“Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things” Part 2

(Pro 23:17-35)

[Study Aired January 1, 2026]

The last verse of last week’s study with Proverbs 23 (Pro 23:16) is the title for this 2-part study, which reads, “Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things”. The preceding verses (Pro 23:1-15) explain the only way we can come to be a people who bring God’s reins to rejoice as a result of our speaking right things.

God’s deliverance from the drunken stupor that Babylon has the whole world under spoken of in (Rev 18:3) can only come about by drinking “the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” spoken of in (Rev 16:19). I was grateful to be reading these studies from Mike that helped me see the deeper meaning behind many of the verses in this 23rd chapter of proverbs.

The links are here:

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-181-4-babylon-the-great-is-fallen/

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/rev-185-9-god-has-remembered-her-iniquities-part-1/

It is because of God’s deliverance, his mercy toward his children via His judgments [seals, trumpets, and vials], that these things can be so, and that mercy is expressed with those verses we looked at last week (especially Pro 23:13-16), reminding us that the sword shall not depart from the house (2Sa 12:10) of those who are being redeemed in this life (Psa 107:2, Isa 51:11).

This second part of Proverbs 23 has a very similar message and warning to not partake of the delicacies (Rev 18:3) or deceitful meat of Babylon (Pro 20:17). In the first study, the focus was more so on the food which represents the false doctrines of Babylon, and now in this section there is a warning about becoming drunken on the wine of Babylon. Whatever physical effects of gluttony, either food or drink, in both cases we are being warned to put a knife to our throat (Pro 23:2-3), meaning the word of God, and beseech God that we die to these lusts which separate us from the will of God being fulfilled in our lives (Gal 2:20, Tit 2:12-13).

Tit 2:12  TeachingG3811 (Heb 12:6) us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;(Mat 19:27-28)

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.

This is our hope and prayer for each other that we have no envy of this dying world (Rom 13:11-14, Eph 5:29-30) and that we continually move forward as Christ did, moving with fear (Noah a type of Christ and His Christ Heb 11:7) and who was heard in that he feared God (Heb 5:7).

Rom 13:11  And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Rom 13:12  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Christ’s example and Christ in us is what motivates us and gives us the vision we need to believe that “surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off”. When our sights are set on the author and finisher of our faith, we will be given vision so that we do not perish and our “expectation” will remain bright, with our eyes set on the joy set before us (Heb 12:1-4, Rom 12:1, Pro 29:18, Act 7:56, Joh 17:3, Joh 20:21, Joh 3:17).

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 10:36, Luk 21:19, Mat 5:37)
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.
Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

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

Pro 23:19  Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Pro 23:20  Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
Pro 23:21  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

If God will grant us to be dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44), it will take us away from the spiritual “winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh”. If God is working with us in this age, He will bring us to see that we are ‘the man’ who initially is a spiritual “drunkard and the glutton” who has “come to poverty”, which is all symbolized with the prodigal son (Luk 15:13-16) whose spiritual condition is like that of a drunkard and glutton, spending all that he has on riotous living, but does comes to see that he has no righteousness of himself and defines himself for what we all truly are without Christ in our lives: “drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags” (Luk 15:17). Such a realization does not come without the plagues of God being poured out upon us, which is what the story of the prodigal son reminds us (Rev 15:8).

Luk 15:13  And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country [Babylonian captivity], and there wasted his substance with riotous living. [“For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty”]
Luk 15:14  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. [Isa 3:1]
Luk 15:15  And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Luk 15:16  And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.[Isa 3:1]

Pro 23:22  Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise^H936 not thy mother when she is old^H2204.

The previous verses (Pro 23:19-21) spoke of what we become with the poverty that comes with not hearkening to our Father (“Hear thou, my son”), and this verse 22 speaks of the means we have been given to not stray from that righteous path (Psa 37:23-27).

Psa 37:23  The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
Psa 37:24  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
Psa 37:25  I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
Psa 37:26  He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
Psa 37:27  Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.

God’s elect are begotten of our Father in heaven (Joh 3:3) and we are told to not despise our mother when she is old, “Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old”, which is speaking of the one true church, that we have been grafted into, by the grace of God (Eph 2:8, Rom 11:17-20). Abraham’s wife Sarah, and Elisabeth, John the baptist’s mother, are a witness we have been given to understanding a little more fully what this verse is telling us (Gen 18:11-14, Luk 1:7-25).

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

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:[We are born again for this purpose of dying daily so we can see the kingdom of God within by God’s grace (Luk 17:10, Php 2:12-13)]

Gen 18:11  Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Gen 18:12  Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Gen 18:13  And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
Gen 18:14  Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

Luk 1:5  There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
Luk 1:6  And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Luk 1:7  And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
…Luk 1:13  But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Luk 1:14  And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
Luk 1:15  For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
Luk 1:16  And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
…Luk 1:24  And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
Luk 1:25  Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

despise H936 bûz booz  A primitive root; to disrespect: – contemn, despise, X utterly.

old H2204 zâqên  zaw-kane’  A primitive root; to be old: – aged man, be (wax) old (man).

Sarah and Elisabeth, as a type of the elect, are promised “a son”, and that God will “take away [our] reproach”. In other words, those who endure to the end to be in that blessed and holy first resurrection, will be the wife of Christ and mother of the nations (Gen 17:16, Rev 11:15). Our reproach in this age will be taken away (1Ti 4:10).

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 of those that believe.

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

The investment, “buy the truth” is our whole life, as a living sacrifice in Christ (Rom 12:1, Col 1:27) that holds fast to the words of life, and “sells it not” for its immeasurable value (1Th 5:21, Pro 7:1-5).

1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Pro 7:1  My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
Pro 7:2  Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
Pro 7:3  Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
Pro 7:4  Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
Pro 7:5  That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

Christ is our wisdom (1Co 1:30-31), and the one who instructs us and gives us understanding so that we can overcome and endure to the end, not leaning unto our own understanding (Pro 3:5-7).

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.

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Pro 23:24  The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
Pro 23:25  Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

Our Father in heaven “shall greatly rejoice” in the sons and daughters that he has begotten through Christ and it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom of God in this age (Luk 12:32). Our “father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice” is also speaking of our mother Jerusalem above, the church of the living God, the mother of us all (Gal 4:26). We rejoice in knowing that we are called to bear each other’s burdens (Col 1:24) as disciples of Christ (Gal 6:2).

Pro 23:26  My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
Pro 23:27  For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
Pro 23:28  She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
Pro 23:29  Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Pro 23:30  They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Pro 23:31  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Pro 23:32  At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

The only way we can avoid all that is written here in (Pro 23:27-32) is to be blessed in this life to be dragged to Christ (Joh 6:44) and given a broken and contrite heart from God (Isa 66:2) that will be able to fulfill this command, “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways”. This is the narrow way God’s elect are called unto and able to obtain through Christ who is our hope of glory within (Col 1:27).

The serpent does initially bite us, and we are stung by the adder, but if we are His children we will overcome the wicked one (1Co 15:55-57, Rom 7:24-25, Num 21:8, Joh 3:14, 1Jn 2:13).

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?
1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law:
1Co 15:57  but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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

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.

The chastening which every son must receive in this life if we are going to overcome (Php 1:29) is what makes it possible for us to cease from sinning (Heb 12:6, 1Pe 4:1-2), and in so doing we are no longer seduced by Babylon, the world, and all that is in it, typified by “a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit”. Sin and the lies of Babylon are at the door of our hearts that want to rule over us. Here again Babylon is likened unto a harlot, “She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men”(Mat 24:12).

Mat 24:11  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

The signs, or the corrupt fruit of the tree of one who is a servant to sin (Joh 8:34), or the lying doctrines of Babylon, is expressed in this manner, “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?”. The wine of Babylon in other words, does not cheer the heart, but rather brings woe or distress, with the condemning myriad of lies that initially darken the sun in our heavens (Rev 9:2, Rev 9:12)

Rev 9:2  And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

Rev 9:12  One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

It brings sorrow, contention [striving, controversy, debate] because of the lies that do not bring healing but leave us with gaping “wounds” and “redness of eyes” that have not been anointed with the true ointment of God’s words (Rev 3:18).

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.

God’s word on the other hand brings liberty and reveals that there is no condemnation in Christ, because it is the true bread and the true wine (Rom 8:1, Rom 8:33, Joh 6:55, Joh 6:32)

Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

Joh 6:32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

It is “They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine” who think by their labouring long at the wine, at the word of God that we initially can only wrap around the idols of our heart, that we will obtain the righteousness of Christ.

Mixed wine is wine that is watered down with no faith (Heb 4:2), and that’s what we do when we apply our carnal interpretation of what God’s word is saying by wrapping his word around the idol of our hearts (Eze 14:4, 2Pe 2:19). Unbeknownst to ourselves we are joined unto a harlot at that point (1Co 6:16), and in agreement with her false proclamations of liberty.

2Pe 2:19  promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage.

1Co 6:15  Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
1Co 6:16  What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

Pro 23:33  Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

Our ability to discern matters correctly when we partake of too much wine or mixed wine, is being directly correlated with what will happen to us spiritually if our attention is drawn away from the body of Christ and onto one of the harlot churches of this deceived and spiritually drunk world, “Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things”. Christ therefore admonishes us in these verses (Mat 24:42-51):

Mat 24:42  Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.
Mat 24:43  But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Mat 24:44  Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Mat 24:45  Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season?
Mat 24:46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Mat 24:47  Verily I say unto you, that he will set him over all that he hath.
Mat 24:48  But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarrieth; (Heb 10:36, Luk 21:19)
Mat 24:49  and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; (Heb 12:15-16)
Mat 24:50  the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, [our expectation (Pro 23:17-18) should be to know that “he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb 10:37)]
Mat 24:51  and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

The likelihood of maturing in the Lord by going back into the world, or back into Babylon, which is what Demas, Crescens, Titus, Phygellus and Hermogenes did (2Ti 4:10, 2Ti 1:15) is impossible (Isa 3:1). All of these heretical actions of Demas, Crescens, Titus, Phygellus and Hermogenes reveal that they were not of us (1Jn 2:19, 2Pe 2:21, Heb 10:28-29), and they were sacrificed to admonish us to remain vigilant and sober against our adversary who we can overcome through the faith of Christ (1Pe 5:8-9, Luk 22:31-32).

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

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:(1Jn 5:4) and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. [Christ was telling Simon trials are coming that would have destroyed him spiritually, the main trial being his denial of Christ, but as God’s elect he would be preserved through that denial and on Pentecost receive the holy spirit, “when thou art converted”, that would then make it possible for him to “strengthen thy brethren”]

Pro 23:34  Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
Pro 23:35  They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

These verses show us the problem is a hardened heart that manifests because of the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:13-14), which causes us to lie “down in the midst of the sea” or “upon the top of a mast”, the sea being the world we are to come out of, and the mast representing the puffed up and elevated carnal mind (that is still in the sea) that cannot inherit the kingdom of God. With such a perverse spirit within us, we can be judged all day, “They have stricken me”, and still not see that we are blind, and wretched and miserable and poor, “I was not sick” (Rev 3:18). We can be beaten with many stripes in this life and not grow spiritually from that experience, “they have beaten me, and I felt it not”, and then we awake in the second resurrection, “I will seek it yet again”, by telling the Lord ‘haven’t I done many wonderful works’, not knowing that I am yet deceived and being found with my own righteousnesses right in front of Christ (Mat 7:22, Php 3:9).

Heb 3:13  but exhort one another day by day, (Heb 10:25) so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin:
Heb 3:14  for we are become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end: (Php 3:3)

Proverb 23 ends off with the sorry state we will find ourselves in if God does not convict us in this age to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts as He leads us unto repentance, via the chastening and scourging that must be fully accomplished in this age if we are to be received as sons of God (Tit 2:12-13, Rom 2:4, Heb 12:6).

All the verses we’ve looked at today are written to admonish us to be sober and diligent (1Co 10:11, 1Pe 5:6-8) with our life in Christ, and to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, as if it depended on us, knowing that it is Christ who is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:12-13).

1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

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.

If that is in fact what God is doing in our lives, then we are very special to Him because of the life Christ in us (Mat 22:14, 1Pe 2:9, Luk 12:32, Rom 11:5, Mat 10:31, Psa 27:4), who is our hope of glory who makes it possible for us to be received in this age, and able to speak right things, therefore God “shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things”(Pro 23:16, Heb 6:9).

Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.

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

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Rom 11:4  But what saith the answer of God unto him [Elias]? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Rom 11:5  Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Mat 10:31  Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Psa 27:4  One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

AMEN!

Law of Moses Versus the Law of the Spirit – Part 17, New Wine in New Bottles

[Study Updated and Aired March 17, 2024]

Those who are “bewitched” by the “works of the law” of Moses will tell you that since it was God who gave Moses the law, therefore “the law of the spirit” (Rom 8:2), also called “the law of Christ” (Gal 6:2), must be the same as the “law of Moses” (Luk 24:44).

Yes, Mr. Convery (who was quoted in our last study), “Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday, today and forever”, but if you truly believe as you stated that “[Christ] is not changing it” (the law of Moses), then I can only conclude that your eyes are blinded to the virtual “reformation” (Heb 9:10) revealed by Christ in Matthew 5.

Matthew 5 is a new wine in a new bottle. Matthew 5-7 is a new garment made of new cloth. It is not compatible with the old covenant, and attempting to make it so will only “break the bottles…spill the wine” and “make the rent worse.”

Mat 9:16  No man putteth a piece of new cloth [Christ’s reformed doctrine] unto an old garment [the old covenant law of Moses], for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
Mat 9:17  Neither do men put new wine [Christ’s “new covenant, not according to the covenant [He] made with [ancient Israel] (Jer 31:32)] into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved [The law of Moses continues to bring us to Christ, then “we are no longer under a schoolmaster (Gal 3:24)].

