times of reformation” (Heb 9:10) is simply saying that from month to month and from week to week all flesh will come to worship before Christ and His Christ, just as carnal Israel did for so many years under the law.

Heb 9:9  Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience;
Heb 9:10  Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.

As the Lord’s elect, we will be given to rule the nations with a rod of iron for a thousand years. Just as Israel was not given to return to Egypt, and  was instead told they would go as captives into Babylon, so it will be during the thousand years.

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

In that period of our rulership, the world will not go back to the “days, months, times, and years” of this Babylonian system which presently rules over the kings of the earth. Instead, the whole earth during the thousand-year reign will be just like Israel in the wilderness and just like Christ’s own apostles who, though they were with Him for three and a half years, were not converted and “broke the sabbath”. Christ ruled unconverted Israel, and He ruled His own unconverted apostles with a rod of iron.

Before we look at how Christ ruled Israel and His own disciples with a rod of iron, let’s first establish the fact that He came as a reformer, and that He demonstrated that office by refusing to keep the days, months, times, and years of the law of Moses.

Mat 12:1  At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
Mat 12:2  But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.

Babylon teaches that Christ never broke the law of Moses, that He kept it perfectly, so we do not have to do so. Nothing could be further from the Truth. Every “…but I say unto you” in Matthew 5-6 breaks the law of Moses, and John tells us plainly that Christ “had broken the sabbath”:

Joh 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Now let’s look at how Christ dealt with unconverted Israel while they were under the law of Moses.

When Israel disobeyed Christ in the wilderness, He sent fire among them at one time, and serpents among them at another time, and He caused them to be destroyed by their adversaries:

Num 16:35  And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

Num 21:6  And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Num 14:45  Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

When the Lord’s disciples withstood Him concerning His impending death and resurrection, He ruled them with a rod of iron in this manner:

Mar 8:33  But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

The Lord “looked on His disciples” because He knew Peter was speaking for them all. None of them saw the need for this man’s death. They all wanted to be kings under Him here and now. That was the first question they asked Him after His resurrection:

Act 1:6  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Act 1:7  And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

That is how societies will be governed during the thousand years. They will not be converted, but they will be subjugated to the Lord’s elect until the thousand years are expired (Rev 20:7). That is the very meaning of “a rod of iron”:

Psa 2:9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

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

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

Spiritually and inwardly it is “Christ in [us] (Col 1:27)… in earthen vessels” (2Co 4:7) which will “go forth and look upon the carcases of the men”, the false doctrines within us who would not come up to worship before the Lord. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels [and] we are His flesh and His bones” who now witness of Him against our old man and against this present evil world:

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

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

It is our own flesh which is being burned up with unquenchable fire which is signified as “Babylon is fallen” [and that destructive process of coming out of Babylon is called] “the patience of the saints and the faith of Jesus.”

Rev 14:8  And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man [“all”men (Rev 13:16)] worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment [the torment of the Lord’s elect first] ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name [“…all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond” – (Rev 13:16)].
Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

We are this “New Heaven”, we are this “New Earth”, and we are the “New Jerusalem… above, the mother of us all”, and it is through our mercy that all men of all time will be shown mercy in the great white throne judgment/ lake of fire/ second death.

Isa 27:13  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet [“the last trump” – (1Th 4:17 and Rev 11:15)] shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Isa 52:1  Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

Joe 3:17  So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

Zec 2:12  And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.

Zec 8:3  Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

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

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

In Christ we are this ‘city, adorned as a bride for her husband’. That is our crown and our hope and our reward if we are granted to be faithful to the end:

Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Isa 62:1  For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
Isa 62:2  And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
Isa 62:3  Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
Isa 62:4  Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
Isa 62:5  For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

“So shall your sons marry you” is not incest. The point being made is that our spiritual offspring will “be of the same mind” which is the key to a successful marriage.

Peter repeats this promise of “a crown of glory”:

1Pe 5:4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

This “crown of glory” is also called “a crown of life” which is given only to those who are granted to have a part in that “blessed and holy first resurrection”:

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried [Greek: G1384, dokimos, ‘approved’], he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

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.

