Word XP

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

Today’s title is Amos 9:11 and tells of the day (now) when the LORD restores the house of David, meaning when there is again one true (God chosen and established) king sitting on the throne. Amos is the first of all those called the major and minor prophets and the evidence of his dating is found in his words (the LORD’s word by his hand). The book begins with Amos telling us when he understood (saw) the things he is writing. He says it is in the time (689 BC) when Uzziah is the king of Judah, when Jeroboam II is king of Israel, and two years before the earthquake. He is writing about events that occurred much earlier, which are alluded to as the house of Isaac is mention twice in Amos 7. The name Isaac only appears two other times, Psalms 105:9 and Jeremiah 33:26, after the books of Chronicles. In these latter four uses, it is a different word than is used in the many times the name appears before. The earlier times it means he laughs, referring to Sarah’s laughing when she was told she was going to have a child in her old age, and God having the last laugh when the child is born. In the latter four appearances, it is Yischaq, which the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon says mean He will laugh, and is from the word sachaq. It (sachaq) is the word that appears in Psalms 2:4, 37:13, 59:8, and Proverbs 1:26, as we are told of when the LORD will laugh, when He sees the calamity of the wicked is coming, which is put in context by Psalms 2, as the son who comes by the LORD’s proclamation.

In Amos 7 the name Isaac is used to refer us to the sins of Amaziah king of Judah and how it combined again Esau, Israel, and Judah in one corrupt house (therefore defined as the house of Isaac). With these events, the culmination of earlier sins of Judah mixing with idolatrous Israel and resulted in Judah replacing God with the idol of Esau, comes the (major and minor) prophets warning of the impending end of Judah, Jerusalem, and Israel. (As is this nation now warned, and appears to be rejecting the remedy, instead choosing to remain in darkness.)

Amaziah, who is the father of Uzziah, also reigned at the same time as Jeroboam II. In Amos 7 the LORD, through Amos, is speaking to Jeroboam II, king of Israel, through a priest named Amaziah.

What we see in 2 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicle 25 (see the post of 22 January 2018), is that Amaziah (Judah) goes to war with and defeats Edom (Esau) and afterward bring back their idols (gods) and puts them in the temple in God place (abominations in the holy place). Amaziah, after a battle between Judah and Israel in which Judah is defeated, is captured by Joash (Jehoash) king of Israel, the father of Jeroboam II. What is unsaid but alluded to, is Amaziah is carried hostage back to Samaria, where he is (most likely by Jeroboam) put in a priest’s position, over the idols of Edom that were taken from Jerusalem. (Much deeper meaning here – for another day.)

Early in these chapters, we are told of Joash and Amaziah meeting face to face, which result after a very cryptic message is sent to Amaziah by Joash. This message is referring to their common lineage, which didn’t exist until Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel and Ahab (king of Israel – Israel’s kings are not in the Davidic line, and begin with the first Jeroboam in the generation after Solomon), married (Jehoram the son of) Jehoshaphat king of Judah (making all the kings of Judah after them also descendants of Ahab – See Jeremiah 29:19 thru 23). By this both king lines were corrupted, which is another reason why Coniah is separated (cut off) from the kings of Judah at their ending (written childless – See the prior post.) This is also why the LORD told his people to go to Babylon, where the true heir was {in the line that there would begin again in Coniah} and where they should be with Him. (See Jeremiah 29 – Selah!)

2 Kings 14
7 He slew of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Selah [the false rock] by war, and called the name of it Joktheel [obedience to God] unto this day.
8 Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash [Joash], the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face.
9 And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle [{Jehoshaphat the son of} Asa] that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar [Ahab] that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast [Athaliah – Jehovah has constrained] that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle [corrupted/darkened the king line and eventually ended Judah].
10 You have indeed smitten Edom, and your heart has lifted you up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why should you meddle to your hurt, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?
11 But Amaziah would not hear. Therefore Jehoash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Bethshemesh [house of the sun – the church], which belongs to Judah.
12 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel; and they fled every man to their tents.
13 And Jehoash king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash the son of Ahaziah, at Bethshemesh, and came to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
14 And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and hostages [including Amaziah], and returned to Samaria.

2 Chronicles 25
14 Now it came to pass, after that Amaziah was come from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of the children of Seir [Edom], and set them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense unto them.
15 Wherefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against Amaziah, and he sent unto him a prophet, which said unto him, Why have you sought after the gods of the people, which could not deliver their own people out of your hand?
16 And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Are you made of the king’s counsel? forbear; why should you be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not hearkened unto my counsel.
17 Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one another in the face.
18 And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle.
19 You say, Lo, you have smitten the Edomites; and your heart lifts you up to boast: abide now at home; why should you meddle to your hurt, that you should fall, even you, and Judah with you?
20 But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.
21 So Joash the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another in the face, both he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Bethshemesh, which belongeth to Judah.
22 And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent.
23 And Joash the king of Israel took Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Bethshemesh, and brought him to Jerusalem, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim to the corner gate, four hundred cubits.
24 And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of God with Obededom [servant {Amaziah} of Edom {the idols of Esau – who is also called Seir and Idumea}], and the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
25 And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years.

It is in the above context of events the LORD speaks through Amos to what is now as if the house of Isaac, a regression to a more primitive state. Hear the law, the word of God explaining the pattern of the decline of His people, now, and the restoration that comes, after they realize their depraved and fallen state (their sickness unto death) and awaken from their confusion (as Zerubbabel, quickened to life from Babylon). “Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus [the priesthood] is dead.”

Joel tells of the day as the day of darkness, when the sun, moon, and stars have been darkened, which we know means the church, nation, and all God’s people, have become without understanding. It is said to be a day of decision, which is given context by also calling it the valley of Jehoshaphat. This is written in Joel 3:2 where the LORD is telling of when he will gather the His people who have been scattered. The scattering aspect is what leads us to the meaning in association with Jehoshaphat, which is found in 2 Chronicles 18:16. This is when Jehoshaphat and Ahab are trying to decide if they should go to war against Ramothgilead: a name telling of whose advice is going to be followed (whose testimony will be raised).

These two kings put their question to four hundred false prophets, who tell them to go to war. They then look for another prophet who isn’t from this crowd of self-called experts (probably because they know the prophets are never right and only say what keeps them popular and prospering). The prophet they find is named Micaiah [who is like Jehovah], who tells them, “I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, ‘These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.'”

It is in this battle Ahab is killed – because he listened to the false prophets and went.

The battle is in whose words, whose advice and ideas are followed, the many false prophets who have caused the darkness and drought, or the one God is speaking through.

Joel 2
12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13 Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
17 So shall you know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

Deuteronomy 32
1 Give ear, O you heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe you greatness unto our God.
4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do you thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he your father that has bought you? has he not made you, and established you?
7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
9 For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, taketh them, bears them on her wings:
12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;
14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and you did drink the pure blood of the grape.
15 But Jeshurun [God’s people in prosperity that is produced by following His advice] waxed fat, and kicked: you are waxen fat, you are grown thick, you are covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
18 Of the Rock that begat you you are unmindful, and have forgotten God that formed you.
19 And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation [a generation that has twisted and perverted truth], children in whom is no faith.
21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.
25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:
27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD has not done all this.
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 his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,
38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.
39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
43 Rejoice, O you nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

Amos 7
1 Thus has the LORD God shown unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowing.
2 And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O LORD God, forgive, I beseech you: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
3 The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, says the LORD.
4 Thus has the LORD God shown unto me: and, behold, the LORD God called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
5 Then said I, O LORD God, cease, I beseech you: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
6 The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, says the LORD God.
7 Thus he shown me: and, behold, the LORD stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.
8 And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what sees you? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the LORD, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel [the LORD has evaluated what they have built and has given a truthful report]: I will not again pass by them any more:
9 And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos says, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O you seer, go, flee you away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court.
14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit:
15 And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
16 Now therefore hear you the word of the LORD: You say, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not your word against the house of Isaac.
17 Therefore thus says the LORD; Your wife shall be an harlot in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you shall die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.

Amos 8
1 Thus has the LORD God shown unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what see you? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the temple shall be howling in that day, says the LORD God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O you that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? [They want these words to stop so they can get back to the same old corrupt ways – which {stopping} isn’t an option. The options are, REPENT or destroy yourselves.]
7 The LORD has sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this [is it not trembling – on the 4th of July – coincidence, I think not], and every one mourn that dwells therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, says the LORD God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Your god, O Dan, lives; and, The manner of Beersheba lives; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

Amos 9
1 I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that flees of them shall not flee away, and he that escapes of them shall not be delivered.
2 Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them:
4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
5 And the LORD God of hosts is he that touches the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
6 It is he that builds his stories in the heaven, and has founded his troop in the earth; he that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name.
7 Are you not as children of the Ethiopians [covered in darkness] unto me, O children of Israel? says the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?
8 Behold, the eyes of the LORD God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the LORD.
9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, says the LORD that does this.
13 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that sows seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, says the LORD your God.

Proverbs 1
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 To give subtlety to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of your father, and forsake not the law of your mother:
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto your head, and chains about your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you, consent you not.
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily [secretly] for the innocent without cause:
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14 Cast in your lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 My son, walk not you in the way with them; refrain your foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily [unknowingly] for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
20 Wisdom cries without; she utters her voice in the streets:
21 She cries in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she utters her words, saying,
22 How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 Because I have called, and you refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 But you have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 I also will laugh [sachaq] at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes;
27 When your fear comes as desolation, and your destruction comes as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish comes upon you.
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 But whoso hearkens unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.

Psalms 2
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sits in the heavens shall laugh [sachaq]: the LORD shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will declare the decree: the LORD has said unto me, You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10 Be wise now therefore, O you kings: be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

“Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, ‘This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.'”

The above is Haggai 1:2, and is the LORD, through Haggai, speaking to “Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest.” We are told this is in the second year of Darius the king, when we know the building resumed after it was halted by the opposition of those (in Ezra 4:1) called “adversaries.” We are told these men first tried to join in with the builders and when rejected resorted to false accusation. This is the pattern of our time, the opposition among us, as discussed in prior posts, as the gates of hell attempting to hold us.

These same adversaries (tsar) are described in Nehemiah 4:11, the chapter’s wording describing a hell-like setting. It tells of those sent from foreign nations becoming confederate with the remainder of idol worshipping Israel, against Judah building Jerusalem, which was a burned ruin.

Nehemiah 4
1 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat [the powerful] heard that we built the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.
2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria [at this point Samaria had become fully corrupted by what can be likened to the illegal immigration of our time – then, to show the pattern, it was those sent in by the king of Babylon], and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?
3 Now Tobiah [claiming to be the goodness of Jehovah – false Christians and Jews – enemies among us taking the LORD’s name in vain – Esau types] the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
4 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:
5 And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before you: for they have provoked you to anger before the builders.
6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
7 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites [names meaning the darkness mixed with God’s people, He will destroy], heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
8 And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
10 And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.
11 And our adversaries [tsar – Satan inspired] said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease.
12 And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places whence you shall return unto us they will be upon you.
13 Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14 And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not you afraid of them: remember the LORD, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
15 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to naught, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.
16 And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.
17 They which built on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
18 For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so built. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
19 And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.
20 In what place therefore you hear the sound of the trumpet, resort you thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.

