Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. Do you know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?

Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. Do you know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?

Today the LORD speaks on His revealing Himself to Job, a name we know means hated and representing God’s people who are falsely accused in the world by the enemies mixed among them. In Job 1:8, the LORD says he (Job) is “a perfect and upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil.” The LORD declares this (in Job 1:6) to Satan, “when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.”

As we know, the devil (Satan) immediately begins to falsely accuse Job, saying that if LORD wasn’t prospering him and protecting his things, and something were to happen to them, Job would curse Him to His face.

The LORD then sets the trap knowing the only power Satan has is deception (evil – ra’) through false accusation and misleading advice. As we know, the trap is to draw the false accusers into the open and have it culminate in the clarity where Job sees God’s plan and presence (face – paniym). We know Satan is a spirit working through men, manifesting himself in their evil works. This Satanic attack comes through Job’s three so-called friends, who represent the wise of this world as enemies mixed among doing this work. After these enemies are drawn out into the snare, God’s presence is manifested among them in the person of Elihu, his name meaning he is God.

Elihu is the one speaking the words of the title verses, Job 37:14 & 15, telling of when God disposes the matter by causing the light of His cloud to shine.

Job 1
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence come you? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil?
9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Does Job fear God for naught?
10 Have not you made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he has on every side? you have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face [paniym].
12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power; only upon himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence [paniym] of the LORD.

One of the keys to understanding these implications is found in the eight times used Hebrews word yapha’, meaning “to shine:–be light, show self, (cause to) shine (forth).” It appears in the title verse, once in Deuteronomy (33:2), three other times in Job (3:4, 10:3 & 22), and 3 times in the Psalms (50:2, 80:1 & 94:1).

The verse in Deuteronomy, in a pattern, describes the LORD manifesting Himself among the enemies mixed among us: the so-called wises and powerful of the world, the spiritually wicked sitting in high places, who, swelled with pride, have become fools. The chapter speaks of the second blessing, giving instructions that, when followed, restore the prosperity of God’s people (Jeshurun) that follow them.

Deuteronomy 33
1 And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai [thorns – the LORD raised Himself up against the leaders who, because of neglect, invaded the garden], and rose up [against] from Seir [this is the mountain of Esau, representing the enemies mixed among us as misleaders – it’s also from the word sa’iyr – rendered devils {2 Chronicles 11:15} who were misleaders {he-goats} Jeroboam made priests who told God’s people the calves put in His place were Him] unto them; he shined [yapha’ – showed himself] forth from mount Paran [was clearly seen – from the word pa’ar, meaning “to gleam, i.e. (causatively) embellish; figuratively, to boast; also to explain (i.e. make clear) oneself”], and he came with ten thousands of saints [as Jude 1:14 & 15 say, quoting Enoch saying, “Behold, the LORD comes with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”]: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. [This refers us to Habakkuk 3:3 & 4 saying the power of the LORD is hidden in His hand and come as rays of light].
3 Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in your hand: and they sat down [as did Mary, choosing the “good part” – Luke 10:42 – entering the kingdom as little children learning] at your feet; every one shall receive of your words.
4 Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.
5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.
6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.
7 And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be you a help to him from his enemies.
8 And of Levi he said, Let your Thummim and your Urim [discernment of God’s will] be with your holy one, whom you did prove at Massah, and with whom you did strive at the waters of Meribah [speaking to them as water coming from a Rock, the LORD as Christ speaking through Moses – 1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.];
9 Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him [speaking the LORD separated from us, as was Joseph – and those who caused it claiming they don’t how it occurred]; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed your word, and kept your covenant.
10 They shall teach Jacob your judgments, and Israel your law: they shall put incense before you, and whole burnt sacrifice upon your altar.
11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.
12 And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.
13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that couches beneath,
14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,
15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
16 And for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns [the only power]: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim [God’s people who receive and follow this second blessing – now unifying under one power, one king, at the ends of these ages old and new] and they are the thousands of Manasseh [meaning those who’ve forgotten God].
18 And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and, Issachar, in your tents.
19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.
20 And of Gad [the army of God] he said, Blessed be he that enlarge Gad: he dwells as a lion, and tears the arm with the crown of the head.
21 And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel.
22 And of Dan [judgment] he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan [the fruitfulness of Ephraim].
23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess you the west and the south.
24 And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.
25 Your shoes shall be iron and brass; and as your days, so shall your strength be.
26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun [God’s people who prosper when following Him], who rides upon the heaven in your help, and in his excellency on the sky.
27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before [paniym – His presence] you; and shall say, Destroy them.
28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.
29 Happy are you, O Israel: who is like unto you, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of your excellency! and your enemies shall be found liars unto you; and you shall tread upon their high places.

Job, in Job 3:4, tells of this time, when the earth has become without form, and void, destroyed by wicked men’s leading. It’s when the LORD hasn’t shined his light on the world and it remains covered (clouded in men’s ignorance and rejection), and darkness covers the earth.

Job 3
4 Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine [yapha’] upon it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.
8 Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning [this is incorrectly rendered from the word leviathan: from where in which the word of the misleaders flow].
9 Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:
10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.
11 Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?
12 Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?
13 For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,
14 With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves;
15 Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:
16 Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.
17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.
18 There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.
20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;
21 Which long for death, but it comes not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;
22 Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before I eat, and my roaring are poured out like the waters.
25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

Job 10
1 My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; show me wherefore you contend with me.
3 Is it good unto you that you should oppress, that you should despise the work of your hands, and shine [yapha’ – show yourself] upon the counsel of the wicked?
4 Have you eyes of flesh? or see you as man sees?
5 Are your days as the days of man? are your years as man’s days,
6 That you enquire after mine iniquity, and search after my sin?
7 You know that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of your hand.
8 Your hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet you do destroy me.
9 Remember, I beseech you, that you have made me as the clay; and will you bring me into dust again?
10 Have you not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?
11 You have clothed me with skin and flesh, and have fenced me with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and favor, and your visitation has preserved my spirit.
13 And these things have you hid in your heart: I know that this is with you.
14 If I sin, then you mark me, and you will not acquit me from mine iniquity.
15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see you mine affliction;
16 For it increases. You hunt me as a fierce lion: and again you show yourself marvelous upon me.
17 You renew your witnesses against me, and increase your indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.
18 Wherefore then have you brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!
19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,
21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;
22 A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light [yapha’] is as darkness.

The misconception is of who is corrected. The LORD comes to open His people’s doubting eyes to Him. (Acts 13:41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.) He corrects all away from errors that need correcting. He comes to destroy the power of false accusation and deception, and removes the incorrigible from their seats, so none are ever again by them misled into destroying themselves (as the world has done and continues through mass delusion – surrender to known deception).

Jeremiah 5
1 Run you to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man, if there be any that executes judgment, that seeks the truth; and I will pardon it.
2 And though they say, The LORD lives; surely they swear falsely.
3 O LORD, are not your eyes upon the truth? you have stricken them, but they have not grieved; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
5 I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
6 Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goes out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
7 How shall I pardon you for this? your children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
8 They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
9 Shall I not visit for these things? says the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 Go you up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’s.

Job 37
1 At this also my heart tremble, and is moved out of his place.
2 Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goes out of his mouth.
3 He directs it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
4 After it a voice roars: he thunders with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders marvelously with his voice; great things does he, which we cannot comprehend.
6 For he says to the snow, Be you on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.
7 He seals up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.
8 Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.
9 Out of the south [from the LORD’s right hand] comes the whirlwind: and cold out of the north [tsaphown {tsaphan}- His reserved, frozen, word comes from where He’s hidden it in darkness].
10 By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
11 Also by watering he wearies the thick cloud: he scatters his bright cloud:
12 And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commands them upon the face of the world in the earth.
13 He causes it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.
14 Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
15 Do you know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine [yapha’]?
16 Do you know the balancing [the judgment hidden] of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?
17 How your garments are warm, when he quiets the earth by the south wind [the work of His right hand]?
18 Have you with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?
19 Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
20 Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.
21 And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passes, and cleanses them.
22 Fair weather comes out of the north [when His hidden word is released by understanding]: with God is terrible majesty.
23 Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.
24 Men do therefore fear him: he respects not any that are wise of heart.

