My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me. Are there not mockers with me? and does not mine eye continue in their provocation?
The word above rendered “corrupt” is the Hebrew word chabal, meaning “to wind tightly (as a rope), i.e. to bind; specifically, by a pledge; figuratively, to pervert, destroy; also to writhe in pain (especially of parturition [giving birth]).”
It (chabal) is here, in a pattern, describing the LORD’s word’s bound, held back, by His people, who refuse to give them as received, and therefore, the world languishes in the subsequent desolation (lacking the good this world needs).
As we know, Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 3, tells us we should pray for deliverance from unreasonable and wicked men who are not giving God’s word free course. We know he is speaking of what he wrote to them in 1 Thessalonians 2, first (in verse 12) of God calling them into His kingdom, and then of their recognizing (in verse 13) it came by His word received as the word of God (Him calling – as it is) as His word.
This is followed (in verse 14 thru 18) by Paul describing Satan’s working (his false doctrines, deceptions in those receiving his words), “with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9 & 10)
In 1 Thessalonians 2, he (Paul speaking of the mystery of iniquity already at work – katecho, withhold) says it’s their own countrymen “Forbidding us to speak to the gentiles [those who don’t know the true God] that they might be saved.” He then speaks of His desire to be unified with them, hindered by the resistance of Satan (rebellion against God and His work).
He, in 1 Thessalonians 2:19 & 20, speaking of them receiving the word of God as His presence and kingdom with them, says, “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence of our LORD Jesus Christ at his coming? For you are our glory and joy.”
His (Paul’s) “glory and joy” is them receiving the word the LORD spoken through him, (as through me), as God’s glory seen in him, as it is the glory in those who receive Him and shine forth the same glory. They, being born again by receiving the LORD, are his joy. This is the same “joy” I seek, to hear the children God has given me, His great and innumerable army, His ONE BODY, speak the same things they’ve heard of the LORD in me (working and speaking the salvation of the world).
Now, these men, sitting in the seats of God, resist and oppose Him. They refuse the very simplest of commands to subordinate their words to His. These are those joined with Satan in His work (the work of the world’s communists in church and state): a confederacy bent on misleading (with promises of utopia) the world headlong into destruction (together in hell’s mass misery).
Those leading God’s people, in the face of this, as He tells us in Isaiah 8:6, “refuse the waters of Shiloah that go softly,” and instead chose to listen to those who brought darkness and distress as a cover over all the world. (As we know, the waters of Shiloah are the words of peace flowing from God, as the river that runs under Jerusalem, yarah shalam, flowing, teaching, pointing out the way of peace: reciprocal security of life, liberty, and property: for which security of these rights, just governments are instituted. The communists are the godless who don’t believe in rights and now tyrannically seek to disarm and eradicate all who resist them.)
Isaiah 8
7 Now, therefore, behold, the LORD bringeth up upon them the waters of the river [the words wherein dwells the death of men and nations], strong and many, even the king of Assyria [the communists], and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:
8 And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land, [a state into which God manifests His presence, to combat the attacks of evil] 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 [with the wicked misleaders], 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, 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 offence 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 THIS testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
17 And I will wait upon the LORD [who is the prince come to take the throne and rule the world in righteousness], that hides his face [His presence in him] from the house of Jacob, and I will look for [diligently seek] him.
18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs [‘owth] 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 [of the dead who now rule the world], and unto wizards that peep [casting their evil spell over the ignorant], and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? [Should they be looking] for the living to [among] the dead?
20 [Shouldn’t they be looking] To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to THIS word, it is because there is no light [understanding] in them.
21 And they [those confederate with ignorance] shall pass through it [without understand that has come], hardly bestead and hungry [without THIS word of God]: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king [I Am] and their God, and look upward [for the false god they’ve created and put in God’s place].
22 And they shall look unto the [desolate] earth; and behold trouble [tsarah – tribulation] and darkness [ignorance], dimness of anguish [the earth covered in mass misery]; and they shall be driven to darkness [greater delusions, with which the wicked in power control the ignorant masses].
Jeremiah, the LORD rising in Him to raise His ONE BODY, says, in Jeremiah 23:22, speaking of the desolation of the ruling class among His people, church, and nation, because they refused His word and instead listened to the destroyers, says if they would have given His word as He commanded, this destruction could have been avoided. He says the men who are forbidding His word from flowing to the world are saying it, THIS word, is a burden. The LORD says, the unbearable burden is these men’s words, the corrupt advice that is never meant to bring what they promise, and when it doesn’t they continue with greater deception, which can and does only bring increased destruction of life, liberty, and property, which is their true goal.
