Bereansearching Bible Studies

The casting of “pur” or “lot” in the Book of Esther is like the rolling of dice, but as we know from Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.“

An Exposition of the Book of Esther: The Little Known (Little Understood?) Book of Prophecy that Reveals God’s Magnificent Plan of Salvation Through the Person and Work of The Lord Jesus Christ

NOTE to the reader: The following is only an excerpt of a much longer, much more complete, and much more in-depth study, please see: The Book of Esther: a Christian Commentary

Introduction

The Book of Esther, Like All of the Books of the Bible, Displays God’s Divine Providence for His Glory and Honor Throughout All Time, from Eternity to Eternity

This post is intended to show why the Book of Esther is miraculous on many levels, but is particularly astounding to anyone who is blessed to see the truly amazing eternal/spiritual thread that God has interwoven in the historical account found in the Book of Esther. May God grant the reader the spiritual “ears to hear and the eyes to see.”

The Book of Esther in Jewish Culture

The Book of Esther is read every year to the assembled congregations of the Jewish people in their synagogues to the present day.  It is read as part of the celebration of the Feast of Purim (also known as the “Feast of Lots” which are objects used as a form of divination, something like “dice”, and from which we get the term “lottery”.)  The feast is celebrated to remember the deliverance of the Jews from Persia, whose date of destruction, their judgment day, was pre-determined by the casting of “pur” or “lot” (Esther 9:24). The predetermined time was to be at the end of the year, but was ultimately, amazingly, turned into a day of deliverance and salvation, in accordance with God’s Will (Proverbs 16:33). And because of that deliverance of the Jews in Persia, God enabled them to return from captivity, and to restore Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in advent of the coming of The Lord Jesus Christ, The Jewish Messiah, about 450 years later.

Esther is a Book of Concealment & Hidden Truth (and therefore it is also an Historical Parable)

The key to understanding the true meaning of the Book of Esther is to see that the whole book is an Historical Parable, which prophetically points us to the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, Who Is The Only Lord, God, and Savior.

Many Bible students are aware that there is not one direct/explicit reference to God to be found anywhere in the Book of Esther. This is because God has deliberately concealed Himself within the text, and, moreover, in the process, God has also deliberately concealed the Gospel of God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan, wrought by the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, as well. In fact, the entire Book of Esther concerns “concealment” and “hidden things of God”.

We should take a moment to recall what we read in Isaiah 45:15, “Verily thou [art] a God that hidest (סָתַר (sāṯar))^H5641 thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.“

The Essence of Esther is “Concealment”

The very name ‘Esther’ underscores this point of ‘concealment‘. Esther in Hebrew is אֶסְתֵּר (’es·têr)^H635, which happens to be, phonetically, very similar to the Hebrew word אֶסָּתֵ֑ר (’es·sā·ṯêr)^H5641, which is a version of the Hebrew word סָתַר (sāṯar)^H5641, meaning “to hide” or “to conceal“, or “to close-up“, and that version, אֶסָּתֵ֑ר (’es·sā·ṯêr)^H5641, is found twice in this form in the Bible:

1.  Genesis 4:14 (translated in English as “shall I be hid;“ where we read of Cain crying to God, “Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid (אֶסָּתֵ֑ר (es·sā·ṯêr))^H5641; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, [that] every one that findeth me shall slay me.“) and
2. Job 13:20, “Only do not two [things] unto me: then will I not hide (אֶסָּתֵ֑ר (’es·sā·ṯêr))^H5641 myself from thee.”

Another version of the same Hebrew word is אַסְתִּיר (’as·tîr)^H5641, which is used only once in this particular form in the Bible, in Deuteronomy 31:18, where we read, “And I will surely (אַסְתִּיר (’as·tîr))^H5641 hide (אַסְתִּיר (’as·tîr))^H5641 my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.” (Note also that the word “hide” was doubled, and hence was translated as “surely hide“). In this later usage, God was specifically telling Moses in Deuteronomy 31:16-22 that, in the future, when the people of Israel would commit spiritual adultery, by worshipping other gods, that God at that point would “hide/conceal” Himself (hide His “face”) from National Israel as a result. (It is therefore all the more ironic that, derived from this forewarned concealment of God’s Face, a Jewish tradition has arisen, such that hiding one’s face (wearing a mask) is considered proper when the Jews celebrate the day of Esther/The Feast Purim.)

So then, we can see that the name Esther is actually a cross-cultural “homophone”, in that in Persian Esther means “Star“, but in Hebrew, Esther phonetically means “Concealed“. At a minimum, one could say that, by changing her name from Hadassah (Jewish) to Esther (Persian), it would have certainly helped her to “hide” or “conceal” her Jewish identity from potential enemies like Haman. Beyond providing an interesting play on words (“pun”), we will also learn from this study that there is far more hidden in the Book of Esther (by God) than just Esther’s Jewish identity.

The Book of Esther Is an Historical Parable about Deliverance and Salvation Through Jesus Christ

The Book of Esther is indeed about the miraculous physical deliverance of the Jews of Old Testament National Israel (the physical descendants of the patriarchs from the first, Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob and David).   More importantly, it is really all about the miraculous eternal deliverance of the true Jews, the “eternal” Israel, the body of believers, the church of Jesus Christ (those who are of the faith of Abraham, which include a remnant of both National Israel and the Gentile nations – – Romans 2:28–29; Romans 4:13–16; Galatians 3:26–29).  Because the Book of Esther has both an earthly/historical meaning and a heavenly/eternal spiritual meaning, it is also an “Historical Parable“, which involves significant use of “allegories” and “Types“. 

The Book of Esther Reveals God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan Through Jesus Christ…From Beginning to End and Forever in Eternity

Perhaps the most important of God’s purposes for the Book of Esther was to convey (albeit in a concealed manner) most, if not all, of the key elements of God’s magnificent salvation plan through a series of vignettes within one short (ten chapter) historical account. 

The Message of the Book of Esther is the same Gospel Message that can be found everywhere else in the Bible as it focuses on the Person and Work of the LORD Jesus Christ. The only difference is that, each time Jesus is found in the Bible, we can learn more about Him and God’s Gospel plan through Him (which glorifies God in the process).  However, to truly “see” Jesus (to believe with our hearts and not just our minds), we must have our “spiritual eyes” opened by God.  Given that this can be the case, then another purpose for God having provided us with the Book of Esther is that it will edify and strengthen the faith of the saints (the elect of God, the true believers).

Perhaps just as significantly, and even more importantly, the Book of Esther is also a spiritual book of Prophecy (with some elements still to be fulfilled), because it culminates with a picture of Judgment Day at the end of creation, and the eternity in Heaven that will follow for all those who are counted among the people of Jesus… and the eternal death and destruction in Hell for all those who are not.

So where do we see Jesus in the Book of Esther?

Some Christian commentaries conclude that it is Esther who, “as the advocate for her people,” is the deliverer of salvation to her people and therefore allegorically portrays Jesus Christ.  Is that a correct interpretation?  

To answer that question, this summary commentary is presented in the following sequence:

1. Highlighting the main personages and the attributes of each in the order of their appearance;
2. Synoptically reviewing of the historical context in which each person appears;
3. Assessing each of the personages and who they represent from a spiritual/eternal perspective;
4. Providing an expositional outline of the important analogies that can be drawn from each chapter’s historical vignettes.

Note to the reader: The highlighted live links below connect with other posts that expand upon some of personages named in the Book of Esther. Also available are expanded verse by verse expositions of each of the ten chapters of the Book of Esther posted separately on this website for further study.

I. The Main Personages Described in the Book of Esther

1) King Ahasuerus: A very great and powerful king who reigned over a “glorious  kingdom” with the “honour of his excellent majesty.”

2) Queen Vashti: A beautiful queen, the first wife of the king Ahasuerus.  When she was bidden by the king (by his “commandment”) to a great feast, she refused to come while holding her own feast for the women; so the king decreed that she could never again come into his presence.  He also decreed that her royal estate be given “to another that is better than she.”  King Ahasuerus sent letters to all his provinces to be published “to every people after their language.”

3) Mordecai: A certain Jew, “the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite“, who lived in the king’s palace and sat in the king’s gate. He was the nearest kinsman to Esther, being her elder cousin.

4) Esther: A fair and beautiful maid, a virgin, (and an orphan, because “for she had neither mother or father”)  who was brought up by Mordecai, and he “took for his own daughter“… “when her father and mother were dead“.)  Esther pleased king  Ahasuerus and “she obtained kindness of him.”  “And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.“

5) Two Chamberlains: 1) Hegai (Hege): “the king’s chamberlain, the keeper of the women.” Esther 2:8; and 2) Hatach, “[one] of the king’s chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her“Esther 4:5.

6) Haman: A chief prince of king Ahasuerus who, because he saw that Mordecai bowed not to him (Haman), nor reverenced him, “…sought to destroy all the Jews that  were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.“ Esther 7:6 “And Esther said, The adversary and enemy [is] this wicked Haman.“

II. Synopsis of the Historical Account

King Ahasuerus replaces his first queen, Vashti, for her disobedience, and gives her royal estate to Esther (the Jewish orphan raised up by her elder kinsman, Mordecai) who has been anointed by the King’s Chamberlain, Hegai.  Later, in his prideful wrath because Mordecai would not bow to Haman, prince Haman determined (by the casting of lots, or pur) a single specific day, at the end of the year, to destroy Mordecai and his people (the Jews). Haman then convinced the king to decree the destruction of “a certain people” (the Jews) from throughout the land by accusing them of not keeping the king’s laws. When Mordecai heard about it, he put on sackcloth and ashes outside the palace gate.  “Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king’s chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it [was], and why it [was].” Later under commandment from Mordecai, Esther went into the kings presence (at the risk of death, but walking by faith…”if I perish I perish“) to inform the king (over time through two sequential banquets) of Haman’s plot to kill her people (the “Jews”). At the same time, Haman also planned to have Mordecai hanged on the highest gallows that Haman had made for that purpose.  

However, Mordecai, was subsequently honored by the king, because of an earlier act of faithfulness to the king that Esther had earlier “certified the king [thereof] in Mordecai’s name” in Esther 2:22 (which the king had forgotten for a time to serve God’s purposes). Mordecai, who was known to the king to be a Jew, was arrayed in the king’s royal apparel wearing the king’s royal crown and allowed to ride through the street of the city on the king’s horse being declared as the one man in the kingdom that the king did most want to honor.  This was the very honor and distinction that Haman, because of his pride, had sought for himself.  Instead of receiving that honor as he had imagined, Haman was subsequently humiliated. Moreover, after Esther later revealed to the king Haman’s plot to kill “her people” (the “Jews”) and the king soon supposed Haman was about to accost Esther, the king ordered that Haman was to be hung from the same gallows that Haman had built to hang Mordecai.

Because Mordecai had subsequently been granted the king’s authority (which had previously been given to Haman), Mordecai made a new decree, which, while NOT nullifying the earlier decree, provided the means by which the Jews could defend themselves and kill all those in league with Haman at the end of the year. And we also know that there was a great “conversion” during this interim period that occurred between the third month (which is always associated with the Feast of Firstfruits/Pentecost) and the end of the year (which can Biblically be associated with Judgment Day), for we read, “…And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.“

In the final battle, at the end of the year, where Haman had planned to have all the Jews destroyed and consumed in one day, all those who hated the Jews, including all of the ten sons of Haman, were themselves removed “with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction.”  The next day, after this great battle, the Jews rested from their enemies and “made it a day of feasting and gladness,” to be remembered and kept throughout every generation.  

Finally, because the king had advanced Mordecai “next unto the king” (his right-hand man, so to speak), Mordecai was “great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.”  We also read earlier, after the death of Haman, that “Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.  The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.“

III. The Spiritual “Types” Represented by Each Person in the Book of Esther

If we compare the historical account found in the Book of Esther with the rest of the Bible, we can find some amazing and unequivocal parallels between those main personages and the key figures of the Bible (and the role of each) in the unfolding of God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan:

1)  King Ahasuerus with Heavenly Father (or more generically, Almighty God)

2)  Queen Vashti with National Israel of the Old Testament

Vashti was a beautiful first queen, but she rebelled against the King and refused to come to his feast, but rather held her own feast for the women in the royal palace that belonged to the King. Deuteronomy 31:16-18 explains how this analogy is a valid one.

3)  Mordecai with The Lord Jesus Christ (God as Savior)

Although the meaning of “Mordecai” (מָרְדְּכַי (mārdᵊḵay))^H4782 is not clear, being of foreign origin, but it is said to mean “little man“, which is interesting, because it was Mordecai’s warning to the king that saved the kingdom, and yet he was not remembered.  This sounds quite somewhat similar to what we read in Ecclesiastes 9:13-17, “This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me: [There was] a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man. Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. The words of wise [men are] heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.“

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who delivers His people, the eternal Israel, the true “Jews.”  Jesus Is The One Who ascended to the Right Hand of God the Father. Jesus is the One Who we read about in Revelation 19:11-16. Jesus wears the “many crowns”, riding the “white horse”, and Jesus bears the Name that is “Faithful and True“.  He is the one who Satan sought to destroy on the cross, but it was Jesus who instead vanquished Satan at the cross.  Jesus (as the God-Man) is the One Who nurtures the believers by serving in the role of their near kinsman.  We also know that at the Great Battle at the end of the age, on Judgment Day, all who are in league with Satan (the unbelievers) will be destroyed with him at that time.  Then will the “Jews” (the true believers in Jesus Christ, the Messiah, please see Romans 2:28-29) find rest from their enemies.  We also know that the believers are referred to throughout the Bible as the Bride of Jesus Christ (and Jesus Christ is also God).  That bride is described in the Bible with all the attributes ascribed to Esther.  The true believers replaced Old Testament National Israel (pictured by Vashti), God’s former chosen people, whom He effectively divorced at the cross because they would not come when bidden to the final Passover Feast (they rejected Jesus as Messiah, the Perfect Passover Lamb of God, see also Luke 14:15-24). (Please also see Jeremiah 3:8 regarding the initial divorce by God of the first ten tribes of Israel, see also Isaiah 50:1)

4)  Queen Esther with the Body of Believers (from both Jews (the remnant) and Gentiles; the true “Jews” or the “eternal Israel”). Esther walked by faith and not by sight (Esther 4:16, “if I perish, I perish“), as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”. As representing the church, Esther represents the “bride” who we read about in Revelation 21:2, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”

5)  Two Chamberlains*: Hegai (Hege) and Hatach, as “Types” for “God, The Holy Spirit“

1. Hegai (Hege) (הֵגֵא (hēḡē’) ^H1896 was a chamberlain eunuch appointed by king Ahasuerus to attend Queen Esther whose name means either “eunuch” or “Meditation“; “Word“; “Groaning“; “Separation”, and he prepared Esther to come into the presence of the king by purifications “with nothing but what Hegai appointed“, and that was “six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odours, and with [other] things for the purifying of the women.”  Remembering that in Romans 8:26 we read, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.“
2. Another of the King’s Chamberlains, who also would have had to have been a eunuch, is named Hatach, הֲתָךְ (hăṯāḵ)^H204, meaning either “a Gift” or “Verily” (hence “Truly” or “Truth“), and both attributes are clearly used in the Bible as representations of the Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit.   The Holy Spirit Anoints the believer and Is An Intermediary for them in prayer to God the Father. The Holy Spirit Is “The Gift from God”Acts 10:45, and also He Is “The Spirit of Truth” John 16:13 Who leads the believer into all Truth (Jesus)!  (Please see the much more extensive exposition regarding the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost below.)(Please see: The Book of Esther: a Christian Commentary).