Habakkuk 3
1 A prayer of Habakkuk [meaning to take hold of, with His hand] the prophet upon Shigionoth [those who have strayed, been misled].
2 O LORD, I have heard your speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
3 God came from Teman [the place of the Theophany, where wisdom is found, after it is rescued from the enemies among us], and the Holy One from mount Paran [where things are made clear]. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
4 And his brightness was as the light [giving understanding]; he had horns [rays of light] coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.
6 He stood, and measured [assessed] the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan [darkness – ignorance] in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian [strife – the places of endless argument] did tremble.
8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers [or their pollution by the lies of men]? was your anger against the rivers [or the lies in them]? was your wrath against the sea [into which the river flows their polluted information], that you did ride upon your horses and your chariots of salvation [yshuw’ah]?
9 Your bow was made quite naked, (according to the oaths of the tribes, even your word) [this parenthetical statement is referring us Joseph’s blessing written in Genesis 49: 22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well [a tree of life by these waters of God]; whose branches run over the wall [the wall of lies men have created and teach]: 23 The archers {ba’al – the gods of this world whose teaching has blinded all form seeing the Father, in the son, the seed of the women who brings forth the man child – see Revelation 12:17} have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: 24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) 25 Even by the God of your father, who shall help you; and by the Almighty, who shall bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies {rabats – couches as a lion} under{the deep meaning that lies below the surface}, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb {seed, the son}: 26 The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors {all those who have come before us, and were only blessed with part of what is perfected in our return to the LORD} unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.]. Selah. You did cleave the earth with rivers [through which these pure waters flow].
10 The mountains saw you, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice [qowl], and lifted up his hands on high.
11 The sun and moon [church and state governments – misleaders] stood still in their habitation: at the light [understanding] of your arrows they went, and at the shining of your glittering spear.
12 You did march through the land in indignation, you did thresh the heathen in anger.
13 You went forth for the salvation of your people, even for salvation with your anointed; you wounded the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering [‘arah – uncovering] the foundation unto the neck. Selah.
14 You did strike through with his staves the head [misleaders] of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
15 You did walk through the sea with your horses, through the heap of great waters.
16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice [qowl]: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he comes up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

Revelation 12
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun [the church], and the moon [civil government] under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: [Zechariah 9: 16 And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. 17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.]
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads [the devil in power in church and state].
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael [who is like God – Daniel 12: And at that time shall Michael 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. 2 And many of them that sleep in the dust 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; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.] and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time. [Romans 9:28 For He {the LORD} will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the LORD make upon the earth.]
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12
2 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?

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:
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.

Psalms 50
1 The mighty God, even the LORD, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined [yapha’ – shown Himself].
3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before [paniym – His unknown presence] him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.
5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, even your God.
8 I will not reprove you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of your house, nor he goats out of your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay your vows unto the most High:
15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.
16 But unto the wicked God says, What have you to do to declare my statutes, or that you should take my covenant in your mouth?
17 Seeing you hates instruction, and castes my words behind you.
18 When you saw a thief, then you consented with him, and have been partaker with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things have you done, and I kept silence; you thought that I was altogether such an one as yourself: but I will reprove you, and set them in order before your eyes.
22 Now consider this, you that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.
23 Whoso offers praise glorifies me: and to him that orders his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.

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

Psalms 94
1 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belong; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, show yourself [yapha’ – shine forth].
2 Lift up yourself, you judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.
3 LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
5 They break in pieces your people, O LORD, and afflict your heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.
7 Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
8 Understand, you brutish among the people: and you fools, when will you be wise?
9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?
10 He that chastises the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teaches man knowledge, shall not he know?
11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
12 Blessed is the man whom you chastens, O LORD, and teaches him out of your law;
13 That you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
15 But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, My foot slips; your mercy, O LORD, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me your comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with you, which frames mischief by a law?
21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
22 But the LORD is my defense; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off.

Even the very dust of your city, which cleaves on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be you sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

Even the very dust of your city, which cleaves on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be you sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

The above is the LORD’s instruction to those He sends as laborers into the harvest. If they are rejected, He is rejected, and the laborers are commanded to say the above to the city.

The verse is Luke 10:11, which is followed by His telling of the intolerable hell that comes upon the cities that reject the mighty works done in them. He then, in verse 16, specifically defines these works, saying those hearing those He’s sent are hearing Him, and those despising them are despising Him (speaking through them). He follows this portion with thanking the Father for the revelation, which is the mighty underlying work of God, as He speaks of in John 14:20, saying, “At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.’ “In that day” is the time He describes in Luke 10:12, saying to the cities rejecting Him, “But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.”

He next speaks of the good Samaritan, who is the pattern of those sent to those who “fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.” Those sent are those in who the Good Shepherd comes. The thieves are the wolves in sheep’s clothing, and the hirelings are the priests and Levites that pass by without giving any aid. Those who pass buy on the other side are describes as such, not coming near (nigh), to contrast it with what He tells those He sends to say: “be you sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”

The LORD ends the chapter by giving the meaning through telling of Mary and Martha, both names meaning rebels, patterning His people, initially against God and now with Him in rebellion against the status quo. He tells us it isn’t about church services. It’s about sitting at His feet and learning as a little child. This aspect is the fuller meaning with all the above. From Matthew 18:3 and Luke 18:17: “Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”

1 Corinthians 15
45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [spiritual man] was made a quickening spirit [bringing many children to life from the dead].
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the LORD from heaven.
48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our LORD Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the LORD, forasmuch as you know that your labor [in this harvest] is not in vain in the LORD.

Luke 10
1 After these things the LORD appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray you therefore the LORD of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.
3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.
5 And into whatsoever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.
7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
8 And into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you:
9 And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
10 But into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,
11 Even the very dust of your city, which cleave on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be you sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
12 But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.
13 Woe unto you, Chorazin [said {in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon} to mean smoke of the furnace, as in Revelation 9:2, as what darkens the sun {church} and air {exhaled teaching} – seems to be from the same Hebrew origin as Hiram]! woe unto you, Bethsaida [the family of Sidon – those who hunt souls]! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14 But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.
15 And you, Capernaum [those living in comfort – saying peace and safety, upon whom comes sudden destruction – as it has and continues], which are exalted to heaven, shall be thrust down to hell [Gehenna – the trash heap outside Jerusalem, where the fires never stop burning, and where worms live among the ash – as if snakes in the ruin of the earth, which has become without form and void].
16 He that hears you hears me; and he that despises you despises me; and he that despises me despises him that sent me. [1 Kings 5:7 And it came to pass, when Hiram {Chiyram} heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which has given unto David a wise son over this great people.]
17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, LORD, even the devils are subject unto us through your name.
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven [and Satan departed from Him].
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank you, O Father, LORD of heaven and earth, that you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in your sight.
22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knows who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see:
24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them.
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted [ekpeirazo] him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how read you?
27 And he answering said, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.
28 And he said unto him, You have answered right: this do, and you shall live.
29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho [where the wall falls, the veil of the curtain that keeps us from seeing the LORD’s presence], and fell among thieves [leistes – the robbers, as was Barabbas], which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan [idol worshipper], as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you.
36 Which now of these three, think you, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do you likewise.
38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village [Bethany – the family {house} of misery, that becomes the house of fruit – first-fruits]: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, LORD, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, you are careful and troubled about many things:
42 But one thing is needful: and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

John 10
1 Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber [leistes].
2 But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the porter opens; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
4 And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
6 This parable spoke Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spoke unto them.
7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Truly, truly, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers [leistes]: but the sheep did not hear them.
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
10 The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
12 But he that is a hireling [sa’iyr – the misleaders mixed among God’s people], and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf catches [harpazo – plucks them away from the voice of the good shepherd] them, and scatters the sheep.
13 The hireling flees, because he is a hireling, and cares not for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
15 As the Father knows me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one-fold, and one shepherd [this voice is the only voice leading to salvation].
17 Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings.
20 And many of them said, He has a devil, and is mad; why hear you him?
21 Others said, These are not the words of him that has a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?
22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.
24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long do you make us to doubt? If you be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them, I told you, and you believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me.
26 But you believe not, because you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck [harpazo] them out of my hand.
29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck [harpazo] them out of my Father’s hand.
30 I and my Father are one.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shown you from my Father; for which of those works do you stone me?
33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone you not; but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make yourself God.
34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, You are gods [see Psalms 82:6 below]?
35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
36 Say you of him, whom the Father has sanctified, and sent into the world, You blaspheme; because I said, I am the Son of God?
37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
38 But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works: that you may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
39 Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
40 And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.
41 And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spoke of this man were true.
42 And many believed on him there.

Psalms 82
1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty; he judges [shaphat] among the gods.
2 How long will you judge [shaphat] unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3 Defend [shaphat] the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked [which is the point].
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 I have said, You are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High.
7 But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes [of this you should fear].
8 Arise, O God, judge [shaphat] the earth: for you shall inherit all nations.

Isaiah 11
11 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge [shaphat] after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge [shaphat] the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

Isaiah 1
16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil [put off corruption];
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge [shaphat] the fatherless, plead for the widow.
18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.
21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
22 Your silver is become dross, your wine mixed with water:
23 Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loves gifts, and follows after rewards: they judge [shaphat] not the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them.
24 Therefore says the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
25 And I will turn my hand upon you, and purely purge away your dross, and take away all your tin:
26 And I will restore your judges [shaphat] as at the first, and your counsellors as at the beginning: afterward you shall be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts [those changed by putting off corruption] with righteousness.
28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

Isaiah 2
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge [shaphat] among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come you, and let us walk in the light [understanding] of the LORD [and only Him].

