The 2 Paths

This was a picture taken of my grandfather passing out  Gideon Bibles at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss).  As you read this, you will understand why this picture of my grandfather has become so significant to me.   As I have worked on this site, I have fought and wrestled with God.  I have been frustrated and exhausted and overwhelmed.  This picture has served as a reminder to me of why I am here and what He has called me to do. 

 

 I look at my grandfather,  “The Tired Gideon”, fighting the good fight.

 

I pray this will help feed those who are hungering.   After having gone down endless rabbit holes, headaches, and confusion, I pray the following will help to dramatically simply the confusion, and that it will clarify, and offer comfort for any of those looking for redemption.

1 Timothy 6 : Fight the Good Fight

12Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are also called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.

 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.

 

I have never felt called by God to do anything.  God gave all of us gifts as part of being in the body of Christ.   I wasn’t sure what mine was.    Recently, however, I have had an enormous sense of urgency that He placed in my heart. 

 JULY of 2014

---

I bought a house that was built in 1940 and I had all these plans for how I wanted to renovate it.   The first thing I wanted to do was paint the outside of it because the whole house is tan, including the roof, and I thought it was ugly.   I put it off and first did a few things that I wanted to the inside.    Not to long after I moved in, however, God started increasing His level of conviction in my heart.   I started looking at all things that were going on in the world and I knew He was testing me.   Am I going to seek Him first and do what I feel he has placed in my heart, or am I going to put myself first and my desires for my house before him.

 

 THE PARABLES OF THE WEDDING BANQUET hit me the hardest. 

 DECEMBER of 2015

---

I created this website, which I named the “Narrow Gate Entrance” which I derived from LUKE 13.  This verse struck fear in my heart, and when I started this site, I knew I needed to make sure that’s the gate my life was heading towards.  There were so many verses that were in direct conflict with the way I was living my life. I was desperate to know the truth and His Story. 

When I realized that verse was in the context of the verse I based this site off of my eyes filled with tears because I realized that it was His confirmation of what he had called me to do from the previous day when I pulled over in my car.    I had used a wooden board to keep the path straight and level so we could open the door and escape during a time of panic and confusion.

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;

STRAIGHT ^[g2117] euthýs

---

• LEVEL or SMOOTH or (figuratively) TRUE; 

 Nashville happens to be the HEADQUARTERS of SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION.

 

Even more incredible is how God was showing me how all this tied back together with the picture of my grandfather and the story of Gideon.  I knew the story of Gideon briefly at the time, but after this, I felt God prompting me to go back and look at the details of his story. 

 

I then soon realized the HEADQUARTERS of GIDEON INTERNATIONAL is stationed here in Nashville as well. 

 

Gideon was called

by an angel of the Lord

that sat under an oak.  

 

JUDGES 6 :  THE CALL OF GIDEON  

11And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son  Gideon threshed wheat by the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.  

I live 2 miles from Vanderbilt whose symbol is the Leaf and acorn. 

---

 The new visual identity, designed by Malcolm Grear Designers in Providence, R.I., is built around a central image of the letter “V” encompassing a stylized oak leaf and acorn.

 

“The oak leaf and acorn have long been symbols of Vanderbilt and are found in the crest of the Vanderbilt family,” said Judy Orr, director of Creative Services. “We thought it important to have a sense of timelessness and tradition in our final product, which I believe we accomplished.” 

 

Oak Hill is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee, 3 Miles from house.

 

  The Tennessee Governor’s Mansion, also known as the Tennessee Residence, in Oak Hill, Nashville, Tennessee, is the official residence of the Governor of Tennessee and his or her family.

 

 

At the time of Gideon’s call,

he was THRESHING WHEAT.

 

JUDGES 6 :  THE CALL OF GIDEON  

11And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son  Gideon threshed wheat by the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.  

My last name is “MILLER”

 which I got from my grandfather

in the picture.

 

A “MILLER” happens to be a person who

operates a MILL, which is a machine

 that GRINDS the HARVESTED WHEAT GRAIN,

into FLOUR, which is used to make BREAD.

 

 

The day I played the game Escape Game was the height of my overwhelm and I had pulled over on the side of the road and CONFIRMED with God if this “IS THIS REALLY WHAT HE HAS CALLED ME TO DO”.

 

I then used what looked like a THRESHING BOARD for my teammate to drag the ball in a STRAIGHT line to open the door and escape. 

 

Even more incredible is the Escape Game logo looks just like a threshing floor.

 

 

 

  

At the time of the HARVEST when his crop is fully ripe…

The farmer cuts down

(hew’s) his crop that he

has sown in the field

typically done through

use of a SICKLE or SCYTHE.

 

 

 

The farmer would then

GATHER / GLEAN / BUNDLE

the stalks of wheat together

in what is called

a SHEAF or SHEAVES (multiple)

 

 

 

The bundled wheat is then taken to the 

CIRCULAR THRESHING FLOOR

where the sheaves would be 

spread across the threshing floor

and then be THRESHED.