It is into these events the LORD sends His word by Haggai (who is another of Ezekiel’s and Obadiah’s contemporaries). The names used in first verses of Haggai 1 translate into saying it is the LORD who now reigns in Babylon; He has prepared a feast for those who’ve been born by coming out of the confusion that before ruled in His place; and this is Jehovah’s Salvation born from His righteousness.

Haggai 1
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,
2 Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built.
3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
4 Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
5 Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
6 You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but you have not enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earns wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes.
7 Thus says the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says the LORD.
9 You looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? says the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and you run every man unto his own house.
10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground brings forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.
13 Then spake Haggai the LORD’s messenger in the LORD’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, says the LORD.
14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Haggai 2
1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,
2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,
3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do you see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?
4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land, says the LORD, and work: for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts:
5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my spirit remains among you: fear you not.
6 For thus says the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.
8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, says the LORD of hosts.
10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
11 Thus says the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,
12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.
13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.
14 Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, says the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:
16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the press-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.
17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you turned not to me, says the LORD.
18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider it.
19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, has not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.
20 And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,
21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;
22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
23 In that day, says the LORD of hosts, will I take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, says the LORD, and will make you as a signet [chowtham]: for I have chosen you, says the LORD of hosts.

As we saw in the prior post, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, the son of Coniah, who we are told in Jeremiah 22:24 is a signet on the LORD’s right hand, is also said will be a signet the LORD has chosen. The signet is the signature ring, that is pressed into a seal that can only be opened by the one to whom the message is sent. These are the ideas written in Job 38 where, as above in verse 21 & 22, we are told of this unsealing as what shake the world and the wicked from it.

The deep meaning is the LORD opens His word, the message He has written and reserved for His own use, by opening what he has sealed, His word in the person he chooses, in whom He manifests His presence. This is the mystery of God ended and shown for all the earth to see.

Job 38
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
2 Who is this that darkens counsel [brought ignorance to rule the world] by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up now your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and answer you me.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if you have understanding.
5 Who has laid the measures thereof, if you know? or who has stretched the line upon it?
6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
9 When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling-band for it [made the ignorance a protective wrapping to protect man from himself],
10 And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
11 And said, Hitherto shall you come, but no further: and here shall your proud waves be stayed [man’s pride in His ignorance and vanity]?
12 Have you commanded the morning since your days; and caused the dayspring [the beginning of this new age of light- understanding] to know his place;
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
14 It is turned as clay to the seal [chowtham]; and they stand as a garment [a flesh cover wherein the LORD dwells].
15 And from the wicked their light [understanding] is withheld [it is sealed from them], and the high arm shall be broken.
16 Have you entered into the springs of the sea? or have you walked in the search of the depth?
17 Have the gates of death been opened unto you? or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Have you perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if you know it all.
19 Where is the way where light [understanding] dwells? and as for darkness [ignorance], where is the place thereof,
20 That you should take it to the bound thereof, and that you should know the paths to the house thereof?
21 Know you it, because you were then born? or because the number of your days is great?
22 Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? or have you seen the treasures of the hail, [this word of God frozen in heaven, reserved there until God reveals it in manifesting His presence]
23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is the light parted, which scatters the east wind [God’s Spirit] upon the earth?
25 Who has divided a watercourse for the overflowing of [these] waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder [the voice of understanding];
26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth [and man is quickened to life from where there was no man]?
28 Has the rain a father? or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who has gendered it?
30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
31 Can you bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or can you guide Arcturus with his sons? [When the sons of God are called forward, when the foundation of the earth is again established and the cornerstone is set in His place. “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”]
33 Know you the ordinances of heaven? can you set the dominion thereof in the earth?
34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover you?
35 Can you send lightnings [understanding], that they may go and say unto you, Here we are [as God has done in me]?
36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? or who has given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
38 When the dust grows into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
39 Will you hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
41 Who provides for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat. [They wander because the wisdom of man has proved to be foolishness and vanity. But thankfully God provides meat that gathers them again to His light.]

As we’ve discussed, when Coniah is said to be a signet on the right hand of God, it is speaking of a mystery sealed with Him in what is written in Jeremiah 22. It is this revelation that shows all the earth God’s presence in its engineering (the intelligent and supernatural design that proves immortality).

Jeremiah 22
1 Thus says the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,
2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sits upon the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people that enter in by these gates:
3 Thus says the LORD; Execute you judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.
4 For if you do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.
5 But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, says the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.
6 For thus says the LORD unto the king’s house of Judah; You are Gilead [a spring of testimony] unto me, and the head of Lebanon [purity]: yet surely I will make you a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.
7 And I will prepare destroyers against you, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore has the LORD done thus unto this great city?
9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.
10 Weep you not for the dead [Josiah], neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.
11 For thus says the LORD touching Shallum [this is thought to be another name for Jehoahaz, who reigned for three months and was then taken away captive by Pharaoh Neco. It appears to also be speaking of the retribution, the LORD’s wrath, that comes upon all Josiah’s sons.] the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:
12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.
13 Woe unto him that builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and gives him not for his work; [it is speaking of the taxation under Eliakim {Jehoiakim}, which was then give to foreigners, as ordered by Pharaoh Neco. This was discussed in detail in the prior post, and seen as the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes spoken of in Revelation 2:15, which the LORD says He hates.]
14 That says, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cuts him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15 Shall you reign, because you closest yourself in cedar? did not your father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? says the LORD.
17 But your eyes and your heart are not but for your covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
18 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah LORD! or, Ah his glory!
19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all your lovers are destroyed.
21 I spoke unto you in your prosperity; but you said, I will not hear. This has been your manner from your youth, that you obeyed not my voice.
22 The wind shall eat up all your pastors, and your lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shall you be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.
23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that make your nest in the cedars, how gracious shall you be when pangs come upon you, the pain as of a woman in travail! [Because you have a man child to bring forth.]
24 As I live, says the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck you thence [cut you off – see Daniel 9:26, when Messiah is cut off];
25 And I will give you into the hand of them that seek your life, and into the hand of them whose face you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26 And I will cast you out, and your mother that bare you, into another country, where you were not born; and there shall you die.
27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
28 Is this man Coniah [Jehovah will establish] a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
30 Thus says the LORD, Write you this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

The mystery is in the question why Matthew recorded the LORD Jesus’ lineage without including Jehoiakim as the father of Coniah. It is so all the earth, earth, earth would see this is the cutting off Daniel saw, which Matthew later saw through these prophets writing. Matthew then obediently wrote the LORD’s family line excluding Jehoiakim, writing him childless, as commanded, and thereby also showing the LORD’s Devine origin.

Jeremiah uses words telling of Coniah as the Messiah (the anointed, chosen of God, son of David), when he asks, in verse 28 above, if he is a broken and despised idol, or a vessel wherein is no pleasure. This last portion is leading us to what the apostles of the LORD knew, and many wrote of as what they heard the Father says of Him. See below Peter recounting what he heard, and Hebrews 13 telling us in what the Father is “well pleased”

2 Peter 1
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.
12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and be established [Coniah – Jehovah will establish] in the present truth.
13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our LORD Jesus Christ has shown me.
15 Moreover I will endeavor that you may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our LORD Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17 For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2 Peter 2
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily [from their own imaginations] shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the LORD that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not.

Hebrews 13
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established [Coniah – Jehovah will establish] with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

The word Jeremiah uses, rendered “despised,” in Jeremiah 22:28 above, when asking if Coniah is a despised idol, is the Hebrew word bazah. This word is used twice by Isaiah, both appearing in Isaiah 53:3, therein describing the unrecognized and despised LORD, who those who are worshipping idols think is just another idol like the ones they’ve created, and they, therefore, reject Him.

Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised [bazah] and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised [bazah], and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Psalms 60
1 O God, you have cast us off, you have scattered us, you have been displeased; O turn yourself to us again.
2 You have made the earth to tremble; you have broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shakes.
3 You have shown your people hard things: you have made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
4 You have given a banner to them that fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
5 That your beloved may be delivered; save with your right hand, and hear me.
6 God has spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem [the burden], and mete out the valley of Succoth [booths].
7 Gilead [the spring of testimony] is mine, and Manasseh [the things you’ve forgotten] is mine; Ephraim [this second blessing/gift] also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;
8 Moab is my wash-pot [this entrance is for cleansing]; over Edom will I cast out my shoe [I will take them into possession]: Philistia [immigrant invaders], triumph you because of me.
9 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
10 Will not you, O God, which had cast us off? and you, O God, which did not go out with our armies?
11 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
12 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

So have you also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.

In prior posts, we’ve discussed Revelation 2 where the LORD is speaking to the church at Thyatira, a place we saw defining this church as held by the gate of hell. We saw this gate therein described as under the power of an evil spirit (Satan) by the means of false prophets in their midst. We saw the passage referring us to Jeremiah and 2 Kings, and referring to the end of Judah, Jerusalem, and seemingly the Davidic king line.

The title verse, Revelation 2:15, adds further to the same references, the Nicolaitanes referring us to Pharaoh Neco who made Eliakim king after his father Josiah’s death, and the removal of Jehoahaz (who reigned for only three months). Pharaoh then changes Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. We are told in 2 Kings 23:35 of the evil Eliakim did to his own people, saying, “And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.” (see Daniel 11:20)

As we know, these events are written in ways showing their deeper truer intended meaning of our time, the events that end this age and begin the next.

2 Kings 23
24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah [whose portion, inheritance, is Jehovah] the priest found in the house of the LORD.
25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
26 Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.
27 And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.
28 Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
29 In his days Pharaohnechoh [Pharaoh Neco {the great house is smitten} – the Nicolaitanes, whose doctrine and intention is to rob God’s people their wealth by taxation] king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo [Armageddon – the rendezvous, the appointed time of all meeting with God], when he had seen him.
30 And his servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulcher. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz [Jehovah has seized] the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
31 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
32 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.
33 And Pharaohnechoh put him in bands at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and put the land to a tribute of an hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
34 And Pharaohnechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away: and he came to Egypt, and died there.
35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give the money according to the commandment of Pharaoh: he exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every one according to his taxation, to give it unto Pharaohnechoh.
36 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. [these names tells us of the seed of the woman, those through whom Christ would come]
37 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

When the above tells of Eliakim’s (Jehoiakim’s) mother and her bloodline, the names used mean, respectively in reverse, the highest ransom from Jehovah is given.

