The Book of Jeremiah – Jer 23:1-20 In My House Both Prophet and Priest are Profane
Jer 23:1-20 In My House Both Prophet and Priest are Profane
[Study Aired November 7, 2021]
Jer 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Jer 23:2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
Jer 23:4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Jer 23:7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
Jer 23:8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
Jer 23:9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
Jer 23:10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
Jer 23:11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
Jer 23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
Jer 23:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
Jer 23:16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
Jer 23:17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
Jer 23:18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
Jer 23:19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
Jer 23:20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
The Lord is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
The same is true for those who rebel and disobey and ignore Him. Disobedience and iniquity also have their reward:
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Holding the father’s sins over their children was changed, and each person was made to give an accounting for his own sins in the time of the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel:
Jer 31:28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
Jer 31:29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
Jer 31:30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
Jer 31:31 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:
Jer 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33 But this shall be 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; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.Eze 18:2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
Eze 18:3 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
Every generation will now be made to give an accounting for itself, and every individual will stand before the judgment seat of Christ:
Rom 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
Rom 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Rom 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
It was Christ Himself who told us:
Luk 12:47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
It is this “fire” of the Lord which will judge every man when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ. If we have been “given…much”, and yet have not freely fed the Lord’s sheep, then this is the “fire which will judge us in that day:
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.
Therefore, it is those who know so much, or who think they know so much, to whom these words are addressed:
Jer 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Jer 23:2 Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
“The pastors that feed my people” in the Lord’s day were the chief priests and the Pharisees, as we are told in the parable of the “householder which planted a vineyard…and let it out to husbandmen.”
Mat 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
Mat 21:34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
Mat 21:35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Mat 21:36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
Mat 21:37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Mat 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mat 21:39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
Mat 21:40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
Mat 21:41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
Mat 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
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.
Mat 21:45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake them.
Mat 21:46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
You and I are living out these words. The vineyard the Lord has given us is each other, His people, and we are His husbandmen. The winepress and the tower signify Himself and His words which He has given to us to shepherd and pastor His people and remind them of His judgments:
Pro 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Mat 26:27 And he took the cup [of wine], and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Mat 26:29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom [which “is within you” (Luk 17:20-21)].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 last day” is also called “the end of the world” (Greek: aion, age):
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 [Greek: G165 ‘aion’, age] are come.
We are living in “the end of the age” because we are being judged in “this present time” by the fiery words of Christ who “[came] to bring fire”:
Luk 12:49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
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?
All these words which the prophets of the Old Testament and the prophets of the New Testament are speaking are intended only for those with eyes that see and ears that hear. All the rest of mankind have been given eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear.
God’s judgments begin at His own house:
Eze 9:6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
Eze 9:7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
Eze 9:8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
Eze 9:9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
The Lord will not “destroy all the residue of Israel”. He always saves and spares His elect as He did in type to Noah, to Job, to the three Hebrew children at the fiery furnace, to Daniel in the lion’s den, and to you and me as a living sacrifice which is dying daily (Rom 12:1, 1Co 15:31).
Jer 23:3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
Jer 23:4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
What a blessing it is to have shepherds over us to feed us without fear, without dismay, and lacking nothing!
Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
The Lord is that “Righteous Branch”, and if He is living His life within us, then we are His Christ.
Lest there be any doubt that what we are being told is that He lives within us, notice that His name is in the plural – “Our Righteousness”:
Jer 23:6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Furthermore, we are even told that we are no longer to consider ourselves as those who simply come out of Egypt. Rather, we are to come to see ourselves as those who come out of Babylon:
Jer 23:7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
Jer 23:8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
We all see ourselves as slaves to Egypt long before we can even begin to see that we are not given to understand we are in Babylon, the great whore who rules over everything we think and do. We are all brought to Christ by some Babylonian minister, and we cannot see that the man, or group of men, whom the Lord used to bring us to see that we need a Savior could possibly be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Yet the very next words of this prophecy verifies our Lord’s words to the “pastors” of His day and the pastors of our own time:
Mat 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
We have all come to our Lord and were then told we did so of our own free will, so making ourselves righteous, and thereby we commit iniquity:
Eze 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.
As the entire book of Job demonstrates there is nothing more abhorrent to the Lord than the sin of self-righteousness, which is iniquity:
This link deals with the sin of self-righteousness as written about in Job 40:1-14
‘The whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water’ are taken away from us while we are enslaved to this self-righteous spirit:
Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,
False prophets deceive those who have no bread or water by which to judge false prophets who then easily cause us to follow spiritually adulterous prophets and priests. Without the Lord’s ‘bread’ and without His ‘water’ we are not capable of trying the spirits to see whether they are of God:
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
It is because we are in this helpless condition and at the mercy of merciless spiritual wolves that this is the lament of those who can and who do “try the spirits to see whether they are of God”:
Jer 23:9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
Jer 23:10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
“Their force is not right” because they get their ‘force’, their ‘power’, from the dragon who is that old serpent the devil:
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev 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?
