“Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked” – Part 1

(Pro 24:1-18)

[Study Aired January 8, 2026]

Why would we fret because of evil men, and why would we be envious of them? This entire chapter of Proverbs 24 gives us the answer to these questions, and will put us in remembrance of Christ who is building His temple, His body, the church (Psa 127:1), so that we can be strong against all the wiles of the devil (Eph 6:10-11) at the end of this age, our age, so that having done all we will be able to stand (Eph 6:12-19,  Mat 20:22-23, Mar 14:24-25).

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

Mat 20:22  But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
Mat 20:23  And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

Mar 14:24  And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
Mar 14:25  Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. (Col 1:27, Luk 17:21)

Pro 24:1  Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
Pro 24:2  For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.

What an apt description of humanity throughout history, right from the get-go. We have learned of war, “studieth destruction”, and have waxed worse and worse, the sins of the Amorites being fulfilled “in the fourth generation”, the fourth symbolizing the whole of humanity that will come to this understanding of the warring nature of the beast we are (Gen 15:16, Ecc 3:18).

Our lips talk of mischief and witness against us for years until the day of evil that God created is revealed and we come into judgement which has begun on the house of God (Pro 16:4, 1Pe 4:17).

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

We are told to not be envious against evil men, because before judgement comes upon us that is exactly what we do; we are envious of their supposed wealth and we want to surround ourselves around those who are doing well in the earth (Psa 73:1-3).

Psa 73:1  A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel (Gal 6:16), even to such as are of a clean heart (Joh 1:47).
Psa 73:2  But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
Psa 73:3  For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

All of this changes when we begin to be shown the man of perdition within our own hearts (2Th 2:2-4), who is being destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our heavens that are being cleansed so that we no longer “study destruction”, or “speak with lips of mischief”, no longer savouring the things of this world (Psa 73:3-9), but are blessed to have minds that are set on the things that are above and not on the earth (Col 3:2, Eph 5:2).

2Th 2:2  That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.(Mat 24:26-27 the brightness is lightning that represents God’s judgements in our heavens)
2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Psa 73:3  For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. (the one who prospers in the earth is the man of perdition who must be destroyed)
Psa 73:4  For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm.
Psa 73:5  They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
Psa 73:6  Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
Psa 73:7  Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
Psa 73:8  They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.
Psa 73:9  They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Eph 5:2  And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling
savour.

Pro 24:3  Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
Pro 24:4  And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Remember those chambers of (Mat 24:26-27). There is a positive and negative ‘chamber’, and it is Christ who positively fills the chambers of our hearts and minds with all precious and pleasant riches, revealing exceeding great and precious promises (2Pe 1:4) which tell us that he who is our wisdom (1Co 1:30) is going to build the temple that we are, and by understanding establish it (Psa 127:1, Joh 2:19).

Mat 24:26  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

Pro 24:5  A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.
Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
Pro 24:7  Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.

We can’t open our mouths in the gate where we should be going to receive the counsel that we need (“the gate” is the place where the rulers of the city sit in judgment), but when the fit man Jesus Christ (Lev 16:21) lays hold of the scapegoat that we are, we take on a new strength, that being the life of Christ within us who is our sufficiency in this life (2Co 3:5): “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength”.

If we are being led by the spirit of God (Rom 8:14-15) we will be seeking out wise counsel, and that is where we will find liberty, and safety (2Co 3:17).

That is the wisdom that is too high for our foolish flesh that cannot open our foolish mouth in the gate to speak nor to even seek out that wise counsel, which we must partake of in this life in order to overcome and endure to the end (Psa 73:22, Jer 5:4).

Psa 73:22  So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

Jer 5:4  Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.

There are many verses with the word “counsel” in them, and those words are spirit and they are profitable (Joh 6:63).

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

Pro 12:15  The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

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

Pro 19:20  Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

Pro 19:21  There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

Pro 20:18  Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.

Pro 21:30  There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.

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

Pro 27:9  Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.

Pro 24:8  He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person.
Pro 24:9  The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

These verses continue to demonstrate the fruits of one who does not understand nor receive counsel and is what produces thoughts of foolishness, which is sin. We end up being scorners who look down on the body of Christ, ‘going it alone’ and thinking that his relationship with Christ is solely between him and Christ, becoming an “abomination to men” because of this stubborn and self-righteous approach that Saul in us naturally takes, not seeking counsel, or obeying what God tells us to do (1Sa 15:22-23).

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 (Eze 33:13) and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Pro 24:10  If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.
Pro 24:11  If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;
Pro 24:12  If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

God sees all of mankind’s strength as being small, “thy strength is small”, because we all initially trust in our own arm and not that of the Lord, until the trials start to come that humble our flesh (2Co 1:9). All men’s hearts will faint in the day of adversity, starting with the elect who, out of that adversity, will cry out unto God and will be heard (Act 9:4-5).

2Co 1:9  But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Act 9:4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Initially we can’t help others, because we are yet carnal babes in Christ, and so it is written “thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain” [not able to help those who are dying daily (1Co 15:31), being drawn to death, and ready to be slain].

Our works are being tried at this time, and at first we do say, “If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not [pleading ignorance is no excuse in a court of law]; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?”. However, if God is working with us in this age, we will come to know that we are His workmanship going unto perfection because of His mercy shown to his children in this age, “as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (1Co 3:9-15, Heb 6:1-6, Mal 4:2-3, Mal 3:16-18).

1Co 3:9  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
1Co 3:10  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
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. [shall not he render to every man according to his works?]
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

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

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.
Mal 4:3  And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.

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.

Pro 24:13  My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:
Pro 24:14  So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

The honey is likened unto God’s word that is sweet in the mouth and bitter in the belly, and if God will permit we will be granted the strength needed via the bread of life (Psa 104:15) to endure that bitterness that represents the seven last plagues that must be poured out upon us in order to go unto maturity in Christ (Rev 15:8).

Keeping the knowledge and wisdom of God, abiding in the truth, will set us free (Joh 8:32) and “there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off”(Pro 23:17-19).

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Pro 23:17  Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
Pro 23:18  For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
Pro 23:19  Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

Pro 24:15  Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place:
Pro 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
Pro 24:17  Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:
Pro 24:18  Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

There are two main admonitions in these verses for us. One is speaking to our younger less mature stage in Christ when we blindly lay wait against our older more mature members in Christ, “Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place: For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief”(Rom 14:1-4).

Rom 14:1  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4  Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

The second admonition is speaking of our not despising those who are less mature, but bearing their infirmity all our life as Christ has done with us, and is doing, “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him”(Rom 15:1).

Rom 14:3  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

Rom 15:1  We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
Rom 15:2  Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
Rom 15:3  For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
Rom 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

Next week, Lord willing, we will pick up where we left off, (Pro 24:19-34), as we continue to see why we should not fret because of evil and lawless men, with a strong emphasis on this part of the proverb that says, “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked”.

Do not be beset by the sin within you that is being destroyed by Christ (Heb 12:1-2), and do not be discouraged or dismayed at a world that is failing and promised to come to the brink of destruction, not just physically, which could happen at any given moment in this nuclear age, but especially spiritually, all for our sakes to remind us that God is judging the nations within us and giving us victory over them through that judgment (Mat 24:6-9).

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

Mat 24:6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

The world has already been ‘spiritually cursed’ (Mal 3:9)and is reaching that zenith of sin by God’s counsel and design, called the sins of the Amorites that must be fulfilled initially in us, and then, Lord willing, as the elect we will go through a lifetime of much tribulation in order to overcome this world of sin within, and be made ready for our Lord’s return (Act 14:22) that will come at the appointed time.

Lord help us to remain faithful watchmen to the very end (Luk 21:36, Mat 24:13).

Luk 21:36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Matt 26:31-35, Mark 14:27-31, Luke 22:31-38, John 13:36-38

[Study Aired November 16, 2021]

Mat 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
Mat 26:32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.
Luk 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
Joh 13:36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
Joh 13:37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Luk 22:33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
Mat 26:33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.
Joh 13:38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.
Mar 14:31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.
Luk 22:35 And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.
Luk 22:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
Luk 22:37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.
Luk 22:38 And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

Our last study reviewed the Lord’s supper after Judas having Satan enter into him and Christ sending Judas away to betray him. In this study, Christ tells the other disciples they will be offended and deny him. This is all a type and shadow of the process of our becoming the elect of God. We all denied Christ even after symbolically following Christ for three and a half years, seeing miracles, and even given the ability to perform miracles.

Mat 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
Mat 26:32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

Here are the verses Christ referred to “For it is written”.

Zec 13:7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd” is telling us that until this day which Christ is preparing for his death, the “sword” has been asleep. In other words, the Word has had no place in the hearts of men. The sword is commanded to smite the shepherd so that the sheep can be scattered. The following verse explains why this must happen.

Zec 13:8-9 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

We are “the land”, and within everyone “two parts therein shall be cut off and die”. This is the negative of “two” representing the false witness that must be “cut off and die”. It goes on to say “but the third shall be left therein, and I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried.” This represents the process of spiritual completion through judgment. This is our time of purification which brings atonement and redemption, represented by silver. Gold represents our knowledge and understanding of everything and how we use that understanding.

Here is why the sheep are scattered.

Eze 34:5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

When we are in the churches of the world, the leaders of the churches call themselves shepherds but are not according to Christ, and we are meat to them.

Luk 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Simon represents the elect of God, and the only reason the elect are saved from Satan sifting us as wheat is because Christ has prayed for the elect. This is what is written in the books of the elect. Satan is given the power to touch us but does not have the power to take us as he was given the power to take Judas. The book of Job tells of this process.

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

Job 2:1-10 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

In the elect’s process of salvation Satan has power to affect our process, but this power is limited and serves the purpose of destroying our old man.

1Co 5:4-5 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Joh 13:36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.
Joh 13:37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Luk 22:33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
Mat 26:33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

We all believed while we were in Babylon that we could and would follow Christ both into prison and to death. Unknowingly we were not able to bear these actions until Christ is dead in us and risen again within and He sends the holy spirit.

Joh 13:38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.
Mar 14:31 But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all.

Like Peter and all the disciples, we proclaim we will not deny Christ. Our hearts at this time have not been converted and are still foolish and full of pride.

Pro 28:26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

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

Pro 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Our pride consumes our ways before the spirit is within us.

Luk 22:35 And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.

Here is what Christ was referencing:

Mar 6:7-13 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse: But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats. And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

We first have nothing except protection for our feet and two coats, representing Christ’s protection and the witness of His righteousness but no understanding of Christ. Now we are told to take a purse, our scrip and a sword with us.

Luk 22:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
Luk 22:37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.

Once again what is written must be accomplished.

Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Here is the last verse of our study.

Luk 22:38 And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.

“It is enough” are Christ’s words speaking of us being given the armor of God, but we cannot use this armor properly for now as we will see in our upcoming studies. I will end the study with Psalms 55.

Cast Your Burden on the Lord

Psa 55:1-23 To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.  My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest. Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets. For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company. Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them. As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

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Isa 55:7-13 My Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts

[Study Aired March 8, 2020]

Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isa 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Isa 55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Isa 55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

As we learned in our last study, the Lord’s sovereignty in no way inhibits His right or His ability to admonish us. The exact opposite is the case. Being completely sovereign He has the power and He has every right to make us “marred in [His] hand (Jer 18:4), make us to err from His ways (Isa 63:17), and then admonish us to forsake our sins, which is exactly how our study today begins:

Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah was very familiar with the already existing scriptures. Isaiah knew how the wicked became wicked, and this admonition to the wicked to ‘forsake his way’ simply confirms the Truth of this verse:

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

Isaiah obviously knew and understood the Truth of this verse of scripture:

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

At the time of David and King Saul, the Lord’s use of evil to accomplish His purposes was apparently common knowledge. No one at that time appears to have given the devil credit for anything that happened. Look at how King Saul’s servants talk of his bouts of depression:

1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15 And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
1Sa 16:16 Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.

The New Testament writers knew this truth and taught it in all their writings. Paul speaks of God’s sovereignty as clearly as Isaiah speaks of it. Both acknowledge that mankind’s natural, carnal, rebellious mind just naturally rejects and hates the Truth that the Lord is “working all things after the counsel of His own will” (Eph 1:11).

Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Rom 9:9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
Rom 9:10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
Rom 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;
Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

We all just naturally insist that our salvation hinges only on our ‘free will’ choices. We actually think that if we are nice enough to accept the sacrifice of Christ’s death for our sins, then the Lord is obligated to save us. On the other hand, if we reject Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, then we tell ourselves that it is our own choice to reject Christ that makes God have to torment us for all eternity. That is how we convince ourselves that the only thing which saves us from eternal death or eternal hell fire, is again, our own free will, and God is simply forced to deal with what we decide to do.

To be told that our fate was determined by God, that every day of our lives were “written in His book before there were any of them”, is simply repulsive to our vain, puffed up, self-willed, rebellious, carnal mind. But let’s look again at the Truth of the scriptures instead of simply accepting the lies of society and the doctrines of the world-wide ‘great harlot’ who rules over the kings of the earth:

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

Rom 9:11 for the children being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works [our will – vs 16], but of him that calleth,

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

Lest we miss the point, Paul is inspired to tell us plainly:

Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but [our salvation is] of God that hath mercy.

The Lord knows quite well that He has made us in this marred, rebellious condition, so He simply informs those He gives to receive His mind:

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

My own carnal mind tells me that if I were God I could do a much better job of saving mankind than God is doing. My presumptuous beast tells me that God Himself could and would have done much better if He had simply made mankind a perfected spirit from the beginning. My carnal mind sees no need at all for a very messy, bloody and painful cross of Christ to cover all the perversions and sins of corruptible flesh and blood. My plan for mankind would skip all the corruption and suffering and the accompanying shame and misery, and I would have made us all loving and obedient perfected spirits from the very beginning.