This is the bloodline of Christ given to us in Matthew 1, this portion saying, “11 And Josias [Josiah] begat Jechonias [Coniah, also called Jehoiachin and Jeconiah, meaning Jehovah will establish] and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;”

The last two names above, in reverse order, are Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, spoken of by Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah. As we know, Zachariah 4 tells us Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of the house, and whose hands will finish it – not by worldly power or might, but by the Spirit of the LORD. As we know, the name Zerubbabel means he is born by coming out of confusion (even though he is still in the land of Babylon {confusion}). Shealtiel means he asked God (for a deliverer or deliverance). Matthew’s bloodline skips Eliakim, the father of Coniah, to show us he is a Christ-like figure, without father. Coniah reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem after Eliakim and was then carried away captive into Babylon. There he was held prisoner for thirty-six years before His release (the same number of years Jesus Christ was held by His earthly body – coincidence, I think not).

As we have seen, Coniah is spoken of by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 22:24 and 28, where we are told he is a signet upon the LORD right hand, meaning He is a sign of the LORD’s power found in His written word and His coinciding supernatural work as it appears. Before Coniah is there mentioned, the LORD, through Jeremiah’s hand, is speaking of and to the works of Eliakim (Jehoiakim) and the evil he wrought with Pharaoh Neco. This is the same evil done in our time when foreign ways have been brought in and rule over God’s people, and their rulers make laws to rob them of their wealth, which eventually destroys them. These are the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which the LORD Jesus Christ says He hates.

Revelation 2
12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos [those who’ve elevated themselves – the lofty] write; These things says he which has the sharp sword with two edges;
13 I know your works, and where you dwell, even where Satan’s seat is: and you hold fast my name, and have not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas [who is like the Father] was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwells [Satan dwells in hell, where the dead are, where the church is].
14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication [interaction with idols instead of God, the Father, as did Ahab and Jezebel].
15 So have you also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes [taxing God’s people to give their wealth to others, not of His nation], which thing I hate.
16 Repent; or else I will come unto you quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knows saving he that receives it.
18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira [held down, in death, by the gates of hell] write; These things says the Son of God, who has his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
19 I know your works, and charity, and service, and faith, and your patience, and your works; and the last to be more than the first.
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against you, because you suffer that woman Jezebel [Ahab’s wife, and Baal worshipper], which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
23 And I will kill her children with death [there can be no quickening into life for those who follow false prophets and unfaithful preachers]; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searches the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
25 But that which you have already hold fast till I come.
26 And he that overcomes, and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
28 And I will give him the morning star.
29 He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.

The above is speaking to/of men who’ve mingled themselves among God’s people, who the LORD speaks of and to through Ezekiel, and his contemporary Obadiah.

Ezekiel begins by telling us he is in Babylon, in the captivity, in the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s [Coniah’s] captivity. As we know, the vision recorded in chapter 1, of the wheel and the living creatures going forward, are speaking of the word of God coming through the prophets. As we know, reading and being given understanding (by God’s Spirit) of their intricacies (depth), we understand our own time as the patterns of the same events and are thereby brought from the darkness. It is in this light (understanding) we are quickened to life, moved forward in God’s power, by the Spirit of the LORD in us, into victory over these circumstances.

Friends, Ezekiel, and Obadiah his contemporary, in describing these men, use the analogy of Esau (Seir, Edom, and Idumea), telling us they are mingled among us as those who have sold their birthright by follows their own bellies as their gods. These are the domestic enemies among us, shortsighted and oblivious, seeking to destroy us from within, to fulfill their animal, unnatural, and insane lusts.

Philippians 3
1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the LORD. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
2 Beware of dogs [among us and always barking], beware of evil workers, beware of the concision [Esau].
3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he has whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my LORD: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as you have us for an example.
18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:
19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Ezekiel 34
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus says the LORD God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
3 You eat the fat, and you clothe you with the wool, you kill them that are fed: but you feed not the flock.
4 The diseased have you not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them.
5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
8 As I live, says the LORD God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
9 Therefore, O you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
10 Thus says the LORD God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
11 For thus says the LORD God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the LORD God.
16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
17 And as for you, O my flock, thus says the LORD God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.
18 Seem it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?
19 And as for my flock, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.
20 Therefore thus says the LORD God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.
21 Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad;
22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.
23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.
27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.
28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.
29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.
30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, says the LORD God.
31 And you my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the LORD God.

Ezekiel 35
1 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set your face against mount Seir [Esau – the enemies among us – the concision], and prophesy against it,
3 And say unto it, Thus says the LORD God; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against you, and I will stretch out mine hand against you, and I will make you most desolate.
4 I will lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate, and you shall know that I am the LORD.
5 Because you have had a perpetual hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
6 Therefore, as I live, says the LORD God, I will prepare you unto blood, and blood shall pursue you: sith [since] you have not hated blood, even blood shall pursue you.
7 Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passes out and him that returns.
8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in your hills, and in your valleys, and in all your rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword.
9 I will make you perpetual desolations, and your cities shall not return: and you shall know that I am the LORD.
10 Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the LORD was there:
11 Therefore, as I live, says the LORD God, I will even do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have used out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged you.
12 And you shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.
13 Thus with your mouth you have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14 Thus says the LORD God; When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.
15 As you did rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto you: you shall be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 36
1 Also, you son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:
2 Thus says the LORD God; Because the enemy has said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus says the LORD God; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:
4 Therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD God; Thus says the LORD God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;
5 Therefore thus says the LORD God; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus says the LORD God; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because you have borne the shame of the heathen:
7 Therefore thus says the LORD God; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.
8 But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.
9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and you shall be tilled and sown:
10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be build:
11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and you shall know that I am the LORD.
12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more henceforth bereave them of men.
13 Thus says the LORD God; Because they say unto you, You land devors up men, and have bereaved your nations:
14 Therefore you shall devour men no more, neither bereave your nations any more, says the LORD God.
15 Neither will I cause men to hear in you the shame of the heathen any more, neither shall you bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shall you cause your nations to fall any more, says the LORD God.
16 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:
19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus says the LORD God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the heathen, whither you went.
23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, says the LORD God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28 And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
29 I will also save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
31 Then shall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
32 Not for your sakes do I this, says the LORD God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
33 Thus says the LORD God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.
34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.
35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.
37 Thus says the LORD God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Obadiah
1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the LORD God concerning Edom; We have heard a rumor from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise you, and let us rise up against her in battle.
2 Behold, I have made you small among the heathen: you are greatly despised.
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you that dwells in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high [the lofty]; that says in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
4 Though you exalt yourself as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, thence will I bring you down, says the LORD.
5 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 searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!
7 All the men of your confederacy have brought you even to the border: the men that were at peace with you have deceived you, and prevailed against you; they that eat your bread have laid a wound under you: there is none understanding in him.
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 place where wisdom should dwell and once did – where God’s right hand is now seen], 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 shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off for ever.
11 In the day that you stood on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even you were as one of them.
12 But you should not have looked on the day of your brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither should you have spoken proudly in the day of distress.
13 You should not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, you should not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;
14 Neither should you have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither should you have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.
15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as you have done, it shall be done unto you: your reward shall return upon your own head.
16 For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD has spoken it.
19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
21 And saviors shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s.

Psalms 21
1 The king shall joy in your strength, O LORD; and in your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.
3 For you prevented [went before him preparing his throne] him with the blessings of goodness: you set a crown of pure gold on his head.
4 He asked life of you, and you gave it him, even length of days for ever and ever.
5 His glory is great in your salvation: honor and majesty have you laid upon him.
6 For you have made him most blessed for ever: you have made him exceeding glad with your countenance.
7 For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand shall find out all your enemies: your right hand shall find out those that hate you.
9 You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.
10 Their fruit shall you destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.
11 For they intended evil against you: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
12 Therefore shall you make them turn their back, when you shall make ready your arrows upon your strings against the face of them.
13 Be you exalted, LORD, in your own strength: so will we sing and praise your power.

And He shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

The title is Revelation 2:27 and is the LORD speaking to the church at Thyatira. As briefly alluded to in the prior post, the name Thyatira appears to be compounded from the Greek words thura, meaning door or gate, and tereo, meaning to guard. In the passage, these meanings are seen in their intended context, by which we understand where, by what means, and under whose power, this church is held.

Revelation 2

18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira [held down, in death, by the gates of hell] write; These things says the Son of God, who has his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;19 I know your works, and charity, and service, and faith, and your patience, and your works; and the last to be more than the first.20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against you, because you suffer that woman Jezebel [Ahab’s wife, and Baal worshipper], which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.23 And I will kill her children with death [there can be no quickening into life for those who follow false prophets and unfaithful preachers]; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searches the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.25 But that which you have already hold fast till I come.26 And he that overcomes, and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.28 And I will give him the morning star.29 He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.

Here following are the definitions, of the above-mentioned words, from the Strong’s Greek Dictionary.

Strong’s #2374: thura (pronounced thoo‘-rah) apparently a primary word (compare “door”); a portal or entrance (the opening or the closure, literally or figuratively):–door, gate.

Strong’s #5083: tereo (pronounced tay–reh‘-o) from teros (a watch; perhaps akin to 2334); to guard (from loss or injury, properly, by keeping the eye upon; and thus differing from 5442, which is properly to prevent escaping; and from 2892, which implies a fortress or full military lines of apparatus), i.e. to note (a prophecy; figuratively, to fulfil a command); by implication, to detain (in custody; figuratively, to maintain); by extension, to withhold (for personal ends; figuratively, to keep unmarried); by extension, to withhold (for personal ends; figuratively, to keep unmarried):–hold fast, keep(- er), (pre-, re-)serve, watch.

When Revelation 2:27 tell of the LORD breaking them as the vessel of the potter, it is referring us to Jeremiah 18 when the LORD tells Jeremiah to go down to the potter’s house. In the context of the current ongoing discussion, speaking of the end of Judah and Jerusalem, here they are likened to the work of a potter’s hand. The LORD is sending Jeremiah with His word, to (first) break in pieces the vessel marred in the hand (by the words) of the potters who’ve made them. We know from the surrounding chapters, Jeremiah has been sent to speak to the kings, priests, and prophets, who are here the potter whose hands made the marred vessel.

Jeremiah 19 begins by addressing these same men in this same light, in verse 2 calling them the “sons of Hinnom.” Hinnom is Gehenna, hell, where the kings of Judah sacrificed their children to idols, in the fire. Jeremiah is speaking to them in the east gate, which is where the LORD will enter. This is what the title and Thyatira are speaking of, where the false prophets, the corrupt priesthood, in the power of the king of hell, a son of Hinnom, Satan, are resisting and opposing the King’s entry.
What the LORD is telling Jeremiah to speak of, is He, as Master Potter, has the power, authority, and the obligation, to break the old (ruined) vessel and make a new one that is without the same fatal flaws.