Yes, indeed, “Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday, today, and forever”(Heb 13:8), but that Truth in no way suggests that His plan does not have different phases which are leading up to its accomplished goal. The flood of Noah was not an afterthought requiring the Lord to recalculate and reformulate another plan. That flood was designed by the Lord from “before the world began” (2Ti 1:9, Tit 1:2). It was designed as preordained to signify our baptism in the spirit:

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, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

Hebrews 13:8 does not imply that “the old man… the first man Adam” (Eph 4:22; 1Co 15:44-49), is the same as “the new man” (Eph 4:24). Neither does “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever” even remotely deny that the Old Covenant “is abolished” (2Co 3:13) and “is done away in Christ” (2Co 3:14) when the new covenant comes on the scene. “We were called in Christ before the world began”, and the flood of Noah simply signifies the death of our old man to the law of Moses so we can now be married to Christ:

Rom 7:1  Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Rom 7:2  For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead [Christ died to His flesh and to the law of Moses], she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Rom 7:3  So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

2Co 5:16  Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more [after the flesh].
2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away [Especially “the old covenant”]; behold, all things [including the law] are become new.

Heb 8:13  In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

You are right, “there is no other way”, but that singular ‘way’ is Matthew 5, not Exodus 20 or any other part of the “things written in the book of the law.”

You are also right, “If you do not follow Him as He just described in 1 John, then you are not led by the Spirit of God.”

1Jo 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

“His commandments” are not the commandments of Moses. If they were, then Christ disobeyed Moses’ commandments when He changed the law of Moses, including two of the ten commandments, in Matthew 5. “His commandments” here in 1 John, however, have nothing to do with the ten commandments or the old covenant “letter”, which are one and the same (Deu 4:13) and which are called “the ministration of death” (2Co 3:7). The commandments referred to in 1 John are revealed in the gospels, in Matthew 5-7. They are certainly nowhere to be found in the law of Moses, the old covenant.

Act 13:39  And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

As mentioned earlier, it was this same Apostle John who calls the holy days “feasts of the Jews”:

Joh 5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem .

Joh 6:4 And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

Joh 7:2 Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.

It is manifestly obvious that John had the “feasts of the Jews” and holy days of the law of Moses and the weekly sabbath in mind when he penned the gospel of John. In all my years in a church which observed the weekly sabbath and all the annual holy days, I never once heard a single minister, not one student nor even one church member use John’s terminology, “a feast of the Jews” for these days. To us, at that time of my life, these were “God’s Holy Days” and “God’s festivals”. We took pride in the fact that we kept “God’s holy days” and we did not keep pagan holidays. Yet Colossians tells us holy days were “a [mere] shadow of things to come” (Col 2:16 and 17), in the same way that physical blood offerings were a shadow and type of the sacrifice of Christ.

Hebrews 10 tells us the entire law was but “a shadow of good things to come” and that the Lord is taking away that first ‘shadow’ “that He may establish the second” the reality, the body casting that shadow (Heb 10:1-9).

Heb 10:1  For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 10:2  For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3  But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Heb 10:4  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Heb 10:5  Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Heb 10:6  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Heb 10:7  Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Heb 10:8  Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
Heb 10:9  Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first [covenant], that he may establish the second [covenant].

Yes, indeed, “If you do not follow Him as just described in 1 John, then you are not led by the Spirit”.

1Jn 2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1Jn 2:6  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

What are “His commandments”? What was His “walk”? Did Christ’s commandments agree with Moses’ law “which you have heard said by them of old time?” (Mat 5:21, 27, 33) Was Christ’s ‘walk’ in accord with the law of Moses? It is true that there is some agreement between the old and new covenants. Five of the ten commandments are reiterated in:

Rom 13:8  Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Paul’s emphasis here agrees with everything else he has to say about how the law of Moses is being replaced by the law of love, also known as the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which he made clear earlier in this same epistle to the Romans:

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus [the law of the spirit] hath made me free from the law of sin and death [“the law for the lawless” (1Ti 1:9)].
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:

“THE WORDS THAT I SPEAK UNTO YOU, THEY ARE SPIRIT and they are life” (Joh 6:63). These words were penned by the same apostle who wrote 1 John. It is the words of Christ which give life and which will judge us (Joh 12:48).

You are right, Mr. Convery, when you say; “in 1Jn 2:3-6, we read a very sobering measuring stick as to the degree we are led by the Spirit of God.”

1Jn 2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jn 2:5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
1Jn 2:6  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

What so many fail to realize is that “His commandments… His Word”, the words of Christ are not the law of Moses. The “His commandments” of 1 John 2:3-6 are contrasted by Christ Himself with the law of Moses in Matthew 5. Christ’s words are our “measuring stick” of spiritual maturity, not the law which is “not for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient” (1Ti 1:9). “Turn the other cheek also” does not agree with “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”:

Mat 5:38  Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
Mat 5:39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

“The words that I have spoken… they are spirit and they are life” (Joh 6:63), are not the words of the old covenant. The Old Covenant was only “until John [the Baptist]”:

Joh 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

If indeed “grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ”, then what is the law of Moses? It is what it is called… “The law of sin and death” and those who persist in being under that law “shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman” (Gal 4:30).

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus [the law of the spirit] hath made me free from the law of sin and death [“the law for the lawless” (1Ti 1:9)].
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:

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

Phrase #6 – Ready to Vanish Away – Heb 8:13

Heb 8:13 In that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

To Paul, as it should be to us, God’s word is reality. As far as Paul was concerned, the old covenant had been “vanishing away” from the time of Jeremiah. “…Your burnt offerings are not acceptable nor your sacrifices sweet unto me” (Jer 6:20).

Jer 31:31-32 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers…”

As Christ pointed out, we don’t put new wine in old bottles (Mat 9:17). The ‘new wine’ does “not accord” with the ‘old bottles,’ and the New Covenant is “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers.” That is a chief element of the revelation of the new covenant. The new does not “accord” with the old. “No man putteth a piece of new cloth into an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse” (Mat 9:16).

There have always been, and still are today, plenty of ‘worn out’ garments around. If we attempt to repair our carnal old fleshly bodies with the ten commandments, we will only make sin appear more sinful. Our righteousness must “exceed” that of Job, the rich young ruler and Paul before his conversion (Mat 5:20).

Jer 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts…’

The new law is written in our inward parts, but the “old is ready to vanish away”:

Heb 8:13  In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.

The holy spirit, through the pen of the apostles, is telling us that the law of Moses is “waxing old and is ready to vanish away.” The Greek here for the English words ‘vanish away’ is not katargeo for once. It is aphanismos, Strong’s G854. This is the only place this form of this word is used in scripture. However, it is taken from aphanizo, Strong’s G853 which appears five times in the New Testament: Mat 6:16, Mat 6:19, Mat 6:20, Act 13:41, Jas 4:14.

Act 13:41 Behold you despisers, and wonder, and perish…” (aphanizo G853).

Jas 4:14 …What is your life? It is even as a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and vanisheth away” (aphanizo G853).

“Aphanismos” may not be “katargeo“, but they do seem to have a lot in common. There is very little difference between “done away”, (Katargeo) and “vanish away” (aphanizo).

Phrase #7 – “Under the Law”

The phrase ‘under the law’ appears in seven separate areas of scripture. When two connected verses contain the phrase, we consider it as a single section of scripture, even though the phrase appears as many as three times in a single verse.

We will demonstrate with these seven sections that in God’s eyes obedience to the law of Moses is the spiritual equivalent of being “under sin.” The reason given is “because by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20). In other words, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Paul is telling us that the law is the antitype of the law of Moses.  The tree placed by God in the middle of the garden of Eden, of which man must eat before he can partake of the source of life, signifies “the law of sin and death” of which all men must partake before they can go through the fiery sword which ‘keeps the way of the tree of life’.

Yes, it was God who had told them not to eat of this tree, but the goal and purpose in creating Adam and Eve was to: “bring many sons unto glory” (Heb 2:10). Since Christ was “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8), it follows that God knew that Adam had to sin in order to need a Savior. “I had not known sin but by the law” (Rom 7:7). “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” (Heb 2:14). Now “the tree of life” is not “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” The fruit of one is life, and the fruit of the other is death. “For this cause he is the mediator of the new testament [covenant] that BY MEANS OF DEATH, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance”. This is why Paul refers to the law of Moses as “the law of sin and death.”

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus [the law of the spirit] hath made me free from the law of sin and death [“the law for the lawless” (1Ti 1:9)].
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:

1Ti 1:9  Knowing this, that the law [of Moses] is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

There it is: “…transgressions…were under the first covenant”. Sin no longer dominates us because we “are not under the law, but under grace”:

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

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom 3:19). Again it’s the ten commandments that make “all the world…guilty before God”. What does Paul mean by this next verse? “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom 3:20).

What he means, as we have said before, is that life can no more come through the law (the knowledge of sin and therefore of righteousness also – Rom 7:7) than it can come through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Bringing life is not the function of this tree  which signifies the law of Moses including the ten commandments. The function of the law of Moses is to bring man to the point that he sees his need for a Savior. It accomplishes this by revealing our earthy, naked, sinful dying condition we have from creation. Christ was slain “from the foundation of the world”, before Adam and Eve even sinned. Man was created flesh and blood, and naked. ‘Nakedness’ signifies being sinful from the Potter’s hand” :

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

Being made of clay means Adam would have died if he had never eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: “Now this I say brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth CORRUPTION inherit incorruption” (1Co 15:50). Adam simply needed to come to see his sad dying, corruptible composition and condition.

Now notice this next verse carefully: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: (and why not?) For ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom 6:14). If there is a scripture anywhere in God’s word which demonstrates that there are two laws in view whenever Paul talks about “the law”, this is that scripture.

Our carnal minded reasoning is: “if we keep the law, then we are not dominated by sin, sin has no dominion over us.” Paul says “…sin shall not have dominion over you for [because] you are NOT under the law.” If you are under the law, you are a sinner of the worst self-righteous sort, such as Job, the rich young ruler, and Saul of Tarsus.

There are those who will tell you that ‘under the law’ simply means ‘under the curse of the law’ which they interpret to mean the curse of death.

Those who follow this doctrine completely miss Paul’s point that the law of Moses “is not of faith” (Gal 3:12) and is itself, along with the ten commandments, “the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2), “the ministration of death written and engraven in stones” causing Moses’ face to shine (2Co 3:7).

I am well aware that one cannot force a blind man to see. However, if you have been given “eyes to see” and you have read Matthew 5, then you will see that the ten commandments and “the whole law” have all lost their glory “by reason of that which excels” (2Co 3:10). You will further see that to cling to them and the entire Torah is to be embracing death itself: “Therefore by the deeds [Greek: ergon Strong’s G2041; doing, works] of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

The knowledge of sin saves no one, and the law, the ten commandments, are the knowledge of sin (Rom 7:7).

Those who cling to Torah and the ten commandments will quote Gal 3:12; “…The man that doeth them shall live in them.” This seems to be the only part of this verse they see. They jump on the word “live” and give it a positive connotation and deride detractors for being against living by the law of Moses. God has simply not given them eyes to see the first part of this verse: “The law is NOT of faith…”

Gal 3:12  And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

With that reasoning, one could take “…she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth”, (1Ti 5:6) and give the word “liveth” a positive connotation and completely miss the point. Paul’s point is that “the law is not of faith”. To live by the law, “the deeds of the law” (Heb 11:6), will have the same effect as “living in pleasure.” You will be “dead while you live” because “the law is not of faith.” Now the most casual student of the scripture is aware that “without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Heb 11:6).

Paul’s point, which it seems the whole of Christendom has missed, is that Torah, the law (yes, including the ten commandments) IS itself the curse. It gives us the knowledge of sin (Rom 7:7) and of righteousness (Psa 119:172). It makes us feel righteous, and that becomes “mine own righteousness which is of the law”:

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:

Our ‘idol of the heart’ (Eze 14:3-7) tells us, “God’s commandments could not possibly produce death; after all they are of God, and God would never give us anything that would bring forth death.” The laws God gave Moses seem “pleasant to the sight and good for food” and they are placed right there in the midst of the garden of God’s word, put there by God himself who would never put anything poison to our spiritual well being right in front of us and make it appear so good and good for us. God would never do that. Yet The Truth is: “And out of the ground made the Lord to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food…the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” :

Gen 2:9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Life Comes Through Death

Is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil good for food? That is what Genesis 2:9 says.

“The tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil… [are] good for food”.

Doesn’t the tree of the knowledge of good and evil produce death? Of course, it does: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse [of death]: for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in ALL things that are written in the book of the law [Torah] to do them” (Gal 3:10). This verse precedes the one quoted above and used in defense of keeping the law: “the man that doeth them shall live in them” (vs 12). Peter says concerning the law it is “a yoke…which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear” (Act 15:10).

Heb 2:15 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 hath the power of death, that is the devil.”

Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh THROUGH DEATH, to present you holy, and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight.

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from [out of or through]DEATH…

There are three scriptures explaining why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil serves as food in the middle of the garden of Eden and why the ten commandments, “the ministration of death written and engraven in stones” (2Co 3:7) are placed right in the middle of God’s word.

1. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (1Co 15:50).
2. “For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). If flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, then it stands to reason that life comes only THROUGH DEATH; the death of the flesh: “For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
3. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (Joh 12:24).

While this last scripture concerns dying to the flesh, it serves to demonstrate the creator’s modus operandi: “As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ once was offered to bear the sins of many…” (Heb 9:27, 28).

These two scriptures, John 12:24 and Hebrews 9:27,28, reveal much of the mind of God on the subject of death. Being under the law and therefore being subject to death, are all an integral part of God’s plan. Before God ever created Adam, He had a plan of salvation for Adam and all his children.