Yes, indeed, my flesh protests that if God is sovereignly making us to err from His ways, then why in the world is He complaining when we err from His ways? The holy spirit knew we would all pose that question:

Rom 9:19 Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not listening? Haven’t they simply done what he made them do?” (NLT)

This is the Biblical answer to that presumptuous and rebellious question which we all just naturally ask:

Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

That answer from our very Creator and Maker is not referring to some other ‘lump of clay’ which is not us. It is true that “none is able to withstand [God]”, as we are told in:

2Ch 20:6 And [King Jehoshaphat] said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

The Lord’s knowledge is vastly superior to that of my presumptuous carnal mind. He already knows that obedience and love are not qualities which can be appreciated and valued without first experiencing the fruits of evil and disobedience. It was in His wisdom that He created a tempter to cause us to want to disobey Him and to then reap the evil fruits of our disobedience.

That is what His Word does. It tells us who He is and what He is doing, and He never once places the responsibility for His creatures upon themselves or upon anyone else (Pro 16:4; Isa 45:7; Isa 63:17). The Lord simply speaks, and what He speaks is what happens.

Isa 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Words express thoughts, and God’s Word reveals that He thinks it is good for us to know the contrast between good and evil. Only in that way are we able to appreciate His mercies by which, and through which, He is in the process of redeeming every man who has ever lived and drawn breath. This is what He has sent His Word to accomplish within every man:

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

Here is another way of conveying this message to us:

Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

If the Lord blinds our eyes from seeing the words “then”, and if He blinds us from seeing the order in which those words tell us that the “experience of evil” must precede His mercies and His deliverance which He brings to us only after we have first been brought to our “wits’ end”, then we are spiritually blind and unable to see that everything He does, He does “decently and in order… after the counsel of His own will:

1Co 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

When we are unable to discern the order in which the Lord is working His work in our lives, then it follows that we will also be robbed of any appreciation for “the recompense of the reward, [and] the crown of life” which He promises those who overcome “in this present time”.

Luk 18:28 Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.
Luk 18:29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,
Luk 18:30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world [Greek: aion, age] to come life everlasting.

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

Tit 2:12 Teaching [Greek: paideuo, chastening] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world [Greek: aion, age];

When we are unable to discern the order in which the spirit is working its work in our lives “in this present age”, then we will also fail to appreciate the many “great and precious promises” which He has pronounced to be bestowed only upon those “who first trusted in Christ”:

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

If the sovereign Lord has ordained that only “those who first trusted in [Him]” were to be “to the praise of His glory” [and] to the praise of the glory of His [chastening] grace, a thousand false prophets with a thousand false doctrines to the contrary will not deter Him, because “He does… what [He] desires”.

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

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

These words are “great and precious promises” for the very reason that they are not common to all men. It is only those “who first trusted in Christ” who are given to be “to the praise of the glory of His [chastening] grace”:

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

2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
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.

These “great and precious promises” are not common to all men. They are given only to those who are “chastened to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts… in this present age”. They are given only to those who first trusted in Christ and will be ‘to the praise of the glory of His grace’. The “great and precious promises are given only to those who dwell “without hurt… in the devouring fires [of] the lake of fire”:

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

‘He that walks righteously’ is not some man who is attempting to separate you from your hard-earned money through the fear of a literal “devouring fire [and literal] everlasting burnings”. Those who know that the fire of scripture is the Word of God are the few chosen in “this present time… this present age” to be “the manifest… sons of God… [who will] have no hurt” in the administration of the purifying ‘lake of fire [which] is the [ordinal] “second death”, which is the death of the carnal mind which is yet within the “great multitude which no man can number”:

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.

Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Rev 7:9 After [the numbering of the 144,000] 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;

It is only to “the righteous… they that have done good” that our next verse is addressed:

Isa 55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

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].

It is only the “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” who will “go out [of their graves] with joy, and be led forth with peace.” All others will “come forth… unto the resurrection of damnation” meaning ‘the resurrection of judgment’.

”The mountains and the hills” are the nations which will “flow unto… the mountain of the Lord’s house”:

Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

When the Lord sets His hand to draw even “His banished” (2Sa 14:14) to Himself, He will do so through those “who first trusted in Him”, just as His Father has used Christ to drag us unto Himself:

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

That is why we are called “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”:

Rev 14:4 These [144,000] 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.

“Firstfruits” are called ‘first’ for the simple obvious reason that they are simply “first” and are not the only fruit of the Lord’s work. It is through these “firstfruits” that the Lord’s mercy and glory are made known to all the rest of mankind via the spiritual flames and “the devouring fire” which are His Words and His doctrines.

Jer 5:14 Wherefore [Because there are so many false prophets, verse 13] thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

In “the fulness of times” even “the god of this age” will be gathered together in Christ. But since we are “Jesus of Nazareth” (Act 22:8), and since we are “as He is… in this age”, it is through us that Christ will set His hand to “drag all men to [Himself]”:

Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [Greek: helkuō, drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me [Shall be dragged to me].

Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will [through the ‘lake of fire’] draw [Greek: helkuō, drag] all men unto me.
Joh 12:33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

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 [Greek: aion, age].

This age is given over to “the god of this age”, and until “the age to come” [Luk 18:30] arrives, “the god of this age” has been given the hegemony over all men except for a very few chosen and elect who will “overcome the wicked one… in this present world… (age)” and will be given a crown of life and will not be hurt of the fires of the second death:

Luk 18:29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,
Luk 18:30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world [Greek: aion, age] to come life everlasting.

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.

It is the lies and false doctrines of the god of this age in the mouths of his false prophets which are referred to as ‘thorns and briers’ in the last verse of this 55^th chapter of Isaiah.

Isa 55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

“The fir tree, and… the myrtle tree” which replace the “thorns… and… briers” signify the truths of the doctrines of Christ in the mouths of His faithful witnesses, replacing the thorns and briars of the false doctrines of the false prophets of “the god of this age”.

Eze 2:6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

We have now seen that our ways are not the Lord’s way and our thoughts are not His thoughts, and we have seen the scriptures which demonstrate what the meaning is of all the symbols found within these last 7 verses of Isaiah 55.

Now that we have been made aware of the blessings promised to “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”, I want to recap these verses from the perspective of the last verse of last week’s study. Our last study ended with an appeal from the Lord for us to, “seek [Him] while He may be found and call… upon Him while He is near.” We discussed in that study how Paul told the pagan Athenians that, outwardly and physically speaking, God is ‘not far from every one of us’ inasmuch as it is “in Him [that] we live and move and have our being” (Act 17:27-28). In Isaiah 55:6 He is speaking of how our sins and false doctrines constitute a great spiritual gulf which separates us as far from the Lord as the heavens are from the earth.

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

Both here in Isaiah and in the gospel of Luke the Lord informs us that a time is coming when the blessing of knowing Him spiritually will not be available, and He will not at that time be spiritually near to mankind:

Luk 16:26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

“Us” in this parable is Christ and Lazarus as a type of those few who will be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Rev 20:5). There are only two resurrections, and all men of all time are in one or the other of those two resurrections:

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; [1] they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and [2] they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: krisis, judgment].

“You” in Luke 16:26 refers to all those who “shall come forth… unto the resurrection of [the great white throne] judgment”, over a thousand symbolic years after the “blessed and holy… first resurrection”.

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.

Christ’s spirit is given only to those who are given the opportunity to “overcome the wicked one [in] this present time” as these verses demonstrate for us:

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.

Mat 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

Mat 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

1Jn 2:13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
1Jn 2:14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye haven overcome the wicked one.

The exceeding great and precious promise of ruling with Christ during His thousand-year kingdom is reserved for a very select group who are referred to throughout scripture as ‘a remnant… [a] few chosen… in this present time” (Mat 12:32; Mar 10:30; Luk 18:30; Rom 8:18;).

Mat 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

Mar 10:30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world [Greek: aion, age] to come eternal life.

Heb 2:5 For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world [Greek: aion, age] to come, whereof we speak.

“The age to come” as we were just told in Revelation 20:1-6 will be in subjection to those who are “kings and priests” who are granted to have a part in that “blessed and holy first resurrection”.

The Lord’s ‘firstfruit’ elect are typified by only eight out of the millions on this earth who were brought safely through the flood (2Pe 2:8) and by Caleb and Joshua, the only two of the whole nation of Israel which came up out of Egypt who were granted to enter into the promised land (Num 14:30). There were only three, Lot and his two daughters, who survived the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the cities of the plain (Gen 19:29). There were just the three hundred chosen out of the over thirty-two thousand who were called to fight with Gideon against the Midianite hordes (Jdg 7:7), and there are but a “few chosen” out of the “many… called”, but not chosen, not elect, of all the churches of the billions of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and all the other religions of this world.

As we have noted, those who will rule with Christ over the nations of this world in His thousand-year kingdom will have “overcome the wicked one… in this present time” because “this present time” is the only time ‘the wicked one’ will be available to be overcome. He and his entire kingdom of evil spirits will be imprisoned throughout the thousand-year kingdom. When the thousand years are finished only then, Satan will be released for “a little season” of world-wide rebellion after which ‘the wicked one’ and all his kingdom will be cast into the lake of fire to be purged and purified along with the “great multitude which no man can number” (Rev 7:9-17). There are but two resurrections, and those two resurrections are separated by that thousand-year reign of Christ and His Christ (Joh 5:28-29, Rev 20:1-6).

Verse 6 and 7 from last week have set the tone for the first verse of today’s study:

Isa 55:6  Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

A major portion of “[our] wicked way[s]” is that we just naturally contend with and condemn God for His ways.

Giving the last workers their wages first, and giving them just as much as those who worked all day, is not our way of doing things. The workers who worked all day and got paid last, murmur against the Lord’s ways and typify our own “old man” as well as all those who are not the “few chosen” of Matthew 20:16. Let’s look closely at that parable of the workers in the Lord’s vineyard:

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.

“Those who first trusted in Christ” of Ephesians 1:12 equate with the laborers who are the last to be hired and were the first to be paid. Spiritually they typify us as the Lord’s “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” (Rev 7:4 and 14:4).

It simply does not compute in our carnal minds why the Lord would choose those who did the least work to be rulers with Christ a thousand years, and then, using those same “firstfruits unto God and the Lamb” (Rev 14:4) who came into the Lord’s vineyard last, to be His instrument by which He will fill Him who fills the all in all.

Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; 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,
Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

That simply is not how we would do things. The Lord has determined that “the last shall be first and the first last”, and He has determined that the laborers who were hired last will be the administrators of the lake of fire. He has determined the last will judge the first, and it is best for us that we get with His program.

None of that is our way of doing things, and that is why the Lord tells us:

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

Job did not at the beginning of his time of trial understand why the Lord was dealing with him as He was, but Job did come to know this:

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

Job tells us that it is the Lord who performs what He has appointed for us. In other words, He performs His words and His works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12-13). Let’s place those words from the New Testament beside these words here in the Old Testament:

Isa 55:10  For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isa 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

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

Our last two verses express what is the Lord’s will for those “who first trusted in Christ” (Eph 1:12):

Isa 55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

[Isa 44:23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.]

Isa 55:13  Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign thatshall not be cut off.

The reason the mountains and the hills break forth before us into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands and the reason the thorn is replaced with fir trees and the briar with the myrtle tree is:

Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

That is the calling which the Lord has given to all those in whom “He will perform it” (Job 23:14), and I am persuaded that is the calling we are being given if He keeps us ‘faithful unto the end’ (Rev 17:14).

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

Isa 56:1 Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
Isa 56:2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Isa 56:3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
Isa 56:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;
Isa 56:5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
Isa 56:6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;
Isa 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.
Isa 56:8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

Isa 49:18-26 Kings Shall bow Down to Thee with Their Face Toward the Earth - Discussion

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Isa 49:18-26 Kings Shall Bow Down to Thee with Their Face Toward the Earth

Isa 49:18  Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
Isa 49:19  For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
Isa 49:20  The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
Isa 49:21  Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?
Isa 49:22  Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
Isa 49:23  And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
Isa 49:24  Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
Isa 49:25  But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
Isa 49:26  And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

This prophecy is the word of the Lord to each of us as His elect. Its primary application is within us. It is the new man and his knowledge of Christ and his Father who is taken captive by our “mighty… old man”. Our new man is “the prey and lawful captive” of our carnal-minded “old man” and his “father the devil” (Joh 8:44). Throughout this prophecy of Isaiah, the Lord is telling us as His elect that in spite of our weak, earthly composition and our sinful and rebellious nature, and the fact that we have turned our backs on Him, He will not do the same to those whom He has placed in spiritual “mount Sion” and whom He has chosen to be His “firstfruits unto God and 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 14:4  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.

As always, we need to be reminded that these words are, at this time, only for those who are given eyes that see and ears that hear the things of the spirit:

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

Isaiah foretold this spiritual condition, which Christ tells us is the same spirit which to this very day afflicts the multitudes who come to Him:

Isa 6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto [the multitudes] 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 [the multitudes] 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.

Being blind and deaf is our natural, dark, lost condition to which the Lord has first appointed us all, as we were told in the last five verses of our previous study:

Isa 49:13  Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. 
Isa 49:14  But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
Isa 49:15  Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 
Isa 49:16  Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
Isa 49:17  Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

The Lord has given us “exceeding great and precious promises” to such an extent that Paul declares:

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.

Peter says this of what we have been given already:

2Pe 1:3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 
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.

