Sanctification began when God made a distinction between the seed of Cain
The Law was given to the Israelite’s so they could distinguish between the gods of the nations and the God who redeemed them of Egypt whom they were called to serve. To separate themselves from the customs of the nations so they could serve the God of Israel and bare Him fruit. All the things stipulated in the Law that you were not to do, were the things that they were doing in Babylon, Sodom, and Egypt.
LEVITICUS 20: KEEP ALL MY DECREES
6And the soul that turns after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. 7Sanctify [h6942] yourselves therefore, and be you holy [h6918]: for I am the LORD your God. 8And you shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify [h6942]you.
EXODUS 19 : ISRAEL AT MOUNT SINAI
5Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and an Holy [h6918]nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.
LEVITICUS 20: KEEP ALL MY DECREES
22Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all mine ordinances, and do them; that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, vomit you not out. 23And ye shall not walk in the customs of the nation,which I cast out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. 24But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Jehovah your God, who hath separated [h914] you from the peoples. 25Ye shall therefore make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by bird, or by anything wherewith the ground teemeth, which I have separated [h914]from you as unclean. 26And ye shall be holy [h6918] unto me: for I, Jehovah, am holy [h6918], and have set you apart from the peoples, that ye should be mine.
“one of these things is not like the other”
Matthew 13 : The Purpose of Jesus’ Parables (Mark 4:10-12)
10And the disciples came, and said to him, Why speak you to them in parables [g3850]? 11He answered and said to them, Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12For whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whoever has not, from him shall be taken away even that he has. 13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand[h4920]. 14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which said, By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand[h4920]; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive: 15For 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[h4920]with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceParable [g3850] occurs 50 times in 48 verses
a similitude —comparison a placing of one thing by the side of another,
juxtaposition, as of ships in battle
metaphorically: a comparing, comparison of one thing with another, likeness, similitude
an example by which a doctrine or precept is illustrated
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceUnderstand [h4920]
to put together, i.e. (mentally) to comprehend;
to set or join together in the mind
i.e. to understand: the man of understanding
idiom for: a good and upright man (having the knowledge of those things which pertain to salvation)
Psalms 1 : The Two Paths
1Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. 2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law does he meditate day and night. 3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. 4The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6For the LORD knows the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
UNGODLY ARE LIKE CHAFF
THE RIGHTEOUS ARE FRUITFUL
BROAD PATH OF DESTRUCTION
-vs-
NARROW PATH OF LIFE
PAVED WITH GOLD
-vs-
PAVED WITH BLOOD
PROVERBS 7 : THE ADULTRESS
24Listen to me now therefore, O you children, and attend to the words of my mouth. 25Let not your heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. 26For she has cast down many wounded: yes, many strong men have been slain by her. 27Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
PSALM 17
3You have proved my heart; you have visited me in the night; you have tried me, and shall find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. 4Concerning the works of men, by the word of your lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. 5Hold up my goings in your paths, that my footsteps slip not.
THE VALLEY OF DECISION
Joel 3 : The Valley of Decision
12Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. 13Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. 14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision[h2742]: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision[h2742].
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceDecision [h2742] occurs 18 times in 17 verses
- Decision; properly, incised or (active) incisive;
- hence (as noun masculine or feminine) a trench (as dug), gold (as mined),(figuratively) determination;
- also eager:—decision, diligent, pointed things, sharp, threshing instrument, wall.
- something decided; hence judgement.
- a threshing-sledge (having sharp teeth);
When you make a
DECISION
to follow Christ,
and take up your cross you are
CUTTING OFF from SIN
from lusts of the flesh,
and ways of the world
-and-
JOINING to HIM
by crucifying our
passions and lusts.
We are
FROM THE WORLD
-because we are-
“RECONCILED” with God through His Son
Those NOT RECONCILED to Him
are considered
NAKED and in a DIVORCED state
and will be BLOTTED OUT of the Book of Life
-vs-
Those RECONCILED to Him
are CLOTHED with His RIGHTEOUSNESS
because we we are COVERED (atoned)
by GRACE and mercy.
- FLESH
- WORTHLESS
- EMPTY
- LOSS
- VANITY
- LIES, DECEIT
- DARKNESS
- PRIDE
- WICKED
- INIQUITY
- UNHOLY
- UNJUST
- UNCLEAN
- ROUGH
- SCARLET WOOL
- BITTER
- CROOKED PATHS
- DESTROYED
-vs-
- SPIRIT
- VALUABLE
- PROFITABLE
- GAIN
- FRUIT
- TRUTH
- LIGHT
- HUMILITY
- JUSTIFIED
- RIGHTEOUS
- HOLY
- JUSTIFIED
- CLEAN
- SMOOTH
- WHITE LINEN
- SWEET
- STRAIGHT PATH
- PRESERVED, BLAMELESS
The WINDsymbolizesTHE HOLY SPIRITused to
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceSpirit [h7307] רוּחַ rûwach, roo’-akh; occurs 378 times in 348 verses
- wind; by resemblance breath,
- i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation;
- figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality;
- by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions):—air, anger, blast, breath
from H7306; רוּחַ rûwach, roo’-akh; occurs 11 times in 11 verses
- a primitive root;
- properly, to blow,
- i.e. breathe;
- only (literally) to smell or (by implication, perceive (figuratively, to anticipate, enjoy):—accept, smell
- make of quick understanding.
we must worship God in spirit and truth
John 4 : Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
22You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth[g225]: for the Father seeks such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth[g225].
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceTruth [g225] occurs 110 times in 99 verses
- what is true in any matter under consideration
from alēthḗs [g227]
- true (as not concealing)
True [g228] ἀληθινός alēthinós occurs 27 times in 25 verses
that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name, real, true genuine
opposite to what is fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated or pretended
it contrasts realities with their semblances
opposite to what is imperfect defective, frail, uncertain
true, veracious, sincere
John 14 : JESUS PROMISES THE HOLY SPIRIT
16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17Even the Spirit of truth[g225]; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.
John 16 : The Spirit of Truth (Joel 2:28-32; John 14:15-26; Acts 2:1-13; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 19:1-7)
5But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asks me, Where go you? 6But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send him to you. 8And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and you see me no more; 11Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
12I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13However, when he, the Spirit of truth[g225], is come, he will guide you into all truth[g225]: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. 14He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it to you. 15All things that the Father has are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it to you.
16A little while, and you shall not see me: and again, a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to the Father.
The HOLY SPIRIT isTHE SPIRIT OF TRUTH and our COMFORTERand our THRESHING INSTRUMENTwhich guides us in TRUTH(which was prophecied to be given to us by Isaiah)
Isaiah 41 : God’s Help to Israel
13For I the LORD your God will hold your right hand, saying to you, Fear not; I will help you. 14Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, said the LORD, and your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 15Behold, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: you shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shall make the hills as chaff. 16You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and you shall rejoice in the LORD, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.
LIFTED UP PRIDE
-vs-
BOUGHED OVER HUMILITY
PSALM 119 :
49Remember the word to your servant, on which you have caused me to hope. 50This is my comfort in my affliction: for your word has quickened me. 51The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from your law. I remembered your judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself. 53Horror has taken hold on me because of the wicked that forsake your law.
Sanctify them in truth, Your word is truth
John 17 : Prayer for the Disciples
13And now come I to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15I pray not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17Sanctify them through your truth : your word is truth[g225]. 18As you have sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth[g225].
James 1 : Perseverance in Temptation
18Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth[g225], that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
1 Peter 1 : The Word of the Lord Stands Forever(Isaiah 40:6-8)
22Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth[g225] through the Spirit to unfeigned love of the brothers, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and stays for ever.
Our souls are purified by obedience to the truth,
THROUGH HIS HOLY SPIRIT
WHICH IS GIVEN TO THOSE WHO OBEY HIM
Acts 5 :
32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and [so is] also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
Ephesians 5 : Children of Light
8For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth[g225]; 10Proving what is acceptable to the Lord. 11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatever does make manifest is light.
1 John 5 : Overcoming the World
5Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth[g225]. 7For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
The spirit bears witness, because the spirit is truth
Psalm 96 : Sing to O Lord, All the Earth
10Say among the heathen that the LORD reigns: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. 11Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof. 12Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice. 13Before the LORD: for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his Truth [h530].
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceTruth [h530] אֱמוּנָה ʼĕmûwnâh, occurs 49 times in 49 verses
- literally firmness;
- figuratively security;
- morally fidelity:—faith(-ful, -ly, -ness, (man)), set office, stability, steady, truly, truth, verily.
Psalm 98 : Sing to the Lord a New Song! (Psalm 149:1-9; Isaiah 42:10-17)
1O sing to the LORD a new song; for he has done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, has gotten him the victory. 2The LORD has made known his salvation: his righteousness has he openly showed in the sight of the heathen. 3He has remembered his mercy and his Truth [h530] toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. 5Sing to the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. 6With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. 7Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. 8Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together. 9Before the LORD; for he comes to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with Equity [h4339]
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceEquity [h4339] מֵישָׁר mêyshâr, may-shawr’; occurs 19 times in 19 verses
- evenness,
- i.e. (figuratively) prosperity or concord;
- also straightness,
- i.e. (figuratively) rectitude (only in plural with singular sense; often adverbially):
- —agreement, aright, that are equal, equity, (things that are) right(-eously, things), sweetly, upright(-ly, -ness).
- from H3474;
Psalm 26 :
3For your loving kindness is before my eyes: and I have walked in your truth[h571].
4I have not sat with vain [h7723]persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceVain [h7723] שָׁוְא shâvᵉʼ occurs 53 times in 48 verses
- from the same as H7722 in the sense of desolating;
- emptiness, vanity, falsehood
- evil (as destructive),
- literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile);
- figuratively idolatry (as false, subjective),
- USELESSNESS (as deceptive, objective; also adverbially, in vain):
- FALSEHOOD, LIES, DECEIT
Vanity [h7358] רִיק rîyq, reek occurs 12 times in 12 verses
- from H7324;
- EMPTINESS;
- WORTHLESS
- NO PURPOSE
- DEVOID OF TRUTH
Psalm 4 : Answer Me When I Call!
2O you sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? how long will you love vanity [h7358], and seek after leasing? Selah.
3But know that the LORD has set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call to him.
Psalm 145 : David’s Psalm of Praise
17The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
18The LORD is near to all them that call on him, to all that call on him in truth[h571].
19He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
20The LORD preserves all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceTruth [h571] occurs 127 times in 125 verses
- stability;
- (figuratively) certainty, truth, trustworthiness:
- assured(-ly), establishment, faithful, right, sure, true, verity.
contracted from H539; a primitive root; occurs 108 times in 102 verses
- to go to the right hand) properly
The Lord preserves those who LOVe him
and call upon him in TRUTH
but the wicked he will destroy
Psalm 25 :
4Show me your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. 5Lead me in your truth[h571], and teach me: for you are the God of my salvation; on you do I wait all the day. 6Remember, O LORD, your tender mercies and your loving kindnesses; for they have been ever of old. 7Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to your mercy remember you me for your goodness’ sake, O LORD. 8Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. 9The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. 10All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth[h571]to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
The paths of the lord are mercy and truth
Psalm 86 :
11Teach me your way, O LORD; I will walk in your truth[h571]: unite my heart to fear your name. 12I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify your name for ever more.
Psalm 31 :Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit
1In you, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in your righteousness. 2Bow down your ear to me; deliver me speedily: be you my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me. 3For you are my rock and my fortress; therefore for your name’s sake lead me, and guide me. 4Pull me out of the net that they have laid privately for me: for you are my strength. 5Into your hand I commit my spirit: you have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth[h571]. 6I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
2 Timothy 4 : Preach the Word
1I charge you therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth[g225], and shall be turned to fables. 5But watch you in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry.
Acts 2 :
28Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood. 29For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 32And now, brothers, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. 33I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. 34Yes, you yourselves know, that these hands have ministered to my necessities, and to them that were with me. 35I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
2 Timothy : The Lord’s Approved Workman
14Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. 15Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth[g225]. 16But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17And their word will eat as does a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18Who concerning the truth[g225] have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. 19Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are his. And, Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
20But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. 21If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel to honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared to every good work. 22Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do engender strifes. 24And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle to all men, apt to teach, patient, 25In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth[g225]; 26And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
everyone that is of truth, hears my voice
John 18 : Jesus Before Pilate (Matthew 27:11-14; Luke 23:1-6)
28Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. 29Pilate then went out to them, and said, What accusation bring you against this man? 30They answered and said to him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to you. 31Then said Pilate to them, Take you him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: 32That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying what death he should die.
33Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him, Are you the King of the Jews? 34Jesus answered him, Say you this thing of yourself, or did others tell it you of me? 35Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me: what have you done? 36Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37Pilate therefore said to him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth[g225]. Every one that is of the truth[g225]hears my voice. 38Pilate said to him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, I find in him no fault at all. 39But you have a custom, that I should release to you one at the passover: will you therefore that I release to you the King of the Jews? 40Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
2 Corinthians : Do Not Be Unequally Yoked (Exodus 29:45-46)
14Be you not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion has light with darkness? 15And what concord has Christ with Belial? or what part has he that believes with an infidel? 16And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Why come out from among them, and be you separate, said the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.18And will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, said the Lord Almighty.
1Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
PERFECTING HOLINESS INDICATES THAT
GROWTH IN SANCTIFICATION IS NOT OPTIONAL.
Believers are to become as mature and Christlike in this lifetime as they can,
but the work will be completed only on the day of Christ.
1 Peter 1 : A Call to Be Holy (Hebrews 12:14-17)
13Why gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15But as he which has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation;16Because it is written, Be you holy; for I am holy.
1 John 1 : Walking in the Light (John 8:12-30)
5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth[g225]: 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleans us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth[g225]is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 Timothy 2 :A Call to Prayer
1I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; 4Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth[g225]. 5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
3 John 1 : Greeting to Gaius from the Elder (2 John 1:1-3)
1The elder to the well beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth[g225]. 2Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. 3For I rejoiced greatly, when the brothers came and testified of the truth[g225]that is in you, even as you walk in the truth[g225]. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth[g225].
2ND TIMOTHY : THE LORD’S APPROVED WORKMAN
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth[g225].
JOHN 8 : THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE
31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed;32And you shall know the truth[g225], and the truth[g225]shall make you free.
THE TRUTH SETS US FREE
26And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knows not how. 28For the earth brings forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29But when the fruit[g2590] is brought forth, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest[g2326] is come.
JOHN 12 : JESUS PREDICTS HIS DEATH
24Truly, truly, I say to you,Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it stays alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit. 25He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. 26If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.
A SEED CEASES TO BECOME A SEED
(meaning, it has to die)
so it can become SOMETHING NEW
(in order to BEAR FRUIT)
A farmer sows/plants a SEED to produce FRUIT
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceVain [g2756]
- DEVOID OF TRUTH;
- EMPTY
- No Purpose
- No value
- No profit
- Fruitless,
- without effect
- vessels which contain nothing;
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceFruit [g2590]
- that which originates
- or comes from something,
- an effect, result,
- PROFIT
- anything produced or accruing;
- of the ground ,
- of the womb,
- of actions (fig.)
There was a garden where Jesus was Crucified
John 19 : The Burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:9-12; Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56)
38And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, sought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.41Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid. 42There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulcher was near at hand.
James 5 : Patience in Suffering
7Be patient therefore, brothers, to the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8Be you also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws near
A SEED is the FLOWERING PLANTS UNIT OF REPRODUCTION
capable of developing into another such plant.
1The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2And great multitudes were gathered together to him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3And he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed,
some seeds fell BY THE WAY SIDE,
and the fowls came and devoured them up:
MEANING:
When any one hears the word of the kingdom, and understands it not,
then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart.
(Luke: lest they should believe and be saved. )
some seeds fell ON STONY PLACES,
where they had not much earth:
and immediately they sprung up,
because they had no deepness of earth:
and when the sun was up, they were scorched;
and because they had no root, they withered away.
MEANING:
When any one hears the word he immediately with joy, receives it;
yet has he not root in himself, but endures for a while:
for when tribulation or persecution rises because of the word,
by and by he is offended.
(Luke: in time of temptation fall away. )
some seeds fell AMONG THORNS;
and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
MEANING:
He hears the word but the care of this world,
and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word,
and he becomes unfruitful.
(Luke: bring no fruit to perfection.)
some seeds fell INTO GOOD GROUND,
and brought forth fruit,
some an 100 times, some 60 times, some 30 times.
MEANING:
He hears the word, and understands it; which also bears fruit,
and brings forth, some an 100 times, some 60 , some 30.
(Luke : which in an honest and good heart,
having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.)
Jesus told his disciples,
IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER,
you will not understand any of the other ones.
MARK 4 : PARABLE OF SOWER EXPLAINED
13And he said to them, Know you not this parable? and how then will you know all parables? 14The sower sows the word.
THE SEED is the THE WORD
A SEED contains INSTRUCTIONS which are detailed information
telling how something should be done, operated, or assembled.
THE SEEDS INSTRUCTIONS are THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
THE SOIL in which the word is planted is the HEART
(Fertile soil contains all the nutrients for basic plant nutrition)
THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
were kept within the ARK OF THE COVENANT
which was a wooden CHEST covered in gold.
~ foreshadowing ~
Jesus writing the 10 Commandments
onto our Heart which resides in our CHEST
through His Holy Spirit.
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which an
author gives an advance hint of what is to come later in the story.
Foreshadowing often appears at the beginning of story, or a chapter,
and it helps the reader develop expectations about the upcoming events.
Matthew 15 : What Defiles a Man
12Then came his disciples, and said to him, Know you that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted, shall be rooted up.14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 15Then answered Peter and said to him, Declare to us this parable. 16And Jesus said, Are you also yet without understanding? 17Do not you yet understand, that whatever enters in at the mouth goes into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:20These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defiles not a man.
DEFILED
-vs-
UN-DEFILED
God is the SOWER
JESUS is the His SEED
and the VINE PLANTED by GOD
We are the BRANCHES of the VINE
with the sole purpose of BEARING FRUIT
John 15 : Jesus the True Vine
1I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.2Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches: He that stays in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing. 6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you. 8Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples.9As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you: continue you in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11These things have I spoken to you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. 15From now on I call you not servants; for the servant knows not what his lord does: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known to you.16You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.17These things I command you, that you love one another.
Jesus commanded us to Love God and Love others.
Loving God however, means keeping, observing, and doing His commandments
which is left out in many people’s theology, as is “Fearing God”.
THE SAINTS in REVELATION are those who keep
THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD and THE FAITH OF HIS SON
Revelation 14:
12Here is a call for the endurance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Not keeping His commandments
means
Not abiding in His Love
This is Jesus charge against the Church of Ephesus.
They forgot their first love, which is to love God by keeping His commandments.
Revelation 2 : Message to the Church in Ephesus (Acts 19:8-12)
1To the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things said he that holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the middle of the seven golden candlesticks; 2I know your works, and your labor, and your patience, and how you can not bear them which are evil: and you have tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them liars: 3And have borne, and have patience, and for my name’s sake have labored, and have not fainted. 4Nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love. 5Remember therefore from where you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come to you quickly, and will remove your candlestick out of his place, except you repent
We were created to GLORIFY HIM
THE ONLY WAY to GLORIFY GODis by producingIt is the only thing acceptable in His eyesand the only thing against which there is no LAW.Fruit can only come through abiding in a Vine.The only way to abide in HIS LOVE and HIS TRUTH is byBY KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS.
LUKE 3 : THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST (Isaiah 40:1-5; Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; John 1:19-28)
7Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8BRING FORTH THEREFORE FRUITS WORTHY OF REPENTANCE, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say to you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9And now also the ax is laid to the root of the trees: every tree therefore which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Matthew 5 : Jesus Fulfills the Law
17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.18For truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth pass, one stroke or one pronunciation mark shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.19Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
1 JOHN 1 : OVERCOMING THE WORLD
1Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loves him that begat loves him also that is begotten of him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous
Psalm 103 :
15As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. 16For the wind passes over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.17But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on them that fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children; 18To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
The analogy of WHEAT is so prevalent throughout the bible because it is the symbolic representation of us having become dead to the world, but alive in Christ through HIS SPIRIT. Grass and Plants are considered alive when green and dead when brown. Wheat starts out a green color and is fully ripe when it has become a tan, goldish brown, color and is bowed over from weight of the grain (fruit) .
ROMANS 6 : DEAD TO SIN, ALIVE TO GOD
1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3Know you not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin.7For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Our OLD SELF IS DEAD in Christ and we are BORN AGAIN
through His spirit so we can serve the Living God.
EPHESIANS 4 : PUT ON THE NEW MAN
17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you from now on walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: 19Who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. 20But you have not so learned Christ; 21If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
PUT ON THE NEW MAN
created in righteousness and true holiness
OLD MAN :: ADAM :: THE SHELL
- Born of FLESH From EARTH
- Was made a LIVING SOUL
- SIN ENTERED into the world through 1 MAN’S OFFENCE
- DEATH passed unto many
- DEATH reigned by 1
- By the OFFENCE OF 1 JUDGEMENT,came CONDEMNATION unto all men
- By the DISOBEDIENCE of 1, many were made SINNERS
- SIN REIGNED THROUGH DEATH
- THE LAW ENTERED that the OFFENCE MAY ABOUND
-vs-
NEW MAN :: JESUS :: THE FRUIT
- Born of SPIRIT from HEAVEN
- Was made a QUICKENING SPIRIT
- GRACE ENTERED into the world through 1 MAN’S RIGHTEOUSNESS
- LIFE passed unto many
- RIGHTEOUSNESS in life shall reign by 1
- By the RIGHTEOUSNESS of 1 FREE GIFT came JUSTIFICATION UNTO LIFE of all men
- By the OBEDIENCE of 1, many were made RIGHTEOUS
- GRACE REIGNED unto righteousness to life
- BUT GRACE did much more ABOUND
BONDAGE to THE LAW OF SIN & DEATH
-vs-
FREE to THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT of LIFE
DEAD IN THE FLESH
UNDER WRATH
-vs-
ALIVE IN CHRIST THROUGH HIS SPIRIT
UNDER GRACE
THE LAW of SIN and DEATH
He redeemed us from the curse of the Law
being made a curse for us
-vs-
THE LAW of RIGHTEOUSNESS and TRUTH
He was made to be Sin,
who knew no Sin,
that we might be made Righteous in Him.