* A third Chamberlain (likely another eunuch) is also mentioned, named Shaashgaz, שַׁעַשְׁגַּז (šaʿašgaz)^H8190, meaning “servant of the beautiful“. Shaashgaz was in charge of the concubines in the “second house“, after each had her year of purifications and after having come into the presence of the King the first time. It is not clear to this teacher what specific role Shaashgaz has, but he could serve as a ministering angel from Heaven (Hebrews 1:13&14) and/or an earthly minister of the church (Matthew 19:12). We do know that Esther was described as beautiful in Esther 2:7, “And he (Mordecai) brought up Hadassah, that [is], Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid [was] fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.”

6)  Haman with Satan (See also: The Devil in Disguise: Haman the Agagite and Amalekite)

Regarding Haman’s role, from Isaiah 14:12-15, we clearly see that Satan, the chief prince of all the angels that became devils, in his great pride, sought to “be like the most High,” but was subsequently consigned to Hell. Satan wanted to exalt his throne above the “stars” of God; as we read in Isaiah 14:13, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:” 

It is particularly noteworthy that in Esther 7:6 we read, “And Esther said, The adversary and enemy [is] this wicked Haman.“ In the original Hebrew, the word frequently translated into English for “adversary” is שָׂטָן (śāṭān)^H7854. So it should be abundantly clear that Haman is being used as a “Type” of the devil (Satan), who is most certainly both wicked as well as the enemy of God, God’s Word, and God’s people. This is also entirely consistent with 1 Peter 5:8, where we read, “¶Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:“

We also see this is God’s condemnation of Edom, hence Esau, hence Haman (and therefore: the devil) in Obadiah 1:4, “Though thou exalt [thyself] as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.

God dealt with Haman’s (and the devil’s) pride exactly as God Will Do on Judgment Day (“The day of the LORD of hosts”) as we read in Isaiah 2:12, “For the day of the LORD of hosts [shall be] upon every [one that is] proud and lofty, and upon every [one that is] lifted up; and he shall be brought low:“

In the Bible, the “stars” represent the believers, typified by Esther (whose very name means “Star” in Persian).  We see this clearly in Daniel 12:3, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.“ And please note also how the words “stars” and “sons of God” are used together in this verse: Job 38:7, “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? And it is by no coincidence that we see “stars” compared with “Abraham’s seed”, who represent the believers when we compare scripture with scripture looking first at Genesis 15:5, “And he (God) brought him (Abraham) forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.“, and then Galatians 3:29, “And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.“

Remember also, in Matthew 4:8-10, how the devil, like Haman to Mordecai, having been given the power by God to rule this world upon the Fall of Adam, desired for Jesus to “fall down and worship” him, and Jesus answered, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” 

IV. Expositional Outline of the Prophetic Book of Esther 

Comfort for the Believers at all Times (God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan Embedded and Explained in Ten Short Chapters)

(Psalm 68:5, “A father of the fatherless (e.g.,Esther), and a judge of the widows (e.g., Ruth and Naomi), [is] God in his holy habitation.“)

Chapter I.          “God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan: Old Testament National Israel (under the Law) rebels: making a way for the remnant of both Jews and Gentiles” (under Grace)(Esther 1:12 and Esther 1:19) Please see Deuteronomy 31:16-18 and Romans 4:15.

Chapter II.         “God Remembers His Covenant: The Establishment of the New and Better Covenant” (Esther 2:1-4)   Please also see Hebrews 8:6-13.

• Jesus Christ (Mordecai) Shows Mercy to the Fatherless (Esther)  (Esther 2:7)
• The Work of the Holy Spirit in His Anointing and Purifying the Believer (e.g., Esther) to enter into God’s presence: (Esther 2:15)
• A Rebellion Against the King by Those (possibly eunuchs) “Who Kept the Door”, Bigthan and Teresh (possibly representing the fallen angels of 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6 Revelation 12:9?) (Esther 2:21-23) and/or the Fall of Adam and Eve.

Chapter III.     “Satan Given Dominion Over This Creation Immediately Upon the Fall of Adam” (Esther 3:1 and Esther 8:5)  Please see Romans 6:23

• The Temptation of Christ,  Satan Seeks to Destroy Jesus and His People by Accusing the People for Being Sinners…Not Keeping the King’s Laws (Esther 3:6-8), Please see: Revelation 12:10

Chapter IV.       “The Atonement of Jesus Christ” (Esther 4:1) followed by “three days and nights” of fasting typifying the period of the Atonement.

Chapter V.        “The Faith of the Saints” (Christ’s Faith, Ephesians 3:11&12)  (Esther 5:1&2) Please see Hebrews 12:2, Numbers 24:17, and Psalms 45:6 (note that Esther did not put on “royal apparel” until the “third day” typifying the partaking of the first resurrection)

Chapter VI.       “Previewing Palm Sunday” (Esther 6:11). This vignette, while not in the historically correct sequence, nonetheless prophetically reminds us that just as Mordecai was honored on by the king and the people, so too would Jesus honored on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem being honored by both God the Father and the crowds cried “Hosanna” and called Jesus the “King of Israel” (John 12:13), For more on the meaning of Palm Sunday please see This Post.

Chapter VII.      “The Last Passover Feast and Christ’s Victory over Satan at the Cross” (Esther 7:10)

Chapter VIII.     “The Great Commission, the New Testament Era Beginning with Christ’s Ascension“, Heralded by Pentecost (Esther 8:1-17)

Chapter IX.       “Judgment Day and the Transition to Eternity“

Chapter X.        “Eternity in Heaven” (Esther 10:3) Please see Galatians 3:16 & 29

NOTE to the Reader: There is not one direct reference to God found anywhere in the Book of Esther.  As a result, Martin Luther declared it to be an apocryphal book.  It is also the only Old Testament book missing from the Dead Sea Scrolls, possibly because the Essene sect believed that Esther was not sufficiently faithful to the Mosaic Law, i.e., Esther (a “Jewess”), married the “Gentile” Persian king.  Nonetheless, for historical corroboration and accuracy, it is important to also note that Mordecai is specifically mentioned among those who returned to Jerusalem in the restoration following the initial captivity into Babylon as can be found in both Ezra 2:2 and Nehemiah 7:7. This double witness validates that Mordecai was a real person in history during the associated time period. The Book of Esther is a true and valid part of the Holy Scriptures, and was perfectly crafted in time and space by God the Holy Spirit as an Historical Parable.

Conclusion

The Book of Esther provides us with an accurate account of an actual period in history, but it was nonetheless orchestrated, recorded, and written under the inspiration of Almighty God, by His Holy Spirit, and it is incorporated into God’s Word the Bible for the edification and consolation of His people, which glorifies God in the process.  The Book of Esther is, therefore, a sequence of historical vignettes orchestrated by God in the first instance (historically), and written down as precisely crafted in the Bible in the second instance (spiritually) to fulfill God’s own purposes. Those purposes include the conveyance of most, if not all, of the key elements of God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan, wrought by the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, into one short (ten chapter) account (albeit in a “concealed” manner…”Esther” in Hebrew means “concealment”).

And despite the fact that The Book of Esther is read every year to the assembled congregations of the Jewish people in their synagogues to the present day, the true meaning of it, as well as the true meaning of the associated Feast of Purim, remains entirely “concealed” to the Jewish people exactly as was foretold by God to Moses in Deuteronomy 31:16-22. The Book of Esther is therefore also an Historical Parable, which prophetically points us to the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, Who Is The Only Lord, God, and Savior. Moreover the book spiritually spans a period of time encompassing Old Testament National Israel and into the future fulfillment of the feasts of Passover and Pentecost in the New Testament era, as well as a prophetic “preview” of the still future Judgment Day and beyond into eternity in the New Heavens and the New Earth. We can also see key personages of the Bible throughout this book by those who serve as “Types” to each sequentially represent 1) God the Father/Almighty God, 2) Old Testament National Israel, 3) the Lord Jesus Christ, 4) Eternal Israel, 5) The Holy Spirit, and 6) the Devil.

Again, the reader is reminded that there is a longer, much more complete, and much more in-depth study that should be read and pondered in light of all the Bible (just like the Bereans would have done) to verify whether these things are so or not: The Book of Esther: a Christian Commentary

Postscript

When we look around the world today and pass people on the street, it is impossible for anyone to discern by outward appearance who is a true believing Christian.  Only God knows the heart.  And just as Esther’s identity as a Jew (representing the eternal Jews who form the Bride of Christ) was concealed, but eventually revealed, so too will the Bride of Christ remain hidden from the world until the end of time when Jesus comes back on the clouds of Glory to gather His Bride to the Wedding Feast (while also condemning the unsaved of the world in Judgment).

Introduction to the Book of Hebrews

The Book of Hebrews is a most interesting book in the New Testament. The Book of Hebrews was written to the Hebrews as a group, who would have been well versed in the Old Testament (the only Holy Scriptures existing and available to them at that time). It therefore quotes extensively from the Old Testament and is thoroughly derived from it, with the exposition being provided by God the Holy Spirit (please see John 15:26 and John 16:13-15). It is a book, in the form of an epistle (letter), which is intended to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament scriptures to “the Hebrews”, an audience which would have been well versed in those same Old Testament scriptures (the Mosaic Law, the Prophets, and the Writings, etc., also know as the “Tanakh“).

The main themes of the Book of Hebrews involve:

1. God’s denouncement of the sin of “Unbelief”,
2. God’s praise of “Faith”, the opposite of unbelief, and
3. Jesus is the fulfillment and substance of the Old Testament “Types” and “Shadows” as both the High Priest and the Sacrifices

The author of the Book of Hebrews was evidently addressing what was likely a problem for many of the Jews in that day regarding Jesus as the Christ (Messiah), including those 1) who were newly converted to Christianity and likely undergoing persecution by unconverted Jews, 2) the Jews who were curious whom God might be drawing to Jesus, and 3) the naysayers.

Evidently, there were some Jewish members of the church who were tempted to return to the Mosaic Law and Jewish traditions. This epistle to the Hebrews urges them not to go back, but to move on to full spiritual maturity, by faith. Jesus Christ is better than angels and better than Moses, and He has provided a better sacrifice, a better Priesthood, and a better covenant than anything of the Old Testament and, moreover, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament laws and sacrifices. Those ordinances were only meant to testify of Jesus. See also, the Road to Emmaus

It is reasonable to conclude that the Book of Hebrews qualifies as a “catechism” ( /ˈkætəˌkɪzəm/; from Ancient Greek: κατηχέω, “to teach orally“), which is a summary, and an exposition of doctrine, to serve as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in teaching converts.

And just as it was a teaching guide for Hebrew converts to Christianity, the expositional teaching equally applies to all believers.

Background #1: Who Was the Human Author of the Book of Hebrews?

According to various theologians, Biblical scholars and other academics there has evidently been quite some “controversy” regarding who God used as the human author of the Book of Hebrews. For more on this issue the reader can pursue it here in GotQuestions

However, this teacher’s King James Version of the Bible (an English Translation) states that the Book of Hebrews is an Epistle from the Apostle Paul. Drawing from some significant, but indirect, evidence, it is quite reasonable to identify Paul as the human vehicle whom God used to author the book of Hebrews.

Paul was well equipped to dictate such an epistle, being a self-proclaimed “Hebrew of the Hebrews“, according to Philippians 3:5, but my King James Bible also says that it was scribed/penned by Timothy in Italy, which is where Paul spent his last days. It is also notable that this epistle specifically mentions “brother Timothy” (in Hebrews 13:23) and Paul is the only Apostle to have done that elsewhere in the Bible.

It should also be noted that the in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, verses 15&16, Paul wrote that he was in “chain” in Rome, and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews also made mention of being in “bonds” as we read in Hebrews 10:34, which is also consistent with the last words of Paul in Colossians 4:18, “¶The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace [be] with you. Amen.” (more on this in the post on Chapter 13)

The Epistle to the Hebrews was unique and different from other Pauline epistles because it begins with none of the usual greetings or salutations common to Paul’s acknowledged epistles to the Gentiles whether to specific churches, or to an individual (like Timothy or Titus). It was also unique in that it went instead to an entire ethnic group, and, in lieu of salutations, went right to the heart of the matter making clear that God spoke to us in the OId Testament by the prophets in many different times and ways, but now (in the last days) by His Son, Jesus Christ, Who God appointed to be Heir of all things and by Whom God created all things!

Nonetheless, perhaps the very best explanation (at least to this teacher) of why Paul’s name would not be attached to this epistle to the Hebrews is that most likely God (working through Paul) did not want to provide any means by which it might prejudice the “hearing” of the words that would be included within the epistle on the basis of Paul’s previous history 1) with the Hebrews, and 2) Paul’s widely known persecution of early Hebrew converts to Christianity and/or Paul’s later close association with the Gentiles. In other words, do not dismiss the message simply because one questions the messenger.

To this teacher, this makes a lot of sense given Paul’s own previous assertion in Philippians 3:5 of being a “Hebrew of the Hebrews“, while it does provide evidence of Paul’s humility, perhaps more importantly suggests a recognition that, if he were to have attached his name (and Apostleship), as in the openings of his other epistles written to the Gentiles, it would not carry much weight with the Jews. And note how perfectly this is in keeping with Jesus’ statements that we find in:

1. Matthew 13:57, “And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.“
2. Mark 6:4, “But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”

Ultimately, it does not matter who the human author and/or scribe was. The reason that it does not matter is because the True Author is God Alone, through God The Holy Spirit, as we read in 2 Peter 1:21. The Bible is the Word of God and not of men.

Background #2: Who Are The Hebrews?

From Eber עֵבֶר (ʿēḇer), ^H5677 meaning “the region beyond” (“the great beyond”?), who is a descendant of Shem, one of the three sons of Noah Genesis 10:21, is generally used as a reference to being from near the Euphrates River on the east of the Jordan River (other side of the great salt sea).  Ur of the Chaldees, where Abram (Abraham) was from is at the southern reach of the Euphrates River.