There are many such “great and precious promises” to which Peter refers. Here is but one example:

Isa 43:4  Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. 
Isa 43:5  Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
Isa 43:6  I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
Isa 43:7  Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Isa 43:8  Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. [Mat 13:10-15]

In Matthew 13 Christ had just told the multitudes who had come to Him a parable, which is known as ‘the parable of the sower’. Here is that parable:

Mat 13:1  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
Mat 13:2  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 
Mat 13:4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Mat 13:5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
Mat 13:6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
Mat 13:7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 
Mat 13:8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
Mat 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

The disciples then ask Christ why He is teaching in parables the multitudes who come to Him, and He gives them an amazing answer:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them [the multitude of verse 2] 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. 

[Isa 43:8  Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears.]

Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

The parables are given, “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.” Christ Himself is telling us He speaks to the multitudes who come to Him in parables so they will “Not understand… and [will] not perceive”.

The parables are serving their purpose until this very day, because any Sunday school teacher will tell you, “Christ spoke in parables to make His meaning clear to the agrarian people to whom He spoke.”

This is the exact opposite of the reason Christ gives us for why He spoke to the multitudes in parables. However, He did explain their meaning to His elect disciples:

Mat 13:18  Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19  When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
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.
Mat 13:23  But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

We are indeed blessed to see and hear things which the “many prophets and righteous men… desired to see… and to hear… and have not heard them”:

Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

In his first epistle, Peter also agrees with Paul that all these blessings come to us only through “much tribulation” and through “fiery trials”:

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

Our last study ended with the Lord causing us to feel rejected by the Lord just before He blesses us beyond our wildest dreams. It is a picture of the beginning of the death of our fleshly, earthly old man, followed by being resurrected into a new life as a new man with new promises and new blessings. Our study today continues with those “great and precious promises” of which we are now, in Christ and in earnest, the recipients.

Isa 49:18  Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
Isa 49:19  For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
Isa 49:20  The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.

‘After you have lost the other' refers to the death and destruction of the children of our old man, “the kingdom of this world”, which is destroyed within us at “the brightness of His coming”. That blessed event is also called “war in [our] heavens” as the scriptures reveal:

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth [G2722, Greek: katecho, ‘restrains’] that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [G2722, Greek: katecho, ‘restrains’] will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

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

The next chapter of the revelation of Jesus Christ sets the stage for the day when “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ:

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. 
Rev 12:10  And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Every heresy which attempts to infect the body of Christ provokes this spiritual warfare within His body, and we, as “soldiers” of Christ, must engage in that inward war within the heavens of our hearts and minds. Having come out of Babylon we are said to have “lost” all the doctrines of the kingdom of Babylon. Those false doctrines are the tares sown in our heavens by what Christ called “an enemy”:

Mat 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

This is speaking of “the kingdom of heaven”. It is Christ and His Christ who have “sown good seed in His field”. This parable is not about the kingdom of Babylon. The kingdom of Babylon is a field of nothing but tares. The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water has been taken away from that harlot system:

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

Just as ‘Adam’ is both an evil “old man… the first man Adam”, before he begins to be destroyed by the brightness of the coming of Christ’ (2Th 2:8) and “made again another vessel” (Jer 18:4), so it is with ‘Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children’ and ‘Jerusalem above which is the mother of us all’:

Gal 4:21  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
Gal 4:22  For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 
Gal 4:23  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24  Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
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.

“Jerusalem which is above… which is the Mother of us all” is “all [who are] in Christ” and does not yet include “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”, and those whose judgment is in “the lake of fire/second death” (Rev 20:14-15).

Yet the Lord Himself has ordained that “there must be heresies among [us]”:

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

These “heresies among [us]” are the children and doctrines of the enemy who comes at the appointed time “while men slept”. They come with the spirit of “Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children” to sow those tares in and among the good seed and among the truths of the kingdom of God within us, as the second parable of a sower in Matthew 13 demonstrates:

Mat 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

The presence of these ‘tares’ among us are not at first apparent to any of us. Indeed, it is not until “the time of the harvest” that it becomes obvious to all who have eyes that see and ears that hear that there is no spiritual fruit at all upon these tares:

Mat 13:26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

While we all just naturally want to root out and pull up the tares immediately, that is not the mind of our Lord, and so we must live by His words and acknowledge that He has decreed “there must be heresies among [us] that they which are approved may be made manifest among [us]” as we have already noted:

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

Christ’s explanation of the parable of the tares ties that parable into our study today here in Isaiah 49 which refers to the ‘children’ we are given after we lose all the ‘children’ we had while we were in the Babylonian harlot system. Notice closely how Christ explains this second parable of the ‘sower’ and the meaning He gives us of the good seed sown by Christ and His Christ, as contrasted with the seed sown in the Lord’s field by an enemy.

Here us that second parable of a sower in its entirety:

Mat 13:24  Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 
Mat 13:25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26  But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
Mat 13:27  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 
Mat 13:28  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

This is what Christ is telling us is the meaning of 'children' in this second parable of the sower:

Mat 13:36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 
Mat 13:37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 

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

Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Mat 13:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world [Greek G165: aion, eon, age]; and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world [Greek G165: aion, eon, age]. 
Mat 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 
Mat 13:42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Who are these “men [who] slept” and gave the enemy the opportunity to sow the tares among the good seed the Lord had sown in His field? The Lord Himself tells us who they are:

Mat 25:1  Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2  And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Mat 25:3  They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4  But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
Mat 25:5  While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

I am chief of sinners, and I have been caught napping every time we have discovered heresies among us. We “all slumber and sleep”, but those who have “oil in their vessels” are those of us who know the voice of the True Shepherd even in the middle of the night, meaning in the middle of the false doctrines and lies
which ‘midnight’ and ‘lamps without oil’ symbolize.:

Mat 25:6  And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8  And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9  But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10  And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 
Mat 25:11  Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
Mat 25:12  But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 
Mat 25:13  Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Is it not “foolish” to fall asleep when we are expecting the bridegroom at any moment? Of course, it is! It is especially humiliating when we do so twice:

Mar 14:32  And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.
Mar 14:33  And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;
Mar 14:34  And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.
Mar 14:35  And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
Mar 14:36  And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.
Mar 14:37  And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour? 
Mar 14:38  Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak. 
Mar 14:39  And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.
Mar 14:40  And when he returned, he found them asleep again, (for their eyes were heavy,) neither wist they what to answer him.
Mar 14:41  And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
Mar 14:42  Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand.

That is the same message of the parable of the ten virgins. We all let our Lord down by giving in to the need of our flesh to seek rest from our trials. The five wise virgins are ‘five’ because we are all “saved by grace through faith”, just as the five foolish virgins will also be saved. Both groups are what they are by the Lord’s sovereign decree and not because of anything they of themselves have done. Nevertheless, the five wise virgins are given to attend the marriage while the five foolish ones are told “I know you not”.

If we are not given to know the True Shepherd’s voice, it is because we have no oil in our lamps, because “the dream is one”, and the oil and the Shepherd’s voice are both the Word of God, His doctrines.

As we have demonstrated, His doctrines are His children and the doctrines of the enemy are the enemy’s children whom we have all been at our appointed time:

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

If and when we are given to come out of Babylon, we lose the doctrines and the children of Babylon. As that begins taking place within us, we are given far more understanding of the true mind of Christ and His doctrines as we lose the doctrines of the enemy:

Isa 49:21  Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

As we saw in the two parables of the two sowers, in the first parable the seed being sown by the sower is explained by none other than Christ Himself as “the Word”:

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.
Mat 13:23  But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Does anyone question that the sower in both parables is “the Son of man”?

Mat 13:37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 

But Christ Himself tells us:

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

God Himself has ordained that His elect speak for Him, and for the sake of any doubters about that point, it is again none less than the Lord who makes that point perfectly clear:

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 fact there are 40,000 different, conflicting Christian denominations does not change the fact that those who know the voice of the True Shepherd are all of one mind and one judgment:

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.

Losing all those 40,000 children is the very point of this part of our study today. While the ‘seed’ sown by “the Son of Man” is explained as symbolizing “the Word” in the first parable of the sower in Matthew 13, that very same seed is explained as representing “the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children  of the wicked one; [and] the enemy that sowed them is the devil…”

Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
Mat 13:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world [Greek G165: aion, eon, age]; and the reapers are the angels.

As Joseph told the Pharaoh, “the dream is one” and “the children of the kingdom [and] the children of the wicked one” are both the doctrines of their respective ‘fathers’, “the Son of Man” being the Father of the children of the kingdom, and “the devil” being the father of “the children of the wicked one”.

This gives us the knowledge we need to understand the last few verses of this 49th chapter of Isaiah:

Isa 49:22  Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
Isa 49:23  And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

The “two hundred thousand, thousand” lies and false doctrines will be destroyed, and all those who subscribed to those false lying doctrines will bow down before the feet of those who know the Lord and His Christ:

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 
Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

These words accord with the two parables of the sower which demonstrate that “the children of the kingdom” are those who “keep the word of [Christ’s] patience”. While all the “children of the wicked one” were his “prey” now being taken from “the wicked one”, who is “the devil”, and are now through the agency of “the Lord’s Christ”, His “firstfruits… very elect”, being given to “the children of the kingdom who will also become the agency of their deliverance, just as they have been the agency of all “who have believed on [Christ] through their words” until this very day (Joh 17:20):

Isa 49:24  Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?
Isa 49:25  But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.
Isa 49:26  And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Inwardly these words must be fulfilled within the lives of each of God’s elect in “this present time”. Dispensationally, these words will be fulfilled in “all flesh… [in the great white throne judgment/lake of fire/second death] and all flesh shall know that… the Lord is [our] Saviour and [our] redeemer the mighty One of Jacob”.

We are “the prey… and lawful captives of the mighty… wicked one… the devil” who are being “delivered… in this present time” to show to others the mercy we have been shown in “this present 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.

While we wait upon the Lord to be used in that way, we are the Lord’s special “jewels”, and we are under His protection as “the apple of His eye”.

Psa 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
Psa 17:9 From the wicked that oppress me, My deadly enemies, that compass me about.

Zec 2:8 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: After glory hath he sent me unto the nations which plundered you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

At the appointed time everyone will know who loved and obeyed the Lord and who actually spat upon Him and His commandments:

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.

That is the message the Lord is giving us in this 49th chapter of Isaiah.

Here now are the verses for our next study which will be in Isaiah 50:

Isa 50:1  Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
Isa 50:2  Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.
Isa 50:3  I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
Isa 50:4  The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
Isa 50:5  The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 58 Discussion

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Isa 14:5-11 The Lord Has Broken The Staff of The Wicked... King o​f Babylon

Isa 14:5  The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
Isa 14:6  He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
Isa 14:7  The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
Isa 14:8  Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
Isa 14:9  Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
Isa 14:10  All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
Isa 14:11  Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

This fourteenth chapter of Isaiah in realtiy has very little to say about Satan Himself, and is rather first and foremost "a proverb against the king of Babylon" within each of us as we saw in last week's study.

Isa 14:3  And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
Isa 14:4  That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

In our last study we noted how the message, "How has the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!" are repeated concerning "Mystery Babylon" in the book of Revelation:

Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

The fall and destruction of Babylon within each of us is essential to the message of our salvation. We are all at first greatly invested in the lies and false doctrines, which symbolically are "every foul spirit, and... every unclean and hateful bird", and we are heavily invested in all that is valuable to Mystery Babylon, before the kingdom of that great harlot city is destroyed within each of us.

This phrase, "Babylon is fallen", is repeated in Isaiah 21, in Jeremiah and in the book of Revelation:

Isa 21:4  My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
Isa 21:5  Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.
Isa 21:6  For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.
Isa 21:7  And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed:
Isa 21:8  And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:
Isa 21:9  And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.
Isa 21:10  O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.

Jer 51:8  Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

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 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird [Lies and false doctrines that keep us in bondage to Babylon's oppression within our lives].

In Isaiah 21 the fall of Babylon is followed by the groanings of the work of the threshing and crushing which occur on any threshing floor, which threshing floor symbolizes our darkened and deceived hearts and minds. The fall of Babylon within us is an excruciating time of our lives, because everything we have ever believed has been exposed as nothing less than lies and strong delusion. At this point we are beginning to see the truth but we are "yet [so] carnal" that we want to stuff our newly found truths down the throats of family and friends who are still in strong delusion and we ourselves are still such carnal babes in Christ (1Co 3:1-4) that we:

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

In changing the word 'their' to 'our' I am not at all 'adding to the word' because we are admonished at the very opening of this prophecy:

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.

It is at this point, when we are just beginning to see Babylon for the harlot she is, that:

Isa 14:5  The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers.
Isa 14:6  He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.

"The king of Babylon" is our old man who has "no place within [him]" (Joh 8:37) for the Words and doctrines of Christ. We just naturally hate a doctrine which commands us to "love [our] enemies". As one minister who claimed to be a Christian teaches,"Those words ("love thine enemies") are bad advice at best, and at worst they will get you killed." That is just how lacking in faith and in spiritual knowledge or in commitment to Christ and His words those are who "believe in Him" and yet "seek to kill [Him]. because [His] word has no place in [them]".

This is what the apostle Paul has to say about such men:

1Ti 6:3  If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
1Ti 6:4  He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
1Ti 6:5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

What that minister and all of us at first cannot see or understand is that it is only "through death" that we gain our lives, and that it is by the daily death and destruction of our old man that our new man is given a new mind and is being birthed into the kingdom of God.

Joh 12:23  And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. [How is the Son of Man glorified within us?]
Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world [Greek: kosmos - this world] shall keep it unto life eternal.

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

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

These New Testament words are the spiritual reiteration of the same message which is in these words in Deuteronomy:

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

The cities of the old man within us must be given absolutely no quarter at all if we hope to "keep [our life] unto life eternal". "You shall save alive nothing that breaths [within our old man]!" That is the good news which, according to our Lord, will bring us life:

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
Joh 12:26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

As we die to our merciless old taskmaster, known as "the man of sin", we are ceasing from our works and we are entering into Christ's workmanship in our lives, and we are following Him. When we 'come out of [Babylon]' we are entering into His 'rest'.

