Keep not silence, O God: hold not your peace, and be not still, O God.
The above is Psalms 83:1, beginning a Psalms that tells of the LORD’s words as what brings destruction upon the enemies, who He has warned, and who have rejected the warning. This is per Ezekiel 3, and the warning that comes to the wicked, and the righteous who have become confederate with them in their opposition to God’s correction. As we saw in the previous post, those who hear and do the will of God by passing on the warning, which comes in the form of correction that produces understanding, in doing save themselves and those who choose to hear. Those who forebear hearing the warning God sends through His word in those who hear and do His will, are those who refuse the truth, grace, and mercy God is showing them and have chosen instead to reap the whirlwind.
Ezekiel 3
17 Son of man, I have made you a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
18 When I say unto the wicked, You shall surely die; and you give him not warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.
19 Yet if you warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
20 Again, When a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at your hand.
21 Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also you have delivered your soul.
22 And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with you.
23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar [the word of God that flows as a river through eternity]: and I fell on my face.
24 Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spoke with me, and said unto me, Go, shut yourself within your house.
Hebrews 10
26 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, says the LORD. And again, The LORD shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
1 Timothy 4
10 For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God [God in the flesh], who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.
11 These things command and teach.
12 Let no man despise your youth; but be you an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
14 Neglect not the gift that is in you, which was given you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
15 Meditate upon these things; give yourself wholly to them; that your profiting may appear to all.
16 Take heed unto yourself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this you shall both save yourself, and them that hear you.
Friends, the living God is God in the flesh, in the son of man speaking, warning, and teaching. In man His only wrath comes in this form, destroying ignorance by His light. When His understanding, which is His truth, grace, and mercy freely given, is rejected, the vengeance comes by His spirit moving the same natural world into consuming those who have chosen to make themselves the enemies of the Father and the son.
Psalms 83 speaks of all the enemies in patterns past, which we know are wheels within a wheel, that come to us by the river Chebar: a pattern in a time, that comes through a times, and is rightly divide into understanding the word of God in our time [see Daniel 12:7 below]. These nations and people are all those who thought to destroy God’s people, by destroying their understanding and ability to recognize Him. In the darkness this/they create, they forget, all He has to do is open His mouth, and His people are recreated (resurrected) from among the ashes and ruin.
Psalm 83
1 Keep not you silence, O God: hold not your peace, and be not still, O God.
2 For, lo, your enemies make a tumult: and they that hate you have lifted up the head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against your people, and consulted against your hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against you:
6 The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assur also is joined with them: they have helped the children of Lot. Selah.
9 Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison:
10 Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:
12 Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.
13 O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.
14 As the fire burns a wood, and as the flame set the mountains on fire;
15 So persecute them with your tempest, and make them afraid with your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek your name, O LORD.
17 Let them be confounded and troubled forever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
18 That men may know that you, whose name alone is Jehovah, are the Most High over all the earth.
Isaiah 26
1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.
2 Open you the gates, that the righteous nation which keep the truth may enter in.
3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you: because he trusts in you.
4 Trust you in the LORD forever: for in the LORD Jehovah is everlasting strength:
5 For he brings down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he lays it low; he lays it low, even to the ground; he brings it even to the dust.
6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.
7 The way of the just is uprightness: you, most upright, do weigh the path of the just.
8 Yea, in the way of your judgments, O LORD, have we waited for you; the desire of our soul is to your name, and to the remembrance of you.
9 With my soul have I desired you in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek you early: for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
10 Let favor be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
11 LORD, when your hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of your enemies shall devour them.
12 LORD, you will ordain peace for us: for you also have wrought all our works in us.
13 O LORD our God, other lords beside you have had dominion over us: but by you only will we make mention of your name.
14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore have you visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.
15 You have increased the nation, O LORD, you have increased the nation: you are glorified: you had removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.
16 LORD, in trouble have they visited you, they poured out a prayer when your chastening was upon them.
17 Like as a woman with child, that draw near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and cries out in her pangs; so have we been in your sight, O LORD.
18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
19 Your dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: for your dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter you into your chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over-past.