“Hebrew” is the word, עִבְרִי (ʿiḇrî) ^H5680 meaning “one from beyond“, but can also mean “one who traversed” or “who passed over”

1 Chronicles 1:17-27 provides the genealogy from Shem to Abram (Abraham) showing that Abram was a “Hebrew” and hence so were all who were descended from Abraham (both Isaac and Ishmael, both Jew and Arab)…so they could also all be called “Shemites or Semites” from which we hear the world “antisemitic”, and moreover, they could also be called “Hebrews” as they are also all descended from Eber (Genesis 10:21).  However the name “Hebrew” generally is now considered synonymous with only the Semitic speaking Israelites, and that is apparently also the case of how it is used in the title of the book of “Hebrews”.

Abram (Abraham) is identified as a Hebrew in Genesis 14:13, “¶And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these [were] confederate with Abram.“

Jonah identified himself as a Hebrew in Jonah 1:9, “And he said unto them, I [am] an Hebrew עִבְרִי (ʿiḇrî) ^H5680; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry [land].”

Paul identified himself as a Hebrew in Philippians 3:5, “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;”

NOTE: 1 Chronicles 1:24-27 “¶Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abram; the same [is] Abraham. Does not precisely match what is provided in Luke 3:34-37, “Which was [the son] of Jacob, which was [the son] of Isaac, which was [the son] of Abraham, which was [the son] of Thara, which was [the son] of Nachor, Which was [the son] of Saruch, which was [the son] of Ragau, which was [the son] of Phalec, which was [the son] of Heber, which was [the son] of Sala, Which was [the son] of Cainan, which was [the son] of Arphaxad, which was [the son] of Sem, which was [the son] of Noe, which was [the son] of Lamech,”The difference being that “Cainan” is not listed in the 1 Chronicles accounting between Arphaxad and Sala (Shelah).  It is not clear why this is the case, but the lineage ultimately remains the same as Sala/Shelah is still a “son” of Arphaxad, if even as a “grandson”.

Outline: The Priesthood of Jesus Christ

This Outline partitions Hebrews into sections of verses*:

1. The Person of the Priest (Chapters 1:1- 3:6)

A. Jesus Is God (Hebrews 1:1– 2:4)

a. Jesus Is Greater than the Prophets (Hebrews 1:1-3) Jesus made the worlds

b. Jesus Is Greater than the Angels (Hebrews 1:4-14) Jesus made the earth and the heavens, but He is eternal

c. Jesus Is Greater than the Apostles (Hebrews 2:1-5) Jesus performed miracles, and through the Holy Spirit gave gifts to the Apostles so that they could do the same

B. The Priest Jesus Is also Man (Hebrews 2:5– 3:6)

a. The Victorious Brother of God’s children (Hebrews 2:5– 18)

b. The Glorious Son over God’s house (Hebrews 3:1-6)

2. The People of the Priest (Hebrews 3:7– 4:16)

A. Unbelievers are Excluded from God’s Rest (Hebrews 3:7– 4:2)

a. Israelites Fell in the Wilderness (Hebrews 3:7– 3:19

b. The Warning for Today (Hebrews 4:1&2)

B. Believers are Included in God’s Rest (Hebrews 4:3–

a. His Rest Remains Today (Hebrews 4:3-9)

b. His Help is for Today (Hebrews 4:10-16)

3. The Plan for the Priest (Hebrews 5:1– 10)

A. The Priest’s Requirements (Hebrews 5:1)

B. The Priest’s Work (Hebrews 5:2&3)

C. The Priest’s Calling (Hebrews 5:4-6)

D. The Priest’s Perfection (Hebrews 5:7-10)

4. The Plan for the People of the Priest (Hebrews 5:11-6:19)

A. They Are Not Unskilled in the Word, but Go on to Perfection

in the Doctrine of Christ (Hebrews 5:11-6:3)

B. They Do Not Fall Away, but Inherit the Promise (Hebrews 6:4-14).

C. God Confirms Their Promised Inheritance (Hebrews 6:13-19)

5. The Promised Priesthood (Hebrews 6:20-7:28)

A. A Divine Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:20-7:4)

B. A Superior Priesthood to the Levites (Hebrews 7:5-14)

C. An Eternal and Powerful Priesthood (Hebrews 7:15-28)

6. The Perfect Priesthood (Hebrews 8:1-10:18)

A. A Spiritual Priesthood that it is Better than the Earthly One. (Hebrews 8:1-6)

B. An Effective Priesthood that Replaces the Earthly On (Hebrews 8:7-13)

C. The Limitations of the Earthly Priest (Hebrews 9:1-10)

D. The Perfection of the Spiritual Priest (Hebrews 9:11-14)

E. The New Fulfills the Promise and the Old Vanishes Away (Hebrews 9:15-17)

F. The Death Required to Fulfill the Promise (Hebrews 9:18-23)

G. The Perfect Death That Fulfills the Promise (Hebrews 9:24-28)

H. The Earthly Priesthood was Never Expected to Take Away Sin (Hebrews 10:1-4)

I. The Spiritual Priesthood Was Prophesied to Take Away Sin (Hebrews 10:5-18)

7. The Perfect People (Hebrews 10:19-13:19)

A.They Have a Faithful and Obedient Heart (Hebrews 10:19-25)

B. They Do Not Despise the New Priesthood (Hebrews 10:26-31)

C. They are Patient in Affliction and in God’s Service (Hebrews 10:32-37)

D. They Have Faith (Hebrews 10:38-11:40)

E. They Keep Their Eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-3)

F. They Do Not Despise Chastisement of the Lord (Hebrews 12:4-13)

G. They Live Holy And Not Sinful Lives

H. They have Come into a Spiritual Kingdom that is Eternal (Hebrews 12:18-29)

I. They are Concerned About Others in Need (Hebrews 13:1-3)

J. They Honor Marriage (Hebrews 13:4)

K. They Seek to Serve God and Not Mammon (Hebrews 13:5&6)

L. They are Faithful to the Gospel That Led Them to Salvation (Hebrews 13:7-16)

M. They Obey and Are Concerned for the Proper Authorities in the Church (Hebrews 13:17-19)

8. The Blessings of the Priest (Hebrews 13:20-25)

Overview of the Book of Hebrews*

“The great design of the book of Hebrews is to set forth the superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ above the prophets, above the angels, and above Moses and over Aaron and his sons (and also above the Apostles). It explicitly shows Jesus’ superiority over the priesthood, His sacrifice over all other sacrifices, and His New Covenant over the Old Covenant. It teaches the Hebrews the true knowledge of the mysteries of their law- the design, use, and meaning of its ceremonies. It is also a book of warning against apostasy, and a book showing the true glory of faith in Christ.” – Henry T. Mahan

Before God created the Universe and its inhabitants, God designed a marvelous Plan of Salvation for the people whom He would choose to save through the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The next Big event after Creation was the fulfillment of His Plan in the Life, Death, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Between these two major events God explained His Plan by means of the Law and the Prophets as we have in the Old Testament.

One of the purposes for the Book of Hebrews is to provide another bridge to help us in our understanding of the relationship between the explanation of God’s Plan in the Old Testament and its anticipated fulfillment in what we know as the New Testament.

The first and most important point that the book of Hebrews makes in that Jesus Christ is God Almighty Himself. Jesus Is The Word of God made flesh and the Embodiment of The Message, Who Is better than all the prophets and angels who spoke before. All the other messengers talked about the Savior and quoted Him (e.g., Isaiah 43:11, Isaiah 60:16, Hosea 13:4). Jesus brought the message with the greatest authority, and Jesus’ message was that He Is the Savior!

The consequence, according to Hebrews 2:3, is that we must listen to Jesus. He is “The Way, the Truth, and The Life“(John 14:6). Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.“

Hebrews Chapter 2 tells us that it was necessary that Jesus become a man, via the seed of Abraham, in order to save men and that Jesus had to become a man to become our eternal High Priest, the Man Who’s job it was to take away men’s sins.

Chapters 3 and 4 tell us more about Jesus in reflection of the Old Testament. Moses was used of God to provide the first five books of the Bible that established the rules for the Aaronic Priesthood. Moses also led national Israel out of Egypt through the wilderness. Joshua led national Israel into the Promised Land. Jesus was better than both Moses and Joshua in that only Jesus can bring the eternal Israel into its eternal Promised Land of Rest (Heaven). And that can only come with the gracious absolution from Sin through Salvation through Jesus Christ. That is why we read in Hebrews 4:15&16 that Jesus is the eternal High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek (a “Theophany“) for the believers, the eternal Israel.

From Hebrews 5:1-10:31, we learn the basis for, as well of the value, the necessity and the success of Jesus’ High Priesthood. The message is that it is Jesus Alone Who can separate man from sin and give the believers eternal life. The objective of this lengthy explanation is to encourage, and to sternly warn, the readers to place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ Alone as the eternal High Priest and to not waiver from that faith.

Hebrews Chapter 11 is a clarion call, by means of precepts and illustrations, to have Faith in the promises of the Word of God. Chapter 12 is another call, also by means of precepts and illustrations, to value those promises above the things of this world. Chapter 13 concludes by showing how a person’s faith in the Great High Priest, and the value that he places on His Promises, shapes that person’s life in Christian conduct. Finally there is a benedictive salutation consistent with what we have seen in the Apostle Paul’s Epistles.

The Book of Hebrews was evidently written to converted Jews who endured persecution, and who were, at least initially, the targets of abuse for their faith in Jesus (Hebrews 10:32-37). This epistle was written for their edification, comfort and exhortation to keep that faith. The author also showed compassion and empathy towards his readers by using the phrase “Let us” 13 times, and thereby sympathetically encouraging the readers by including himself in their struggles.

*Note to the Reader: The Outline and Overview provided above (apart from the initial quote by the late Pastor Henry T. Mahan) are extracted from the work of Elder Tom Schaff (who is also now with the Lord).

Introduction

Although It will not be entirely elaborated upon in great depth in this study (more detail concerning Gideon is in an earlier post), Gideon’s battle against, and his defeating of, the Midianites (and the Amalekites and “all the children of the east”) should be understood to be another “Historical Parable” in the Bible that typifies “Judgment Day“, where

1) Gideon spiritually represents (is a “Type”) of the Lord Jesus Christ,

2) The men with Gideon who participate in the attack spiritually represent the believers in Jesus Christ, and

3) The Midianites (et al.) spiritually represent the enemies of God (who are the devil’s own, including the purveyors of false gospels) in the world who are miraculously destroyed.

This event is also reminiscent of the battle that we read about in Judges 4&5. 

In this “Historical Parable” of the Battle of Gideon, which is an actual historical account that is spiritually interwoven into Judges chapter 7 where we are provided with another “hidden gem” that God has concealed within the Bible.

In Judges 7:20, we read “And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow [withal]: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.” In this single verse there are four key elements worthy of further scrutiny from a spiritual perspective as expounded below.

1. The “Trumpets” warn of the Judgment to come
2. The “Pitchers” are the hearts of the believers within which is hid the Light of Christ
3. The “Lamps” represent the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
4. The “Sword of the LORD” is the Word of God

1. When The Last Trumpet Sounds, It Will Herald Judgment Day

The Trumpet is from the original Hebrew word שׁוֹפָר (šôp̄ār)^H7782, and is the same word that we read about inExodus 19:16, Exodus 19:19, Exodus 20:18, and Joshua 6:4-20 at the battle of Jericho (another prefigurement of Judgment Day).

When the “Last Trump” sounds, it will be Judgment Day for the world as we are told in 1 Corinthians 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” The seventh trumpet is the last trumpet that we read about being sounded by the seventh angel in Revelation 11:15, “¶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.“

2. The Pitchers Also Typify the Believers

2 Corinthians 4:3-7, tells us plainly, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath 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. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”  

Remember also Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.“

The “pitchers” are “earthen vessels”, which represent the believers who have the Glorious Light of Jesus Christ shining brightly in their hearts, that is otherwise hidden from the world of the unsaved, which is to be revealed on the Last Day, Judgment Day. 

John 3:19-21, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

Isaiah 8:20, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.

This is all in accordance with God’s plan. We know from the following verses that the Light/Fire will be revealed as we read in :

Romans 8:18, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” and 1 Corinthians 3:13, “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.“

Daniel 12:3, “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.“

Moreover, the truth of that Light will be kept hidden from the world of unbelievers until Judgment Day, when the Judgment that befalls them comes as a “thief in the night”. This is exactly what we are told in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.“

3. The Lamp Is The Light of The Gospel of Jesus Christ

The lamp (לַפִּיד (lapîḏ))^H3940, which means “lamp“, “torch“, and “lightning” points to the Light of Christ that will be made fully manifest on Judgment Day. For more on the meaning of “lapid”, please see the section that expounds on the meaning of Lapidoth, the husband of the Prophetess, Deborah, in the study of Judges 4&5. 

Which leads us to remember John 9:5, where Jesus announces, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” after which he immediately healed a blind man, “born blind”.  Then we read later in John 9:39,”And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”

4. The “Sword of the LORD” Is the Word of God

The “sword” is also important because it is another spiritual reference to the Word of God as we find in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Remember also that Jesus is pictured as having a two-edged sword coming out of His mouth in Revelation 1:16, “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength.“

To underscore that point, we need to remember the last six verses of Psalm 149 remind us that the believers will be accompanying Jesus on Judgment Day as was reported in an earlier post.

Psalm 149:4-9, “For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. [Let] the high [praises] of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, [and] punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.“

The believers are also viewed as “conquerors” as we find in Romans 8:37, “¶Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

Regarding the “Sword of the LORD”, we should also remember the following verses that also point to Judgment Day:

Isaiah 34:5&6 “For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.“

Ezekiel 21:28 “And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword [is] drawn: for the slaughter [it is] furbished, to consume because of the glittering (בָּרָק (bārāq)^H1300):”

Psalm 7:11-13 we read, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry [with the wicked] every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.”

It is very difficult to begin to understand the might of God’s wrath against the wicked, against God’s enemies on Judgment Day.  But that Sword of Truth is Jesus, and He told us that His Word is what will bring judgment on Judgment Day as we read in John 12:48, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” And please note the parallels with Isaiah 11:4, “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” and Revelation 1:16, “And he (Jesus) had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and hiscountenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength.”

The Death of The Two Pairs of Kings of Midian

The finality of the Judgment is also manifest in the last verse of Judges Chapter 7,  Verse 25, “And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.“ Judges Chapter 8 informs us that two other Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, were subsequently also killed (see below).