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Appearance and Composition of Sin and Death

Adam’s need for a Savior is revealed from the beginning in the description of his appearance and his composition. He was composed of dust, the very thing we are told furnishes nourishment for the Adversary who is represented here by the serpent (Gen 3:14). Another clue to Adam’s predestinated fate is that he was CREATED naked. Adam came into this world just as every person ever descended from him…NAKED. As surely as dust represents flesh, nakedness depicts the sinful nature inherent in being made of dust: “The first man [Adam in each of us] is of the earth, earthy: the second man [in each of us] is the Lord from heaven” (1Co 15:47).

All by Nature the Children of Wrath

“And so it is written the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1Co 15:45). Those who teach that the statement “the man that doeth them (the works of the law) shall live in them”(Gal 3:12) is a positive statement, will miss the fact that the “living soul” here is contrasted with the quickening (life giving) spirit. Any “living soul” is also a dying soul… “the soul that sinneth it shall die” (Eze 18:4,20). Also, anyone living in the “deeds of the law” is “not of faith” (Gal 3:12). Being “not of faith” is not a positive position to be in with God.

Adam was “not of faith” because he followed his wife who believed the serpent rather than God. Having believed the serpent, Eve, typifying the deceived church of God, ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, just as some churches today teach that the ten commandments are the same as the sermon on the mount. “And Adam was not deceived” (1Ti 2:14) but was so attached to his wife [his church] instead of his maker that he followed her instead of God.

How many sons of God see the contradictions between scripture and church doctrines but cannot face the thought of possibly losing all their friends and their family to remain true to the commandments of God “thou shalt not eat” of “the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil”?

As God had predestinated, both Adam (the “son of God” Luk 3:38) and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They could not be given life having eaten of this tree because “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by THE LAW is the KNOWLEDGE of sin” (Rom 3:20).

Adam was not deceived. He did not want to disobey God, but he was persuaded by his wife. Any student of scripture knows that women typify the church whether faithful or “fallen.” The moment they both ate of this tree, they became aware of a truth that had been the truth before they became aware of it. “They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen 2:25). This is virtually the same condition describing the “lukewarm” Laodicean church in the book of Revelation: “Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue you out of my mouth. Because you sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods and have need of nothing; AND KNOW NOT THAT THOU ART wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and NAKED” (Rev 3:16,17).

So it was with Adam and Eve. They had the whole world to themselves. They were communing with God, and He had given them this beautiful garden signifying His word. Not being aware that they are inherently sinful by their earthy composition and their naked condition, like all their descendants, they partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and “all the world” henceforth becomes guilty before God” (Rom 3:19):

“And 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” (Gen 3:6).

The word of God does not say Eve ‘thought’ the tree was good for food; it says “the tree was good for food… pleasant to the eyes…to be desired to make one wise.”

The law, in fulfilling its function as a schoolmaster, nourishes us much like the umbilical cord nourishes an unborn infant until the time of its birth. At that point the umbilical binding must be cut, and the infant must receive a more mature nourishment. If that cord of the law of Moses is not cut and the infant does not begin partaking of the more developed nourishment of the “milk of the words” of Christ, he will die. “As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1Pe 2:2).

A later iteration of that lesson is that if we remain on the milk of the Word, we will never become mature adults and will die of spiritual malnutrition:

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

At the Jerusalem conference in Acts 15, it was Peter who called the law a “yoke… which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear” (Act 15:10). Paul is not referring to Torah or the law of Moses when he mentions the “sincere milk of the word.” He is rather speaking of “the words that I have spoken”: “He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words [as opposed to Torah] hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). “The sincere milk” is for “newborn babes… in Christ”. That ‘milk’ is “Christ and Him crucified” 1Co 2:2; 3:1 and 2). While milk is the best food in the world for ‘babes in Christ’, it is not the best food for a more spiritually mature person. “Howbeit we speak wisdom [not just ‘Christ and Him crucified’] among them that are perfect [mature]” (1Co 2:6).

On the other hand, the law, Torah, is “a tree to be desired to make one wise” (Gen 3:6). What does that mean? How does the law which “had no glory” (2Co 3:10) make one wise? “Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should AFTERWARDS be revealed” (Gal 3:23).

So Paul tells Timothy: “…From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures [Torah, the old covenant] which are able to make thee wise unto salvation [“the law…brings us unto Christ – Gal 3:24] through [the new covenant] faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2Ti 3:15).

Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

The law of Moses is the law of God only in the sense that the first Adam is “the son of God” (Luk 3:38) and God is “the Father of spirits [good and evil]”:

Luk 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

The law of Moses testifies of and typifies the true law of God just as Adam “in the image of God” testifies of and typifies the true “image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature” (Col 1:15). The true “express image of His person” (Heb 1:3) is someone the first Adam must ‘put on’. “Put on the NEW man, which is renewed in knowledge [a new man with a new covenant] AFTER THE IMAGE OF HIM [Christ] who created him [the first Adam]” (Col 3:10).

We were born the typical image. We must “put on” the true image.

Did Adam Fall?

What is the function of the Old Testament scriptures. They make us aware of our inherent nakedness: “Behold, I was shapen [of the dust of the ground] in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psa 51:5). The purpose of being “shapen in iniquity” (being made under the law) is to justify the judgment of God. Adam did not “fall”; he simply became aware of how low he already was – “of the earth, earthy”, “of the dust of the ground”, “naked”. This was no accident. It was all by Divine design. Adam eating of the tree was “of the Lord [because] He sought an occasion against [the flesh – Adam] for at that time, [the flesh] had dominion over [Adam]:

Jdg 14:4  But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the LORD, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

When the flesh dominates, God “seeks an occasion against [it]. “The Lamb [was] slain from the foundation of the world” in preparation and anticipation of Adam’s sin (Rev 13:8).

We have no reason to suppose that David, who was the youngest of his brothers, was born of an adulterous mother. We are told specifically he was the son of Jesse. David is in no way slandering his mother when he says “I was shapen in iniquity”. He is rather acknowledging the earthy composition and naked condition of ALL who are born in Adam:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

We are all born in need of the law, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to make sin (our nakedness) appear sinful to us. The tree itself is not evil; it is “good for food”, but its fruit is the KNOWLEDGE of …evil.” “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” “Was that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might appear exceeding sinful” (Rom 7:13): “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew they were naked” (Gen 3:7).

David explains in the preceding verse why we are “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin.” See what he reveals to us in Psalm 51:3,4: “I acknowledge my transgression: and my sin is ever before me…that thou (God) mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear [of unrighteousness] when thou judgest.” David understood God’s purpose in creating evil; “that thou [God] mightest… be clear [of evil] when thou judgest.” David knew what judgment was all about. He knew that the day of judgment is the day when the Almighty and All Powerful God would chasten and discipline and save even the most wicked person in the universe. The “condemnation of the world” is but another less desirable “judgment” or “chastening.”

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

Once again, JUDGMENT IS CHASTENING.

Rom 6:16  What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey; his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.

This verse drives home the point Paul is making that sin is no longer defined by the inadequate idea of the law which leads us to believe that as long as you make a good outward show of righteousness, you are therefore righteous. Simply not killing your brother is no longer sufficient; simply restraining oneself from adultery is no longer tolerable to please God; simply not stealing is not acceptable behavior.

In reality, all these “cleavings” to the ten commandments and all the works of the law, were never sufficient to please God to begin with. “The law is not of faith”, and without faith it is impossible to please God. Keeping the old law is the equivalent of Adam obeying God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He would no doubt have thought something like this: ‘I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that [I am] wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked’ (Rev 3:17).

Song of Solomon, Part 1 – Kisses/Arousal Comes before Desire

[Study Aired October 29, 2022]

In the “Introduction” to the Song of Solomon, we couldn’t clearly identify the name of the Shulamite or her ethnic background. That neutrality is positive since she represents the Bride of Christ and is the mother of the entirety of humanity and her spiritual ethnicity and integrity are what matters. Her physical and spiritual character is utterly opposed to the Great Whore of Revelation. The Bride is not that long past being “treacherous”, having unwittingly called herself a Jew while holding the oracles of God in unrighteousness. 

Jer 3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 
Jer 3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. 
Jer 3:11 And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. 

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.

Remember the “two armies” in the last part of the Introduction, Hagar and Sarah, Old Jerusalem and the Heavenly Jerusalem above and Israel and Judah ~ the Shulamite represents the spiritual positives of those entities.

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.

It is profane in the Body of Christ for us not to juxtapose the physical with the spiritual. However, it is understandable that discussion on bedroom intimacies can jar some folk’s sensitivities. At our Lord’s hand, those intimacy reviews will be seemly.

For us to now rush through the relatively short book of the Song of Solomon and, looking down, shuffle our feet in shame and dismiss its powerful imagery of physical intimacies is akin to remaining our elder sister, Israel, and her dismissal of her Lord’s tender courtships. The Body of Christ is personally aware that marital intimacies are a shadow of our Lord’s spiritual intimacies (Eph 5:1-5, Eph 5:22-33). As vile and offensive as forced and unwanted intimacy is, it is a shadow of our former selves enthusiastically ingratiating our spiritual food on another. Being intoxicated on the word revolts a possible babe by the foul adulterous spiritual breath and cuts off his ears from receiving any truth. 

The Bride in the Song of Solomon doesn’t half-step or deny her Lord with her physical ardour, nor should we with the reality of our spiritual ardour since we expectantly are she.

2Ti 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 
2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
2Ti 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

In the Song of Solomon, the Bride is finished being dragged from her decreasing Babylonian Christian spiritual fickle and flighty temperament, which is usually synonymous with her physical nature in Babylonian marriage. She was the gatekeeper of physical intimacies that reflect her spiritual condition perfectly when in the wilderness. She only desired her Lord when it suited her, mostly when the titillating blessings of courtship flowed. When His inevitable arousal for her became evident, that was too much; she preferred to bathe in the bliss of being perpetually pursued and to pursue affection by any good-looking man without bringing forth righteous fruit. (Eze 23:12-23). She had a multitude of neighbouring tribes who could sustain her insatiable quest to be desired in her timing, reminiscent of Queen Vashti controlling her standing in the eyes of the kingdom of Persia which dramatically backfired on Vashti being dismissed as Queen. Esther, another stunning shadow of the Bride and with superior spiritual poise, was given Vashti’s former status as Queen. (Est 1:1-22)

It is a beautiful thing that women inherently desire to be loved, yet her curse from Eden soundly enables the negative side of her desires. Her Lord designed her that way and patiently waited while she complained and groaned, effectively, for four thousand years.

Even harlots yearn to be loved. In the interim, harlots have very little interest in physical intimacies. Their goal is to be paid monetarily or validly where time is of the essence to accommodate as many customers or suitors as physically able. Not so here in this study of the Song of Solomon. The Bride of Christ awaits the Lord’s good pleasure with enough oil even while asleep and, as is our custom, delights in His word of protracted spiritual arousals. That blessing is a foundational theme of the Bride in the Song of Solomon in delightedly receiving the good seed of the Kingdom of God within, having learned to wait even while painfully barren.

Gen 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. 

Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptised: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 

Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Let’s begin with the first verse of the Song of Solomon.

Son 1:1 The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

The Bride Confesses Her Love

Son 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

The first verse in the Song of Solomon is called “The song of songs, which is Solomons” (Son 1:1).

Since we know that Solomon and the Shulamite’s intense visionary dreaming of marital intimacies is a shadow of Christ’s spiritual, marital intimacies, the Song is the Bride’s expressive masterpiece ~ a Song of Songs; the grand finale of anticipatory consummation! With the tremendous and glorious knowledge of who she is and what she has been given, no wonder she is trembling with enthusiastic anticipation and can hardly contain herself. Her physical and spiritually animated passion unconsciously prepares her mind and body for marriage.

The remnants of a wife being against her husband in the Shulamite’s mind are gone in utter contempt, for the curse that waxed gross against her husband had done its good work within.

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 [the Bride’s] eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

The Shulamite’s former disdain that a man, a husband, should be her “head” and have authority over her is now utterly gone; she is unconditionally at “one” with him!

Unbeknown, and more likely powerfully resisted by her elder sister, in comparison, the Bride knows that a wife’s unreserved submission to a righteous husband is the key to rapidly unlocking her God-given and post-honeymoon phase, her sluggish physical intimacies, the shadow of the spiritual. The honeymoon phase of Israel leaving Egypt was no different. 

Exo 14:8 And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. 

Exo 19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 
Exo 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 
Exo 19:7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him. 
Exo 19:8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD. 

Inherent with women’s curse on Eve, what relatively righteous woman isn’t extremely cautious for what lustful suitor she gives her mind and body? Apart from her virginity, she has a lot to lose that is not genuine love. Her ultimate happiness in marriage is at stake.

The Shulamite’s implicit belief in her Lord for his exceptional goodwill and plan for her causes her to unhesitatingly respond:

Son 1:2 Let him kiss^H5401 me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. 

God designed deep soft kisses of that nature for any man, especially young men, to become immediately aroused and to burn with passion. To the dismay of most women, men (Babylonian with no regard for the word of God) can lustfully engage or violate pretty much any woman. Scripture and the world are littered with such violence. As scripture profusely paints, men idolise women, and women, with impunity when it suits them with the haughty impudence of Israel, love the attention. Without the word and spirit of God, mankind is but a beast!

Son 7:9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak. 

Only a harlot encourages aggressively and tactlessly kissing any male she perceives as momentarily valuable of the type in the above verse unless she is like the Bride and highly esteems the man’s integrity and noble intentions. A little later in the Song of Solomon, those same intimate kisses for a righteous bride are in chaste limitations while engaged and lavished in marriage.