 

 

 

 

PAIRS OF OXEN

would then be walked 

ROUND and ROUND

dragging behind them 

THRESHING BOARDS

---

had stones or flint chips or iron spikes

inserted into the bottom side. 

These teeth speed up the threshing process 

 

 ~ or a ~

THRESHING SLEDGE (WAIN)

---

 which consisted of 3 or 4 wooden cylinders

armed with stones of iron

joined together as a sledge  

 

 

 During this THRESHING PROCESS

 

 THE STALKS would be TORN

---

 

-from-

  the EARS OF GRAIN

---

“He who has an EAR, let him hear”

 

 

The EARS OF GRAIN

would then be

 

  CUT and CRUSHED 

---

 

-in order to-

 

SMOOTH & LEVEL

---

as well as

LOOSEN

THE GRAIN from THE HUSK  

 

 

The LOOSED GRAIN and HUSK

would then be WINNOWED

A WINNOWING FORK  to

THE GRAIN from the HUSK

THE HUSK/CHAFF 

---

(The Outer Protective Coating)

 

THE  GRAIN : 

---

(Fruit with the Shell)

 

 

THRESHING FLOORS were built in the HIGH PARTS OF CITIES 

to utilize the WIND to accomplish this SEPARATION 

THE LIGHT CHAFF 

---

would be BLOWN AWAY 

and FALL

SOME DISTANCE AWAY..

(SCATTERED)

 

 

 

THE  HEAVIER LOOSENED GRAIN : 

---

  would FALL

AT THE WINNOWERS FEET,

and TAKEN INTO

 the FARMERS BARN. 

 

 

The GRAIN could then be 

FURTHER CLEANSED by SIEVING

with a SIEVE or SIFTER

which is a device

used to

UNWANTED

MATERIAL

 

-from-

WANTED

ELEMENTS

THE THRESHING PROCESS

is used to describe

Being made HOLY and TRUE

 

 

Threshing floors were built in

the HIGH PARTS OF CITIES 

to utilize the WIND to SEPARATE

The same year I played the Escape Game in 2016, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE was named the WINDIEST CITY in the US.

 

The German word TENNE 

also happens to mean

“THRESHING FLOOR” 

 

 

VANITY & VAIN GLORY

 

 

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.

THE 2 PATHS

---

I MUST DECREASE – 

---

 

 

 HE MUST INCREASE + 

---

John 3 : 

He must increase^[g837], but I must decrease^[g1642].

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

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.  

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.  

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.  

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. 

The SAME RECURRING PATTERN

occurs 4 different times throughout GENESIS and EXODUS

1

 

CITIES & KINGDOMS

BUILT BY MEN WORKS

 

 

2

 

VANITY, PRIDE &

WICKEDNESS ENSUES

 

 

 

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.

3

JUDGEMENT &

DESOLATION COMES FROM 

THE WORKS OF GOD

 

 

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

4

A REMNANT

is SAVED 

 

SALVATION OF ONE PARTY

~IMPLIES~

JUDGEMENT 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

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.

 

CITY BUILDERS

Wickedness

---

Manipulating

God’s creation

to fit your own desires,

through work of own hands.

which leads to 

 an artificially contrived

city of confusion 

 

 

 

 

 

TENDING GOD’S FLOCK

Righteousness

---

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 

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

 MAN and THE WORKS

THAT CAME FROM THE LINE OF CAIN

DESTROYED

 by the WASHING OF WATER

 

 

 

 

 

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.

  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 a story, or a chapter,

and it helps the reader develop expectations about the upcoming events.  

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.  This event foreshadowed 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).

 

 

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 BIBLE has an 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.)

WE ARE ALL PART OF THE MOST GRAND REDEMPTIVE STORY  

that could possibly be conceived. 

HOLLYWOOD SCRIPT

---

  

-vs-

 

THE HOLY SCRIPT

---

 

 

In the last and final book of the Bible  

BABYLON is JUDGED

---

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. 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.

 

HIS BRIDE IS REDEEMED

---

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 WOMAN ARE PERSONIFIED

THE WHORE OF BABYLON

---

JUDGED

 

 

 

THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

---

REDEEMED

 

 

2 KINGDOMS are PERSONIFIED 

AN EARTHLY KINGDOM

---

BABYLON = “confusion (by mixing)”

 

A HEAVENLY KINGDOM

---

JERUSALEM =“teaching of peace”

1 CORINTHIANS 14 :  

33For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

THE EARTHLY KINGDOM

---

Babylon,

built by the kings of earth

and the works of their hands

will be destroyed

 

THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM

---

The New Jerusalem,

comes down from Heaven 

prepared by the King of Kings,

is adorned for the bride

REVELATION 21 : THE NEW JERUSALEM

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. 

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. 

70NATIONS SCATTERED

---

 across the world at Babel

 because of DISOBEDIENCE

 

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; and you shall be aRD h blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

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. 

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..