The First Two Kings are Captured and Slain

The first two Midianite kings, who Gideon slew, were named Oreb (עֹרֵב(ʿōrēḇ)^H6159) means “Raven” (an unclean “fowl of the air”) which represents the forces of the devil as Jesus expounded upon in the “Parable of the Sower“, and Zeeb (זְאֵב(zᵊ’ēḇ)^H2062 ) means “Wolf”. Remember that Jesus Christ is The Good Shepherd, protecting His Eternal flock from the spiritual wolves, which we know are out there in the world, as we read in Matthew 7:15  “¶Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”  Again, in Acts 20:29, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.”

So in both cases these kings represent the wicked one’s servants who look like “kings”, but are really purveyors of a false gospel seeking to kill and devour the righteous.

The “rock of Oreb” is mentioned in Isaiah in the context of a Judgment Day against the Assyrians (typifying the final Judgment Day), through the relating of the slaughter there to the destruction of Egypt in the Red Sea at the start of the Exodus as we read in, Isaiah 10:26, “And the LORD of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and [as] his rod [was] upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.” The context is further elaborated in the immediately preceding verses in Isaiah 10:24&25, and then expounded upon in Romans 9:27, “Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut [it] short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.“

It should be clear that the death of king Zeeb at the “winepress” (יֶקֶב (yeqeḇ))^H3342 is not accidental or incidental, because it brings to mind other references that point to Judgment Day. The “winepress”, which in the original Hebrew can also be גַּת (gaṯ)^H1660, refers to God’s wrath that must be brought to bear in judgment for sin.  Jesus, as the believers’ atoning sacrifice, first had to endure that wrath and suffer the shame of God’s reproach for their sins.  But for those who remain dead in trespasses and sins, they will be tread down in the winepress of God’s wrath by Jesus as their Judge.

Key verses to recall regarding the meaning of the “winepress”:

Isaiah 63:1-6, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore [art thou] red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat (winepress, גַּת (gaṯ) ^H1660 ? I (Jesus) have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people [there was] none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance [is] in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and [there was] none to help; and I wondered that [there was] none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.“ Jesus endured the wrath of God in the Winepress of Shame in the first Judgment Day (in 33AD for the believers), and Jesus will bring Judgment on His enemies in the great winepress of the wrath of God on the second and final Judgment Day.

Joel 3:13, we read, “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press ^H1660 is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness [is] great.” 

Revelation 14:19, “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.”  

Revelation 19:13, we see this picture of Jesus, “And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.“

For more on this please see the study of Jonah (Jonah was from a village called “Winepress of Shame”).

The Second Two Midianite Kings Are Also Captured and Slain

But there were two other kings who Gideon pursued as we read about Chapter 8. It is particularly noteworthy that these Midianite kings, Zebah (זֶבַח (zeḇaḥ) ^H2078) which means “Sacrifice“, and Zalmunna (צַלְמֻנָּע (ṣalmunnāʿ) ^H6759) which means “Deprived of protection“,  had earlier killed the brothers of Gideon, evidently at mount Tabor, and were themselves, subsequent to their capture, also killed by Gideon in retribution. 

In Judges 8:18, when Gideon asked the two remaining Midianite kings the following question, and they gave their reply (just before Gideon had them killed), “Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men [were they] whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou [art], [so were] they; each one resembled the children of a king.” The children of a king refers to the believers who are the children of God and they are like Jesus.  For more about the meaning of “children of a king”, please see: mephibosheth-and-a-covenant-of-grace/  Gideon replied to the two kings in Judges 8:19, “¶And he said, They [were] my brethren, [even] the sons of my mother: [as] the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.“

“As Thou Art, So Were They“

These two Midianite kings made it clear that those whom they slew at mount Tabor appeared like Gideon. Does this not bring to mind what we read in Hebrews 2:9-13, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. ¶For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom [are] all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified [are] all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.” (Note: Hebrews 2:12 is specifically referencing Psalm 22:22, which reads, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.“)

And when we look a little few verses further down in Hebrews to Hebrews 2:16-18, we are reminded of how closely Jesus identifies with mankind to save a people for Himself, “For verily he took not on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto [his] brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things [pertaining] to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.“

And is it not also true that the Bible says that the believers are to become likened to Jesus? Look at what 1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Mother and Brethren?

Given that Gideon is an unequivocal “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is worth remembering what Jesus said regarding His “mother” and His “brethren”. In Matthew 12:48&49, we read “But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! And again in Mark 3:33&34, “¶And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?And he (Jesus) looked round about on them which sat about him, and said,Behold my mother and my brethren!“

Therefore, those who are counted among Jesus’ disciples, the believers, are Jesus’ brethren. Where do we see accounts of Jesus’ brethren (disciples) being killed? The first recorded one is Stephen, in Acts 7:59. And who killed Stephen? The apostate church leaders! And what were Stephen’s last words? In Act 7:55, we read, “But he(Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, andsaw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” His death occurred in the presence of Heaven. And remember what Tabor spiritually represents? Yes, Heaven (with Judgment in view)! God saw it, received Stephen, and God, as Jesus the Judge, will remember it, come Judgment Day! This was the case for all the prophets that were also killed in the Old Testament and continuing right through to the end of Great Tribulation in the run up to Judgment Day. 

Some additional verses that address how the apostate church (represented by the Jews) killed Jesus’ disciples:

1 Thessalonians 2:15, “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: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” 

And consider the last days when the witnesses (representing the true believers) are killed by the apostate church ruled by the Abomination of Desolation in Revelation 11:7-12, “¶And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 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. And they of the people and kindreds 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. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice overthem, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. ¶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. 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.“

Note how well this conforms with John 16:2, “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” The apostate church will drive out (and effectively “kill”) the true believers. But we must remember that Psalm 116:15 makes clear how God feels about the death of Jesus’ brethren, “Precious in the sight of the LORD [is] the death of his saints.“

Further Corroboration

Note also that in Psalm 83:9-12, where we read of the death brought to the enemies of God in the book of Judges, “Do unto them as [unto] the Midianites; as [to] Sisera, as [to] Jabin, at the brook of Kison (Kishon) [Which] perished at Endor (Endor/En-Dor, the same that was the home of a witch 1 Samuel 28:7, is located in the valley of Megiddo, most likely between Megiddo and Taanach) : they became [as] dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna: Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.”  

Therefore, in Psalm 83:9-12, God is clearly equating Gideon with Barak(and hence the Lord Jesus Christ), because they both defeated and killed those named individuals, all six who were clearly identified as “enemies” of God (who sought to claim the “houses of God” as their own) as stated in Psalm 83:2, ” For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.”  Moreover, we can again see more clearly how both and Gideon and Barak are spiritual representations of Jesus, Who, on Judgment Day, will defeat the devil and his accomplices, the false teachers who have sought to subdue the Church of God (take “the houses of God in possession”) through apostasy.  we see in Psalm 83:3, “They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.” 

Conclusion

We have learned from this study that we have been provided another amazing “Historical Parable” pointing us to the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been shown that Gideon is a clear “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how Gideon was chosen by God to utterly destroy God’s enemies, involving the utter supernatural defeat of the Midianites (and the Amalekites and “all the children of the east”) in a battle typifying Judgment Day with 300 men out of 32,000 who were refined and purified for the purpose through testing by God. We also see how the two pairs of Midianite kings (the number “two” represents a witness in the Bible) were used by God to represent leaders of apostate churches purveying false gospels to lead astray, and thereby hope to kill the believers as we read in Mark 13:22, “For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if [it were] possible, even the elect.”

Introduction

Biblical names in the Bible are extremely important as they almost always signify an important spiritual truth that can be perceived, regarding either a person (including his or her lives) or a place, which in one way or another relates to God’s Magnificent Salvation Program and Glorifies God and The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There are simply too many examples to expound upon this point (Barak and Abinoam is one such illustration), this post will focus only on a few key people(s) of the Bible whose names were “changed”, along with the evident spiritual reasoning behind those name changes.

For more on the meaning of names in the Bible, this teacher highly recommends the book a dictionary of proper names in the Bible.

Changing a Name in the Bible

When God changed a person’s name, as has been recorded in the Bible, and then gave that person a new name, it established an entirely new identity that spiritually pointed to a conversion of that carnal person (or group of persons) becoming newly identified as a spiritual child(ren) of God.

#1. Abram to Abraham

God changed Abram’s name אַבְרָם (‘aḇrām)^H87, meaning “exalted father,” to “Abraham” אַבְרָהָם (‘aḇrāhām)^H85, meaning “father of a multitude” or “father of many nations” (Genesis 17:5). This name change took place when God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision and the promise of the “seed” which pointed to the Savior, Jesus Christ, as we read in Genesis 22:18, “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”, which was later exposited in Galatians 3:16, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”

#2. Sarai to Sarah

God also changed Abraham’s wife’s name from “Sarai,”שָׂרַי (śāray)^H8297 meaning “princess,” to “Sarah” שָׂרָה (śārâ)^H8283, meaning “mother of nations” (Genesis 17:15).

Abraham had a first-born son, Ishmael, through Sarah’s handmaiden, Hagar, and Ishmael did indeed become a progenitor of many nations, primarily in the Arab world of today. God also reaffirmed His promise to give Abraham a son through Sarah, and told him to name his son Isaac, meaning “laughter.” God’s promise to bless the nations through Abraham was to be fulfilled only through Isaac’s line, from whom Jesus descended via Mary (Luke 3:23-38).

#3. Jacob to Israel

Isaac was the father of the fraternal twins Jacob and Esau via Rebekah. The Bible tells us that the twins fought in the womb of Rebecca as we read in Genesis 25:22&23, “And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If [it be] so, why [am] I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations [are] in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and [the one] people shall be stronger than t[he other] people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” Although Esau was the first-born, and hence the elder, Jacob, the younger grabbed Esau by the heel during that birth. “his hand took hold on Esau’s heel;” being suggestive of what was to come. (Genesis 25:26)

Jacob’s birth name, Jacob יַעֲקֹב (yaʿăqōḇ)^H3290, means “supplanter”, “usurper”, “deceiver”; it was given to Jacob because, he grew up as a conniver and deceiver, and he eventually supplanted his brother’s position as heir to both the birthright and the first-born son’s blessing from their father, Isaac.

After Jacob’s struggle with the Lord at Peniel, the Lord gave Jacob a new name: “Israel” יִשְׂרָאֵל (yiśrā’ēl) ^H3478 , meaning “Prince with God” and God gave this reason: “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” (Genesis 32:28).

Note: Israel can mean different things at different times. It can refer to the man who was Jacob, it can refer to the nation, it can refer to the church of God, or Israel can refer to Jesus Christ. Sometimes it can even different interpretations at the same time. Hosea 11:1 reads, “¶When Israel [was] a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” This verse is referring to both the nation of Israel in 1447 BC as well as referring to Jesus as a child when Joseph and Mary fled to Egypt until after the death of King Herod in 4 BC as we are told in Matthew 2:15.

Later, God appeared to Jacob/Israel again in Bethel, and reaffirmed the name change, and gave him the same covenant that Abraham had received (Genesis 35:9-12). Thus the “heel-catcher”, who struggled with his brother Esau in the womb of Rebekah, was converted to one who struggled with God, and while seeming initially to be otherwise, God ultimately prevails. And we should also realized that from an eternal perspective, the newly named “Israel” carried within him the very DNA that would ultimately be passed on to become Jesus (through Mary), and it is Jesus, Who is God, Who will ultimately “Prevail”.

Moreover, before Jacob met with God in Bethel, Jacob commanded that all idols be cast away and he purified himself and his household as we read in Genesis 35:2, “Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that [were] with him, Put away the strange gods that [are] among you, and be clean, and change your garments:” There was a newness of covering as well.

After the name change, some passages in Genesis refer to Jacob as “Jacob” Genesis 33:1; 34:7; 35:15; 37:1) and others as “Israel” (Genesis 35:21; 37:3; 43:6; 46:1). Some have suggested that the name Jacob represents his old nature and Israel his new. That is, he is called “Jacob” when functioning in his carnal old nature, but he is called “Israel” when he is acting out of his new nature. There could be limited merit in this suggestion in some passages, and it would parallel the Christian’s experience as presented in Ephesians 4:22-24, “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

1 Corinthians 15:50-54, “¶Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

There are several psalms that use both names side by side: “Jacob shall rejoice, [and] Israel shall be glad” (Psalm 53:6) and “For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel,” (Psalm 78:5). The names Jacob and Israel seem to be used synonymously, and both names can represent the nation as well as the individual, but is clear that Jacob underwent a major conversion consistent with the name change.

#4. Oshea to Joshua

In Numbers 13:1-3, we read, “¶And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. ¶And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men [were] heads of the children of Israel.” Then in Numbers 13:8, “Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun.”

Oshea is translated from the original Hebrew word הוֹשֵׁעַ (hôšēaʿ)^H1954, which means “Salvation” (note that it is also the same name as both Hoshea from Deuteronomy 32:44, and Hosea, the Old Testament prophet).

However, just a few verses later in Numbers 13:16, we read, “¶These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua.” So then Moses changed the name of Oshea to Jehoshua (or “Joshua” and “Yeshua”). Jehoshua is translated from the original Hebrew word יְהוֹשׁוּעַ (yᵊhôšûaʿ)^H3091, which means “Jehovah Is Salvation“.

The question arises, why did Moses change the name of Oshea (Salvation) to Jehoshua, the same as Joshua (Jehovah Is Salvation)? Well, it is no accident that the Name of “Jesus” is translated from the into English from the Greek Ἰησοῦς (iēsous)^G2424 which is the Greek version of Joshua (yᵊhôšûaʿ). Joshua was established by God to be a great “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, as Joshua would be the man chosen to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land (picturing Heaven) through the flood of the river Jordan (picturing Hell). The point was that Oshea was given a new name that honored and glorified God, and would set the precedent for real Jesus (Jehovah Is Salvation) roughly 1400 years later.

#5. Jezeer to Abiezer

In Judges 6:11 we see this, “¶And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which [was] in Ophrah, that [pertained] unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide [it] from the Midianites.“

The locality of Gideon’s family was Ophrah, עָפְרָה (ʿāp̄râ)^H6084 meaning “fawn“.

Gideon was clearly of the family of the “Abiezrites“, but we can deduce that that family was also previously known as the “Jeezerites“. We know this from Numbers 26:29-32, “Of the sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites: and Machir begat Gilead: of Gilead comethe family of the Gileadites. These [are] the sons of Gilead: [of] Jeezer, the family of the Jeezerites: of Helek, the family of the Helekites:” And [of] Asriel, the family of the Asrielites: and [of] Shechem, the family of the Shechemites: And [of] Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites: and [of] Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.”

Significantly, Jeezer, אִיעֶזֶר (‘îʿezer)^H372 , means “No help.“

However, Joshua 17:2, tells us that the Jeezerites must be one in the same family as the Abiezerites because we read, “There was also [a lot] for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families.