Jer 10:14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

Ecc 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

A kiss[H5401] with the nature described in the Song of Solomon is a derivative is H5400 and means:

– Original: נשׂק
– Transliteration: Nasaq
– Phonetic: naw-sak’
– Definition: 

1. to kindle, burn
2. (Niphal) to be kindled 
3. (Hiphil) to make a fire, burn

1Co 7:8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. 
1Co 7:9 But if they [the virgin Shulamite] cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn [G4448 – 1. to burn with fire, to set on fire, kindle]. 

The Shulamite has learned (is learning) not to shy away from any form of burning. The burning of dead works brings forth refined gold and blossoms in burning spiritual passion for the Lord as is expressed in the Song of Solomon.

Her faded memories of harlotry are from the same mouth of soft, gentle kisses.

Jas 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Jas 3:11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 
Jas 3:12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. 

Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

A kiss can be relatively meaningless or have massive positive or negative consequences.

Spiritually righteous passionate kisses arouse burning desire in a discourse of the word that should expressly result in the consummation of truth and builds permanent bonding.

Unrighteous kisses likewise convey the negative that is always a lie.

As a kid, I can graphically remember shyly, yet with respect, not avoiding the greetings of a few elder female relatives. One aunt, in particular, would, with the accuracy of a puckered-up homing missile, aim for my lips with a deadly and damp explosion smack on target! No matter how finely tuned my momentary weaving and dodging, I always got a mortal blow of bright red lipstick that was just as instantly and cheerily wiped from my lips with her thumb ~ I felt a little violated.

In my late teens, with an attractive girl who had designs for me, she kissed more eloquently, and the difference was out of this world! Though she was a Christian, the Lord gave me excellent control; she didn’t belong to my particular faith, so I considered us unequally yoked. This single relationship afforded the libertine opportunity to all the delights Solomon likewise never toiled with 1,000 plus wives. For a short time, I was breathlessly awakened to the multiple burnings of what a kiss can do. The Biblical thought of hasty romance stabbing me through the liver with a dart severely tempered my ardour; tortuously, the word of God won.

The following scripture speaks about any girl or guy next door or in your group of friends with degrees of passive or aggressive intentions of intimacy and not necessarily a harlot with direct intentions.

Pro 7:13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, 
Pro 7:14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed [H7999] my vows. She is at peace with her Babylonian ways.
Pro 7:15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. 
Pro 7:16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. 
Pro 7:17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Pro 7:18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. 
Pro 7:19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:
Pro 7:20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed. 
Pro 7:21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. 
Pro 7:22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; 
Pro 7:23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. 
Pro 7:24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. 
Pro 7:25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. 
Pro 7:26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 
Pro 7:27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. 

Do you recall what the Hebrew for H7999 refers to? Alarmingly, Shulamite^H7759 means “the perfect” or the “peaceful”, and is the derivative of H7999.

– Original: שׁלם
– Transliteration: Shalam
– Phonetic: shaw-lam’
– Definition: 

1. to be in a covenant of peace, be at peace
2. (Qal) 
3. to be at peace 
4. peaceful one (participle) 
5. (Pual) one in covenant of peace (participle) 
6. (Hiphil) 
7. to make peace with 
8. to cause to be at peace 
9. (Hophal) to live in peace

The negative intentions of a “kiss” are the precise opposite of the Shulamite, whose name likewise means “peaceful; a covenant with peace” as does Jerusalem; the “two armies” of the earthy and heavenly Jerusalem. Classically we have Satan parading the intoxicating nature of a beautiful girl’s tender and warm kisses as authentic and peaceful; an unwitting betrayal with no consequences! Christ knew the consequences of Judas’ kiss, that Judas resulted in his literal innards, his liver being thrust through with the dart of a stake rupturing his belly upon his botched suicide.

Mat 26:47 And while he [Jesus] yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
Mat 26:48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast. 
Mat 26:49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. 

It’s amazing how the seeming simplicity of a kiss can take up an entire study with barely a dent and many more hours of discussion.

This mutual burning of the Shulamite and her Lord is from the immense mindfulness of her future in Him. That knowledge is the best and smoothest wine… “for thy love is better than wine”.

Wine figures 137 times in scripture, and we all know the result of its use and abuse, especially from our sometimes reckless youth. The righteous use of wine can vastly brighten alertness for spiritual understanding, yet when lingered upon, it dulls wise spiritual counsel of the mind, that still small voice that says, ‘… don’t kiss!… and definitely not amorously’.

The harlot and the Shulamite know precisely where the seemingly innocuous act of a kiss can and does rapidly lead a man ~ to unrighteous or righteous lust that wine amplifies.

Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 

2Co 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace [G1515 – peace; tranquillity] shall be with you.
2Co 13:12 Greet one another with an holy kiss. [G40 of G53 – 1.

exciting reverence, venerable, sacred

2. pure 
3. pure from carnality, chaste, modest 
4. pure from every fault, immaculate 
5. clean

H6942

1. to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate 
2. (Qal) 
3. to be set apart, be consecrated 
4. to be hallowed 
5. consecrated, tabooed.

The Lord designed all violence in nature or mankind for our spiritual learning. Every woman, and especially wives, knows the power of her kiss. As stated earlier, lustful male Babylonian Beasts disgustingly have no discretion when at war or in the field or city simply follow their inherent nature to mindlessly violate any woman. Man is but a Beast.

The Shulamite is smitten by her Lord with the intoxicating knowledge of him patiently waiting in love for her until she is a mature young woman.

She is the “Is, Was and Will Be” apple of His eye before the foundations of the Earth. Her very opening phrase of devotion in the Song of Solomon is with her kisses. She knows her God-given power to arouse her Man with bright-eyed enthusiasm that, in turn, blesses her with the spiritual magnificence of “wine” for which she righteously lusts. She no longer desires milk but the taste of smooth wine, spiritual truth directly from the roof of His mouth; the marital form of a “holy kiss”. Her wounds from his chastisements are long ago healed, and those reproofs are no longer felt as loveless fiery trials but are within a burning of truth in passion from the roof of his mouth with the blessed metaphor of wine.

Pro 27:6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. 

Deceitful lips and kisses are from the former works of iniquity she learned from her first father, the Devil. She knows too well that she was like her brothers and sisters in Jerusalem who unwittingly remained to shed their blood, the metaphoric wine of her Lord.

Rom 3:9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Rom 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 
Rom 3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 
Rom 3:14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 
Rom 3:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 
Rom 3:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 
Rom 3:17 And the way of peace have they not known: 
Rom 3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. 
Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 
Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 

Why are her Lord’s kisses and love “better than wine”?

The Shulamite is poetically juxtaposing the laws that bring death, covered by his wine, Christ’s blood, which He first spilled for her. For us, it is profoundly understood by her Lord’s kisses. His kisses are “better than wine” since the “wine” for her has completed its good work once and forever; now she is about to enter the consummate glory of being perfectly yoked in him, and he in her ~ that staggering spiritual knowledge that kisses convey “is better than wine”. For her, Christ’s work is finished. She is about to drink the new spiritual wine in His Kingdom with her Lord, her husband.

Jesus, having turned six stone pots of water into wine, is covertly declaring the end from the beginning with His first miracle and recorded marriage feast pointing to His marriage.

Joh 2:10 And [Jesus] saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 

The Shulamite in the Song of Solomon looks forward to drinking that wine in the Kingdom of eternal life. Her inferior old wine that the flesh thinks is good wine is gone!

Luk 5:37 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. 
Luk 5:38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. 
Luk 5:39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better. 

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.

Luk 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

The Shulamite’s narrative in the Song of Solomon sensationally anticipates that “last day” without having a say in being chosen as the Bride. She was given to die daily and thus spiritually shed her old wine (blood) and drink the new wine in her Lord in their marriage following the First Resurrection. She knows that she has been “no better than they” (Rom 3:9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin) and weeps for her brothers and sisters yet to be trodden in the winepress of Babylon, as Christ wept for what was to happen with the imminent sacking of Jerusalem.

Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. ~ and is synonymous with six jars of wine.

“Kisses ~ Arousal Comes before Desire”

From Adam until the Shulamite, the world, besotted by every sensuality that Solomon likewise exhausted, desires to return to the Garden to live the imagined esoteric purity of nakedness.

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 
1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 

In the very opening sentence of the Song of Solomon, the Shulamite (and Solomon) knows that a wife, the Church, as opposed to the husband’s speedy intimacy arousal, is deliberately designed to be much slower. The Shulamite needs more tender nurturing and expressions of love than her sister in the wilderness. Yet, in the night and the brightening dawn of her arousal and desire for her husband, she sees her future more brightly.

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. 

2Sa 23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. 

It can be a hotly contested point, yet most people think that desire comes before arousal in women. Men can be relatively unattractive, as was Jesus to most women and men. However, suppose an average-looking guy ticks all the boxes of charm, leadership, relative masculinity, cleanliness, work ethics and moral integrity, to name a few priority needs. In that case, she is slowly aroused to desire him. We don’t need to be told that men are infinitely more visually aroused, which just as swiftly induces desire.

If women were as easily aroused as men, lovemaking in marriage would be a dreary affair. The world would have been overpopulated in the first one thousand years.

Speaking of Jesus, the Christ, to come:

Isa 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 
Isa 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 
Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 
Isa 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 
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.

To most beautiful young women seeking their equal in an attractive, dashing, brave, powerful and respected man in the gates of her city, Jesus was not her type! However, the Shulamite in the Song of Solomon was slowly (figuratively) for two thousand years, becoming spiritually aroused and agape for what was being presented to her. She is in the love-induced dreamy submission that good wine cajoles her to fantasize about her arousal and his for her. Righteous lust, that is, desire, follows arousal as she achingly yet chastely contains her passion. 

Son 8:3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. 
Son 8:4  I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.

The Lord designed women to be aroused differently from men. In a recent study in Canada that would reflect the Western World, and no doubt the entire world, astonishingly, women spent significantly more on dreamy novels and all kinds of romantic theatre than men on sexually explicit visuals.

Spiritual kisses and dwelling spiritually on the word of God slowly produce arousal and then escalates desire that is in keeping with the “natural” that comes first.

Continuing with the Song of Solomon, the Shulamite substantiates those erotically driven differences.

1Ki 21:17-29  “For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground” – Part 2

[Study Aired June 30, 2022]

For we must die, and are as water spilled on the ground, and with no way to be redeemed except through Christ’s blood that was spilled on the earth, which can sanctify the body of Christ as it represents His Words which are Life, or a seed, that brings death to our old man (Eph 1:7, Joh 17:17, Joh 12:24).

Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 

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

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. [-to believe is to do the work- Joh 8:31]

The water of the word that washes us (Eph 5:26-27) proceeds from the vine Jesus Christ, who is the Word (Joh 1:1), and He is the reason we can be sanctified and cleansed of our old Adamic nature “with the washing of water by the word (wine – blood [Mat 26:28])”

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 

Mat 26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

If we hear that word and are convicted by that word and act upon that word, proving all things and holding fast to that which is good (1Th 5:21), then we will be saved through that process of judgment in which we continue until our last breath (Joh 8:31-32) symbolized by the words “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD” of Jeremiah 22:29. With God’s words being sanctified within us, we can then in turn sanctify each other with those words and play a part in saving one another in this life as we fill up what is behind of the afflictions of Christ “for his body’s sake, which is the church” (Col 1:24, Eph 5:30).

1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 

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

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

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

“We must needs die”, just as “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Act 14:22), and the life of Elijah the Tishbite typifies for us what is expected of God’s elect who are dying daily and learning to patiently possess our souls (Jas 5:10, Luk 21:19) as we are led by God’s spirit (Rom 8:14-16).

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

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 

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

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

We can only say ‘our yes is yes’ and ‘our no is no’ of Matthew 5:37 if we are being obedient to the commandments of God.  So, when God tells Elijah “go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria“, he does so and does not make any excuse as to why he cannot; excuses , “What if the king doesn’t like what I have to say?” God tells us in situations of duress “take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak” (Mat 8:21-22 ,  Mat 10:19).

Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. 

Mat 8:21  And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 
Mat 8:22  But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

Each of the wise and foolish virgins are “bidden to the wedding” (Mat 22:3) but it is only those who are given to receive the counsel “buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed” (Rev 3:18) who have those garments washed or sanctified by the blood of the lamb who is the author and finisher of that “more precious than of gold” process of having our faith tried in fire in this life through God’s judgments that are upon His house (Rev 19:7, Heb 12:2, 1Pe 1:7, 1Pe 4:12, 1Pe 4:17, Jas 1:2-4). Satan did exactly what God required of him.  The point is that a prophet going where he is supposed to go, as Elijah did, is not a conclusive event that shows that the vessel is one of honor or dishonor, any more than Judas who kept following Christ when others had already denied him (Joh 6:67).

Mat 22:3  And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 

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

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. 

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

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

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

The reason I’m bringing up this subject of ‘tried faith’ in this story is because we can easily read about the faithful prophets of old and not realize the life and death situations God put them in was for our sakes, showing us that we are “more than conquerors through him that loved us” (1Co 10:11, Rom 8:37). These stories of the faithful prophets are typical examples of the faith of Jesus Christ that we have today, which tell us nothing can separate us “from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39).

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. 

We need to look at these situations of the prophets and all the examples of faith in Hebrews 11:1-40, and remember these things were written for our sakes to encourage us and to remind us that nothing can separate us from the love of God as we are given the ability to endure the trials of this life with the very faith of Jesus Christ and the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5). That God-given faith gives us the power we need to be obedient even as we deny ourselves every day and follow Christ by carrying our cross, which is how we deny ourselves and ultimately overcome by enduring to the end (Luk 22:32, Gal 2:20, 2Ti 1:7, Heb 5:8, Mat 16:24, Mat 24:13).

