And, behold, they [two possessed with devils] cried out, saying, What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? are you come hither to torment us before the time?

And, behold, they [two possessed with devils] cried out, saying, What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? are you come hither to torment us before the time?

Matthew 8
30 And there was a good way off from them a herd of many swine feeding.
31 So the devils besought him, saying, If you cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.

Matthew 9
1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.
2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; your sins be forgiven you.
3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemes.
4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think you evil in your hearts?
5 For whether is easier, to say, Your sins be forgiven you; or to say, Arise, and walk?
6 But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, (then said he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up your bed, and go unto your house.
7 And he arose, and departed to his house.
8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

The first event above is one of the many claimed contradictions (by the so-called higher critics – who are ignorant without His Spirit) because it is here said to occur in the country of the Gergesenes where two men are possessed. Then in Mark and Luke, it’s in Gadara, where it’s only one man.

As we know (because the same risen LORD has enlightened us), these differences evidence the truth these men are writing of their own experiences, after the LORD has risen in them and their lives patterned His to the cross and resurrection. And “when the multitudes saw it, they marveled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.”

Of course, in a deeper examination of the transliterated names, the intended meanings conveyed therein are brought to light from their hiding place (in men’s neglect and resulting ignorance).

According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, Gadarenos (Gadara) means “reward at the end,” and is therefore Mark and Luke emphasizing the result. Mark 5:15 describes it as seeing “him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion [of demons], sitting [with Jesus], and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid [feared God {because they saw Him as a threat to their defiling ministries].” The fuller passage describes the reward and the consequence contrasted in those corrected away from ideas and ways possessing and destroying them and those tending (possessing) defiled flocks, who reject Him, and so doing, neglectfully allow them (their herd) to further descend into perdition.

Mark 5
1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the most high God? I adjure you by God, that you torment me not.
8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.
9 And he asked him, What is your name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked [pnigo – as thorns crowding out the good seed: this word of God, as hands around the throat one forced to pay a debt – pnigo appears one other time, in Matthew 18:28 as we are told of the one forgiven then going out and forcing his fellow servant to pay – in the context of Matthew 9 above, all recover and are forgive and the only condemnation is the choice of those who reject Him, to remain in their broad way that leads to destruction] in the sea.
14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.
15 And they come to Jesus, and seeing him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.
17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but says unto him, Go home to your friends, and tell them how great things the LORD has done for you, and has had compassion on you.
20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.

The Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says the name Gergesenes (only used this one time) means “a stranger drawing near,” which is Matthew speaking of the LORD coming unknown, to cast out the devils who possess His people, so that they can know Him. It’s a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Girgashite, which appears to be from the words garash, meaning “to drive out from a possession; especially to expatriate or divorce,” and (the one time used word) geresh, meaning “produce, (as if expelled).”

These two words only appear together once, in Deuteronomy 33 (in the second blessing – Ephraim); geresh in verse 14 telling of the things “put forth” as the LORD blesses the land by blessing Joseph (the father of Ephraim). It tells of Him as the one separated from His brethren, who we know reappears as a stranger to them. This passage, Deuteronomy 33:13 thru 17, is possibly the deepest of all when considered with Genesis 49: 22 thru 26 (the first blessing of Joseph).

Genesis 49
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well [a tree of life by these waters of God]; whose branches run over the wall [the wall of lies men have created and teach]:
23 The archers [ba’al – the gods of this world whose teaching has blinded all form seeing the Father, in the son, the seed of the women who brings forth the man child – see Revelation 12:17] have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
25 Even 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 [rabats – couches as a lion] under [the deep meaning that lies below the surface], blessings of the breasts, and of the womb [seed, the son]:
26 The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors [all those who have come before us, and were only blessed with part of what is perfected in our return to the LORD] unto 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 brethren.