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.

Those who “reign” are given “a crown of glory… a crown of life” and will rule the nations with a rod of iron for a thousand years:

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.
Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

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

We have very much in common with those who are cast into the lake of fire. “Those things which [we] shall suffer” are the same things suffered by those in the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death. Notice just how much we have in common with those we will be judging:

We are all, both the “blessed” and the “cursed”, “saved by [the Lord’s chastening] grace”:

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

Both groups endure the same fiery words of the Lord’s wrath upon our old man:

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.

Both the elect and the “cursed” are tormented with fire:

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.

Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Just what is all of this?

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Both the blessed and the cursed experience excruciating pain:

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

Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

Revelation 15 tells us:

Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

This is the fifth vial:

Rev 16:10  And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

Both the 144,000, who are called “the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb”, as well as the “great multitude which no man can number… come up through great tribulation and wash their robes white in the blood of the Lamb”:

Rev 14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.
Rev 14:2  And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Rev 14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were [the first to be judge and] redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Rev 7:9  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

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

What we do not share with those who are cast into the lake of fire is our “crown of life” and ruling with Christ over the kingdoms of this world for “a thousand years. These promises are given only to those who have a part in that “blessed and holy first resurrection”:

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.

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

It appears that these words of our Lord are true:

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

The words “live by” do not mean to duplicate every word of God. Rather, those words mean to believe and do and teach others the truths of the Words of God. Believing is “the works of God”:

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

If the Lord tells me “His mercy endures forever” and I teach otherwise, then I am neither “believing” nor “living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”. For example, the 136^th Psalm tells us 26 times that “His mercy endures for ever”:

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.

Now if I take it upon myself to deny that 26 times repeated doctrine and I tell the world that ‘His mercy endures only during this life’, then I am not ‘living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’. Rather, I am twisting His words to accommodate an idol of my heart (Eze 14:1-9).

In the exact same manner, if the Lord twice tells us:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

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.

If I take it upon myself, in spite of that twice-repeated promise, to tell you that ‘everyone will experience the purifying flames of the second death’, I am neither believing nor living by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Instead, I am twisting the words which have proceeded out of His mouth, and I have made them say the exact opposite of what they really teach. I have twisted His Words to accommodate an idol of my heart (Eze 14:1-9).

What we do not have in common with those who are cast into the lake of fire, as we just read, is that we are not hurt of the second death, and the second death has no power over us:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

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.

If we are in the first resurrection, which resurrection Christ calls “the resurrection of life” (Mat 5:27-29), we will hear these words:

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Those cast into the lake of fire will never hear those words. Instead they will hear these words which we, Lord willing, will never hear:

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

The Lord only knows whose names are in the book of life from the foundation of this world. If our names are in the book of life, then we which have the firstfruits of the spirit will still “groan and travail in pain together” with those whose names are not in the Lamb’s book of life:

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 8:20  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.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24  For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

If our names have been predestined to be in the book of life and in the first resurrection, then nothing we or anyone else can do will thwart the will of the Lord:

Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Rom 8:33  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
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.
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.

That is our study for today concluding this very encouraging and hopeful prophecy of Isaiah. If the Lord wills, we will begin our studies in the prophecy of Jeremiah, who is known as “the weeping prophet” partly because of his authorship of The Book of Lamentations, ‘the book of weeping’, which follows Jeremiah in scripture.

While the theme of Isaiah has been the Lord’s faithfulness in spite of our weaknesses, the theme of Jeremiah is also the Lord’s faithfulness. However, in Jeremiah we will see in much greater depth and detail just how the Lord’s faithfulness stays with us while all of the powers of Babylon are attempting to destroy us. Isaiah’s assurances of the Lord’s faithfulness are therefore needed to see us through the trials of our faith which are a theme throughout this prophecy of Jeremiah.

Here are our verses for our next study:

Jer 1:1  The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin:
Jer 1:2  To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
Jer 1:3  It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
Jer 1:4  Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Jer 1:5  Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jer 1:6  Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
Jer 1:6 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
Jer 1:8  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jer 1:10  See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.