Jeremiah 18

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear my words.3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred [shachath – decayed or ruined] in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? says the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in mine hand, O house of Israel.7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return you now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.13 Therefore thus says the LORD; Ask you now among the heathen, who has heard such things: the virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which comes from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?15 Because my people has forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passes thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.18 Then said they, Come and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before you to speak good for them, and to turn away your wrath from them.21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when you shall bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.23 Yet, LORD, you know all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from your sight, but let them be overthrown before you; deal thus with them in the time of your anger.

Jeremiah 19

1 Thus says the LORD, Go and get a potter’s earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom [hell], which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you,3 And say, Hear you the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever hears, his ears shall tingle [as in 2 Kings 21:12].4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind:6 Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet [a place of fire], nor The valley of the son of Hinnom [hell], but The valley of slaughter.7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.8 And I will make this city desolate, and a hissing; every one that passes thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.10 Then shall you break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with you,11 And shall say unto them, Thus says the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet [the place of their fires], till there be no place to bury.12 Thus will I do unto this place, says the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD’s house; and said to all the people,15 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

The word used above in saying the ears, which hear this proclamation of the end, will “tingle,” is the four times used word Hebrew word tsalal. As we see in Jeremiah 19:3 above, it also appears in 2 Kings 21:12, which we saw in the prior post speaks of the end of the Judah and Jerusalem and it coinciding with the seeming end of the Davidic king line.

The same word appears in 1 Samuel 3:11, also rendered “tingle,” and in Habakkuk 3:16 where it’s translated “quiver” in telling Habakkuk’s reaction when he hears of the LORD’s appearing. He is rejoicing at His coming, understanding it is for our salvation, but quivers because he understands it is the self-destruction of those who oppose Him.

1 Samuel 3

1 And the child Samuel [he hears God] ministered unto the LORD before Eli [the lofty – who have risen on high]. And the word of the LORD was precious [rare – not heard often, therefore Samuel at first thinks it is the word of Eli {men, priests, who’ve raised themselves up in God’s place}] in those days; there was no open vision [there was no understanding, light in people, of the deeper meaning].2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;3 And ere the lamp [understanding] of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel [hearing God] was laid down to sleep [in a death-like state];4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I.5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for you called me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you did call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.7 Now Samuel did not yet know [the voice of] the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you did call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, Speak, LORD; for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for your servant hears.11 And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that hears it shall tingle [tsalal].12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end [of the corrupt priesthood – and will replace it with those hearing the voice of the LORD].13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knows; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to show Eli the vision.16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.17 And he said, What is the thing that the LORD has said unto you? I pray you hide it not from me: God do so to you, and more also, if you hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto you.18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seems him good.19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD. [The pattern that is in our time those who’ve heard His correction, become His children, and faithfully speak His word in the pure form He has given it.]21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

This last verse is what Habakkuk understands, the power as rays of light coming from the LORD’s hand, in His word and works of revelation (interpretation opening vision).

Habakkuk 3

1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth [from the word shagah, meaning to err – telling of the when the LORD’s hand is upon those who’ve erred and gone astray. It appears three times in Isaiah 28:7 describing these men. “But they also have erred [shagah] through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred [shagah] through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err [shgagah] in vision, they stumble in judgment.”]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 [appeared in work of His right hand], and the Holy One from mount Paran [His interpretation into clarity]. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns [as rays of light] coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power [‘oz].5 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.6 He stood, and measured 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 [in darkness] in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian [strife] did tremble.8 Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was your anger against the rivers? was your wrath against the sea, that you did ride upon your horses and your chariots of salvation?9 Your bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even your word. Selah. You did cleave the earth with rivers.10 The mountains saw you, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.11 The sun and moon [church and state governments] 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 the foundation unto the neck. Selah.14 You did strike through with his staves the head 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 [this word of God].16 When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered [tsalal] 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.17 Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

Isaiah 28

5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sits in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.7 But they also have erred [shagah] through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred [shagah] through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err [shagah] in vision, they stumble in judgment.8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.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.

Proverbs 28

9 He that turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.10 Whoso causes the righteous to go astray [shagah] in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.11 The rich man is wise in his own conceit; but the poor that has understanding searches him out.12 When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory: but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden.13 He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.14 Happy is the man that fears always: but he that hardens his heart shall fall into mischief.15 As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.16 The prince that wants understanding is also a great oppressor: but he that hates covetousness shall prolong his days.17 A man that does violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.18 Whoso walks uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once.19 He that tills his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that follows after vain persons shall have poverty enough.20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that makes haste to be rich shall not be innocent.21 To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.22 He that hastes to be rich has an evil eye, and considers not that poverty shall come upon him.23 He that rebukes a man afterwards shall find more favor than he that flatters with the tongue.24 Whoso robs his father or his mother, and says, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer.25 He that is of a proud heart stirs up strife: but he that puts his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.26 He that trusts in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walks wisely, he shall be delivered.27 He that gives unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hides his eyes shall have many a curse.28 When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase.

Psalms118

1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endures for ever.2 Let Israel now say, that his mercy endures for ever.3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endures for ever.4 Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endures for ever.5 I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?7 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.10 All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.11 They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.12 They compassed me about like bees: they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.13 You have thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.14 The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.18 The LORD has chastened me sore: but he has not given me over unto death.19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:20 This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.21 I will praise you: for you have heard me, and are become my salvation.22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.24 This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.25 Save now, I beseech you, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech you, send now prosperity.26 Blessed be he that comes in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.27 God is the LORD, which has showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.28 You are my God, and I will praise you: you are my God, I will exalt you.29 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.

Psalms 61

1 Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto you, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.3 For you have been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.4 I will abide in your tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of your wings. Selah.5 For you, O God, have heard my vows: you have given me the heritage of those that fear your name.6 You will prolong the king’s life: and his years as many generations.7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.8 So will I sing praise unto your name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

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.

The title verse is Jeremiah 16:21, the final verse of the chapter. It is referring to what is written in Habakkuk 3:4 when we are told the LORD’s power is hidden in His hand. The word Habakkuk uses, rendered “power,” is the Hebrew word ‘oz, which appears in Jeremiah 16:19 where it is translated “strength.” It comes in what is a parenthetical statement of Jeremiah as he is telling of the end of those against who the LORD said His anger has been kindled.

Jeremiah 16

17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid 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.

In the following verse, we are told the LORD’s might is in His hand, as with it He has written (documented) the sins of Judah, describing them as the ideas in their minds (hearts) and the idols they worship. This is after the death of Josiah and speaks of the end of Judah under the rule of the kings (sons of Josiah) who followed. This decline into national destruction, as mention in the previous post, is foretold in 2 Kings 21, which is referred to in Jeremiah 15:4. As we’ve seen, this is speaking, in a pattern, of our time and the continual backsliding, as came in the king immediately after Hezekiah and Josiah, who both led periods of repentance. As we know, Hezekiah’s occurred during the time of Isaiah, and Josiah’s during Jeremiah’s.

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. [this is contrasted against what Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 16:9 above.] 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert [like a dry tree 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 [the mind that is without the LORD’s word, darkened and without understanding] 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.

2 Kings 21

1 Manasseh [causing to forget] was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzibah [{causing to forget} My delight {is} in her].2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.10 And the LORD spoke by his servants the prophets, saying,11 Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols:12 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever hears of it, both his ears shall tingle.

Jeremiah 17:9 & 10 tell us the LORD knows the mind of man, and the self-inflicted tribulation of those without understanding. The same concept is expanded upon, by Paul in Romans 8, and by John in Revelation 2, both examples of the LORD’s power projected by the His hand as the hand of men writing His word.

Romans 8

21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for?25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.26 Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered.27 And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies.

Revelation 2

18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira [held down, in death, by the gates of hell] write; These things says the Son of God, who has his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;19 I know your works, and charity, and service, and faith, and your patience, and your works; and the last to be more than the first.20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against you, because you suffer that woman Jezebel [Ahab’s wife, and Baal worshipper], which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.23 And I will kill her children with death [there can be no quickening into life for those who follow false prophets and unfaithful preachers]; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searches the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.25 But that which you have already hold fast till I come.26 And he that overcomes, and keeps my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.28 And I will give him the morning star.29 He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.

The end of Judah and Jerusalem comes with the family line of David seemingly ending, which Jeremiah writes of in Jeremiah 22. This is spoken of in the pattern of the LORD’s death, and why the writing was placed over His head on the cross, above His crown of thorns, saying, “Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews [Judah].”

Jeremiah, in chapter 23, then tell of the LORD rising, in spite of those who have destroyed His pasture.

Jeremiah 22

1 Thus says the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people that enter in by these gates:3 Thus says the LORD; Execute you judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place.4 For if you do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.5 But if you will not hear these words, I swear by myself, says the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.6 For thus says the LORD unto the king’s house [family] of Judah; You are Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make you a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.7 And I will prepare destroyers against you, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down your choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore has the LORD done thus unto this great city?9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.10 Weep you not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goes away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.11 For thus says the LORD touching Shallum [the LORD’s vengeance coming upon the sons of Josiah – and our hope coming as the line is raised from the dead to resume the David line, as promised] son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more:12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more.13 Woe unto him that builds his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that uses his neighbor’s service without wages, and gives him not for his work;14 That says, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cuts him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.15 Shall you reign, because you closest yourself in cedar? did not your father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? says the LORD.17 But your eyes and your heart are not but for your covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.18 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah LORD! or, Ah his glory!19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem.20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up your voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all your lovers are destroyed.21 I spoke unto you in your prosperity; but you said, I will not hear. This has been your manner from your youth, that you obeyed not my voice.22 The wind shall eat up all your pastors, and your lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shall you be ashamed and confounded for all your wickedness.23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that make your nest in the cedars, how gracious shall you be when pangs come upon you, the pain as of a woman in travail!24 As I live, says the LORD, though Coniah [Jehovah will reestablish – the king line] the son of Jehoiakim [in whom Jehovah raises up from the dead] king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck you thence;25 And I will give you into the hand of them that seek your life, and into the hand of them whose face you fear, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.26 And I will cast you out, and your mother that bare you, into another country, where you were not born; and there shall you die.27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.28 Is this man Coniah [the LORD will reestablish] a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.30 Thus says the LORD, Write you this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

Jeremiah 23

1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD.2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, says the LORD.3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, says the LORD.5 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The LORD Our Righteousness.7 Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD lives, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;8 But, The LORD lives, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force [‘oz – the power hidden in their hand] is not right.11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, says the LORD.12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, says the LORD.13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none does return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.16 Thus says the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD has said, You shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walks after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.18 For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, and has perceived and heard his word? who has marked his word, and heard it?19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.20 The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have 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? says the LORD.25 I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.26 How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;27 Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal.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 break 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.32 Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, says the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, says the LORD.33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the burden of the LORD? you shall then say unto them, What burden? I will even forsake you, says the LORD.34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.35 Thus shall you say every one to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, What has the LORD answered? and, What has the LORD spoken?36 And the burden of the LORD shall you mention no more: for every man’s word shall be his burden; for you have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.37 Thus shall you say to the prophet, What has the LORD answered you? and, What has the LORD spoken?38 But since you say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus says the LORD; Because you say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, You shall not say, The burden of the LORD;39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.