Abiezer, אֲבִיעֶזֶר (‘ăḇîʿezer)^H44, means “My father is help“

Clearly something significant had happened to go from being called a family that had “No help” to “My father is help”. The only explanation that one can draw is that an unrecorded blessing/conversion occurred at some point between the family’s wilderness sojourn and its entrance into the land of Canaan. And this is also consistent with the idea that, for the elect of God, when they leave this earthly sojourn and enter into Heaven (“typified” by crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land), they will all be given new names. They will forever be identified as the children of “the God Who helped them”.

This is why we read where Jesus states in Revelation 2:17 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh 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 knoweth saving he that receiveth [it].”

Note also that we read in Revelation 3:5, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before  his angels.” [Please see more on this in the Conclusion.]

Compare that with Proverbs 10:7, “The memory of the just [is] blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.” and in Job 18:17, regarding the wicked, “His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name in the street.“

#6. Simon to Peter

In the New Testament, in Matthew 16:15-18, we read the following discourse between Jesus and Simon/Peter, “¶He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? ¶And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. ¶And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The word “Peter” is Πέτρος (petros)^G4074, in the original Greek meaning “stone” or “smaller rock”, while the word “rock” is πέτρα (petra)^G4073  means more like a rock mass or foundation.

In John 1:42, “And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas (Πέτρος (petros))^G4074, which is by interpretation, A stone.”

Jesus had evidently changed Simon’s name, meaning “God has heard,” to “Cephas/Peter,” meaning “smaller rock” or “stone”, when Jesus first called him as a disciple and then reiterated it upon Peter’s confession of faith. It is also worth noting that “barjona” actually means son of Jonah. Peter and the prophet Jonah were both Galileans.

It was Peter who declared that Jesus was “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16-18). Jesus replied to him as “Simon son of Jonah,” saying that he was blessed because God had revealed Jesus’ identity as Messiah to him. Although Jesus then referred to him as “Peter” (a stone), we unequivocally know that it is Jesus Who is the Foundation Rock (the Chief Corner Stone) upon Whom the church would be built. Christ builds his church upon himself, His person and work…Jesus is the Petra.

We should also remember that all believers, of whom Peter was the forerunner, are considered to be “lively stones”, and that description of the believers was scribed by none other than “Peter” (the stone) himself in 1 Peter 2:5-8, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. ¶Unto you therefore which believe [he is] precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, [even to them] which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.“

And let us not forget what we find in Ephesians 2:19-22, “¶Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief [cornerstone]; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

(For more on that new “spiritual house” and the “new Jerusalem”, please see: The Holy Temple of God.)

#7. Saul to Paul

Saul, who is referred to as “Saul, of Tarsus” in Acts 9:11, was likely named after King Saul, the first king of Israel following the period of the Judges. That conclusion is derived from the fact that Saul, like King Saul, are both from the tribe of Benjamin. We know that Paul is from the tribe of Benjamin because of what we read in Romans 11:1, where Paul writes, “¶I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.” Paul provided some additional details about himself in Acts 22:3, “I am verily a man [which am] a Jew, born in Tarsus, [a city] in Cilicia.“

“Saul” in the original Hebrew is שָׁאוּל (šā’ûl)^H7586 means “desired”. There is reason to believe Saul had been quite proud of his Jewish heritage, given the way he described his former self in Philippians 3:5, “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;” Such pride would help to underscore the basis of his zeal for persecuting Christians. And it should be remembered that Jesus specifically addressed him directly by the name “Saul” as Jesus’ persecutor, as God recorded three times in Acts 9:4, Acts 22:7, and Acts 26:14.

Unlike the changing of Simon’s name to Peter (Matthew 16:16-18), which Jesus did for Jesus’ glory and for our edification, there is no Biblical reference providing the precise basis for the changing of Saul’s name to Paul.

However, Acts 13:9 describes the Apostle thusly, “Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,)filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.” From that verse on, Saul is always referred to in Scripture as “Paul.”

After that time, Paul identified himself as “the apostle of the Gentiles,” (Romans 11:13,) and chose to adopt the Roman (Gentile) name. “Paul”, is from the Greek Παῦλος (paulos)^G3972, which means “small or little”, possibly indicative of being diminutive in stature, but more likely a reference to Paul’s new found humility after his conversion, which was not reflected earlier by his more pride filled Jewish name and previous life. There is also some logic to consider that a Gentile name would make it easier for Paul to become “all things to all men” in his mission field in the Gentile world as we read in 1 Corinthians 9:22, “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all [men], that I might by all means save some.” In any case, it is clear that (following the dramatic conversion that took place in the the life of Saul in Damascus, and with his mission field being to the Gentiles), such a change to the new name, Paul, was certainly appropriate.

Conclusion: All things are Made New in Heaven, Including Being Given a New Name

The purpose for God’s changing a person’s, or people’s, name is to highlight a significant change, the conversion of the soul, that has, or will have, taken place from God’s perspective. That name change signifies a putting off of the “old (carnal) man” to a “new incarnate” (“born again”) spiritual man”. Moreover it has spiritual implications for all believers who are also the elect of God and who form the Body of Christ that is His Church for whom Jesus died. They are raised from a spiritual death to newness of life everlasting.

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new“.

Remember what God tells us in Isaiah about the new name of God’s elect, the eternal Israel. In Isaiah 56:5, “Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.” Later in Isaiah 62:2-4, we read similarly, “And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah (“my delight is in her”), and thy land Beulah (“married”): for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.” Then the last verse in Isaiah, Chapter 62, verse 12, says, “And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.“

Remember also that as the Good Shepherd, Jesus has the prerogative of naming His sheep, as we read in John 10:5, “But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth themout. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him:for they know not the voice of strangers.”

Revelation 2:17, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh 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 knoweth saving he that receiveth [it].”

Revelation 3:5, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Revelation 3:12, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and [I will write upon him] my new name.

Revelation 3:21, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.“

Revelation 21:7, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.“

More “Newness” can be found in these verses:

1. Romans 6:4, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
2. Romans 7:6, “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not [in] the oldness of the letter.”
3. Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
4. Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;“
5. Revelation 21:5, “And he (Jesus Christ) that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”

The New Heavens and the New Earth

Just as all believers will be converted and spiritually changed, and made new and given a new name, so will their habitation be made entirely new, as we read in the following three sets of verses:

1. Isaiah 65:17, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.“
2. Isa 66:22, “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.”
3. 2 Peter 3:10-13, “¶But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. [Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”

The new name reveals God’s Divine Plan while assuring the believers that they are truly converted/changed and “born again” by God the Holy Spirit, such that God’s plan would be fulfilled in them for His Glory and to signify that His elect are indeed made new again and fit for living with Him in the new heavens and the new earth.

And please also remember that, even in this temporal life, if a person is born again (“quickened” or made alive in the spirit by God the Holy Spirit), then they will also “speak with new tongues” (preaching the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ), as we read in Mark 16:17, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;“.

POSTSCRIPT

Name Changes in the Bible May Not Always Be Positive

Another name change that is not indicative of newness of life, but rather is a condemnation from God, is found in the name change we read in Jeremiah 20:3, where the prophet Jeremiah declared the following judgment against Pashur (“the son of Immer the priest, who [was] also chief governor in the house of the LORD“)… “¶And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him,The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.” God changed the man’s name from Pashur, which in the original Hebrew is פַּשְׁחוּר (pašḥûr)^H6583, meaning “Freedom“, to Magormissabib, which in the original Hebrew is מָגוֹר מִסָּבִיב (māḡôr missāḇîḇ)^H4036, meaning “Terror on every side“. This name change was a judgment by God against Pashur, a priest, son of Immer, chief governor of the temple, who had struck the prophet Jeremiah and then put him into the stocks during the reign of king Jehoiakim of Judah. And the last words against this wicked false prophet are here in Jeremiah 20:6, “And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.”

Introduction

In the New Testament, in the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 11, tells of many great exploits and examples of faith by various persons, both male and female, going through the Old Testament. However, in Hebrews 11:32, we read where a man named Gideon (Gedeon) is specifically named just before a few other great men of faith,  “¶And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and [of ] Barak, and [of] Samson, and [of] Jephthae; [of] David also, and Samuel, and [of] the prophets:”  

But who is Gideon?, and what does the Bible tell us about him and the times in which he lived and the relevance for us today? And where can we find Jesus interwoven in the Biblical text concerning Gideon?

Gideon was the fifth judge in Israel and acclaimed by many as the greatest of Israel. The name, “Gideon”, in the original Hebrew גִּדְעוֹן (giḏʿôn) ^H1439, means “hewer” or “one who cuts down”, “one who cuts off“, “cuts asunder” or “feller” (in terms of a warrior). Gideon is taken from the root Hebrew word, גָּדַע (gāḏaʿ) ^H1438 , which primarily means to “cut off” or “destroy.” Some related verses can be found in:

1. Deuteronomy 7:5, “But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down (גָּדַע (gāḏaʿ)) ^H1438 their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.”
2. 1 Samuel 2:31, “Behold, the days come, that I will cut off (גָּדַע (gāḏaʿ)) ^H1438, thine arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house.“
3. Psalm 75:1, “All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; (גָּדַע (gāḏaʿ)) ^H1438, [but] the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.“
4. Lam 2:3, “He hath cut off (גָּדַע (gāḏaʿ)) ^H1438 in [his] fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, [which] devoureth round about.“
5. Ezekiel 6:6, “In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down,(גָּדַע (gāḏaʿ)) ^H1438, and your works may be abolished.“

In Judges 6:25, we read, “¶And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that [is] by it:” The Hebrew word used here for cut down is כָּרַת (kāraṯ) ^H3772, which also means “to cut (off, down, or asunder)“and is therefore telling us, from the contextual use, that it is essentially the same. Also, “throw down” is from the original Hebrew word, הָרַס (hāras)^H2040 which does mean to “throw down“, “tear down“, and “destroy“.

Gideon’s name is apt for several reasons, as we will see below that Gideon cut down both the altars, and the tree groves, that were associated with Baal worship during his lifetime. He was also a warrior who fought valiantly with the sword against the Midianites.

Gideon was also from the tribe of Manasseh, the half-tribe who are descendants from the first born son of Joseph in Egypt.

Note: Although it may not be entirely clear why Gideon is from the tribe of Manasseh, it should nonetheless mentioned that, although Manasseh was the firstborn of Joseph, his younger brother, Ephraim, received the primary patriarchal blessing from Israel, their grandfather. Joseph tried to correct his father, Israel, such that Israel would bless Manasseh with his right hand, but as we read in Genesis 48:19&20, ¶And his father refused, and said, I know [it], my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.¶And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.“

One Biblically valid explanation is that, just as in the case of Jacob taking the place of his elder brother Esau (who should have the firstborn birthright), Ephraim supplanted his elder brother Manasseh. This would therefore have to be viewed as a reiteration of the fact that God establishes the blessing of Salvation by Grace through God’s election program and not by the works of the Law. This is made clear in Romans 9:11-13, “(For the [children] being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; ) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.“

It is also interesting to note that Gideon’s name appears 40 times in the Bible (if one also includes the New Testament verse above), which by apparent coincidence 40 is also the number of years that Gideon was a judge in Israel. 

God Warned of What Would Be Coming in the Time of Judges

Judges chapter 2 tells us that After Joshua died then in Judges 2:11-15, “¶And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longerstand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORDwas against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed.” The people of Israel disobeyed God’s explicit commands that are found in both Exodus 34:10-15 and Deuteronomy 7:1-5, particularly Deuteronomy 7:5, “But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.“

Deuteronomy 7:25&26 also tells us, “The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold [that is] on them, nor take [it] unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it [is] an abomination to the LORD thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: [but] thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it [is] a cursed thing.“

Moreover, God reiterated these commandments, which could not be more clear, in Deuteronomy 12:1-3, “¶These [are] the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.“

God Established Judges in the Land of Israel as Typifying Jesus, Who Is Both The “Savior” and The “Judge”

Nonetheless, we learn the following, beginning in Judges 2:16, “¶Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; [but] they did not so. And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them. And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, [that] they returned, and corrupted [themselves] more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. ¶ And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep [it], or not. Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.“

Judges Chapter 6 Provides the Backstory Regarding Gideon

After 40 years of peace and prosperity, which was brought about by the victory over the Canaanites by Barak and Deborah in Judges 4&5, the Israelites once again turned away from God, and they began worshipping other gods, notably Baal. As punishment, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other foreigners “from the east” vexed Israel for seven years.

The Oppression by the Midianites

Judges 6:1-6, we read, “¶And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel: [and] because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which [are] in the mountains, and caves,and strong holds. And [so] it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; [for] both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.”

Now the Midianites are direct descendants of Abraham, via Abraham’s second wife after Sarah died named Keturah (meaning “incense/perfume”)(Genesis 25:1&2). One of her six sons was named “Midian” מִדְיָן (miḏyān)^H4080 whose very name means “Strife“.

The Amalekites were descended from Esau’s grandson, Amalek, Genesis 36:12, “And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau’s son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these [were] the sons of Adah Esau’s wife” Amalek עֲמָלֵק (ʿămālēq ^H6002 simply means “Dweller in a valley“

Both of these factions along with unnamed foreigners from the east were used by God to punish Israel for its spiritual adultery.

God Responds to the Cry of Israel With an Admonition to Fear Him

Judges 6:7-10 tells us of God (via an unnamed prophet) admonishes Israel to repent and to not fear the gods of the locals, but rather the True God that saved Israel from Egypt.

Gideon Is Visited by God (via “an angel of the LORD”)

Judges 6:11 “¶And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which [was] in Ophrah, that [pertained] unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide [it] from the Midianites.”

The locality of Gideon’s family was Ophrah, עָפְרָה (ʿāp̄râ)^H6084 meaning “fawn“.

Gideon was of the family of the Abiezrites, who are also known as the Jeezerites. We know this from Numbers 26:29-32, “Of the sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites: and Machir begat Gilead: of Gilead comethe family of the Gileadites. These [are] the sons of Gilead: [of] Jeezer, the family of the Jeezerites: of Helek, the family of the Helekites:” And [of] Asriel, the family of the Asrielites: and [of] Shechem, the family of the Shechemites: And [of] Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites: and [of] Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.”

Jeezer, אִיעֶזֶר (‘îʿezer)^H372 , means “no help.“

However, Joshua 17:2, tells us that the Jeezerites must also be known as the Abiezerites, “There was also [a lot] for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph by their families.“

Abiezer, אֲבִיעֶזֶר (‘ăḇîʿezer)^H44, means “my father is help“

Joash יוֹאָשׁ (yô’āš)^H3101, means “Given by the Lord”

Gideon earned the title Jerubbaal (or Jerub-Baal) after he destroyed his family’s altar of Baal. “Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.” (Judges 6:32).