Isaiah 3
1 For, behold, the LORD, the LORD of hosts, does take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.
2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge [shaphat], and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
3 The captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable.
6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, You have clothing, be you our ruler, and let this ruin be under your hand:
7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.
8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
9 The show of their countenance does witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
10 Say you to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.
13 The LORD stands up to plead, and stands to judge [diyn] the people.
14 The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for you have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What mean you that you beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? says the LORD God of hosts.

Isaiah 5
1 Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge [shaphat], I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone [with the LORD only] in the midst of the earth!
9 In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.

Isaiah 16
1 Send you the lamb [willing to pay the price] to the ruler of the land from Sela [from where the enemies mixed among were defeated – and their house emptied] to the wilderness [where the LORD is alone], unto the mount of the daughter of Zion [who shall sit at His feet].
2 For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab [the gates of hell, the open mouth of the enemy] shall be at the fords of Arnon [the brawling stream – these words in this war].
3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make your shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday [see your corrupt ways as ignorance in the presence of the highest understanding]; hide the outcasts; bewray [don’t exile any longer] not him that wander [for lack of meat – without this deep understanding].
4 Let mine outcasts dwell with you, Moab; be you a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortionist is at an end, the spoiler ceases, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging [shaphat], and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
6 We have heard of the pride of Moab [the gates of hell, the open mouth of knows liars telling known lies]; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.
7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations [ideas and ways] of Kirhareseth [of you wall of potsherds, of deception in which you trust] shall you mourn; surely they are stricken [nake’ – are broken].

Isaiah 33
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
15 He that walks righteously, and speaks uprightly; he that despises the gain of oppressions, that shakes his hands from holding of bribes, that stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil;
16 He shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.
17 Your eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
18 Your heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 You shall not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than you can perceive; of a stammering tongue, that you can not understand.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: your eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
21 But there the glorious LORD will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
22 For the LORD is our judge [shaphat], the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.
23 Your tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail [nec – the pole upon which the son of man must be lifted]: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey.
24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.

Isaiah 40
21 Have you not known? have you not heard? has it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in:
23 That brings the princes to nothing; he makes the judges [shaphat] of the earth as vanity.
24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 To whom then will you liken me, or shall I be equal? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that brings out their host by number: he calls them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one fails.
27 Why say you, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God?
28 Have you not known? have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 43
21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.
22 But you have not called upon me, O Jacob; but you have been weary of me, O Israel.
23 You have not brought me the small cattle of your burnt offerings; neither have you honored me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with an offering, nor wearied you with incense.
24 You have bought me no sweet cane with money, neither have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices: but you have made me to serve with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities.
25 I, even I, am he that blots out your transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember your sins.
26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead [shaphat – judge] together: declare you, that you may be justified.
27 Your first father has sinned, and your teachers have transgressed against me.
28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches.

Isaiah 51
3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
4 Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.
5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge [shaphat] the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
7 Hearken unto me, you that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear you not the reproach of men, neither be you afraid of their reviling.

Isaiah 59
1 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perverseness.
4 None calls for justice, nor any pleads [shaphat] for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

Isaiah 66
14 And when you see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead [shaphat] with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

Psalms 26
A Psalm of David.
1 Judge [shaphat] me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.
2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
3 For your lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in your truth.
4 I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
5 I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash mine hands in innocence: so will I compass your altar, O LORD:
7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all your wondrous works.
8 LORD, I have loved the habitation of your house, and the place where your honor dwells.
9 Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:
10 In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.
12 My foot stands in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.

Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in your sight. Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in your sight. Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

Today’s title verses, Psalms 9:19 & 20, are the final verses of the previous post. The Psalm’s message is of the wicked’s judgment when they are snared in their evil ways and turned to hell. There (in the previous post), we explored several of the uses of the Hebrew word diyn, which appears in verse 8 (of Psalms 9), where it’s rendered “judge.” Its meaning is in its first appearance in Genesis 6:3, where the LORD declares that His Spirit shall not always “strive” with man. It reveals judgment as a process of pleadings (in a legal sense), as now, the opportunity to make an argument and present evidence.

The word above rendered “judged” is the more often used shaphat, which is focused on the rulings, verdict, and sentence, while implying the legal process.

Psalms 9
1 I will praise you, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will show forth all your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you: I will sing praise to your name, O you most High.
3 When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at your presence [paniym].
4 For you have maintained my right and my cause; you sat in the throne judging [shaphat] right.
5 You have rebuked the heathen, you have destroyed the wicked, you have put out their name forever and ever.
6 O you enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and you have destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.
7 But the LORD shall endure forever: he has prepared his throne for judgment.
8 And he shall judge [diyn] the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment [shaphat] to the people in uprightness.
9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
10 And they that know your name will put their trust in you: for you, LORD, have not forsaken them that seek you.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, which dwells in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
12 When he makes inquisition for blood, he remembers them: he forgets not the cry of the humble.
13 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, you that lifts me up from the gates of death:
14 That I may show forth all your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in your salvation [yshuw’ah].
15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executes: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged [shaphat] in your sight [paniym – presence].
20 Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

The word above rendered “prevail,” the crux of the matter, is the word ‘azaz, “to be stout,” meaning, which side has the stronger case and therefore wins. As we know quite well, man appears to have all the power in the world and has corrupted it absolutely toward establishing injustice and tyranny. The above tells of their (the powerful’s) weakness, the wicked’s error, of which they are ignorant: they have forgotten God, who is Just. The context of the first use of diyn, in Genesis 6:3, is it’s when the LORD ends the argument, like now when He sends the word reserved for this moment.

Jude
Behold, the LORD comes with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speak great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.
17 But, beloved, remember you the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our LORD Jesus Christ;
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

2 Peter 3
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the LORD and Savior:
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition [apoleia] of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the LORD as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The LORD is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the LORD will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements [stoicheion – foundational ideas, the corrupt ideas and unjust ways of the wicked] shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements [stoicheion] shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
15 And account that the longsuffering of our LORD is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him has written unto you;
16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrestle, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction [apoleia].
17 You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.

Romans 9
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau [the enemies mixed among us oppressing] have I hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy.
17 For the scripture says unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore has he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardens.
19 You will say then unto me, Why does he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
20 Nay but, O man, who are you that reply against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus?
21 Has not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?
22 What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he has called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As he says also in Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
27 Isaiah also cries concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the LORD make upon the earth.
29 And as Isaiah said before, Except the LORD of Sabaoth [the LORD armies of heaven] had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah.
30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone;
33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling-stone and rock of offense: and whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed [shall not be disappointed, because the end promised will {has} come as vowed].

The word ‘azaz, telling of the strength of the case, appears in Psalms 52:7 in describing those who “strengthen” themselves in wickedness. It also appears in Isaiah 30:2, there telling of those who “strengthen” themselves in Pharaoh, and trust in the shadow of Egypt. As we know, the appellative Pharaoh means the house of the powerful, and Egypt represents oppression. As we saw in the previous post, the following verse says this strength and trust shall be their “shame” and “confusion.” We saw these same words appearing in Isaiah 61:7 where we’re told of when this word bears fruit, and the LORD who loves judgment directs our way into salvation. The same words appear in Jeremiah 3:25 where they (shame and confusion) are the product of not listening to the LORD’s voice.

Isaiah 30
1 Woe to the rebellious children, says the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen [‘azaz] themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame [bosheth], and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion [klimmah].
4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly at an instant.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus says the LORD God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and you would not.
16 But you said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall you flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall you flee: till you be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.
18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: you shall weep no more: he will be very gracious unto you at the voice of your cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer you.
20 And though the LORD give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not your teachers be removed into a corner any more, but your eyes shall see your teachers:
21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left.

Isaiah 61
1 The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6 But you shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves.
7 For your shame [bosheth] you shall have double; and for confusion [klimmah] they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD has blessed.
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the LORD God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Jeremiah 3
12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north [the those hidden in darkness – blinded by ignorance], and say, Return, you backsliding Israel, says the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, says the LORD, and I will not keep anger forever.
13 Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice, says the LORD.
14 Turn, O backsliding children, says the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 And it shall come to pass, when you be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more.
17 At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.
18 In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers.
19 But I said, How shall I put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, You shall call me, My father; and shall not turn away from me.
20 Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says the LORD.
21 A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.
22 Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto you; for you are the LORD our God.
23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
24 For shame has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 We lie down in our shame [bosheth], and our confusion [klimmah] covers us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.

Psalms 52
1 Why boast you yourself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endures continually.
2 The tongue devises mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 You love evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
4 You love all devouring words, O you deceitful tongue.
5 God shall likewise destroy you forever, he shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.
6 The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened [‘azaz] himself in his wickedness.
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
9 I will praise you forever, because you have done it: and I will wait on your name [Your indemnity revealed]; for it is good before your saints.