Jeremiah 23
1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD.
2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited [paqad] them: behold, I will visit [paqad] upon you the evil of your doings, says the LORD.
3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed [chathath – at these signs in heaven: knowing it is where I reside and knowing the place of the wicked], neither shall they be lacking [paqad – they shall visit Me in my place, to receive My understanding], says the LORD.
5 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise unto David [I Am] a righteous Branch [in the house of Joseph], and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely [united under one King]: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The LORD Our Righteousness.
7 Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD lives, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
8 But, The LORD lives, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country [the earth covered darkness], and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land [in My house with Me].
9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake [of My dead body]; I am like a drunken man [whose mind has become irrational], and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.
11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, says the LORD.
12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness [ignorance]: they shall be driven on [into greater delusion], and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation [pquddah], says the LORD.
13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria [who worship idols they call by God’s name in vain]; they prophesied in Baal [the idol of the world], and caused my people Israel to err.
14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none does return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
16 Thus says the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD has said, You shall have peace; and they say unto everyone that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
18 For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, and has perceived and heard his word? who has marked his word, and heard it?
19 Behold, a whirlwind [from where the LORD God Almighty speak] of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he has executed, and till he has performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days you shall consider it perfectly [biyn biynah – understanding it with full understanding].
21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood [‘amad – if they had taken their stand] in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
23 Am I a God at hand [qarowb – near in your mouths only], says the LORD, and not a God afar off [rachowq – far from your reins]? [“you {LORD} are near {qarowb} in their mouth, and far {rachowq} from their reins {their inner thoughts}.” Jeremiah 12:2]
24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the LORD.
25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal [the idols they’ve created].
28 The prophet that has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that has my word, let him speak my word [THIS word] faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says the LORD.
29 Is not my word like as a fire? says the LORD; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?
30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, that steal [take away what isn’t theirs] my words every one from his neighbor.
31 Behold, I am against the prophets, says the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He says.
32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, says the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness [their recklessness]; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says the LORD.
33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? you shall then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, says the LORD.
34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.
35 Thus shall you say every one to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, What has the LORD answered? and, What has the LORD spoken?
36 And the burden of the LORD shall you mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for you have perverted [chaphak – changed and overturned] the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts [who is a man of war] our God.
37 Thus shall you say to the prophet, What has the LORD answered you? and, What has the LORD spoken?
38 But since you say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus says the LORD; Because you say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, You shall not say, The burden of the LORD;
39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:
40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.
The “visiting” mentioned above is the LORD in us manifesting His presence, in “pure religion” visiting those who don’t have a real man, (a man) without weakness or self-interest, to lead them.
The Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary gives the meaning of paqad as, “to visit (with friendly or hostile intent); by analogy, to oversee, muster, charge, care for, miss, deposit.”
We know from (paqad appearing therein) Psalms 8:4 being quoted in Hebrews 2:6 that the Greek equivalent is episkeptomai, meaning “to inspect, i.e. (by implication) to select; by extension, to go to see, relieve.”
These words speak of the LORD mustering and sending His army to the world with the good it needs, which is not just hearing the word but doing as He commands. This is the strength and glory of God, revealed through us, in us as we speak the word He has ordained.
Isaiah 13
1 The burden of Babylon [the burden is the word of confusion, Babylon, that now rules the world], which Isaiah [those whom Jehovah has saved] Jehovah the son of Amoz [born by His strength] did see [understand].
2 Lift you up a banner [nec – the pole upon which the son of man must be lifted, so those who look to him, see him and receive His understanding, will not be affected by the serpents among them destroying with their venomous words] upon the high mountain, exalt the voice [of the LORD] unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my sanctified ones [who I have separated and declared, for my work of pure religion], I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts [who is a man of war] musters [paqad] the host [army] of the battle.
5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy [chabal – the effect of holding back this word of God] the whole land [which has corrupted the whole earth].
6 Howl you; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails [bringing forth the ONE BODY]: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames [as His angels, His messengers, mistering spirits sent forth to minister to those who are the heirs of salvation].
9 Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light [because the understanding in them is darkness]: the sun [the church institutions] shall be darkened [shall be seen tobe without understanding] in his going forth, and the moon [civil governments] shall not cause her light to shine [the corrupt understanding in them shall be realized to be corruption].