MATTHEW 26 : JESUS PRAYS AT GETHSEMANE
40And he comes to the disciples, and finds them asleep, and said to Peter, What, could you not watch with me one hour? 41Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak
Romans 8 : No Condemnation in Christ
1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3For 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: 4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
CONTROL BY THE SPIRIT (Galatians 5:16-26)
9But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.
THE BODY
IS DEAD
BECAUSE OF SIN
-vs-
THE SPIRIT
IS LIFE
BECAUSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
HEIRS WITH CHRIST (Genesis 21:1-8; Galatians 4:1-7)
12Therefore, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13For if you live after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption,whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17And 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.
IF YOU LIVE AFTER THE FLESH
YOU SHALL DIE
-vs-
IF YOU THROUGH THE SPIRIT
DO MORTIFY THE DEEDS OF THE BODY
YOU SHALL LIVE
THE SPIRIT
of
BONDAGE
-vs-
THE SPIRIT
of
ADOPTION
JOHN 3 : JESUS AND NICODEMUS
1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that you do, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.4Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh;and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said to you, You must be born again. 8The wind blows where it wants, and you hear the sound thereof, but can not tell from where it comes, and where it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
John 1 : Witness of John
9That was the true Light, which lights every man that comes into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11He came to his own, and his own received him not. 12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
1 PETER 1 : The Word of the Lord Stands Forever (Isaiah 40:6-8)
22Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned love of the brothers, see that you love one another with a pure heart fervently: 23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and stays for ever. 24For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass wither, and the flower thereof falls away: 25But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you.
OUTWARD MAN (FLESH)
PERISHES
-vs-
INWARD MAN (SPIRIT)
RENEWED DAILY
BORN OF CORRUPTIBLE SEED
which perishes & withers as grass
and THE GLORY OF MAN as
the flower of grass which falls away
-vs-
BORN OF INCORRUPTIBLE SEED
by the Word of God
which endures forever
2 CORINTHIANS 4 :
16For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
MOMENTARY
LIGHT AFFLICTION
in the FLESH
~works for us~
A FOR MORE
ETERNAL WEIGHT
of GLORY
THE FLESH
brings forth
FRUIT to DEATH
-vs-
THE SPIRIT
brings forth
FRUIT to GOD
GALATIANS 5 : LIVING BY THE SPIRIT (Romans 8:9-11)
16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.17For the flesh lusts against the Spiritand the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would. 18But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19Now THE WORKS OF THE FLESH are:
- Adultery,
- fornication,
- uncleanness,
- lasciviousness,
- 20Idolatry,
- witchcraft,
- hatred,
- variance,
- jealousies,
- wrath,
- strife,
- seditions,
- heresies,
- 21Contentions,
- murders,
- drunkenness,
- revelings, and such like:
of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
-vs-
22But THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is:
- love,
- joy,
- peace,
- long-suffering,
- gentleness,
- goodness,
- faith,
- 23Meekness,
- temperance:
against such there is no law. 24And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
Let us not desire vain glory
The reason the picture of my grandfather became so significant to me was because I have a whole scrapbook full of newspaper clippings about my basketball accomplishments . The difference though was that My grandfather was laboring for a different kingdom and a much different purpose. The definition of VANITY is: “excessive pride in or admiration of one’s own appearance or achievements.”
I was LABORING
to BUILD MY OWN KINGDOM
and my GLORY
-vs-
My grandfather was LABORING
for GOD’s KINGDOM
and HIS GLORY
Jeremiah 9 : Glory in knowing the lord
23Thus said 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: 24But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, said the LORD.
THE VEIL in the temple which led to the Holy of Holy’swhich contained the ARK of the COVENANT represented the FLESH.The Ark of the Covenant contained the 10 Commandments.
AARON, THE HIGH PRIEST,
went into the Holy of Holy’s, which contained the ARK,
through the VEIL, ONCE A YEAR to make ATONEMENT
for all of Israel with the blood of bulls and calves
~ foreshadowing ~
CHRIST, THE NEW ETERNAL HIGH PRIEST
went into the Holy of Holy’s ONCE AND FOR ALL,
with HIS OWN RIGHTEOUS BLOOD TO MAKE ATONEMENT for our sins.
His flesh being torn represented the VEIL in the temple being torn.
A SHADOW is caused by the INTERCEPTION OF LIGHT
THE LIGHT was intercepted by our FLESH
which caused the SHADOW and barred the Commandments,
and the Righteousness of the LAW from being sown in our heart.
The LAW , The COMMANDMENTS, and the TABERNACLE
made nothing perfect but foreshadowed
what was to come and a bringing of a better hope,
and served as a shadow of what was to come, but not the very image
~ foreshadowing ~
Jesus is the light of the world, but the light had not come into the world
yet so these things served as His shadow which would precede him
THE LAW & COMMANDMENTS Administered to Israel by Moses.
They heard it, but since Sin lived in there flesh, it became weak and void.
The flesh barred the commands in the Law from being sown into their hearts.
In our flesh dwells no good thing
~ foreshadowing ~
GRACE and TRUTH Administered by Jesus.
The FLESH, which was represented by the VEIL in the temple
was ripped in 2 during crucifixion. His Holy Spirit now administers
the Righteousness and Truth of the Law directly into our hearts.
My other grandfather, on my mom’s side of the family, loved pecans. He would go and gather pecans that fallen from trees. He would spend countless hours cracking them, packaging them, and giving them to his friends as gifts. This is a picture of him gathering them up and my mother recently found the cracker he used which was made in 1925.
A pecan, is not truly a nut, but is technically a drupe, a fruit with a single stone or pit, surrounded by a husk.
THE SHELL | HUSK
-vs-
THE FRUIT
“Pecan” is from an Algonquian word variously referring to pecans, walnuts and hickory nuts, or more broadly to any nut requiring a stone to crack.
THE SHELL (“OUR FLESH”)
WAS CRACKED BY THE STONE OF ISRAEL ON THE CROSS
in order to get to THE FRUIT
EZEKIAL 36 : A NEW HEART AND SPIRIT
26A 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. 27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.
UNCLEAN HEART
-vs-
CLEAN HEART
John 6 :
63It is the spirit that strengthens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65And he said, Therefore said I to you, that no man can come to me, except it were given to him of my Father.
Here is another picture of my grandfather removing
and separating the HUSK from the CORN
THE HUSK
-vs-
THE FRUIT
THE CROSS is a CONFRONTATION
It is a lot easier to harden your heart to change that being humble, open, and crying out for change. When God got a hold of me, after I begged Him to save me, I went through an extremely uncomfortable process of removing things out of my life I was holding on to. It’s uncomfortable when He intervenes in your life and rearranges your priorities. It’s uncomfortable when you realize that what you hold in high esteem means nothing to Him and that all the time and energy you put into those things was a waste of time. I complained and pouted and I began to see how pitiful I really was.
We are like little kids. We don’t want instruction, we just want to enjoy the ride. We see a new bike and jump on it so we can go racing down a hill. We don’t see the oncoming traffic, or the crossroad we are about to race through, with trains coming from both directions. The father, at the top of the hill, see’s it all. He is screaming and crying for you to stop, and for you to and listen to Him, so you won’t get hurt, and so you can live. Because He knows what is best for you. Love involves discipline and correction. We have to stop thinking we know what’s best. We have to humble ourselves and submit to Him and His will.
He cries and pleads for us enter but it demands we walk according to His ways, not our own because that leads to destruction. If you have ever done anything like sky diving, or even white water rafting, something that could cause you harm, you are given a guide to lead you so don’t get hurt, or die. You are given instructions to keep you from harms way.
Persistent sin renders worship useless and in vain. We have become desensitized to sin. We say that God wants us to love others and that’s all we need to know. Well, when you remove the first love, loving God, which means following His commandments, that love quickly turns into vanity. We are not naturally open to criticism. We don’t like to be confronted. It’s natural to rise to our own defenses when questioned. It’s natural for us to think we are righteous.
If you are open to a loving confrontation, if you are ready to admit your sin, if you are thankful for those who have loved you enough to help you see what you would not see on your own, and if your are ready to confess and seek forgiveness, you know that you have visited by the grace of Jesus, because none of these attributes is natural apart from divine intervention.
It takes grace that guarantees that the blood of Jesus has covered everything about us that could ever be known or exposed to give us the courage to look at ourselves in the searching mirror of the Word of God.
It takes grace for us to let go of excuses, rationalizations, self-atoning arguments, and our tendency to shift blame to others. It takes grace for us to be able to stand as sinners before a Holy God and admit that there are ways in which we are still rebels against his lordship and his commands.
If you are willing to say “God, please show me my heart,” and willing to speak these words, “Please forgive me”, you know you have been visited by grace.
The only way to access the Kingdom is by having the correct credentials. By what Christ did on the cross for us. His blood. He is the only one to walk the earth without sin, which means He followed the Law perfectly, and did the will of the Father.
In his blood is our redemption. In His life is our example.
I MUST DECREASE –
HE MUST INCREASE +
John 3 :
He must increase[g837], but I must decrease[g1642].
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceDECREASE [g1642]
- to lessen (in rank or influence):
- —decrease, make lower.
- to make less or inferior: in dignity
- to be made less or inferior: in dignity
- to decrease in authority or popularity
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceINCREASE [g837]
- to grow (“wax”),
- i.e. enlarge (literal or figurative)
- —grow (up), (give the) increase.
- to cause to grow, augment
- to increase, become greater
Psalm 62 :
9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
Philippians 1 : To Live is Christ
21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor:yet what I shall choose I know not.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceLOSS [g2210]
- receive damage, lose, suffer loss. :—be cast away,
- i.e. (reflexively or passively) to experience detriment
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceGAIN [g2770]
- to gain, acquire, to get gain, to win
- metaphorically of gain arising from shunning or escaping from evil (where we say “to spare one’s self”, “be spared”)
33For thus said the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon[h894]is like a threshing floor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
THRESHING FLOORS were built in the high parts (hills) of citiesto utilize the WIND to accomplish this SEPARATION
When I played the Escape Game in 2016,NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE was the WINDIEST CITY in the Country.
- Nashville
- has over 700 churches,
- several seminaries,
- a number of Christian music companies,
- and is the headquarters for the publishing arms of:
- the Southern Baptist Convention (LifeWay Christian Resources),
- the United Methodist Church (United Methodist Publishing House)
- and the National Baptist Convention (Sunday School Publishing Board).
- It is also the seat of
- the National Baptist Convention,
- the National Association of Free Will Baptists,
- the Gideons International,
- the Gospel Music Association,
- and Thomas Nelson, the world’s largest producer of Bibles.[148]
The German word TENNE even means “THRESHING FLOOR”
The TV show NASHVILLE is promoted with a picture of the actors
of the show standing in a field of wheat ready to be harvested.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceHypocrites [g5273]
- an actor under an assumed character
- stage-player, i.e. (figuratively) a pretender
Matthew 24 : Be Ready at Any Hour
51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites[g5273] : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
HOLLYWOOD SCRIPT
-vs-
THE HOLY SCRIPT
THE SPIRIT OF ERROR
OF THE WORLD
-vs-
THE SPIRIT OF TRUTHOF GOD
PERFORMANCE ART
-vs-
PERFORMING THE COMMANDMENTS
WALK OF FAME
-vs-
WALK OF FAITH
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceFaith [g4102]
- conviction of the TRUTH of anything, belief; persuasion, i.e. credence;
- moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation;
from [g3982]
- to convince (by argument, TRUE or FALSE);
Hebrews 4 : A Sabbath-Rest for God’s People (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 16:22-36)
1Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2For to us was the gospel preached, as well as to them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith[g4102] in them that heard it.
Ephesians 6 : The Full Armor of God
10Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13Why take to you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth[g225], and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
HAVE YOUR LOINS GIRDED WITH TRUTH
THE NASHVILLE STATEMENT is an evangelical Christian statement of faith relating to human sexuality and gender roles authored by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) in Nashville, Tennessee.[1][2][3] The Statement expresses support for an opposite-sex definition of marriage, for faithfulness within marriage, for chastity outside marriage, and for a link between biological sex and “self-conception as male and female.” The Statement sets forth the signatories’ opposition to LGBT sexuality, same-sex marriage, polygamy, polyamory, adultery, and fornication. It was criticized by egalitarian Christians and LGBT campaigners,[3][6] as well as by several conservative religious figures
TRUTH and LOVE are inextricably bound together.
Love that calls wrong right and right wrong is not love.
Love that compromises truth simply is not love.
Real love corrects and forgives. Real, biblical, self-sacrificing, God-honoring love never compromises what God says is right and true. Love that compromises truth simply isn’t love. Truth without love ceases to be truth because it gets bent and twisted by other human agendas.
Real, biblical, self-sacrificing, God-honoring love never compromises what God says is right and true.
Truth without love ceases to be truth because it gets bent and twisted by other human agendas. If love wants and works for what is best for you, then love is committed to being part of what God says is best in your life. So, I am committed to being God’s tool for what he says is best in your life, even if that means we have to go through tense and difficult moments to get there. I think often we opt for silence, willingly avoiding issues and letting wrong things go on unchecked, not because we love the other person, but because we love ourselves and just don’t want to go through the hassle of dealing with something that God says is clearly wrong. We are unwilling to make the hard personal sacrifices that are the call of real love. Now, I’m not talking about being self-righteous, judgemental , critical, and condemning. No, I’m talking about choosing not to ignore wrong, but dealing with wrong the same grace that you have been given by God. Grace never calls wrong right. If wrong were right, grace wouldn’t be necessary. If sin weren’t evil and wrong, Jesus would never have had to come.
The cross of Jesus Christ is the only model you need of what love does in the face of wrong. Love doesn’t call wrong right. Love doesn’t ignore wrong and hope it goes away. love doesn’t turn its back on you because you are wrong. Love doesn’t mock you. Love doesn’t mean I turn the tables and work to make you hurt in the same way you have hurt me. Love doesn’t go passive and stay silent in the face of wrong. Love moves toward you because you are wrong and need to be rescued from you. In moving toward you, love is willing to make sacrifices and endure hardships so that you may be made right again and be reconciled to God and others. God graces us with this kind of love so that we may be tools of this love in the lives of others.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceSanctification [g38]
purification,i.e. (the state) purity;
concretely (by Hebraism) a purifier:
—holiness, sanctification, consecration, purification
2 Thessalonians 2 : Stand Firm
13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification[g38] of the Spirit and belief of the truth[g225]:
1 Thessalonians 4 : Live to Please God
3 For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification[g38], that ye should abstain from fornication: 4That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel insanctification[g38]and honor; 5Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: 6That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. 7For God has not called us to uncleanness, but toholiness[g38]. 8He therefore that despises, despises not man, but God, who has also given to us his holy Spirit.
Walk in love
but don’t let fornication
be named once among you
1Be you therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling smell. 3But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becomes saints; 4Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.5For this you know, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things comes the wrath of God on the children of disobedience. 7Be not you therefore partakers with them.
CHILDREN OF LIGHT
8For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10Proving what is acceptable to the Lord. 11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatever does make manifest is light.
1 John 3 : Children of God
1Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not, because it knew him not. 2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
4Whoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6Whoever stays in him sins not: whoever sins has not seen him, neither known him. 7Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9Whoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whoever does not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother.
Love One Another (John 13:31-35; Romans 12:9-13)
11For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 12Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And why slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
13Marvel not, my brothers, if the world hate you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. He that loves not his brother stays in death. 15Whoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17But whoever has this world’s good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him? 18My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.19And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 20For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. 22And whatever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
23And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24And he that keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he stays in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.
love in deed and in truth
1 Corinthians 13 : Love
1Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love , I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love , I am nothing. 3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love , it profits me nothing. 4Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love braggs not itself, is not puffed up, 5Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; 6Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth[g225]; 7Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
love does not rejoice in iniquity but in truth
ash-wednesday-why-nashville-ministers-have-turned-glitter
“We will mark ourselves with glitter instead of ashes to signify the full inclusion of queer people who are often rejected by the church,” Sara Green, a minister and organizer of the Nashville event, said in statement.
-vs-
When you marry 2 homosexuals you are celebrating what God considers detestable. Now you have made God’s Law and what Jesus did on the Cross void. Jesus came to save us from our sins. If you don’t acknowledge sin, you wan’t value grace. If you don’t value grace and you won’t seek the forgiveness and rescue it provides. It minimizes the gravity of our condition. If we say homosexuality is not a sin you are saying the boundaries set by God are meaningless. Now there is no separation. There is no sanctification or holiness. There is no right. There is no wrong. There is no distinction between clean and unclean. The lines are blurred and all that is left is confusion.
Leviticus 18 : Unlawful Sexual Relations (Matthew 5:27-30)
1And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, I am the LORD your God. 3After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein you dwelled, shall you not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, where I bring you, shall you not do: neither shall you walk in their ordinances. 4You shall do my judgments, and keep my ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. 5You shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
19Also you shall not approach to a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness. 20Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her. 21And you shall not let any of your seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD. 22You shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. 23Neither shall you lie with any beast to defile yourself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion.
24Defile not you yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: 25And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof on it, and the land itself vomits out her inhabitants. 26You shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojournes among you: 27(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) 28That the land spew not you out also, when you defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you. 29For whoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. 30Therefore shall you keep my ordinance, that you commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that you defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.
We are living in a time where Witches claim to be Christians and openly prideful homosexuals wanting to be preachers of Gods Word. The sheer absurdity of people’s delusions has become mind-boggling. We live in a time where people call what God has deemed evil, good, and what God calls good, Evil. Churches that refuse to marry homosexuals and let them preach in the pulpit are considered hateful.
romans 1 : Gods Wrath against sin
18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth[g225]in unrighteousness;19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it to them. 20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things.24Why God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: 25Who changed thetruth[g225]of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26For this cause God gave them up to vile affections:for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27And 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 recompense of their error which was meet.
THE TRUTH OF GOD, has been changed INTO A LIE
A student in Ohio claims she received a day of in-school suspension after she hung Bible verses on walls and lockers in response to LGBTQ pride flags decorating the halls.
High schooler who posted Bible verses in response to pride flags suspended
California bakery facing backlash after refusing to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples
Group-of-pastors-lambasted-for-publishing-statement-about-traditional-marriage
God’s established order is now labeled as sexist
Canadians Could Be Jailed for Using Incorrect Gender Pronouns
PSALM 44 : REDEEM US
15My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face has covered me, 16For the voice of him that reproaches and blasphemes; by reason of the enemy and avenger. 17All this is come on us; yet have we not forgotten you, neither have we dealt falsely in your covenant.
1 CORINTHIANS 14
33For God is not the author of confusion but of peace.
ISAIAH 24 : GOD’S JUDGMENT ON THE EARTH
1Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants thereof. 2And 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.3The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD has spoken this word. 4The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. 5The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.6Therefore has the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. 7The new wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry hearted do sigh. 8The mirth of tabrets ceases, the noise of them that rejoice ends,the joy of the harp ceases. 9They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. 10The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in.
1 TIMOTHY :
9Knowing 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 murderers, 10For fornicators, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for enslavers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
9Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified[g37], but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceSanctify [g37] occurs 29 times in 26 verses
- to make holy,
- i.e. (ceremonially) purify or consecrate;
- (mentally) to venerate:—hallow, be holy, sanctify
1 Thessalonians 5: Christian Living
17Pray without ceasing. 18In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 19Quench not the Spirit.20Despise not prophesyings. 21Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22Abstain from all appearance of evil.23And the very God of peace sanctify[g37] you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it.
2 TIMOTHY 3 : EVIL IN THE LAST DAYS
1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth[g225]. 8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth[g225]: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest to all men, as their’s also was.
Come out of BABYLON!BABYLON means “CONFUSION”
“… BY WAY OF MIXING”
REVELATION 18 : BABYLON IS FALLEN
4And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceBabylon [h894] occurs 262 times in 233 verses
- “confusion (by way of mixing)”
Jeremiah 32 :
17Ah Lord GOD! behold, you have made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you: 18You show loving kindness to thousands, and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name, 19Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for your eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: 20Which have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and have made you a name, as at this day; 21And have brought forth your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror; 22And have given them this land, which you did swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; 23And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not your voice, neither walked in your law; they have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do: therefore you have caused all this evil to come on them:
24Behold the mounts, they are come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what you have spoken is come to pass; and, behold, you see it. 25And you have said to me, O Lord GOD, Buy you the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
God Gave Jerusalem over to Babylon
because they did not obey Him;
therefore He caused all this evil to come on them:
Jerusalem’s Fall Confirmed
26Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying, 27Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me? 28Therefore thus said the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon [h894], and he shall take it: 29And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. 30For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, said the LORD
From Daniel who had been taken captive into Babylon.
DANIEL 9
13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth[h571]
All this evil is come upon us,
so we will understand the truth
Jesus is the TRUTH, who was THE WORD MADE FLESH,
who fulfilled the Law for us, and commanded us to abide in His Love
by performing his commandments.
His TRUTH in us SANCTIFIES us
John 14 : Jesus Comforts the Disciples
1Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4And where I go you know, and the way you know. 5Thomas said to him, Lord, we know not where you go; and how can we know the way? 6Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth[g225], and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by me.