Clearly something significant had happened to go from being called a family that had “No help” to “My father is help”. The only explanation that one can draw is that an unrecorded blessing/conversion occurred at some point between the family’s wilderness sojourn and its entrance into the land of Canaan. And this is also consistent with the idea that, for the elect of God, upon leaving this earthly sojourn and entering into Heaven (“typified” by crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land), they will all be given a “new name“. They will forever be identified as the children of the God Who helped them.

This is why we read where Jesus states in Revelation 2:17 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh 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 knoweth saving he that receiveth [it].”

Refinement: A Proving or Testing

In Judges 7:1-8, we find how Gideon is told by Jehovah God to go to war with the Midianites such that He could deliver them into Gideon’s hand. However, the number of the people with Gideon, specifically 32,000, was too many to give the glory of victory to God. The reasoning by God for drastically winnowing down the number of soldiers was because God did not want the Israelites to think it was by their hand that they got the victory. This is clear in Judges 7:2, “¶And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that [are] with thee [are] too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.”

Therefore, God instructed Gideon to separate out what eventually became only 300 men who would ultimately go into battle with Gideon against the Midianites. In Judges 7:4, we read, “¶And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people [are] yet [too] many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, [that] of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.”

Note the word “try” in Judges 7:4. This word in the original Hebrew is צָרַף (ṣārap̄)^H6884, which can also be translated as “purge” or “refine” as one would refine and purify a a precious metal, particularly “gold“. The word is even translated five out 33 times as “goldsmith“. When one purifies or refines gold (or other precious metals) from its ore, there is far more dross than pure gold.

In Psalm 66:10, we see how this word is used (twice in the same verse), “For thou, O God, hast proved (בָּחַן (bāḥan))^H974 us: thou hast tried (צָרַף (ṣārap̄))^H6884 us, as silver is tried (צָרַף (ṣārap̄))^H6884.

In Daniel 12:10, “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried (צָרַף (ṣārap̄)) ^H6884; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”

Then in Zechariah 13:9, we read something interesting (where the word is again used twice in the same verse), “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine (צָרַף (ṣārap̄)) ^H6884 them as silver is refined (צָרַף (ṣārap̄)) ^H6884 ,and will try (בָּחַן (bāḥan))^H974 them as gold is tried (בָּחַן (bāḥan))^H974: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It [is] my people: and they shall say, The LORD [is] my God.” The Hebrew word בָּחַן (bāḥan)^H974 also means to prove, test, examine as God examines our hearts. Proverbs 17:3, “The fining pot [is] for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth (בָּחַן (bāḥan)) ^H974 the hearts.”

One Third Versus Two Thirds

Among the examples of that can be found, include the three who were crucified on Golgotha hill in 33AD. The one thief on the cross went to Heaven, while Jesus and the other thief went to Hell.

Another is the case we read about in 2 Kings 1:9-15, where king Ahaziah three times sent contingents of soldiers, each consisting of 51 men (a captain with 50 soldiers), to fetch the prophet Elijah, but only one of the three contingents was not destroyed by fire from Heaven. In 2 Kings 1:13&14, we read, “¶And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.“

Another example is in Zechariah 13:8, “And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die; but the third shall be left therein.”

Finally, in 2 Samuel 8:1&2, “¶And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines.¶ And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And [so] the Moabites became David’s servants, [and] brought gifts.“

In Judges 7:8-22 we read of the battle in the Midianite and Amalekite camp where Gideon (after secretly hearing an enemy’s dream and its interpretation heralding Gideon’s victory) divided the 300 men into three companies of one hundred (Gideon took one hundred men with him, which is another one-third reference) and each man held a pitcher with a lamp (לַפִּיד (lapîḏ))^H3940 inside in one hand, and held a trumpet in the other hand to blow when Gideon gave them the signal, whereupon they would break the pitchers to reveal the lamp/inside. In verse 20, we read “And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow [withal]: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.” Note that it was Gideon who first blew a trumpet. Jesus will determine when the final trump is blown and lead the charge from Heaven on Judgment Day.

Clearly God is showing us through these verses that there is an intimate association between the refining and testing of His people, typified by the culling down to 300 and then down to the one-third part (the 100 that accompanied Gideon, the “Christ Figure” in this “Historical Parable”, spiritually represent all believers).

Judgment Day Prefigured!

Although It will not be elaborated upon in great depth in this study, the battle defeating the Midianites (and the Amalekites and “all the children of the east”) is another picture of Judgment Day, where the enemies of God are miraculously destroyed, Gideon represents Jesus Christ, and the men with Gideon who participate in the attack represent the believers. This is also reminiscent of Judges 4&5.

In this “Historical Parable” of Gideon, we are provided with another “hidden gem” that God has concealed within the Bible. Looking again at Judges7:20, we read “And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow [withal]: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.”

1. The “Trumpets” warn of the Judgment to come
2. The “Pitchers” are the bodies and hearts of the believers that hide the Light of Christ
3. The “Lamps” represent the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
4. The “Sword of the LORD” is the Word of God

1. When The Last Trumpet Sounds, It Will Herald Judgment Day

The Trumpet is from the original Hebrew word שׁוֹפָר (šôp̄ār)^H7782, and is the same word that we read about in Exodus 19:16, Exodus 19:19, Exodus 20:18, and Joshua 6:4-20 at the battle of Jericho (another prefigurement of Judgment Day).

When the “Last Trump” sounds, it will be Judgment Day for the world as we are told in 1 Corinthians 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” The seventh trumpet is the last trumpet that we read about being sounded by the seventh angel in Revelation 11:15, “¶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.“

2. The Pitchers Also Typify the Believers

2 Corinthians 4:3-7, tells us plainly, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath 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. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”  

Remember also Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.“

The “pitchers” are “earthen vessels”, which represent the believers who have the Light of Jesus Christ shining brightly in their hearts, that is otherwise hidden from the world of the unsaved..

John 3:19-21, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

Isaiah 8:20, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them.

This is all in accordance with God’s plan. That Light will be kept hidden from the world of unbelievers until Judgment Day, when the Judgment that befalls them comes as a “thief in the night”. This is exactly what we are told in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.“

3. The Lamp Is The Light of The Gospel of Jesus Christ

The lamp (לַפִּיד (lapîḏ))^H3940, which means “lamp“, “torch“, and “lightning” points to the Light of Christ that will be made fully manifest on Judgment Day. For more on the meaning of “lapid”, please see the section that expounds on the meaning of Lapidoth, the husband of the Prophetess, Deborah, in the study of Judges 4&5.

Which leads us to remember John 9:5, where Jesus announces, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” after which he immediately healed a blind man, “born blind”.  Then we read later in John 9:39,”And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”

4. The “Sword of the LORD” Is the Word of God

The “sword” is also important because it is another spiritual reference to the Word of God as we find in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” and remember that Jesus is pictured as having a two-edged sword coming out of His mouth in Revelation 1:16, “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength.“

And regarding the “Sword of the LORD”, We should also remember these verses:

Isaiah 34:5&6 “For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.“

Ezekiel 21:28 “And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword [is] drawn: for the slaughter [it is] furbished, to consume because of the glittering (בָּרָק (bārāq)^H1300):”

Psalm 7:11-13 we read, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry [with the wicked] every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.” It is very difficult to begin to understand the might of God’s wrath against the wicked, against God’s enemies on Judgment Day.  But that Sword of Truth is Jesus, and He told us that His Word is what will bring judgment on Judgment Day as we read in John 12:48, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

Please note the parallels with Isaiah 11:4, “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

The believers are also viewed as conquerors as we find in Romans 8:37, “¶Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” And the reader should be aware that, on Judgment Day, Jesus will be coming with the believers to that Final Judgment as was reported earlier.

The Death of The Four Kings of Midian

The finality of the Judgment is also manifest in the last verse of Judges Chapter 7, Verse 25, “And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.“

The First Two Kings

The first two Midianite kings, who Gideon slew, were named Oreb (עֹרֵב(ʿōrēḇ)^H6159) means “Raven” (an unclean “fowl of the air”) which represents the forces of the devil as Jesus expounded upon in the “Parable of the Sower“, and Zeeb (זְאֵב(zᵊ’ēḇ)^H2062) means “Wolf”, [which the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, protects His flock from, remembering also in Matthew 7:15  “¶Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”].  So in both cases these kings represent the wicked one’s servants who look like “kings”, but are really purveyors of a false gospel seeking to kill and devour the righteous.

It should be clear that the death of king Zeeb at the “winepress” (יֶקֶב (yeqeḇ))^H3342 is not accidental or incidental, because it brings to mind other references that point to Judgment Day. The “winepress”, which in the original Hebrew can also be גַּת (gaṯ)^H1660, refers to God’s wrath that must be brought to bear in judgment for sin.  Jesus, as the believers’ atoning sacrifice, first had to endure that wrath and suffer the shame of God’s reproach for their sins.  But for those who remain dead in trespasses and sins, they will be tread down in the winepress of God’s wrath by Jesus as their Judge.

Key verses to recall regarding the meaning of the “winepress”:

Isaiah 63:1-6, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore [art thou] red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat (winepress, גַּת (gaṯ) ^H1660 ? I (Jesus) have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people [there was] none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance [is] in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and [there was] none to help; and I wondered that [there was] none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.“ Jesus endured the wrath of God in the Winepress of Shame in the first Judgment Day (in 33AD for the believers), and Jesus will bring Judgment on His enemies in the great winepress of the wrath of God on the second and final Judgment Day.

Joel 3:13, we read, “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press ^H1660 is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness [is] great.” 

Revelation 14:19, “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.  And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.” 

Revelation 19:13, we see this picture of Jesus, “And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.“

For more on this please see the study of Jonah (Jonah was from a village called “Winepress of Shame”).

The Second Two Kings

But there were two other kings who Gideon pursued as we read about Chapter 8. It is particularly noteworthy that these Midianite kings, Zebah (זֶבַח (zeḇaḥ) ^H2078) which means “sacrifice“, and Zalmunna (צַלְמֻנָּע (ṣalmunnāʿ) ^H6759) which means “deprived of protection“,  had earlier killed the brothers of Gideon, evidently at mount Tabor, and were themselves, subsequent to their capture, also killed by Gideon.

In Judges 8:18, when Gideon asked the two remaining Midianite kings the following question, and they gave their reply (just before Gideon had them killed), “Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men [were they] whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou [art], [so were] they; each one resembled the children of a king.” The children of a king refers to the believers who are the children of God and they are like Jesus.  For more about the meaning of “children of a king”, please see: mephibosheth-and-a-covenant-of-grace/  Gideon replied to the two kings in Judges 8:19, “¶And he said, They [were] my brethren, [even] the sons of my mother: [as] the LORD liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.“

“As Thou Art, So Were They“

These two Midianite kings made it clear that those whom they slew at mount Tabor appeared like Gideon. Does this not bring to mind what we read in Hebrews 2:9-13, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. ¶For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom [are] all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified [are] all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.” (Note: Hebrews 2:12 is specifically referencing Psalm 22:22, which reads, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.“)

And when we look a little further down in Hebrews to Hebrews 2:16-18, we are reminded of how closely Jesus identifies with mankind to save a people for Himself, “For verily he took not on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto [his] brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things [pertaining] to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.“

And is it not also true that the Bible says that the believers are to become likened to Jesus? Look at what 1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Mother and Brethren?

Given that Gideon is an unequivocal “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is worth remembering what Jesus said regarding His “mother” and His “brethren”. In Matthew 12:48&49, we read “But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?  And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! And again in Mark 3:33&34, “¶And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?And he (Jesus) looked round about on them which sat about him, and said,Behold my mother and my brethren!“

Therefore, those who are counted among Jesus’ disciples, the believers, are Jesus’ brethren. Where do we see accounts of Jesus’ brethren (disciples) being killed? The first recorded one is Stephen, in Acts 7:59. And who killed Stephen? The apostate church leaders! And what were Stephen’s last words? In Act 7:55, we read, “But he(Stephen), being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, andsaw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” His death occured in the presence of Heaven. And remember what Tabor spiritually represents? Yes, Heaven (with Judgment in view)! God saw it, received Stephen, and God, as Jesus the Judge, will remember it, come Judgment Day! This was the case for all the prophets that were also killed in the Old Testament and continuing right through to the end of Great Tribulation in the run up to Judgment Day. 

Some additional verses that address how the apostate church (represented by the Jews) killed Jesus’ disciples:

1 Thessalonians 2:15, “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: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” 

And consider the last days when the witnesses (representing the true believers) are killed by the apostate church ruled by the Abomination of Desolation in Revelation 11:7-12, “¶And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 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. And they of the people and kindreds 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. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice overthem, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. ¶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. 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.“

Note how well this conforms with John 16:2, “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” The apostate church will drive out (and effectively “kill”) the true believers. But we must remember that Psalm 116:15 makes clear how God feels about the death of Jesus’ brethren, “Precious in the sight of the LORD [is] the death of his saints.“

Further Corroboration

Note also that in Psalm 83:9-12, where we read of the death brought to the enemies of God in the book of Judges, “Do unto them as [unto] the Midianites; as [to] Sisera, as [to] Jabin, at the brook of Kison (Kishon) [Which] perished at Endor (Endor, the same that was the home of a witch 1 Samuel 28:7, is located in the valley of Megiddo at the foot of Mont Tabor): they became [as] dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna: Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.”  

Therefore, in Psalm 83:9-12, God is clearly equating Gideon with Barak (and hence the Lord Jesus Christ), because they both defeated and killed those named individuals, all six who were clearly identified as “enemies” of God (who sought to claim the “houses of God” as their own) as stated in Psalm 83:2, ” For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.”  Moreover, we can again see more clearly how both and Gideon and Barak are spiritual representations of Jesus, Who, on Judgment Day, will defeat the devil and his accomplices, the false teachers who have sought to subdue the Church of God (take “the houses of God in possession”) through apostasy.  We see in Psalm 83:3, “They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.” 

Conclusion

We have learned from this study that we have been provided another amazing “Historical Parable” pointing us to the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been shown that Gideon is a clear “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how Gideon was chosen by God to both save his people from their oppressors and utterly destroy God’s enemies, typified first by the cutting down of the Baal related idols and groves, and then to utterly defeat the Midianites (and the Amalekites and “all the children of the east”) in a battle typifying Judgment Day with 300 men out of 32,000 who were refined and purified for the purpose through testing by God. God also provides another spiritual one third/two thirds separation example, as well pointing to the fact that only those who are with Jesus will be saved. Also pointed out is that Gideon judged for 40 years, which also represents a time of testing.

What Are “Historical Parables”?

Historical parables are accounts of factual historical events, which were also precisely crafted and recorded/inscribed by God in the Bible, via God The Holy Spirit, in allegorical manners that convey important Spiritual Truth. And that Spiritual Truth is that Eternal Salvation is only a gift of grace by God, paid for in full for the sins of God’s Elect by Jesus’ eternal Sacrifice and obtainable through the hearing of, and responding repentant faith in, the Gospel of Jesus Christ; which is the true purpose and lasting substance of the Bible.