Ecclesiastes 7
1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.
7 Surely oppression makes a wise man [of the world] mad [delusional]; and a gift destroys the heart.
8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
9 Be not hasty in your spirit to be angry: for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
10 Say not you, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for you do not enquire wisely concerning this.
11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun [the new day].
12 For wisdom is a defense [the greater strength], and money is a defense [the strength of the world]: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom gives life to them that have it.
13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he has made crooked?
14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also has set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.
15 All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perishes in his righteousness [explained in verse 16], and there is a wicked man that prolongs his life in his wickedness [explained in verse 17].
16 Be not righteous over much; neither make yourself over wise: why should you destroy yourself?
17 Be not over [tolerating and ignoring] much wicked, neither be you foolish: why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you should take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not your hand: for he that fears God shall come forth of them all.
19 Wisdom strengthens [‘azaz] the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city.
20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that does good, and sins not.
21 Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest you hear your servant curse you:
22 For oftentimes also your own heart knows that you yourself likewise have cursed others.
23 All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.
24 That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?
25 I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
26 And I find more bitter than death the woman [church – teacher], whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleases [is in agreement with] God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
27 Behold, this have I found, says the preacher, counting one by one [precept upon precept, line upon line], to find out the account:
28 Which yet my soul seeks, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman [church – teacher] among all those have I not found.
29 Lo, this only have I found, that God has made man upright; but they have sought out [baqash] many inventions.

The final verse above tells of what men create and offer as worship in God’s place. The war is against these creations and the men who mislead God’s people into seeking them (their creations) and not Him. The word rendered inventions is the Hebrew word chishshabown, “from 2803; a contrivance, i.e. actual (a warlike machine) or mental (a machination).”

The only other time the word appears is in 2 Chronicles 26:15, rendered “engines.” In a pattern, it’s speaking of the creations coming from men’s zeal in the battle, carried away by their own success into corrupting the source of strength.

2 Chronicles 26
12 The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valor were two thousand and six hundred.
13 And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.
14 And Uzziah [the strength, ‘azaz, of Jehovah] prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones.
15 And he made in Jerusalem engines [chishshabown], invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvelously helped [given eyes to see], till he was strong.
16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense [strange fire] upon the altar of incense.
17 And Azariah [who Jehovah has helped] the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men:
18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertains not unto you, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron [light {understanding} bringer], that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for you have trespassed; neither shall it be for your honor from the LORD God.
19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, leprosy even rose up in his forehead [in His mind] before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.
20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.

The origin of chishshabown is the Hebrew word chashab, meaning “to plait or interpenetrate, i.e. (literally) to weave or (gen.) to fabricate; figuratively, to plot or contrive (usually in a malicious sense); hence (from the mental effort) to think, regard, value, compute.” It’s speaking of men intermixing their corruption into God’s word. It caused the elements of understanding to separate and be taken from the earth. They are kept in the cloud until He reassembles and sends them again, purified of men’s corruption, in this time of war, as His strength returned.

Jeremiah 23
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.
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 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, says the LORD, and not a God afar off?
24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? says the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith 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 [chashab – which create things] 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 creations of men].
28 The prophet that has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that has my word, let him speak my 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 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.

Ezekiel 11
2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise [chashab – create] mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:
3 Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.
4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.
5 And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus says the LORD; Thus have you said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.

Hosea 7
11 Ephraim [God’s people in this latter time] also is like a silly dove [yownah] without heart [deluded and unable to see He has reached the promised end, after the latter rain]: they call to Egypt [to their oppressors], they go to Assyria [to the communists, thinking these oppressors’ misleading will deliver them].
12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation has heard.
13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.
15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine [chashab – creates] mischief against me.
16 They return, but not to the Most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt [this land controlled by oppression].

Hosea 8
11 Because Ephraim has made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
12 I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted [chashab – because of their creations they were] as a strange thing.
13 They sacrifice flesh for the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the LORD accept them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.
14 For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and builds temples; and Judah has multiplied fenced cities: but I will send a fire upon his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof.

Amos 6
3 You that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;
5 That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent [chashab] to themselves instruments of music, like David;
6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph [the one separated from them by their creations].

Micah 2
1 Woe to them that devise [chashab] iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
3 Therefore thus says the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise [chashab] an evil, from which you shall not remove your necks; neither shall you go haughtily: for this time is evil.
4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he has changed the portion of my people: how has he removed it from me! turning away he has divided our fields.
5 Therefore you shall have none that shall cast a cord by lot [none to properly assess and judge] in the congregation of the LORD.
6 Prophesy you not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame [they promise them deliverance, an end that will never come].

Nahum 1
7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knows them that trust in him.
8 But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
9 What do you imagine [chashab] against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
10 For while they be folded together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.
11 There is one come out of you, that imagines [chashab] evil against the LORD, a wicked counselor.
12 Thus says the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more.
13 For now will I break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds in sunder.
14 And the LORD has given a commandment concerning you, that no more of your name be sown: out of the house of your gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make your grave; for you are vile.
15 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace! O Judah, keep your solemn feasts, perform your vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through you; he is utterly cut off.

Malachi 3
16 Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought [chashab] upon his name.
17 And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him.
18 Then shall you return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves him not.

Malachi 4
1 For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and you shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3 And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the LORD of hosts.

Psalms 89
13 You have a mighty arm: strong [‘azaz] is your hand, and high is your right hand.
14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of your throne: mercy and truth shall go before your face [paniym – presence].
15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of your countenance [paniym].
16 In your name shall they rejoice all the day: and in your righteousness shall they be exalted.
17 For you are the glory of their strength: and in your favor our horn shall be exalted.
18 For the LORD is our defense [magen]; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
19 Then you spoke in vision to your holy one, and said, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
21 With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

I the LORD have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

The above statement, Isaiah 42:6, continues in verse 7, saying, “To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” As we know, the “light” is understanding, and the blind are called “Gentiles,” which describes those who don’t know God. The “blind” include God’s people, with whom He has made His “covenant.” By their ignorance of Him, they are in the prison houses where idols (men’s creations) are in His place.

He concludes the chapter by saying He is speaking specifically to Jacob, His people still in rebellion and wrestling with His word. He says they are held in holes, spoiled, robbed, and refuse to walk in His ways; neither are they obedient to His word.

So, here we are. These men’s main objective is to keep people in their control, in their corrupt churches (all), only listening to and following their ways, their commandments. Isaiah 42 begins with the LORD Himself declaring what all these men should be:

Isaiah 42
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles [the dry places were this word hasn’t been heard] shall wait for his law.
5 Thus says God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; he that gives breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
6 I the LORD have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar [darkness – ignorance] does inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.
13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.
15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.
16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, You are our gods.
18 Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind, that you may see.
19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’s servant?
20 Seeing many things, but you observes not; opening the ears, but he hears not.
21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.
22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivers; for a spoil, and none says, Restore.
23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come?
24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.
25 Therefore he has poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it has set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.

As we know, Isaiah 61:1 & 2, which the LORD quotes when he first enters the synagogue, tell us where and to who this word is sent (to God’s people where they gather). It is to those the LORD made His covenant when He made it with Abram (Abraham), saying He would come to awaken, from deep sleep, those held by the nation He is now judging: “and it has set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.”

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 [diyn]: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
15 And you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites [those who exalt themselves, their words, above God’s] is not yet full [shalam – its complete work of total desolation].
17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

These rivers are telling of the words and ways of oppression (Egypt) that produce the total desolation of God’s people and the breaking forth, the fruitfulness (Euphrates), of this word of God.

Luke 4
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the LORD.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
23 And he said unto them, You will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal yourself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in your country.
24 And he said, Truly I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
26 But unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Sarepta [the refinement {in the furnace}], a city of Sidon [who hunt souls], unto a woman that was a widow.
27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed [purified], saving Naaman [those who agree with the LORD, in who He delights because they follow His good advice and are delivered] the Syrian. [Both these examples are telling of those followed the instructions of God coming through the one He speaks through.]
28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days.
32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with you, you Jesus of Nazareth? are you come to destroy us? I know you who you are; the Holy One of God.
35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold your peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.
36 And they were all amazed, and spoke among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.
37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.
38 And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.
39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.
40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, You are Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.
42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.
43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.
44 And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

Isaiah 61
1 The Spirit of the LORD God is upon me; because the LORD has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.
5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6 But you shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves.
7 For your shame you shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
8 For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD has blessed.
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the LORD God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

The “shame” and “confusion,” mentioned in verse 7 above, describe God’s people’s current condition: trusting for deliverance those who are their oppressors, whose mass delusions control and destroy them. These words are referring us to Isaiah 30:3, where the same words more descriptively appear.

Isaiah 30
1 Woe to the rebellious children, says the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor be an help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly at an instant.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus says the LORD God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and you would not.
16 But you said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall you flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall you flee: till you be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.
18 And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: you shall weep no more: he will be very gracious unto you at the voice of your cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer you.
20 And though the LORD give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not your teachers be removed into a corner any more, but your eyes shall see your teachers:
21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left.
22 You shall defile also the covering of your graven images of silver, and the ornament of your molten images of gold: you shall cast them away as a menstruous cloth; you shall say unto it, Get you hence.
23 Then shall he give the rain of your seed, that you shall sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall your cattle feed in large pastures.
24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.
25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon [understanding of civil Government] shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun [the understanding of the church] shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD binds up the breach of his people, and heals the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
29 You shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.
30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian [communists in church and state] be beaten down, which smote with a rod.
32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
33 For Tophet [the place of fires] is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he has made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, does kindle it.