“That old serpent, called the devil, and Satan [has] deceived the whole world” and the whole world gets its power from “the great dragon”. Nowhere is this more on display than in the religions of this world, even in the Lord’s own house:
Jer 23:11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
If we are those who lament these things, it is only because we have been there and done that. We, too, were all deceived by “the devil and Satan which deceives the whole world”, and it is all the work of the Lord Himself.
Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
Eze 14:9 And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Eze 14:10 And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;
It is we ourselves who have been “like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness,” some of which are:
Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep [Because they have been through the storms, and they know who commands the storms of life].
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD or his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Here are more words which the deceived purveyors of “smooth things” cannot abide (Isa 30:10):
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Isa 30:8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Isa 30:9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Isa 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Notice that “smooth things [and] deceits” are contrasted with “right things… much tribulation [and] dying daily (Act 14:22 and 1Co 15:31).
There are consequences when we fail to give all glory to the Lord and when we do not believe His words. There are consequences to refusing to believe that the Lord Himself made our own old man “wicked for [His own] day of evil”.
Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
This is part of the consequences of refusing to agree with the Lord that He “creates evil” (Isa 45:7) and makes the wicked within us for our own day of evil:
Jer 23:12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
Jer 23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
You and I have been and “have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem… [spiritual] adultery, walk[ing] in lies… [refusing] to return from [their] wickedness”.
Jer 23:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets [that prophesy lies]; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
Jer 23:16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
Their words are not founded in “that which is written”, and they will always refuse to seek a multitude of counselors within the Lord’s body to keep them from slipping away from the safety of His Words.
Pro 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
Pro 15:22 Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.
Pro 24:6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
1Co 4:6 Now these things, brothers, I applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us ye might learn not to think above that which is written, so that ye may not be puffed up, one over the one against the other.
When the Lord removes His fear from us (Isa 63:17), “we cannot hear [His] words”:
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
We continue forth in our spiritually blind and deaf ways teaching the lies of the adversary:
Jer 23:17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
The adversary is “more subtle than any beast of the field” and knows just how to frame a false lying doctrine to make it appeal to our flesh and to our pride, even as it denies what the Word plainly teaches. The adversary is so subtle that he has convinced many that “the resurrection is past already”:
2Ti 2:16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
2Ti 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
2Ti 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
It once puzzled me how anyone could possibly think that the resurrection is past already or that there is no literal thousand-year reign of the saints over the kingdoms of this world. After all, we are told to wait for the manifestation of the sons of God. We are told that Christ Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and we are told that those who are in the first resurrection will reign with Christ a thousand years, and then “when the thousand years are finished… we shall judge angels” at the great white throne judgment which does not take place until “the thousand years are finished”:
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
It was obvious to Paul that there was a future ‘suffering’ which was not ‘of this present time’, and those who would have a part in that suffering were not “wait[ing] for the manifestation of the sons of God” to judge them via those ‘sufferings’ and to be their “saviors” (Obadiah 1:21).
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Yes, it is true that we are already “dead with Christ (and) raised up together with (Christ)”, but this is all in the aorist tense in the Greek, meaning it is a process which is taking place at this present moment. However, the phrase “shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” happens to be in the Greek future tense:
“…we shall beG2071 [G5704] alsoG235 G2532 in the likeness of his resurrectionG386:
G5704
Tense-Future See [G5776]
Voice-No Voice Stated See [G5799]
Mood -Indicative See [G5791]
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized [aorist tense, ‘being baptized’] into Jesus Christ were baptized [aorist tense, ‘being baptised’] into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with [aorist tense, ‘being buried with’] him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up [aorist tense, Christ is being raised up within us] from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk [aorist tense, ‘should be walking’] in newness of life.
We are being blinded by the Lord from seeing that what we have in Christ at this very moment, while it is a precious gift, is ours only in down payment, “earnest” form:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
“The earnest of our inheritance” is not “the redemption of the purchased possession”. It is a mere down payment. Here is how Strong’s defines the Greek word translated as ‘earnest’ in Ephesians 1:14:
G728
ἀῤῥαβών
arrhabōn
ar-hrab-ohn’
Of Hebrew origin [H6162]; a pledge, that is, part of the purchase money or property given in advance as security for the rest: – earnest.
“The redemption of the purchased possession” is the best part of our inheritance which is yet to come and for which we must ‘wait in hope’:
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now [“Waiting for (the first resurrection), the manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom 8:19)].
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Despite these very clear words, the adversary has convinced many that there is no difference between the two resurrections or the two judgments.