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 [our] works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

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.

Christ within us does not produce our own unrighteous works. Christ's workmanship within us produces "good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them". When Christ lives His life of dying daily to the king of Babylon and the pulls of the flesh within us, then it can truthfully, spiritually be declared:

Isa 14:7  The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.

And it will also be declared of "the law of sin" within our flesh, and of the "the king of Babylon, the man of sin" within us:

Isa 14:8  Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.

These "fir trees... and the[se] cedars of Lebanon" are the positive application of these trees within scripture, and in this case their safety and prosperity typify the growth and nourishment of our new man who is increasing within us as we are dying daily to the law of sin within our members:

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

2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though [the king of Babylon within us] our outward man perish, yet the inward man [the fir trees and cedars of Lebanon within us] is renewed day by day.

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

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

Our new man is being made into "the image of Him that created him" because we are all, being created by Christ, whether now in this age or later in the lake of fire, we are being "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him [who is] creat[ing] us into His [own] image".

As this process continues, we are given to do battle with the beast within us, and for the first time ever, Christ within destroys the beast with the brightness of His coming. Up until this time we are forced to ask with all men "who is able to make war with [the beast within us]":

Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

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:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

Here in Revelation 13 is a simple Biblical Truth concerning our inability of ourselves to wage war against the beast who occupies the temple of Christ within us. This truth had already been made clear in Romans 7:

Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Rom 7:19  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Rom 7:20  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:21  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
Rom 7:22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Here we have a very clear doctrine, confirmed by the sum of the Lord's Word, teaching us His Truth. That Truth is that we, of ourselves, are helpless and hopeless when struggling against the beast we all are. We are powerless against "the law of sin... in [our] members". That law of sin is a law which He, the "one lawgiver", has placed "in [our] members". Twice we are told that we of ourselves have absolutely no power which can deliver us from this law which is "in [our] members". This is all clearly stated, and it is consistently taught throughout the Lord's Word, and yet the Lord Himself has hidden this truth from the masses and multitudes of mankind (Mat 13:9-15). He has accomplished this by blinding the minds of those who believe on Him but have no place within them for His words". It simply is not given to the masses who believe on Christ to see that "it is not I that [sin] but [it is] sin that dwells in me". Christ's doctrines simply have no place in us until we are given eyes to see and ears to hear:

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

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

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

This is all by design. We were made sinners by nature, and God has devised means to deliver us from ourselves and from the man of sin who we all are by nature:

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.

Ecc 1:13 I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

The Lord and His apostles all reveal to us what is the "means [which] He [has] devised that His banished be not expelled from Him", and that "means [which] He has devised" requires that we acknowledge that we are spiritually blind as a bat and helpless and hopeless to overcome the law of sin which He has placed within our members to humble us by it.

Knowing all of this provoked this exclamation from the apostle Paul:

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

"Christ in you [is our only] hope of glory". That Truth is the 'mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations'.

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:

But our "hope of glory" requires the death of our old man, "the king of Babylon", and his entire kingdom within us. That is the subject of this "proverb against the king of Babylon" who at first occupies and dwells within the kingdom of God within each of us.

This is what the Lord has devised for this dying beast which in this chapter is called "the king of Babylon" within us:

Isa 14:9  Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

Just so we are all aware, the Hebrew word which has been translated as 'hell' in the King James here in Isa 14:9, is:

H7585
שְׁאֹל שְׁאוֹל
she'ôl    she'ôl
sheh-ole', sheh-ole'
From H7592; hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranian retreat), including its accessories and inmates: - grave, hell, pit.

This is the exact same word which is much more properly translated as 'grave' just two verses later in verse 11.

The truth is:

Ecc 9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecc 9:6  Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

The figurative language in these verses has the dead leaders of mankind speaking to the dying beast within us all. But look at what these dead leaders ask "the king of Babylon" within us.

Isa 14:10  All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
Isa 14:11  Thy pomp is brought down to the grave [H7585: sheol], and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.

These are not words being directed to a spirit being of any kind or of any rank. Clearly these words are being addressed to a physically dead human leader, who has the capacity of going "down to the grave" and being under spread and covered with worms.

So much for the false doctrine which teaches that this chapter describes the fall of Satan from the heavens as the result of a rebellion by Satan and his angels. This false doctrine claims that Satan's rebellion was the fruit and result of Satan's supposed 'free will', which caught God completely by surprise, requiring God to create an ever-burning hell to house Satan and his angels along with all men who choose to go there with Satan and be tormented for all eternity rather than repent of their sins against their loving heavenly Father. How utterly absurd!

As we will see even more clearly in our next study, 'sheol' cannot literally speak. These questions which sheol symbolically poses to the dead king of Babylon are not questions which can be posed to a spirit being, but they are rather questions which are posed to mere men who "say in [their] hearts, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God":

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isa 14:16  They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
Isa 14:17  That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
Isa 14:18  All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
Isa 14:19  But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
Isa 14:20  Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
Isa 14:21  Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
Isa 14:22  For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.

The Prophecy of Isaiah - Part 13 Discussion

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Isa 3:6-10 They Declare Their Sin As Sodom,  They Hide It Not

Isa 3:6  When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:
Isa 3:7  In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.
Isa 3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
Isa 3:10  Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

Throughout these studies we will be reminding you that Isaiah, as much as any Old Testament prophet, affirms the total sovereignty of God to the extent that the holy spirit inspired Isaiah to reveal that even our sins are the work of His hand and His foreknowledge, and even our sins and errors were written in God's book of our life before we were born, while we are in our mother's womb, having done neither good nor evil.

Isaiah knew what King David had been shown about the extent of the work of the hand of God in all things. This is what King David reveals to us:

Psa 139:15  My frame was not hidden from thee, When I was made in secret, And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 
Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.(ASV)

Isaiah was also familiar with what King Solomon had added to His father's revelation:

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

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

So Isaiah had no reservations penning these words when he was inspired by the holy spirit to do so:

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.

What all of this reveals for those who understand it is that everything being done is being worked by our God "to do whatsoever [His] hand and [His] foreknowledge determined before to be done" (Act 4:26-28), "after the counsel of His own will" (Eph 1:18).

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

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

God is "working all things after the counsel of His own will" in the life of every man who has or who will ever live. Mankind, we are told by Christ, must live by every word which has proceeded out of the mouth of God (Mat 4:4). Therefore we must live these words from last week's study, as His judgment against the kingdom of our proud, rebellious, old man:

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

Mankind feels the need to cover up and deny what God is in the process of doing to the sons of men, but God is not the least bit shy about taking credit for the work He is doing to the sons of men (Psa 107:8, 15, 21, and 31). Our God clearly states all of his works in no uncertain terms with no fear at all of what men think of Him for "doing all things after the counsel of His own will" and doing all things only in line with what His hand and His counsel "determined before to be done" (Pro 16:4; Isa 45:7, Isa 63:17, Act 4:26-28).

His advice to each of us, as well as the rulers of the kingdoms of the world, is:

Psa 2:10  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Psa 2:11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 
Psa 2:12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

The reason we are instructed to "Kiss the Son", is that we do not just naturally do so. What we naturally do is rebel against and hate the Son and attempt to steal His inheritance:

Mat 21:38  But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

"His inheritance" is in the hearts and minds of His saints:

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

We "seize... His inheritance" when we rebel against His words and His doctrine, and when we refuse to be of the same mind with Christ and His Father.

As we all know, however, there is no honor among thieves, and God causes our own wicked ways to correct us as individuals and as nations:

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.

That "evil thing and bitter" will begin within our own homes and our own families. God is not mocked, we will reap what we sow (Gal 6:7-8). Verse 5 from last week's study tells us how we will reap what we have sown:

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

Do you think that verse refers to someone you know, but not to you? These prophecies are all fulfilled both inwardly and outwardly in every life in every generation.  Here are a couple of repetitions of this principle of God's judgment being administered "every one by his neighbor":

Hag 2:22  And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother. 

Zec 11:9  Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another.

When God's judgments begin to do their work in our lives, we just never consider repentance toward God as a first option. Rather, we look to the flesh and seek a carnal hero, who will always disappoint us:

Isa 3:6  When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:

When Israel's sins and rebellion against their own God were met by the judgments of God and they sought an ally against the nation or nations God sent to administer His justice for their sins, Israel, as a type of each of us, always sought help from Egypt and from the nations around her instead of trusting in their own God. Israel is also a type of our nation wherever we live in this world. All nations always seek to this world for help before later being forced to cry out to the Creator for His mercy and His supernatural deliverance.

Trusting in the flesh is what we just naturally do first. These are the words of an Assyrian captain to God's people in Jerusalem, but they proved to be true then just as they are today:

Isa 36:6  Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt [our own flesh, and our own strength]; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.

Later this prophecy was fulfilled in Israel under the prophet Jeremiah after Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Judah. We of ourselves just cannot trust in God's salvation and deliverance. The Biblical account of Israel, as a type of our natural tendency to trust our own strength and our own wisdom, will serve to demonstrate how this next verse is fulfilled in our lives:

Isa 3:7  In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

"In that day" is the day in which we are being judged, and we are being shown just how little our faith is in Christ and His ways. We are offered rulership, but we cannot accept that blessing simply because we are first commanded to learn to trust in Christ, and we simply don't have the faith to do so. We have "neither bread nor clothing".

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

The history of ancient Israel is the story of our experience, and it is our experience that at the first part of our walk we just do not have the faith to "trust in the Lord" more than we "trust in [our] own understanding" and our own strength. That is the very reason Proverbs 3:5 appears in scripture.  The story of ancient Israel's history is in God's word for our instruction at this time.

One part of that history which demonstrates how we always depend upon our own strength and our own wisdom over the Word of God is the story of God's prophet Jeremiah at the time of Judah's Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah is a type and shadow of God's elect who are always placed in the position of representing Christ and His Father in a world that has no use for Christ or His Father. That is where we all sit at that moment.

At our own appointed time we do not want to "be an healer" because we know we are not yet qualified to heal anyone, and we certainly do not want to "let this ruin to be under [our] hand". The story of ancient Israel is our own story. The story of Jeremiah is a story of how the Lord supernaturally protects his elect even as he destroys the kingdom of our Babylonian old man within each of us:

Jer 40:1  The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon.
Jer 40:2  And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place.
Jer 40:3  Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you.
Jer 40:4  And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land is before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go.
Jer 40:5  Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
Jer 40:6  Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land.
Jer 40:7  Now when all the captains of the forces which were in the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon;
Jer 40:8  Then they came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.
Jer 40:9  And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

The kingdom of our old man has been plundered. It is clear that we have not been pleasing our God, our heavenly Father. We are broken, but we are still defiant and proud because we have not yet been crushed to powder by our own wickedness. "All the captains of the forces which were in the fields" have escaped being carried away into Babylon, and they are very proud of that fact. Jerusalem may have fallen, but these men within us are not the least subdued by God's judgment upon Israel and Judah. This, too, is our own old man.

Isa 3:8  For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

We actually demonstrate by our own actions that we are these "captains of the forces which were in the fields". We actually think we can get by with sticking our finger in "the eyes of [God's] glory" and get by without being punished for our presumptuous, rebellious ways. This takes place within us, and it is taking place outwardly as we continue to demand our constitutional right to take pride in our nakedness and in our perversions of every imaginable sort. It will continue only for a short time simply because God is not mocked, and we do reap what we sow (Gal 6:7-8).

These "captains of the forces which were in the fields", as the proud men they are, cannot live in peace with each other, and one of them with ten men wanted to slay the man who Nebuchadnezzar had made king to represent him with God's rebellious people.

Jer 40:13  Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to Mizpah,
Jer 40:14  And said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to slay thee? But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed them not.
Jer 40:15  Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying, Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it: wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?
Jer 40:16  But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing: for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael.

The name 'Babel' means confusion, after the confusion of the tongues of mankind at the tower of Babel. It aptly describes the confusion with which we live in rebellion to our God. Even our "captains of the forces which were in the field" are in constant conflict with each other:

Jer 41:1  Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.
Jer 41:2  Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
Jer 41:3  Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, even with Gedaliah, at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war.

These murderers are "of the seed royal... princes of the king". These, as Judas was, typify God's rejected elect. These are "the first man Adam... the figure of Him that was to come" (Rom 5:14), and they cannot accept the punishment placed upon them for their rebellion against their God and Creator, even as we cannot.

Ishmael and the ten princes with him carried all the people who had been with King Gedaliah away with them to take them to the Ammonites.

Jer 41:10  Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, and departed to go over to the Ammonites.

But Johanan and the other captains of the forces which were in the field heard what Ishmael had done, and went and rescued the people Ishmael had captured.

Jer 41:11  But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done,
Jer 41:12  Then they took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon.
Jer 41:13  Now it came to pass, that when all the people which were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were glad.
Jer 41:14  So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned, and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah.
Jer 41:15  But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, and went to the Ammonites.
Jer 41:16  Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon:
Jer 41:17  And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt,
Jer 41:18  Because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land.

Johanan and all the captains of forces that were with him are not all that different than Ishmael as it turns out. And this brings us back to the first verses in today's study:

Isa 3:6  When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand:
Isa 3:7  In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.