In Psalm 78:1&2, God calls upon all believers to, “Give ear, O my people, [to] my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.  I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings* of old:” and yet immediately thereafter, only a straightforward Biblical historical account is provided!  

Why is that?…It is because the historical account itself is a parable (or “riddle” or “allegory” or “proverb”), and it is therefore also an “Historical Parable“…It points to the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout time and space! And it was most certainly not written to be “plainly” or “humanly” understood.

In Proverbs 1:5&6, we read, “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.”  And in Psalm 49:3&4 we read, “My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and  the meditation of my heart [shall be] of understanding. I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.”

The majority of the Bible (both the Old and New Testaments) contains these “historical parables”, which, in one way or another, all point to the Person and Redemptive/Atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, that Truth is not always readily apparent, and will be deliberately hidden/concealed by God to an unbeliever. It even be (and in fact will be) even hidden to a professing “Christian”, if that person reads the Bible in a careless/ presumptuous manner, and/or if such persons are basing their understanding on the wisdom of men rather than the Wisdom of God. 

We should remember what is plainly stated in 1 Corinthians 2:9-16, “¶But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. ¶ Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” For more on this please see: “ears to hear and the eyes to see“.

Historical Parables are Like Hid Treasures

In Proverbs 25:2 (KJV) we find this extraordinary verse, “[It is] the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings [is] to search out a matter.” If we look carefully at the text, exactly as it reads in the original Hebrew, using an Interlinear Bible or Online Concordance cross-reference like this for Proverbs 25:2, we will find that the verse can also be read like this…”[It is] the glory of God to conceal a “word” (because it is from the Hebrew דָּבָר (dāḇār)^H1697, a masculine noun): but the honour of kings[is] to search out a “word” (because the word that was translated into English as “matter” is also the same word found in the original Hebrew to be דָּבָר (dāḇār) ^H1697, which is translated more than eight hundred times in the Old Testament as “word.”)*. 

It appears, therefore, that God is telling us that He is glorified by the concealing of The Word (Jesus Christ) in the Bible, and the believers are “honored” by being made able to search out The Word (Who is Jesus Christ) when reading the Bible. For more on this please see: Hid Treasures.

We should also be aware that this is all entirely consistent with what God tells us in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” And this verse was not translated as well as it could have been, as the original Hebrew word for “mighty things” is בָּצַר (bāṣar)^H1219 which could also be translated as “hidden things” or “concealed things”, given that it has also been translated as “restrained”, “walled up”, and “withholden”. Note the similarity with what we find in Isaiah 48:6, “Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare [it]? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things (נָצַר (nāṣar))^H5341, and thou didst not know them.” The original Hebrew word that is translated here as “hidden things” could also be translated as “guarded”, “protected”, “preserved”, “kept close”, or “kept secret”, which indeed is a synonym for “hidden things” or “concealed things”.

Some Examples of “Historical Parables”

There are many “historical parables” in the Bible, found in both the Old and New Testaments, which can be easily missed through only casual reading. This is because the majority of them are veiled in “allegory”. Some of them are more intrinsically obvious than others. Here are four fairly obvious examples, and they essentially are just three small “historical” vignettes, but which profound spiritual meanings, which all point to the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ:

1. Abraham when he was about to sacrifice Isaac, his only son from Sarah, said in Genesis 22:8, “… My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:…” The specific phraseology tells us that God would “provide Himself” (in the Form of Jesus) as the Lamb as the Only Acceptable Sacrifice for sin.
2. Joseph (who was raised from a pit and prison and servitude up to the right hand of Pharaoh) provided bread to his unworthy brethren who had thrown him in a pit and sold him into slavery in Egypt in Genesis 50:20 “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive.” Those sad events served to create an historical parable for the purpose of pointing to Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice in Hell, and Jesus’s Resurrection to the Right Hand of God the Father, to provide Salvation for His erstwhile enemies.
3. 1 Sa 17:31-58, (David’s defeat of Goliath) provides another amazing allegory. In the literal historical account of the little shepherd boy, David, from Bethlehem in Judah, slaying the Philistines’ military giant, Goliath of Gath, on behalf of the people of God, to bring about their earthly, temporal salvation. (The first death blow to Goliath was by a stone, and the second with a sword that cut off Goliath’s head). This is clearly yet another “Historical Parable”, in that we are given a picture of how the Humble Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, also born in Bethlehem in Judah (and Descendent of David through Nathan), slays the devil at the cross with the first death blow (figuratively also by stoning, because Jesus is the lain Chief Cornerstone) and then in finality on Judgment Day, when Jesus comes with a sword on the clouds of Glory from Heaven to send the devil (and all of the enemies of God) into the lake of fire, while also providing the people of God, in Jesus, their eternal, spiritual salvation to be with Him in Heaven forevermore.
4. Nehemiah going to Jerusalem for three days and three nights to rebuild the walls is another amazing example foretelling of the period and historical aspects of Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice to build His Church, the New Jerusalem. Additionally, there two key “Hidden Gems” within that historical vignette, which are so extraordinary that they are deserving of particular notice, as the first involves a single misunderstood “jot” described in the post Viewing the Walls, and another in this post regarding the Brook Kidron.
5. The Bible student should particularly note of what we read in Isaiah 14:4, where God instructs Isaiah, “That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar), and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!” and then in Isaiah 14:12-15, where the king of Babylon is likened by God to the devil, because of what we read, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” The devil in his pride sought to be like God, yet we know from Proverbs 16:18 that, “Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

God specifically states that this pronouncement against the earthly king of Babylon (a real historical figure) is a “proverb“, which in the original Hebrew is מָשָׁל (māšāl)^H4912 which has been translated variously as proverb (19x), parable (18x), byword (1x), like (1x). So then, Isaiah 14 is teaching us that God was using them as allegorical lessons, “Historical Proverbs/Parables“, to show us what God Will Do to the devil (a spiritual figure), leading up to and ending on Judgment Day. This is the comfort and consolation to the saints of God. There is mercy to God’s chosen people, and also judgment and justice brought upon God’s (and the believers’) enemies on Judgment Day.

There are many much more lengthy and involved “historical parables” that can be found in entire chapters, like Judges Chapter 4&5, or even whole books in the Bible like Ruth, Esther, Jonah. It is even fair to say that even the entire Bible is just one whole comprehensive and cohesive “historical parable” because from God’s vantage point, being outside of time and space, the entire Bible is an Historical Account pointing spiritually to the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was foreordained to save the people of God for His Glory and Honor and Majesty for Eternity.

Some of the historical parables in the Old Testament have the benefit of New Testament exposition. The Brass (Brazen) Serpent is one such example. And Galatians 4:21-31 not only points us back to Sarah and Haggar, but specifically states that those two women were used of God to serve as an “allegory”, “Which Things Are an Allegory“. Nonetheless, the majority of historical parables require diligent, prayerful, searching through comparison of scripture with scripture in order to be more fully understood, in accordance with what was referred to earlier above in 1 Corinthians 2:12-16, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. ¶Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.“

We must also be mindful of the fact that spiritual discernment is necessary to understand a parable. The anointing of God The Holy Spirit is required to have Jesus clearly revealed to us as is clearly stated in 1 John 2:27, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.“ The anointing is of the Holy Spirit Who God the Father sent to the believers to lead them into all truth, and that Truth Is Jesus. John 16:13, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth*, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that]shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” Note the consistency with John 14:26, “But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” and 1 John 2:20, “¶But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” (“unction” means “anointing”)

What About the Parables of Jesus? And Why Did Jesus Only Speak in Parables?

It should also be noted that the parables spoken by Jesus are not quite the same as “historical” parables, and this is because Jesus’ parables cannot be related to a specific factual “historical account” as is recorded in the Bible, but rather were “earthly stories” intended to be illustrative to teach “Heavenly/spiritual” lessons. See for example The Good Samaritan, the Talents, the Sower. Nonetheless, all parables, whether truly historical or not, ultimately lead to the same exact understanding and conclusion. They all lead us to the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the role of His saints in honoring and serving Him.

We know from Proverbs 1:5 that, “A wise [man] will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

And Jesus deliberately spoke in parables, so that those who only had carnal ears and eyes, would hear and not understand and see and not perceive. In Mark 4:11+12 we read, “And he (Jesus Christ speaking to His disciples) said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without (none of the elect), all [these] things are done in parables:  That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and [their] sins should be forgiven them.” 

Moreover, in John 3:12, “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you [of] heavenly things?“

The Bible student must understand that, in all cases, a “True” understanding of Biblical “parables”, whether historical or illustrative, is entirely dependent on God Alone, through His Holy Spirit.

And be forewarned, just because someone is familiar with the scriptures, does not mean they understand what the scriptures are really saying. When someone tells you that when reading the scriptures… “If the plain sense makes sense, then do not seek any other sense”, then they might just be like the ones described in Proverbs 26:7, “The legs of the lame are not equal: so [is] a parable in the mouth of fools.” and Proverbs 26:9, “[As] a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so [is] a parable in the mouth of fools.”

May the reader be blessed with hearing ears and seeing eyes.

For more on Biblical understanding, please see the The Key of Knowledge for Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible.

*The Spirit of Truth

John 14:16&17, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

John 15:26, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

1 John 4:6, “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”

1 John 5:6, “This is he that came by water and blood, [even] Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.“

1 Corinthians 10:6, “¶ Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.“

1 Corinthians 10:11, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”

Romans 15:4, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” When Jesus returns on the Clouds of Glory, parables in the Bible will no longer be needed to show us Jesus because He will be present in Person!

Introduction

This post is an excerpt from a longer Exposition of 2 Kings 4:38-41. While there is some debate as to whether the 41 times in 39 verses in the Old Testament, which specifically mention “Gilgal”, are all addressing the same location or not; God’s use of the place name “Gilgal” nonetheless consistently carries great spiritual significance.

Gilgal

“Gilgal” (גִּלְגָּל (gilgāl))^H1537 (meaning “a wheel, rolling”) is the name that God Himself gave to that specific place where we learn of the following:

1. Joshua 4:19 tells us that Gilgal was the location of the very the first encampment of the people of Israel after crossing, and “coming up out” of, the River Jordan into the Promised Land (pointing to the Salvation of the saints of God coming through untouched by the Flood (representing Hell) and up into Heaven, because the Ark of the Covenant, representing the Body of Jesus Christ, was there the whole time).
2. It occurred on the tenth day of the first month! The children of Israel came up out of the River Jordan on the very day that the Passover Lamb was to be selected for the Passover according to Exodus 12:1-3, (and the same day that Jesus triumphantly entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday about 1500 years later). See also Ezra 10:16.
3. It is, in Joshua 4:20, where Joshua erected a monument of twelve stones (representing the twelve tribes of Israel) as a memorial to Israel’s deliverance and salvation (which points to the Eternal Israel’s Salvation having entered into Heaven).
4. It is, in Joshua 5:8 where all of the male children of Israel who made it through the wilderness were circumcised (which points to the Eternal Israel’s Salvation by the shedding of blood, Jesus Christ’s blood).
5. It is where, immediately after that great circumcision took place, in Joshua 5:9, that God announced that He had “rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off” national Israel (which prophetically points to the eternal salvation of the eternal Israel in Christ Jesus, Who Is Symbolized in that covenant involving the shedding of blood and the cutting/rolling away of the reproach, which symbolized by mankind’s bondage to the devil in Hell (as Typified by having been in Egypt under pharaoh).
6. It is, in Joshua 5:10. where national Israel waited three days to heal and then the next day observed the first Passover Feast on the 14th Day of the first month in the Promised Land (again pointing to the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ).
7. It is, Joshua 5:12 where the manna ceased, marking the end of the wilderness sojourn period (pointing to the fact that in Heaven we only need Jesus, the Bread of Life, of Whom the manna was just an earthly “Type”, but not the substance).
8. It is from the Camp in Gilgal that the nation of Israel under the leadership of Joshua destroyed Jericho. (which is an “Historical Parable” because Jericho is a “Type” for the world that will be destroyed on Judgment Day by Jesus (“Typified” by His Namesake, Joshua) coming from Heaven accompanied by Jesus’s saints (the Eternal Israel, “Typified” by the irreproachable National Israel). And Israel compassed Jericho 13 times spanning 7 days). Only Rahab the harlot and her family were saved because her window had the scarlet thread. Rahab and her family “Typified” those who are the believers, who will still alive on earth on Judgment Day, who are covered by the shed Blood of Jesus Christ, and His Blood is “Typified” by the scarlet thread.
9. It is, in 1 Samuel 7:16, listed as one of three cities visited by the prophet Samuel as a circuit Judge (Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpeh). Bethel (בֵּית־אֵל (bêṯ-‘ēl))^H1008  means “house of God” and Mizpeh (מִצְפָּה (miṣpâ))^H4709 means “watchtower”.
10. It is, in 1 Samuel 11:14&15, where the Benjamite, Saul, was made the first king of Israel by the prophet Samuel. 
11. It is, in 1 Samuel 13:7-13, that King Saul had been instructed to stay and wait for Samuel before offering sacrifices to the Lord there. Rather than obey, Saul took the matter in his own hands and sacrificed to the Lord at Gilgal. When Samuel arrived, he announced judgment on Saul for his disobedience, stating that Saul’s kingdom and position would not continue and would be given over to another (David of the tribe of Judah ). “the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him [to be] captain over his people,“.
12. It is, in 1 Samuel 15:33, where the Prophet Samuel slew to pieces with a sword, Agag, the king of the Amalekites (which is a portrait of the condemnation and judgment of God on the devil, please see also The Devil in Disguise).

Gilgal Is Intimately Linked With the Salvation of God’s People by the Atoning Sacrifice of The Lord Jesus Christ! 

The very first place in the Bible where we find the name Gilgal is in Joshua 4:19, where we read,

“¶ And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come,saying, What [mean] these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over. That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it [is] mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever.“

More information is provided by God later in Joshua 5:8-12, where God specifically declares that Gilgal is where God “rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off” national Israel.

We read there in Joshua 5:8-12, “¶And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled (גָּלַל (gālal))^H1556 away the reproach (חֶרְפָּה (ḥerpâ))^H2781 of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. ¶And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat off the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched [corn] in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.“

Similarly, we read in Psalm 119:22, “Remove (גָּלַל (gālal))^H1556 from me reproach (חֶרְפָּה (ḥerpâ))^H2781 and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.“

The KJV translates גָּלַל (gālal) ^H1556 in the following manner: roll (9x), roll … (3x), seek occasion (1x), wallow (1x), trust (1x), commit (1x), remove (1x), run down (1x).