Psalm 27 :
11Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of my enemies.
PSALM 119
142 Thy righteousness [is] an everlasting righteousness, and thy law [is] thetruth[h571]
151 Thou [art] near, O LORD; and allthy commandments [are] truth[h571]
NASHVILLE is home to the PARTHENON which means “VIRGINS TEMPLE”
Matthew 25 : The Parable of the Ten Virgins
1Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him. 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go you rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.12But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I know you not. 13Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man comes.
OLIVE OIL has also been used with linen wicks to keep flames burning for light for thousand of years. Olive oil is 99% pure fuel and does not produce smoke or soot and does not burn if spilled. The key to burning olive oil is to keep the wick saturated at all times. A little will go along way because it burns quite slowly.
OLIVE OIL does not need processing
but you HAVE TO HAVE THE RIGHT KIND of LAMP and WICK.
THE RIGHT KIND OF LAMP needed for OLIVE OIL to burn is HIS WORD
Psalms 119:105 NUN.
Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Proverbs 6 : 23
For the commandment [is] a lamp; and the law [is] light; and reproofs of instruction [are] the way of life:
THE RIGHT KIND OF WICK that’s needed for olive oil to burn is a WHITE LINEN WICK
which represents having a CLEAN, WHITE and PURE HEART by means of HIS WORD dwelling here.
Revelation 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. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
LINEN represents the RIGHTEOUSNESS of the saints
- Aaron and his sons, the priests, wore linen coats/mitres
- Linen underwear/breeches were worn by the priests to cover nakedness (loins girded with truth)
Psalm 33 : Praise to the Almighty Creator
1Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. 2Praise the LORD with harp: sing to him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. 3Sing to him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise. 4For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. 5He loves righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
The disciples HEART BURNED within them when He opened up the scriptures to them.
Luke 24 : Jesus Explains the Prophecies
30And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and broke, and gave to them.31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.32And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
My grandfather’s middle name was “HUEY”,
which I always though was funny name,
but realized how close phonetically it sounded to “HEWER”
which is what Gideon means.
I looked up what the name “HUEY” meant and it means
“Heart. Mind.Inspiration. Intelligent”.
I also happened to be born on Valentines Day
which is synonymous with the Heart symbol.
THE GIDEON’S symbol is a two-handled pitcher
and TORCH OF FIRE recalling Gideon’s victory.
A heart symbol fits perfectly over the pitcher
and illustrates this concept of the heart burning.
THE OLIVE OIL, the fuel for our heart to burn.
which gives us understanding of HIS WORD.
and guides us in HIS TRUTH, represents HIS HOLY SPIRIT
which fuels our LINEN HEARTS to keep burning
and allows us to produce the resulting
FRUIT OF HIS SPIRIT
that comes from HIS WORD DWELLING in our HEART
When I first moved into my house I had to buy a lawn mower to cut my grass. The following summer my lawnmower went up in smoke as I was trying to mow. I had not put enough oil in it and it burned up the engine. If you run out of engine oil, your engine will fail. Engine oil is the life blood of your vehicle. It’s essential for the function of your engine. Any lack of engine oil in the system, or even dirty oil, will lead to extreme engine wear, and driving a car low on oil can lead to some bad situations. Inside of the engine, there are fast moving parts, with a lot of potential friction. The engine oil is the lubricant that keeps parts sliding against each other smoothly, instead of grinding each other down. If the engine runs out of oil, it will start to grind, and then seize up, stalling the vehicle. This is what an engine looks like after 80k miles and no oil change.
The same goes for our bodies. You can have the nicest looking clothes, hair, and bodies, but if there is no oil, it will wear down and become useless. We cannot function or be preserved without his Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Our hearts become darkened and we end up with a grenade in our chest.
BITUMOUS OIL FROM EARTH
USED TO PRESERVE FLESH OF DEAD
-vs-
OLIVE OIL (HOLY SPIRIT) FROM HEAVEN
USED TO PRESERVE FLESH OF LIVING
THE THRESHING FLOOR at MOUNT MORIAH
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceMoriah [h4179] occurs 2 times in 2 verses
Moriah = “chosen by Jehovah”
the place where Abraham took Isaac for sacrifice
the mount on the eastern edge of Jerusalem on which Solomon built the temple
Genesis 22 : The Offering of Isaac (John 3:16-21; Romans 5:6-11)
1And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said to him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2And he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriah [h4179]; and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.
GOD CHOSE ABRAHAM OUT OF BABYLON and then tempted him by telling him to offer up Isaac as a burnt offering in MOUNT MORIAH, which was a common pagan practice that came out of Babylon. When God saw that Abraham acted upon God’s request, God knew that he feared Him, and did not withhold His only son from Him. Abraham then offered up a substitute offering of a ram in Isaac’s place.
MOUNT MORIAH is the place where David would purchase the threshing floor from Ornan the Jebusite and establish Jerusalem for 600 shekels of gold. (1 Chronicles 24). He would also purchase oxen for 50 shekels of silver. (2 Samuel 24). This would be where Solomon, David’s son, who was the wisest on earth, laid the foundation and built the temple made with hands, which took 7 years to make.
2 Chronicles 3 : Temple Construction Begins (1 Kings 6:1-4)
1Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah [h4179], where the Lord appeared to David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 2And he began to build in the second day of the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
God does does not dwell in temple made with hands
and thus served as a FORESHADOWING of what was to come.
Mark 13 : Temple Destruction Foretold (Matthew 24:1-4; Luke 21:5-9)
1And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! 2And Jesus answering said to him, See you these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone on another, that shall not be thrown down.
Matthew 21 : Parable of the Wicked Tenants
42Jesus said to them, Did you 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 marvelous in our eyes? 43Therefore say I to you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.44And whoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 45And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them. 46But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
Luke 14 : The Cost of Following Jesus (Matthew 8:18-22; Luke 9:57-62; John 6:60-65)
25And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said to them, 26If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27And whoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?29Lest haply, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
Before constructing and laying the FOUNDATION of a building,
the area must be PREPARED by SMOOTHING & LEVELING…THRESHED
This is why John the Baptist,
whose LOINS were GIRDED with TRUTH,
and who Malachi & Isaiah prophesied would
“prepare the way”,
was sent before Jesus to
“prepare peoples hearts”
and to make their
PATHS “STRAIGHT, LEVEL, or SMOOTH”
by preaching REPENTENCE and baptism.
LUKE 3 : THE MISSION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST (Isaiah 40:1-5; Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; John 1:19-28)
4As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight[g2117]. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be brought low;
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceStraight [g2117]
(literally) LEVEL or SMOOTH
(figuratively) TRUE;
Matthew 3 : The Mission of John the Baptist(Isaiah 40:1-5; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-20; John 1:19-28)
1In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2And saying, Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight[g2117]. 4And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 5Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. 7But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say to you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.10And now also the ax is laid to the root of the trees: therefore every tree which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11I indeed baptize you with water to repentance. but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. 12Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his grain into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
JESUS then WINNOWED
the loosened GRAIN and HUSKS with His Hand
TO
THE LIGHT CHAFF
-vs-
THE HEAVIER LOOSENED GRAIN :
Jesus, the TRUE son of David,
then laid THE NEW FOUNDATION and CORNERSTONE in our hearts,
where he rebuilt the temple not made with hands in 3 days
The CORNERSTONE or FOUNDATION STONE is the stone of a buildingthat represents the starting place in construction. It is the first stoneset in the construction of a masonry foundation, important sinceall other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determiningthe position of the entire structure. It is carved with a date and laidwith appropriate ceremonies. It is what holds the building together.
Isaiah 28 : A Cornerstone in Zion (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 1 Peter 2:4-12)
14Why hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing whip shall pass through, it shall not come to us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 16Therefore thus said the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste.17Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing whip shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
God’s standard of Righteousness
JUSTIFICATION
is builders term for whether
a stone is “TRUE” or not
by using a
PLUMMET
The PLUMMET is a line or cord
that has a weight such as a plumb bob at the end
and determines verticality.
ie. is the stone upright or 90 degrees, level, smooth, true
If the STONE “IS NOT TRUE”
then it is considered
WORTHLESS
ROUGH IMPERFECT STONE
-vs-
SMOOTH PERFECT TRUE STONE
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceTrue [g228] ἀληθινός alēthinós occurs 27 times in 25 verses
that which has not only the name and resemblance, but the real nature corresponding to the name, in every respect corresponding to the idea signified by the name, real, true genuine
opposite to what is fictitious, counterfeit, imaginary, simulated or pretended
it contrasts realities with their semblances
opposite to what is imperfect defective, frail, uncertain
true, veracious, sincere
Our JUSTIFICATION as “TRUE” stones
IS NOT BASED OFF OUR OWN WORKS
but by the WORK DONE FOR US on the CROSS
and OBEDIENCE to HIS WORD
Hebrews 3 :Jesus Our Apostle and High Priest
1Why, holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;2Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. 3For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who has built the house has more honor than the house. 4For every house is built by some man; but he that built all things is God. 5And Moses truly was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; 6But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
Hebrews 8: A more excellent ministry
2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true [g228]tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 3For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: why it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. 4For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:5Who serve to the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, said he, that you make all things according to the pattern showed to you in the mount. 6But now has he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.
The New Covenant
7For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 8For finding fault with them, he said, Behold, the days come, said the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, said the Lord. 10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, said the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13In that he said, A new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 9 : The Earthly Tabernacle (Exodus 25:1-9; Exodus 40:1-33)
1Then truly the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the show bread; which is called the sanctuary. 3And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; 4Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
6Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 7But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 8The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 9Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 10Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
Redemption through His Blood
11But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; 12Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh: 14How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, 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.16For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator lives. 18Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. 19For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God has enjoined to you. 21Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
23It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true [g228]; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And as it is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin to salvation.
Hebrews 10 : Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All (Psalm 147:1-20; Romans 3:1-8)
1For 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. 2For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5Why when he comes into the world, he said, Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body have you prepared me: 6In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure. 7Then said I, See, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God. 8Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9Then said he, See, I come to do your will, O God. He takes away the first, that he may establish the second. 10By the which will we are Sanctified [g37]through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:12But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13From now on expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14For by one offering he has perfected for ever them that are Sanctified [g37].15Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, said the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
A Call to Persevere(Jude 1:17-23)
19Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21And having an high priest over the house of God; 22Let us draw near with a true [g228]heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24And let us consider one another to provoke to love and to good works: 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.
26For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth[g225], there remains no more sacrifice for sins, 27But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, with which he was sanctified [g37], an unholy thing, and has done despite to the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs to me, I will recompense, said the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions;33Partly, whilst you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst you became companions of them that were so used. 34For you had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. 35Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. 36For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.
37For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 38Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39But we are not of them who draw back to perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. .
We are JUSTIFIED (declared RIGHTEOUS)
and SAVED from WRATH through Him by FAITH
in His Blood that was shed for us.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceJustified [g1344] δικαιόω dikaióō, occurs 48 times in 36 verses
to render righteous or such he ought to be
to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered
to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be
- from G1342; to render (i.e. show or regard as) just or innocent:—free, justify(-ier), be righteous.
Not because we deserved it, or through adherence to the Law,
but through our Faith in the one who did fulfill all Righteousness on our behalf.
THIS DOES NOT MAKE THE LAW VOID however, it ESTABLISHES THE LAW
EXAMPLE:
If we were charged with murder, and we were somehow acquitted (Grace/Mercy),
this should make me even more gracious and mindful of never doing it again (obedience)
OUR DEBT IS NOW SATISFIED
Romans 2 : God’s Righteous Judgment (Genesis 4:1-7; Jude 1:3-16)
1Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are that judge: for wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you that judge do the same things. 2But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
13 (For not the hearers of the law [are] just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Galatians 3 : Christ Redeemed Us (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)
10For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11But that no man is Justified [g1344]by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that does them shall live in them. 13Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree: 14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
THE LAW IS NOT OF FAITH
but because we are JUSTIFIED BY FAITH
we shall live in accordance with THE LAW
1 CORINTHIANS
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
A PROMISSORY NOTEis a legal DEBT INSTRUMENT, in which one party (the maker or issuer)
promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other (the payee),
either at a fixed or determinable future time or on demand of the payee.
THE HOLY SPIRIT is His stamped Promissory Note
that states that we have been bought with a price
and seals us unto the day of Redemption, when the Debt from the Law is due.
The first stone was established with Peter, where He said “on this Rock, I will build my church.
MATTHEW 16 : PETER’S CONFESSION OF CHRIST (Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-20; John 6:66-71)
13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14And they said, Some say that you are John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15He said to them, But whom say you that I am? 16And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father which is in heaven. 18And I say also to you, That you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.20Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
Just as Solomon hired Stone Squarer’s to hew justified stones for the temple…
1 Kings 5 : Solomon’s Workmen and Laborers
. 17And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to lay the foundation of the house. 18And Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders did hew them, and the stone squarers: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
He works to carve His image into us and to make us TRUE stones through his Holy Spirit. We are justified by HIS BLOOD through FAITH and obedience to His Commandments. Being JUSTIFIED in HIS sight, means you are TRUE, RIGHTEOUS, BLAMELESS, INNOCENT and UPRIGHT.
ROMANS 8 : GOD WORKS IN ALL THINGS (Ephesians 1:3-14)
28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Romans 5 : Faith Brings Peace and Joy (John 14:27-31)
1Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience; 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5And hope makes not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.
CHRIST’S SACRIFICE FOR THE UNGODLY (Genesis 22:1-10; John 3:16-21)
6For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, being rooted and grounded in love, so we may be able to comprehend what is the breadth, length, depth, and height. Together we work and labor to EDIFY each other, which is “the act of building up” and promoting growth, by serving others and not ourselves. Each stone is bound together (bundled/united) through the Holy Spirit, and we endeavour to keep the unity in the bond of Peace by walking with all lowliness, meekness, long suffering, forbearing one another in love. We are the LIVELY TRUE STONES, through Faith and OBEDIENCE that make up the rest of the Temple. Built upon the foundation laid by Christ and held together by the TRUE cornerstone. We are built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 3 : Do Not Harden Your Hearts
7Why (as the Holy Ghost said, To day if you will hear his voice, 8Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10Why I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11So I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
The Dangers of Unbelief
12Take heed, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end; 15While it is said, To day if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. 16For some, when they had heard, did provoke: however, not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? 18And to whom swore he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
4To whom coming, as to a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 5You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 6Why also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believes on him shall not be confounded. 7To you therefore which believe he is precious: but to them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM
Priests would kill sacrificial animals
where BLOOD was shed then cleanse with WATER
then placed on the altar to be burned with FIRE
as a sacrificial offering to God.
The ALTAR SANCTIFIED
(cleansed, purified) the gift/offering.
~ foreshadowing ~
BAPTISM
Christ becoming the sacrificial lamb
whose righteous BLOOD was shed for us,
we die with him in baptism where
we are cleansed with WATER (His Word)
then are baptized with FIRE (by receiving His Holy Spirit)
which purifies our hearts (the altar)
Hebrews 13 :
12Why Jesus also, that he might sanctify [g37]the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate 13Let us go forth therefore to him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 14For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. 15By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.16But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. .
Our new PURE HEART SANCTIFIES
our spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God for sweet smell
Psalm 51 : Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God (2 Samuel 12:1-12)
1Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness: according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight: that you might be justified when you speak, and be clear when you judge. 5Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6Behold, you desiretruth[h571]in the inward parts: and in the hidden part you shall make me to know wisdom. 7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which you have broken may rejoice. 9Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11Cast me not away from your presence; and take not your holy spirit from me. 12Restore to me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your free spirit. 13Then will I teach transgressors your ways; and sinners shall be converted to you. 14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, you God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 15O Lord, open you my lips; and my mouth shall show forth your praise.
16For you desire not sacrifice[h2077]; else would I give it: you delight not in burnt offering. 17The sacrifices[h2077]of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18Do good in your good pleasure to Zion: build you the walls of Jerusalem. 19Then shall you be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks on your altar.
Both WATER and FIRE are SANCTIFYING (purifying) AGENTS.
The CAUSE by which we are SANCTIFIED: Christ’s Righteous blood shed on the cross for us
The MEANS by which we are SANCTIFIED: Faith & the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit which guides us in understanding His Word, which is the Truth
The EFFECT of our SANCTIFICATION: Being made Holy and Priests of God, Sanctified in Christ, applying Salvation to offer up spiritual sacrifices unto Him.
Ephesians 5: Wives and Husbands
25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify [g37]and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27That 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.
PROVED, TESTED & TRiED
Psalm 66 :
10For you, O God, have proved us: you have tried us, as silver is tried. 11You brought us into the net; you laid affliction on our loins. 12You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but you brought us out into a wealthy place.
MALACHI 3 : THE COMING DAY OF JUDGMENT (John 1:6-13)
1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in: behold, he shall come, said the LORD of hosts.2But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:3And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness. 4Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. 5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, said the LORD of hosts.
WORTHLESS METAL : DROSS
-vs-
TRIED PURIFIED SILVER
UNCLEAN HEART
-vs-
CLEAN HEART
PSALM 17
3You have proved my heart; you have visited me in the night; you have tried me, and shall find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. 4Concerning the works of men, by the word of your lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. 5Hold up my goings in your paths, that my footsteps slip not.
Psalm 11 :
4The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. 5The LORD tries the righteous: but the wicked and him that loves violence his soul hates.6On the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.7For the righteous LORD loves righteousness; his countenance does behold the upright.
zechariah 13 : The Shepherd Struck, Sheep Scattered
7Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, said the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn my hand on the little ones. 8And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, said the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.
BROAD PATH OF DESTRUCTION
-vs-
NARROW PATH OF LIFE
PAVED WITH GOLD
-vs-
PAVED WITH BLOOD
TRIAL of FAITH
1 Peter 1 : A Living Hope
1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you, and peace, be multiplied.
3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7That the trial of your faith[g4102], being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:8Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceFaith [g4102]
- conviction of the TRUTH of anything, belief; persuasion, i.e. credence;
- moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation;
from [g3982]
- to convince (by argument, TRUE or FALSE);
A TRIAL is a formal examination of evidence before a judge,
and typically before a jury, in order to decide guilt in a case of criminal or civil proceedings.
SCALES OF JUSTIFICATION(symbolizing the measure of a case’s support and opposition)
When faced being CONVICTED of Crime, people are often
asked to take a LIE DETECTOR TEST,
where they tie a band around your HEART.
It measures and records several physiological
indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity
while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions.
You are first asked basic questions like:
“What your name”?, “what is your age”?
TO ESTABLISH A
(“a minimum starting point used for comparisons “)
You are then asked more interrogating questions…
WHEN TELLING
the needle jumps all over the place
-vs-
WHEN TELLING THE
the needle drawing a straight line
Jeremiah 17 : a pen of iron
9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
HIS WORD ESTABLISHES the
Isaiah 59
The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
Deuteronomy 5 : Moses Intercedes for the People(Exodus 20:18-21; Hebrews 12:18-29)
28And Jehovah heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and Jehovah said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. 29Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! 30Go say to them, Return ye to your tents. 31But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. 32Ye shall observe to do therefore as Jehovah your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.33Ye shall walk in all the way which Jehovah your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
JOSHUA 23: JOSHUA’S CHARGE TO LEADERS
6Be you therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;
Phillippians 2 : Shine as lights of the world (Matthew 5:13-16)
12Why, my beloved, as you 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. 13For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the middle of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world;16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. 17Yes, and if I be offered on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. 18For the same cause also do you joy, and rejoice with me.
Psalm 10 :
17LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble: you will prepare their heart, you will cause your ear to hear:
HEBREWS 12 : GOD DISCIPLINES HIS SONS
13And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Psalm 5 :Consider My Meditation
8Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before my face.
God is the one searching, proving, and trying the Heart.
Romans 8 : future glory (2 Corinthians 5:1-10)
26Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Psalm 44 : Redeem us
15My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face has covered me, 16For the voice of him that reproaches and blasphemes; by reason of the enemy and avenger. 17All this is come on us; yet have we not forgotten you, neither have we dealt falsely in your covenant. 18Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from your way; 19Though you have sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death. 20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; 21Shall not God search this out? for he knows the secrets of the heart.
God, being merciful, gave us a way to pass the Polygraph through the giving of His Son and His Mercy. The Polygraph needle stays straight under interrogation and tribulation, if we Abide in His Love and Truth through his Holy Spirit, which was given to us by Him who fulfilled the Law for us. When we do sin, we have a intercessor (attorney), the Holy Spirit, given to us by Jesus, that pleads for us on our behalf in front of the Judge (God) as did Moses.
Thus being able to pass the test, and declared Righteous in his sight.
The Needle
is Established (Fixed) in
TRUTH
because of HIS
The MEANS by which we are Saved :
FAITH & OBEDIENCE
The CAUSE by which we are Saved :
GRACE & MERCY (a free gift)
The EFFECT of being Saved :
SALVATION OF SOUL
(saved from the wrath of the Law, by being declared Justified/Righteous through Faith )
Just as following the Law does not make you justified, but is an expression of the fact that you have been reconciled to Him. When we abide in Him, through FAITH (a conviction of the truth) : We are no longer subject to the wrath stipulated in the Law. We are not longer under the curse of the Law or Sin.
When we begin to understand our
Justification as TRUE STONES
we can rest and rejoice in the ongoing
discipline, chastening, & refinement of our
9Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionists, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are Sanctified [g37], but you are Justified [g1344]in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
REVELATION 22 : JESUS IS COMING
6And he said to me, These sayings are faithful and TRUE [g228]: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show to his servants the things which must shortly be done. 7Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book. 8And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. 9Then said he to me, See you do it not: for I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. 10And he said to me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
11He that is UNJUST, let him be UNJUST still:
and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still:
and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still:
and he that is holy [g40], let him be holy still.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceHoly [g40] ἅγιος hágios, hag’-ee-os; occurs 229 times in 219 verses
- sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated):
- —(most) holy (one, thing), saint
REVELATION 3 : MESSAGE TO THE CHURCH IN PHILADELPHIA
7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things said he that is HOLY [g40], he that is TRUE [g228], he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens; 8I know your works: behold, I have set before you an OPEN DOOR, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name.10Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come on all the world, to try them that dwell on the earth. 11Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which you have, that no man take your crown. 12Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name. 13He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches.