Johanan was offered the peace and stability that comes with being obedient to God, and he refused to be obedient because he feared the Babylonians more than God. Johanan and all the captains of the forces with him, and all the people he had rescued from Ishmael, now come to Jeremiah seeking to know what the Lord would have them to do now that the man whom Nebuchadnezzar had made king has been killed by Ishmael. This is what happened after the people came to Jeremiah, the Lord's true prophet, the prophet who had prophesied that Judah would be carried away into Babylon against incredible circumstances which threatened his life. They had enough respect to consult Him, but they could not abide in the Lord's words coming to them through Jeremiah the Lord's proven prophet:

Jer 42:1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
Jer 42:2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:) 
Jer 42:3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do. 
Jer 42:4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

These "captains of the forces" are the force and power of the flesh of our rebellious old man over us. This is what we tell our Lord as we are totally unaware of how incapable we are of keeping our own words to Him:

Jer 42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
Jer 42:6  Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
Jer 42:7  And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
Jer 42:8  Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
Jer 42:9  And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
Jer 42:10  If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.
Jer 42:11  Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
Jer 42:12  And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Jer 42:13  But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
Jer 42:14  Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
Jer 42:15  And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
Jer 42:16  Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
Jer 42:17  So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
Jer 42:18  For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
Jer 42:19  The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
Jer 42:20  For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
Jer 42:21  And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
Jer 42:22  Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

We are not even aware that we are coming to God with our minds already made up. We have no intention of relying on Him for our safety, but we hope He will tell us to depend upon our own strength and upon our own wisdom. The scriptural term for this state of mind is "idols of the heart":

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

That is exactly what happened when these people came to Jeremiah, the Lord's true prophet, the prophet who had prophesied that Judah would be carried away into Babylon against incredible circumstances which threatened his life. They had enough respect to consult Him, but they could not abide his words. They had "come to the prophet" to "enquire of [God]", but they came with their minds already made up, and they were quick to tell Jeremiah what they thought of what the Lord had told them by the words of His prophet:

Jer 43:1  And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
Jer 43:2  Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there: 
Jer 43:3  But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.
Jer 43:4  So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.
Jer 43:5  But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;
Jer 43:6  Even men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
Jer 43:7  So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.

These are great prominent men whose pride will not let them submit to the Lord's chastening as servants of the king of Babylon. They think they have escaped having to go away into Babylon, and they are proud of that fact. We do well to acknowledge that our time in Babylon is an essential part of God's judgment upon the pride of the kingdom of our old man. But they, as types of us, are proud, and consequently they/we cannot bring themselves/ourselves to be obedient to the words of God. These men are each of us, and we are all predestined to go away into Babylon after we come to the Lord. It has proceeded out of the mouth of God, and we will live by every word. All we need to do is acknowledge that we must all serve Babylon, but the scriptures reveal that our old man just cannot accept such total humiliation. Our old man's boldness in his rebellion is the worst just before his destruction. That destruction is prophesied, and it is sure to come at the appointed time. The longer we refuse to submit to our judgment, the more severe that judgment becomes.

Jeremiah was forced to go into Egypt with Johanan and the captains of the forces, but even in Egypt Jeremiah was faithful to His Lord, and he prophesied of the severity of God's judgment upon His people as a type of us for seeking to Egypt and this world for her strength and her safety:

Jer 43:8  Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
Jer 43:9  Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;
Jer 43:10  And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
Jer 43:11  And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
Jer 43:12  And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
Jer 43:13  He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.

But we cannot  hear the Lord's words, and our pride is now out in the open, and we no longer make any pretense of seeking to please our Lord:

Isa 3:9  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

True to our nature, this is what we say when told of the Lord's promised judgments:

Jer 44:15  Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 44:16  As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
Jer 44:17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
Jer 44:18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 
Jer 44:19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?
Jer 44:20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
Jer 44:21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind? 
Jer 44:22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. 
Jer 44:23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
Jer 44:24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
Jer 44:25 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows. [You will continue to keep the days, months, times and years which make you fit in with the people around you]
Jer 44:26 Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.
Jer 44:27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
Jer 44:28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs. 
Jer 44:29 And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil: 
Jer 44:30 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

These are all the judgments that must come upon the kingdom of our old man. Pray that he does all His wonderful work of bringing us to our wits' end, and judging us all in this age because:

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

Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

If we are given to be judged first in this age, then we will hear these words:

Isa 3:10  Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

This is what we are told of those who are given to be "the righteous", and this is the promised "fruit of their doings":

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:

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.

Psa 75:1 To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.
Psa 75:2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.Psa 75:3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
Psa 75:4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
Psa 75:5 Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
Psa 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
Psa 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
Psa 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
Psa 75:9 But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
Psa 75:10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

Right out the gate of this Psalm we are told what we are going to be looking at and how God is going to accomplish this good work of having “the horns of the righteous” exalted. The word ‘Altaschith’ and the word ‘Asaph’ give us God’s very specific purpose for all flesh of all time:

Altaschith H516
– Original: אu^H1500 תu^H1468 שu^H1473 חu^H1514
– Transliteration: ‘Al tashcheth (Aramaic)
– Phonetic: al tash-kayth’
– Definition: Al-taschith = do not destroy

Asaph H623
– Original: אu^H1505 ףpar
– Transliteration: ‘Acaph
– Phonetic: aw-sawf’
– Definition: Asaph = gatherer
– Strong’s: From H622; collector;
Asaph the name of three Israelites and of the family of the first: – Asaph.

Altaschith means ‘do not destroy’, which is what God has promised of all of His spiritual creation, that it will not be destroyed.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Joh 18:9 That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.

What will be destroyed is ‘the old man’ or ‘soulishness of man’ symbolized by what this word Asaph conjures up. As a ‘gatherer’, it speaks of the end times or harvest, and as Asaph is also the name of three Israelites; “three” symbolizing the process of that harvest or judgement.

Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

So with these concepts in mind, we are reminded that God has a controversy with the nations of the world whom He is going to gather unto judgment both within and without.

Jer 25:31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

Rev 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

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 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;

All the world will be judged each man in his order (judgment is connected to patient continuance, as we possess our souls in patience, and that judgment which begins at the house of God (1Pe 4:17) will one day go out to all of the world, all of Israel who represents the world who will be judged by the Israel of God (Gal 6:16). This judg ment comes about in succession (i.e. process or order) and means the destruction of the flesh, and is symbolized by the three holy days that Israel was commanded to come up and keep year by year.

Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

Deu 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

God anoints the elect in this age to see and understand that we are a part of this process of judgment which is what is needful for us to be enabled to become “pillars” who can judge the congregation uprightly. These are the wonderful works that God is performing in Christ’s body for the sake of the rest of the world who will be healed by our stripes.

2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

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

We pray that God will grant us the forbearance, the faith, and deep love we need in order to continue to persevere and possess our souls in patience today. This particular Psalm really points to the solution of how God is going to create this resolve in the body of Christ.

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

Christ is destroying our flesh or soulishness, as our lives our narrowed into judgement which comes forth from the north (judgment leads to spiritual increase – Psa 75:6). All our journeys in life are leading up to this day of judgement which we are blessed to be a part of and to learn about in His word.

Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Psa 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.

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 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.

Psa 75:1 To the chief Musician, Altaschith^H516, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near [kin] thy wondrous works declare.

As the body of Christ matures, we give greater and greater thanks (mentioned twice = witness) for being a part of this process of wonderful works that we know are needful and necessary to going onto perfection on the third day as a new creation (Luk 13:32, 2Co 5:17).

The nearness of (near [kin]) or relationship we have with our Kinsman redeemer is expressed in these verses below:

“Thy name is near thy wondrous works declare” reminds us that not only are we his workmanship (Eph 2:10) and that we are called and chosen (Mat 22:14) to do a work greater than these (Joh 14:12), but also that as His body, we too, have been given a new name to see and hear and understand (Rev 2:17) and declare His wondrous works to all the children of men (Psa 107), as the next two verses confirm:

Psa 75:2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.

If we go through this process of judgment in this age, and if we are received as sons and daughters through chastening and scourging, a big of part of that process will be connected to our turning our other cheek from those who oppose us in this life. When we are granted to turn the other cheek, we are judging a situation rightly and being prepared by our Father to be judges (Mat 5:39).

Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
Heb 12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

1Pe 2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
1Pe 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

Psa 75:3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.

Again, if we are judged in this age we are going to see the faulty foundation we once were on, and it will be clearer and clearer how this world is upon that foundation that must crash down and be destroyed in one symbolic hour. We bear up the pillars of Christ in each other and know that this world will reject that strength which is ours today. The end result will be that this world will crash down upon us and be the sword that God uses to perfect Christ’s righteousness within His body. Sampson typifies all of this in this part of scripture.

Rev 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

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.

Jdg 16:28 And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
Jdg 16:29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
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.

Psa 75:4 I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
Psa 75:5 Lift not up your horn^H7161 on high: speak not with a stiff neck.

Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

In this particular verse the holy spirit inspires the words every^G3956 man,^G444 three times to remind us again that there is process to this destruction of the flesh that thinks it has power unto itself with no connection to God. It is the pride of life [don’t lift up your horn] of the first man adam that we are warned against (1Jn 2:16-17)

How we warn every man through preaching, or teaching in all wisdom will differ for every situation and every man, but the end goal will always be the same: “that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:”

1Co 9:19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
1Co 9:20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
1Co 9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
1Co 9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
1Co 9:23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
1Co 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

“Lift not up the horn” is mentioned twice in this psalm to witness to us that we need to ask God to destroy that part of us that wants to give our opinion, and express our wisdom and power rather than the power of God which comes from above. We do a lot of shadow boxing in the court (beateth the air) with the law where there is uncertainty and days and months and times and years that we wrestle with, but it is when we truly begin to be judged of God by being dragged out of Babylon that we will find ourselves keeping under our body and not exalting our own horn of righteousness but rather praying that we should never be a castaway and able to glorify God with a contrite and broken heart that can only come from Him alone.

1Co 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
1Co 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Jas 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

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

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

Psa 75:6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.

Promotion^H7311 [same Strong’s number used for the English word “lift up” in the previous verses] comes as a result of God narrowing our life in service to Him and His body (Joh 21:15).

All our life we go east and west and south in our steps, and these three directions are always being judged by God’s sovereign hand from the north which has always guided all our steps (Ecc 11:9, Act 17:28) as he prepares our hearts to be comfortable in the north where judgement comes. God’s desire is to have all people abide in the proper judgment and in harmony with Him who abides symbolically in the north from where judgment comes.

Psa 75:7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

In order to get to this place of peace and entering into the joy of the Lord (Mat 25:21) we need to know who is in charge, and how it is by his merciful hand that there is a continual decency and order (1Co 14:40) in His creation which will bring all men one day to praise our Great God and to bow every knee before him (1Co 15:28, Rom 14:11). And in the end it is Christ who is set up^H7311 (exalted) and Adam who is put down^H8213, (humbled, abased) within and without (Php 2:1-10).

Psa 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

A cup of judgment in God’s hand that is “full of mixture”, that is to say has been prepared by God and made to be drunk by all men, “all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.”

When the world is being sanctified by the word of God (Joh 17:17) or wine during the millennium it will be faith given to the nations but not tried faith. It takes more than just hearing the word of God, we must be doers as well, and not just doers for the sake of doing, because that would be equivalent to many good works (Mat 7:22), which is what will happen during the millennium (Jer 6:14, Eze 13:10). It is all done to teach us the most enduring and profound lesson that only Christ can be Christ working in us, both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Rom 8:9, Php 2:13).

Like the blessed emails this week about gardening and weeds, we will plant the word of God in the hearts of men and water that field which is the world (Mat 13:38), however the condition of the earth and its ability to receive and be nourished by the word is a matter of timing (Mar 4:2-8). We must live by every word of God and so every amount of growth or lack of growth has a profound lesson to teach us as we see the Master of vineyard harden and soften hearts throughout the ages all to the glory and honour of our Father.

The wine is red, Adamic (H120), as we are told that we will indeed drink it (Mat 20:22-23), until “it is finished” (Joh 19:30) and judgment is complete (Isa 51:22-23-52:1-2).

Psa 75:9 But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

What a glorious desire and blessed place to rest for ever and ever. We are heading toward something far greater than we can receive in our earnest state of flesh, but we do have a few verses that give us an inkling of how glorious it will be:

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

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.

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.

Psa 75:10 All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

We know that we are the beast that sits on the throne of God showing ourselves out to be God. This is the beast whose horns must be cut off in order for the horns of the righteousness of Christ within us to be exalted.

2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

The new horn of the righteous is the new creation that does show themselves to be the body of Christ and who think it not robbery to be equal with God, in the sense that all things are ours now, and we have become part of something because the old horns have been shaved off and the Lord, the Master Potter, has made something new that lives and glorifies God with every ounce of its being.

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (represented by those ten horns Rom 8:2)
1Co 15:27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

Alleged Contradictions in Scripture – Part 6

“The Lord Is Good To All” Versus “The Wicked His Soul Hateth”

Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Psa 11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Introduction

The most effective tool the adversary has in attacking his own Creator is his attack upon our Creator’s character. Twice in Ezekiel 18 the Lord relates to us this false accusation against His character:

Eze 18:25  Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?

Then again just four verses later the Lord reiterates this false accusation:

Eze 18:29  Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?

Notice who the Lord has given to the adversary to make this false accusation against God: “Yet saith the house of Israel”. In other words, it is those who are called by His name who have been recruited by the adversary to slander the name and the very character of our loving heavenly Father who really is “good to all”.

Here is a cut and paste from the web site entitled ‘infidels.org‘. This is their entire entry on this particular alleged contradiction:

“God good to all, or just a few?

“Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

“Jer 13:14  And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them.

“Editor’s note: Some readers have raised an objection to this alleged contradiction. They point out that PSA 145:20 states that The Lord keep all who love Him, but that He will destroy the wicked. In other words, some see no contradiction between “The Lord is good to all” and JER 13:14. Others contend, however, that even if the Lord destroys the wicked he could do so with compassion, pity, and mercy. Further, there are biblical examples that indicate that the Lord is not necessarily “good” or merciful– even to those who are not wicked. One such example is Job. As one reader points out, “If Psalm 145:9 was not a contradiction of Psa 145: 20 or Jeremiah 13:14, it would read something like this: The LORD is good to all, except the wicked: and his tender mercies are over all his works, except when He is punishing the wicked.” In any case, the idea that the Lord is good and merciful is contradicted by countless example in the Bible where God orders the destruction of infants, personally kills David’s infant child, etc.” (End quote)

To this naturally-minded infidel, this is an obvious open and shut case that hardly warrants his time because, as he just told us, “the idea that the Lord is good and merciful is contradicted by countless examples in the Bible where God orders the destruction of infants, personally kills David’s infant child, etc.”