1 Timothy 6

10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.11 But you, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto you are also called, and have professed a good profession before many witnesses.13 I give you charge in the sight of God, who quickens all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;14 That you keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our LORD Jesus Christ:15 Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and LORD of lords;16 Who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy;18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:21 Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

2 Timothy 2

1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.2 And the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit you to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.3 You therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.4 No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier.5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.6 The husbandman that labors must be first partaker of the fruits.7 Consider what I say; and the LORD give you understanding in all things.8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:13 If we believe not, yet he abides faithful: he cannot deny himself.14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the LORD that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.15 Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

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 speaketh 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.19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.20 But you, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our LORD Jesus Christ unto eternal life.22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:23 And others save with fear, pulling [harpazo] them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,25 To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

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 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 for ever. 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.

I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

The above is Habakkuk 2:1 and is Habakkuk waiting and watching, in silence, for the LORD to speak. This is connected to the last verse of the chapter, which says, “But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” Just before this last verse, we are told of those who are dumb idols, who others are watching and waiting for, expecting them to rise and teach. We are told there is no breath in these men or their idols, who are as dumb stones and dead wood, in which there is no life.

(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.)

Habakkuk, meaning to grasp or take hold of with the hand (the work of the hand), is speaking of the vision of when God takes hold of His people, and in realizing His presence the wise are silent and listening to Him teach. Habakkuk is a contemporary of Jeremiah, and Zephaniah, each telling of the same silence as the word of God is found and heard. These prophets are speaking to Judah in the time of king Josiah and describing the desolation of Judah and Jerusalem, and the delay, under Josiah, of their eventual end, which is spoken of and ends Jeremiah’s book. This end comes at the hands of Babylon (confusion) and lasts until our time and the end of the LORD’s silence when He silences the idols of confusion.

Jeremiah 8

1 At that time, says the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, says the LORD of hosts.4 Moreover you shall say unto them, Thus says the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slid back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.6 I hearkened and heard, but they spoke not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rushes into the battle.7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.8 How do you say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one deals falsely.11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, says the LORD.13 I will surely consume them, says the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defensed cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.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 has taken hold on me.22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Jeremiah begins by telling us, in Jeremiah 1:2, it is in the thirteenth year of king Josiah, who at the time would have only been twenty-one years old. (See 2 Kings 22:1 and do the math.) We know from many prior studies, Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 4:23, uses the exact words of Genesis 1:2 to tell of the state of Judah and Jerusalem, as without form and void. This is the total desolation that had come, as in the Genesis pattern, when darkness covers the world, meaning the word of God was silenced and there was no understanding. We know the meaning from the only other time these Genesis words (towhu bohuw) are used, in Isaiah 34:11, there descriptively rendered instead as “confusion” and “emptiness.” It tells of the foundation becoming confusion, and the stones built upon it are emptiness (void of value).

We know in Isaiah 34:4 we are told of the heavens being rolled together as a scroll, meaning the place where the word of God is rightly divided (per Genesis 1:6 thru 8 and the second day) and the word of God was closed and unknown. We also told, later in verse 8, of all the streams turned into pitch, meaning the words and ideas flowing to the people had become darkened (nothing but ignorance).

Much later, 70 years after the end of Isaiah, in the eighteenth year of Josiah, recorded in Jeremiah 15:16, we are told of the word of God being found. We are also told of Jeremiah eating them, of them becoming his joy and rejoicing, and saying, “I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.” We know Jeremiah’s name means Jehovah will rise, and tells of the LORD rising in him, and raising up the His people through him.

This event, the book, the word of God, being found, is recorded in both 2 Kings 22:8 and 2 Chronicles 34:15. In the latter, in its earlier verses, we are told of the same events Jeremiah speaks of beginning in chapter 8 above, happening in the eighth year of king Josiah. These are telling of the pattern, spiritually speaking, of this time and the condition from which we will rise. The name Josiah translates into telling of him being the restorer of the foundation of Jehovah.

2 Chronicles 34

1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.6 And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah [names meaning concealed treasure Jehovah has set apart – reserved unto this time, as Peter speaks of in 2 Peter 3:4 thru 7], and Maaseiah [those doing the work of Jehovah] the governor of the city, and Joah [Jehovah is {has become} our brother] the son of Joahaz [Jehovah has grasped – taken us by and into His hand] the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God.9 And when they came to Hilkiah [whose portion, inheritance, is Jehovah] the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God [see Malachi 3:10], which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.10 And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD, to repair and amend the house:11 Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.12 And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath [He will snatch up – unite us into one] and Obadiah [those who are serving Jehovah – see Malachi 3:18], the Levites, of the sons of Merari [and heal the bitter waters]; and Zechariah [because Jehovah has remembered] and Meshullam [His friends and allies], of the sons of the Kohathites [those He has gathered to Him], to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of music.13 Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses.15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to your servants, they do it.17 And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the LORD, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah [our brother has risen] a servant of the king’s, saying,21 Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book.22 And Hilkiah [whose inheritance is Jehovah], and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah [this world age] the prophetess, the wife of Shallum [upon whom has come the LORD’s vengeance] the son of Tikvath [this expected end – our hope], the son of Hasrah [to a world without hope], keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spoke to her to that effect.23 And she answered them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell you the man that sent you to me,24 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.26 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall you say unto him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which you have heard;27 Because your heart was tender, and you did humble yourself before God, when you heard his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbled yourself before me, and did rend your clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard you also, says the LORD.28 Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.29 Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.30 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.31 And the king stood in his place, 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 his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.

Finding the book is the pattern of and finding the light, understanding given by the Spirit moving upon the waters (uncovering the deep understanding hidden in progressive and now total ignorance).

Revelation 10

1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow [light divided as a sign of correction and not destruction] was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,6 And swore by him that lives for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets.8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which stands upon the sea and upon the earth.9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make your belly bitter, but it shall be in your mouth sweet as honey.10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.11 And he said unto me, You must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

Woe to those who fail to see the reality in our midst.

Jeremiah 15

1 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto you, Whither shall we go forth? then you shall tell them, Thus says the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, says the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem [see 2 Kings 21:9 thru 15 – this is when the end of Judah and Jerusalem is foretold, and presumably when the book was lost].5 For who shall have pity upon you, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan you? or who shall go aside to ask how you do?6 You have forsaken me, says the LORD, you are gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against you, and destroy you; I am weary with repenting.7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people since they return not from their ways.8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city.9 She that has borne seven languishes [these exact word only appear together in 1 Samuel 2:5] she has given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she has been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, says the LORD.10 Woe is me, my mother, that you have borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them does curse me.11 The LORD said, Truly it shall be well with your remnant; truly I will cause the enemy to entreat you well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.12 Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel?13 Your substance and your treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders.14 And I will make you to pass with your enemies into a land which you know not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.15 O LORD, you know: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in your longsuffering: know that for your sake I have suffered rebuke.16 Your words were found, and I did eat them; and your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by your name, O LORD God of hosts.17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of your hand: for you have filled me with indignation.18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuse to be healed? will you be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?19 Therefore thus says the LORD, If you return, then will I bring you again, and you shall stand before me: and if you take forth the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth: let them return unto you; but return not you unto them.20 And I will make you unto this people a fenced brazen wall: and they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you: for I am with you to save you and to deliver you, says the LORD.21 And I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem you out of the hand of the terrible.

1 Samuel 2

1 And Hannah [the LORD’s grace] prayed, and said, My heart rejoices in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in your salvation.2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside you: neither is there any rock like our God.3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.4 The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren has born seven; and she that has many children is waxed feeble [languishes].6 The LORD kills, and makes alive: he brings down to the grave, and brings up.7 The LORD makes poor, and makes rich: he brings low, and lifts up.8 He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he has set the world upon them.9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Habakkuk 2

1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it.3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.5 Yea also, because he transgresses by wine, he is a proud man, neither keeps at home, who enlarges his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathers unto him all nations, and heaps unto him all people:6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increases that which is not his! how long? and to him that lades himself with thick clay!7 Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite you, and awake that shall vex you, and you shall be for booties unto them?8 Because you have spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil you; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.9 Woe to him that covets an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!10 You have consulted shame to your house by cutting off many people, and have sinned against your soul.11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.12 Woe to him that builds a town with blood, and establishes a city by iniquity!13 Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.15 Woe unto him that gives his neighbor drink, that puts your bottle to him, and makes him drunken also, that you may look on their nakedness!16 You are filled with shame for glory: drink you also, and let your foreskin be uncovered: the cup of the LORD’s right hand shall be turned unto you, and shameful spewing shall be on your glory.17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover you, and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.18 What profits the graven image that the maker thereof has graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusts therein, to make dumb idols?19 Woe unto him that says to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath [life] at all in the midst of it.20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

Zephaniah 3

1 Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!2 She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God.3 Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.4 Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.5 The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning does he bring his judgment to light, he fails not; but the unjust know no shame.6 I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passes by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant.7 I said, Surely you will fear me, you will receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.8 Therefore wait you upon me, says the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia [rivers of darkness] my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.11 In that day shall you not be ashamed for all your doings, wherein you have transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of you them that rejoice in your pride, and you shall no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.12 I will also leave in the midst of you an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.15 The LORD has taken away your judgments, he has cast out your enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of you: you shall not see evil any more.16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear you not: and to Zion, Let not your hands be slack.17 The LORD your God in the midst of you is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over you with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over you with singing.18 I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of you, to whom the reproach of it was a burden.19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict you: and I will save her that halts, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, says the LORD.

Psalms 28

1 Unto you will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if you be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.2 Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto you, when I lift up my hands toward your holy oracle.3 Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.4 Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.5 Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.6 Blessed be the LORD, because he has heard the voice of my supplications.7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices; and with my song will I praise him.8 The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.9 Save your people, and bless your inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.

Today’s opening verse is 2 Corinthians 11:12, and is Paul speaking of cutting off those he has spoken of earlier, in verse 4, as preaching another Jesus and another gospel. He later, in verses 13 thru 15, defines these same preachers as false apostles and deceitful workers, who’ve transformed themselves in apostles of Christ. He says we shouldn’t marvel at this, because Satan also transformed himself into an angel of light (a messenger claiming he is bringing us understanding from God). “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

In these words, we are told these ministers are deceitful workers, whose end will be according to their works (their deceptions in God’s name). When Paul, in the title verse, says what he is doing is to cut off occasion, he is speaking of their glory as their deceptions. In verse 10 he has just said, “as the truth of Christ [the Spirit of God in him speaking and working] is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting,” meaning he is boasting of Christ in him doing the work. When he says he is doing this so these men will be found even as he is, he is saying, they, as he, are men in whom a spirit is speaking and working. This is why he then tells us these men are the ministers of Satan, who are preaching another Jesus and another gospel.