Deuteronomy 33
13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that couches [rabats {as a lion}] beneath,
14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth [geresh] by the moon,
15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
16 And for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush [cnah – only appears here and five time in Exodus 3, all describing the LORD appearing to Moses as a Bush burning but never consumed by the fire]: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns [are the only power]: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim [those receiving this second blessing], and they are the thousands of Manasseh [those who’ve forgotten God and are now awakened from their sleep].

This gathering together is spoken of when the word garash appears in the final verses of Deuteronomy 33, which describes our rendezvous with the LORD at Har (“the ancient mountain”) Megiddon (Armageddon).

The words above rendered “chief things of the ancient mountains” are meged qedem harar.

As we know, Megiddon is said to mean rendezvous, from the word gadad, meaning “to crowd; also to gash (as if by pressing into):–assemble (selves by troops), gather (selves together, self in troops), cut selves.” It’s from the word guwd (Gad), meaning “to crowd upon, i.e. to attack.”

It (Migeddon) is actually more akin to the word meged, an eight times appearing word, five of which are above in the passage from Deuteronomy 33. It’s meaning is, “from an unused root probably meaning to be eminent; properly, a distinguished thing; hence something valuable, as a product or fruit:–pleasant, precious fruit (thing).” The idea of it as a product and harkens back to the meaning of the word gedesh, “produce, (as if expelled).”

Deuteronomy 33
26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun [the name of God’s people who prosper, are blessed, by following His good advice], who rides upon the heaven in your help, and in his excellency on the sky.
27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out [garash] the enemy from before you; and shall say, Destroy them.
28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.
29 Happy are you, O Israel: who is like unto you, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of your excellency! and your enemies shall be found liars unto you; and you shall tread upon their high places.

Revelation 16
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightning; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Genesis 49
1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, you sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4 Unstable [pachaz – ebullition] as water [this tells of the advice of the serpent, as one of God’s children, with unbridled license, recklessly reinterpreting His word], you shall not excel; because you went up to your father’s bed [went into the women – God’s people who have His words]; then defiled you it: he went up to my couch [took God’s place].
5 Simeon and Levi are brethren [names meaning, those hearing and joining this teaching that replaced God’s]; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
6 O my soul, come not you into their secret [their hidden counsel]; unto their assembly, mine honor, be not you united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall [by this they brought death on all man, and removed the protection found in the garden].
7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel [speaking of the continual scattering of God’s people into many sects].
8 Judah [the leaders God chooses], you are he whom your brethren shall praise: your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you.
9 Judah 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?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet [speaking of the Davidic king line], until Shiloh come [meaning peace and tranquility – the one {Joseph’s seed – the one separated} from who it will again flow – see Ezekiel 21:27 and the overturning]; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine [this speaking of the lowly {Zechariah 9:9}, God’s elect remnant, outside the established sects, bound until Shiloh comes, when they are loosed]; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
13 Zebulun [the lowly raised up at the LORD’s coming] shall dwell at the haven of the sea [safe from the masses]; and he shall be for an haven of ships [and saving any who come to the LORD through them]; and his border shall be unto Zidon [they will be the end of those who’ve hunted souls].
14 Issachar [through him will come the reward – the fruitful bough] is a strong ass [the LORD’s people, now become His goodly horse in the battle – Zechariah 10:3] couching down between two burdens:
15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
16 Dan [the judge – speaking of strength returned and the righteous judgment of the world begins] shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way [as a serpent raised as a standard on a pole {nec}], an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels [this is the heel bruised in the judgment, meaning the serpents among the people, are rendered without effect], so that his rider shall fall backward [so the body of Christ will return to the place from which she fell – see, in Isaiah 28:13, what causes them to fall backward].
18 I have waited for your salvation, O LORD.
19 Gad [the LORD’s army, overcome until their return to Him], a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20 Out of Asher [happy] his bread shall be fat [happiness returns when the word of God prospers], and he shall yield royal dainties [ma’adan – speaking of the royal line again raised up – referring us to its use in Proverbs 29:17, telling us this is when rest returns, when we, by correction, give the Father “delight”].
21 Naphtali [by this wrestling – unknowingly with the LORD] is a hind let loose: he gives goodly words [our tongue {the word of God} is loosed and we teach it as received directly from Him].
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well [a tree of life by these waters of God]; whose branches run over the wall [the wall of lies men have created and teach]:
23 The archers [ba’al – the gods of this world whose teaching has blinded all form seeing the Father, in the son, the seed of the women who brings forth the man child – see Revelation 12:17] have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
25 Even 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 [rabats – couches as a lion] under [the deep meaning that lies below the surface], blessings of the breasts, and of the womb [seed, the son]:
26 The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors [all those who have come before us, and were only blessed with part of what is perfected in our return to the LORD] unto 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 brethren.
27 Benjamin [the right hand of God’s power] shall ravin as a wolf [shall tear in pieces the wolf that has scattered the one flock]: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. [These last words are referring us to Maher-shalal-hash-baz, the son spoken of in beginning Isaiah 8, his name meaning he hastes to the spoil and is quick to the prey. He is the son foretold as coming by the virgin, later called Immanuel, as the advice, teaching, of the LORD comes, when men have formed a confederacy listening to the dead gods of the world.]