21 For, behold, the LORD comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
When Hebrews 10:30 tells of the LORD saying vengeance belongs to Him, and that He will judge His people, it is quoting from Deuteronomy 32:35 & 36. There it tells of this event as something He has reserved for this moment, held as one of His treasures, that now makes haste and comes upon those who have rejected the His word that has flowed from the Rock.
Deuteronomy 32
28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.
29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:
33 Their wine is the poison of dragons [where death, as a crocodile, lurks unseen below the surface of their words], and the cruel venom of asps [their words inject their poison into the minds of men].
34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?
35 To me belongs vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
36 For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
43 Rejoice, O you nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.
The “treasures” spoken of in verse 34, which the LORD has kept in store for this time of His vengeance and judgment, is from the Hebrew word ‘owtsar, meaning a depository. It is the word that appears twice in Job 38:22 as the LORD tells of the hail, the words that are kept in heaven, as frozen waters, His word waiting to be released on the earth in this day of battle and war. The place they held is in the “treasure house” of the idols of Babylon, in Shinar, which, in the prior post, we saw recorded in Daniel 1:2 (see the prior post). They are held in the confusion (Babylon) and sleep (Shinar) of those now ignorantly worshiping and teaching idols, thinking they are God and calling them gods.
The treasures are God’s people awakened by understanding, and rising up to shine as the light in heaven, which Daniel speaks of in His conclusion in Daniel 12:2. These are sealed up in the word of God, until now, to be released as waters melted, to awaken God’s people from their sleep (yashen), to shine as the star of heaven. These stars are those the LORD speaks of in Job 38:7, the sons (children) of God, who sing the song spoken of in Isaiah 26:1 & 2 above, as they rise as morning stars, in this new day of the LORD’s creation.
Do you hear His voice? If you do, you should see Him also, because you are in the presence of the LORD at His coming.
Daniel 12
1 And at that time shall Michael [who is like God – with His mind] stand up, the great prince which stands for the children of your people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book [deliverance is found in understanding the word of God].
2 And many of them that sleep [yashen – the sleep in Shinar] in the dust [ruin] of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament [understanding – where the word is separated, rightly dividing the word of God from the words {dung} of men]; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
4 But you, O Daniel [judge of God], shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro [shall seek this understanding, and find it], and knowledge shall be increased.
5 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by him that lives for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half [separating into two – rightly dividing]; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my LORD, what shall be the end of these things?
9 And he said, Go your way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
12 Blessed is he that waits, and comes to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
13 But go you your way till the end be: for you shall rest, and stand in your lot at the end of the days.
The numbers above appear to be referring us to the year of Isaac’s birth (1896 BC), and what is recorded in Genesis 15:12 thru 14, speaking of the time of sleep to come, between the promise and its fulfillment.
Genesis 15
12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
The word sleep above is tardemah, a word only used 7 times, and is last used in Isaiah 29:10. There it tells of when the LORD poured a deep sleep upon, and closed the eyes of, the prophets, rulers, and seers; when the words of this book became as a sealed book – as spoken of in Daniel 12 and in Job 38.
Isaiah 29
3 And I will camp against you round about, and will lay siege [as I was commanded in Ezekiel 4] against you with a mount, and I will raise forts against you.
4 And you shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and your speech shall be low out of the dust [the ashes and ruin of the earth], and your voice shall be, as of one that has a familiar spirit [as dead men], out of the ground, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 Moreover the multitude of your strangers shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passes away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly [at the coming of the whirlwind].
6 You shall be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision [they shall be deceived, sleep in ignorance, by what is created by their own minds].
8 It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and, behold, he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreams, and, behold, he drinks; but he awakes, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul has appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.
9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry you out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
10 For the LORD has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers has he covered.
11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray you: and he says, I cannot; for it is sealed:
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray you: and he says, I am not learned.
13 Wherefore the LORD said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. [as we see this day]
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who sees us? and who knows us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught.
22 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he sees his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up now your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and answer you me.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if you have understanding.
5 Who has laid the measures thereof, if you know? or who has stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling-band [a protective wrapping] for it,
10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
11 And said, Hitherto shall you come, but no further: and here shall your proud waves be stayed?
12 Have you commanded the morning since your days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
15 And from the wicked their light [understanding] is withheld, and the high arm shall be broken.
16 Have you entered into the springs of the sea? or have you walked in the search of the depth?
17 Have the gates of death been opened unto you? or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Have you perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if you know it all.