Paul speaks of His motivation as love, the true love of God manifested in him, as a Father correcting and teaching His children the truth. This is the point we have discussed many times, as described in Hebrews 12, in this same context of God as the one who corrects us, and without correction, we cannot be His children. Therein we are told we have not come to the mountain as those who heard God speaking and turned away from His voice. But we have come to new Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels (messengers bearing the true word of God’s correction). We are then told of the true Jesus, meaning, in the one God is speaking the true gospel of Jehovah’s Salvation appearing in this way. The next verse (25) then says, “see that you refuse not Him that is speaking,” and later verses go on to describes this voice, the LORD Jesus’ voice heard by His sheep, coming from (me) the son of man who God has chosen and ordained, which is NOW shaking heaven and earth.

Hebrews 12 

1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.

4 You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children, My son, despise not you the chastening of the LORD, nor faint when you are rebuked of him:

6 For whom the LORD loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.

7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not?

8 But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are you illegitimate [the children of another father], and not [God’s] sons.

9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

10 For they truly for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

11 Now no chastening for the present seem to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;

13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the LORD:

15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

17 For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

18 For you are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,

19 And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreats that the word should not be spoken to them any more:

20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:

21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)

22 But you are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.

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.

The LORD began our day in Ezekiel 16, which starts with the LORD instructing the “son of man” to show Jerusalem her abominations. The LORD then goes on to describe how He found us (His people) and built us into greatness by teaching us His superior idea and ways, under which we prospered and achieved. He then tells of Jerusalem, the place taught and founded upon His better ideas of peace and civilization, leaving Him, as did Samaria, but committing even greater abominations than her. The greater abominations are those spoken of in Jeremiah 44, wherein God’s people who are in Egypt are spoken to. In Ezekiel 16 Egypt is described as Sodom, Judah as Jerusalem, and Israel as Samaria. Understanding these are patterns tells us of all God’s people, after hiring men to replace God, are now all together called Babylon, which came because of the abominations, and produced confusion that brought the final, total, desolation. 

These are the men and ways, in whose words are deceptions, which have blinded the minds of all the world. These are those who preach the false doctrine of false love, which says God doesn’t correct error. They deny Him as He comes in the flesh to correct them and to free His misled flock. Their preaching is the words and the ways of antichrist, which now stand in almost every pulpit, preaching and teaching their own ideas, inspirited by the spirit of Satan. 

1 John 4

1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you [Jesus Christ: the Father, Son, and Spirit in us], than he that is in the world [the spirit of Satan, deception that denies and opposed the Spirit of God in us].5 They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world hears them.6 We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

2 Corinthians 4

1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry (preaching the true Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and forever, and the true gospel of Christ coming to us in the flesh, to be formed in our flesh], as we have received mercy, we faint not;2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully [as do the deceitful workers]; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:4 In whom the god [the spirit of Satan, that now is at work in the children of disobedience – see Ephesians 2:1 thru 10 below] of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the LORD; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2 Corinthians 11

1 Would to God you could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.4 For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him.5 For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.6 But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been thoroughly made manifest among you in all things.7 Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that you might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.9 And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.10 As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia.11 Wherefore? because I love you not? God knows.12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Ephesians 2

1 And you has he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;2 Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,5 Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;)6 And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.8 For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.11 Wherefore remember, that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;12 That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.14 For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us;15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.19 Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;21 In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto an holy temple in the LORD:22 In whom you also are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.

Ezekiel 16

1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,3 And say, Thus says the LORD God unto Jerusalem; Your birth and your nativity is of the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite, and your mother an Hittite.4 And as for your nativity, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to supple you; you were not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.5 None eye pitied you, to do any of these unto you, to have compassion upon you; but you were cast out in the open field, to the loathing of your person, in the day that you were born.6 And when I passed by you, and saw you polluted in your own blood, I said unto you when you were in your blood, Live; yea, I said unto you when you were in your blood, Live.

Ezekiel 16

48 As I live, says the LORD God, Sodom your sister has not done, she nor her daughters, as you have done, you and your daughters.49 Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.51 Neither has Samaria committed half of your sins; but you have multiplied your abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters in all your abominations which you have done.52 You also, which have judged your sisters, bear your own shame for your sins that you have committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than you: yea, be you confounded also, and bear your shame, in that you have justified your sisters.53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of your captives in the midst of them:54 That you may bear your own shame, and may be confounded in all that you have done, in that you are a comfort unto them.55 When your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then you and your daughters shall return to your former estate.56 For your sister Sodom was not mentioned by your mouth in the day of your pride,57 Before your wickedness was discovered, as at the time of your reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise you round about.58 You have borne your lewdness and your abominations, says the LORD.59 For thus says the LORD God; I will even deal with you as you have done, which have despised the oath in breaking the covenant.60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish unto you an everlasting covenant.61 Then you shall remember your ways, and be ashamed, when you shall receive your sisters, your elder and your younger: and I will give them unto you for daughters, but not by your covenant.62 And I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall know that I am the LORD:63 That you may remember, and be confounded, and never open your mouth any more because of your shame, when I am pacified toward you for all that you have done, says the LORD God.

Jeremiah 44

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt [and here we are in captivity again – see Revelation 11:8, which describes new Jerusalem], which dwell at Migdol [who should have seen these things and given warning], and at Tahpanhes [and had pity on God’s people], and at Noph [and not scattered them], and in the country of Pathros [with your own interpretations – from pathah, to open], saying,2 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; You have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwell therein,3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, you, nor your fathers.4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.7 Therefore now thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit you this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;8 In that you provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither you be gone to dwell, that you might cut yourselves off, and that you might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?9 Have you forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?10 They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.11 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.13 For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:14 So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return but such as shall escape.15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros [those who because of their own deceitful interpretations], answered Jeremiah, saying,16 As for the word that you have spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto you.17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goes forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.19 And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,21 The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.23 Because you have burned incense, and because you have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:25 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; You and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: you will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.26 Therefore hear you the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The LORD God liveth.27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.29 And this shall be a sign unto you, says the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:30 Thus says the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra [the great house, covered in evil] king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.

Revelation 11

4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth [spoken of in Zechariah 4, Zerubbabel and Joshua].5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth, and devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless [with the smoke the darkens {removes understanding from} the sun {church} and the air {the spirit in the church}] pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our LORD was crucified.9 And they of the people and kindred and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe comes quickly.15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our LORD, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,17 Saying, We give you thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which are, and were, and are to come; because you have taken to you your great power, and have reigned.18 And the nations were angry, and your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should give reward unto your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings [understanding], and voices, and thunderings [the voice of the light], and an earthquake, and great hail [and the word frozen in heaven was sent, which is what is now shaking heaven and earth].

Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.4 How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.6 If I do not remember you, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof.8 O daughter of Babylon, who are to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewards you as you have served us.9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dashes your little ones [your offspring] against the stones.

Who is as the wise man? and who knows the interpretation of a thing? a man’s wisdom makes his face to shine, and the boldness of his face shall be changed.

The above is the LORD, through (in) Solomon, imparting wisdom and describing life and death by its apprehension: it seizing us; our then applying it: operating under its anointing and power. The Hebrew word rendered “interpretation,” is a one-time used word pesher, from the word pathar, meaning to open up. Pathar is only used nine times, all in Genesis 40 & 41 in telling of Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams: ideas that come into the minds of the those sleeping, meaning they are in a death-like state and unable to understand anything, even their own thoughts. 

The Chaldean word equivalents are pshar, used thirty-two times, and an identical word pshar, only used once; all appearing in Daniel. In Daniel 5:16 these two words appear together, rendered “make interpretations” in telling us this is what dissolves doubt (revealing unknown meaning – as in interpreting an unknown tongue/word). 

The Chaldean (Aramaic) words translated “dissolve doubt” are shre’ qtar; the first appearing five times in Daniel and once in Ezra 5:2; the second only appearing in Daniel 5, three times. In Ezra shre’ is rendered “began” in telling of when Zerubbabel and Joshua (Jeshua) were freed to build the house of God. In the verse prior, we are told what dissolved the bands keeping them from building was the prophesying, in the name of God, of Haggai and Zechariah. As we know from previous studies, this and the resistance they encountered, are what Zachariah writes of in Zechariah 3 & 4. In Ezra 4 we are told of those who rose up to resist their building; who were offering to join in the building, as a way to subvert it from within. In Zachariah 3 these adversaries are described as Satan standing at Joshua’s right hand to resist the work of the LORD, which was to cleanse Joshua. We have seen the word there rendered “resist” is the Hebrew word satan, meaning to attack and or accuse, and in its five other appearances it is rendered adversaries (Psalms 38:20, 71:13, & 109:4, 20, & 29). 

Daniel 5 ends telling of the end of Belshazzar, which come as foretold by the hand of the LORD sent to write on the wall. Belshazzar is the son of Nebuchadnezzar, whose name we understand tells of the lies of the false prophets (which rule over God’s people) and are the abominations that cause the total, final, desolation of God’s people. Belshazzar, whose name means Baal protects the king, is said to have committed the same offenses as his father, and God, therefore, ends his kingdom (ends the rule of their creations, showing their idols are nothing and therefore unable to protect anything). This is the pattern of our time, as the same hand of God is sent to write on this wall, and end the rule of the false prophets and usurpers over God’s people. The numbers (mene) that begin and end this rule are those we have seen Daniel describe in the end Daniel 9, and are the beginning and end of Abram’s (Abraham’s) deep sleep. 

We have also seen this is the time of the awakening Daniel describe in Daniel 12, when the book is unsealed and knowledge is greatly increased. “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 [see Ecclesiastes 8:1, the title above] as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro [see Zechariah 4:10 below], and knowledge shall be increased.”

The final verse of Daniel 5 tells of the coming of Darius (the LORD who reigns supreme), after Daniel (the judge of God) interprets (pshar), dissolves the doubt, as foretold, and Belshazzar is slain. Ezra 4 ends describing the time as the second year of Darius, who reigns after Belshazzar, which same dating is identified by Haggai and Zechariah in as their respective Books begin. Remember, the times (mene, mene) are, in a pattern, telling of Abram’s sleep as beginning when the adversaries troubled those building the house (wall) of God, who Zechariah describes as Satan standing at Joshua’s (the priesthood) right hand to resist the work of God (who is the true and only able builder). It ends at the coming of the LORD, patterned in Darius appearing in the second year of His reign.

Hosea 6 

1 Come, and let us return [shuwb – turn again] unto the LORD: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up.

2 After two days [yowm – also a year – as in Exodus 13:10] will he revive us: in the third day [yowm – also an age] he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth [this word of God is the latter rain, and the former rain, on each side of Abraham’s sleep].

4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto you? O Judah, what shall I do unto you? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goes away [when the sun rises].

5 Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and your judgments are as the light [understanding] that goes forth.

6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me [says the LORD].

Daniel 5 

1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.

3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.

4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

6 Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed [shre’ – the word of God put the fear of God into him], and his knees smote one against another.