Deuteronomy 33
1 And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir [against the powers of the enemies mixed among us] unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran [when everything became clear, though His understanding], and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
3 Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in your hand: and they sat down at your feet; every one shall receive of your words.
4 Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.
5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.
6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.
7 And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be you an help to him from his enemies.
8 And of Levi he said, Let your Thummim and your Urim be with your holy one, whom you did prove at Massah, and with whom you did strive at the waters of Meribah;
9 Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
10 They shall teach Jacob your judgments, and Israel your law: they shall put incense before you, and whole burnt sacrifice upon your altar.
11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.
12 And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.
13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that couches [rabats {as a lion}] beneath,
14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth [geresh] by the moon,
15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
16 And for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush [cnah – only appears here and five time in Exodus 3, all describing the LORD appearing to Moses as a Bush burning but never consumed by the fire]: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns [are the only power]: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim [those receiving this second blessing], and they are the thousands of Manasseh [those who’ve forgotten God and are now awakened from their sleep].
18 And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and, Issachar, in your tents.
19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.
20 And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head.
21 And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel.
22 And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.
23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess you the west and the south.
24 And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.
25 Your shoes shall be iron and brass; and as your days, so shall your strength be.
26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun [the name of God’s people who prosper, are blessed, by following His good advice], who rides upon the heaven in your help, and in his excellency on the sky.
27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out [garash] the enemy from before you; and shall say, Destroy them.
28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.
29 Happy are you, O Israel: who is like unto you, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of your excellency! and your enemies shall be found liars unto you; and you shall tread upon their high places.

Song of Solomon 4
12 A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
13 Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits [meged]; camphire, with spikenard,
14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon [pure waters from the mountain].
16 Awake, O north wind; and come, you south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits [meged].

Song of Solomon 7
1 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field [into the earth]; let us lodge in the villages.
12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give you my loves.
13 The mandrakes [duwday] give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant [meged] fruits, new and old, which I have laid up [tsaphan] for you, O my beloved.

The word duwday only appears after this once, in Jeremiah 24:1, as Jeremiah (Jehovah rising and raising us with Him) sees the two “baskets” of fruit, the good and the evil.

Jeremiah 24
1 The LORD showed me, and, behold, two baskets [duwday] of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest you, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus says the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

Zephaniah 2
1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’s anger come upon you.
3 Seek you the LORD, all you meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be you shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.
4 For Gaza [their strongholds] shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon [and in judgment they shall be] a desolation: they shall drive out [garash] Ashdod [the powerful] at the noon day, and Ekron [eradicated – as thorns of neglect torn up by their roots] shall be rooted up.
5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites [the executioner]! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan [who have been zealous against Me], the land of the Philistines [the foreign invaders], I will even destroy you, that there shall be no inhabitant.
6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon [judgment] shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.
8 I have heard the reproach of Moab [from the mouths of the gates of hell], and the reviling of the children of Ammon [who exalt themselves above God], whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
9 Therefore as I live, says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab [the gates of hell] shall be as Sodom [burned], and the children of Ammon [those who exalt themselves above God] as Gomorrah [ruin], even the breeding of nettles, and salt-pits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
10 This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.
11 The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.
12 You Ethiopians also, you shall be slain by my sword.
13 And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.
14 And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for he shall uncover the cedar work.
15 This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passes by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.