The judgment spoken of in Genesis 15:14 above, from the word diyn, is in context referring us to its use in Deuteronomy 32:36.

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, and the cruel venom of asps.
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 [diyn] his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he sees that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left [this is the total desolation, the current condition of God people].
37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock [the false christs in church and state] 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 forever.
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.

Isaiah 3
1 For, behold, the LORD, the LORD of hosts, does take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water.
2 The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
3 The captain of fifty, and the honorable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable.
6 When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, You have clothing, be you our ruler, and let this ruin be under your hand:
7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.
8 For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
9 The show of their countenance does witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
10 Say you to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.
13 The LORD stands up to plead, and stands to judge [diyn] the people.
14 The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for you have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
15 What mean you that you beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? says the LORD God of hosts.

Jeremiah 5
21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
22 Fear you not me? says the LORD: will you not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
23 But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that gives rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge [diyn] not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 A wonderful [shammah – a desolation not understood] and horrible thing is committed in the land;
31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will you do in the end thereof?

Jeremiah 8
17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, says the LORD.
18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment [shammah – desolation caused by the venom, the words, of false prophets who are like serpents] has taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead [in this testimony]; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Genesis 49
16 Dan [the judge – speaking of strength returned and the righteous judgment of the world begins] shall judge [diyn] his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way [as a serpent raised as a standard on a pole {nec}, as the son of man must be lifted], an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels [this is the heel bruised in the judgment, meaning the serpents among the people are rendered without effect], so that his rider shall fall backward [so the body of Christ will return to the place from which she fell – see, in Isaiah 28:13 below, this teaching causes them to fall backward].
18 I have waited for your salvation, O LORD.
19 Gad [the LORD’s army, overcome until their return to Him], a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
20 Out of Asher [happy] his bread shall be fat [happiness returns when the word of God prospers], and he shall yield royal dainties [ma’adan – speaking of the royal line again raised up – referring us to its use in Proverbs 29:17, telling us this is when rest returns, when we, by correction, give the Father “delight”].
21 Naphtali [by this wrestling – unknowingly with the LORD] is a hind let loose: he gives goodly words [our tongue {the word of God} is loosed and we teach it as received directly from Him].
22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well [a tree of life by these waters of God]; whose branches run over the wall [the wall of lies men have created and teach]:
23 The archers [ba’al – the gods of this world whose teaching has blinded all form seeing the Father, in the son, the seed of the women who brings forth the man child – see Revelation 12:17 below] have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
25 Even by the God of your father, who shall help you; and by the Almighty, who shall bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies under [the deep meaning that lies below the surface], blessings of the breasts, and of the womb [seed, the son]:
26 The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors [all those who have come before us, and were only blessed with part of what is perfected in our return to the LORD] unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Isaiah 28
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus says the LORD God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.

Revelation 12
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Psalms 9
1 I will praise you, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will show forth all your marvelous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you: I will sing praise to your name, O you most High.
3 When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at your presence.
4 For you have maintained my right and my cause; you sat in the throne judging right.
5 You have rebuked the heathen, you have destroyed the wicked, you have put out their name forever and ever.
6 O you enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and you have destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.
7 But the LORD shall endure forever: he has prepared his throne for judgment.
8 And he shall judge [diyn] the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
10 And they that know your name will put their trust in you: for you, LORD, have not forsaken them that seek you.
11 Sing praises to the LORD, which dwells in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
12 When he makes inquisition for blood, he remembers them: he forgets not the cry of the humble.
13 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, you that lifts me up from the gates of death:
14 That I may show forth all your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in your salvation.
15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
16 The LORD is known by the judgment which he executes: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in your sight.
20 Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

Seek you the LORD, all you meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be you shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.

Seek you the LORD, all you meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be you shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.

In the above statement, commandment, the core manner and means of our salvation appear through associations. The word meek is from ‘anav, which speaks of subordinating the mind to God’s. It describes, then having the mind of Christ, doing the work (pa’al – “wrought”) that is God’s judgment (establishing equity – His righteousness) in the world.

Here is how Paul describes these aspects: how God effectually works, in and through us, to establish the same “righteousness” and “meekness” in others. This is only possible through the clarity that comes when we understand it is Him, and receiving His word as His, it effectually works in us, and we are in His presence at His coming.

Of Judgment:
1 Corinthians 2
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the LORD of glory.
9 But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
10 But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who has known the mind of the LORD, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

Of the work:
Philippians 2
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputing:
15 That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.
17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
18 For the same cause also do you joy, and rejoice with me.
19 But I trust in the LORD Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.
20 For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.
21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
22 But you know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he has served with me in the gospel.

The title verse is Zephaniah 2:3, speaking of our salvation as being “hid,” which is from the Hebrew word cathar. This is the other word twice rendered “hide” in Psalms 27, which speak of the LORD hiding us in His pavilion in the time of trouble (these evil days).

Psalms 27
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble [ra’ – evil] he shall hide [tsaphan] me in his pavilion: in the secret [cether] of his tabernacle shall he hide [cathar] me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When you said, Seek [baqash] you my face [paniym – presence]; my heart said unto you, Your face [paniym – presence], LORD, will I seek [baqash].
9 Hide [cathar] not your face [paniym – presence] far from me; put not your servant away in anger: you have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

The idea of the LORD hiding us in His presence is contrasted against those spoken of in Zephaniah 1:6, “those that have not sought [baqash] the LORD.” This verse and the title are the only times Zephaniah uses the word baqash.

Zephaniah 1
1 The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi [Jehovah has secreted us in deep darkness – as a swaddling-band to protect us from our lack of self-control], the son of Gedaliah [until we understand the greatness of Jehovah], the son of Amariah [as Jehovah speaks and fulfills His promises], the son of Hizkiah [and we realize Jehovah is our strength], in the days of Josiah [and we become founded upon the ways and ideas of Jehovah] the son of Amon [His master builder], king of Judah [His elect remnant].
2 I will utterly consume all things from off [paniym – by His presence] the land, says the LORD.
3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off [paniym – by His presence] the land, says the LORD.
4 I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims [idolatry] with the priests;
5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham [Molech – the rulers who cause people to sacrifice their children in the fire their ideas and ways cause];
6 And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought [baqash] the LORD, nor enquired for him.
7 Hold your peace at the presence [paniym] of the LORD God: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD has prepared [kuwn] a sacrifice, he has bid his guests.
8 And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’s sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.
9 In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and a howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills.
11 Howl, you inhabitants of Maktesh [the mortar – the lies that hold the wall together, which erode and their deception comes crashing down], for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off.
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
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 [tsarah] and distress, a day of wasting 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.
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 [kalah] of all them that dwell in the land.

In 1 Corinthians 2:9 above, Paul tells of this day, when we understand it is Him, by quoting Isaiah 64:4. Isaiah speaks of this as when we “meet” the LORD by remembering His ways, understanding lost through neglect. As we know, the following chapter begins with the LORD saying he is found by those who sought (baqash) him not (because they were looking for the false gods their leaders put in His place). He says these are rebellious people who provoke Him to anger to His face (presence) by worshiping their own creations (altars of brick). He says they are those who remain among the dead (among the graves and tombs). In essence, they are ignorantly telling Him to stay away from them because they are holier than He.

Isaiah 64
1 Oh that you would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might flow down at your presence [paniym],
2 As when the melting fire burns, the fire causes the waters to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence [paniym]! [These are words telling of what has occurred and His people have not seen – because they have been misled into darkness and ignorance of Him and His plan.]
3 When you did terrible things which we looked not for [because they were looking elsewhere], you came down, the mountains flowed down at your presence [paniym].
4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither has the eye seen, O God, beside you, what he has prepared for him that waits for him.
5 You meet him that rejoices and works righteousness, those that remember you in your ways: behold, you are wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
7 And there is none that calls upon your name, that stirs up himself to take hold of you: for you have hid your face [paniym – presence] from us, and have consumed us, because of our iniquities.
8 But now, O LORD, you are our father; we are the clay, and you our potter; and we all are the work of your hand.
9 Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity forever: behold, see, we beseech you, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
12 Will you refrain yourself for these things, O LORD? will you hold your peace, and afflict us very sore?