7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spoke, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation [pshar] thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

8 Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation [pshar] thereof.

9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished.

10 Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: and the queen spoke and said, O king, live for ever: let not your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance be changed:

11 There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar your father, the king, I say, your father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;

12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts [shre’ qtar], were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation [pshar].

13 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spoke and said unto Daniel, Are you that Daniel, which are of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?

14 I have even heard of you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in you.

15 And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation [pshar] thereof: but they could not show the interpretation [pshar] of the thing:

16 And I have heard of you, that you can make interpretations [pshar], and dissolve doubts [shre’ qtar]: now if you can read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation [pshar] thereof, you shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation [pshar].

18 O you king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor:

19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.

20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:

21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appoints over it whomsoever he will.

22 And you his son, O Belshazzar [O false prophets], have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this;

23 But have lifted up yourself against the LORD of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you, and your lords, your wives, and your concubines, have drunk wine in them; and you have praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, have you not glorified:

24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.

25 And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.

26 This is the interpretation [pshar] of the thing: Mene; God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it.

27 Tekel; You are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting.

28 Peres; Your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

Ezra 3

8 Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua [Joshua] the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the LORD.

9 Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house [family] of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.

10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.

11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endures for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

12 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:

13 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Ezra 4

1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity built the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;

2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as you do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.

3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, You have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.

4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

5 And hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

6 And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Ezra 4

24 Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Ezra 5

1 Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them.

2 Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began [shre’ – the word of God sent and released them from the fear that kept them from building] to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.

Ezra 5

9 Then asked we those elders, and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls?

10 We asked their names also, to certify you, that we might write the names of the men that were the chief of them.

11 And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was built these many years ago, which a great king of Israel [Solomon] built and set up.

12 But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon.

13 But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.

14 And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one, whose name was Sheshbazzar [this is the Chaldean name of Zerubbabel – a name said {in the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon} to mean worshipper of fire – which should be worshipper in the fire – referring to Daniel as the unnamed one in the fire, whose form is like the son of God – Daniel 3:25], whom he had made governor;

15 And said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house [family] of God be built in his place.

16 Then came the same Sheshbazzar, and laid the foundation [no other foundation than Christ – 1 Corinthians 3:11] of the house of God which is in Jerusalem: and since that time even until now has it been in building, and yet it is not finished [see Zechariah 4:9 below – God’s Spirit in us, Christ in us, began the work and He will finish it].

17 Now therefore, if it seems good to the king, let there be search made in the king’s treasure house, which is there at Babylon, whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build this house of God at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.

Ezra 6 

1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.

2 And there was found at Achmetha [referring us to the hearth where the fire burned {ach} – the pattern we are shown in Jeremiah 36:22 & 23 – where the word of God was rejected – the words couldn’t be burned, because they’re in a man, upon who the fire has no effect], in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written:

3 In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be built, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;

4 With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house:

5 And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and place them in the house of God.

6 Now therefore, Tatnai [you who’ve received this free gift of God’s word], governor beyond the river, Shetharboznai [who have received it from the Star of God’s splendor], and your companions the Apharsachites [those who God will divide as deceivers – separate the false prophets from His truth], which are beyond the river, be you far from thence:

7 Let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house [family] of God in his place.

Haggai 1

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,

2 Thus speaks the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD’s house [family] should be built.

3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,

4 Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?

5 Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

6 You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but you have not enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earns wages earns wages to put it into a bag with holes.

7 Thus says the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, says the LORD.

9 You looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when you brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? says the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and you run every man unto his own house.

10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.

11 And I called for a drought [of hearing this true word of God] upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground brings forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labor of the hands.

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.

13 Then spoke Haggai the LORD’s messenger in the LORD’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, says the LORD.

14 And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,

15 In the four and twentieth day of the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king.

Haggai 2 

1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the LORD by the prophet Haggai, saying,

2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,

3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do you see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?

4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, says the LORD; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land, says the LORD, and work: for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts:

5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my spirit remains among you: fear you not.

6 For thus says the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.

8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts.

9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, says the LORD of hosts.

10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,

11 Thus says the LORD of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,

12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.

13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.

14 Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, says the LORD; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean. [Here telling us why Zechariah, in Zechariah 3, tells of cleansing the priesthood, before telling of Zerubbabel finishing the building, by God’s Spirit in His prepared, cleansed, people.]

15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD:

16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the press-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.

17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labors of your hands; yet you turned not to me, says the LORD.

18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’s temple was laid, consider it.

19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, has not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.

20 And again the word of the LORD came unto Haggai in the four and twentieth day of the month, saying,

21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth;

22 And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.

23 In that day, says the LORD of hosts, will I take you, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, says the LORD, and will make you as a signet [a sign]: for I have chosen you, says the LORD of hosts.

Zechariah 3

1 And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist [satan] him.

2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke you, O Satan; even the LORD that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.

4 And he answered and spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused your iniquity to pass from you, and I will clothe you with change of raiment.

5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments [these are the garments put on by the purified priest]. And the angel of the LORD stood by. 

6 And the angel of the LORD protested [reiterated] unto Joshua, saying,

7 Thus says the LORD of hosts; If [IF] you will walk in my ways [even in the fire], and if you will keep my charge, then you shall also judge my house [as Daniel – judge of God], and shall also keep my courts, and I will give you places to walk among these that stand by.

8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you, and your fellows that sit before you: for they are men wondered at [I and the children God’s has given me are for signs and wonders – see Isaiah 8:18]: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.

9 For behold the stone [Christ – the Chief cornerstone of the house] that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, says the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

10 In that day, says the LORD of hosts, shall you call every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.

Zechariah 4

1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep [the angel appeared as a man already awakened – to awaken].

2 And said unto me, What sees you? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:

3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

4 So I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

6 Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel [born by coming out of confusion – awakened from the sleep of ignorance], saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

7 Who are you, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain [AS GOD SHAKES HEAVEN AND EARTH, TO SHAKE THE WICKED OUT OF THEM]: and he shall bring forth the headstone [the Chief cornerstone] thereof with shouting, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

8 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you.

10 For who has despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven [the awakened church]; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth, [increasing their knowledge – see Daniel 12:4 above].

11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof [Joshua and Zerubbabel – God’s elect and His people at large – who shine as the stars of heaven]?

12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?

13 And he answered me and said, Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the LORD of the whole earth.

Psalms 109 

1 Hold not your peace, O God of my praise;

2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

3 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.

4 For my love they are my adversaries [satan]: but I give myself unto prayer.

5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

6 Set you a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.

7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.

8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.

11 Let the extortioner catch all that he has; and let the strangers spoil his labor.

12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.

13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

16 Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.

17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.

18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.

19 Let it be unto him as the garment which covers him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.

20 Let this be the reward of mine adversaries [satan] from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.

21 But do you for me, O God the LORD, for your name’s sake: because your mercy is good, deliver you me.

22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

23 I am gone like the shadow when it declines: I am tossed up and down as the locust.

24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh fails of fatness.

25 I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shook their heads.

26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to your mercy:

27 That they may know that this is your hand; that you, LORD, have done it.

28 Let them curse, but bless you: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let your servant rejoice.

29 Let mine adversaries [satan] be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.

30 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.

31 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

Today’s title verse, Matthew 18:6, is the LORD’s wisdom in the chapter, in reference to a comment and discussion at the previous post, at the @Message Facebook page. The chapter is given as a further explanation of the most recent post about the many antichrists and false prophets, and their intention in attacking the truth of the word of God. These men are dividers and not unifiers. (Read the comment.) They seek to cause those believing the LORD to become offended, to cast doubt about His presence (with contradictory advice and accusation) – to mislead and keep people in the darkness they and their ilk have created.

Matthew 18 1 At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,3 And said, Truly I say unto you, Except you be converted, and become as little children [ready to learn as if you know nothing – not at every point looking for reasons to doubt what is being taught], you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receives me.6 But whoso shall offend [skandalizo – trip up – lead into apostasy] one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence comes!8 Wherefore if your hand or your foot offend [skandalizo] you, cut them off, and cast them from you: it is better for you to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.9 And if your eye offend [skandalizo] you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.10 Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.12 How think you? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and goes into the mountains, and seeks that which is gone astray?13 And if so be that he find it, truly I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.15 Moreover if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone: if he shall hear you, you have gained your brother.16 But if he will not hear you, then take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto you as a heathen man and a publican.18 Truly I say unto you, Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.21 Then came Peter to him, and said, LORD, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?22 Jesus said unto him, I say not unto you, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his LORD commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, LORD, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.27 Then the LORD of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him a hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that you owe.29 And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.31 So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their LORD all that was done.32 Then his LORD, after that he had called him, said unto him, O you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you desired [it of] me:33 Should not you also have had compassion on your fellow-servant, even as I had pity on you?34 And his LORD was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

When the LORD, above, speaks of His seeking the sheep that stray, it is referring us to Ezekiel 34:12, and the chapter which is the LORD, through the son of man, speaking to the shepherds of Israel, who are feeding themselves and not the flock.

As we have previously, many times, discussed, this is ultimately referring us to the controversy God has with His people. It is, who is best suited to rule them, God or man; and this relating to the decision (in the valley of Jehoshaphat) as to whose advice they are going to listen. In this context, and in that of this and previous posts, read the following, viewing it with the eyes of understanding the LORD has given us by His mind now formed in us.

1 Kings 22

16 And the king [Ahab – meaning the brother of the father, which is alluding to Esau, and the name Ahijah] said unto him, How many times shall I adjure you that you tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?19 And he said, Hear you therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead [the summit of this testimony]? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, You shall persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, and the LORD has spoken evil concerning you.24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah [who is like Jehovah] on the cheek, and said [mocked – and doubted the LORD’s presence], Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto you?25 And Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see in that day, when you shall go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.26 And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;27 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.28 And Micaiah said, If you return at all in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put you on your robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.34 And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.35 And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.38 And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armor; according unto the word of the LORD which he spoke.39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Ahab’s end came when he made the wrong decision [krisis – the decision that condemns] and followed the advice of the false prophets.

Joel 3

1 For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.3 And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.4 Yea, and what have you to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon [the false rock, those who hunt the souls of men], and all the coasts of Palestine [the border of the invaders]? will you render me a recompense? and if you recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head;5 Because you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things:6 The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have you sold unto the Grecians [those wallowing in their own mire], that you might remove them far from their border.7 Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither you have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head:8 And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD has spoken it.9 Proclaim you this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:10 Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning-hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause your mighty ones to come down, O LORD.12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.13 Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.17 So shall you know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.19 Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land.20 But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.21 For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed [see 1 Kings 22:38 above]: for the LORD dwells in Zion.