We are clearly made to know that we are merely “the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb”:
Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
As Paul puts it in:
Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
It was given to the apostle John to reveal to us what is meant by “to the praise of His glory”. Here is the “blessed and holy” meaning of that phrase:
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
This is what Christ called “the resurrection to life” after having already been judged in “this present time”:
Joh 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation [Greek: ‘krisis’, judgment – the great white throne judgment].
Despite these words which tell us of the reward the Lord has for those to whom He has given the gift of being the “first [to] trust in Christ”, the adversary has convinced many that “the resurrection is past already” and that there is no difference between the rewards of the two resurrections. Such a doctrine would have you believe that contrary to “that which is written” the great multitude which no man could number” will after all sing the song of which we are told:
Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
How has the adversary been able to even make that assertion considering all these statements and many, many more which make clear all the blessings given to those who “suffer with Christ” in this present time (Rom 8:17)? He has done it by teaching that there is no outward physical blessing for being the first to trust in Christ. He had been given the power to convince many that the inward, spiritual death and resurrection of Christ within us is all that matters, and that is all that is needed for the plan of God for mankind to be fulfilled. Nothing could be further from the Truth, because this is the Truth which is taught by scripture:
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Death cannot be destroyed if physical children continue being born to dying bodies of corruptible flesh and blood.
1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
So, the prophet Jeremiah asks:
Jer 23:18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
It certainly has not been those who are teaching that the resurrection is past already or that there is no real difference between the first and the second resurrection.
I tell the story of two Concordant brothers approaching me at our conference in the Las Brisas Hotel in Alabama, back about 2004. They both asked, “Why do you make such a big deal out of being in the first resurrection?” I pointed to all these verses we have just read, but it all went right over their heads because they were blinded by the false doctrine of ‘two administrations’ which the Concordant Conferences teach. That doctrine teaches that there are two gospels – one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. That doctrine teaches that the Jews inherit the earth, and the Gentiles inherit the heavens. Nothing could be further from this truth:
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Eph 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Christ is not making of twain, twain. He is making of twain “one new man…”
Then a sister who left our fellowship along with four of our elders, told me very plainly, “I don’t care which resurrection I am in. It doesn’t matter to me at all whether I am in the first or the second resurrection.” She said that because she had fallen for the false doctrine those four elders were peddling, that “Everything is within… if you see anything in an ordinal, outward sense then you can and you will miss the spiritual message of scripture.” Nothing could be further from these words of scripture concerning the ordinal and outward fulfillment of the prophecies of scripture:
1Co 15:44 It is [first] sown a natural body; it is [then] 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 [first] borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
The Truth is the exact opposite of what our apostate elders were teaching. The truth is that if you are not given to see the order of the events discussed in these verses, then you can and you will miss the spiritual message of the prophecies of scripture, and this is what comes upon us while we live under those lies:
Jer 23:19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
Jer 23:20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
“The latter days” come upon two separate groups. The first is in “this present time”, and the second group are those who come up in “the resurrection of damnation” (Greek: ‘krisis’ judgment – Joh 5:27-29).
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 [Greek: ‘aion’, age] are come.
The phrase, “the ends of the world are come”, is in the aorist tense. That means that “judgment [has] begun at the house of God” right now in “this present time”:
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
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?
The “whirlwind from the Lord in His fury” is the seven last plagues” of Revelation 15-16, of which we are told:
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.
“No man [can] enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled” is in the aorist tense. It is my fervent prayer that everyone of us is being judged in this present time.
Here are our verses for our next study:
Jer 23:21 I have not sent these propets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
Jer 23:22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
Jer 23:23 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
Jer 23:25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
Jer 23:26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
Jer 23:27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.
Jer 23:28 The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.
Jer 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Jer 23:30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
Jer 23:31 Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
Jer 23:32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.
Jer 23:34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.
Jer 23:35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
Jer 23:36 And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.
Jer 23:37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath the LORD spoken?
Jer 23:38 But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;
Jer 23:39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:
Jer 23:40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
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- Who Is My Adversary, and Why Should I Agree With Him? (August 30, 2016)
- The Truth About Satan (July 6, 2006)
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- The Book of Jeremiah - Jer 4:21-31 The Whole Land Shall be Desolate - Yet Will I not Make a Full End (March 6, 2021)
- The Book of Jeremiah - Jer 23:1-20 In My House Both Prophet and Priest are Profane (November 6, 2021)
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- Job 9:13-24 "He Breaks Me With A Tempest" (January 2, 2012)
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- Is Satan Just Symbolic? (March 25, 2010)
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- Crooked Serpent represent Babylon? (March 30, 2009)
- Continue to Fight the Good Fight (June 23, 2011)
- Book of Jeremiah - Jer 36:17-32 He Shall Have None to sit Upon the Throne of David (April 23, 2022)
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