THE KEY OF DAVID
given to those who are
HOLY (“sanctified”)
and
TRUE (“JUSTIFIED”)
Revelation 21 : A New Heaven and a New Earth
1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5And he that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6And he said to me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
WE ARE ALL PART OF THE MOST GRAND REDEMPTIVE STORY
that could possibly be conceived.
THE BIBLE is a SCRIPT.
(A script is the written text of a
play, movie, or broadcast)
God’s HOLY SCRIPT
It is a NARRATIVE or STORY
(a spoken or written account
of connected events)
HIS-STORY.
THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE
THE AUTHOR : JESUS
The author and finisher of our faith, who endured the cross for us, and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.
(An AUTHOR is the creator or originator of any written work such as a book or play, and is thus also a writer. More broadly defined, an author is “the person who originated or gave existence to anything” and whose authorship determines responsibility for what was created.)
From the beginning, in the garden of Eden, God created us to be in relationship with Him
and to be His image bearers and to bear fruit unto him.
GENESIS 2 :THE PLANTING OF THE GARDEN
8And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9And 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 middle of the garden,and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT
15And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.
GENESIS 3 : THE SERPENT’S DECEPTION(Genesis 7:1-5; Romans 5:12-21; 2 Peter 3:1-9)
1Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Yes, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. 4And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die: 5For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat. 7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
GOD ARRAIGNS ADAM AND EVE
8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9And the LORD God called to Adam, and said to him, Where are you? 10And he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat? 12And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.13And the LORD God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14And the LORD God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; on your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life: 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
THE PUNISHMENT OF MANKIND
16To the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you. 17And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life; 18Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field; 19In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return to the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and to dust shall you return. 20And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21To Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from from where he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Ever since Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, God has been working to restore His people,His Seed, and ultimately a restored Garden of Eden with His new Bride, while setting distinction and separation between His seed, and the seed sown by the serpent.
Garden of EDEN
Romans 8 : God Works In All Things (Ephesians 1:3-14)
28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
ISAIAH 40:22
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth
Just as we are the clay that is molded by the hands of potter as it spins in a circle. He is the potter and we are the clay. We are the works of His Hands, predestined to bear His image of Righteousness Crafting, Shaping and Molding us until His Image is formed in us through the work His Son did for us on the cross.
ISAIAH 64:8
we are the clay, and you our potter; and we all are the work of your hand.
AT THE END OF THE SCRIPT , 2 WOMAN ARE PERSONIFIED
THE WHORE OF BABYLON
JUDGED
-vs-
THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
Redeemed
REVELATION 18 : BABYLON IS FALLEN4And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. 5For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.8Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judges her.-vs-
REVELATION 19 : MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB
7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. 8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
2 KINGDOMS are PERSONIFIED
AN EARTHLY KINGDOM
BABYLON
“The City of Confusion
(by mixing)”
-vs-
A HEAVENLY KINGDOM
JERUSALEM
“The City of Truth
(by separating from wickedness)”
1 CORINTHIANS 14 :
33For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
ESTABLISHED BY
INITIATION
-vs-
GRACE
THE EARTHLY KINGDOM
Babylon,
built by the kings of earth
and the works of their hands
will be destroyed
-vs-
THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM
The New Jerusalem,
comes down from Heaven
prepared by the King of Kings,
is adorned for the bride
In the 1st BOOK of GENESIS
Nimrod built the kingdom of Babylon with
A TOWER THAT REACHED TO HEAVEN
GENESIS 11 : TOWER OF BABEL
let us build us a city and a tower,
whose top may reach to heaven
In the LAST BOOK of REVELATION
Babylon has been rebuilt and
HER SINS HAVE REACHED TO HEAVEN
REVELATION 17 : BABYLON IS FALLEN
5For her sins have reached to heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.
The SAME RECURRING PATTERN
occurs 4 different times throughout GENESIS and EXODUS
PROVERBS 16 :
18Pride goes before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. 19Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
1CITIES & KINGDOMS BUILT BY MEN
2VANITY, PRIDE & WICKEDNESS ENSUES
3Resulting in JUDGEMENT FROM GOD
WORKS of MENS HANDSDESTROYED-vs-
A REMNANT
is SAVED
PSALM 46 : GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH
6The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. 7The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolation’s he has made in the earth
SALVATIONOF ONE PARTYimpliesJUDGEMENT
OF ANOTHER
This pattern was established by God in Garden of Eden
SEED OF WICKEDNESS
planted by serpent
-vs-
SEED OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
planted by God
MATTHEW 13 : THE PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND TAREs
24Another parable put he forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.26But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27So the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, did not you sow good seed in your field? from where then has it tares? 28He said to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Will you then that we go and gather them up? 29But he said, No; lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather you together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
THE PARABLE OF THE WEEDS EXPLAINED
36Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came to him, saying, Declare to us the parable of the tares of the field. 37He answered and said to them, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man;
38The field is the world;
the good seed are the children of the kingdom;
the tares are the children of the wicked one;
39The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be at the end of this world41The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.43Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear, let him hear.
PRIDE
-vs-
HUMILITY
Psalm 18 :
27For you will save the afflicted people; but will bring down high looks.
THE TARES
that offend
and do wickedness will bebound in bundles and burned.
-vs-
THE WHEAT
will be bound in bundles
and taken into the barn.
The barn meaning eternal life.
A TARE (or darnel) is a plant that commonly grows in FIELDS of GRAIN.
ALTHOUGH IT LOOKS SIMILAR to an edible grain,
it isn’t suitable for food because it is a POISONOUS WEED.
TARE
-vs-
WHEAT
WHEAT and TARES are INDISTINGUISHABLE up until HARVEST TIME
TARES STAND TALL
WHEAT BOWED OVER FROM WEIGHT
In the beginning, we see a precedent established, that clearly separates one from the other.
God accepted one and rejected the other.
2 seeds planted that produce 2 distinct types of fruit.
SEED of WICKEDNESS
-vs-
SEED of RIGHTEOUSNESS
BUILDERS & CRAFTSMAN manipulating God’s creation by tilling metals from the ground and CRAFTING Inventions through their knowledge of the tree of good and evil.
Driven by SELF WILL to fit their own desires, through work of own hands
Leading to an artificially contrived “City of Confusion” aka BABYLON
-vs-
Submitting to GOD’S WILL and letting HIM CRAFT and MOLD his image into us through His hands and spirit. WE are INSTRUMENTS of HIS MERCY
Tending to what God has created by nourishing and feeding his flock.
Leading to a city of peace created By God aka JERUSALEM
THE WAY/PATH of CAIN
-vs-
THE WAY/PATH of ABEL
RUNNING A RACE THAT HAS A DEADLINE
-vs-
RUNNING A RACE THAT IS ALREADY FINISHED
WORKING TO EARN SALVATION
-vs-
APPLYING SALVATION ALREADY GIVEN
GENESIS 4 : CAIN AND ABEL(Romans 2:1-16; Jude 1:3-16)
1And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD. 4And Abel, he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect to Abel and to his offering: 5But to Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6And the LORD said to Cain, Why are you wroth? and why is your countenance fallen? 7If you do well, shall you not be accepted? and if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And to you shall be his desire, and you shall rule over him.
THE DESCENDANTS OF CAIN
17And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch : and he built a city,and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
God FLOODED the earth
THE CITY & WORKS DESTROYED
by the WASHING OF WATER
-vs-
8 SOULS SPARED
by the WASHING OF WATER
GENESIS 6 : THE WICKEDNESS OF MAN (Matthew 24:36-51; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:35-48)
1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repents me that I have made them.
God established a precedent that the works that come from the sin in our flesh
produces is contrary to His Spirit and why we were created.
~ foreshadowing ~
Jesus coming to condemn and crucify sin in the flesh
and to destroy the works of the devil.
We are Saved, Washed and Cleansed with Living Water, His Holy Spirit.
Our old man (Adam/flesh) is dead and we are alive in Christ (the New Adam/spirit)
1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelled there. 3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach to heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scatter abroad on the face of the whole earth. 5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. 6And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. 8So the LORD scatter them abroad from there on the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from there did the LORD scatter them abroad on the face of all the earth.
After the flood,
the descendant’s of Noah
formed 70 NATIONS
and Built the TOWER OF BABEL
God CONFOUNDED their LANGUAGES
and SCATTERED the NATIONS across the earth
The Tower of Babel was
UNPROFITABLE to GOD.
IT DID NOT BARE GOD ANY FRUIT.
It was built by men’s hands to glorify themselves
which results in being LIFTED UP WITH PRIDE.
LIFTED UP PRIDE
-vs-
BOUGHED OVER HUMILITY
70NATIONS SCATTERED
across the world at Babel
because of DISOBEDIENCE
-vs-
1SOUL REDEEMED
Abraham, because of OBEDIENCE
and to be His new seed and the father
of His nation through which
would bear fruit to God
GENESIS 11 : THE CALLING OF ABRAM (Genesis 26:1-5)
1Now the LOad said to Abram, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you: 2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great;
GENESIS 17 : ABRAM NAMED ABRAHAM
4As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5Neither shall your name any more be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made you. 6And I will make you exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come out of you. 7And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you, and to your seed after you. 8And I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land wherein you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION (Leviticus 12:1-8; Joshua 5:1-9; Acts 15:1-4)
9And God said to Abraham, You shall keep my covenant therefore, you, and your seed after you in their generations. 10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. 11And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant between me and you. 12And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of your seed. 13He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with your money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.
A COVENANT is a BINDING AGREEMENT between 2 parties
So GOD establishes His COVENANT with ABRAHAM.
Being CIRCUMCISED equated to you
signing a contract and agreeing to obey
the things written in the contract.
So GOD establishes His COVENANT with ABRAHAM. Being circumcised equated to you signing a contract and agreeing to obey the things written in the contract. God in turn would bless his seed and give them the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession, but not before they would be afflicted in Egypt for 400 years.
ABRAHAM & SARAH
ISAAC
God chose Abraham out of Babylon and then tempted him by telling him to offer up Isaac, the son promised to him by God with his wife Sarai, as a burnt offering in MOUNT MORIAH, which was a common pagan practice that came out of Babylon.
Genesis 22 : The Offering of Isaac (John 3:16-21; Romans 5:6-11)
1And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said to him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2And he said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and get you into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.
When God saw that Abraham acted upon God’s request, God knew that he feared Him, and did not withhold His only son from Him. Abraham then offered up a substitute offering of a ram in Isaac’s place.
ISAAC & REBEKAH
ESAU
Red, Hairy, Rough
-vs-
JACOB
Smooth
Genesis 25 : Jacob and Esau (Malachi 1:1-5; Romans 9:6-18)
19And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: 20And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. 21And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.
23And the LORD said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from your bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
24And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 26And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was three score years old when she bore them.
27And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. 28And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
God HATED
ESAU
-vs-
God LOVED
JACOB
JACOB would be renamed to “ISRAEL“
which means “God Prevails” (against the nations).
“Gentile” means “of the nations”, “not of the one nation-Israel”.
So from God’s perspective you are either ,
“of THE nations”
GENTILE
-or-
“of HIS nation”
ISRAEL
Deuteronomy 32 :
8When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. 9For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.10He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
God DISINHERITED
the70 NATIONS
Scattered at the Tower
-vs-
God INHERITED
ISRAEL.
The Nation chosen by God
FROM JACOB CAME
THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL
by way of his 2 wives and their 2 handmaids
HANDMAIDS
BILHAH (Rachel’s)
ZILPAH (Leah’s
WIVES
RACHEL
LEAH
The 1st 4 TRIBES OF ISRAEL came from LEAH
1 REUBEN
2 SIMEON
3 LEVI
4 JUDAH
RACHEL became envious of LEAH
because she was able to conceive and give Jacob children and she couldn’t.
So RACHEL gave Jacob her BILHAH her HANDMAID to conceive.
From BILHAH5 DAN6 NAPHTALI
LEAH then gave Jacob ZILPAH her HANDMAID to conceive.
From ZILPAH7 GAD8 ASHER
LEAH then had9 ISAACHAR10 ZEBULON
RACHEL finally had
11 JOSEPH12 BENJAMIN
This is where the SHEEP
and the SHEPHERD narrative begins.
Psalm 23 : The Lord is My Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:11-24; John 10:1-21)
1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters. 3He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. 6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Most Americans want some form of religious identity
ONLINE IDENTITY
-vs-
IDENTITY IN CHRIST
SO WHO ARE HIS SHEEP?
Jesus told Peter 3 times…
RACHEL[H7354] רָחֵל Râchêloccurs 47 in 44
- Rachel = “ewe” a female lamb
- daughter of Laban, wife of Jacob, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin
the same as H7353;רָחֵל râchêl,
- from an unused root meaning to journey;
- a ewe [the females being the predominant element of a flock]
- (as a good traveller):—ewe, sheep.
1Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. 2And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, see, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was on the well’s mouth. 3And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the well’s mouth in his place. 4And Jacob said to them, My brothers, from where be you? And they said, Of Haran are we. 5And he said to them, Know you Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. 6And he said to them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter comes with the sheep. 7And he said, See, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water you the sheep, and go and feed them.8And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep. 9And while he yet spoke with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep; for she kept them
THE SHEEP came from RACHEL and THE SHEPHERD came from LEAH
RACHEL and LEAH the 2 wives of Jacob were the ones that built the house of Israel
RUTH 4 : BOAZ REDEEMS RUTH
11And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into your house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do you worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
BETHLEHEM = “HOUSE OF BREAD”.
where RACHEL died and where DAVID and JESUS were born
JACOB (ISRAEL) “LOVED RACHEL THE MOST” out of His WIves
JACOB (ISRAEL) “LOVED JOSEPH THE MOST” out of His Sons
Because of this Joseph’s brothers envied him
and they threw him into an EMPTY PIT
and then was sold into in EGYPT
While in Egypt, Joseph gave birth to 2 sons
MANASSAH & EPHRAIM
Because of famine, Israel moved his family from the land of Canaanto the Land of Goshen, just outside of Egypt, where Jacob, Israel, blesses the sons of Joseph,EPHRAIM and MANASSAH. JACOB claims they are to be treated as his.
They were ADOPTED (GRANDFATHERED) in as part of the tribes of Israel
~ foreshadowing ~
Our ADOPTION as sons of God through faith in Christ His Son.
RACHEL
BENJAMIN
(“son of the right hand”)
The Sheep
and
her offspring
JOSEPH
(“God has ADDED”)
+
EPHRAIM :: MANASSAH
PSALM 80: HEAR US, SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL
1Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you that lead Joseph like a flock; you that dwell between the cherubim, shine forth. 2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up your strength, and come and save us. 3Turn us again, O God, and cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.
- Joshua who led Israel into Promised Land: Ephraim
- Judges:
- Othniel : Judah
- Ehud : Benjamin
- Deborah : (dwelt in Mount Ephraim)
- Gideon : Manassah
- Tola : Issachar (dwelt in Mount Ephraim)
- Jair : Manassah or Ephraim (a Gileadite)
- Jephthae : Manassah
- Samson : Dan
- Samuel : Ephraim
- Boaz committed himself to redeem Namomi’s property, to marry Ruth, and to perpetuate the names of the 2 Ephraimites who had died and were married to Ruth and Orpah, upon their marriage.
- Kings:
- Saul : Benjamin
- David : Judah
- Solomon : Judah
- Jeroboah the 1st King of Northern Kingdom : Ephraim
- Apostles:
- Paul: Benjamin
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceEphraim [h669] occurs 180 times in 164 verses
- double fruit (ash-heap);
- I shall be doubly fruitful (2x)
- second son of Joseph, blessed by him and given preference over first son, Manasseh
- the mountain country of Ephraim
- used name for the Northern Kingdom
- (Hosea or Isaiah) a city near Baal-hazora chief gate of Jerusalem
- “double land”
- “twin land”
1ST PORTION: (of the womb): Multiplying into a nation while in Egypt
2ND PORTION: The FRUIT of THE SPIRIT given to us by Christ’s Holy Spirit
EPHRAIM, who received the 1ST BORN BLESSING, was prophesied to be the FULLNESS OF THE NATIONS, those belonging to God. Jacob’s blessing for Ephraim was implying that the nations disinherited by God that were scattered at the Tower of Babel and that left off building the city, would eventually come together again to try and finish what Nimrod had started. Once the FULLNESS OF THE NATIONS plan is complete, EPHRAIM at that time, would be SCATTERED AMONG THE NATIONS
Matthew 25 : The Sheep and the Goats
31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
ALL NATIONS will be before HIM
THE GOATS on HIS LEFT HAND
-vs-
THE SHEEP on HIS RIGHT HAND
Joseph received the 1ST BORN BIRTHRIGHTeven though he was 2ND TO LAST BORN of the 12 tribes.After Rachel died, REUBEN who was Jacob’s actual 1ST BORN SONslept with Bilhah, Rachel’s Handmaid and defiled Jacob’s bed.Because of this REUBEN lost his1st BORN BIRTH RIGHTand it was given to JOSEPH, the 1ST BORN of RACHEL
1 CHRONICLES 5 : DESCENDANTS OF REUBEN
1Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but for as much as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. 2For Judah prevailed above his brothers, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)
SCEPTER PROMISE
JUDAH
DAVID :: JESUS
BIRTHRIGHT PROMISE
JOSEPH
EPHRAIM :: MANASSAH
JUDAH and JOSEPH received the LONGEST BLESSINGS from Jacob.
GENESIS 49 : JACOB’S PROPHECY of joseph
22Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: 23The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: 24But his bow stayed in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) 25Even by the God of your father, who shall help you; and by the Almighty, who shall bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 26The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brothers.
GENESIS 49 : JACOB’S PROPHECY OF Judah
8Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise: your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you. 9Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, you are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 10The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the people be. 11Binding his foal to the vine, and his ass’s colt to the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: 12His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk
THE SCEPTER is a MARK OF AUTHORITY.
The Scepter is the Law which is what Jesus our Shepherd,
who was from the Tribe of Judah fulfilled and unto him shall everyone be gathered.
Joseph (Ephraim and Manassah) is prophecied to bare the fruit
that comes from following and obeying the shepherd who bares the Scepter.
Hebrews 1 : The Supremacy of the Son (Colossians 1:15-23)
8But to the Son he said, Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. 9You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows. 10And, You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands: 11They shall perish; but you remain; and they all shall wax old as does a garment;
Psalm 60 :With God We Will Gain the Victory (2 Samuel 8:1-14; 1 Chronicles 18:1-13)
1O God, you have cast us off, you have scattered us, you have been displeased; O turn yourself to us again. 2You have made the earth to tremble; you have broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shakes. 3You have showed your people hard things: you have made us to drink the wine of astonishment. 4You have given a banner to them that fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. 5That your beloved may be delivered; save with your right hand, and hear me. 6God has spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. 7Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of my head; Judah is my lawgiver; 8Moab is my wash pot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph you because of me. 9Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
70SOULS from JACOB/ISRAEL
went into EGYPT and endured400 years of affliction in EGYPT
1NATION ISRAEL who had multiplied
into over 600,000 SOULS during this period was REDEEMED by God
EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD
-vs-
LAMBS BOOK OF LIFE
MOSES then leads Israel out of EGYPT
PHARAOH and His Army DESTROYED
by DROWNING in the SEA
-vs-
ISRAEL REDEEMED by God
by walking on DRY LAND in Midst of SEA
MOSES led them to MOUNT SINAI (HOREB) where God thundered down THE LAW and 10 COMMANDMENTS, to ISRAEL and the aliens that had left and joined with them, as well instructions on setting up THE TABERNACLE in the Wilderness
THE LAWwas given to
THE NATIONS
-from-
ISRAEL
The Law was given to the Israelite’s so they could distinguish between the gods of the nations and the God who redeemed them of Egypt whom they were called to serve. To separate themselves from the customs of the nations so they could serve the God of Israel and bare Him fruit. All the things stipulated in the Law that you were not to do, were the things that they were doing in Babylon, Sodom, and Egypt.
EXODUS 19 : ISRAEL AT MOUNT SINAI
5Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.
LEVITICUS 20: KEEP ALL MY DECREES
22Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all mine ordinances, and do them; that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, vomit you not out. 23And ye shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. 24But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Jehovah your God, who hath separated you from the peoples. 25Ye shall therefore make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by bird, or by anything wherewith the ground teemeth, which I have separated from you as unclean. 26And ye shall be holy unto me: for I, Jehovah, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that ye should be mine.
MAN (Adam) was given
DOMINION and AUTHORITY
in earth by God.
________________________________
Because of repeated transgressions
THE LAW was ADDED +
So that the offences may increase
& establishes a day when the DEBT – is due
1 TIMOTHY :
9Knowing 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 murderers, 10For fornicators, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for enslavers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
Matthew 22 : The Greatest Commandment (Deuteronomy 6:1-19; Mark 12:28-34)
34But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together.35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36Master, which is the great commandment in the law?37Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
THE LAW now establishes DOMINION & AUTHORITY
OVER Man while he lives
____________________________________________
Laws are put in place for the well being of others and yourself,
to keep peace and justice, and to establish order. (ie. for our own good).