Luk 22:32  But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: [Col 1:27] and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

2Ti 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 

Heb 5:8  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 

Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 

Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

1Ki 21:17  And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 
1Ki 21:18  Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.
1Ki 21:19  And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.

Elijah gets his marching orders from “the LORD“, and as mentioned, he goes straightway to go do the work of the Lord (Mat 4:20, Heb 11:8, Rom 8:14).

Mat 4:20  And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 

Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 

We are God’s workmanship, and Elijah’s meeting “Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria, in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it” is symbolic of where God meets our old man of sin who must be confronted straightway by the prophet for the death of Christ, for which we are guilty, symbolized in this story by the life of Naboth that was taken. The dogs licking the blood of a dead man is symbolic of our returning to our own vomit, our own blood, or words, which are not words of life that can sanctify the earth like the words or Christ but are rather consumed by the beast that we are, to give nourishment to the beast. To clearly witness to that point, both Naboth’s and Ahab’s blood are mentioned as being spilled on the ground and licked up by dogs to remind us that flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50) and only Christ can redeem us with His blood (Pro 26:11, Mat 7:6).

Pro 26:11  As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

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

The prophet Elijah does not shun to declare the whole gospel (Act 20:27) in type and shadow to Ahab with these words that paint a gruesome story of what is going to befall Ahab: “And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.“

Act 20:27  For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 

1Ki 21:20  And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.

We all “sell ourselves” or “deny Christ” when we “work evil in the sight of the LORD“, and the good that we would we don’t do, but the evil that we don’t want to do that’s what we do (Rom 7:14-17), and if Christ’s spirit is within us, we will overcome this struggle in our heavens, because the Son of man sets us free from sin so we can be free indeed (Joh 8:36). This freedom does not happen all at once, and is a dying daily process that brings us to learn of God’s faithfulness to finish what He has started in His workmanship through Jesus Christ (Heb 12:2, Eph 2:10). Elijah is the enemy of Ahab just as the spirit of God is against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit (Gal 5:17), and what we sow in that flesh we will reap and be found out: “Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?” (Gal 6:7)

Rom 7:14  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 
Rom 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 
Rom 7:16  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 
Rom 7:17  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. [ultimately freed from this double-minded man of Romans 7:13-17 on the third day (Luk 13:32)]

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. 

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. 

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would [Rom 7:14-17].

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap [Rom 9:19-21].

1Ki 21:21  Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, 
1Ki 21:22  And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. 
1Ki 21:23  And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. 
1Ki 21:24  Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. 
1Ki 21:25  But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. 
1Ki 21:26  And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. 

The evil that God is going to bring upon Ahab is to take away from him his “posterity”^H310, a symbol for us of God taking away our talent and giving it to someone else (Mat 25:28-29). In the physical sense, it represents everything that is ‘behind’ Ahab, everything that has been established in his life including “him that is shut up and left in Israel“, meaning in type and shadow the things he has bound on earth and in heaven are all being destroyed, the whole root and branch, because that ‘posterity’ represents what our old man builds and develops in this life, our many wonderful works with no acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty over it all (Mal 4:1).

Mal 4:1  For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

H310
‘achar 
posterity  
akh-ar’

From H309; properly the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjugation, after (in various senses): – after (that, -ward), again, at, away from, back (from, -side), behind, beside, by, follow (after, -ing), forasmuch, from, hereafter, hinder end, + out (over) live, + persecute, posterity, pursuing, remnant, seeing, since, thence [-forth], when, with.

Total KJV occurrences: 714

Mat 25:28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 
Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Notice that the curse which comes upon Ahab and Jezebel is spoken of as being against the wall, and by the wall of Jezreel^H3157. This wall of Jezreel, in the negative sense, is a symbol of the idols of our heart, and the word means “God will sow“, telling us that God is the one who is sovereign over this whole process of light and dark and good and evil (Isa 45:7) about which we are learning in this story of Ahab and Jezebel. He created us to be a marred vessel in the Potter’s hand that is either redeemed in this life or the next, which reminds us of 2 Samuel 14:14 and Romans 9:22-23.

Jezreel – H3157 
yizr
e‛ê’l 
yiz-reh-ale’

From H2232 and H410; God will sow; Jizreel, the name of two places in Palestine and of two Israelites: – Jezreel.

Total KJV occurrences: 36

H410  
‘êl  
ale

Shortened from H352; strength; as adjective mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity): – God (god), X goodly, X great, idol, might (-y one), power, strong. Compare names in “-el.”

Total KJV occurrences: 242

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

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

Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: [“yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him“]
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

For further contrast, Ahab is compared to his proteges telling him that he is no better, and in fact is worse, than them: “like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat (1Ki 14:1-12), and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah (1Ki 15:33-34, 1Ki 16:1-4), for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin“. Even as Ahab is digesting these strong rebukes from the prophet, he is further told “And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.“

1Ki 14:10  Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. 
1Ki 14:11  Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it. 

1Ki 16:2  Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; 
1Ki 16:3  Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Jezebel is the wife of Ahab, and therefore they are one, and she represents his spiritual state of mind which is corrupt like hers, and therefore he is pronounced with the same fate: “Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.” Again, it is not just Ahab who is going to die but all those who are connected to him, and the death, although physical, is represented to us in the terms used to show us that those to whom we are joined in our folly and our disobedience are devoured by dogs, which is a symbol of spiritual depravity (Tit 1:12). The fowls of the air show the dream-is-one principle in that it is speaking of the same point. “The field” is the world, and the fowls represent the evil spirits which are going to destroy those connected to Ahab in the world (Deu 28:15, Deu 28:26).

Deu 28:15  But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: 

Deu 28:26  And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.

The casting “out before the children of Israel” of “the Amorites” is typical language that says these same words of Christ: “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” as He delivers us from every abominable idol of our hearts, the most persistent one being that we don’t see that these words of God are speaking of the chief of sinners, who we are (1Ti 1:15), along with Jezebel who represents our inability without Christ to be seduced by Babylon out of which God alone can drag us. “But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.” It is when God brings us to see our hopeless and helpless situation as a result of the fullness of the sins of the “Amorites” being fulfilled in our life that we are then delivered from ourselves (Gen 15:16).

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

Gen 15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

1Ki 21:27  And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
1Ki 21:28  And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 
1Ki 21:29  Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.

Although God did postpone the evil that would come upon Ahab’s house due to his repentant heart, the “posterity” of Ahab that God said he would take away from him was inevitable, and so God’s judgments were temporarily withheld and then unleashed as prophesied “in his son’s days” did God “bring the evil upon his house”, similar to king Solomon whose curse was visited in the generation after him with his son king Rehoboam (Deu 5:9, 1Ki 11:11-12). In both kings’ lives, Ahab and Solomon, there was an abuse of power and an entitled spirit that had little and no regard for the commandments of God as they sowed to their flesh. The end result of that disobedience is always the same and is written for our sakes (1Co 10:11) to help us learn that God is a just God who tells us what we sow we will reap. He is the one who orchestrates all of it at the appointed time (Gal 6:7).

The reason God delays these punishments at certain times is to remind us that when one member of the body of Christ sins, we are all affected by that behavior, and “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” is an old covenant expression of telling us that sin can have long-term consequences for all those who commit sin, and for those who are in the midst of the leaven that can leaven the whole lump (Gal 5:9, 1Co 5:13, Heb 12:15).

Deu 5:9  Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 

Gal 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 
Gal 6:8  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 

Gal 5:9  A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 

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

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

In the end, the prophetic words of Elijah come to pass as we will read in the last chapter of first Kings, where we learn of how Ahab died in battle, this telling us again that God is a just God who judges us for our sins (1Ki 22:38). It would seem very pointless to be reading these stories if we were not given to understand that we are looking at events that reflect the one event that is common unto all man, each man in his order, and that being the judgment of God (Ecc 3:9). That judgment and the blessing it will ultimately bring upon all the world, is the salvation of all which leads us back to our title “For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground” in order to become that means-to-an-end body of Christ that God will use to save the rest of the world “that his banished be not expelled from him” (Oba 1:21).

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: [Rom 9:19-21] yet doth he devise means [Oba 1:21], that his banished be not expelled from him. 

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

[Study Aired May 23, 2021]

Jer 9:13  And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
Jer 9:14  But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
Jer 9:15  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
Jer 9:16  I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
Jer 9:17  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:
Jer 9:18  And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
Jer 9:19  For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.
Jer 9:20  Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
Jer 9:21  For death is come up into our windows,  and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.
Jer 9:22  Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
Jer 9:23  Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise  man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty  man glory in his might, let not the rich  man glory in his riches:
Jer 9:24  But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
Jer 9:25  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
Jer 9:26  Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations  are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel  are uncircumcised in the heart.

The title of our study is taken from:

Jer 9:24  But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

Knowing Christ and His Father is life eternal, and that ‘knowledge’ is not the immature ‘knowledge’ which puffs us up and leads us to become self-righteous and look down on others whom we deem to be less knowledgeable about God than we are.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

This ‘knowledge of God’ brings us to appreciate His “lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness”. Our soul’s desire becomes a hunger and thirst to know the judgments of our old man revealed in the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and all the other prophets who speak of “that day” the day of our judgment. The Truth is that when we come to know our Lord, we will be grateful we have been given to understand the need for His judgments, and we will see that His judgments are “His goodness… His lovingkindness, and His righteousness”. All His words are Truth, and His justice and judgments endure through every generation:

Psa 119:160   The sum of Thy word is truth, And to the age is every judgment of Thy righteousness! (YLT)

It is His judgment to first give us an experience of evil and then to use that experience to give Him the “occasion” He is seeking against our old man to judge him and to humble and destroy 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)

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

Jer 9:13  And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

‘We forsake the Lord’s law and do not obey His voice’ by the design the Lord has laid out for us in Ecclesiastes 1:13. It is because the Lord “has given… [us] an experience of evil” that He is now humbling us “because [we] have forsaken [His] law, and have not obeyed [His] voice”, meaning His commandments and His doctrines.

Jer 9:14  But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:

“The imagination of [the] heart of our old man is the same as the imagination of the hearts of our fathers who also followed all the traditions and customs of Baalim, including the days, months times and years which Baalim, “the god of this world” uses to keep us spiritually blinded and in darkness:

2Co 4:3  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4  In whom the god of this world [Greek: ‘aion’, age] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

God’s own people preferred the pagan holidays of their neighbors to the holy days the Lord had commanded them to observe. In His “reformation” Christ broke both the weekly sabbath (Mat 12:1-8, Joh 5:18) and the annual holy days (Joh 7:1-9). Then through the apostle Paul we are admonished against keeping any “days, months, times and years”:

Gal 4:10  Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11  I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.

For those who can receive it, birthdays and anniversaries are “days” which are traditionally kept by pagan nations. It is instructive that not one birthday of any patriarch or prophet or apostle, including the birthday of Christ, is given us in scripture. In insisting on keeping these traditions of men, we have truly forsaken the Lord’s law, walked after our own heart, and after Baalim as our fathers have taught us’ (Jer 9:13-14).

The Lord has given Satan the power to keep our old man and this world blinded until the time of our judgment.

Jer 9:15  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

This statement concerning the Lord giving us “wormwood and the water of gall to drink” is taken from these verses in Deuteronomy:

Deu 29:14  Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
Deu 29:15  But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that  is not here with us this day:
Deu 29:16  (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;
Deu 29:17  And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
Deu 29:18  Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
Deu 29:19  And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
Deu 29:20  The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

The words and doctrines of the great whore are likened to “bitter… wormwood”:

Pro 5:1  My son, attend unto my wisdom, and  bow thine ear to my understanding:
Pro 5:2  That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
Pro 5:3  For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
Pro 5:4  But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
Pro 5:5  Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Pro 5:6  Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

All of this is the foundation for these words in the book of Revelation:

Rev 8:10  And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
Rev 8:11  And the name of the star is called Wormwood:  and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

For those with ‘eyes that see’, “the third part” reveals that this is all a part of the process of judging and destroying our own old man:  The Number Three

Jer 9:16  I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
Jer 9:17  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:
Jer 9:18  And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
Jer 9:19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.

“Our dwellings have cast us out” is a reference to this fact:

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.

Dwelling with ‘briers, thorns and scorpions’ is living with all the lying false doctrines of “their words”.

Here is the New Testament version of this part of our judgment:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
Rev 15:3  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
Rev 15:4  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
Rev 15:5  And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
Rev 15:6  And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

In Revelation chapters 14 and 16 we are told that this “wrath of God” is poured out on the great whore, Babylon the Great, within us. That is why we are told, “No man was able to enter into the temple [in heaven – vs 5], till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled [within our lives].” This part of our “experience of evil” is described as “Babylon is fallen” in Revelation 14, 16, and 18. It is also called “the patience of the saints and they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus”:

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

Just what percentage of mankind “worship the beast and his image, and… receive the mark of his name”? The scriptures make the answer to that question super clear in the previous chapter:

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

“All, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond” is triple explicit. This mark is common to all of mankind, “small and great, rich and poor, free and bond.”

Being “tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” is called being brought to one’s “wits’ end” in Psalms 107:

Psa 107:10  Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
Psa 107:11  Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
Psa 107:12  Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Psa 107:13  Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:14  He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Psa 107:15  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:25  For he [the Lord] 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!

When the scripture uses the word ‘then’ it behooves us to acknowledge that it means ‘not until then’. We do not “cry unto the Lord in our trouble” until “He brings down our heart with labor and there is no one [but Him to] help” us.