19 Where is the way where light dwells? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof,
20 That you should take it to the bound thereof, and that you should know the paths to the house thereof?
21 Know you it, because you were then born? or because the number of your days is great?
22 Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is the light parted, which scatters the east wind upon the earth?
25 Who has divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
28 Has the rain a father? or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who has gendered it?
30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 Can you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or can you guide Arcturus with his sons?
33 Know you the ordinances of heaven? can you set the dominion thereof in the earth?
34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send lightnings, that they may go and say unto you, Here we are?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? or who has given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38 When the dust grow into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
39 Will you hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Who provides for the raven [those covered in darkness] his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat [they wander aimlessly without the deep understanding only He gives].
Psalms 70
1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O LORD.
2 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.
3 Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, Aha, aha.
4 Let all those that seek you rejoice and be glad in you: and let such as love your salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.
5 But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: you are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, make no tarrying.
Psalms 71
1 In you, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.
2 Deliver me in your righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline your ear unto me, and save me.
3 Be you my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: you have given commandment to save me; for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5 For you are my hope, O LORD God: you are my trust from my youth.
6 By you have I been held up from the womb: you are he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of you.
7 I am as a wonder unto many; but you are my strong refuge.
8 Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with your honor all the day.
9 Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength fails.
10 For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
11 Saying, God has forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.
12 O God, be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my help.
13 Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonor that seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually, and will yet praise you more and more.
15 My mouth shall show forth your righteousness and your salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.
16 I will go in the strength of the LORD God: I will make mention of your righteousness, even of your only.
17 O God, you have taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared your wondrous works.
18 Now also when I am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed your strength unto this generation, and your power to every one that is to come.
19 Your righteousness also, O God, is very high, who have done great things: O God, who is like unto you!
20 You, which have showed me great and sore troubles, shall quicken me again, and shall bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.
22 I will also praise you with the psaltery, even your truth, O my God: unto you will I sing with the harp, O you Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto you; and my soul, which you have redeemed.
24 My tongue also shall talk of your righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt.
But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say unto them, Thus says the LORD GOD; He that hears, let him hear; and he that forbears, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say unto them, Thus says the LORD GOD; He that hears, let him hear; and he that forbears, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
The above is the LORD speaking to Ezekiel, recorded in Ezekiel 3:27. The chapter begins by describing how Ezekiel is given his hearing and sight, by eating the “roll.” We know from previous studies, the word “roll” is translated from the Hebrew word mgillah, meaning a volume. It is speaking of the written word of God, from origins in the Hebrew word galal, meaning to roll, as into heap together.
By this above understanding, we see what Ezekiel is told in Ezekiel 4:12 & 15, after he is told to lay siege against the rebellious house referred to in the above final verse of the previous chapter. In these latter verses, the roll, the word of God, is contrasted with the bread Ezekiel is told to cook using “dung,” as a sign to these same rebels. The word “dung” is from the Hebrew word gelel, meaning dung that is rolled, heaped, together: which is from the same word galal.
These patterns are contrasting the word of God, which produces hearing, sight, and obedient life, against the words of men, producing the opposite. Ezekiel, the son of man, realizes, by understanding, what he is hearing is the voice of God calling him to lay siege against this condition using the same word of God, to give understanding as he has been given.
The word gelel only appears two other times, both in describing the effects of men’s words, and those who attempt to elevate them above the truth of God’s word. The first of these uses is in Job 20:7 and the other is in Zephaniah 1:17.
Job 20
4 Know you not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds [though they elevate themselves, by their ideas, above God];
7 Yet he shall perish forever like his own dung [gelel]: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
8 He shall fly away [‘uwph] as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.
Zephaniah 1
14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hastens greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung [gelel].
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
We understand the effect of the words of men, when they replace the word of God, is what Zechariah is speaking of when he sees the flying roll, meaning he understands it as the word of God being removed from men’s minds. This appears in Zechariah 5:1 & 2, which is followed by telling of the effect of the blindness, ignorance that brings in wickedness by corrupt, unbalanced judgment.
Zechariah 5
1 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll [‘uwph mgillah].
2 And he said unto me, What seest you? And I answered, I see a flying roll [‘uwph mgillah]; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.