Hosea 9
14 Give them, O LORD: what will you give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
15 All their wickedness is in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out [garash] of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes are revolters.
16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb.
17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Micah 2
7 O you that are named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walks uprightly?
8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: you pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war.
9 The women of my people have you cast out [garash] from their pleasant houses; from their children have you taken away my glory forever.
10 Arise you, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.
11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto you of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.
12 I 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 midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
13 The 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.

Jonah 2
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish’s belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and you heard my voice.
3 For you had cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all your billows and your waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I am cast out [garash] of your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.
5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.
6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet have you brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto you, into your holy temple.
8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice unto you with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
10 And the LORD spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Psalms 80
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you that leads Joseph like a flock; you that dwells between the cherubims, shine forth.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up your strength, and come and save us.
3 Turn us again, O God, and cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.
4 O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry against the prayer of your people?
5 You feed them with the bread of tears; and give them tears to drink in great measure.
6 You make us a strife unto our neighbors: and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.
8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt: you have cast out [garash] the heathen, and planted it.
9 You prepared room before it, and did cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
12 Why have you then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
13 The boar out of the wood does waste it, and the wild beast of the field does devour it.
14 Return, we beseech you, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
15 And the vineyard which your right hand has planted, and the branch that you made strong for yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
17 Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, upon the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.
18 So will not we go back from you: quicken us, and we will call upon your name.
19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause your face to shine; and we shall be saved.

When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he comes up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he comes up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

Today’s title verse, Habakkuk 3:16, is the LORD speaking to all His people of the warning given, and the way He leads us back to Him. The “voice” is His, from the Hebrew word qowl, the same word appearing earlier in verse 10 describing when “the deep uttered His voice.” It there says the mountains saw Him and trembled, as “the overflowing of waters [this word] passed by.” It says by these his hand is lifted on high, which we know is referring back to verse 4 where we’re told, from His hand came horns (as rays of light), and there was the hiding of His power.

Habakkuk 3
1 A prayer of Habakkuk [meaning to take hold of, with His hand] the prophet upon Shigionoth [those who have strayed, been misled].
2 O LORD, I have heard your speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman [the place of the Theophany, where wisdom is found, after it is rescued from the enemies among us], and the Holy One from mount Paran [where things are made clear]. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
4 And his brightness was as the light [giving understanding]; he had horns [rays of light] coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.
6 He stood, and measured [assessed] the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan [darkness – ignorance] in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian [strife – the places of endless argument] did tremble.
8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers [or their pollution by the lies of men]? was your anger against the rivers [or the lies in them]? was your wrath against the sea [into which the river flows their polluted information], that you did ride upon your horses and your chariots of salvation [yshuw’ah]?
9 Your bow was made quite naked, (according to the oaths of the tribes, even your word) [this parenthetical statement is referring us Joseph’s blessing written in Genesis 49]. Selah. You did cleave the earth with rivers [through which these pure waters flow].
10 The mountains saw you, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice [qowl], and lifted up his hands on high.
11 The sun and moon [church and state governments – misleaders] stood still in their habitation: at the light [understanding] of your arrows they went, and at the shining of your glittering spear.
12 You did march through the land in indignation, you did thresh the heathen in anger.
13 You went forth for the salvation of your people, even for salvation with your anointed; you wounded the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering [‘arah – uncovering] the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
14 You did strike through with his staves the head [misleaders] of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
15 You did walk through the sea with your horses, through the heap of great waters.
16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice [qowl]: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he comes up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

The word used in verse 4 above to tell of the “hidden” power of the LORD, is the one time used word chebyown, meaning “a concealment.” It is said to be from the word chabah, meaning “to secret.”