We do not “Cry unto the Lord in our trouble” until “He raises the stormy wind and lifts up the waves thereof [and we] are at [our] wits’ end.” Only “then [do we] cry unto the Lord in our trouble” and He brings [us] out of [our] troubles, calms our seas, and brings us to our desired haven. Truly it really is only “the goodness of God that brings us to repentance” and still we tire of hearing of His wonderful judgments and “His goodness to the children of men”:

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul  is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee [and “the way of your judgments”].
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.

Several years back, when we were just part way through our series of studies in the book of Revelation, in exasperation my son blurted out… “I am so tired of the book of Revelation. Can’t we go on to something else?” There is no doubt that he was simply saying what he and others thought. It is obvious in hindsight that he had not yet been brought to his wits’ end and “[his] soul [did not yet] desire the way of [the Lord’s] judgments”. That day has not yet come to him, but whenever that day does come, it will be “the Lord’s goodness… bring[ing him] to [his] wits’ end… [and bringing  him] to repentance”:

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

Jer 9:20  Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.

Those who tire of hearing about the Lord’s judgments always have some more ‘glorious riches’ they want to give to the body of Christ. How few it is who can say with Isaiah:

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

The “women” of verse 20 are you and me if we are the Lord’s elect: “…Hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.”

Our doctrines are our children… our daughters. It is only the Lord’s elect who want to “teach [our] daughters wailing” and our “neighbor lamentation”. The harlot and the world she rules have much more exciting things to do and to teach, and it all appeals to our ‘belly’… our physical and our mental and emotional desires.

Rom 16:17  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Rom 16:18  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

We should not want to be “simple”. Being ‘simple’ is the opposite of being ‘wise’:

Psa 19:7  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure,  making wise the simple.

Pro 21:11  When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise: and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.

This is reaffirmed in our next verse:

Jer 9:21  For death is come up into our windows,  and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

Again, our false doctrines, which are the self-righteous “children [and] young men… children of the kingdom [of our old man]”, will be “cut off” by the “wormwood and… gall” which the Lord gives us to drink. The positive application of “the children of the kingdom” is the pure doctrine of Christ within us. As is always the case, “the children of the kingdom” has both a negative and a positive application in scripture:

Mat 8:12  But the children of the kingdom [with their false doctrines] shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed [the doctrines of Christ] are the children of the kingdom; but the tares [false doctrines of Babylon] are the children of the wicked one;

Jer 9:22  Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
Jer 9:23  Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise  man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty  man glory in his might, let not the rich man  glory in his riches:

There is no quarter given to the mother of harlots. She and her children are “the wise men, the mighty men, and the rich men” of this world. Their carcasses will “fall as dung upon the open field.”

We who have moved beyond the milk doctrines, including the doctrine of age-lasting judgment, have done so because we have been given to appreciate that being “crucified with Christ” is a good thing. We are going beyond the milk doctrines because we know the product of judgment, and we know that “all things… life… death… the world… things present and things to come” are all ours, and our eyes are on the product of the Lord’s judgments in our lives. That ‘product’ is the unadulterated knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. That knowledge is life eternal:

Joh 17:1  These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2  As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Joh 17:5  And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world [G2889: kosmos] was.
Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. [“Calling those things that be not as though they were” (Mar 16:14; Rom 4:17)]
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.

Jesus came into this world for judgment, but He is not at this time judging this world. Judgment “begins at us”, and then the Lord through us will judge this world for a thousand years, and then we will be the judges of the great white throne judgment:

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.

Christ “came into the world… for judgment”, but He did not come to judge this world at this time:

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 [The great white throne judgment, Rev 20:11].

Very few are honored with being judged in this age. It will be so few that when asked about “the sign of [His] coming” these were Christ’s words as they relate to the number of believers at that time:

Mat 24:37  But as the days of Noe  were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Luk 17:32  Remember Lot’s wife.

Luk 18:8  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Christ had earlier told His disciples this concerning the parable of the wedding supper at the beginning of the thousand-year reign and those who would be given a part in that “marriage supper” also known as “the first resurrection” (Rev 19:7 and 20:6).

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

Jer 9:24  But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

We are saved “by grace through faith”, and both are a gift from God. From beginning to end it is all His workings:

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of [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.

“His grace in His kindness” is His chastening and scourging which bring us to repentance.

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

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

As our brother Tony pointed out in his first study in 1^st Kings:

1Ki 1:5  Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
1Ki 1:6  And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also  was a very goodly man; and his mother  bare him after Absalom.

King David had promised Bathsheba that her son Solomon would become king, but Adonijah simply took it upon himself to usurp the throne of his father, and his father failed to discipline him for his presumptuous actions. It was all done, and it is written down, for our admonition, demonstrating what confusion and strife is born of a lack of chastening and scourging from a loving father. That is not our loving heavenly Father’s mode of operation. Our heavenly Father is a vigilant, diligent Father who never takes a break from watching over and disciplining us for our good:

Psa 121:1  A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
Psa 121:2  My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
Psa 121:3  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Psa 121:4  Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Jer 9:25  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
Jer 9:26  Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations  are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

These last two verses are foundational to Paul’s revolutionary proclamation:

Rom 2:26  Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
Rom 2:27  And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
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.

The holy spirit has blinded the eyes of most Babylonian churches to these words. Having been in Babylon for decades I also simply could not see what is and what is “not a Jew”, and I certainly could not see how it was possible “by the letter and circumcision…[to] transgress the law.”

“Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners,  that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.” Therefore “He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly”.

Babylon is “in the wilderness”, and that is where we all are until we “come out of her…”:

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 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.

The Lord was merciful, and He began chastening and scourging me and dragging me out of Babylon. As He did so He began to give me eyes that could see and ears that could hear “the mysteries of the kingdom of God”. So it is with every one of us if indeed the Lord loves us.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
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.

That is our study for today. We will begin chapter 10 next week:

Jer 10:1  Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
Jer 10:2  Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
Jer 10:3  For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
Jer 10:4  They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
Jer 10:5  They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.
Jer 10:6  Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
Jer 10:7  Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
Jer 10:8  But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
Jer 10:9  Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
Jer 10:10  But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
Jer 10:11  Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
Jer 10:12  He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.
Jer 10:13  When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

Hi Mike,

The first recorded miracle of Christ is the turning of water to wine in John 2.

Can you comment on the spiritual significance of this miracle and how it applies to our lives?

Thanks for the help.

Your brother in Christ,
C____

Hi C​____​,

You ask:

“Can you comment on the spiritual significance of… the first recorded miracle of Christ… turning… water into wine… and how it applies to us today?”

Thank you for your question. As you have noticed, we are told this is the first of Christ’s miracles, which indicates that the spiritual significance of this miracle will have something to do with the beginning of our spiritual birth and how the holy spirit deals with us at that beginning state of our spiritual development.

The story of this miracle informs us that six water pots of stone were “filled to the brim… with water”:

Joh 2:6  And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
Joh 2:7  Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

The number six, the water and the stone, one and all, allude to the carnality of our unstable, yet stony human hearts. Mankind was created along with the rest of the beasts of the earth on the sixth day, and hence he is forever associated with the number six:

Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Gen 1:28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Gen 1:29  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

The three sixes of Revelation 13 indicate that flesh is being judged as unworthy of the kingdom of God. But notice that we are told this “is the number of mankind”:

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty-six.” (CVL)

Here are the URLs for the studies of the numbers 3 and 6:

Number Three: The Process of Spiritual Completion Through Judgment
Numbers: Six

The pots of stone symbolize the vessels into which we first receive the word of God as “carnal… babes in Christ”:

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?

Four times within four verses we are told that we all begin our walk in Christ as “carnal… babes in Christ”, a Truth which is lost in the two false doctrines of a ten-second sinner’s prayer and the substitutionary death of Christ, replacing the Biblical doctrine of “filling up in [our] bodies which is behind of the afflictions of Christ… dying daily [and being] crucified with Christ, [and the necessity of] suffering… fiery trials… with Him”:

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

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

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

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.

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.

The answer to your question concerning the spiritual significance of the first miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding feast centers around the beginning of our calling as immature, hard-hearted, “carnal babes in Christ”. We know this is true because there are six stone pots which are “filled to the brim”​ with “unstable… water”.

This is what we are told of the negative symbolism of ‘stone’:

Eze 11:19  And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

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

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 13:20  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.

These verses give us the negative application of ‘stone’ and the positive application of ‘flesh’. A “stony heart” symbolizes a carnal mind and heart, while at the same time “an heart of flesh” is contrasted with a “stony heart” and is ​symbolic of “My spirit within you”.

The final symbol we must understand is the ‘water’ which filled the “pots of stone… to the brim”. Since all of this concerns the beginning of Christ’s miracles, it therefore must be centered around the beginning of our conversion as carnal babes in Christ. As such we must understand the negative, carnal, Biblical application of water:

Gen 49:4  Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.

Eze 7:17  All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.

James tells us:

Jas 1:8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

The positive application of water is “the word” of God, but as carnal babes in Christ that word falls in stony places and does not take root, making us all, at the beginning of our conversion, “unstable as water”.

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Now we come to the symbolism of the ‘wine’ into which the unstable ‘water’ is transformed. Throughout the gospels ‘wine’ is used as a type of “My [Christ’s] blood of the New Testament which is shed for many”:

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.

Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

Paul repeats this symbolism of wine in the New Testament:

1Co 11:25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

Christ tells us we must both eat [His] flesh and drink [His] blood” to have eternal life (Joh 6:54). But both symbolize Him and His words and His doctrine:

Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

But Christ’s own interpretation of those words is found in this same chapter where He tells us what really does give us life eternal:

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

Now we can understand how we are to apply this story of turning the unstable water of our carnal immaturity as babes in Christ into the life-giving wine which is “the New Testament” in Christ’s life-giving blood which we must drink to have eternal life. The way we apply this story to our daily lives is to do more than merely hear the words of our Lord, which is what all immature… “carnal… babes in Christ” do, and we must do the things He tells us to do, and live by His words which “are spirit and are life” (Joh 6:63).

Luk 6:46  And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
Luk 6:47  Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
Luk 6:48  He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Luk 6:49  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

“The Rock… the Bread… [and] the wine are all one and the same thing. They are the words of Christ which are spirit and are life because they reveal who He is, and knowing Him is to know His Father, and that is the same as “the Words that I speak to you are spirit and are life”, which is the very same thing as knowing Christ and His Father:

Joh 6:63  It is the Spirit that makes alive, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

I hope this helps you to apply the story of Christ turning the water into wine in your personal life. Knowing Christ is not just a matter of our intellect. Rather,​ it is a matter of “doing the things [He] says”.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Mike,

Thank you for all you do to edify the Body.

​A question about the wine in the cup brought to mind the wine in the communion cup, which many of us used to celebrate. ​We do experience that cup daily as God’s word burns out the dross, the giants, etc. out of our lives. Isn’t this showing the Lord’s death until He comes? As we eat the bread of His fiery word and drink the cup of judgment and affliction our old man’s dies, and we grow in Christ daily. Is this the correct way of applying this Scripture?

1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

YsitC,

E____

Hi E____,

Thank you ​for this question. Yes, you are exactly right. Neither Christ nor Paul are adding a new ritual to replace and old ritual.

We show the Lord’s death by “dying daily” (1Co​ 15:31) and being “crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20) daily. If we replace the death of our old man with the ritual of washing his feet, then we are not “doing as He did to us” in that He serves us, as we are to serve one another every day. The so-called ‘Lord’s supper’ is simply a parable of the spiritual truths Christ imparted to us in these words:

Luk 22:17  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

As the apostle Paul explains, it is now ours to give our “[bodies] for His body’s sake, which is the church”.

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

Colossians 1:24 is “doing this in remembrance of me”. This verse applied in our own lives is “eat[ing] the bread, and drink[ing] this cup [and] show[ing] the Lord’s death till He comes.”

1Co 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

I hope this helps.

Your fellow servant,

Mike

Isa 24:1-12 The Lord Makes The Earth Empty

Isa 24:1  Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
Isa 24:2  And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
Isa 24:3  The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
Isa 24:4  The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
Isa 24:5  The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Isa 24:6  Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
Isa 24:7  The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.
Isa 24:8  The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
Isa 24:9  They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
Isa 24:10  The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
Isa 24:11  There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
Isa 24:12  In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

The first four verses of this chapter contain within them the purpose for which the Lord first created mankind in a “marred, dying”, condition, which operates upon ‘the law of sin and death’ (Rom 7:17-23):

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.

The “marred… vessel… of clay” is not a slip-up on the part of our Creator. It is a deliberate, premeditated action which will require the sacrifice of Christ to “make it another vessel” which will then “seem good to the Potter”. We know this is all true because we are also told:

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Tit 1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

It was “according to His own purpose and grace” that He first created a “marred vessel of clay”, which He already knew “before the world began” would require a Savior “which was given us in Christ Jesus”.

We are even told specifically that in the mind of the Father Christ was “slain from the foundation of the world”:

Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world [Greek: kosmos G2889, the physical creation].

The sacrifice of Christ was not ‘Plan B’. The sacrifice of Christ for the sins of His marred vessel was “promised before the world began”, and He is working all that occurs “according to His own purpose and grace”.

The inescapable conclusion to all of this information is that in order to accomplish “His own purpose” of calling us in Christ before the world began, all mankind must first become sinners in dire need of a Savior. For that very purpose, our Creator, from the beginning while “the vessel of clay was … [yet] in the hand of The Potter”, deliberately “marred… that… vessel of clay” by placing within its members the law of sin and death. Indeed that is exactly why we are all “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin” before we are even born.

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

The New Testament accords with King David’s revelation of the nature of the Lord’s “marred… vessel of clay”. As we are plainly told:

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 the holy spirit telling us that we are all governed by “a law, [which], when [we] would do good, [makes] evil [to be] present with [us]. Then we are clearly told this “law of sin” was placed within our members by the “one lawgiver”:

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

It should now be obvious that “the first man Adam” was never intended to “inherit the kingdom of God” simply because:

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

It is because “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” that we are made to err from the Lord’s ways. It is because of “the law of sin… in [our] members” that we are made by the Lord to live out these first six verses of this 24th chapter of Isaiah.