Isaiah 65
1 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought [baqash] me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walked in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
3 A people that provoked me to anger continually to my face; that sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense upon altars of brick [the creations of men];
4 Which remain among the graves [refuse to come to the living], and lodge in the monuments [among the dead], which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
5 Which say, Stand by yourself, come not near to me; for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day.
6 Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,
7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom.
8 Thus says the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one says, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all.
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
10 And Sharon [my presence in plain sight] shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor [the places that have been troubled and in tribulation] a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.
11 But you are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop [the false prophets, the unrepentant, and antichrists], and that furnish the drink offering unto that number.
12 Therefore will I number you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
13 Therefore thus says the LORD God, Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed:
14 Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.
15 And you shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the LORD God shall slay you, and call his servants by another name:
16 That he who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that swears in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles [tsarah] are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.
17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be you glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create [new] Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in [my people, new] Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that has not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust [the ashes of the old earth] shall be the serpent’s [the deceiver’s] meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

Psalm 44
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work you did in their days, in the times of old.
2 How you did drive out the heathen with your hand, and planted them; how you did afflict the people, and cast them out.
3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but your right hand, and your arm, and the light [understanding] of your countenance [presence], because you had a favor unto them.
4 You are my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
5 Through you will we push down our enemies: through your name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our enemies, and have put them to shame that hated us.
8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise your name forever. Selah.
9 But you have cast off, and put us to shame; and go not forth with our armies.
10 You make us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
11 You have given us like sheep appointed for meat; and have scattered us among the heathen.
12 You sell your people for naught, and do not increase your wealth by their price.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
14 You make us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face has covered me,
16 For the voice of him that reproaches and blasphemes; by reason of the enemy and avenger.
17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten you, neither have we dealt falsely in your covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from your way;
19 Though you have sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
21 Shall not God search this out? for he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for your sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleep you, O LORD? arise, cast us not off for ever.
24 Wherefore hide you your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaves unto the earth.
26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for your mercies’ sake.

Romans 10
1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted [hupotasso] themselves unto the righteousness of God [they must submit to God’s correction rather going about to prove they are good and right].
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes [see 1 Corinthians 15:56 & 57].
5 For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which does those things shall live by them.
6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what says it? The word is nigh you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if you shall confess with your mouth the LORD Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
10 For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same LORD over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, LORD, who has believed our report?
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes truly, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
19 But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses says, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
20 But Isaiah is very bold, and says, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
21 But to Israel he says, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

The work (pa’al) of the LORD, His way and presence, revealing Himself through His word, in us and through us, is described many times as His saving grace manifested.

Job 33
14 For God speaks once, yea twice, yet man perceives it not.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumbering upon the bed;
16 Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction [He first awaken a messenger, directly in who He seals His instructions],
17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.
18 He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:
20 So that his life abhors bread, and his soul dainty meat.
21 His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.
22 Yea, his soul draws near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.
23 If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter [who in the volume of the book, finds himself written of], one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness [God’s righteousness]:
24 Then he is gracious unto him, and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
25 His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth:
26 He shall pray unto God, and he will be favorable unto him: and he shall see his face [paniym – presence] with joy: for he will render unto man his [God’s] righteousness.
27 He looks upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not;
28 He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.
29 Lo, all these things works [pa’al] God oftentimes with man,
30 To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light [understanding] of the living.

Job 37
5 God thunders marvelously with his voice [qowl]; great things does he, which we cannot comprehend.
6 For he says to the snow, Be you on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.
7 He seals up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.
8 Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.
9 Out of the south comes the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.
10 By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
11 Also by watering he wearies the thick cloud: he scatters his bright cloud:
12 And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do [pa’al – His work] whatsoever he commands them upon the face [paniym – in the presence] of the world in the earth.
13 He causes it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.
14 Hearken unto this, O Job [My rebellious people who are the hated of the world]: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
15 Do you know when God disposed them, and caused the light [understanding] of his cloud to shine?
16 Do you know the balancings of [judgment in, the righteousness of God held in] the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?
17 How your garments are warm, when he quiets the earth by the south wind [the work of His right hand]?
18 Have you with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?
19 Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
20 Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak [his own ways and ideas against God’s], surely he shall be swallowed up.
21 And now men see not the bright light [understanding] which is in the clouds: but the wind passes, and cleanses them [of what blinds them].
22 Fair weather comes out of the north [tsaphown – when what is hidden in the darkness is revealed]: with God is terrible majesty.
23 Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.
24 Men do therefore fear him: he respects not any that are wise of heart.

Hebrews 10
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 forever, 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 forever 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.
32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions;
33 Partly, whilst you were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst you became companions of them that were so used.
34 For you had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward.
36 For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.
37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition [apoleia]; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

Psalms 40
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established [kuwn] my goings.
3 And he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is that man that makes the LORD his trust, and respects not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O LORD my God, are your wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto you: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire; mine ears have you opened: burnt offering and sin offering have you not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [megillah] it is written of me,
8 I delight to do your will, O my God: yea, your law is within my heart.
9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, you know.
10 I have not hid your righteousness within my heart; I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation: I have not concealed your lovingkindness and your truth from the great congregation.
11 Withhold not you your tender mercies from me, O LORD: let your lovingkindness and your truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
16 Let all those that seek you rejoice and be glad in you: let such as love your salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
17 But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinks upon me: you are my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

Psalms 91
1 He that dwells in the secret [cether] place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome [havvah – wicked words] pestilence [deber – that plague us].
4 He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings shall you trust: his truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence [deber] that walks in darkness [the way of the plague is the sting of ignorance]; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come nigh you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come nigh your dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
12 They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon [death lurking below the surface in the men’s words] shall you trample under feet.
14 Because he has set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble [tsarah]; I will deliver him, and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Revelation 18
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double.
7 How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the LORD God who judges her.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Isaiah 28
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus says the LORD GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report [shmuw’ah – the sound doctrine, teaching, the rumor of Ezekiel 7:26].

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

In the same day, also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their Masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

In the same day, also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their Masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

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

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

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

Revelation 18
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double.
7 How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the LORD God who judges her.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Isaiah 28
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus says the LORD GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report [shmuw’ah – the sound doctrine, teaching, the rumor of Ezekiel 7:26 below].

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

2 Kings 23
1 And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.
4 And the king commanded Hilkiah [who found the book, the word of God – whose inheritance is Jehovah] the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron [the fields of the darkness they created], and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel [the house of God].
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests [kamar], whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun [the darkened church], and to the moon [the darkened civil government], and to the planets [the deceiver, who if followed in the darkness mislead], and to all the host of heaven.

Hosea 10
1 Israel is an empty vine, he brings forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he has increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.
2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.
3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?
4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springs up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven [the idols put in God place making the house worthless]: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests [kamar – the idolatrous priests] thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.
6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria [into communism] for a present to king Jareb [he will contend]: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

Jeremiah 16
14 Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD lives, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15 But, The LORD lives, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, says the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid [tsaphan] from mine eyes.
18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.
19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto you from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?
21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

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

The word “pastor” in verse 16 above is the Hebrew word ra’ah, the word rendered “shepherd” in Jeremiah 49:19 & 50:44, and in Ezekiel 37:24.

Jeremiah 49
14 I have heard a rumor [shmuw’ah] from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather you together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
15 For, lo, I will make you small [as a little horn] among the heathen, and despised among men.
16 Your terribleness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you [little horn] that dwells in the clefts of the rock, that holds the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from thence, says the LORD.
17 Also Edom [the enemies mixed among us] shall be a desolation: every one that goes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me [Michael standing]? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd [ra’ah] that will stand before me?
20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman [the so-called wise men of the world]: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
21 The earth is moved at the noise [qowl – the voice of the Archangel] of their fall, at the cry the noise [qowl – the same voice] thereof was heard in the Red sea.
22 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah [the Archangel, the voice from the LORD’s mouth, shall stir up and protect the flock of God]: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs [Selah!].

Jeremiah 50
31 Behold, I am against you, O you most proud, says the LORD God of hosts: for your day is come, the time that I will visit you.
32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
33 Thus says the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer [ga’al – their kinsman] is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans [those who use their deceptions {their gaslighting} to manipulate and control the world], says the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon [confusion now turned delusion], and upon her princes, and upon her [so-called] wise men.
36 A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols [they’ve become insane from following their own ways and ideas].
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls [who hunt in the darkness] shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
41 Behold, a people shall come from the north [tsaphown, from tsaphan – those I AM hid here for this moment], and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts [yrekah – to flank] of the earth.
42 They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not show mercy: their voice [quwl – the voice of the Archangel] shall roar like the sea [like a lion for the swelling of Jordan], and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them [the little horn] suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd [ra’ah] that will stand before me [paniym – who will stand with me – in My presence]?
45 Therefore hear you the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
46 At the noise [qowl – the voice of God heard from the Archangel] of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.

Ezekiel 37
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd [ra’ah]: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince forever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

From the post of 8 January 2021:
The question humbly posed to the LORD today: What is His plan from here? His answer follows.

Seeing His answer, in Zephaniah 1, we see He is speaking of His provision of hidden treasure, specifically reserved for this moment, and (the truly valuable) with power to bring all things under His glorious rule. As we know, Zephaniah, from tsaphan and Jehovah, means Jehovah has secreted, or Jehovah has treasured (hidden in His treasure house). The height of ignorance is to think the LORD God Almighty would not have provided (planned) response for this ending. We know He said, “He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the LORD make upon the earth.” (Romans 9:28 quoting Isaiah 10:23)

The LORD’s answer: Zephaniah 1
12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
13 Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof.
14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hastes 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.
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.