Just as the term “NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW”
is used in our legal system, the same applies for God’s Law
which means you are “UNDER IT”
THE LAWESTABLISHES the
( a minimum or starting point used for comparisons )
Are you walking within the boundaries of His Covenant or Not?Example:A BASELINE in Tennis is used to distinguish
whether the ball in play is IN BOUNDS or NOT
OUT OF BOUNDS
DISOBEDIENCE
to the covenant
led to Curses
-vs-
IN BOUNDS
OBEDIENCE
to the covenant
led to Blessings
The Law serves to warn what will happen due to disobedience and reward those who are obedient. This is why we are to fear the Lord.
PSALM 19
7The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 10More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11Moreover by them is your servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. 13Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
PSALM 119 :
49Remember the word to your servant, on which you have caused me to hope. 50This is my comfort in my affliction: for your word has quickened me. 51The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from your law. I remembered your judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself. 53Horror has taken hold on me because of the wicked that forsake your law. 54Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. 55I have remembered your name, O LORD, in the night, and have kept your law. 56This I had, because I kept your precepts.
GOD’S LAW & COVENANT with Israel
is ESTABLISHED
in the 1st 5 books of the Old Testament.
EVERYTHING in the bible is written IN REFERENCE
to the stipulations in these 5 books
The next 17 books of the Old Testament are essentially historical books
based on how well Israel followed the instructions given in these 5 books.
The last 17 books of the Old Testament are books written by the PROPHETS
warning Israel of they curses that will be enacted from these 5 books
if they continue to disobey the covenant that had been established.
When you get a jigsaw puzzle,
you see on the cover of the box how it is supposed to fit together,
but when you open it up, all the pieces are broken up.
The solver is expected to put pieces together in a logical way,
in order to make it look like the picture on the box.
The easiest way to put the puzzle together
is by first piecing the borders or boundaries together.
Everything then fits within those pieces.
THE LAW is the outline of the biblical puzzle.
It set’s the borders on how all the other pieces should
fit within it’s frame.
Once we piece the border’s of the puzzle together
we can fit the rest of the pieces together, working towards the middle,
and we come to the understanding of image on the cover,
which is HOLINESS & GRACE, who FULFILLED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LAW
for us and is the end of the Law for Righteousness to anyone that believes
We bear the image of God through His Son, the Image of Righteousness,
expressed in the 10 commandments; when we observe His commandments and do them.
THE LAW ESTABLISHES…
THE LAW of SIN and DEATH
THE LAW is Spiritual but we are carnal,
sold under THE LAW of SIN and DEATH ,
because we have all sinned
and fallen short of His RIGHTEOUSNESS .
SIN is an Archers term for
“MISSING THE MARK”.
-and-
THE LAW of RIGHTEOUSNESS and TRUTH
If there was no mark or target,
there would be no way of distinguishing if their arrow landed in the correct place.
The LAW establishes the mark
which we are to aim, which is
RIGHTEOUSNESS and TRUTH.
Sin does not exist without the Law.
The Law is not sin, but it gives life to it, by defining what sin is.
Sin is defined as transgression of the Law.
EXAMPLE:
There would be nothing considered ILLEGAL if
STATE or FEDERAL LAW did not define it.
ROMANS 7 : GOD’S LAW IS HOLY
7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. No, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, You shall not covet. 8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, worked in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 9For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be to death. 11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12Why the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
STRUGGLING WITH SIN
13Was then that which is good made death to 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 become exceeding sinful. 14For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16If then I do that which I would not, I consent to the law that it is good. 17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23But 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. 24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
ROMANS 4:15
Because the Law Works Wrath: for where No Law is, there is no transgression.
A law does not take effect until broken.
When it is transgressed, it works wrath and debt.
EXAMPLE:
If you are convicted of a felony by transgressing a man made law,
you are in debt to repay society by serving time in prison,
therefore a slave and in bondage to it.
The covenant made with Israel did not make them Righteous,
it made them in debt to do the whole Law.
EXAMPLE:
Becoming a US citizen makes you in debt
to act within all the Laws set forth in the constitution
THE LAW of SIN and DEATH works DEBT and BONDAGE
and ultimately WRATH & JUDGEMENT based off the CURSES it enacts
Every sin committed is like borrowing money
that you have no way of paying back.
The Debt from Sin continues to Pile up.
EXAMPLE:
The US is over $20 Trillion in debt, with no possible way to repay it,
and each day that debt continues to grow.
Our debt has doubled just within the past 10 years.
It has increased at a compounded (exponential)
annual rate of about 9% per year since 1971.
Every Transgression of the Law Adds to the Wrath being piled up
and ultimately a due date for when the debt is due to be paid…
where the curses enacted in the LAW ultimately devour the earth
What’s the point in trying to obey the Law if Righteousness cannot be obtained from the Law?
Under the Old Covenant they were counted righteous for striving for obedience to the Law.
Those who strived to keep the Law through faith is analogous to them doing everything they could to pay down the debt owed through obedience. God in turn, because of his grace, allowed them to take part in the Promises and Blessings they were bearing Fruit towards God. Those who rebel, is analogous to not paying anything down on the mortgage and bear no fruit towards God.
EXAMPLE:
If a mortgage lender sees you are doing everything you can to pay down the mortgage, the lender will not foreclose on the house because it is still bearing them some profit. However if you just bail, and make no effort to pay the bills the lender will take the house from you.
When stationed in the wilderness after the Exodus out of Egypt,ALL OF RACHEL’S DESCENDANTS were stationed together in the WEST,and were known as THE CAMP OF EPHRAIM.They were closest to the Holy of Holy’s that containedthe Ark of the Covenant which contained the 10 commandments.
~ foreshadowing ~
PSALM 80: HEAR US, SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL
1Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you that lead Joseph like a flock; you that dwell between the cherubim, shine forth. 2Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up your strength, and come and save us. 3Turn us again, O God, and cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.
While in wilderness, God chose 1 from each tribe to go spy out Canaan, the land promised to them by God as an inheritance. Moses instructed the spies to report whether the land was good or bad and to bring of back the fruit of the land. They returned after 40 days of searching they said the fruit of the land is good and it flows with milk and honey, but, those who dwell in the land have cities that are walled and the sons of Anak who are giants and stronger than us dwell there so there is no way we can possess the land. They feared the inhabitants of the land more than they feared God.
ONLY 2 SPIES of the 12 DID NOT BRING BACK A NEGATIVE REPORT
and DID NOT FEAR the inhabitants of Canaan.
JOSHUA: from the TRIBE of EPHRAIM
CALEB: from the TRIBE of JUDAH
THESE ARE THE ONLY 2 PEOPLE THAT LEFT DURING THE EXODUS
and ACTUALLY MADE IT TO THE PROMISED LAND
after God made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years due to disobedience!!!
601,730
left during the Exodus and all of them died in the Wilderness
except JOSHUA from EPHRAIM & CALEB from JUDAH + the sons and daughters
that were born to those who died during that 40 year period
~ foreshadowing ~
THE SHEEP (Ephraim)
and the THE SHEPHERD (Judah)
Numbers 32 :
10Andthe LORD’s anger was kindled the same time, and he swore, saying,11Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: 12Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD. 13And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.
It was only the children of this generation,
that was to enter the PROMISED LAND under JOSHUA.
JOSHUA who led Israel in THE PROMISED LAND,
used a sword (knife) to circumcise all those who were born in the wilderness
at hill of foreskins in Gilgal (Circle) before reaching the Promised Land of CANAAN.
~ foreshadowing ~
JESUS leading Israel into THE NEW PROMISED LAND
by circumcising our hearts with his Holy Spirit
before we reach the new promised land of ETERNAL LIFE.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceJoshua [h3091]יְהוֹשׁוּעַ Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ,occurs 218 in 199
- Joshua = “Jehovah is salvation”
- son of Nun of the tribe of Ephraim and successor to Moses as the leader of the children of Israel;
- led the conquest of Canaan
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceJesus [g2424]Ἰησοῦς Iēsoûsoccurs 975 in 935
- Jesus = “Jehovah is salvation”
- Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour of mankind, God incarnate
- of Hebrew origin (H3091); Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua),
Just before they finally entered the Promised Land of Canaan, we see God adding a new covenant at Moab, to that which was given to the generation before at Horeb/Sinai.
So this covenant was given not only to that generation, but to all generation that came after them.
Deuteronomy 32 : THe song of Moses
44And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Joshua the son of Nun. 45And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel: 46And he said to them, Set your hearts to all the words which I testify among you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. 47For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over Jordan to possess it.
The ONLY thing that is NOT VAIN (empty, worthless)
is to OBSERVE and DO ALL THINGS
STIPULATED in THE LAW
The COVENANT @ MOAB
was an EXPANSION OF THE BLESSING & CURSES
given at HOREB (Leviticus 26),
PENDING OBEDIENCE to the Law.
COVENANT at MOUNT SINAI (“HOREB”)
Contained in the books:
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
+
COVENANT at MOAB
Contained in:
Deuteronomy (2nd Covenant)
MOSES SET BEFORE THEM
THE LAW of SIN
[DEATH & EVIL]
CURSES
-and-
THE LAW of RIGHTEOUSNESS and TRUTH
[LIFE & GOOD]
BLESSINGS
CURSES FOR DISOBEDIENCE
on MOUNT EBAL
The sons of their handmaids stood on
Mount Ebal to curse (w/ exception of Reuben)
- Reuben
- Gad
- Asher
- Zebulun
- Dan
- Naphtali.
-and-
BLESSINGS FOR OBEDIENCE
on MOUNT GERIZEM
The sons of Jacob’s Wives, Rachel and Leah, stood on Mount Gerizem to bless.
- Simeon
- Levi
- Judah
- Issachar
- Joseph (meaning Ephraim & Manassah)
- Benjamin
When they finally arrived in the promised land, each tribe had land allotted to them.
Joshua 18 : The Tabernacle at Shiloh
1And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh[h7886], and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them.
THE REMAINER DIVIDED
8And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the LORD in Shiloh[h7886]. 9And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh. 10And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh[h7886]before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceShiloh [h7886/h7887]occurs 33 times in 31 verses
“place of rest”, “tranquility”
a city in Ephraim
temporary home of the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle
the place where Samuel grew up
The Tabernacle and the ARK OF THE COVENANT
rested in Shiloh, which was a town allotted to
EPHRAIM and where Samuel grew up
~ foreshadowing ~
Jacob’s prophecy of Judah stated the scepter (Law) would not depart from Judah
and unto him shall he gather all the people (meaning Ephraim)
Israel eventually decided to have a king over them:
SAUL
DAVID
SOLOMON
After Solomon sat on the throne and had built the temple…
He led Israel to follow other gods.
1 KINGS 11 : God’s Anger against Solomon
9And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared to him twice, 10And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. 11Why the LORD said to Solomon, For as much as this is done of you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely rend the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. 12Notwithstanding in your days I will not do it for David your father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of your son. 13However, I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to your son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.
1 KINGS 11 : JEROBOAM’S REBELLION
After Solomon died,God SPLIT THE KINGDOM into 2 SEPARATE DIVISIONS.
10 TRIBES : NORTHERN KINGDOM
were given to Jeroboam
( from the Tribe of Ephraim)
He was in charge of whole
labor force of Joseph was given.
(became known as: )
“THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL”
“THE HOUSE OF JOSEPH”
“THE HOUSE OF EPHRAIM”
2 TRIBES : SOUTHERN KINGDOMwere given to Rehoboamwhich includedJudah and Benjamin
(became known as: )
“THE HOUSE OF JUDAH”
Just as the United States became divided during the Civil War.
But unlike the US, Israel never came back together.
Southern States :::::::::: Northern States
Southern Kingdom :::::::::: Northern Kingdom
Both Kingdoms ended up being banished from their land and taken into captivity.
Only a portion of the Southern Kingdom was led back to Jerusalem.
THE NORTHERN KINGDOM
“THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL”
was taken by the Assyrians.
THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM
“THE HOUSE OF JUDAH”
led into Exile in Babylon.
ISRAEL : NORTHERN KINGDOMKINGREIGNPROPHETS1 Jeroboam931-910 (22)Ahijah2 Nadab910-909 (2)3 Baasha909-886 (24)4 Elah886-885 (2)5 Zimri885 (7 days)6 Omri885-874 (12)*Elijah7 Ahab874-853 (22)Elijah/Micah8 Ahaziah853-852 (2)9 Jorah852-841 (12)Elisha10 Jehu841-814 (28)11 Jehoahaz12 Jehoash13 Jeroboam II814-798 (17)798-782 (16)782-753 (41)*Jonah, Amos,
Hosea14 Zechariah753 (6 mo)15 Shallum752 (1 mo)16 Menahem752-742 (10)17 Pekahiah742-740 (2)18 Pekah740-732 (20)*19 Hoshea731-721 (9)
*co-regency722 BCFALL OF SAMARIA TO ASSYRIA
JUDAH : SOUTHERN KINGDOMKINGREIGNPROPHETS1 Rehoboam931-913 (17)Shemaiah2 Abijah913-911 (3)3 Asa (g)911-870 (22)4Jehoshaph..(g)870-848 (25)*5 Jehoram848-841 (8)*6 Ahaziah841 (1)7 Athaliah841-835 (6)8 Joash (g)835-796 (40)Joel9 Amaziah (g)796-767 (29)10 Uzziah (g)767-740 (52)*11 Jotham (g)740-732 (16)12 Ahaz732-716 (16)13 Hezekiah716-687 (29)14 Manassah15 Amon16 Zedekiah687-642 (55)*642-640 (2)640-608 (31)Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah17 Jehoahaz608 (3 mo)18 Jehoikim19 Jehoichin20 Zedekiah608-597 (11)597 (3 mo)597-586 (11)Daniel, Ezekial,
Jeremiah
*co-regency586 BCTEMPLE DESTROYED : BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY
The Northern Kingdom did nothing different than what Solomon did under his rule. After 19 different kings and 200 years of idolatry, Israel was exiled into Assyria. In 721 BC God had Assyria conquer Sumeria and take the Northern Kingdom captive to Assyria. Here we see the prophecy and curse coming to pass where God said He would scatter them among the nations for disobedience.
ISRAEL (The Northern Kingdom) OFFENCES LISTED IN 2 KINGS 17 and the reason for EXILE:
- They walked in the statutes of the nations
- They did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God
- They built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city
- They set up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree
- They burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them;
- They worked wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:
- They served idols
- They rejected his statutes and God’s Covenant
- They left all the commandments of the Lord
- They made molten images, even 2 calves, a grove, and worshiped the host of heaven, and served Baal.
- They caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire
- They used divination and enchantments
- They sold themselves to do evil and to provoke God.
- They followed after VANITY and became VAIN
Here we see Jacob’s prophesy of Ephraim begin to manifest as they began to assimilate into the nations that God had scattered at the Tower of Babel.
God had warned Israel just before crossing the Jordan River that this would happen if they didn’t obey, but they ignored the curses that come upon them for disobedience.
The first thing those from the Southern Kingdom,who returned to Jerusalem,after being in Babylonian captivity for 70 years…They came together as ONE MAN before the WATER GATE
and READ THE LAW OF GOD DISTINCTLY,
so they understood it
~ foreshadowing ~
Coming together as ONE IN CHRIST,
understanding his Law, and being led to the
Fountain of Living Waters
after coming out Babylon Captivity
1And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate;and they spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.
Nehemiah 8 : Ezra Reads the Law
8So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
Nehemiah 1 : Nehemiah’s Prayer
7We have dealt very corruptly against you, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which you commanded your servant Moses. 8Remember, I beseech you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you transgress, I will scatter [h6327] you abroad among the nations:9But if you turn to me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out to the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them to the place that I have chosen to set my name there. 11And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. 12Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perishes and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passes through? 13And the LORD said, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; 14But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: 15Therefore thus said 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. 16I will scatter [h6327]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.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceScatter [h6327] occurs 69 times in 66 verses
- a primitive root; to dash in pieces
- literally or figuratively (especially to disperse):
- —break (dash, shake) in (to) pieces,
- cast (abroad), disperse (selves), drive, retire, scatter (abroad), spread abroad
Jeremiah 13 : Captivity Threatened
24Therefore will I scatter [h6327] them as the stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness. 25This is your lot, the portion of your measures from me, said the LORD; because you have forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood. 26Therefore will I discover your skirts on your face, that your shame may appear. 27I have seen your adulteries, and your neighings, the lewdness of your prostitution, and your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! will you not be made clean? when shall it once be?
Jeremiah 18 : The Potter and the Clay
13Therefore thus said the LORD; Ask you now among the heathen, who has heard such things: the virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing. 14Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which comes from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? 15Because my people has forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; 16To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passes thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. 17I will scatter [h6327]them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
Now we see this scripture in Deuteronomy beginning to unfold, as the covenant curses begin to be enacted. The people of Israel no longer remain a people and begin assimilating into the nations.
God considered Israel as “HIS BRIDE”, but because of Unfaithfulness he DIVORCED them.
6The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? she is gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the harlot.7And I said after she had done all these things, Turn you to me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 9And it came to pass through the lightness of her prostitution, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 10And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to me with her whole heart, but feignedly, said the LORD.
God pleads for them to turn from their sin…
Jeremiah 3 : INVITATION TO REPENTANCE (Isaiah 57:14-21; Hosea 14:1-3; Zechariah 1:1-6)
11And the LORD said to me, The backsliding Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah. 12Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, you backsliding Israel, said the LORD; and I will not cause my anger to fall on you: for I am merciful, said the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. 13Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice, said the LORD. 14Turn,O backsliding children, said the LORD; for I am married to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
15And I will give you pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.16And it shall come to pass, when you be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, said the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. 17At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. 18In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance to your fathers.
19But I said, How shall I put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, You shall call me, My father; and shall not turn away from me. 20Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, said the LORD. 21A voice was heard on the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. 22Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come to you; for you are the LORD our God.
1Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel: for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.2By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood touches blood. 3Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwells therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yes, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. 4Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for your people are as they that strive with the priest. 5Therefore shall you fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with you in the night, and I will destroy your mother. 6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to me: seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
16For Israel slides back as a backsliding heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place. 17Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. 18Their drink is sour: they have committed prostitution continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give you. 19The wind has bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
The book of HOSEA is about God and his ADULTEROUS WIFE “ISRAEL/EPHRAIM”
God‘s charges against them were that they violated basic covenant requirements. They rejected knowledge of God and His law. They had become self-satisfied and proud and had forgotten God’s grace. They were engaging in idolatry and harlotry. They were trusting in human devices rather than God. They were guilty of injustice, violence, murder, theft, lying, oppression. Through Hosea, the Lord told the people of Israel to stop their promiscuity, idolatry, and iniquity and to return to Him in humility and faithfulness toward the law of the covenant.
Like a marriage partner, God is deeply involved in our lives and is pained when we go our own way. God demands love and loyalty from His own. Often God’s people have failed to demonstrated whole-hearted love for Him. But He stands ready to forgive and restore those who turn to Him in repentance. In buying Gomer’s freedom, Hosea pointed ahead to god’s love perfectly expressed in Christ, who bought the freedom of His bride, the church with His own life.
Hosea 1 : Hosea’s Wife and Children
Hosea 5 : God’s Judgment on Israel and Judah
11Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment. 12Therefore will I be to Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. 13When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. 14For I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. 15I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
HOSEA 9 : HOSEA ANNOUNCES ISRAEL’S PUNISHMENT
13Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. 14Give them, O LORD: what will you give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. 15All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of my house, I will love them no more: all their princes are rebels. 16Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yes, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb. 17My God will cast them away, because they did not listen to him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
9For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim has hired lovers. 10Yes, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them, and they shall sorrow a little for the burden of the king of princes. 11Because Ephraim has made many altars to sin, altars shall be to him to sin. 12I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
Hosea 13 : Ephraim’s Glory Vanishes
1When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. 2And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. 3Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passes away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
Psalm 78 : Hear My Teaching, My People (Matthew 13:34-35)
1Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: 3Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 4We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he has done. 5For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: 6That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: 7That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: 8And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. 9The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. 10They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; 11And forgot his works, and his wonders that he had showed them.
God divorced the Northern Kingdom because they hardened their hearts and rejected God’s Law in pursuing other Gods. They are truly, no longer His people. In all of this we see that which was spoken over 1100 years earlier concerning Ephraim, by Jacob himself.
Gen 48 : Jacob Blesses Ephraim & Manasseh
19And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
The Northern Kingdom never returned and rarely acknowledged as unified entity in scripture again, because they were eventually dispersed and never returned to Sumeria, like the Southern Kingdom returned to Judah after having been taken into Babylonian captivity. Even though Ephraim and the Northern Kingdom had been divorced by God and scattered among the Nations, because they had followed vanity, we see in the prophets, that it is God’s plan to seek them out from where he scattered them.
Jeremiah 30 : Restoration of Israel and Judah
7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. 8For it shall come to pass in that day, said the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: 9But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them. 10Therefore fear you not, O my servant Jacob, said the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, see, I will save you from afar, and your seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. 11For I am with you, said the LORD, to save you: though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered [h6327] you, yet I will not make a full end of you: but I will correct you in measure, and will not leave you altogether unpunished.
Jeremiah 50 : Hope for Israel and Judah
4In those days, and in that time, said the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. 5They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. 6My people has been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place. 7All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers. 8Remove out of the middle of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks. 9For, see, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. 10And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, said the LORD.
Ezekial 20 : Judgment and Restoration
33As I live, said the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: 34And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered [h6327], with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
Ezekial 34 : The Good Shepherd (Psalm 23:1-6; John 10:1-21)
Micah 2 : The Remnant of Israel
12I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of you; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the middle of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.13The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.
15The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 16Moreover, you son of man,
take you one stick, and write on it, For Judah,
and for the children of Israel his companions:
then take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in your hand. 18And when the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?
19Say to them, Thus said the Lord GOD; Behold,I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim,and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand. 20 And the sticks where on you write shall be in your hand before their eyes
21And say to them, Thus said the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, where they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.
23Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 24And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelled; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. 26Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the middle of them for ever more. 27My tabernacle also shall be with them: yes, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the middle of them for ever more
God said he would rescue the sheep He scattered.
Wouldn’t this break his own law?
His own law forbids re-marrying to person whom you divorced.
1When a man has taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he has found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. 3And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorce, and gives it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; 4Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and you shall not cause the land to sin, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance. 5When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he has taken.
GOD CANNOT SIN
How can God search for his lost sheep and re-marry them after He has already divorced her and she is defiled,
when it states in His own Law that it is a sin to do so?
- This was a great mystery to all the priests and rabbis.
- They wondered how He was going to redeem the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
- They wondered how can He remarry the very one He divorced and declared to have given herself over to prostitution.
- God can not break the very righteous laws that define his own Righteousness.
- Breaking the law of God is Sin, the law defines sin according to God’s own words.
Matthew 5 : Jesus Fulfills the Law
17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.18For truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth pass, one stroke or one pronunciation mark shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.19Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
SO HOW CAN GOD REMARRYTHE LOST SHEEP OF ISRAELWITHOUT BREAKING HIS OWN LAW?DEATH
Paul goes onto say that WE DIE IN CHRIST, when we come into the faith.RELEASING both us and God from the requirement of the lawas it relates to DIVORCE and REMARRIAGE.So Christ DIED FOR THE LOST SHEEP in order to bring them BACK INTO THE FOLD
Matthew 10 : Instructions to Disciples(Mark 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6)
5These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter you not: 6But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
21Then Jesus went there, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried to him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, you son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed wivth a devil. 23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and sought him, saying, Send her away; for she cries after us. 24But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
10Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say to you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray? 13And if so be that he find it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.14Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
Matthew 9 : Sheep & the Harvest
36But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheephaving no shepherd. 37Then said he to his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few;38Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into hisharvest[g2326].
MattheW 2 : Herod Slaughters Infants (Jeremiah 31:1-30)
16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. 17Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, 18In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
Rachel’s (lamb) 1st born Joseph, whose son was Ephraim, became Israel God considered EPHRAIM His 1st born.
Joseph, Mary’s Wife, whose son was Jesus, the true firstborn of God, who came to save the Lost Sheep, Ephraim.
John 11 : The Plot to Kill Jesus (Matthew 26:1-5; Mark 14:1-2; Luke 22:1-6)
49And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said to them, You know nothing at all, 50Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. 51And this spoke he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; 52And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. 53Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. 54Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went there to a country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples.
John 10 : Jesus the Good Shepherd (Psalm 23:1-6; Ezekiel 34:11-24)
1Truly, truly, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3To him the porter opens; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. 4And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. 6This parable spoke Jesus to them: but they understood not what things they were which he spoke to them.
7Then said Jesus to them again, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. 12But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf catches them, and scatters the sheep.13The hireling flees, because he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. 15As the Father knows me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 17Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. 19There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. 20And many of them said, He has a devil, and is mad; why hear you him? 21Others said, These are not the words of him that has a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?
THE UNBELIEF OF THE JEWS
22And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. 23And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. 24Then came the Jews round about him, and said to him, How long do you make us to doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us plainly.25Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. 26But you believe not, because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30I and my Father are one.
Just as Egyptians left with the Hebrews in the Exodus by way of the Passover lamb…
CHRIST HAS OPENED THE DOOR THAT WHOEVER CALLS UPON HIM WILL BE SAVED
God sent his only begotten son to be a PROPITIATION for our sin.
PROPITIATION was where the sacrificial lamb COME’S UNDER GOD’S WRATH as it is killed.
Because The Law states, there is no REMISSION OF SIN without the shedding of blood.
REMISSION is the cancellation of a debt, charge, or penalty.
Through faith in His blood that was shed for us on the cross…
Our SIN
WAS ASCRIBED TO HIM
His RIGHTEOUSNESS
WAS ASCRIBED TO US
Both of my Grandfather’s passed away in 2009, when God started to really stir up my heart.
At my granddad’s funeral (the one in the picture), the amount of people that came and told me that he was one the “most Godly, humble, and kind men” they had ever met, and the impact he had on their life, made me really question what I was doing with my life. I will always remember seeing his bible with underlines and highlights all throughout.
He never had much money, and tithed when he didn’t know if he was going to even have enough money to pay the bills, yet, he had so much peace in his life. I saw first hand the fruits produced from a life led by the holy spirit.
I, on the other hand was constantly stressed about money and at the time didn’t tithe.
I knew the life I was leading was not pleasing to Him. I had become an empty vine, producing no fruit.
I tried to carve my own path and become selfish and prideful left with nothing but baggage and misery.
I desired Vain Glory and became a glory thief.
There is nothing more sobering than realizing the things you have built your life around are worthless in God’s eyes.
What God consider’s worthless and vanity is our own works, fueled by our own will, for our own glory.The serpent deceives by inverting everything to make it about your glory instead of Gods. You are empty and left with nothing once it ends.
Philippians 2
16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.
Psalm 39 : I Will Watch My Ways
4LORD, make me to know my end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am. 5Behold, you have made my days as an handbreadth; and my age is as nothing before you: truly every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.6Surely every man walks in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heaps up riches, and knows not who shall gather them. 7And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in you. 8Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish. 9I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because you did it. 10Remove your stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of your hand. 11When you with rebukes do correct man for iniquity, you make his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.
After my dreams of basketball were crushed with a knee injury my junior year in college, I pursued after girls, money, and possessions.
I moved to Nashville in 2006 from Huntsville, AL. I bought a condo and was enjoying all the perks a big city had to offer. I had made some new friends and the new scenery seemed to be what I needed. Things were going great. Shortly after moving here I met a girl.
6 months later my girlfriend informs that she is pregnant. We end up getting married and when we go to find out if it was going to be a boy or girl, and we find out something is wrong during the ultrasound. Shortly afterward she loses the baby. This was an extremely difficult way to start a marriage. We both had different ways of coping with the situation and it ended in a divorce in 2010. She ended up moving in with a guy in my same condo complex. I would come home from work and see her new boyfriend walking my dog.
So taking account of my life at that point, it had turned into one big massive train wreck. It had veered off the rails.
My relationship with my mom was broken because of her embarrassment of me getting a girl pregnant out of wedlock, who she had not even met yet. I was completely mentally, physically, and spiritually broken and exhausted. I was ashamed and humiliated.
I had reached a point where I knew nothing could save me from the pit I had dug for myself, not my parents, not a doctor, not a psychiatrist, not a drug. I was at such a low point in my life that I honestly didn’t know if I could keep going.
My kingdom of me had crumbled to the ground.
- I never rehabbed my knee correctly after college so now I could hardly even run and do the one thing I loved.
- Every time would try to run my knees would swell up like a balloon.
- I was stuck behind a desk doing a job I didn’t like.
- I began to wonder why all this was happening to me.
- Everything that gave me any sense of enjoyment was taken away.
- I was 30 years old and I felt like I had just been drug through the depths of hell.
- I had never known what true despair felt like.
- When you reach that point you start asking yourself why you are even here.
What is the point? I will never be able to dig myself out of this mess.
The more I did, the more empty, fruitless, and tired I became.
I had spent the first 30 years of my life “LABORING IN VAIN” and the end result was CHAFF that SCATTERED with the wind.
One day I was walking around the complex and she was walking our dog. When the dog saw me it tried running towards me, scratching and clawing as hard as it could to run to me, but she held her back on the leash and I kept walking. I loved that dog so much but didn’t I couldn’t stop because I had so much anger toward my wife and I didn’t want to speak to her.
When I got to back into my condo I hit the floor and cried out to God, “please save me!”.
At my lowest point I felt God’s hand reaching out to me.
He started to slowly pick me up and started to put back the pieces in my life and repair what I had broken. When I finally put everything in His hands and let him take it, that’s when He really started healing my heart and when I truly started understanding the power of Christ. I finally started understanding what true forgiveness was and why God hates divorce so much. When we hurt, He hurts. He knows the pain it causes us and He hates seeing us suffer.
It was when God started opening my eyes and started giving me understanding.
Psalm 51 : Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God (2 Samuel 12:1-12)
1Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness: according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4Against you, you only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight: that you might be justified when you speak, and be clear when you judge. 5Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part you shall make me to know wisdom. 7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which you have broken may rejoice. 9Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11Cast me not away from your presence; and take not your holy spirit from me. 12Restore to me the joy of your salvation; and uphold me with your free spirit.
These verses in Psalms 119 sum up my life:
PSALMS 119:59
I considered my ways & turned my feet to Your testimonies.
. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have i kept your word 68You are good, and do good; teach me your statutes. 69The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep your precepts with my whole heart. 70Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in your law. 71It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn your statutes. 72The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver.
Psalm 94:
10He that chastises the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teaches man knowledge, shall not he know?
11The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
12Blessed is the man whom you chasten, O LORD, and teach him out of your law;
13That you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be dig for the wicked.
HEBREWS 12 : GOD DISCIPLINES HIS SONS
4You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin. 5And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to children, My son, despise not you the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him: 6For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and whips every son whom he receives. 7If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? 8But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards, and not sons.9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? 10For they truly for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby. 12Why lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
This is what ‘THE PRODIGAL SON’ is all about.
THE PRODIGAL SON was EPHRAIM who was considered DEAD.
LUKE 15 : THE PRODIGAL SON
11And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. And he divided to them his living. 13And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave to him. 17And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you, 19And am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of your hired servants. 20And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight, and am no more worthy to be called your son. 22But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23And bring here the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
It wasn’t until the perfect son, Jesus, came and died as the son of God to annul the covenant. To establish the new. He died in our place. He came as the Son of God, Israel. Israel was no longer son because of disobedience. Jesus was son because of obedience. When He died on the cross, the marriage covenant was made void because He died as the true son, Israel.
Even more incredible is Hosea’s and Ezekial’s prophecy concerning the Northern Kingdom.
1Come, and let us return to the LORD: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up.
2After 2 days will he revive us: in the 3rd day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
Though we know Christ made it possible for the return to begin, the restoration would not fully come fruition until we were in the 3rd day of the punishment. Is there a way for us to know where we are in the grand scheme of things in this timeline?
EZEKIAL 4 : THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM PREDICTED
1You also, son of man, take you a tile, and lay it before you, and portray on it the city, even Jerusalem: 2And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. 3Moreover take you to you an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city: and set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. 4Lie you also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it: according to the number of the days that you shall lie on it you shall bear their iniquity. 5For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, 390 days: so shall you bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6And when you have accomplished them, lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed you each day for a year.7Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it. 8And, behold, I will lay bands on you, and you shall not turn you from one side to another, till you have ended the days of your siege.
In the book of Ezekial, The Northern Kingdom should have begun being restored after390 years, which is331 BC
- However, history shows that the Northern Kingdom never returned to their land.
- So what else does Scripture give us that can shed light on this.
- Let’s look back at his LAW
Matthew 5 : Jesus Fulfills the Law
17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18For truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth pass, one stroke or one pronunciation mark shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.19Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
390 years x 7 = 2,730 years
1This second letter, beloved, I now write to you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior:
3Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.5For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved to fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
1 day =1000 years
2009, the same year my grandfathers passed away and God stirred up my heart, began the process of the hearts of the Northern Kingdom coming back to Him in large numbers, thus concluding the Northern Kingdom’s judgement.
- Which is after 2 days and in the 3rd of the punishment.
- The work of Christ started the restoration but its in the 3rd day that He completes the restoration.
- After 2 days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. (as it says in Hosea 6:2)
- He is bringing people back to his ways.
The Book of Ruth is set “in the days when the judges ruled”, a period of social and religious disorder when every man did that which was right in his won eyes” (Judges 17:6). This era bridged the time between the conquest of the land under Joshua and the rise of King David.
Naomi thought that the Lord’s hand of judgement was upon her after she and her husband left the promised land in search of food and married their sons to Moabite women in search of offspring she underestimated God’s grace. Her daughter in law, Ruth the Moabitess, turned out to be the means by which the Lord would meet her needs for food and offspring to carry on the family name. Ruth’s choice of a place to lean, which seemed to be a matter of chance, turned out to be a divine appointment with Boaz, the man who would fulfill the role of family redeemer for Naomi and Ruth.
The book of Ruth resembles the Parable of the Lost Son in 2 ways. The family of Elimelech wandered away from the land where the Lord had promised to bless His people in search of fullness. As a result, however, Naomi ended up empty and alone. Yet the Lord’s judgement on her was designed to bring her back home and to replace her emptiness with a new fullness. Similarly, the book of Ruth opens with The Lord’s people experiencing the trials of the days of the judges, when general disobedience led to famine. Yet the Lord graciously provided food for His hungry people and a king to meet their need for leadership. These are lessons that speak to us as well. We too have gone astray from the Lord and need to receive His grace and mercy.
The genealogy of David at the end of the book shows that the Lord worked through this story to provide for His people’s need of a king. Even though the Lord’s actions are mainly concealed, there are 2 specific events attributed directly to Him-providing food for His people and conception for Ruth. In these ways, the Lord provided for all of His people’s needs.
The book of Ruth demonstrates how the Lord shows His covenant faithfulness to His undeserving people, often in surprising ways In the course of the narrative, each of the main characters proved to be a person of extraordinary courage and covenant love. There are people whose spiritual commitment is demonstrated clearly in godly living.
The book of Ruth provides a great example of a family member who used his power under Jewish law to redeem. Boaz demonstrated one of the duties of the family member-that of marrying the widow of a deceased family member. A correlation is sometimes made between the redemption of Ruth by Boaz and the redemption of sinners by Christ. Because of God’s covenant faithfulness, He has provided the Redeemer that we all need in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the true King toward whom the genealogy of David will ultimately extend and He is the Redeemer in whom His wandering people find rest. In Him, the Gentiles too are incorporated into the people of God by faith and granted a place in the family of promise.
Ruth’s covenantal faithfulness to Naomi and her God provided a model showing that those who were not ethnic Israelite’s could be incorporated into the people of God through faith.
Naomi and Ruth came to Bethlehem in the beginning of the barley harvest and Naomi had kinsmen (relative) of her Husband named Boaz. Ruth went and gleaned (gathered) in the field after the reapers and her fortune (chance) was to encounter on a part owned by Boaz. Boaz issued instructions to ensure her safety and allowed her to drink the water his young men had brought to saver her the lengthy trip to the well. Ruth asked Boaz why she had found favor in his eyes and he said that he had seen all that she had done with his mother in law Naomi and how she forsook her father and mother, and land of nativity. He said the lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel under whose wings (skirt) thou came to trust.
Ruth gathered an ephah of barley (26 quarts) which was enough grain to feed a working man for several weeks. Ruth as an impoverished gleaner would normally have had little or nothing to eat while out in the fields but Boaz invited her to eat with the harvesters. Ruth went out empty and came back full in contrast to Naomi who went out full and came back empty. Ruth brought back the barley to Naomi and Naomi said to her that Boaz was their next kinsmen who were relatives who were obliged to buy back family members from debt slavery or to redeem their field if they had to sell it, although Boaz had no legal obligation to do so.
Naomi instructed Ruth to glean until the end of the wheat harvest (june) where the barley had to be winnowed and tossed in the air to separate the grain from chaff. Boaz winnowed the barley until night in the threshing floor. At night someone would guard the grain against being stolen or eaten by a animals. Naomi instructed Ruth to dress in a manner that would increase her attractiveness to Boaz and also symbolize an end to here period of mourning for her husband, signaling her willingness to remarry. She anointed herself and bathed (sanctified).
Naomi instructed Ruth to go to Boaz when he was asleep and uncover his feet to show that Ruth was inquiring about Boaz’s willingness to fulfill the role of family redeemer to take her as a wife and provide for her. After Boaz had eaten and drank, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn and she uncovered his feet and laid down.
Boaz inquired who she was and she responded by clarifying her purpose, she asked him to spread the corner of his skirt over her as a symbolic statement of marriage commitment. She is inviting Boaz to become the answer to his own prayer in 2:12 that she might find refuge under the wings of the Lord.
Boaz said she is blessed of the lord in that she followed not young men based on wealth and that she was a virtuous woman. She laid at his feet until morning and she rose up early so it did not look suspicious and he told her let it not be known that woman came unto the floor. To seal his commitment he told her to bring the vail she had and to hold it, and he measured 6 measures of barley (80 pounds) and laid it on her and she went into the city.
Naomi asked Ruth the same question Boaz did. Who art thou? Was Ruth merely an awkward and embarrassing duty to Naomi or was she the one who would provide Naomi with an enduring place in the genealogies of Israel, through the provision of a son? Boaz then went to the gate of the town, where important legal and social matters were transacted in the presence of the town elders and gathered 10 elders as official witnesses and said unto the other kinsman, Naomi is come again out the Moab and selleth a parcel of land which was our brother Elimelech’s.
As a widow, Naomi could not sell Elimelech’s land, however she could assign someone else the right to use that land until the next jubilee year. Rather than have control over the land go (or remain) outside the family, Boaz requested the intervention in the spirit of the family redeemer laws to buy back the use of the land. The other redeemer was the primary relative entitled to redeem that property so Boaz was bringing it to this attention.
Along with the financial cos of redeeming the land there was a social cost. The transaction also included a commitment to marry Ruth and thereby to seek to raise up the dead man’s name on his property. This is reference to the practice of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5-10, by which the brother of a man who died without male offspring was required to marry his widow and raise up a family in the name of the dead man. In this case there was no obligation on either the other kinsman or Boaz yet Boaz asserted moral obligation to do so. At this the other redeemer backed out of his earlier enthusiasm. Ironically his concern to protect his own name rather than committing to raise up heirs to the name of Elimelech led him to being left nameless. In seeking to serve self first, he inadvertently undermined his own interest. It is instead Boaz whose name would become famous in Bethlehem. His decision was confirmed by a legal gesture that was archaic even at the time of the writing of the book, the removal of a shoe, which was given to the other party. By receiving the show, Boaz committed himself to redeem Naomi’s property, to marry Ruth, and to perpetuate the names of Elimelech and Mahlon (Ephraimites) on their patrimony.
The elders and people at the gate said: “We are witnesses, the Lord make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and Leah, which 2 did build the house of Israel and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and by famous in Bethlehem.
Although for 10 years in Moab, Ruth had been unable to bear a son for Mahlon, through the Lord’s direct interventions she immediately conceived and bore a son for Boaz. This child would be a comfort for Naomi in her old age; He would be her family redeemer who would provide for ere needs in the declining years. He was named Obed (Obadiah, “Servant of Jehovah”). Though no one could bring back Naomi’s husband or sons, now she had a daughter in law whom all recognized as better to thee than 7 sons.
Obed was the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of David.
Boaz was the name of one of the pillars in Solomon’s Temple. Those with the Key of David become a pillar in the new Temple, which comes down from God adorned for His Bride. Sanctification and Marriage Supper.
After much rebellion and chastening from God I finally realized this :
The only thing that’s NOT VAIN IN GOD’S EYES is learning to observe and do all the things he has commanded us. If you say you “have a lot of living to do” & don’t want to be burden down by all of this, or are focused on “Living Your Best Life Now”, you will quickly see that you have believed and hoped in a lie. You don’t really live until you come to Him.
Before the Israelite’s finally made it to the Promised Land after wondering 40 years in the wilderness, Moses spoke these words to Joshua…
Deuteronomy 32 : Song of Moses
45And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel: Set your hearts to all the words which I testify among you this day, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life:
My college basketball coach’s favorite saying was “LOYALTY IS A 2 WAY STREET”.
- Loyalty and obedience go hand in hand.
- He is loyal to us which in turn mean we are to be loyal to him.
- It is part of our covenant relationship with Him.
- God gave us the commandments that we are to walk in for our own good, because He loves us.
- God’s Covenant with Israel came with provisions.
- Blessings and Curses based off OBEDIENCE to His Law.
- We in turn show our love for Him through obedience by keeping those commandments.
- When we keep his commandment’s we produce the fruits of His spirit.
Deuteronomy 10: A Call to Obedience(Joshua 24:14-28)
12And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command you this day for your good?
WHAT DOES GOD REQUIRE FROM US?
1
TO FEAR HIM
Which means
fearing the consequences
of not being obedient to Him.
This in turn leads to
learning and observing to
Keeping his Commandments
2
KEEP COMMANDS
(the first works)
Which is how
we Love & Serve God, and the means by which we abide in His Love
3
LOVE OTHERS
Which is the result
of keeping
His commandments
which results in bearing
the fruits of His spirit
WHERE IS THEIR GOD?
(isaiah 40 -44)
PSALM 42 :AS THE DEER PANTS FOR THE WATER
a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. 4He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. 1As the hart pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, O God. 2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? 3My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say to me, WHERE IS YOUR GOD?
2014-2018
The following occurrence’s of
EVERYTHING BURNED or DESTROYED except GOD’S WORD,
happened over the last
3.5 yearsfrom 2014 – 2018
Psalm 50 :The Mighty One Calls
1The mighty God, even the LORD, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. 2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined. 3Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence:5Gather my saints together to me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. 6And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.
1 CORINTHIANS 3 : CHRIST THE ONLY FOUNDATION (Isaiah 28:14-22; 1 Peter 2:4-12)
10According to the grace of God which is given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereupon. 11For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man build on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest:for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14If any man’s work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
November 26, 2016
Dollywood employee finds burned Bible page from book of JOEL after wildfires
GATLINBURG, TENNESSEE – The day after wildfires tore through Gatlinburg, damaging or destroying more than 700 structures, killing at least 10 people and displacing thousands, Isaac McCord was doing his part to help out, picking up debris from the Dollywood park grounds.
Gripping his rake, he revisited a spot in Craftsman Valley he had skimmed over after his co-worker, Misty Carver, quipped, “Is that how you clean your room?” Provoked, he said he had started “really getting in the nooks and crannies” under a park bench when he caught a glimpse of a piece of paper lying in a puddle of water — soggy, seared and torn in two.