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man [I Am] more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens [the old corrupt understanding], and the earth shall remove out of her place [so the new heaven and earth come], in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.
15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them [the wicked and their work] shall fall by the sword [this word of God from His mouth].
16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I will stir up [into flame] the Medes [the people who were before neither cold nor hot] against them, which shall not regard [chashab – the thought will not be controlled by] silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.
19 And Babylon [the confusion that rules the world], the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency [the lies told by these known liars, their false accusations with which they manipulate and control the ignorant, deluded, and insane], shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian [neither shall they mix among them] pitch tents there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there [in confusion].
21 But wild beasts [without the good Spirit of the LORD] of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls [who hunt these souls in the darkness] shall dwell there, and satyrs [devils – misleading he-goats] shall dance there.
22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons [leviathan, serpents joined together, whose venom poisons minds of those their mouths then devour] in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.
The word “prolonged” above is the Hebrew word mashak, meaning “to draw, used in a great variety of applications (including to sow, to sound, to prolong, to develop, to march, to remove, to delay, to be tall, etc.).” It tells of those the LORD draws into open sight, into the light that destroys them.
Job 24
1 Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days [when His light is shining upon the earth]?
22 He draws [mashak – draws out into His light] also the mighty [the wicked] with his power: he rises up, and no man is sure of life.
23 Though it be given him [the wicked] to be in safety, whereon he rests; yet his [the LORD’s] eyes are upon their ways.
24 They [the wicked] are exalted for a little while, but are gone and brought low; they are taken out of the way as all other, and cut off.
The words “cut off” are from the four times used word namal, referring to Psalms 37, where it is rendered “cut down.”
Psalms 37
1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers, neither be you envious against the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down [namal] like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shall you dwell in the land, and truly you shall be fed.
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD: and he shall give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light [understanding], and your judgment as the noonday [when understanding has fully risen].
7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not yourself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not yourself in any wise to do evil.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12 The wicked plot against the just, and gnashed upon him with his teeth.
13 The LORD shall laugh at him: for he sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
15 Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
The good the LORD says to do, speaking His word which is this world’s good, is the work for which He sends us, His messengers. It, His word, this word, is what draws the wicked into the light, exposing the darkness they think protects them.
Isaiah 18
1 Woe to the land [the earth] shadowing with wings [of the wicked], which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia [in which we see the result of the words and work of darkness]:
2 That sends ambassadors by the sea [sends its confusing messages to the people of the world], even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, you swift messengers, to a nation scattered [mashak – draw out] and peeled [mowrat – obstinate, stubbornly refusing to change], to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers [of confusion and ignorance] have spoiled!
3 All you inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see you [understand what you are seeing], when he lifts up an ensign [nec – when He has lifted me as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness] on the mountains; and when he blows a trumpet [this voice of the LORD, calling all His people to gather, muster, to Him, In ONE BODY], hear you.
4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear [air – in plain sight] heat upon herbs [as they, the wicked, wither], and like a cloud [understanding] of dew in the heat of harvest [in His wrath].
5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts [who is a man of war] of a people scattered and peeled [from the people drawn out, who had refused to be changed], and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.
The “present” brought to the LORD, by the masses who come out of the tribulation after they see His glory and strength in you, hearing this word from you, is from the three time used Hebrew word shay, meaning “a gift,” (brought by wise men who see the star).
Psalms 68
28 Your God has commanded your strength: strengthen, O God, that which you have wrought for us.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents [shay] unto you.
30 Rebuke the company of spearmen [word the wicked], the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter you the people that delight in war.
31 Princes shall come out of Egypt [out of oppression]; Ethiopia [those covered in darkness – the ignorant] shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.
32 Sing unto God, you kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the LORD; Selah [stop and THINK]:
33 To him that rides upon the heavens of heavens [speaks from the place of full understanding], which were of old; lo, he does send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe you strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel [all those who by faith become His children], and his strength is in the clouds [where understand was held when it left the earth].
35 O God, you are terrible out of your holy places: the God of Israel is he that gives strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.
Psalms 76
1 In Judah [among His elect remnant – His first fruits] is God known: his name is great in Israel [among all those who by faith become His children corrected and changed].
2 In Salem [peace] also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There brake he the [wicked’s] arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah [Think].