Zephaniah 2
1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired;
2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’s anger come upon you.
3 Seek you the LORD, all you meek of the earth [for the meek shall inherit the earth], which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be you shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.

The word “meekness” above, defining the persona of the meek, is the Hebrew word ‘anavah, meaning, “condescension, human and subjective (modesty), or divine and objective (clemency).” It is only used five other times, all describing humility (the character of the humble). David twice uses it, 2 Samuel 22:36, and Psalms 18:35, both in his saying it is the LORD’s “gentleness” that made him great, meaning it is the LORD’s condescension, in him and through him working, leading and speaking to His people.

2 Samuel 22
31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
32 For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?
33 God is my strength and power: and he makes my way perfect.
34 He makes my feet like hinds’ feet: and sets me upon my high places.
35 He teaches my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
36 You have also given me the shield of your salvation: and your gentleness [‘anavah] has made me great.
37 You have enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.
38 I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them.
39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.
40 For you have girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me have you subdued under me.
41 You have also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.
42 They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.
43 Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.

In the time of trouble the LORD shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

In the time of trouble the LORD shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

Psalms 27
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When you said, Seek you my face; my heart said unto you, Your face, LORD, will I seek.
9 Hide not your face far from me; put not your servant away in anger: you have been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

The word “trouble” above is the Hebrew word ra’, which we know is often rendered evil. The first word “hide” in verse 5 is tsaphan, which we’ve seen meaning “to hide (by covering over); by implication, to hoard or reserve; figuratively to deny; specifically (favorably) to protect, (unfavorably) to lurk.”

The word rendered “pavilions” is cok, a four times used word meaning “a hut (as of entwined boughs); also a lair.” It is used twice to tell of the resting place of lions, first in Psalms 10:9 rendered “den,” and then in Jeremiah 25:38 as “covert.” The one other time it appears, in Psalms 76:2, it’s telling us this place, His secret place where He hides us, is in Salem: in peace, no matter what “troubles” come. As we know, Salem is the original name of what is later called Jerusalem.

The Salem is Jebus, meaning “trodden, i.e. threshing-place; Jebus, the aboriginal name of Jerusalem.” In the origin of this name, we’re told of when the LORD tramples (trodden) the enemies, as the grapes of wrath, under His feet. The Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary and the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon say the name is from the twelve times used word buwc, meaning “to trample (literally or figuratively).” The definitions seem to ignore the prefix “Je,” from the word yada’, meaning it’s when we will “know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.).”

The other three times Salem appears it’s speaking of Melchisedec its king, the Priest of the Most High God, through who comes God’s presence and blessing. It’s through the LORD in him he is made a priest, who we are told is as Christ, a son of God by His proclamation.

Hebrews 5
5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made a high priest; but he that said unto him, You are my Son, today have I begotten you.
6 As he says also in another place, You are a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.
7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
10 Called of God a high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing.
12 For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles [stoicheion – elements] of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13 For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
14 But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Hebrews 6
1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3 And this will we do, if God permit.
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes oft upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receives blessing from God:
8 But that which bears thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward his name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
11 And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
12 That you be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,
14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless you [as He blessed Abraham with wine and bread – the communion of His presence, His word and work], and multiplying I will multiply you.
15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16 For men truly swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil [into the presence of God];
20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec [by the proclamation and presence of God in him, veiled in His flesh].

Hebrews 7
1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abides a priest continually.

In Genesis 14:17 we are told one of the kings Abram slaughtered was named Chedolaomer, who is earlier identified as the king of Elam. His name is said to mean “handful of sheaves.” It appears to be associated with the Hebrew words kedab (kdab), meaning false, and leowm (lowm), meaning to gather, as a community (as sheaves bound together). As we know, Elam means eternity and is from ‘alam, meaning “to veil from sight, i.e. conceal (literally or figuratively).”

These names tell us of Abram’s (Abraham’s) defeating the falsehoods that have veiled the LORD, hidden in the flesh.

The LORD, in Jeremiah 49:38, says He will set His throne in Elam.

Jeremiah 49
34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35 Thus says the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
36 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
37 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, says the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:
38 And I will set my throne in Elam [the perfection, see Hebrews 11:40], and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, says the LORD.
39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, says the LORD.

Treading (buwc) down of these men, the kings of the earth who’ve led it into hell, is spoken of in Zechariah 10:5. It comes after God’s people have become His goodly horse in the battle, after and by the latter rain He sends to give them understanding.

Zechariah 10
1 Ask you of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.
2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts has visited his flock the house of Judah, and has made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
4 Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every governor together.
5 And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down [buwc] their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.
7 And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.
8 I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased.
9 And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.
10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt [of oppression], and gather them out of Assyria [from the communists]; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead [the testimony] and Lebanon [and bring purity to the high place]; and place shall not be found for them.
11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria [communists] shall be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt [the rule of the oppressors] shall depart away.
12 And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, says the LORD.

Jeremiah 49
14 I have heard a rumor [shmuw’ah – a report, this sound doctrine] from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather you together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
15 For, lo, I will make you small among the heathen, and despised among men.
16 Your terribleness has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, O you [little horn] that dwell in the clefts of the rock, that holds the height of the hill: though you should make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from thence, says the LORD.
17 Also Edom [the enemies mixed among us] shall be a desolation: every one that goes by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
18 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
19 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan [when the dead rise up in the pride of their own ignorance] against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
20 Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman [the so-called wise men of the world]: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
21 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.

Psalms 44
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work you did in their days, in the times of old.
2 How you did drive out the heathen with your hand, and planted them; how you did afflict the people, and cast them out.
3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your countenance, because you had a favor unto them.
4 You are my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
5 Through you will we push down our enemies: through your name will we tread them under [buwc] that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our enemies, and have put them to shame that hated us.
8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise your name forever. Selah.
9 But you have cast off, and put us to shame; and go not forth with our armies.
10 You make us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
11 You have given us like sheep appointed for meat; and have scattered us among the heathen.
12 You sell your people for naught, and do not increase your wealth by their price.
13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
14 You make us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face has covered me,
16 For the voice of him that reproaches and blasphemes; by reason of the enemy and avenger.
17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten you, neither have we dealt falsely in your covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from your way;
19 Though you have sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
21 Shall not God search this out? for he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for your sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleep you, O LORD? arise, cast us not off forever.
24 Wherefore hide you your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaves unto the earth.
26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for your mercies’ sake. [In reference to this verse, see Zechariah 10:8 above and Hosea 7:13 below.]

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

Hosea 13
1 When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passes away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
4 Yet I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt, and you shall know no god but me: for there is no savior beside me.
5 I did know you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten me.
7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:
8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
9 O Israel, you have destroyed yourself; but in me is your help.
10 I will be your king: where is any other that may save you in all your cities? and your judges of whom you said, Give me a king and princes?
11 I gave you a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.
12 The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is hid.
13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.
14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be your plagues; O grave, I will be your destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
15 Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels.
16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she has rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

Jeremiah 51
6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon [confusion now turned delusion that rules over the world as the shadow of death], and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.
7 Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad [confused and delusional].
8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reaches unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10 The LORD has brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12 Set up the standard [nec – the pole upon which Moses raised the brazen serpent, as the son of man must be lifted] upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare [kuwn – perfect] the ambushes: for the LORD has both devised and done that which he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O you that dwells upon many waters, abundant in treasures, your end is come, and the measure of your covetousness.
14 The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
15 He has made the earth by his power, he has established [kuwn – perfected] the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16 When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth: he makes lightning with rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasures. [These are speaking of when the LORD, as now, sends His word from heaven, and His Spirit moves upon them producing understanding. The following verse tells of the words of men as foundationless confusion in which there is no life-giving power.]
17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity [worthless], the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.

Psalms 10
1 Why stand you afar off, O LORD? why hide you yourself in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in his pride does persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
3 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, and blesses the covetous, whom the LORD abhors.
4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are always grievous; your judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he scorns them.
6 He has said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
8 He sits in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places does he murder the innocent: his eyes are secretly set against the poor.
9 He lies in wait secretly as a lion in his den [cok]: he lies in wait to catch the poor: he does catch the poor, when he draws him into his net.
10 He crouches, and humbles himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
11 He has said in his heart, God has forgotten: he hides his face; he will never see it.
12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand: forget not the humble.
13 Wherefore does the wicked contemn God? he has said in his heart, You will not require it.
14 You have seen it; for you behold mischief and spite, to requite it with your hand: the poor commits himself unto you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break you the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till you find none.
16 The LORD is King forever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
17 LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble: you will prepare their heart, you will cause your ear to hear:
18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

Jeremiah 25
34 Howl, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, you principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and you shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD has spoiled their pasture.
37 And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
38 He has forsaken his covert [cok], as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

Revelation 18
1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double.
7 How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the LORD God who judges her.
9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is your judgment come.