Place your own name, or the words ‘My old man’, every time you see the words ‘earth’ and ‘the land’ in these six verses. If you can do that from your heart you will get more out of these words than the most learned of all the mighty men of ‘Tyre [and] Babylon’:

Isa 24:1  Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
Isa 24:2  And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
Isa 24:3  The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
Isa 24:4  The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
Isa 24:5  The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
Isa 24:6  Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

“The curse devours the earth… the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men left”, is primarily to be taken in its spiritual sense, by us as the Lord’s firstfruits. But dispensationally it accords with what Christ tells us about His appearing at the time of the first resurrection, which occurs at the beginning of the thousand year reign of Christ and His Christ.

Here are Christ’s words relating to that time:

Mat 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mat 24:37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38  For as in the days that were before the floodthey were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Utilizing our “line upon line and precept upon precept” principle (Isa 28:10-13) let’s see what else we are told about the days of Noah:

Gen 6:10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Gen 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Gen 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
Gen 6:13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violencethrough them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Yes, men have been violent since the days of Cain, but there is no denying that today also “the earth [is] filled with violence” [and has] corrupted His way upon the earth”. For this reason, in its dispensational application, we are told “the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men [are] left.” (Isa 24:6)

The ‘fire’ here is the same “fire” in this story:

Jdg 9:19 If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:
Jdg 9:20 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

Here is this “fire [which came out from the men of Shechem… and devoured Abimelech”:

Jdg 9:22 When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
Jdg 9:23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

This “fire” was civil unrest which turned every man against his brother, and destroyed Abimelech in the process. That is exactly what we see in the earth today, just as Christ said it would be before He sets His kingdom up on this earth.

Inwardly, “the earth” in these verses in Isaiah 24 and in Genesis 6, symbolizes our rebellious, deceived, old man with all of his false Babylonian doctrines, which he has received from his youth via the great whore who has deceived him (Jer 22:29). This great whore who is called ‘Babylon the Great the mother of harlots’ (Rev 17:1-4), is symbolized in scripture by ‘Tyre and Babylon’, and in Revelation 13 she is symbolized by a “beast [which comes] up out of the earth”:

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

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

As impossible as it seems at this moment, while the religions of this world still have an incredible hold upon the people of this world, that hold will be taken away, and that harlot will be hated by all men. We are speaking of a very painful death both spiritually within each of us and outwardly in its dispensational, end time application. It will be a very painful experience in the Babylonian religions of the various societies of this world, and it will take place at the appointed time:

Isa 14:21  Prepare slaughter for [Babylon’s] 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.
Isa 14:23  I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom [Hebrew: maṭ’ăṭê’ – broom] of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

That dying process within us reveals the truth of the leveling effect of the grave upon all men as we read earlier in this same 14th chapter of Isaiah:

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 was the fate of the physical king of Babylon, and this will be the fate of the great whore of Revelation 17-18, who symbolizes the religions of this world.

Physical death is no respecter of persons. Over 6,000 years of history have demonstrated that the strongest, richest, most powerful men have all died and returned to the dust. Our experience of dying daily in Christ is the same. The first and most important application of the process of dying to our flesh is for each of us, regardless of our social standing, rich or poor, esteemed or despised in this world, is that we must all come to see that it is the kingdom of our own old man being utterly destroyed which brings life at the appearing of Christ and His Truth. As that truth slowly sinks into our hearts and minds, our old man, the beast, the man of sin sitting on the throne of God within our hearts and minds, is systematically dying daily, and we are daily being crucified with Christ.

This daily process is what is called “suffering with [Christ]” the painful, fiery death of our old man. Prophetically it is described to us in our next verses.

Isa 24:7  The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.
Isa 24:8  The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
Isa 24:9  They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

If indeed we are to live by these words which have proceeded out of the mouth of God (Mat 4:4 and Luk 4:4), how do we do so? We do so, and we experience these very words, by being brought by the hand of God in our lives to see just how hollow is our life as we continue turning our backs to His words and His commandments. When the Lord begins to judge us, all those things which once seemed so important to us begin to be revealed to us as destructive to our well-being, and are uncovered and shown to be nothing more than an insidious deception, and at that time they begin to be taken away from us. ‘The new wine mourns and the vine which produces it begins to wither away’, and all the things that once made us merry suddenly become an unbearable burden from which we now can see our own crying need for deliverance from the self-serving, materialistic beast we can now see within us.

When judgment begins at the house of God within us, an angel from the Lord intervenes in our life, and our life suddenly becomes very troubled and unsettled. All the things which once brought us “pleasure for a season” now cease to do so. The message of these words is repeated when Babylon is being judged and destroyed within our lives, as is also prophesied in Revelation 18:

Rev 18:21  And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
Rev 18:22  And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Rev 18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

That ‘sea’ into which “a stone like a great millstone” is cast is the flesh out of which arises our own lives.

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

These three verses here in Revelation 18 are the New Testament repetition of Isa 24:7-9. Both are telling us that the life of our first man Adam must be revealed for the hollow, empty, hopeless and miserable and vain experience which it, in reality, is:

Isa 24:7  The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh.
Isa 24:8  The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth.
Isa 24:9  They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.

It is very important that we understand that this all comes upon us while we are in Babylon, while we think we are rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. These judgments come upon us while we are ‘proud of  heart’ and while we are prospering in the lies of Babylon, where we think we are God’s chosen people, when in reality we are His enemies.

Isaiah 24:7-9 are a repetition of:

Isa 9:8  The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
Isa 9:9  And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,
Isa 9:10  The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.
Isa 9:11  Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;
Isa 9:12  The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 9:13  For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
Isa 9:14  Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Isa 9:16  For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
Isa 9:17  Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
Isa 9:19  Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.
Isa 9:20  And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
Isa 9:21  Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

We, who think of ourselves as God’s chosen people, discover we are really nothing more or less than spiritual Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. This “vessel of clay” is a work of the Lord Himself, but it is “marred in [His] hand” by His design, and it was never intended to be saved from destruction. It was created as the larvae of a butterfly. This “vessel of clay” is typified by the caterpillar stage of a butterfly. In this stage all we do is eat and devour to satisfy our bellies upon which we crawl. But when His judgments are in our earth, everything we once enjoyed no longer satisfies, and it is “cut off from [our] mouth”:

Joe 1:4  That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
Joe 1:5  Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

Amo 4:9  I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.

But this ravenous caterpillar must first become a chrysalis, where the larvae will die. It is through this dying process that we will become a new man made to conform to the image of Christ, able now to mount up to and to dwell in the heavens. But to get to that stage we must first live out these words:

Isa 24:10  The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
Isa 24:11  There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.
Isa 24:12  In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

Only then will our predestinated change come upon us:

Joe 2:25  And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

The end is a good end, but there is so much work that must first be accomplished by the Lord’s “great army”. That is what we will see in our next study where, Lord willing, we will learn that all these prophecies about the death of our old man are really very good news. We certainly do not at first consider our daily dying trials to be ‘good news’, but in His time the Lord brings us to be able to “glorify the Lord in the fires”, which we are at this very time enduring:

Isa 24:13  When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.
Isa 24:14  They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.
Isa 24:15  Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
Isa 24:16  From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
Isa 24:17  Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
Isa 24:18  And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.

It is argued by some that since none of the four gospels specifically states that Christ Himself drank of the cup with His disciples, that therefore He did not drink of that cup, and in fact, never drank any wine. Here, in the interest of demonstrating how the sum of God’s Word must always be used to arrive at the Truth of any matter of scripture, are all four gospel accounts of Christ eating His last passover with His disciples.

Mat 26:20  Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
Mat 26:21  And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

Mat 26:26  And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it; and he gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Mat 26:27  And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28  for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins.
Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I shall not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

Mar 14:22  And as they were eating, he took bread, and when he had blessed, he brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take ye: this is my body.
Mar 14:23  And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them: and they all drank of it.
Mar 14:24  And he said unto them, This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
Mar 14:25  Verily I say unto you, I shall no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

Luk 22:15  And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:
Luk 22:16  for I say unto you, I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
Luk 22:17  And he received a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18  for I say unto you, I shall not drink from henceforth of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20  And the cup in like manner after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, even that which is poured out for you.

Joh 13:1  Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
Joh 13:2  And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;
Joh 13:3  Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;
Joh 13:4  He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
Joh 13:5  After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

Not once in any of these four accounts are we specifically told, ‘Jesus Himself ate of the bread or drank of the wine with His disciples’. We could, and many a prohibitionist does, maintain that Christ never drank wine. But is that what the sum of God’s word teaches us? What does the sum of God’s Word say concerning Christ drinking of this cup, and eating of this bread?

Let’s just put it all together and see what we are being told. Here is what He says in Matthew: “I shall not drink henceforth.

Does not the word “henceforth” mean ‘from this time forward’? Surely no one will argue that if I tell you that I will not eat eggs from this time forward, that this means that I have never in my life eaten eggs, or that I had not eaten eggs in the past five minutes. It simply means that from this time until the appointed time in the future, I will not eat eggs. So too with Christ telling His disciples that He will ‘not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until He drinks it anew with you in My Father’s kingdom’. That is a far cry from saying ‘I have never drunk wine’, and in is in fact, an admission that He had both eaten with and had drunk with His disciples, in the past.

Now let’s examine Mark’s account: “I shall no more drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Once again, is not “I shall no more drink” an explicit admission that He had drunken with His disciples up to this time? Does not the word ‘more’ mean more of the same. If Christ had not ever drank wine with His disciples would He not have said ‘I have never drunken, and I certainly will not be found drinking in My Father’s kingdom’?

Let’s examine Luke’s account of what happened at this passover dinner: “And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: for I say unto you, I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

Here we could say that Christ simply says “I shall not eat it…” except that the other gospels use the words “no more” and “henceforth”, and here in Luke He plainly states that He has desired to “eat this passover with you”. If we are going to contend that Christ did not drink because it is not specifically stated that He drank with His disciples, then we must be consistent and insist that neither did He eat the passover, because it is nowhere specifically stated that Jesus ate with His disciples.

We also need to ask the question, Does “I shall not eat it, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God” mean that Christ lived on this earth 33 years without ever eating? This really is getting absurd! Especially so in light of the rest of “the sum of God’s words” on this subject.

But before we get into that, let’s look at John’s account of Christ’s last passover with His disciples: “And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”

If this account were all we had of the last passover, we could conceivably make the claim that Christ Himself neither ate nor drank during that passover. After all, the only thing we are specifically told is that He washed the feet of His disciples, and wiped them with a towel. But because of this sober warning we do not want to ever be guilty of either adding to or taking away from the sum of God’s Word. Let us all tremble before these words:

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

So what more does the sum of God’s Word reveal to us concerning Christ drinking wine? Here is what we are told:

Mat 11:18  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
Mat 11:19  The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

Notice, they did not say, a ‘grape juice bibber’. Christ was called “a winebibber” because He “came drinking… wine”.

What did that cup of wine which Jesus insisted that all of His disciples drink, symbolize? Here are His own words:

Mat 26:28  For this [cup of wine] is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

“My blood… which is shed for many” is symbolized by a cup of wine, which Christ tells us we must drink with Him because we are also among those for whom He died, and therefore we are as guilty of His death as any:

Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. 

Mar 10:38  But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Mar 10:39  And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

There it is in Christ’s own words! It is His own disciples who are included in those who shed His blood and He drinks of the same cup. But in the end, Christ’s blood will have covered “the sins of the whole world” because that is what His Father sent Him to accomplish. Christ came to save all men.

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. 

“The dream is one” and the cups are all one. They are all the same one cup from which we must all drink for simply coming from The Potter’s hand as a marred vessel of clay, created to be destroyed.

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.

The cup from which the disciples drank was the same cup of which our Lord drank.

Mar 10:38  But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I drink? or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Mar 10:39  And they said unto him, We are able. And Jesus said unto them, The cup that I drink ye shall drink; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

Joh 18:11  Jesus therefore said unto Peter, Put up the sword into the sheath: the cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

So Christ did drink of the same cup of which the disciples drank. He did not drink it again until the kingdom of God came again within His disciples, where He even now resides, and where we are now “filling up in our bodies what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ.

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

In conclusion, if Christ did not eat the bread He broke for His disciples as a type of His own body which was broken for us, then we do not have a Savior who died for us, and if He did not drink wine, then His blood was not shed for us and we need not fill up in our bodies what is behind of His afflictions for His body’s sake which is the church.

But the truth is:

Luk 7:34  The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

Your brother in Christ, Mike

By God’s mercy being shown to His people today through judgment (1Pe 4:17), we can come to a place of being able to deeply praise God and say with all that is in us “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name”(Psa 103:1).

That “all” that is within me, is all of us working together as one body as we glorify God with that same mind, which is the mind of Christ that recognizes the many joints that supply and give thanks to God for the wonderful works (raising and calming of the storms) that He is doing within the body of Christ which we are.

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

1Co 12:12  For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

Eph 4:16  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

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.
Psa 107:33  He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
Psa 107:34  A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
Psa 107:35  He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.
Psa 107:36  And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;
Psa 107:37  And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.
Psa 107:38  He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
Psa 107:39  Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
Psa 107:40  He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
Psa 107:41  Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
Psa 107:42  The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
Psa 107:43  Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

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

Those works of judgment – “the lovingkindness of the Lord” – within our own heavens, which God’s word defines as His work (“For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands” Eph 2:10) will result  in the fruit or increase or triumph that God gives to those who are given to properly identify the enemy within our own carnal minds that needs to be renewed daily and be conformed to the mind of Christ and no longer to the world as we die daily (Rom 12:2-3, 1Co 1:26, 1Co 15:31). That dying daily happens when we “fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church” and will bring about the rejoicing and blessing of the Lord “with all that is within me [us]”.