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

God LOVED

---

JACOB

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

LEAH had the 1st 4 tribes of Israel :

---

 

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

handmaid BILHAH to conceive who had : 

---

5                    6

    DAN              NAPHTALI

 

LEAH then gave Jacob her

handmaid  ZILPAH to conceive who had 

---

7                    8

    GAD                   ASHER 

LEAH then had

9

---

ISAACHAR

 

10

---

ZEBULON

RACHEL 

---

finally had

11

JOSEPH

---

(“God has ADDED”) (+) 

 

 

 

The Sheep,

and her offspring

12

BENJAMIN

---

(“son of the right hand”) 

This is where the SHEEP 

and the SHEPHERD narrative begins.  

Most Americans want some form of religious identity  

SO WHO ARE HIS SHEEP?   

Jesus told Peter 3 times

 

 

 

RACHEL[H7354]

רָחֵל Râchêl raw-khale’; 

occurs 47 in 44

---

• Rachel = “ewe” a female lamb
• daughter of Laban, wife of Jacob, and mother of Joseph and Benjamin

 

 

the same

as H7353;

 

[H7353] רָחֵל râchêl, raw-kale’;

---

• from an unused root meaning to journey;
• a ewe [the females being the predominant element of a flock]
• (as a good traveller):—ewe, sheep. 

Genesis 29 : Jacob Meets Rachel

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 

Rachel and Leah the 2 wives of Jacob

 were the ones that built the house of Israel 

 

THE SHEEP came from RACHEL

---

 

 THE SHEPHERD  came from LEAH

---

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:  

Rachel died in BETHLEHEM

David and Jesus were born in BETHLEHEM . 

BETHLEHEM =  “HOUSE OF BREAD”. 

WHOM JACOB (ISRAEL) “LOVED THE MOST” 

Of his wives

---

RACHEL  

 

Of his sons 

---

JOSEPH  

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

 5And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 

אֶפְרַיִם ʼEphrayim

“I shall be doubly fruitful”

1ST PORTION

---

(of the womb)
 Multiplying into a nation while in Egypt after God told them “to be fruitful and multiply.”

 

2ND PORTION

---

(of actions & thoughts)  

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. 

Matthew 25 :  The Sheep and the Goats

 

 

Joseph received the 1ST BORN BIRTHRIGHT

even though he was 2ND TO LAST BORN of the 12 tribes.

After Rachel died, REUBEN who was Jacob’s actual 1ST BORN SON slept with Bilhah, Rachel’s Handmaid and defiled Jacob’s bed.

 

Because of this REUBEN lost his1st BORN BIRTH RIGHT and 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 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;  

MOSES led them to MOUNT SINAI (HOREB)where God thundered down

THE LAW and 10 COMMANDMENTS, to ISRAEL

as well as the aliens that had left and joined with them,  

as well instruction to Moses

on setting  up THE TABERNACLE in the Wilderness

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

---

 

 

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”

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;  

Exodus 16 : 

4Then said the LORD to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

 

 

Out of bounds

---

DISOBEDIENCE

to the covenant

led to Curses

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.  

THE LAW

in the 1st 5 books  

is the outline of the biblical puzzle.

It set’s the borders on how

all the other pieces should 

fit within it’s frame.  

 

 

 

 

THE LAW 

establishes 2 things…

THE LAW of  SIN and DEATH 

[EVIL]

---

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”. 

 

THE LAW of  RIGHTEOUSNESS and TRUTH

[GOOD]

---

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.    

 Just as a

STATE or FEDERAL LAW

defines what is ILLEGAL. 

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.  

 

 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.

Just as 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. 

 

•  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

 

 

 

 

In the 1ST BOOK of the Bible (GENESIS)

Nimrod built the kingdom of Babylon with

a tower that REACHED TO HEAVEN

---

let us build us a city and a tower,

whose top may reach to heaven;

 

In the LAST BOOK of the Bible (REVELATION)

 Babylon has been rebuilt and

her SINS HAVE REACHED TO HEAVEN

---

5For her sins have reached to heaven,

and God has remembered her iniquities. 

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 contained

the 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. 

 JOSHUA

was from EPHRAIM

who led Israel

into Promised Land

   GIDEON

was from MANASSAH,

who was chosen by God

to defeat the Midianites 

PAUL

 the apostle was from BENJAMIN

who established

the first churches

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. 

 

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

---

 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. 

@ HOREB / Mount SINAI

Contained in the books:

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers

 

 

+

@ MOAB

  Contained in:

Deuteronomy (2nd Covenant)

 

 

MOSES SET BEFORE THEM

THE LAW of  SIN

---

[DEATH & EVIL]

CURSES

 

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. 

 

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.

  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

1 KINGS 11 : JEROBOAM’S REBELLION

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 them 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 

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.   

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.

Hosea 5 : God’s Judgment on Israel and Judah

HOSEA 9 : HOSEA ANNOUNCES ISRAEL’S PUNISHMENT

Hosea 13 :  Ephraim’s Glory Vanishes

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

 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.

 Ezekial 37 : One Nation with One King

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. 

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.

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.  

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. 

PROPITIATION 

is where the sacrificial lamb

 COME’S UNDER GOD’S WRATH

as it is killed.  

-foreshadowed-

God sent his only

begotten son

to be a PROPITIATION

  for our sin.