The deeper meaning (of Chebyown) is in the neglected suffix yown, which is from the word yownah (Jonah), meaning “probably from the same as 3196; a dove (apparently from the warmth of their mating).” The word the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary says yownah derives from is (H3196) yayin, “from an unused root meaning to effervesce; wine (as fermented); by implication, intoxication.”

This last aspect seems to be the root meaning in the name Jonah, as what escaped (effervesced) from the waters after spending the appropriate time (fermenting) trapped therein. The idea of yownah meaning warmth appears associated with the well-known word yowm meaning “to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb).”

As we know, the dove represents the sign of the end, as in when Noah knew it was time exit the ark, Jonah from the whale’s belly, and the LORD from the belly of the earth. The use of the word Chebyowm is telling of the secret last day, the sign of the end that has come, after we have spent the appropriate time fermenting the waters into wine, and, at the appropriate time, come out into the open. “God came from Teman [the place of the Theophany, where wisdom is found, after it is rescued from the enemies among us], and the Holy One from mount Paran [where things are made clear]. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.”

Ezekiel 7
10 Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning [tsphiyrah – the crowning] is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded.
11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them.
12 The time is come, the day draw near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.
14 They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goes to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
16 But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves [yownah] of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.
17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
18 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling-block of their iniquity.
20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them.
21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.
22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place [tsaphan]: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.
23 Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
24 Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.
25 Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.
26 Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor [shmuw’ah – teaching sound doctrine, and reporting truth] shall be upon rumor [shmuw’ah – teaching and reporting that isn’t believed, and the man of God reporting is still unknown – because of the lies and misleading of those who’ve blinded to world by drunkenness]; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.
27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Hosea 7
1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief comes in, and the troop of robbers spoils without.
2 And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.
3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
4 They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceases from raising after he has kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
5 In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleeps all the night; in the morning it burns as a flaming fire.
7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that call unto me.
8 Ephraim, he has mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned [see Zechariah 10:9].
9 Strangers [misleaders] have devoured his strength, and he knows it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knows not.
10 And the pride of Israel testifies to his face: and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.
11 Ephraim [God’s people in this latter time] also is like a silly dove [yownah] without heart [deluded and unable to see He has reached the promised end, after the latter rain]: they call to Egypt [to their oppressors], they go to Assyria [to the communists, thinking these oppressors’ misleading will deliver them].
12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard.
13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.
15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.
16 They return, but not to the Most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt [this land controlled by oppression].

One of the five times the word chabah appears is in Jeremiah 49:10 telling of now when the LORD has uncovered the hidden things of Esau. They are the desperately wicked things of his heart, sought out by the LORD this woeful day.

Obadiah 1
6 How are the things of Esau [the enemies mixed among us] searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
7 All the men of your confederacy [the men you have joined with, here in My nation] have brought you even to the border [this end time boundary]: the men that were at peace with you have deceived you, and [through deception] prevailed against you; they that eat your bread have laid a wound under you: there is none understanding in him [their ways and ideas are to produce ignorance of truth, the demoralization of confusion now turned to helpless delusion].
8 Shall I not in that day, says the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
9 And your mighty men, O Teman [the so-called wise men of the world, the sorcerers of Baal], shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
10 For your violence against your brother Jacob [my people, even though they are now ignorant and in rebellion against Me] shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.”