4 You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.
5 The stouthearted [proud] are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep.
7 You, even you, are to be feared: and who may stand in your sight when once you are angry?
8 You did cause judgment to be heard from heaven [from your understanding]; the earth feared, and was still,
9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah [THINK].
10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise you: the remainder of wrath shall you restrain.
11 Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents [shay] unto him that ought to be feared.
12 He shall cut off the [evil] spirit of princes: he is terrible to the [wicked] kings of the earth.
Hebrews 12
25 See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven [the voice of the LORD speaking full understanding]:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 1
10 And, You, LORD, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of your hands:
11 They shall perish; but you remainest; and they all shall wax old as does a garment;
12 And as a vesture shall you fold them up, and they shall be changed: but you are the same, and your years shall not fail.
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Hebrews 2
1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
2 For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the LORD, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?
5 For unto the angels has he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that you are mindful of him? or the son of man that you visit [episkoptomai] him?
7 You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor, and did set him over the works of your hands:
8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
10 For it became him, for who are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
11 For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 Saying, I will declare your name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto you.
13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God has given me.
Revelation 7
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen.
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation [thlipsis], and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood [of the long suffering] of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Isaiah 25
7 And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering [the lies of men] cast over all people, and the vail [of confusion] that is spread over all nations.
8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the LORD God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD has spoken it.
9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab [the gates of hell – the mouths of wicked men] shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.
James 1
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be you doers [poietes – performers] of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving [paralogizomai – deluding] your own selves.
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer [poietes – poets, resighting the word received, not just hearing], he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholds himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridles not his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit [episkoptomai] the fatherless and widows [those without a real man to lead them and care for them] in their affliction [thlipsis – tribulation], and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
The word paralogizomai, meaning “to misreckon, i.e. delude:–beguile, deceive,” only appears one other time, in Colossians 2:4.
Colossians 2
1 For I would that you knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea [meaning they are the church in this generation, who must awaken from its lukewarm state into flaming fire, bringing “justice to the people”], and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together [in ONE BODY] in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile [paralogizmai – delude] you with enticing words.
5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
6 As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the LORD, so walk you in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments [stoicheion – the corrupt elements, foundational principles] of the world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And you are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also you are circumcised [removing the flesh from your minds, so you see and understand the Spirit within] with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead.
The word “operation” is the Greek word energeia, which refers us to its use in Ephesians 1:19 & 3:17, which there, as here, speak of the power (preaching His word) of God that raised us from the dead.
Ephesians 1
17 That the God of our LORD Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working [energeia] of his mighty power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that fills all in all.
Ephesians 3
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
4 Whereby, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
6 That the Gentiles [those who don’t know God] should be fellow-heirs [of His salvation], and of the same [ONE] body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working [energeia] of his power.
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our LORD:
12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
13 Wherefore I desire that you faint not at my tribulations [thlipsis] for you, which is your glory.
The mystery of the effectual working of God’s word in us, as we know from 1 Thessalonians 2:13, comes when the word of God we preach is, by faith, received as His word, as it is. This is the realization, the epiphany, that the receiver is in the presence of the LORD Jesus Christ at His coming.
1 Thessalonians 2
11 As you know how we exhorted and comforted [the LORD in me unknown, leading you into all truth] and charged every one of you, as a father does his children,
12 That you would walk worthy of God, who has called you unto his kingdom and glory.
13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when you received the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works [energeo] also in you that believe [that it is Him speaking].
19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence of our LORD Jesus Christ at his coming?
20 For you are our glory and joy.
Ephesians 4
13 Till we all come in the unity [ONE BODY, by ONE MIND of Christ] of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of [false] doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive [the “wiles” of the devil, methodeia, his methods – only used here and Ephesians 6:11];
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working [energeia] in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying [building up – by educating] of itself in love [agape – pure religion, giving these treasures, as God has given them to us].
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the LORD, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But you have not so learned Christ;
21 If so be that you have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man [God’s] truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
26 Be you angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
Ephesians 6
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the LORD, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles [methodeia – methods] of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness [ignorance] of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Psalms 8
1 O LORD, our LORD, how excellent is your name in all the earth! who have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings have you ordained strength because of your enemies, that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
4 What is man, that you are mindful of him? and the son of man, that you visit [paqad] him?
5 For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD our LORD, how excellent is your name in all the earth!