There is no denying that Psa 11:5 appears to contradict Psa 145:9.

Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Psa 11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

If God hates the wicked and him that  loves violence, then how can He, with the same mouth, proclaim He is “good to all”? Should He not have at least have said, ‘The Lord is good to all but the wicked’?

The answer of course is, no, He should not have said ‘The Lord is good to all but the wicked’, because if He had, then He would be good to no one since He Himself tells us that all men are wicked:

Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

But does this statement really mean what it says? Is “every imagination of the thoughts of His heart only evil continually”? Is there really “none that doth good, no, not one?” This atheist writer and many others think that the story of Job proves that God is not even good to good people like Job. Such a blatant challenge of the Creator’s own words serves only to demonstrate the depth of the truth of Gen 6:5. The Truth is that God created mankind out of the dust of the ground, which in itself accounts for how true are His words “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”, because the very opposite of being heavenly and pure is not the fires of a fabled hell, buy rather the very opposite – being earthy, corrupt and evil:

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.

Job was “a good man who feared God and eschewed evil”:

Job 1:1  There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Yet Job himself, the very person this infidel quotes to condemn God, tells us that a man who sees himself as righteous apart from God is most despised by God for ascribing righteousness to mere flesh.

Here are Job’s own words:

Job 9:20  If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
Job 9:21  Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
Job 9:22  This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked. 
Job 9:23  If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.
Job 9:24  The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?
Job 9:25  Now my days are swifter than a post: they flee away, they see no good.
Job 9:26  They are passed away as the swift ships: as the eagle that hasteth to the prey.
Job 9:27  If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:
Job 9:28  I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. 
Job 9:29  If I be wicked, why then labour I in vain? 
Job 9:30  If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
Job 9:31  Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. 
Job 9:32  For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment.
Job 9:33  Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both.
Job 9:34  Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me: 
Job 9:35  Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.

If God is not sovereign over the good and the wicked, if He has not given the earth to the wicked, “where, and who is He?” At least this infidel has seen the scriptural doctrine that the good and the wise of this world are destined to be destroyed together. What neither the infidels nor the believers of Babylonian Christianity understand is that God’s plan all along was to create a clay model which would demonstrate only one thing, and that is that clay, even in its best state, is still clay and is altogether vanity and corruption:

Psa 39:5  Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

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

Just like Job, who typifies you and me, he “would… not fear him [if He] took away his rod from [our old man]”. Fortunately, with Job we can say “it is not so with me”. Job is the Old Testament type of those whom God loves, and this is what we know about “every son whom He receives”.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

In the end this infidel I have quoted, along with all men, will appreciate the Truth that is these words:

1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
1Co 1:20  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 
1Co 1:21  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 
1Co 1:22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
1Co 1:23  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Co 1:24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
1Co 1:25  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
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.
1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 

It is God who makes Christ “wisdom… unto us”. Without that work of the spirit of God working within us we, too, have asked:

Rom 9:14  What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

“You will say unto me, Why does He yet find fault? For who has resisted His will?” is the question we all ask when we first contemplate the sovereignty of God, and without the faith of Jesus Christ we, too, can so easily be swept away with the thoughts of the infidels and agnostics who have no fear of God and think nothing of denying Him or challenging Him as Job did in his desperation:

Job 9:34  Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me:
Job 9:35  Then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me.

It is in the book of Job that we find an answer to this alleged contradiction which the infidels are so quick to throw in the face of their own Creator. We are told in the first verse of the first chapter that Job was a “perfect man, one who feared God and eschewed [hated] evil”:

Job 1:1  There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

But just like the infidels, Job [a type of you and me] could not understand why God would want to destroy him:

Job 9:20  If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect [Job 1:1], it shall also prove me perverse. 
Job 9:21  Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.
Job 9:22  This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.

“Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul” is a confession that in bodies of sinful flesh and blood we cannot know the meaning of spiritual perfection. “Though I were perfect” is a hypothetical reference to physical, carnal “man at his best state”, of whom we are told:

Psa 39:5  Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.

As the Old Testament type of each of us when we are deceived by God (Eze 14:9), Job thought he had of his own free will chosen to be the “perfect man who feared God and hated evil” (Job 1:1). He steadfastly “maintained his own integrity:

Job 27:4  My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
Job 27:5  God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.

He went as far as to inform us of “[his] integrity” filling an entire chapter of which I will quote but a few verses:

Job 29:1  Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,
Job 29:2  Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; 
Job 29:3  When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness;
Job 29:4  As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle;
Job 29:5  When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me;
Job 29:6  When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;
Job 29:7  When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! 
Job 29:8  The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up.
Job 29:9  The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth.
Job 29:10  The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
Job 29:11  When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: 
Job 29:12  Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him.

Job appears to give God credit when he confesses that “God preserved me… by His light… I walked”. But the adversary is very subtle in using his forked tongue and ‘maintaining his own integrity with his dying breath’, and ‘condemning God while declaring himself to be righteous’.

Job 40:1  Moreover the LORD answered Job, and said,
Job 40:2  Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

Job 40:6  Then answered the LORD unto Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Job 40:7  Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Job 40:8  Wilt thou also disannul my judgment? wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?

Of all the spirits that are hated by God, it is a self-righteous spirit which presumes to condemn him and dares to contend with and reprove him in the name of its own righteousness. That is what this infidel is. This atheist is like Job, the Old Testament time of you and me, who considered himself to be a “perfect man [who] feared God and hated evil”.  Job thought he “feared God”, yet he ended up accusing God exactly as this atheist does:

“If Psalm 145:9 was not a contradiction of Psa 145: 20 or Jeremiah 13:14, it would read something like this: The LORD is good to all, except the wicked: and his tender mercies are over all his works, except when He is punishing the wicked.” In any case, the idea that the Lord is good and merciful is contradicted by countless example in the Bible where God orders the destruction of infants, personally kills David’s infant child, etc.”

I have chosen Psa 11:5 to make this man’s false accusation more precise:

Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Psa 11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

The story of Job does not demonstrate, as this infidel says:

“…the Lord is not necessarily “good” or merciful– even to those who are not wicked. One…example…is [the story of] Job…”

You and I, as carnal men typified by Job, make this same accusation against our Creator:

Job 9:22  This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.

Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

The mind of the Christ understands without any contradiction, that “the new man” is born only through the death and the destruction of “the old man”. Jesus Himself explained this dilemma:

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

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 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 the infidel and to the natural mind those verses only add to the number of blatant contradictions in the scriptures.

The first, self-righteous Job, typifying our old man, thinks he is of himself so righteous that He can presume to contend with, reprove and condemn his own Creator for the suffering his Creator has placed upon him. That “first man Adam” had to be destroyed and replaced with an entirely new, different, humiliated and repentant Job, whose new humble viewpoint was born out of the very trials which serve to destroy the old self-righteous, first man Job. The New Testament calls this destruction of our old man 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:

Paul explains that it is through this fiery destruction of our old self-righteous, rebellious, carnal “first man Adam” that “every man…shall be saved.”

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

It is that destruction of our old, carnal man which the natural man and the infidel so hate. It is that destruction of the carnal mind which is actually used by God to cause our old man to “suffer loss: but he himself … [is to] be saved; yet so as by fire“.

If indeed God were not in the process of saving “all in Adam”; if He lost even this one infidel to death, then it could rightly be argued that God is not “good to all”. But such is not the case:

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.

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

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and [even infidels] to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Job 23:13  But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth [“all men to be saved”], even that he doeth.

1Ti 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially [not exclusively] of those that believe.

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

Lest there be any doubt about whether God intends to save all men of all time through His “first fruits” harvest we are told:

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.

Finally, we are told this about whose salvation is included in His propitiation for our sins:

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

The salvation of all come at the expense of God’s hatred of our old man, but there can be no doubt that “The Lord is good to all”:

Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Psa 11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

What keeps modern day Jobs and infidels from seeing how God’s hatred of, and destruction of, our “wicked… old man” complements and explains how “The Lord [really] is good to all” is a total blindness, given them by God, to “the things of the spirit”, and that is exactly what we are told is the case with all natural-minded men, whether they are those who, as Job typifies, are in the many false churches of Christendom or whether they are just rank infidels.

1Co 2:13  Which things [“freely given to us of God”, vs. 12]… we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 

“The holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual” while both historical Christianity and infidels believe in the damnable false doctrine of “free moral agency”, which doctrine has no concept of the meaning of spiritual words:

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.

Both historical Christians and infidels want to stone anyone who dares to quote any of these scriptures:

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

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

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

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

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

Jer 10:23  O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

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

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Where is the damnable doctrine of ‘free moral agency’ in any of those verses of scripture? The Truth is that there is no such Biblical doctrine. Rather, this is the truth of the scriptures:

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

If God has not “devised means, that his banished be not expelled from him” then He would indeed be the monster which this infidel, and the first Job in us, makes Him out to be. But God has devised means, that His banished be not expelled from Him”, and all who must “die… in Adam”, will in the same manner, completely independent of our own will “be saved… in Christ”.

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. 

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam [independent of our will] all die, even so in Christ [independent of our will] shall all be made alive.

These verses accord with all those above them. God is working all things, “yes, even the wicked… after the counsel of His own will”, and it is His will for Him to be “good to … the new man… [in] all” which He will bring about through His destruction of the old man whom “His soul hates” in all men of all time .

So there is no contradiction at all for the man who has been given to understand “the things of the spirit”, when he reads:

Psa 145:9  The LORD is good to [“the new man” in] all: and his tender mercies are over all his [finished] works.

Psa 11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous [“new man” in “all in Adam”]: but [our “old man”] the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Audio Links

Awesome Hands – part 81

“The judgments” Part L

July 8th, 2015

We’ve now arrived at chapter 23 of Exodus, and this chapter is the last chapter covering the judgments given to Moses to give to the Israelites.

We are going to cover the first verse of chapter 23 today. While covering this verse, we are going to dive into the topic of righteousness and just what it is that scripture refers to when we talk about righteousness, and its counterpart, unrighteousness.

False reports and unrighteous witnesses

The verse being covered today is stated in the KJV this way:

Exo 23:1  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked(H7563) to be an unrighteous witness.

The first verse we will cover in this study focuses on a false report and an unrighteous witness. We are also told not to put our hand with someone that is wicked thereby causing us to be an unrighteous witness.

However, the full meaning of this verse is somewhat “hidden from view” when we consider what it is we are being told.

“Thou shalt not raise a false report” is fairly obvious. Don’t tell lies or provide false evidence against someone. Your reasons can never be good enough to lie about someone else even if you think they deserve it in some way.

As an example of this, even if you know that a person is known to do evil things themselves, we should never try to take vengeance to ourselves and lie about that person in a situation where they haven’t actually done the evil they are being accused of by you.

“Put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness” is the second part of this admonition to also not join someone else who is “wicked” in a “wicked act” of some sort. When we do this we become an unrighteous witness.

There are a few points I want to focus on in this verse to try and help us have a fuller understanding of what we are to apply to ourselves in our daily lives taken from the admonitions in this verse.

Firstly, what is it to be wicked or who is considered wicked? Instead of relying on my own personal definition of what “wicked” is I am going to look toward scripture for this definition.

H7563 (adjective)
râshâ‛
raw-shaw’
From H7561; morally wrong; concretely an (actively) bad person: –  + condemned, guilty, ungodly, wicked (man), that did wrong.

H7563
râshâ‛
BDB Definition:

1) wicked, criminal
1a) guilty one, one guilty of crime (substantive)
1b) wicked (hostile to God)
1c) wicked, guilty of sin (against God or man)
Part of Speech: adjective
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H7561
Same Word by TWOT Number: 2222b

H7563 “Rasha” comes from H7561 which means:

H7561 (verb)
râsha‛
raw-shah’
A primitive root; to be (causatively do or declare) wrong; by implication to disturb, violate: – condemn, make trouble, vex, be (commit, deal, depart, do) wicked (-ly, -ness).

The first Hebrew word H7563 meaning “condemned” or “guilty” is an adjective which comes from the verb H7561 which means to “condemn” or “condemning”.

A perfect example of this can be found in 1 King 8:32.

1Ki 8:32  Then hearH8085 thouH859 in heaven,H8064 and do,H6213 and judgeH8199 (H853) thy servants,H5650 condemningH7561 the wicked,H7563 to bringH5414 his wayH1870 upon his head;H7218 and justifyingH6663 the righteous,H6662 to giveH5414 him according to his righteousness.H6666

1Ki 8:32  Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

You could just as easily exchange the word “wicked” with “condemned” in 1 Ki 8:32 so that it would say, “Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants “condemning the condemned” .

The word “wicked” used in our verse today is used 252 times  in the OT as “wicked”, but if you exchange those words with condemned you’ll still get the full meaning out of what the Holy Spirit inspired to be written for our admonition.

Judgment begins….

So, if this is a spiritual concept which we can see in the Old Testament, then we should be able to confirm it in the New Testament.

Let me ask you who it is that condemns or doesn’t condemn? Judges judge therefore judges condemn or don’t condemn i.e. that execute “judgments”, “condemnations”, etc.

When we search for the word condemn in the New Testament, along with the words “wicked” and “condemned,” we find some very informative verses to think about.

Mat 16:4  A wicked(G4190) and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Mat 16:4 is an example of the word wicked being used, but the majority of the time the word is used as “evil”.