Jeremiah 49
9 If grape-gatherers come to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
10 But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself [chabah – see Jeremiah 16 & 17 below for why he isn’t able to hid himself, and what is uncovered is reported here]: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is not.
11 Leave your fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let your widows trust in me.
12 For thus says the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and are you he that shall altogether go unpunished? you shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink of it.
13 For I have sworn by myself, says the LORD, that Bozrah [the sheepfold – God’s people] shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
14 I have heard a rumor [shmuw’ah – the report] from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather you together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
15 For, lo, I will make you small [as a little horn] among the heathen, and despised among men.
16 Your terribleness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you [little horn] that dwells in the clefts of the rock, that holds the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from thence, says the LORD.
17 Also Edom [the enemies mixed among us] shall be a desolation: every one that goes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me [Michael standing]? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd [ra’ah] that will stand before me?
20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman [the so-called wise men of the world]: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
21 The earth is moved at the noise [qowl – the voice of the Archangel] of their fall, at the cry the noise [qowl – the same voice] thereof was heard in the Red sea.
22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah [the Archangel, the voice from the LORD’s mouth, shall stir up and protect the flock of God]: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs [Selah!].

Jeremiah 16
17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid [tsaphan] from mine eyes.
18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.
19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto you from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

Jeremiah 17
1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
2 Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.
3 O my mountain in the field, I will give your substance and all your treasures to the spoil, and your high places for sin, throughout all your borders.
4 And you, even yourself, shall discontinue from your heritage that I gave you; and I will cause you to serve your enemies in the land which you know not: for you have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn forever.
5 Thus says the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD.
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
7 Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I 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.
11 As the partridge sits on eggs, and hatches them not; so he that gets riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake you shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for you are my praise.
15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the LORD? let it come now.
16 As for me, I have not hastened from [‘uwts – I have not rushed ahead of] being a pastor to follow you [LORD]: neither have I desired the woeful day [‘anash – the same word as “desperately wicked” in verse 9 above]; you know: that which came out of my lips was right before you.

From the previous post (16 February 2021):
In the same day, also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their Masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

The above, Zephaniah 1:9, is a warning to the violent and deceitful, “in the same day” earlier in the chapter described. It’s speaking to the remnant of Baal, the Chemarims secretly hidden in the priesthood. The name Chemarims is transliterated from the three times used word kamar, meaning “from 3648; properly, an ascetic (as if shrunk with self-maceration), i.e. an idolatrous priest (only in plural).” The ideas, in the words ascetic and maceration, tell of those who, through abstinence and self-discipline, present an outward appearance of holiness, while inwardly they’re ravenous wolves: full of “violence and deceit.”

In Matthew 7:15, the LORD speaks of these men, the false priests and false prophets of our day, whose churches are filled with their fruit, parishioners of every denomination who’ve been taught victimizing the “white conservative man” is holiness (the very definition of racism). They demonize them with the broadest of brushes, falsely accusing all and violently attacking any who refuse to bow to these taught idols, the ideas and ways of Baal. These false teachers are trees of violence and deceit, and their fruits are soldiers carrying out their evil plan.

The problem is compounded in the conservative church, whose own ideas and ways have transformed their congregations into women. They are overgrown with the doctrines of neglect, thorns and briers just as piercing and painful as their counterparts’ destroying them. It’s time for men to be men again. The LORD of Hosts is mustering an army of such, those willing and able to stand against the whiles of devils: their violence and deceit (gaslighting).

Revelation 18
4 And 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.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double.
7 How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8 Therefore 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.

Matthew 7
13 Enter you in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.
21 Not every one that says unto me, LORD, LORD, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many 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?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

As we know, these men’s works are the ways of Edom sought out.

Obadiah 1
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you [little horn] that dwells in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that says in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
4 Though you exalt yourself as the eagle [as My Nation], and though you set your nest among the stars [among God’s people], thence will I bring you down, says the LORD.
5 [My people, I ask you,] If thieves came to you, if robbers by night, (how are you cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grape-gatherers came to you, would they not leave some grapes?
6 How are the things of Esau [the enemies mixed among us] searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
7 All the men of your confederacy [the men you have joined with, here in My nation] have brought you even to the border [this end time boundary]: the men that were at peace with you have deceived you, and [through deception] prevailed against you; they that eat your bread have laid a wound under you: there is none understanding in him [their ways and ideas are to produce ignorance of truth, the demoralization of confusion now turned to helpless delusion].
8 Shall I not in that day, says the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
9 And your mighty men, O Teman [the so-called wise men of the world, the sorcerers of Baal], shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
10 For your violence against your brother Jacob [my people, even though they are now ignorant and in rebellion against Me] shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.”

