Continuing with our understanding what produces the reprobate mind in those who have led us into destruction and total desolation. The word “reprobate” is only used one time in the King James translation of the Hebrew Testament. It appears in Jeremiah 6:30 to describe the misleaders of God’s people, who have rejected His word, saying, “We will not walk therein,” and “We will not harken.” It is translated from the Hebrew word ma’ac, meaning rejected, and tells of these men, the revolters and slanderers among us, as “reprobate silver” because the LORD has rejected them.
This description appears in the last verse of chapter 6, and is followed by the LORD telling Jeremiah to stand in the entryway (gate) and speak to the men entering to worship the LORD. (Remember, in our previous discussions we have come to understand worship is a subordination of our thoughts, ignorant and corrupted reasoning, to the LORD’s way and truth.) The LORD tells them to amend their ways and their doings, and He also speaks of hearing them lying saying, “The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.”
This is a few verses later defined when the LORD further says, “9 Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal [man’s self-created idols], and walk after other gods whom you know not; 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?”
The next verse is one the LORD quotes as He is overturning those profiting from selling sacrifices, (as the modern preachers sell prayers, and false promises of prosperity and blessing).
“11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, says the LORD. 12 But go you now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these works, says the LORD, and I spoke unto you, rising up early and speaking, but you heard not; and I called you, but you answered not; 14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein you trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.”
These verses are referring to Deuteronomy 12 as the LORD tells of the place where He will choose to put His name, and there will the people come and bring their offerings. In this we see the problem of shallow worship as the people come before he LORD unprepared, with nothing to offer, and in steps the thieves and robbers to sell them the replacement for what they have neglected.
It is also referring to 1 Samuel when the Ark of the Covenant was in Shiloh where the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel alone by the word of the LORD, and Samuel delivered it to God’s people as he had received it. We are told of this as chapter 3 ends and chapter 4 beings. Thereafter we read of the people removing the Ark from Shiloh and bringing it into the camp. This results in the enemies attacking and taking the Ark, followed by a long succession of devastating events. These culminate in chapter 8 where we read of Samuel’s progeny (as the latter-day sons of the prophets) being perverted in judgment. The elders of God’s people then come to Samuel saying, “Behold, you are old, and your sons walk not in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
We next read of this displeasing Samuel and of his asking the LORD about it. The LORD responds telling Samuel this isn’t the people rejecting (ma’ac) him, but was actually them rejecting (ma’ac) the LORD.
1 Samuel 8
6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto you: for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
This same word ma’ac is used in Isaiah 8 to tell of the people rejecting the waters of Shiloah. We know these waters as the water that flow from the LORD as His counsel and correction. We also know that in Isaiah 8, as in 1 Samuel 8, this rejection of the LORD, and removing His word and Name from its rightful place, leads to the entry of these oppressive leaders in church and nation. This is the context in which the LORD quotes from Jeremiah 7:11. He is speaking of Himself as the One who has come in the Name of the LORD, as did the pattern of Samuel, Isaiah and Jeremiah foretell.
Isaiah 8 tells of the confederacy against the word of the LORD’s counsel, and instead the revolters agitate the people against the LORD and His messenger, again with revolt and slander. As the chapter ends we are told of these men not speaking according to God’s word, and this spoken of as the people becoming hungry, as in Amos 8: “11 Behold, the days come, says the LORD God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.”
Isaiah 8
5 The LORD spoke also unto me again, saying,
6 Forasmuch as this people refuse [ma’ac] the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
7 Now therefore, behold, the LORD brings up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, 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, 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, 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 the testimony, 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 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, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? [should they seek] for the living to the dead?
20 [Or rather] To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
In Matthew 21 just prior to the LORD overturning the tables of the thieves infesting His house, we read of the multitude welcoming Him into Jerusalem. The LORD gives instruction of how He will enter, according to the scriptures, (the word of God). There we are told of this fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 that tells of the LORD coming lowly and riding on an ass into the city. We know the same people were later agitated, again by revolt and slander, and they rejected the one they first welcomed (as it is with this nation and God’s house).
What most people aren’t aware of is that it is now when it will be (is) fulfilled, according to the scriptures, as it is written in Isaiah 62.
Isaiah 62
1 For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burns.
2 And the Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory: and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
3 You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall your land any more be termed Desolate: but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah: for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you: and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
6 I have set watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: you that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,
7 And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8 The LORD has sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give your corn to be meat for your enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink your wine, for the which you have labored:
9 But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.
10 Go through, go through the gates; prepare you the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.
11 Behold, the LORD has proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say you to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.
12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and you shall be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
As the LORD enters the city the people call out quoting Psalms 118:26, “Blessed be he that comes in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.” They seemingly have no idea the following verse tells of the sacrifice that the LORD is bound to in this entry as the light of correction into the darkness. Nor do they understand in their rejection they are fulfilling Isaiah 8 as it says, “…if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.”
This darkness ending is symbolized by the LORD expelling the vermin (thieves and robber) from His house as He ends the shallow substitution with the LIGHT of understanding the word of God. This is also seen in the LORD then asking these same vermin, who are telling Him to rebuke those welcoming Him (even if only within their partial understanding), if they have understood another part of what is written in Psalm 118, “22 The stone which the builders refused [ma’ac] is become the head stone of the corner. 23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” They have no idea he is telling them of this in reference to all of what is written before referring to Him specifically.
Psalms 118
1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let Israel now say, that his mercy endures for ever.
3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endures for ever.
4 Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endures for ever.
5 I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
7 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.
8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.
11 They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
12 They compassed me about like bees: they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
13 You have thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
18 The LORD has chastened me sore: but he has not given me over unto death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
20 This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
21 I will praise you: for you have heard me, and are become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders refused [ma’ac] is become the head stone of the corner.
23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I beseech you, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech you, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed be he that comes in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
27 God is the LORD, which has shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you: you are my God, I will exalt you.
29 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.
Matthew 21
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 Tell you the daughter of Sion, Behold, your King comes unto you, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,
7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.
8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that comes in the name of the LORD; Hosanna in the highest.
10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?
11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.
15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,
16 And said unto him, Hear you what these say? And Jesus says unto them, Yea; have you never read, Out of the mouth of babes and suckling you have perfected praise?
17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on you henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Truly I say unto you, If you have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say unto this mountain, Be you removed, and be you cast into the sea; it shall be done.
22 And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.
23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority do you these things? and who gave you this authority?
24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did you not then believe him?
26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet.
27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
28 But what think you? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus said unto them, Truly I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and you, when you had seen it, repented not afterward, that you might believe him.
33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
40 When the LORD therefore of the vineyard comes, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
42 Jesus said unto them, Did you never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the LORD’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them.
46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
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 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!