G4190
ponēros
Total KJV Occurrences: 76

evil, 52

Mat_5:11, Mat_5:37, Mat_5:39, Mat_5:45, Mat_6:13, Mat_6:23, Mat_7:11, Mat_7:17-18 (2), Mat_9:4, Mat_12:34-35 (4), Mat_12:39, Mat_15:19, Mat_20:15, Mar_7:22-23 (2), Luk_6:22, Luk_6:35, Luk_6:45 (3), Luk_7:21, Luk_8:2, Luk_11:4, Luk_11:13, Luk_11:29, Luk_11:34, Joh_3:19, Joh_7:7, Joh_17:15, Act_19:12-13 (2), Act_19:15-16 (2), Rom_12:9, Gal_1:4, Eph_5:16, Eph_6:13, 1Th_5:22, 2Th_3:3, 1Ti_6:4, 2Ti_3:13, 2Ti_4:18, Heb_3:12, Heb_10:22, Jam_2:4, Jam_4:16, 1Jo_3:12, 2Jo_1:11

wicked, 17
Mat_12:45, Mat_13:19, Mat_13:38, Mat_13:49, Mat_16:4, Mat_18:32, Mat_25:26, Luk_19:22, Act_18:14, 1Co_5:13, Eph_6:16, Col_1:21, 2Th_3:2, 1Jo_2:13-14 (2), 1Jo_3:12, 1Jo_5:18

bad, 1
Mat_22:10

evils, 1
Luk_3:19

grievous, 1
Rev_16:2

harm, 1
Act_28:21

lewd, 1
Act_17:5

malicious, 1
3Jo_1:10

wickedness, 1
1Jo_5:19

1Jn 3:12  NotG3756 asG2531 Cain,G2535 who wasG2258 ofG1537 that wicked one,G4190 andG2532 slewG4969 hisG848 brother.G80 AndG2532 whereforeG5484 G5101 slewG4969 he him?G846 BecauseG3754 his ownG848 worksG2041 wereG2258 evil,G4190 andG1161 hisG848 brother’sG80 righteous.G1342

1Jn 3:12  Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

Luk 19:22  And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:

1Co 5:13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Seeing that “wicked” used in the New Testament can be used interchangeably with the word “evil”, what word conveys the concept we see in Exodus 23:1 of the “wicked” or “condemned”?

Exo 23:1  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked(H7563) to be an unrighteous witness.

G2632
katakrinō
Total KJV Occurrences: 19

condemned, 8
Mat_27:3, Mar_14:64, Joh_8:10, Rom_8:3, 1Co_11:32, Heb_11:7, Jam_5:9, 2Pe_2:6

condemn, 7
Mat_12:41-42 (2), Mat_20:18, Mar_10:33, Luk_11:31-32 (2), Joh_8:11

damned, 2
Mar_16:16, Rom_14:23

condemnest, 1
Rom_2:1

condemneth, 1
Rom_8:34

Mat 27:3  Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

Mar 14:64  Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.

Joh 8:10  When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Mar 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned(G2632).

Rom 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned(G2632) if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Rom 2:1  Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

You’ll notice that those who are condemned are JUDGED to be condemned. To be “damned” is to be condemned and being condemned comes via the VERB “condemn”, the action of condemning. Why is this important?

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn(G2919) the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

The Greek word G2912 is used many times in the NT as “judge”.

G2919
krinō
Total KJV Occurrences: 117

judge, 45
Mat_7:1-2 (2), Luk_6:37, Luk_12:57, Luk_19:22, Joh_5:30, Joh_7:24 (2), Joh_7:51, Joh_8:15-16 (3), Joh_8:26, Joh_12:47-48 (3), Joh_18:31, Act_4:19, Act_7:7, Act_13:46, Act_17:31, Act_23:3, Rom_2:16, Rom_2:27, Rom_3:6, Rom_14:3, Rom_14:10, Rom_14:13 (2), 1Co_4:5, 1Co_5:12 (2), 1Co_6:2-3 (2), 1Co_10:15, 1Co_11:13, 2Co_5:14, Col_2:16, 2Ti_4:1, Heb_10:30, Heb_13:4, Jam_4:11, 1Pe_4:5, Rev_19:10-11 (2)

judged, 26
Mat_7:1-2 (2), Luk_6:37, Luk_7:43, Joh_16:11, Act_16:15, Act_24:6, Act_25:9-10 (2), Act_25:20, Act_26:6, Rom_2:12, Rom_3:4, Rom_3:7, 1Co_5:3, 1Co_6:2, 1Co_10:29, 1Co_11:31-32 (2), Jam_2:12, 1Pe_4:6, Rev_11:18, Rev_16:5, Rev_19:2, Rev_20:12-13 (2)

judgeth, 9
Joh_5:22, Joh_8:50, Joh_12:48, 1Co_5:13, Jam_4:11 (2), 1Pe_1:17, 1Pe_2:23, Rev_18:8

determined, 7
Act_3:13, Act_20:16, Act_25:25, Act_27:1, 1Co_2:2, 2Co_2:1, Tit_3:12

judgest, 6
Rom_2:1 (3), Rom_14:3-4 (2), Jam_4:12

called, 2
Act_23:6, Act_24:21

condemned, 2
Joh_3:18 (2)

esteemeth, 2
Rom_14:5 (2)

judging, 2
Mat_19:28, Luk_22:30

law, 2
1Co_6:1, 1Co_6:6

question, 2
Act_23:6 (2), Act_24:21

at, 1
Mat_5:40

avenged, 1
Rev_18:20

concluded, 1
Act_21:25

condemn, 1
Joh_3:17

condemneth, 1
Rom_14:22

condemning, 1
Act_13:27

damned, 1
2Th_2:12

decreed, 1
1Co_7:37

ordained, 1
Act_16:4

sentence, 1
Act_15:19

sue, 1
Mat_5:40

thought, 1
Act_26:8

Why have I taken all this time to try and point out what being “wicked” is when all we are trying to do is see what the “judgment” is that the Lord gave to Moses to give to the Israelites?

Here is the answer to that question:

Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned (JUDGED): but he that believeth not is condemned (JUDGED) already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation (JUDGMENT), that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, BECAUSE THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL(G4190).
Joh 3:20  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21  But he that DOETH TRUTH cometh to the light, that his DEEDS may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Jesus Christ is said to come not to condemn or judge the world, but why and how can that be true?

Joh 3:17  For God SENT NOT his Son into the world to condemn(G2919) the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Joh 12:46  I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
Joh 12:47  And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
Joh 12:48  He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, HATH ONE that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Witnesses in court…

I could speak and preach volumes about the “last day”, the day of the Lord. I could go on and on about judgment beginning at the house of God.

However, what I want to bring home for you today is that if you care at all about the resurrection of the dead, if you care at all about the being “holy and blessed” to take part in the “first resurrection”, then you better be caring about HOW it is we are told WE can take part in it!

There is a clue about this tucked away for us in the verse we started off with today.

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

Witnesses are very important in scripture. Indeed, we are witnesses for Jesus Christ. If our Head Jesus Christ came not to JUDGE the world, but to save it, what method did He use to do so?

He witnessed to us all what the WILL of God was. He witnessed to us ALL who it was He represented. If we are His body, the church of the living God, then we too have been given this role to live out.

Notice these verses:

Act 24:14  But this I confess unto thee, that after THE WAY which THEY CALL HERESY, SO WORHSIP I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
Act 24:15  And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

Joh 5:25  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, AND NOW IS, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
Joh 5:26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
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 (G2920).

The same word used here as DAMNATION is the word JUDGMENT.

G2920
krisis
Total KJV Occurrences: 48

judgment, 39
Mat_5:21-22 (2), Mat_10:15, Mat_11:22, Mat_11:24, Mat_12:18, Mat_12:20, Mat_12:36, Mat_12:41-42 (2), Mat_23:23, Mar_6:11, Luk_10:14, Luk_11:31-32 (2), Luk_11:42, Joh_5:22, Joh_5:27, Joh_5:30, Joh_7:24, Joh_8:16, Joh_12:31, Joh_16:8, Joh_16:11, Act_8:33, 2Th_1:5, 1Ti_5:24, Heb_10:27 (2), Jam_2:13 (2), 2Pe_2:4, 2Pe_2:9, 2Pe_3:7, 1Jo_4:17, Jud_1:6, Jud_1:15, Rev_14:7, Rev_18:10

damnation, 3
Mat_23:33, Joh_5:29 (2)

accusation, 2
2Pe_2:11, Jud_1:9

condemnation, 2
Joh_3:19, Joh_5:24

judgments, 2
Rev_16:7, Rev_19:2

2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver THE GODLY out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

Notice, it is one who puts their EFFORTS, their hand, with the wicked who is then called UNRIGHTEOUS.

Who else are the unrighteous?

G94
adikos
Total KJV Occurrences: 12

unjust, 8
Mat_5:45, Luk_18:10-11 (3), Act_24:15, 1Co_6:1, 1Pe_3:18, 2Pe_2:9

unrighteous, 4
Luk_16:11, Rom_3:5, 1Co_6:9, Heb_6:10

Act 24:15  And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust (G94).

Luk 16:11  If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

Rom 3:5  But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

Notice one of the spiritual admonitions we have for NOT being unrighteous and BEING righteousness in the “eyes of God”. It is found in Hebrew 6:10.

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.
Heb 6:10  For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Heb 6:11  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

The lesson from today’s study is that judgment must begin at the house of God. Jesus tells us that He came not to judge the world and that the world has one that judges them.

Judgment will take place for the entire world when their DAY of VISITATION comes, but that day is NOW for the House of God and must be so if we are to obtain unto the resurrection of the just… the righteous.

However, we are indeed JUDGED NOW but we JUDGE ourselves with what the Word of God says our deeds should be versus what they are.

We are not to give a false report which is judging improperly. We are also not to “put our hand with the condemned” and become an unrighteous witness for the Lord.

Our “ job” after coming to the knowledge of our Lord and God is to hearken diligently to the Words of the Lord and BELIEVE the Word of God when we are told things such as BELIEVE on Him and that He does indeed know how to deliver the Godly out of temptations.

Faith is integral to this process because the Faith of Christ Jesus is the righteousness of God. I’ll sum up this study with these verses:

Php 3:7  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS OF GOD BY FAITH:
Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I FOLLOW AFTER, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Audio Links

The Spiritual Significance of Biblical Locations

Part 4 – Babylon; Religion In Rebellion To Christ

Gen 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Gen 11:2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
Gen 11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
Gen 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Gen 11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men [Hebrew, Adam] builded.
Gen 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Gen 11:7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
Gen 11:8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
Gen 11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Introduction

The Tower of Babel was in the “plain of the land of Shinar”. That is a phrase which appears several times in scripture referring to Babel and to spiritual Babylon. The people of Babel used “bricks for stone, and slime… for morter”. Stones are made by God, while bricks are the product of the efforts of men who put clay through furnaces of their own construction. Slime is what the scriptures refer to as “untempered morter”. It represents the false doctrines which bind together all the man-made bricks, representing all the good works of men, who credit themselves with those good works, in rebellion against the knowledge that we live and move and have our very being in God, and that we can do nothing of ourselves. We cannot even sin, except the Lord has “made [us] for [our] day of evil… [and] made us to err from [His] ways, and hardened our hearts from [His] fear”.

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

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

“The Lord has made all things for Himself, yes even the wicked for the day of evil” tells us that even Babylon is an integral part of the “all things [He is working] after the counsel of His own will”:

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

Ezekiel tells us what spirit Babel has forever typified:

Eze 13:9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
Eze 13:10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall [or tower], and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter [with ‘slime’]:
Eze 13:11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
Eze 13:12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
Eze 13:13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
Eze 13:14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof [Lies like the doctrines of the trinity and of eternal torment, and spiritual flesh, and turning grace into lasciviousness, and killing your enemies, etc. etc.] shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye [Babylon within us all] shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 13:15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;
Eze 13:16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning [physical] Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.

These words describe our own minds when we think we are serving God while living under the “strong delusion” He has placed over us. At this stage of our spiritual development we actually “think we are doing God’s service” when the Truth is that it simply is not yet given to us to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God (Mat 13:9-15 and 1Co 3:1-4). That is the beginning of the sons of Adam (Gen 11:5), who we all are at the beginning of our walk.

It is not always understood that Abraham was not the first man with whom God had made a “covenant with you and with your seed after you”. Here is the covenant with Abraham that most ministers emphasize as they lie in telling us we must support the seed of Abraham who are “counted for the seed” through Isaac:

Gen 17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Gen 17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
Gen 17:9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

The fact is that all of mankind who have descended from Adam through Noah are in covenant with God because of this covenant God first established with Noah and his seed after him before and after the flood:

Gen 9:8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen 9:9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

Yes, it is true. The covenant with Noah after the flood was simply God’s promise to never again destroy the earth with water, as He had just done. The rainbow was the sign of this covenant still existing between God and Noah and Noah’s seed after him. Nevertheless we are told that the flood of Noah typifies baptism into death to the flesh:

1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh [as was done in the flood of Noah], but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

God’s covenant with Noah and His children was actually made before the flood, and included their salvation from death in the flood:

Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
Gen 6:18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

It was the descendants of Noah’s children who had forgotten the lesson of the flood and were now attempting to “build a city and a tower whose top [will] reach unto heaven”, in direct rebellion against the commandment of God to ‘multiply and replenish the earth’:

Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Gen 9:7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

We are all first the “sons of Adam” who have gone out from Babel thinking we have left Babel behind, when in reality we are doing nothing less that spreading Babel out over the whole earth as “carnal babes in Christ” with minds that are still “enmity against God”.

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

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?