The cleansing of the inside of our cup is a gift of God that must unfold if we are going to be able to love our enemies, and forgive them from our hearts within.

Luk 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

Mat 6:15  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

We can by His hand working in our lives today come to see that the chastening and scourging and judging which are an ongoing trimming of our own lamps “is, was and will be” what is needed if we are going to be a city set on a hill whose builder and maker is God.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

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.

In this particular study we will look at the last part of our three-part study entitled “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name”, and examine the correlation of that verse with verses 11 to 15 of Psalms 92. We will see all this as simply another way of defining “the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Heb 13:15).

God causes this “flourishing” within His vineyard as a witness to all of the world of the joy of His kingdom, of which we are experiencing within ourselves today in earnest, knowing that one day in the fullness, when “in a moment, in the  twinkling of an eye”, we will praise God for the ultimate deliverance from our flesh, even as we praise him today for helping us to endure until the end.

Heb 13:15  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Psa 18:49  Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
Psa 18:50  Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Col 1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Job 38:6  Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
Job 38:7  When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Psa 92:11  Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.
Psa 92:12  The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Psa 92:13  Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
Psa 92:14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
Psa 92:15  To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Psa 92:11  Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.

It should sound foreign to our ears to think of this admonition in verse 11 as applying only to someone outside of ourselves. God has given His people to see how blessed we are to know that His goodness enables us to examine ourselves daily so that “Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me” within ourselves.

2Co 13:5  Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

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

Mat 7:5  Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

If we’re not attentive to the fact that sin is at the door and desires to rule over us, then the devil will find his foothold on our complacent hearts that have forgotten that we are the man, and our own worse enemy, and that we must be bringing every thought into subjection unto Christ so that we can rule and reign over that man of sin within us who wants to dominate our spiritual heavens by having us forget where the battle resides; just as verse 10 reminds us where our strength comes from.

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

2Sa 12:7  And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

2Pe 1:9  But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

Eph 4:27  Neither give place to the devil. (KJV)

Eph 4:27  And do not give the devil a foothold (NIV)

Eph 4:27  Neither be giving place unto the adversary; (Rotherham)

Eph 4:27  And give no place to the Accuser.(Murdock)

Eph 4:27  Don’t give the devil a way to defeat you. (ERV)

Eph 4:27  Don’t give the devil any opportunity to work.(GW)

Eph 4:28  Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Eph 4:29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

2Co 10:5  When we pull down, calculations, and every height that uplifteth itself against the knowledge of God, and when we bring into captivity every thought unto the obedience of the Christ,

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  Because our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but, against the principalities, against the authorities, against the world-holders, of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies.
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.

Psa 92:10  But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
Psa 92:11  Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.

Psa 92:12  The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Psa 92:13  Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.

The righteous are likened to a palm tree and a cedar in Lebanon in verse 12.

In John 12:13 they took branches of palm trees and “went forth to meet him” crying “Hosanna”. In the early stages of our walk, we want to “meet him”, the physical Christ and Saviour, and we cry “Hosanna” which means ‘Save now!’ or ‘Save, we beseech’, which according to Easton’s dictionary was a customary form of acclamation at the feast of Tabernacles. This praise is genuine and heartfelt, but short-lived when the flesh comes to realize that Christ has not come to save ‘now’ at this particular time.

Joh 12:13  Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna  Save now! or Save, we beseech, (Mat_21:9). This was a customary form of acclamation at the feast of Tabernacles. (Compare Psa_118:25.) 

G5614  hōsanna ho-san-nah’  Of Hebrew origin [H3467] and [H4994]; oh save!; hosanna (that is, hoshia-na), an exclamation of adoration: – hosanna.

The true gospel message of how we are saved is hidden from the masses (Mat 13:10-11) who are wanting Christ to be their physical saviour now while He is in the flesh. That spirit has not changed in the hearts of mankind who are still desirous of a physical deliverance in the flesh, looking for a gospel message that is easy to bear and does not require laying down our life to follow Him, going where we don’t want to go. The miracle of providing wine when there was none left at the marriage in Cana, was symbolic of those earthen vessels (God’s elect) that God would miraculously change within from being vessels of water to becoming vessels who have the word of God within them. Christ’s turning the water to wine was, as he said, asking him to do something before his time: “mine hour is not yet come”, and was symbolic of the wine (the word) that he is going to provide through the body of Christ one day (Joh 2:1-11, Isa 3:1).

Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Joh 21:18  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

Joh 2:4  Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

The parable in chapter 12 of John reveals how Christ brings the beast (the donkey in this case, which represents the beasts we are Ecc 3:18) into subjection unto Himself.  Christ tells us He is the way and the truth and the life (Joh 14:6) into the narrow gates of New Jerusalem which is above (Gal 4:26).

We go into that city only because the Father has granted us dominion over the beast through Christ (Rev 13:4, Ecc 3:8).  The other thing to notice is that the beastly flesh of Christ is also in subjection to the Father as He is used to crush the palms of fronds (Mat 21:44) which are being laid in the way as He enters into Jerusalem. We can see therefore our being crushed by our Lord who is directing the beast, is represented by these fronds that are lined up and put in the way of Christ so we can fill up what is behind of His afflictions and be used to help others to enter into Jerusalem above when God deems that time to begin (Col 1:24). This event is another way of saying the grapes have to be crushed in order to fill those earthen vessels with the best wine. Also it’s interesting to note that Christ rides this donkey in contrast to our beast which at first is directed by the harlot. That beast is predestinated to go into perdition (Rev 17:3, Rev 17:8, 2Th 2:8).

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?

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

Mat 21:8  And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.

Joh 12:13  Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Mat 21:44  And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

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

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 17:8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

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:

The cedar also represents Christ and His Christ as these following verses make very clear. We are that second bird that God is directing by the first bird Christ, who was slain for us and become our high priest who is able to guide and direct us through this wilderness experience that is used to purify His life within each of us (Col 1:24, Col 1:27)

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Lev 14:4  Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

Lev 14:6  As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:

Lev 14:49  And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

Lev 14:51  And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times:
Lev 14:52  And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:

Num 19:6  And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

Scripture that uses the word palm:

Exo 15:27  And they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

Lev 14:15  And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand:
Lev 14:26  And the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand:

Lev 23:40  And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.

Num 33:9  And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there.

Deu 34:3  And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar.

Jdg 1:16  And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

Jdg 3:13  And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees.

Jdg 4:5  And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

1Ki 6:29  And he carved all the walls of the house round about with carved figures of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, within and without.

1Ki 6:32  The two doors also were of olive tree; and he carved upon them carvings of cherubims and palm trees and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees.

1Ki 6:35  And he carved thereon cherubims and palm trees and open flowers: and covered them with gold fitted upon the carved work.

1Ki 7:36  For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.

2Ch 3:5  And the greater house he cieled with fir tree, which he overlaid with fine gold, and set thereon palm trees and chains.

2Ch 28:15  And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

Neh 8:15  And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.

Psa 92:12  The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Son 7:7  This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.
Son 7:8  I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;

Jer 10:5  They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.

Eze 40:16  And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches: and windows were round about inward: and upon each post were palm trees.

Eze 40:22  And their windows, and their arches, and their palm trees, were after the measure of the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them.

Eze 40:26  And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them: and it had palm trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof.

Eze 40:31  And the arches thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof: and the going up to it had eight steps.

Eze 40:34  And the arches thereof were toward the outward court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps.

Eze 40:37  And the posts thereof were toward the utter court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the going up to it had eight steps.

Eze 41:18  And it was made with cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;
Eze 41:19  So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the other side: it was made through all the house round about.
Eze 41:20  From the ground unto above the door were cherubims and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple.

Eze 41:25  And there were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls; and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch without.
Eze 41:26  And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks.

Joe 1:12  The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

Joh 12:13  Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Joh 18:22  And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?

Scripture that use the word cedar:

Lev 14:4  Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

Lev 14:6  As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water:

Lev 14:49  And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop:

Lev 14:51  And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times:
Lev 14:52  And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet:

Num 19:6  And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

Num 24:6  As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.

2Sa 5:11  And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.

2Sa 7:2  That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.

2Sa 7:7  In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?

1Ki 4:33  And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

1Ki 5:6  Now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants: and unto thee will I give hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt appoint: for thou knowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like unto the Sidonians.

1Ki 5:8  And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for: and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir.

1Ki 5:10  So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire.

1Ki 6:9  So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.
1Ki 6:10  And then he built chambers against all the house, five cubits high: and they rested on the house with timber of cedar.

1Ki 6:15  And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.
1Ki 6:16  And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards of cedar: he even built them for it within, even for the oracle, even for the most holy place.

1Ki 6:18  And the cedar of the house within was carved with knops and open flowers: all was cedar; there was no stone seen.

1Ki 6:20  And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold; and so covered the altar which was of cedar.

1Ki 6:36  And he built the inner court with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.

1Ki 7:2  He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon; the length thereof was an hundred cubits, and the breadth thereof fifty cubits, and the height thereof thirty cubits, upon four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams upon the pillars.
1Ki 7:3  And it was covered with cedar above upon the beams, that lay on forty five pillars, fifteen in a row.

1Ki 7:7  Then he made a porch for the throne where he might judge, even the porch of judgment: and it was covered with cedar from one side of the floor to the other.

1Ki 7:12  And the great court round about was with three rows of hewed stones, and a row of cedar beams, both for the inner court of the house of the LORD, and for the porch of the house.

1Ki 9:11  (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

2Ki 14:9  And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.

2Ki 19:23  By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Carmel.

1Ch 22:4  Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.

2Ch 1:15  And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the vale for abundance.

2Ch 2:8  Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,

2Ch 9:27  And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the low plains in abundance.

2Ch 25:18  And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.

Ezr 3:7  They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.

Job 40:17  He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.

Psa 92:12  The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Son 1:17  The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

Son 8:9  If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.

Isa 41:19  I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

Jer 22:14  That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
Jer 22:15  Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

Eze 17:3  And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:

Eze 17:22  Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:
Eze 17:23  In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
Eze 27:24  These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.

Eze 31:3  Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.

Zep 2:14  And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.

Zec 11:2  Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down.

What we’ve just discussed about the palm and the cedar can help us better understand what it means to be “planted in the house of the LORD” and how we don’t flourish outside of His courts and can only truly worship God in spirit and truth after we have been “planted^H8362 or transplanted in the house of the Lord.” Luke 13:6-13 is a parable of this transplanting that takes place in the life of His children:

Luk 13:6  He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
Luk 13:7  Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
Luk 13:8  And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
Luk 13:9  And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
Luk 13:10  And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.
Luk 13:11  And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.
Luk 13:12  And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
Luk 13:13  And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

This woman represents the same fig tree that won’t bear fruit until that “year” of the Lord, and can only make her ways straight after she is judged, or as stated “loosed from thine infirmity” which she had for eighteen years to come to this point where “this year” she will be made free by Christ through judgment typified by the numbers 1 and 8 that add up to 9 which is the number for judgment.

H8362    shâthal     shaw-thal’

A primitive root; to transplant: – plant.

The symbolism continues to grow in that we are the temple of God, and within that physical temple we see how the physical cedar and palm is used to explain our role and sacrificial function in God’s house which has been built and is being built by His hands (Rom 12:1, Act 17:24, Eph 2:10).

Psa 92:14  They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
Psa 92:15  To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Without the sacrifice and the judgment that is clearly connected to the words ‘palm and cedar’ we would not “bring forth fruit in old age”, neither would we be “fat and flourishing”, because we know that ability is given of the Lord, that increase, “to shew that the LORD is upright” and that “he is my [our] rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

Without re-writing the study on the positive application of the colour green: “Green” Part 3 (http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/the-spiritual-significance-of-colors-in-scripture-green-part-3/) , suffice is to say that the Strong’s number for “flourishing” in verse 14 is most often (18 out of 20 times) translated as the english word “green”, which is a mixture of blue (heavenly/Spirit) and yellow (sickly/dying/flesh).

flourishing^H7488 of verse 14 and fresh^H7488 of verse 10 in this Psalm:

– Strong’s: From an unused root meaning to be green;
verdant; by analogy new; figuratively prosperous: – green flourishing.

Total KJV Occurrences: 20

•flourishing, 1

Psa_92:14
•fresh, 1

Psa_92:10
•green, 18

Deu_12:2; 1Ki_14:23; 2Ki_16:4; 2Ki_17:10; 2Ch_28:4; Job_15:32; Psa_37:35; Psa_52:8; Son_1:16; Isa_57:5; Jer_2:20; Jer_3:6; Jer_3:13; Jer_11:16; Jer_17:2; Jer_17:8; Eze_6:13; Hos_14:8

In this case in verse 14, it is the positive application of the blue working with the yellow, or as Mike wrote in that study:

“On the positive side, green identifies with those who have the seal of God in their foreheads. Green typifies God’s elect, green typifies the tree of life, and all who are ‘in Him’ as saviors of mankind.”

Knowing that God is doing this for us today is the reason we “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name”

We are like King David knowing that we have nothing to offer God and that we are giving back to God that which was his already. It is both humbling and amazing beyond words to consider what God has set before those who love him in this age.

1Ch 29:14  But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

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.

What fruit we will bring forth in our old age as stated in this verse is more a reference to our being mature in the Lord which is when we can bring forth fruit. Joseph typifies the increase that God has set before us and it is going to be abundant beyond what any of us can think or imagine in this life.

Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Joh 15:9  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

Isa 54:1  Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

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.

Gen 43:34  And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Eph 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Eph 3:21  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.