For those who actually know the LORD, who’ve loved and kept this word, the questions posed in verse 6 are rhetorical. They’re answered in the surrounding verses as the LORD define the enemies, so, even though disguised as us among us, we can distinguish them by the fruit of good and evil. They are the enemies of truth, known false accusers and liars, among us, telling known lies and accusing with known false accusations, gaslighting any who refuse their distorted and delusional versions of a non-existent reality. (Their tactic of gaslighting has worked, or is at work, in everything from transgenderism, global-warning, racism, to the denial of election fraud. Deny any of these in favor of the reality and watch the relentless counterattacks – more known lies and more false accusations. They’ve even created a term, a new vocation, “fact-checker,” aimed at anyone who publicly states obvious reality.)

As we know, the name Zephaniah is from the Hebrew word tsaphan, meaning “to hide (by covering over); by implication, to hoard or reserve; figuratively to deny; specifically (favorably) to protect, (unfavorably) to lurk.”

We have seen it (the word tsaphan), in Ezekiel 7:22, rendered as the “secret” place of the LORD, which is polluted by the robbers who’ve entered and now possess the houses they’ve defiled. In the previous post, in Psalms 27:5, we saw it as the pavilion in which the LORD “hides” us in this time of trouble. In other posts, we’ve discussed it as the things the LORD has “laid up” for this time, to give to His beloved, the son and the children God has given him.

Isaiah 8
…O Immanuel.
9 Associate yourselves, O you people, and you shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all you of far countries: gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces.
10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 Say you not, A confederacy [of the irrational and deluded, those who wear the mark, the mask, showing they follow and kneel to the advice of ignorance {Does this offend you?}], to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear you their fear, nor be afraid.
13 Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
16 Bind up the testimony [this word of God, which is His seal], seal the law among my disciples.
17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs [the standard lifted to show the way] and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwells in mount Zion.
19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits [the voices of the known dead], and unto wizards [the so-called experts of this world] that peep, and that mutter [broad-casting their spells to mislead]: should not a people seek unto their God? [should they be looking] for the living to the dead [the familiar spirit – known liars telling known lies]?
20 [They should be looking] To the law and to the [this] testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light [understanding] in them.
21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry [because they refuse this manna]: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and [in the resulting ignorance] look upward [and see darkness].
22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness [ignorance], dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness [into ever greater delusion, as they have].

Proverbs 2
1 My son, if you will receive my words, and hide [tsaphan] my commandments with you;
2 So that you incline your ear unto wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if you cry after knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding;
4 If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shall you understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom: out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7 He lays up [tsaphan] sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
8 He keeps the paths of judgment, and preserves the way of his saints.
9 Then shall you understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10 When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto your soul;
11 Discretion shall preserve you, understanding [light] shall keep you:
12 To deliver you from the way of the evil man [the misleaders and their advice], from the man that speak froward [deceptive] things;
13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness [ignorance];
14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness [the deceptions] of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward [are deceived] in their paths:
16 To deliver you from the strange woman [the fallen away {apostate} church], even from the stranger which flatters [telling you how good you are and everything you’re doing is good, when there is none good, except God who will never mislead us] with her words;
17 Which forsakes the guide [the good shepherd] of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house inclines unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
20 That you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

Isaiah 28
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus says 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.
17 Judgment 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.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report [shmuw’ah – the sound doctrine, teaching, the rumor of Ezekiel 7:26].

Psalms 81
1 Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.
4 For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder: I proved you at the waters of Meribah [when the children of Israel tried the LORD, and He made water flow understanding from the Rock who is Christ]. Selah.
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto you: O Israel, if you will hearken unto me;
9 There shall no strange god be in you; neither shall you worship any strange god.
10 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt: open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of the LORD would have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured forever.
16 He would have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied you.

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