Revelation 19
1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the LORD our God:
2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he has judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
3 And again they said, Alleluia And her smoke rose up forever and ever.
4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all you his servants, and you that fear him, both small and great.
6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia: for the LORD God omnipotent reigns.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9 And he says unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he says unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See you do it not: I am your fellow-servant, and of your brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And LORD Of Lords.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Psalms 76
1 In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel.
2 In Salem also is his tabernacle [cok], and his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There breaks he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah.
4 You are more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey.
5 The stouthearted 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; the earth feared, and was still,
9 When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.
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 unto him that ought to be feared.
12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.

For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

If you haven’t loved and kept this word, you will not understand the voice of the LORD heard in this message. Pass on by, I never knew you.

The title verse, Isaiah 63:4, is the LORD speaking of His vengeance as what redeems, purchases back, His people from those who possess them: the spirits that have control of mind and body. The chapter describes Him coming from Edom, who we know as Esau, the enemy mixed among us, referred to in the name Bozrah meaning the flock (sheepfold).

The picture painted in the following words is of the LORD coming to save his flock. He is as a good shepherd among them whose garments are stained by the blood of the enemies, wolves among the sheep, and in vengeance trampling them under His feet, as grapes of wrath in the winepress.

Isaiah 63
1 Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
2 Wherefore are you red in your apparel, and your garments like him that treads in the wine-fat?
3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.
7 I will mention the lovingkindness of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindness.
8 For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Savior.
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.
11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?
12 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
13 That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?
14 As a beast goes down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so did you lead your people, to make yourself a glorious name.
15 Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory: where is your zeal and your strength, the sounding of your bowels and of your mercies toward me? are they restrained?
16 Doubtless you are our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: you, O LORD, are our father, our redeemer; your name is from everlasting.
17 O LORD, why have you made us to err from your ways, and hardened our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
18 The people of your holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
19 We are yours: you never barest rule over them; they were not called by your name.

The words “redeemed” and “redeemer” are the same Hebrew word, ga’al, meaning “to redeem (according to the Oriental law of kinship), i.e. to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative’s property, marry his widow, etc.).”

The LORD named me Timothy for many reasons, the greatest to say I am the price He paid, Christ in me, Jehovah’s Personifying His Salvation in my flesh, doing the work necessary to Redeem the Property He purchased. I am His next of kin, here to fulfill my obligation.

Strong’s Greek Dictionary #5095: Timotheos (pronounced tee-moth’-eh-os) from 5092 and 2316; dear to God; Timotheus, a Christian:–Timotheus, Timothy.

Strong’s Greek Dictionary #5092: time (pronounced tee-may’) from 5099; a value, i.e. money paid, or (concretely and collectively) valuables; by analogy, esteem (especially of the highest degree), or the dignity itself:–honor, precious, price, some.

The redeemed, the Redeemer, and the redemption are earlier described in the words of the previous chapter, 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 burneth.
2 And the Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory: and you shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
3 You shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 You shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall your land any more be termed Desolate: but you shalt 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 [ga’al] of the LORD: and you shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

The first appearances of the Greek word time are in Matthew 27;6 & 9, when the “price,” the little value, is placed on the LORD by the betrayer and those who purchased Him (little here, and there little). The irony is, the LORD, the Most Valued, willingly gave all to redeem His kin from those to who the other (like-kind) betrayers sold them.

Philippians 2
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputing:
15 That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.
17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
18 For the same cause also do you joy, and rejoice with me.
19 But I trust in the LORD Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.
20 For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state [the mind of Christ, as in verse 4 & 5 above].
21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
22 But you know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he has served with me in the gospel.

Jeremiah only uses the word ga’al twice, first in Jeremiah 31:11 telling of when the LORD ransomed Jacob, and in Jeremiah 50:34 speaking of the Redeemer whose name is the LORD of hosts.

Jeremiah 31
10 Hear the word of the LORD, O you nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.
11 For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed [ga’al] him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together [nahar] to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the LORD.
15 Thus says the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah [the city on the hill – from where the light will shine], lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel [Rachel – the teacher of God’s people, who is yet barren] weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
16 Thus says the LORD; Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears: for your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17 And there is hope in your end [‘achariyth], says the LORD, that your children shall come again to their own border.
18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn you me, and I shall be turned; for you are the LORD my God.
19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20 Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, says the LORD.
21 Set you up waymarks, make you high heaps: set your heart toward the highway, even the way which you went: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities.
22 How long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter? for the LORD has created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
23 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless you, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, says the LORD.
29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eats the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, says the LORD:
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.

Jeremiah 50
25 The LORD has opened [pathach] his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the LORD God of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.
27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all you that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she has done, do unto her: for she has been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, says the LORD.
31 Behold, I am against you, O you most proud, says the LORD God of hosts: for your day is come, the time that I will visit you.
32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
33 Thus says the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer [ga’al] is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, says the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36 A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited forever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, says the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
42 They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not show mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
45 Therefore hear you the counsel of the LORD, that he has taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.

Jeremiah 51
12 Set up the standard [nec – the pole upon which Moses raised the brazen serpent, as the son of man must be lifted] upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare [kuwn – perfect] the ambushes: for the LORD has both devised and done that which he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 O you that dwells upon many waters, abundant in treasures, your end is come, and the measure of your covetousness.
14 The LORD of hosts has sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill you with men, as with caterpillars; and they shall lift up a shout against you.
15 He has made the earth by his power, he has established [kuwn – perfected] the world by his wisdom, and has stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16 When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth: he makes lightning with rain, and brings forth the wind out of his treasures. [These are speaking of when the LORD, as now, sends His word from heaven, and His Spirit moves upon them producing understanding. The following verse tells of the words of men as foundationless confusion in which there is no life-giving power.]
17 Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18 They are vanity [worthless], the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19 The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.

Ezekiel 32
1 And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh [the despots who hold God’s people captive] king of Egypt, and say unto him, You are like a young lion of the nations, and you are as a whale [tanniyn – the underlying cause that troubles the waters] in the seas: and you came forth with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.
3 Thus says the LORD God; I will therefore spread out my net over you with a company of many people; and they shall bring you up in my net.
4 Then will I leave you upon the land, I will cast you forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon you, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with you. [See Revelation 19:17 thru 21]
5 And I will lay your flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with your height.
6 I will also water with your blood the land wherein you swim, even to the mountains; and the rivers shall be full of you.
7 And when I shall put you out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and set darkness upon your land, says the LORD God. [These verses tell of the church and state governments, all the people who once understood, from the bloody waters now become ignorant, in darkness without light.]
9 I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known.
10 Yea, I will make many people amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.
11 For thus says the LORD God; The sword of the king of Babylon [confusion now turned mass delusion] shall come upon you.
12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed.
13 I will destroy also all the beasts thereof from beside the great waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of beasts trouble them. [No longer will men trouble, stir, the waters. The mire they stir is as blood in the waters.]
14 Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil, saith the LORD God.
15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate, and the country shall be destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them that dwell therein, then shall they know that I am the LORD.
16 This is the lamentation wherewith they shall lament her: the daughters of the nations shall lament her: they shall lament for her, even for Egypt, and for all her multitude, says the LORD God.
17 It came to pass also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, unto the nether parts of the earth, with them that go down into the pit.
19 Whom do you pass in beauty? go down, and be you laid with the uncircumcised [in the flesh in the hell they’ve created].
20 They shall fall in the midst of them that are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword: draw her and all her multitudes.
21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell [Sheol – the habitation of the dead – who are ignorant and don’t know they are dead] with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised [in the flesh], slain by the sword.
22 Asshur [the communists] is there and all her company: his graves are about him: all of them slain, fallen by the sword:
23 Whose graves are set in the sides of the pit, and her company is round about her grave: all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which caused terror in the land of the living.
24 There is Elam [eternity] and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.
25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword: though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of them that be slain.
26 There is Meshech [those the LORD has drawn out], Tubal [who the LORD brought – into the light of our understanding], and all her multitude: her graves are round about him: all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living.
27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell [Sheol] with their weapons of war [deceit and violence]: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 Yea, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with them that are slain with the sword.
29 There is Edom [the enemies mixed among us], her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with them that go down to the pit.
30 There be the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Zidonians [all who hunt the souls of men], which are gone down with the slain; with their terror they are ashamed of their might; and they lie uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword, and bear their shame with them that go down to the pit.
31 Pharaoh [the despots who’ve held God’s people captive] shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, says the LORD God.
32 For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the LORD God.

Revelation 19
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he does judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And LORD Of LORDs.
17 And I saw an angel [like Samson] standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Psalms 34
1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked unto him, and were lightened [nahar – and were given understand that brought them to Him]: and their faces were not ashamed [and they saw Him face to face, which is the expected end].
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps round about them that fear him, and delivers them.
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him.
9 O fear the LORD, you his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
11 Come, you children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 What man is he that desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile [deception].
14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones: not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
22 The LORD redeems the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

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