3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth [because the word God has flown, vanished, from their minds]: for every one that steals shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that swears shall be cut off as on that side according to it.
4 I will bring it forth, says the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that swears falsely by my name [the modern church and their false prophets, who say God says, while their words are their own dung]: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume [kalah – Hosea 11: 6 And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume {kalah} his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels. 7 And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.] it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now your eyes, and see what is this that goes forth [it is the counsel of the blind, wicked judgment that opposes God].
6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah [the weight that is used to balance judgment] that goes forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman [those who have unfaithfully left the LORD’s ideas – His word] that sits in the midst of the ephah.
8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth [peh – the words] thereof.
9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
The ephah, the weight, the burden of good judgment lost by the loss of understanding God’s word, is carried into Shinar, which is a place in Babylon, the name telling of the cause of the confusion that now rules over all the world. Shinar appears to be derived from the Hebrew words yashen and yashar, the first meaning sleep, and the other meaning to be made right. It is speaking of this time, and the event we are in the midst of, when the LORD is awakening the sleeping, by returning understanding through His correcting those who receive it and become His children.
Shinar is only used eight times, the two most noteworthy are in Joshua 7:21, where it is rendered Babylonish garments, the other in Daniel 1:2, telling of when came, “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. 2 And the LORD gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.”
As we know from many previous discussions, Nebuchadnezzar translates into telling of the lies of the false prophets that cause the desolation of God’s people. Here it is the king over the confusion [Babylon] that rules over the world, and besieged Jerusalem, which we also know means, taught and founded on the ideas and ways that flow from God, which are the only foundation of peace and security. These ideas and ways are what were carried into a state of sleep, and which are now restored to any who will receive them. Jehoiakim’s name speaks of the king the LORD will raise up out of this captivity, and with him restore the vessels of the house (family) of God.
2 Corinthians 4
1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the LORD; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the LORD Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
The return of the LORD is our awakening again to see Him, the LORD who has never left. The only time the word mgillah is rendered “volume” is in Psalms 40:7 in telling of the LORD opening our eyes. It tells us what we see as He comes in the volume of the book, in the prophecies that went before Him (see 1 Timothy 1:18), to do the will of God.
We know, when this is quoted in Hebrews 10:5 the writer alters the line in Psalms 40:6 that says “mine ears have You opened,” to instead say, “but a body have You prepared Me.” In this, we understand the preparation is to open our ears so we are again able to hear Him, and hearing Him we see Him. We have discussed this point many times, as it appears in 1 Thessalonians 2:12 & 13, where Paul tells of hearing the LORD calling us into His kingdom. He then describes the calling as hearing God speaking through Him, as it is in truth, and as it is here and now. We know, Paul then in verse 19, asks if they truly understand that by hearing the word as God’s calling them to Him, they are in the presence of the LORD at His coming.
1 Thessalonians 2
11 As you know how we exhorted and comforted 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 also in you that believe.
Hebrews 10 goes on to tell us in verse 9, that when we see the LORD coming, by hearing Him in the clear understanding of His word, realizing He is calling us to be yoked with Him, to do the will of the Father, it is the only sacrifice that is now acceptable to God. The chapter goes on, in verses 16 & 17, to quote from Jeremiah 31:33 & 34, where it tells of this sacrifice as the LORD coming to put His law in our hearts, and to write them in our minds. The verses in Jeremiah tell us more precisely that we will no longer be taught who the LORD is, but we will each know Him personally. We understand this is what the LORD Jesus tells us in John 14. There He also told us He would manifest Himself to those who loved and kept His word – and not to the world that chooses to remain in its self-inflicted blindness.
Jeremiah 31
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35 Thus says the LORD, which gives the sun [church] for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon [the order of civilization – civil government] and of the stars [His people of understanding] for a light by night, which divides [shows their language to be without understanding] the sea [the masses – humanity in total] when the waves thereof roar [when they exalt themselves and their ideas above God’s]; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36 If those ordinances depart from before me, says the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.
John 14
19 Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more [because they have all been blinded by the gods of this world]; but you see me: because I live, you shall live also.
20 At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
21 He that has my commandments, and keeps them [protects and preserves them in their pure form], he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
22 Judas [Judah] said unto him, not Iscariot, LORD, how is it that you will manifest yourself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him [live in him].