McCord, a University of Tennessee alumnus who now works as a human resources training coordinator at Dollywood, said he had no idea what the paper would read, but considering the circumstances, he was curious enough to pick it up.
“As soon as I got down on the ground, I noticed it was a Bible verse, and I was like holy crap,” McCord said in a phone interview on Tuesday night. “It was in a puddle of water. I said, ‘I want to take care of this the best way I can,’ so I gently scooped it up and carried it out the best I could.”
McCord, 24, sat on the bench where he found the paper, and called Carver over. Their work partners, Dollywood wardrobe manager Angela Davis and employee Kimberly Moore, had left to go to the restroom, McCord said.
In silence, the pair pored over the page, the edges of which were burned black, rendering many words illegible. But parts of the right side of the page were preserved enough to get the message across: it perfectly reflected, McCord said, the tragic natural disaster that had thrust Gatlinburg and Sevier County into the national spotlight the night before.
“O Lord, to thee will I cry: For the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field,” the page reads, according to a picture of the page posted on McCord’s Facebook.
“At first, we didn’t know what part of the book it was from,” McCord said on Tuesday night, “but we saw bits and pieces about fire and scorching the land, and how the beast groaned and roared for help.”
The page appears to be from the first chapter of Joel from the King James version of the Bible
“We were like this is unreal, this is unbelievable,” McCord said. “When we had both fully read it, we looked at each other — and I will never forget this moment — we both burst into tears. I was ghost white, and we just prayed. There was nothing else to do.
“Still to this moment, almost four hours after the fact, I don’t have words for it.”
Joel 1 : A Call to Repentance (Amos 5:4-15; Zephaniah 2:1-3; Luke 13:1-5)
17The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
The verse that was burned through in Joel is verse 17 that says:
The seed (grain) is rotten (dried up, shriveled) under the clods.
The Garners (storehouse) are laid desolate (numb, astonished, appalled),
the barns (place for keeping grain) are broken down.
The corn (grain, wheat, increase) is withered (dried up, confused).
The fruit that comes from abiding in Christ
through keeping His commandments
Has dried up and has withered away.
Joel warns the people to wake up from their wine induced stupor because locusts have laid waste His field and vine.
- The field is wasted and the land mourns.
- The corn is wasted and the new wine dried up.
- The oil languishes.
- The harvest of the field has perished.
- The vine is dried up.
- The fig tree languishes.
- Joy is withered away from the sons of men.
The TRUMPET was blown as a WARNING SIGN, and also as reminder of the ram offered
for a burnt offering as ransom for ISAAC, (the name of who found the page from JOEL) at Mount Moriah,
where David bought the Threshing Floor and where the Temple was built.
JOEL 2 : RETURN WITH ALL YOUR HEART
12Therefore also now, said the LORD, turn you even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:13And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn to the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents him of the evil. 14Who knows if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering to the LORD your God? 15Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: 16Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare your people, O LORD, and give not your heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: why should they say among the people, WHERE IS THEIR GOD?
RESTORATION PROMISED
18Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. 19Yes, the LORD will answer and say to his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: 20But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill smell shall come up, because he has done great things. 21Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the LORD will do great things. 22Be not afraid, you beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, for the tree bears her fruit, the fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. 23Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he has given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. 24And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 26And you shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that has dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
27And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,and that I am the LORD your God, and none else:and my people shall never be ashamed.
Chapter 2 of Joel
was quoted by Peter as he spoke to crowd at Solomon’s Porch
after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
1And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.3And there appeared to them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat on each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 7And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? 8And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?9Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, 10Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, 11Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 12And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What means this? 13Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
PETER PREACHES TO THE CROWD
14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said to them, You men of Judaea, and all you that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known to you, and listen to my words: 15For these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17And it shall come to pass in the last days, said God, I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke: 20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: 21And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The “BIBLE BELT” is also the largest and most dense population of “Baptist” churches.
John the Baptist, whose loins were
girded with truth (bible belt) was the one crying in the wilderness
preparing the way for the Lord. To make the rough smooth.
All of Paul’s Missionary Journeys, who was from the Tribe of Benjamin,
established all the churches “WEST” of Jerusalem
Zechariah 9 : Zion’s Coming King (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19)
9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on an ass, and on a colt the foal of an ass. 10And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace to the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. 11As for you also, by the blood of your covenant I have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
12Turn you to the strong hold, you prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double to you;
13When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim,
and raised up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and made you as the sword of a mighty man.
Nashville is known as the ATHENS of the SOUTH
I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim,
If you were to go onto google maps and drop a marker on JERUSALEM and one in ALABAMA,
the arc made would be right along the path of Paul’s missionary journeys
ALABAMA
is an anagram for
LAMB
The same path Abraham’s Journey out of Babylon took toward the West to Shechem
JOEL 2 : I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT
28And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 30And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.32And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
2014-2015
4 consecutive BLOOD MOONS fell on Feast Days,
with the last one on being a super blood moon over Jerusalem
august 21, 2017
9 months after the Gatlinburg fire,
a total SOLAR ECLIPSE occurred and passed right through Gatlinburg.
33 days later on September 23, 2017
The REVELATION 12 sign occurred
Revelation 12 : The Woman and the Dragon
1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars:
2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. 4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up to God, and to his throne. 6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days.
Jupiter was in the womb of VIRGO for 9 months, who is depicted HOLDING A SHEAF OF WHEAT, and represents the Bride of Christ.On September 23, 2017, the moon was Virgo’s feet, she was clothed with the sun. Mercury, Mars, and Venus were also aligned right above her head which makes up 12 stars when adding the 9 stars of Leo, which represents the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with EphraimTORCH OF FIRE IN A SHEAF
LEVITICUS 23 : THE FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS
9And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 10Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you be come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest: 11And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12And you shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering to the LORD.
Zechariah 12 : Jerusalem will Be Attacked
1The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, said the LORD, which stretches forth the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. 2Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. 4In that day, said the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open my eyes on the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 5And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.
6In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 7The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. 8In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. 9And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
THE LAYOUT OF JERUSALEMFITS PERFECTLY WITHIN OUTLINE
1Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 2Thus said the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. 3Thus said the LORD; I am returned to Zion, and will dwell in the middle of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain
REVELATION 18 : LAMENT OVER BABYLON
9And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her,shall mourn her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is your judgment come.
Wildfire smoke from U.S.,Canada blazes reaches Europe
Wildfire smoke from California has reached New York City, 3,000 miles away
The only spot place where the smoke didn’t reach
were the spots where the above occurrences took place
The first thing those from the Southern Kingdom,who returned to Jerusalem,after being in Babylonian captivity came togetheras ONE MAN before the WATER GATEand READ THE LAW OF GOD DISTINCTLY,
so they understood it
~ foreshadowing ~
Coming together as ONE IN CHRIST,
understanding his Law, and being led to the
Fountain of Living Waters
after coming out Babylon Captivity
THE LAW OF PURIFICATION FOR SIN in NUMBERS 19.
They were to bring a red heifer (female) without spot,
without blemish, and where no yoke had been laid.
They burnt the red heifer and a man that was clean gathered up the ashes of the heifer,
and laid them up outside the camp in a clean place
and it was kept for the congregation of the children of Israel
for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.
THE WATER OF SEPARATION
: PURIFICATION FOR SIN
During days of Temple in Jerusalem, the water for red heifer came from POOL of SILOAM
which was drawn and carried by children. The burning of heifer occured at Mt. Olives.
Chlorine, which is used to clean and purify pools is ELEMENT 17
The page from Book of JOEL found in the Gatlinburg Fire
was found laying in a PUDDLE OF WATER
is burnt (separated)
right through the middle, verse 17
but the page is not consumed:
Both WATER and FIRE are SANCTIFYING (purifying) AGENTS
Before the Israelite’s were led out of Egypt into the wilderness in the Exodus,
God called to to Moses at Mt. Horeb out of
the middle of the bush that was not consumed,
(from the mouth)
EXodus 3 : MOSES AT BURNING BUSH
1Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb[h2722]. 2And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceHoreb [h2722] occurs 17times in 17verses
“desolate, Mt. Sinai where the Law was given to Moses by God ”
MOSES then lead Israel out of EGYPT
PHARAOH and His Army DESTROYED
by the WATERS
ISRAEL REDEEMED by God
through parting the WATERS
MOSES led them to MOUNT SINAI (HOREB) where God thundered down
THE LAW and 10 COMMANDMENTS, to ISRAEL and the aliens that had
left and joined with them, as well instructions on setting up THE TABERNACLE in the Wilderness
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceHoreb [h2722] occurs 17times in 17verses
“desolate, Mt. Sinai where the Law was given to Moses by God ”
17
Genesis 1 : The Second Day: Firmament
6And God said, Let there be aFirmament [h7549] in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7And God made the Firmament [h7549], and divided the waters which were under the Firmament [h7549]from the waters which were above the Firmament [h7549]: and it was so. 8And God called the Firmament [h7549] Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceFirmament [h7549] רָקִיעַ râqîya occurs 17times in 15verses
an expanse,
i.e. the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky:—firmament.
extended surface (solid), expanse, firmament;
considered by Hebrews as solid and supporting ‘waters’ above
The Firmament divided the waters from the waters.
The Waters from above flooded the Earth
THE CITY & WORKS DESTROYED
by the WATER
8 SOULS SPARED
by the WASHING OF WATER
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceTo Rain [h4305]מָטַר mâṭar occurs 17times in 14verses
to rain:—(cause to) rain (upon)
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceFloods, flow, stream [h5140] נָזַל nâzal occurs 17times in 16verses
to flow, distil, flow forth or down, trickle, drop
The 1st 2 DATES given in the BIBLE
fall on the 17th of the month:
THE FLOOD OCCURRED ON: 2/17 THE ARK RESTED ON: 7/17
May 17th,
2016 The day I played the ESCAPE GAME
JOSEPH was17years old when he was
sold into the “empty pit” with no water
JOSEPH had been in Egypt 17years
when he had EPHRAIM and MANASSAH
(this is from book of Jasher)
JACOB lived17years in Egypt
THE CAMP OF EPHRAIM made up
17.9%of the 12 Tribes total population
during 1st Census taken by Moses in Wilderness
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceElishima [h2722] Elîyshâmâ occurs 17times in 17verses
The “Chief” of the Camp of Ephraim in the wilderness
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceGershon [h1648] גֵּרְשׁוֹןGêrᵉshôwn occurs 17times in 17verses
- They were the Priests in the west in wilderness with The camp of Ephraim
- a refugee;
- Gershon or Gershom = “exile”
- firstborn son of Levi born before Jacob’s family went to Egypt
The United States is 3rd in world in the production
of SHEEP’S WOOL at 17%
EWES have estrus cycles every 17 days
during which they emit a scent and indicate readiness
through physical displays towards rams.
The female then exhibits sexually receptive behavior,
a situation that may be signaled by visible physiologic changes.
A signal trait of estrus is the lordosis reflex,
in which the animal spontaneously elevates her hindquarters.
2 Samuel 22: David’s Song of Deliverance
34 He maketh my feet like hinds’ [feet]: and setteth me upon my high places.
Psalms 18: The Lord is My Rock
33 He maketh my feet like hinds’ [feet], and setteth me upon my high places.
HABBAKUK 3
The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds feet and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceJonah [h3124] יוֹנָה YÔWNÂH occurs 19times in 17verses
the same as H3123;
Jonah, an Israelite:—Jonah.
JONAH = “DOVE” son of Amittai and a native of Gath-hepher;
5th of the minor prophets who prophesied during the reign of Jeroboam II and whom God sent also to prophecy to Nineveh
SHECHEM = “Shoulder” is located 17 MILES West of JORDAN
- SHECHEM is also the name of the city where Abram 1st stopped and the 1st place God appeared to him, after being called out of Babylon.
- SHECHEM was where the 1st altar built to God by Abraham was.
- SHECHEM is where Jacob buried the strange gods that were with him here under this oak.
- SHECHEM was where God renamed Jacob to “Israel”.
- SHECHEMwas an inheritance for the son’s of Joseph, and Joseph and Joshua were buried here.
- SHECHEM was where Joshua (“from Tribe of Ephraim”) made a covenant with Israel that they would put away strange gods and wrote Moses Law and took a great stone and set it here under this oak .
HEBRON = “association”, “conjunction”, “joining” is located17miles west of DEAD SEA
- The royal city of David before taking Jerusalem.
- The Location of the Cave of Patriarchs at Machpelah
BETHEL= “House of God” (now called Beitin) is located 17 miles west of JORDAN RIVER
- ancient place and seat of worship in Ephraim on border of Benjamin, identified with Luz (former name) named by Jacob
GENESIS 28 :JACOB’S LADDER
17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the Gate of Heaven 18And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. 19And he called the name of that place Bethel [h1008]: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. I lived 17 years in Huntsville, Alabama
Israel crossed into promised land by way of crossing the Jordan.
The priests carried the ark and the waters of Jordan
and as they that bore the ark were come to Jordan,
and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the brim of the water,
(for Jordan overflows all his banks all the time of harvest,
the waters which came down from above stood and rose up on an heap
very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan:
and those that came down toward the sea of the plain,
even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off:
and the people passed over right against Jericho.
And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD
stood firm on dry ground in the middle of Jordan,
and all the Israelite’s passed over on dry ground,
until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.
Joshua said to them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of Jordan,
and take you up every man of you a stone on his shoulder,
according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:
that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying,
What mean you by these stones?
Then you shall answer them,
That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD;
when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off:
and these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel for ever.
foreshadowing
12 stones above woman’s head
REvelation 12 : The Woman and the Dragon
1And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars: 2And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads. 4And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up to God, and to his throne. 6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days.
The War in Heaven
7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brothers is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death.12Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.
The Dragon Persecutes the Woman
13And when the dragon saw that he was cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
The Water that comes from the MOUTH OF THE SERPENT is DATA
More data was created in the past 2 years than in all of preceding history
And that torrent of information may soon outstrip the ability of hard drives to capture it.
Now, researchers report that they’ve come up with a new way to encode
digital data in DNA to create the highest-density large-scale data storage scheme ever invented.
The rate at which things are accelerating is not humanly possible to keep up with. The change we seeing from one year to the next is the type of change previous generations would see in their entire lifetime. It is relentless, overwhelming, and is leaving people with unimaginable levels of anxiety, stress, and depression.
Zechariah 9 : Zion’s Coming King (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-19)
9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your King comes to you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on an ass, and on a colt the foal of an ass. 10And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace to the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. 11As for you also, by the blood of your covenant I have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
JUDE 1 :God’s Judgement on the Ungodly
11Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit wither, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER
2 TIMOTHY 3 : EVIL IN THE LAST DAYS
1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest to all men, as their’s also was.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceTo Cleanse [g3538] occurs 17times in 17verses
“(especially the hands or the feet or the face); ceremonially, to perform ablution:— wash.”
Ephesians 5 :
25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse [g3538]it with the washing of water by the word, 27That 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.
John the Baptist baptized in The Jordan.
Baptism representing cleansing from sin by the washing of water
by way of submersion in His Word which sanctifies us in truth
The exit I took everyday to get to my college Campus
Exit : 17to JORDAN LANE
John baptized had his head placed on a charger
University of Alabama in Huntsville Mascot : Charger
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceCharger [] qârâh occurs 17times in 17verses
a bowl (as cut out hollow):—charger, dish.
John 17 :17 Prayer for The Disciples
17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceBlood [g1818] occurs 361times in 295verses
blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animal;
by analogy, the juice of the grape;
figuratively (especially in the plural) bloodshed
(i.e. drops of blood):—blood(-y, -guiltiness), (-thirsty), + innocent.
The square root of 295is 17 . 17
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceDeliverance [g5486] occurs 17times in 17verses
“a (divine) gratuity, i.e. deliverance (from danger or passion);
(specially), a (spiritual) endowment,
i.e. (subjectively) religious qualification, r (objectively) miraculous faculty:—(free) gift.”
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordancePrice [h3366] occurs 17times in 15verses
- “value, i.e. (concretely) wealth; precious (things),”
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceTo Wrap [h5844] occurs 17times in 15verses
- “to wrap,i.e. cover, veil, clothe, or roll:—array self”
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceFreedom [g859] occurs 17times in 16verses
“(figuratively) pardon:—deliverance, forgiveness, liberty, remission.”
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceFoundation [h4349] occurs 17times in 17verses
- “fixture; basis “
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceExempt [h2670] occurs 17times in 17verses
- “(from bondage, tax or care):—free, liberty. “
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceCover [h3724] occurs 17times in 17verses
i.e. (literally) a village (as covered in);
(specifically) bitumen (as used for coating), and the henna plant (as used for dyeing);
figuratively, a redemption-price:—bribe, camphire, pitch, ransom,satisfaction, sum of money, village.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordancePresent [h3724] occurs 17times in 17verses
“specifically (in a good sense), a sacrificial offering, (in a bad sense) a bribe:—gift. “
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceGift [g] dōron occurs 19times in 17verses
a gift, present
gifts offered in expression of honour
of sacrifices and other gifts offered to God
of money cast into the treasury for the purposes of the temple and for the support of the poor
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceTo Cleanse [g3538] occurs 17times in 17verses
“(especially the hands or the feet or the face); ceremonially, to perform ablution:— wash.”
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceDoor Post [h]מְזוּזָה mᵉzûwzâh occurs 19times in 17verses
from the same as H2123;
a door-post (as prominent):—(door, side) post
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceRule, Dominion [h4475] מֶמְשָׁלָה MEMSHÂLÂH, occurs 17times in 16verses
rule; also (concretely in plural) a realm or a ruler:
—dominion, government, power, to rule
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordancePrince, Ruler [h5461] סָגָן çâgân occurs 17times in 17verses
to superintend;
a præfect of a province:—prince, ruler.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceSweet Smell [h5561] סַם çam, sam occurs 17times in 15verses
smell sweet; an aroma:—sweet (spice).
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceJudge [g2923] kritēs occurs 17times in 15verses
a judge (genitive case or specially):—judge.
one who passes or arrogates to himself, judgment on anything
an arbiter
of a Roman procurator administering justice
of God passing judgment on men
of the leaders or rulers of the Israelites
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceHand [h3028] יַד yad occurs 17times in 16verses
—hand, power
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceFulness [g4138] plḗrōma occurs 17times in 17verses
from G4137; repletion or completion,
i.e. (subjectively) what fills (as contents, supplement, copiousness, multitude), or (objectively)
what is filled (as container, performance, period):
—which is put in to fill up, piece that filled up, fulfilling, full, fulness
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceComplete [g4134] plḗrēs, occurs 17times in 17verses
from G4130; replete, or covered over; by analogy, complete:—full.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceShepherd [g4166] poimḗn occurs 18times in 17verses
of uncertain affinity;
a shepherd (literally or figuratively):—shepherd, pastor.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceHarvest, Reap [g2325] therízō occurs 17times in 17verses
from G2330 (in the sense of the crop);
to harvest:—reap.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceOrigin, Root, Source [g4491] rhíza occurs 17times in 16verses
apparently a primary word;
a “root” (literally or figuratively):—root, Origin, source.
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceRabbi [g4461] rhabbí occurs 17times in 15verses
of Hebrew origin (H7227 with pronominal suffix);
my master, i.e Rabbi, as an official title of honor:—Master, Rabbi
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceStamp [g] sphragízō occurs 19times in 17verses
from G4973;
to stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation (literally or figuratively);
by implication, to keep secret, to attest:—(set a, set to) seal up, stop
Strong’s Greek ConcordanceMeat, Victuals [g1033] brōma occurs 17times in 15verses
from the base of G977;
food (literally or figuratively),
especially (ceremonially) articles allowed or forbidden by the Jewish law:—meat, victuals
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceThirsty [h5889] occurs 17times in 17verses
“languid:—faint, thirsty, weary.”
17th Verse of Mark
MARK 1 : THE FIRST DISCIPLES
17And Jesus said to them, Come you after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceReservoir [h] בְּרֵכָה bᵉrêkâh occurs 17times in 15verses
- a reservoir (at which camels kneel as a resting-place):—(fish-) pool. Pool
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceSanctify [h6942] occurs 172 times in 153 verses
- be SEPARATE or SET APART from profane things and dedicate to God
- be HOLY
- be TRUE
- be SANCTIFIED
- to be CLEAN (ceremonially or morally)
- be PURIFIED
John 21: Jesus Appears at the Sea of Galilee
4But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. 5Then Jesus said to them, Children, have you any meat? They answered him, No. 6And he said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. 7Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat to him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. 8And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were 200 cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. 9As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, Bring of the fish which you have now caught. 11Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an 153: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
153 FISHES were in the NET
153is the sum of the 1st 17 INTEGERS
Priest (kohen) occurs 153 times in Leviticus
153rd verse of the bible is GENESIS 6:15
which gives the dimensions of Noah’s Ark
615 is the area code of Nashville
TENNESSEE is an anagram for NETS and is the VOLUNTEER STATE
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceVolunteer [h] נָדַב nâdab occurs 17times in 15verses
to impel; hence, to volunteer (as a soldier),
to present spontaneously:—offer freely, be (give, make, offer self) willing(-ly)
MATTHEW 13 :THE PARABLE OF THE NET (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11; John 1:35-42)
47Again, the kingdom of heaven is like to a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:48Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.49So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth,and sever the wicked from among the just,50And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 51Jesus said to them, Have you understood all these things? They say to him, Yes, Lord.
WICKED
JUSTIFIED
153the 17thTriangular Number
A Triangle forms the 4th Greek Letter DELTA
I lived at 303 Longwood Drive at the time I was baptized.