The type and shadow of spiritually carnal-minded ‘Babylon’ all began in the “plain in the land of Shinar” in what is modern day Iraq. The people who remained in Babel came to be known as the Assyrians and then later as the Babylonians. The Assyrian Empire, whose capitol was Nineveh, were the people who the Lord used to carry away into captivity the ten northern tribes of Israel about 720 B.C. The northern kingdom of Israel had begun in the apostasy of “Jereboam the son of Nebat” in about 930 B.C. So that kingdom lasted only about 210 years after it split off from the southern kingdom which became known as ‘the kingdom of Judah’. This northern kingdom was also called the kingdom of Samaria to distinguish it from the southern kingdom of Judah, which was spared captivity by the Assyrians. But almost 145 years later, in about 585 B.C., the southern kingdom of Judah was also carried away captive to the city of Babylon which during that time had conquered the Assyrian Empire.

Biblical scholars all realize that that Assyrians and the Babylonians are both the same peoples who were simply dominated first by the city state of Nineveh and then later by the city-state of Babylon. Both are recognized by Biblical scholars as the same peoples by whom God corrected His apostate people of Israel:

Isa 10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

The Assyrian kings used Babylon as one of their chief cities:

2Ch 33:11 Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

It is not all that well known, but God had prophesied, both by the prophet Jeremiah and the prophet Hosea, that His people Israel would be taken captive into Assyria and Babylon. It is even less recognized that this captivity was by God’s own design as an integral type of how God had, from the beginning, intended to deal with His people in every generation. It all “happened unto them and it was written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages have come”:

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

No one who comes to Christ comes to Him untainted with the spirit of Babylon which must, in time, be burned out of us all.

Jeremiah went so far as to tell the people of Judah that they should submit to the conquering Babylonians and seek the peace of that city:

Jer 38:2 Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.
Jer 38:3 Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.

Just like the people of Jerusalem, we are not at first aware that we are living in rebellion to God and that we are subject to His wrath, nevertheless that is the circumstance of all who are born in Adam:

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

The same is true of us when we are the multitudes who come to Christ to eat of His loaves and His fishes and to hear His parables.

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 [the multitudes who come to Christ] it is not given [to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven].
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.

But when we do become aware of our apostatized condition and we are led to “come out of [Babylon]”, we still must learn that we are not to seek revenge against those who have taught us lies for so long. In time we are to seek to live in peace with Babylon and her people:

Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

Lest the words “pray unto the Lord for it” be misunderstood, this verse ends with the words, “for in the peace thereof you shall have peace”. It is clear that Christ is not commanding us to pray for the conversion of Babylon in this age when He Himself did not do so:

Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

The sum of God’s word demonstrates that “it is not given to [the multitudes of Christians] to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and that our prayers for the “kings and all that are in authority” is simply so “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” while our heavenly Father is keeping us from the evil all around us:

Joh 17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

Babylon rules over all the kings of this world, because Babylon is all religion which is in rebellion against the commandments of our Lord. Rebellion against the commandments of God is what the first Adam is born into as the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden so graphically demonstrates.

Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat [All in direct rebellion against the commandment of God].

But Adam and Eve were doing only what they were made to do as marred creatures in the hand of the Almighty Potter who is working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11):

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

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked [“first man Adam”] for the day of evil.

What this demonstrates is that even though we are commanded to “come out of her my people”, Babylon is as much a part of our walk as is “the first man Adam”:

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

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

But Christ and the prophets all made it clear that while we are commanded to spiritually and doctrinally “come out of her”, we are still to do all in the power He gives to us to live at peace within her sinful world. That is what “pray unto the Lord for it [Babylon]” means. We are to seek with all that lies within us to live at peace with all men (1Ti 2:1-2).

Christ, as our example, prayed for Peter, but He did not pray for Judas, simply because He knew what was predestined for the rebellious “first man Adam” in all of us.

Luk 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

On the other hand, this is how Christ handles those of Babylon who are not granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God in this age (Mat 13:9-13):

Joh 13:27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

God has turned Babylon, and all those who must first be destroyed, over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh for the express purpose of saving the spirit in the day of the Lord:

1Co 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
1Co 5:2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
1Co 5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
1Co 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Co 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

There is a reason why this Corinthian fornicator was a man with his father’s wife instead of a woman with her mother’s husband. Lest we become puffed up thinking we are not the person in consideration in these first five verses of 1Co 5, let us remember that it is we who are “chief of sinners” (1Ti 1:15), and it is we who are first “made… wicked for [our own] day of evil” (Pro 16:4), and that 666 is the number of all mankind (Rev 13:18), and that it is we who must ‘live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God’ (Mat 4:4), and that it is we who must also “keep the things written therein, for the time is at hand [to do so] (Rev 1:3). It is the spirit of Babylon which places all these things on someone else, and it is the spirit of those who “come out of her” who acknowledge their part in every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

It is we who are all first in Babylon before any of us “come out of her…” (Rev 18:4). As such we have all taken our father’s wife, and we are all puffed up for having done so before we are brought to repentance and before we “come out of her”, out of our father’s unfaithful wife.

So we are told in advance that God determined “after the counsel of His own will” that we will not go back to living in the less religious world, but we will be carried away captive with the more insidious lies of Assyria and Babylon, and it will be in Babylon that we will crucify our own Lord thinking we are doing God a service.

Hos 11:5 He [God’s own people, Israel] shall not return into the land of Egypt, but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they refused to return.
Hos 11:6 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels.
Hos 11:7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.

“Because of their own counsels” is the occasion the Lord gives Himself for taking away our ability to try the spirits and to discern the voice of a stranger. No one in Babylon is sitting in the pews of the churches of this world thinking, “Wow! I am being deceived by the great whore of Revelation 17-18!” When we become that perceptive, we repent of believing in her lies, and we “come out of her”, but until that time we are of this mind:

Joh 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Peter thought he was doing Christ a service when he totally forgot that Christ had taught him to love his enemies, and he pulled out his sword to fight for Christ. Christ had to remind Peter “all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword”:

Mat 26:52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

The scriptures reveal that, in spiritual language, Christ was crucified in Babylon:

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

When we go back to find which city is in question, and when we go to the scriptures which give this verse its power and force, this is the city which we find to be “spiritually called Sodom”:

Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Who does Isaiah reveal Jerusalem to be spiritually?:

Isa 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

“Jerusalem… [has] forsaken the Lord”, and what does that make Jerusalem?

Isa 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

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

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

Those who claim to be God’s people are called “ye rulers of Sodom”, and we are informed that they have spiritually “become an harlot” because “they have forsaken the Lord” to this extent:

Isa 3:9 The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.

So those who claim to be God’s chosen physical people, are labeled as spiritual Sodom and are called a harlot who has absolutely no spiritual bread or spiritual water with which to sustain herself. But if we think that Babylon is physical Jerusalem, then we are comparing spiritual things with physical things, and we are missing the spiritual message of who Babylon is, just as we miss the spiritual meaning of who Jerusalem if we think physical Jerusalem is the subject of these verses:

Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren [Gentile Galatians], as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

Jerusalem in these verses is physical to the natural man, but to the man of the spirit, ‘Jerusalem’ in these verses refers to the Jews of Roman 2:

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

These words are just as applicable to Christians today as they were of Judaizing Christians in Paul’s day. It is just as true spiritually today that ‘He is not a Christian which is one outwardly, but he is a Christian which is one inwardly, and conversion is that of heart, in the spirit and not in letters to churches, whose praise is not of men but of God’.

That is the spirit of both Rom 2 and Gal 4. An outward Christian whose ‘Christianity is based upon the lies of the churches whose hearts are not converted to the doctrines of Christ, like “resist not evil… love your enemies, [and] the words that I speak unto you are spirit”, will insist that ‘He is a Jew which is one outwardly’, and mere profession of Christ is all that is required to be a Christian. Those are just a few of the doctrines of the harlot, who “spiritually is called Sodom…”

But there is one more vital point concerning this spiritual harlot who spiritually is called Sodom which we must consider and understand, and that point is the fact that she is called “Mystery [Secret] Babylon The Great the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth”.

She is revealed to us in Revelation 17:

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

This woman is called “mystery [Greek: secret] Babylon the great”. She is called “the great whore… with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication”. But it is verse three which explains why the true identity of this woman is a mystery and a secret to this very day. A ‘secret’ is information to which only very few are privy. Babylon is a ‘secret’ because this woman is only seen “in the spirit” by the few who have been granted spiritual eyes and ears.

Christ did not come to give spiritual eyes to but a select, chosen few. This is the Truth of what Christ did and what He is doing to this day:

Mat 13:2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mat 13:3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

Mat 13:9 Who hath [been given, verse 11] ears to hear, let him hear.
Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them [the multitudes, verse 1] 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.

Christ is not backward about telling us that he came to blind the multitudes who think they see:

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

Since Christ does not give spiritual eyes to see or spiritual ears to hear to the multitudes who come to Him, it is therefore only the “chosen… few” who are given spiritual eyes and spiritual ears who are granted to clearly and plainly understand the secret identity of who is this “great whore” called “mystery Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of abominations of the world.

How many of the kings of the earth and how many of the inhabitants of the earth have been deceived by this unfaithful woman? I remember well when this was a great blind spot for me. I had not yet been “carried away in the spirit”, so I had neither spiritual eyes nor ears to the extent that this verse was a great mystery for me:

Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

I had seen that the blood of the saints was found in this great city of Babylon:

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

Christ had stated “…it cannot be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem”, but here is John saying “the blood of the prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth… was found in [Babylon], not in Jerusalem. It took a long time, but in His mercy our Lord eventually opened my eyes to see what we read above in Isa 1-3 where He calls Jerusalem a harlot, spiritual Sodom, and He even says she is full of murderers.

Isa 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

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

Remember this was “the city where also our Lord was crucified”:

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

When the Lord opens our eyes to see that “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth” is all religion in rebellion against the commandments of Christ, from the tower of Babel to this very day, then it becomes very clear how it is that:

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

The rant of many atheists that “More people are killed in the name of religion than anything else” has a bit of a Biblical backing to it. But any ‘religion’ which advocates killing one’s enemies is not the religion of Christ and His Father. Jerusalem above advocates “resist not evil… love thine enemies”.

“As is the mother, so is her daughter“

Secret Babylon is called “the mother of harlots”. So she has many daughters, and those daughters are of course all sisters one to the other. If you belong to any of these daughters or sisters, then you are accepted by the world, but if you claim to be capable of having a relationship with Christ without the sanction of Babylon and her daughters, then you are labeled a cult. Our Lord was definitely outside the realm of Babylon or any of her accepted daughters.

We often read the phrase “and her daughters” throughout the scriptures of the Old Testament, as these verses demonstrate:

Eze 16:44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee [Jerusalem], saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
Eze 16:45 Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
Eze 16:46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

Eze 16:53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:
Eze 16:54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.
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 [Jerusalem] and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

In these verses we have “Sodom and her daughters… Samaria and her daughters… and Jerusalem and her daughters”, and we are told that Jerusalem, “the mother of harlots… shall return to [her] former estate… when [her] sisters Sodom and her daughters return to their former estate, and [when] Samaria and her daughters return to their former estate”.

What this demonstrates once again is “the dream is one”principle of Genesis 41:

Gen 41:26 The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

The daughters of Sodom, with Sodom, the daughters of Samaria, with Samaria, and the daughters of Jerusalem, the harlot of Isaiah 1 and Revelation 17-18 are all one and the same “Babylon the great the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth”, where the blood of prophets, and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth” is to be found:

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

The power given the words of Revelation 17-18 is drawn from Jeremiah’s prophecy against Babylon in Jeremiah 51 where we read…:

Jer 51:1 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
Jer 51:2 And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

…Which corresponds to this verse in Revelation 17:

Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

Compare these verses in Jer 51 with their parallels in Revelation:

Jer 51:6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
Jer 51:7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
Jer 51:8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
Jer 51:9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.

Jeremiah 51:6 corresponds with Revelation 18:4; Jeremiah 51:8 corresponds to Revelation 18:2; The golden cup of Jeremiah 51:7 corresponds with Revelation 17:4. Drinking her wine in the last part of Jeremiah 51:7 corresponds to the first part of Revelation 18:3, and it goes on and on.

Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

God has the ability to keep Babylon a secret even now. He has used the nation which carried away His people for their sins against him to become the spiritual symbol of His people who are against him in every age. Isaiah 1-3 reveal Jerusalem and Judah to be the harlot who has turned her back on God. But that is only in type and shadow. The real harlot is you and me before we see the religions and churches of this world for the harlots, harlot daughters and harlot sisters they all are. These things all really did happen to Israel when she played the harlot with her savior, but that all “happened to them, and it is written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come”:

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.

This is the spiritual definition of who is Babylon:

Jer 51:1 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;

With eyes incapable of seeing the contradiction of telling those in her charge to go out and fight for God and country is in direct contradiction to the saying of Christ “resist not evil… love thine enemies”, Babylon will never in this age, see herself for who she is. Religion in rebellion against Christ will continue to “rise up against Me”, and will continue to be “mystery Babylon”, a secret known by very few, until she is destroyed and is burned out of all men of all time. That goal will be accomplished as sure as the rising of the sun, and when it is, it will be accomplished by Christ through the few chosen who are granted know the secret of who Babylon is, and who will “come out of her” in this age.

I will close with reading an e-mail from a sister:

Dear brethren,

It was interesting to me that the LORD “reverses” things in the natural world, [in which it is said] roughly ten percent are “lefties”. That is one in ten.

So in the natural the LORD made the left-handed ones the few and the right-handed ones the many, but spiritually in this evil age the “right handed ones” (spiritually) are the few and the left-handed ones are the many!

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

Even the natural world hides the truth!

Our eyes are so very blessed to see these things!

YsitC, U____