Ezekiel 34

1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus says the LORD God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?3 You eat the fat, and you clothe you with the wool, you kill them that are fed: but you feed not the flock.4 The diseased have you not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them.5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;8 As I live, says the LORD God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;9 Therefore, O you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;10 Thus says the LORD God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.11 For thus says the LORD God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the LORD God.16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.17 And as for you, O my flock, thus says the LORD God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.18 Seems it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?19 And as for my flock, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.20 Therefore thus says the LORD God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.21 Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad;22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, says the LORD God.31 And you my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the LORD God.

2 Thessalonians 2

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our LORD Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,2 That you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away [a straying into apostasy] first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;4 Who oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.5 Remember you not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?6 And now you know what withholds [katecho] that he might be revealed in his time.7 For the mystery of iniquity does already work [as John, in 1 John 2:18 & 19, tells of the many antichrists {the spirit of wickedness in the many false prophets and antichrists} already among us]: only he who now lets [katecho – holds God’s people down] will let, until he be taken out of the way.8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the LORD shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion [see Isaiah 66:4 below], that they should believe a lie:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.13 But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the LORD, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our LORD Jesus Christ [appearing in you].15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.16 Now our LORD Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which has loved us, and has given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,17 Comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work.
The delusion the LORD sends these men is the same lying bad advice they endlessly bark and follow, which they choose instead of the sound advice the LORD is sending them.

Isaiah 66

1 Thus says the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that you build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?2 For all those things has mine hand made, and all those things have been, says the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and tremble at my word.3 He that kills an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrifices a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offers an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burns incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.5 Hear the word of the LORD, you that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.6 A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that renders recompense to his enemies.7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child [I Am].8 Who has heard such a thing? who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? says the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? says your God.10 Rejoice you with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her:11 That you may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that you may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.12 For thus says the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall you suck, you shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.13 As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.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 with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, says the LORD.24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Psalms 114

1 When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;2 Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.3 The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.5 What ailed you, O you sea, that you fled? you Jordan, that you were driven back?6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams; and you little hills, like lambs?7 Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob;8 Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

The title, 1 John 2:19, comes just after John speaks of the many antichrists among us, whereby we know it is the last time. As we saw in the prior post, anti means to oppose and instead of, and (the name antichrist) speaks of those who oppose Christ and put themselves in His stead.

Any who have read the last few posts, about the mark of the beast (confusion – caused by what John describes in Revelation in the three sixes) and the antichrists, and read the comments (mostly at its posting on my @Message Facebook page) have seen antichrists in abundance in them. 

The LORD’s plan in these postings is to expose this point, manifesting the departure from Him, away from His leading, and thereby abandoning sound doctrine and truth. This, again, is manifested before our eye in these many different declarations contradicting and opposing the truth of the matter as the LORD shows it. These people, spewing ignorance, unwittingly fulfill the patter of the many false prophets of Baal, who Elijah encountered (recorded in the part of 1 Kings 18 not included in the prior post), and as John says above, “that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”

John is making reference to Israel departing from Judah, which resulted in them (the ten northern tribes) setting up a false king, who put calves in God’s place and made devils priests in place of the true priests (2 Chronicles 11:15). As we know, this false king line degenerated until the coming of Ahab, who abandoned even the false premise of worshipping God, and brought in Baal worship instead (1 Kings 16:30 thru 33). In the prior post, we saw the LORD send Elijah to show himself to Ahab, to tell him of the coming rain (after three years of drought – or in our case, on this third day). This is recorded in 1 Kings 18, the middle part of the chapter describing Elijah’s encounter with these many false prophets of Baal.

Anyone who has read along through previous posts, will see and understand these most recent postings were a culminating demonstration of the larger points illuminated therein. In the comments and the attacks that came against these postings of the true word of God, we experienced (counted – psephizo, understood by touching) the prophets of Baal, the many antichrists, the coming of Elijah, and him showing himself to the false kings of our time.

The LORD knows the price of bringing His truth is the cross, and in this Christ is manifested in us. This is His message, found in the only other time the word psephizo appears, in Luke 14:28. Hear His word, eat and understand.

Luke 14

7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them.

8 When you are bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honorable man than you be bidden of him;

9 And he that bade you and him come and say to you, Give this man place; and you begin with shame to take the lowest room.

10 But when you are bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade you comes, he may say unto you, Friend, go up higher: then shall you have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with you.

11 For whosoever exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.

12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When you make a dinner or a supper, call not your friends, nor your brethren, neither your kinsmen, nor your rich neighbors; lest they also bid you again, and a recompense be made you.

13 But when you make a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

14 And you shall be blessed; for they cannot recompense you: for you shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

15 And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.

16 Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

17 And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

18 And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused.

19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused.

20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

21 So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

22 And the servant said, LORD, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room.

23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

27 And whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts [psephizo – knows from experience] the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

29 Lest haply, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sits not down first, and consults whether he be able with ten thousand [the LORD is able – see Jude below] to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand?

32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an ambassador, and desires conditions of peace.

33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple.

34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that has ears to hear, let him hear.

In this encounter, in the comments, the opposition from the many false prophets and the many antichrists, the armies of Babylon (confusion), we also saw why Jude quote Enoch, and warns those who are ignorantly speaking against the LORD at His appearing (coming into sight). We also understand the flaming fire Paul speaks of in 2 Thessalonians 1:8, as the same fire the LORD sent from heaven at Elijah’s showing himself to Ahab. This is the fire, the consuming fire of God’s word, the sword of the Spirit, which none understand comes to save men’s lives from those destroying them, even from self-destruction.

2 Thessalonians 1

6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the LORD Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our LORD Jesus Christ:

9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the LORD, and from the glory of his power;

10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Luke 9

43 And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God. But while they wondered every one at all things which Jesus did, he said unto his disciples,

44 Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.

45 But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.

46 Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.

47 And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him,

48 And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receives me: and whosoever shall receive me receives him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.

49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in your name; and we forbad him, because he follows not with us.

50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.

51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,

52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans [the capital of those who went out from us – where the idols were set up to keep God’s people from going to Jerusalem], to make ready for him.

53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.

54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, LORD, will you that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?

55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, You know not what manner of spirit you are of.

56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

57 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, LORD, I will follow you whithersoever you go.

58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests [the beast without the spirit – given for the false kings and priest who sit in the seats of power]; but the Son of man has not where to lay his head [the son as does the father, dwells not in houses made with men’s hand – He, as do we, live inside human flesh].

59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, LORD, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead [those without the spirit] bury their dead: but go you and preach the kingdom of God.

61 And another also said, LORD, I will follow you; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.

62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. [These last two verses are connected – what is plowed under, what we have left behind, are not things we should long for or regret leaving. Remember those who chided with Moses, after the LORD brought them out of Egypt and they longed to go back into captivity. Remember Lot’s wife.]

1 Kings 18

7 And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah [Jehovah God] met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Are you that my lord Elijah?

8 And he answered him, I am: go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

9 And he said, What have I sinned, that you would deliver your servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me?

10 As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord has not sent to seek you: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found you not.

11 And now you say, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry you whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he shall slay me: but I your servant fear the LORD from my youth.

13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

14 And now you says, Go, tell your lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me.

15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him to day.

16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Are you he that troubles Israel?

18 And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father’s house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and you have followed Baalim.

19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.

20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt you between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.

23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under:

24 And call you on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answers by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for you are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.

26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.

27 And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleep, and must be awaked.

28 And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.

29 And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.

30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.

31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be your name:

32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.

34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.

36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.

37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that you are the LORD God, and that you have turned their heart back again.

38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.

40 And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon [this winding river], and slew them there.

41 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get you up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,

43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there arises a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand [this hand of God – the same author as the hand writing on the wall, which has told of the beginning and the ending of this kingdom of wicked men]. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare your chariot, and get you down that the rain stop you not.

45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

46 And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Jude 

1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only LORD God, and our LORD Jesus Christ.

5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the LORD, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.

6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.

9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The LORD rebuke you.

10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, 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 speaketh 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.

19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

20 But you, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our LORD Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:

23 And others save with fear, pulling [harpazo – the truth these false prophets have turned into a lie] them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

25 To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

As we know, the word harpazo is the same word rendered “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which the false prophets have twisted into the rapture lie. As we know, it is the LORD coming to show His endless mercy to these same false prophets and antichrists, by pulling them from the fires of ignorance and confusion their own false teachings have created. Again, they are the sleepers (dead) Paul is speaking of in 1 Thessalonians 4, as he describes them to those who are alive (awake) and tells them not to lose hope for the dead. He is telling them of now, when the LORD appears to pull them into life, from being against Him, into being with Him, “for he that is not against us is for us.” (Luke 9:50)

1 Thessalonians 4

7 For God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

8 He therefore that despises, despises not man, but God, who has also given unto us his holy Spirit.

9 But as touching brotherly love you need not that I write unto you: for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

10 And indeed you do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia [the churches that house dead flesh]: but we beseech you, brethren, that you increase more and more;

11 And that you study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

12 That you may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing.

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the LORD, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the LORD shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the LORD himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the LORD.

18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

As we know, the air (aer) the LORD pulls us all into, is defined as Paul, in Ephesians 2:2, describes the air of death, from which we must all be quickened into life. This is the same life that defines those Paul calls the “alive” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which life he defines in 1 Thessalonians 2 as those who have entered the kingdom of God by hearing his word as the word of God, and not as the words of man. There Paul also describes the dead as those persecuting the living, who in this persecution, Paul says, are in the presence of the LORD at His coming (His life manifested in them as they take up their/His cross). This is now also manifested in our experience, as we willingly suffer persecution for the gospel truth; the death of Christ manifested in us, and His life in the resurrection in us, by His presence at His coming.

1 Thessalonians 2

3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile:

4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as you know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness:

6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.

7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were dear unto us.

9 For you remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.

10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:

11 As you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father does his children,

12 That you would walk worthy of God, who has called you unto his kingdom and glory.

13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when you received the word of God which you heard of us [as the voice of the LORD’s archangel], you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works [receiving it a such is what has the effect] also in you that believe.

14 For you, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews:

15 Who both killed the LORD Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:

16 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.

17 But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored the more abundantly to see your face with great desire.

18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan [the spirit {air} that leads the resistance, opposition, against God] hindered us.

19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even you in the presence of our LORD Jesus Christ at his coming?

20 For you are our glory and joy.

Ephesians 2 

1 And you has he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2 Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [aer], the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience:

3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved;)

6 And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.

11 Wherefore remember, that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

12 That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

14 For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

19 Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

21 In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto an holy temple in the LORD:

22 In whom you also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. [These are not empty clichés, as the false prophets, false teacher, and antichrists make them, turning the truth of God into a lie.]

Psalms 97 

1 The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.

2 Clouds and darkness are round about him [men’s willful ignorance hides His presence]: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

3 A fire goes before him, and burns up his enemies round about.

4 His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.

5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the LORD of the whole earth.

6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.

7 Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all you gods.

8 Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of your judgments, O LORD.

9 For you, LORD, are high above all the earth: you are exalted far above all gods.

10 You that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserves the souls of his saints; he delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

11 Light [understanding] is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.