Square Root of 303 = 17.4
Sum of 4th&17th Letter Value’s = 84
LUKE 2 : THE PROPHECY OF ANNA
36And there was one Anna, a prophetess,the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband 7 years from her virginity; 37And she was a widow of about 84years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise to the Lord,and spoke of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem
The 3 Valleys of comprise Jerusalem’s geography
converge to form the letter ‘SHIN’
300 = 17.322
1
Hinnom Valley (Gehenna)
2
Tyropoeon Valley
3
Kidron Valley (Jehoshaphat)
Judges 7 : Gideon’s Army of 300
7And the LORD said to Gideon, By the 300 men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand: and let all the other people go every man to his place. 8So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, and retained those 300 men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the val
The “SHIN HOUR”
is the last possible moment
for any military action
…aka the 11th hour (in English terms)
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceKidron [h6939] occurs 11 times in 10 verses
- dusky place; a stream that flowed between Jerusalem and Mt. Olives
- It contains the Garden of Gethsemene where Jesus drank from cup that caused the curse in Numbers 5 It is also called the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the valley where God will judge) and the Valley of Decision from Joel.(2 Chron 29-31)
- Hezekiah calls for sanctification of the ministers, the purification of unclean things, an invitation to celebrate Passover, priests removed unclean items in temple to the courts where the Levite’s would carry them to the Kidron.
from a primitive root; [h6937] קָדַר qâdar, kaw-dar’ occurs 18 times in 17 verses
- to be ashy, i.e. dark-colored;
- by implication, to mourn (in sackcloth or sordid garments):
1st use of [h6937] קָדַר qâdar, kaw-dar’;
1 Kings 18 : The Lord Sends Rain
41And Elijah said to Ahab, Get you up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down on the earth, and put his face between his knees,43And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there rises a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say to Ahab, Prepare your chariot, and get you down that the rain stop you not. 45And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black[h6937] with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. 46And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
It is used 2x in the Book of JOEL [h6937] קָדַר qâdar, kaw-dar’;
Joel 2 : Invasion of Locusts
9They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run on the wall, they shall climb up on the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark[h6937], and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 11And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army:for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executes his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Joel 3 : The Valley of Decision
12Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13Put you in the sickle, for the harvest[g2326]is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision[h2742]:
for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision[h2742].
15The sun and the moon shall be darkened[h6937], and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceDecision [h2742] occurs 18 times in 17 verses
- Decision; properly, incised or (active) incisive;
- hence (as noun masculine or feminine) a trench (as dug), gold (as mined),(figuratively) determination;
- also eager:—decision, diligent, pointed things, sharp, threshing instrument, wall.
- something decided; hence judgement.
- a threshing-sledge (having sharp teeth);
When you make a “DECISION” to follow Christ,
and take up your cross you are
CUTTING OFF from SIN
from lusts of the flesh,
and ways of the world
-and-
JOINING to HIM
by crucifying our
passions and lusts.
We are
FROM THE WORLD
-because we are-
“RECONCILED” with God
through His Son,
the Stone of Israel
UNITED NATIONS
-vs-
UNITED IN CHRIST
Those NOT RECONCILED to Him
are considered
NAKED and in a DIVORCED state
and will be BLOTTED OUT of the Book of Life
-vs-
Those RECONCILED to Him
are CLOTHED with His RIGHTEOUSNESS
because we we are COVERED (atoned)
by GRACE and mercy.
My grandfather was representing the Senatobia, MS camp Gideon church.
The name Senatobia was derived from the Indian word Senatohoba,
which means “White Sycamore”—a symbol of “rest for the weary.”
Senatobia is located in Tate County 30 minutes outside Memphis, TN but is part of the Memphis, TN–MS–AR Metropolitan Statistical Area.
In Egyptian mythology, Ptah is the demiurge of Memphis, god of craftsmen and architects. Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah, the patron of craftsmen.
Its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah (meaning “Enclosure of the ka of Ptah”), was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of this temple, rendered in Greek as Aί-γυ-πτoς (Ai-gy-ptos) by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt.
The Pharoah called Joseph Zaphnath-paaneahwhich means “treasury of the glorious rest”.
JUDGES 6 : THE CALL OF GIDEON
12And the angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor. 13And Gideon said to him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
The CAMP OF EPHRAIM
comprised of
EPHRAIM, MANASSAH, and BENJAMIN,
was depicted as an OX.
We are the Oxen that God uses
through his Holy Spirit to SEPARATE
THE HUSK/CHAFF
(The Outer Protective Coating)
-from the-
THE GRAIN :
(Fruit with the Shell)
Matthew 11 : Rest for the Weary (Luke 10:21-24)
28Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29Take my yoke on you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 9 : Sheep & the Harvest
36But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheephaving no shepherd. 37Then said he to his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few;38Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into hisharvest[g2326]
Strong’s Hebrew ConcordanceHarvest [h2742] occurs 13 times in 8 verses
- i.e. the crop:—harvest.
- harvest, the act of reaping
- (fig) of the gathering of men into the kingdom of God
- referring to time of reaping, the final judgment, when the righteous are gathered into the kingdom of God and the wicked are cast into hell for ever
from [g2325] θερίζω therízō occurs 24 times in 17 verses
- to reap, harvest
- proverbial expression for sowing and reaping
- cut off, destroy (as crops a HARVESTING WHEAT)
POINT OF VIEW
the position from which something or someone is observed.
Gnosticism is OLD TESTAMENT BAAL worship which is fruit of lies taught by the serpent.
1 Kings 18 :
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said,
How long halt ye between two opinions?
if the LORD be God, follow him:
but if Baal, then follow him.
And the people answered him not a word.
Gnostic teachings invert the truth,
making Satan god and God the enemy.
Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. For the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods: darkness being necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive. Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil.
~ Albert Pike
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
collaboratively playing a crucial,
participatory role in the Incarnation
of the divine being.
The alchemists’ art is to become
an instrument for the incarnating deity
to make itself real in time and space.
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
we are in need of redemption
and leaves the work of redemption
to an autonomous divine figure.
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
They are alchemical vessels prepared by God expressly for the purpose of uniting the opposites intrinsic to Its nature. Instruments for the reunion and re-uniting of the paradoxical God which contains both light and dark.
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Compared to Christ, who,
as the Word made flesh,
was the full-bodied incarnation of the Light,
whose Holy Spirit dwells in us (Holy Vessels)
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Alchemical deity (Osiris) comes up
from base matter (earth)
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Jesus came down
from Heaven
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
The one in need of redemption is not man, but the deity who is lost and sleeping in matter. Anima mundi, world soul in need of being redeemed, not man, through collectively playing a part in the incarnation of the divine being.
The “Great Work” with a
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Man (our souls)
in need of being redeemed
which can only be done
through Jesus work
on the cross.
“It is finished”
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Saved by
their participation in the
birth of the savior within themselves.
In a mutual opus,
the ego and the Self reciprocally,
and collaboratively redeem each other
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Saved by
the grace of God
who sent His son
to die on the cross
for forgiveness of our sins
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Their god Lucifer(“the light bearer)
born in the womb of mother nature
and extracted from matter by human art
(Nature is not only matter but a spirit)
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Son of God
born in a woman, made under law,
in the womb of Virgin Mary
who is the light of the world
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Seeks to “know thyself”
and to know the “gods”
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Crucify “self”
to “know God”
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Prima Materia
(the Unknown Substance)
(first matter),
what’s needed to begin the “Great Work”
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Faith : is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen,
what’s needed to begin relationship with Christ
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Spirit of Orphan
The prima materia
is considered to be an orphan
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Spirit of Adoption
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Mixing and fusing opposites in nature
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Mixing the Word with Faith
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Salvation of universe
or Transfiguration is brought about by
the mind of man
(man takes place of Creator)
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Salvation of man
accomplished by God
through shedding of blood
and clean heart (Christ is the head)
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Self had taken over
the work of redeeming god
Considered equals to Christ
and have taken his place
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Christ taken over
the work of redeeming man
Christ, head of the church
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Transforming the world into their image by
transforming themselves
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Transforming ourselves
to the image of Jesus, dead to the world
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
United as philosopher stone’s
in creating new world
in one mind (consciousness)
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
United in Christ
in one body as spiritual stones
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Alchemist help nature do
what it can’t do herself with art
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
The Holy Spirit helps us to do
what we cannot do ourselves
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Self ascension
through consciousness
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Ascension
through obedience
to Christ and his commandments
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Union of opposites (joining)
intrinsic in Nature
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Union (joining) to Christ and
becoming Priests (Levites = “to join”)
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
“Self” is called the son of man,
or child of philosophers
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Our old man (self) is crucified, buried in Christ, the son of God, and risen to new life in Him
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
The alchemists’ art allows God to know Itself by creating Itself through the individual alchemist
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
We are allowed to know God
through His Holy Spirit and His word
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
The alchemists’ in discovering the philosopher’s stone, were literally creating consciousness
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
In discovering the true cornerstone, we have are consciousness purged from dead works
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
God himself was imprisoned in matter
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
We are imprisoned in the flesh
ALCHEMIST POINT OF VIEW
Suffering is their “share”
of helping to free the anima mundi,
the imprisoned world soul
-vs-
CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW
Our suffering
is bearing the cross of Christ
-vs-
MYSTERY BABYLON ::
SUN WORSHIP
BABEL
-vs-
MYSTERY OF GOSPEL ::
SON WORSHIP
BIBLE
WIFE : Isis (earth and the elements)
HUSBAND : Osiris , god of the Dead (aether)
SON : Horus (resurrected Osiris) (energy),
the alchemical deity comes up from base matter;
whose spirit goes into pharoah as fit extension through imitative magic from objects created by works of men’s hands
MOTHER: Babalon, the city, created by the works of mens hands through alchemical knowledge from the serpent
-vs-
WIFE : Israel
HUSBAND : Yahweh, God of the Living, to his sheep
SON : Jesus (resurrected Son of God),
the deity which came down from heaven;
which sent his Holy Spirit into His believers through faith through work of God’s son on cross
MOTHER: Jerusalem, the city which Jesus went to prepare for us, from heaven,
THE FOUNDATION STONE : GNOSIS
Alchemy (Philosopher’s Stone)
-vs-
THE FOUNDATION STONE : THE LAW
Christ (The True Cornerstone)
THE WHORE OF BABYLON
-vs-
THE BRIDE OF CHRIST
TARES
-vs-
WHEAT
BOUND IN BUNDLES & BURNED
meaning destroyed
-vs-
BOUND IN BUNDLES INTO BARN
meaning eternal life.
BROAD PATH OF DESTRUCTION
-vs-
NARROW PATH OF LIFE
PAVED WITH GOLD
-vs-
PAVED WITH BLOOD
BITUMOUS OIL FROM EARTH
ANOINTED ON CORPSES
TO PRESERVE FLESH
-vs-
OLIVE OIL (HOLY SPIRIT) FROM HEAVEN
ANOINTED ON HEART
TO PRESERVE SOUL
& TO BARE THE FRUITS OF SPIRIT
BITUMOUS OIL
THE BURNING FUEL FOR MACHINES
THAT PRODUCES
SMOG AND POLLUTION
-vs-
OLIVE OIL (HOLY SPIRIT)
THE BURNING FUEL FOR LAMPS (OUR HEARTS)
TO LIGHT OUR PATH IN DARKNESS
THAT PRODUCES NO SMOKE
COAL
CRUSHED IN PULVERIZER
TO MAKE BLACK POWDER
MIXED WITH HOT AIR (Lucifer)
THEN MOVED TO FURNACE
The STEAM FROM GENERATOR TRANSMUTATE’S
MECHANICAL ENERGY into ELECTRICAL ENERGY
through magnets inside a copper coil creating ELECTRICITY
for Machines
-vs-
WHEAT GRAIN
CRUSHED IN MILLTO MAKE WHITE POWDER (FLOUR)
MIXED WITH OLIVE OIL
THEN PLACED IN OVEN
FOR BREAD
WHICH OUR STOMACH
TRANSMUTATE’S
INTO ENERGY
TREE OF GOOD & EVIL
Desirable to the Eyes which Eve ate from
Digital (Numbers)
Quantified, Qualifiable, Measured
-vs-
TREE OF LIFE
No beauty that we should desire himThe Word
Eternal
SEED OF WICKEDNESS
planted by serpent
-vs-
SEED OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
planted by God
SELF ASSESSMENT TOOLS | METRICS
-vs-
SELF ASSESSMENT TOOL
THE WAY OF CAIN
City Builders
Manipulating God’s creation
to fit your own desires,
through work of own hands.
which leads to
an artificially contrived
city of confusion
-vs-
THE WAY OF ABLE
Tending the flock
Tending to what God has created.(nourishing and feeding his flock)
God completing His work in us
through His hands and spirit
which leads to
a city of peace created By God
ESTABLISHED THROUGH INITIATION
and own works
-vs-
ESTABLISHED THROUGH GRACE
and the work of Christ
ROOTED IN GNOSIS [SCIENCE]
-vs-
ROOTED IN CHRIST
UNCLEAN HEART
-vs-
CLEAN HEART
VINE OF SODOM
-vs-
VINE OF CHRIST
VINE SUPPORT : ELECTRIC TOWERS
-vs-
VINE SUPPORT : THE CROSS
NATIONS SEEKING THE LOST CITY
-vs-
GOD SEEKING THE LOST SHEEP
RUNNING A RACE THAT HAS A
WORKING TO EARN SALVATION
-vs-
RUNNING A RACE THAT IS ALREADY
APPLYING SALVATION ALREADY GIVEN
FUELED BY DISCONTENT
- Lust
- Want
- Envy
- Covetousness
- Self Will
- Pride
- Pursuing Passions
- Ambition
- Drive
- Innovation
which leads to
- Exhaustion
- Anxiety, Stress, Panic
- Anger, malice
- Frustration
- Hurry
-vs-
FUELED BY CONTENTMENT
- Wanting Nothing
- God’s Will
- Humility
- Crucified Passions
- Pursuing Righteousness
- Obedience
which leads to
- Rest
- Peace
- Love
- Joy
- Patience
- Humility
- Kindness
- Meekness
- Self-control
WALK OF FAME
-vs-
WALK OF FAITH
HOLLYWOOD SCRIPT
-vs-
THE HOLY SCRIPT
PERFORMANCE ART
-vs-
PERFORMING THE COMMANDMENTS
HOLLYWOOD STARS
-vs-
SHINING AS STARS IN DARKNESS
PHILIPPIANS 2 : SHINING AS STARS
15That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the middle of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world; 16Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.
HOLIDAY GIFT$
-vs-
HOLY DAY : FREE GIFT OF SALVATION
ONLINE IDENTITY
-vs-
IDENTITY IN CHRIST
VANITY MIRROR
Used to fix our outer appearance
-vs-
THE MIRROR OF GOD’S WORD
Used to fix our heart
CROWN OF ENLIGHTENMENT (CORRUPTIBLE)
through meditatation, chakra balancing, yoga
-vs-
CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (INCORRUPTIBLE)
through prayer and obedience
AUTHOR OF CONFUSION
Nimrod | Osiris
SHEPHERD OF THE GOATS
-vs-
AUTHOR OF PEACE
Jesus
SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP
BOOK OF THE DEAD
-vs-
LAMBS BOOK OF LIFE
JUSTIFICATION
BASED OFF OWN WORKS
-vs-
JUSTIFICATION
BY WORK DONE ON CROSS
WEAPONS OF WAR : CARNAL
-vs-
WEAPONS OF WAR : SPIRITUAL
3For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh:
4For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strong holds;
5Casting down imaginations,
and every high thing that exalts itself
against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ;
6And having in a readiness to revenge
all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
YOKE IS HEAVY
-vs-
YOKE IS LIGHT
UNITED NATIONS
-vs-
UNITED IN CHRIST
THE GLUE : BITUMEN
The glue that holds together
the walls and towers
of Babylon and what is used
as the source for their alchemical goal
of reconciling opposites in nature
-vs-
THE GLUE : THE HOLY SPIRIT
The glue that holds together
God’s people in the bond of Peace,
through unity and faith,
and clothes us in His righteousness,
reconciling us to God.
MIXING ELEMENTS TO CREATE ELIXIRS
technical and the spiritual
-vs-
MIXING THE WORD WITH FAITH
(the substance of things hoped for)
RECONCILING OPPOSITES IN NATURE
-vs-
RECONCILED TO CHRIST
SCIENTIST IN WHITE LAB COATS
-vs-
SAINTS IN WHITE ROBESREVELATION 7These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
MAINSTREAM NEWS
-vs-
THE GOOD NEWS
MAN OF SIN
“Number” of his name
-vs-
SON OF MAN“Word made flesh”
TABLES OF BINARY DATA
-vs-
TABLES OF BREAD BROKEN FOR US
HOUSE BUILT BY PHAROAH ON SAND
-vs-
HOUSE BUILT BY GOD ON ROCK
BUNDLES OF FIBER OPTIC CABLES
-vs-
BUNDLES OF FIBERS OF WHEAT
WAFERS OF SILICON
-vs-
WAFERS OF UNLEAVENED BREAD
I AM
Isaiah 47 : The Fall of Babylon Predicted
10For you have trusted in your wickedness: you have said, None sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you; and you have said in your heart, I am, and none else beside me.
-vs-
THAT WAS, AND IS NOT, YET IS
revelation 17 :The Mystery Explained
7And the angel said to me, Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8The beast that you saw 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
-vs-
THAT WAS, AND IS, AND IS TO COME
REVELATION 1 : John Greets the Seven Churches
8I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, said the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
THIGH
Isaiah 47 : The Fall of Babylon Predicted
1Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate. 2Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover your locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet you as a man. 4As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
5Sit you silent, and get you into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
-vs-
THIGH
REVELATION 19 : RIDER ON WHITE HORSE
13And he was clothed with a clothing dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14And the armies which were in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he has on his clothing and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
-vs-
WAVE OFFERING OF BREAD
Wave[h5130]נוּף nûwphoccurs 37 in 35
- to move to and fro, wave, besprinkle
- a primitive root;
- to quiver (i.e. vibrate up and down, or rock to and fro);
- used in a great variety of applications (including sprinkling, beckoning, rubbing, bastinadoing, sawing, waving, etc.):—lift up, move, offer, perfume, send, shake, sift, strike, wave.
BLACK BITUMOUS OIL
-vs-
OLIVE OIL FOR LAMPS
JOINING MALE & FEMALE PHYSICALLY
by Hermetic Alchemy and Science
-vs-
JOINING MALE & FEMALE SPIRITUALLY
through faith in Christ and marriage
GALATIANS 3
26For you are all the children of God
by faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
MARK 10
6But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 7For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and join to his wife; 8And they two shall be one flesh: so then they are no more two, but one flesh. 9What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.
CRUSHED COAL FOR ELECTRICITY
-vs-
CRUSHED (GRAIN) FLOUR FOR BREAD
CIRCUIT BOARD
-vs-
GALILEE=”CIRCUIT”
WORKS OF THE FLESH (CHAFF)
- adultery,
- fornication,
- uncleanness,
- lasciviousness,
- Idolatry,
- witchcraft,
- hatred,
- variance,
- jealousies,
- wrath,
- strife,
- seditions,
- heresies,
- contentions,
- murders,
- drunkenness,
- revelings
-vs-
WORKS OF THE SPIRIT (FRUIT)
- Love,
- Joy,
- Peace,
- Kindness,
- Goodness,
- Faithfulness,
- Gentleness,
- Self Control,
- Patience
WORTHLESS METAL : DROSS
-vs-
PURIFIED
CUP OF ABOMINATIONS
-vs-
CUP OF BLOOD SHED FOR US
THE HUSK
-vs-
THE FRUIT
LABOURS
for meat that perishes
-vs-
LABOURS
for meat which endureth unto everlasting life
WORDLY SORROW
from not getting your way
-vs-
GODLY SORROW
that comes people forsaking God’s law
FEAR
PLACED IN MAN
-vs-
FEAR
PLACED IN GOD
BABYLON
“confusion“ (by way of mixing)
-vs-
JERUSALEM
“peace” (by way of separation)
TARES : UNGODLY
STANDING TALLPRIDEFULGATHERED IN BUNDLESTHE CHAFF
DOUBLE DESTRUCTION :: BURNED IN FIRE
-vs-
GODLY : WHEAT
BOUGHED OVERHUMBLEGATHERED IN BUNDLES
THE FRUIT
DOUBLE FRUIT TAKEN INTO BARN
EXODUS 32 : THE GOLDEN CALF
26Then
Moses stood in the GATE OF THE CAMP,
and said, WHO IS ON THE LORD’S SIDE?
I pray this will help feed those who are hungering and will help sort through any confusion to pull down any strongholds you might have.
2 Corinthians 10 : Paul Defends his Ministry
1Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: 2But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, with which I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. 3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
The Gideons’ primary activity is distributing copies of the Bible free of charge. The organization describes its link to the story of Gideon:
Gideon was a man who was willing to do exactly what God wanted him to do, regardless of his own judgment as to the plans or results. Humility, faith, and obedience were his great elements of character. This is the standard that The Gideon’s International is trying to establish in all its members, each man to be ready to do God’s will at any time, at any place, and in any way that the Holy Spirit leads.
Matthew 7 : A Tree and its Fruit (Matthew 12:33-37; Luke 6:43-45)
15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. 18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20Why by their fruits you shall know them. 21Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.
Jude 1 : A Call to Persevere (Hebrews 10:19-39)
22And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Psalm 37 : Don’t Fret Because of Evildoers (1 Kings 2:1-9)
1Fret not yourself because of evildoers, neither be you envious against the workers of iniquity. 2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 3Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shall you dwell in the land, and truly you shall be fed. 4Delight yourself also in the LORD: and he shall give you the desires of your heart. 5Commit your way to the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 16 :
11You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for ever more
- Ruth
- Bought With A Price