24 He that loves me not keeps not my sayings: and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
28 You have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If you loved me, you would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, you might believe.
Hebrews 10
5 Wherefore when he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body have you prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God.
8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do your will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he has perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20 By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
21 And having a high priest over the house of God;
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.
26 For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, says the LORD. And again, The LORD shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Ezekiel 3
1 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that you find; eat this roll [mgillah], and go speak unto the house of Israel.
2 So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll [migillah].
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your bowels with this roll [mgillah] that I give you. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
4 And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get you unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.
5 For you are not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel;
6 Not to many people of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words you can not understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have hearkened unto you.
7 But the house of Israel will not hearken unto you; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.
8 Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead [the thought in your mind] strong against their foreheads [thoughts].
9 As an adamant harder than flint have I made your forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
10 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears.
11 And go, get you to them of the captivity, unto the children of your people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus says the LORD God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
12 Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing [the sound of the Holy Spirit moving – see John 3:8 and Acts 2:2], saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place. [His presence manifested in His word spoken through the son of man]
13 I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. [This is telling of understanding that is given, wherein the word is seen describing events and ideas of past moves of the spirit, to bring understanding and life to us in understanding the present time.]
14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib [the time when we are raised in the new birth – resurrection], that dwelt by the river of Chebar [the river that flows through eternity – the word of God], and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
16 And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
17 Son of man, I have made you a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
18 When I say unto the wicked, You shall surely die; and you [forbear and] give him not warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand.
19 Yet if you [hear and do God’s will] warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. [this is that same point made above – some will hear and some will forbear]
20 Again, When a righteous man does turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block before him, he shall die: because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but [if you forbear] his blood will I require at your hand.
21 Nevertheless if you [hear a do God’s will, which is to] warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also you have delivered your soul. [See 1 Timothy 4:10 thru 16]
22 And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with you.
23 Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face. [This is his seeing, understanding, the work, the mission of the son of man, the presence of God in him working]
24 Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spoke with me, and said unto me, Go, shut yourself within your house.
25 But you, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go out among them:
26 And I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth, that you shall be dumb, and shall not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house. [the silence until this time.]
27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say unto them, Thus says the LORD God; He that hears, let him hear; and he that forbears, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.
Ezekiel 4
1 You also, son of man, take you a tile, and lay it before you, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
3 Moreover take you unto you an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city: and set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. [As it has been]
4 Lie you also upon your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that you shall lie upon it you shall bear their iniquity.
5 For I have laid upon you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shall you bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 And when you have accomplished them, lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed you each day for a year.
7 Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it.
8 And, behold, I will lay bands upon you, and you shall not turn you from one side to another, till you have ended the days of your siege. [this is the end spoken of in the prior post – when the word of God has been fully given, as it now has, and men have made their decision – to hear or to forbear hearing.]
9 Take you also unto you wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make you bread thereof, according to the number of the days that you shall lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety days shall you eat thereof.
10 And your meat which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shall you eat it.
11 You shall drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shall you drink.
12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it with dung [gelel – the ideas of men] that comes out of man, in their sight.
13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
14 Then said I, Ah LORD God! behold, my soul has not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given you cow’s dung [tsphuwa’] for man’s dung [gelel – the ideas of men], and you shall prepare your bread therewith.
16 Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonished one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.
Friends, again I tell you, these men who control God’s people by preaching and teaching dung, have no faith in God, nor do they have any understanding of who He is. They have been putting on a charade, preaching the corrupted ideas of those before them, or what they have created recently from their own imaginations. These men turn the truth of God into a lie, and then fake faith to make their lies seem true (with guile). They are unable to hear God speaking His correction because they aren’t His children, and they hate His truth and His children who speak it.
1 John 4
1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he [Jesus Christ] that is in you, than he [the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience] that is in the world.
5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world hears them.
6 We are of God: he that knows God hears [Him in] us; he that is not of God hear not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
Psalms 111
1 Praise you the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.
2 The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
3 His work is honorable and glorious: and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
5 He has given meat [deep understanding] unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.
6 He has shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.
7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.
8 They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption unto his people: he has commanded his covenant forever: holy and reverend is his name.
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endures forever.