Gilgal, which literally means “wheel”, or “wheel that rolls”, and as noted above, Gilgal is spiritually identified by God with the rolling away of the “reproach of Egypt” from off of His people. And of course, the phrase, “the reproach of Egypt“, is a typological/allegorical representation of fallen mankind’s spiritual enslavement to sin and Satan. Egypt (the land of Israel’s captivity for 400 years) is notably identified in the Bible as the “iron furnace” in Deuteronomy 4:20, 1Kings 8:51, and Jeremiah 11:4 and is therefore a typological/allegorical spiritual reference for Hell.

“Rolled Away“

Do not the words “rolled away” also bring to mind something else that the Bible tells us was also rolled away? Yes, it was the stone that sealed the tomb where Jesus’ Body lay, as we read in both Mark 16:4, “And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.” and Luke 24:2 “And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.” 

Yes, the reproach of Egypt (Hell) was eternally removed from off the Eternal Israel, as was exemplified by the rolling away of the stone that sealed the tomb of Jesus’, showing that Jesus had been resurrected and that Jesus was the “first begotten of the dead.” 

Revelation 1:5, “And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” and 

1 Peter 1:3, “¶Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,“

The Spiritual Symbolism of Gilgal

Gilgal thus symbolizes the Atoning Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, by which God provides salvation for His people, and thus spiritually represents the place where God removes the reproach for their sin together with the death penalty in Hell that the payment for that sin requires. 

The Circumcision in Gilgal

And just as national Israel received the physical circumcision at Gilgal, so to does it symbolize the spiritual “circumcision of the hearts” by God for (Deuteronomy 10:16) of all His children of the eternal Israel. The shedding of blood and the cutting off of the foreskins pointed to the fact that a transition had taken place and those who were circumcised had come under the Abrahamic covenant by the shedding of blood related to the “seed” and ultimately Blood of Christ, because Jesus had to be cut-off and was the Seed of Abraham and David. Jesus is also typified by the Passover lamb sacrifice, which also was partaken of in Gilgal. But what are the other spiritual implications of circumcision? The physical circumcision of the flesh avails nothing, because God talks of the spiritual circumcision of the heart. 

In Deuteronomy 30:6, we read, “And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” God provides the exposition of this in describing how the saints are made complete in Christ, “Colossians 2:11-13, “¶ In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;” So the “rolling away of the reproach of Egypt” is intimately linked to circumcision at Gilgal.

This is also why Joshua, during much of his campaign to conquer the promised land, set up his camp in Gilgal. It was from Gilgal that Joshua was used by God to save Israel from its enemies, and from which Joshua “ascended” (compare with Ephesians 4:7-16) as we find in the following verses: 

Joshua 9:6, “And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us“.

Joshua 10:6 &7, “¶”And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us. ¶ So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.” 

Joshua 10:9, “Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, [and] went up from Gilgal all night.”

Joshua 10:15, “¶And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.“

Joshua 10:43, “And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.”

Joshua 14:6. “Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal:and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea.”

Joshua, of course, is a clear “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, The Savior. 

Please note that Jesus (Ἰησοῦς (iēsous))^G2424 is Greek for the Hebrew, Joshua (יְהוֹשׁוּעַ (yᵊhôšûaʿ)) ^H3091, which means “Jehovah is Salvation” (or “Savior”) and therefore effectively is the same as Elisha, which means “God Is Salvation”.

Conclusion

In this study we have seen yet another case where God has masterfully crafted history, and the recording of it, and in this case particularly the use of geography, to prefigure first, Jesus’ conquering death and Hell for sin (that is every person’s reproach) through His Atoning Sacrifice (Jesus’ being “cut-off”), and secondly, the return of the Lord Jesus Christ on Judgment Day.  Judgment Day will be the last event in history when the Lord Jesus Christ will come back in the clouds of Glory from Heaven (as “Typified” by Gilgal where Joshua first camped with his people after crossing up out of the River Jordan) to destroy all wickedness, and send all of the unsaved to an eternity in Hell, and put an end to this entire creation (Typified by Jericho), which is under the curse of sin and death.  It will mark the end of time and the beginning of eternity wherein righteousness will dwell in new heavens and a new earth forever.

In 2 Peter 3:10 we read, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” But thankfully in 2 Peter 3:13 we read, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.“

Today’s Application: Are You Ready?

Jesus is the only Way of escape from the just penalty for our sins. All other ways that man can devise will lead only to Hell come Judgment Day. You are either with God or against God.  Have you made peace with God through Jesus Christ?  Please pray to God for mercy through Jesus Christ and He will show you mercy. Judgment Day is for any individual only a heart beat away, but for the world it is coming very soon, given all of the signs of the times that we are currently all living in.

Mount Tabor, Israel…which overlooks the river Kishon and the valley of Megiddo/Jezreel.

Introduction

Concerning end-times prophecy, you can pick up almost any book on the subject today and you’ll find many references to “the Battle of Armageddon” (mentioned in Revelation 16:16).  In those books you’ll often find a description of some future earthly/physical battle that the authors believe will take place between various nations of the world and national Israel in the literal physical location of the plain of Megiddo in northern Israel.  Is there any validity to this interpretation?  We need to take a closer look at what God has to say in Judges chapters 4&5, focusing in particular on the roles of Deborah and Barak in the destruction of the Canaanites and the implications that they hold for us today.  

And as we proceed in this post, looking only at one geographical location of the Bible, Mount Tabor, please bear in mind that the Judges 4 account is entirely prophetic! Although the events in the account actually occurred in history, and are accurately recorded in the Bible, the account nonetheless foretells what will occur in the short period just prior to the end of the world and Judgment Day when Jesus returns from Heaven on the clouds of Glory and destroys this world and all who hate God and His Word.

Barak, serving as a “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, came down from Mount Tabor with Deborah and 10,000 men (who are together “Types” of the Eternal Church of God, the “Saints”) with Barak to destroy all the Canaanites (“Types” of the enemies of God, the unsaved of the world ) at the River Kishon in the Valley of Megiddo (Jezreel) (Which altogether develop a “Type” of Judgment Day).

This post is an excerpt of a larger exposition on Judges 4&5. It shows how perfectly God uses allegories to convey spiritual truths that can be understood if God graciously gifts us the eyes to see (and if we make the effort to look, by prayerfully reading the Bible, as God lovingly instructs us).

Mount Tabor, a Portrait of Heaven with Judgment in View

As a mountain, we know that there is at least the possibility that mount “Tabor” (תָּבוֹר (tāḇôr)) ^H8396, a prominent dome-shaped mountain (whose meaning in Hebrew is simply “Mount”) could represent “Heaven“. This is because of what we read in Psalm 121:1&2 {A Song of degrees.} “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills (from הַר (har)) ^H2022 in Hebrew, which can also be translated “mountains” or “mount”), from whence cometh my help.My help [cometh] from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. And shortly afterward, we read in Psalm 123:1, “¶[[A Song of degrees.]] Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.“

Moreover, we read in Psalm 3:4 “I cried unto the LORD with my voice,and he heard me out of his holy hill (הַר (har)) ^H2022. Selah.”

Psalm 15:1, “[[A Psalm of David.]] LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?“

 Psalm 2:6, “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.“

We can also see this relationship expounded to us in Psalm 68:15&16,  “The hill (הַר(har)) ^H2022of God [is as] the hill (הַר (har)) ^H2022of Bashan; an high hill (הַר (har)) ^H2022 [as] the hill (הַר (har)) ^H2022of Bashan. Why leap ye, ye high hills (הַר (har)) ^H2022? [this is] the hill (הַר (har)) ^H2022[which] God desireth to dwell in;yea, the LORD will dwell [in it] for ever.” 

Psalm 87:1 “¶[[A Psalm [or] Song for the sons of Korah.]] His foundation [is] in the holy mountains (הַר (har)) ^H2022.”

Our Only Help is From God, and God Is Upon His Holy Hill, Which Can Only Be Pointing Us to Heaven.

Then in Psalm 123:1 {A Song of degrees.}, we read,  “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.”  We also know from Psalm 11:4“The LORD [is] in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne [is] in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.” However, we also find God’s use of allegory, with hills and mountains being representative of Heaven, such as we find in  Psalm 24:3 “Who shall ascend into the hill (הַר(har) ^H2022) of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place” and Psalm 48:1 “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain (הַר (har) ^H2022) of his holiness.“

Psalm 43:3, “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.”

Psalm 87:1 “e¶[[A Psalm [or] Song for the sons of Korah.]] His foundation [is] in the holy mountains (הַר (har) ^H2022).“

Psalm 99:9, “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God [is] holy.“

Psalm 125:2, “As the mountains (הַר (har) ^H2022 [are] round about Jerusalem, so the LORD [is] round about his people from henceforth even forever.“

And we should also consider that while both Isaiah 2:2–4  and Micah 4:1–5  were temporally referring to the earthly Jerusalem, they both were actually, spiritually, pointing to the eternal Heavenly Jerusalem. “…the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it (be lighted by it).”

We are assured that this is the case because of what we read in Revelation 21:2 “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.“

It is not entirely clear what is the true derivation of the meaning of the word “Tabor” (תָּבוֹר (tāḇôr)) ^H8396. There do seem to be a number of somewhat conflicting explanations.  One explanation is that it is derived from the root word that means to be “broken in pieces” (תְּבַר (tᵊḇar)) ^H8406 , or something akin to broken rocks as can be found in a rock quarry.  In that case, perhaps it could be an indirect reference to a place where believers are found before God, given that believers are referred to as “lively stones” (1 Peter 2:5) who are also “broken” in terms of the heart (Psalm 34:18,“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”) as well as the spirit (Psalm 51:17 “The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.“).  Another explanation is that it is related to the root word “taher” (טָהֵר (ṭāhēr))^H2891 , meaning to be “pronounced clean” or “purged” and “purified”.   Without doubt, Heaven is entirely “Pure” and all believers who ascend to Heaven are made spiritually “clean” and “purged of sin” and “purified” through sanctification by the Holy Spirit as a result of Jesus Christ’s Atoning Sacrifice.

It is also interesting to note here that mount Tabor is generally considered to be the leading candidate for the site of  Jesus’s Transfiguration (The “Mount of Transfiguration“)…and while we can’t confirm or deny that assertion from the Bible; we can say that based on what we can learn in the course of this study, it would not be surprising if it was. For the record, Mt. Hermon is also considered to be a prime candidate for the location of Jesus’s Transfiguration.

More Evidence that Mt. Tabor Represents Heaven

It is also noteworthy that we do find mount Tabor in association with “the heavens” as we read in Psalm 89:11&12, “The heavens [are] thine, the earth also [is] thine: [as for] the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermonshall rejoice in thy name.”  The “heavens” and “earth” are mentioned together, and then immediately following so too we find a counterpoint, with “the north and the south” being representative of this created earth, and the high mountains, specifically mount Tabor and mount Hermon, representing “the heavens” that “rejoice“. Psalm 89:11&12 therefore provides a clear correlation in the Bible between mount Tabor with heaven!

And is this not also consistent with what we read in Matthew 5:12, where Jesus said, “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great [is] your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” and Luke 6:23, “Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward [is] great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”  Finally in Revelation 18:20, “Rejoice over her, [thou] heaven, and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.“

Note: From a topological perspective, mount Tabor is only 575 m (1,886 ft) above sea level, while mount Hermon, the highest point in Israel (which even now includes a ski resort, as it is generally snow capped in winter) is 2,236 m (7,336 ft) in elevation. However, mount Tabor, while only a quarter as high as mount Hermon, is uniquely prominent in that it is a singular peak rising abruptly as unique mound from the surrounding Megiddo plain as shown in the photo at the top of this post.

Mount Tabor is also mentioned in a somewhat different way in Judges 8:18 in that when Gideon asked the two remaining Midianite kings the following question and their reply (just before Gideon had them killed), “Then said he unto Zebah and Zalmunna, What manner of men [were they] whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou [art], [so were] they; each one resembled the children of a king.” The children of a king refers to the believers who are the children of God.  For more about the meaning of “children of a king”, please see: mephibosheth-and-a-covenant-of-grace/ 

Note also that these Midianite kings, Zebah (זֶבַח (zeḇaḥ) ^H2078) which means “sacrifice“, and Zalmunna (צַלְמֻנָּע (ṣalmunnāʿ) ^H6759) which means “deprived of protection“,  had earlier killed the brothers of Gideon, evidently at the foot of mount Tabor, and were themselves then killed by Gideon. Note also that in Psalm 83:9-12, where we read of the death brought to the enemies of God, “Do unto them as [unto] the Midianites; as [to] Sisera, as [to] Jabin, at the brook of Kison (Kishon) [Which] perished at Endor (Endor, the same that was the home of a witch 1 Samuel 28:7, is located in the valley of Megiddo): they became [as] dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna: Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.”  

The other two Midianite kings, who Gideon also slew, were named Oreb (עֹרֵב(ʿōrēḇ)^H6159) means “Raven” (an unclean “fowl of the air”), and Zeeb (זְאֵב(zᵊ’ēḇ)^H2062) means “Wolf”, [which the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, protects His flock from, remembering also in Matthew 7:15  “¶Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”]. 

Therefore, in Psalm 83:9-12, God is clearly equating Barak and Gideon, because they both defeated and killed those named individuals who were clearly identified as “enemies” of God as stated in Psalm 83:2.  Moreover, we can see more clearly how Barak and Gideon are spiritual representations of Jesus, Who, on Judgment Day, will defeat the devil and his accomplices, the false teachers who have sought to subdue the Church of God (take “the houses of God in possession”) through apostasy. “They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.” Psalm 83:3.

It should also be noted that the plain of Megiddo and its environs have been recorded as the location of two great tragedies that befell National Israel:

1) the death of Saul and his sons on Mt. Gilboa, which is where the River Kishon begins in the south east corner of the valley of Megiddo  (1 Samuel 31:8) and

2) the death of King Josiah who was killed by the Pharaohnechoh, king of Egypt in the valley of Megiddo (2 Kings 23:29-30 and 2 Chronicles 35:22).

Conclusion

In this study we have seen yet another case where God has masterfully crafted history, and the recording of it, and in this case particularly the use of geography, to prefigure the return of the Lord Jesus Christ on Judgment Day.  Judgment Day will be the last event in history when the Lord Jesus Christ will come back in the clouds of Glory from Heaven (as “Typified” by Mount Tabor) to destroy all wickedness, and send all of the unsaved to an eternity in Hell, and put an end to this entire creation, which is under the curse of sin.  It will mark the end of time and the beginning of eternity wherein righteousness will dwell in new heavens and a new earth forever.

In 2 Peter 3:10 we read, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” But thankfully in 2 Peter 3:13 we read, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.“

Today’s Application: Are You Ready?

Jesus is the only Way of escape from the just penalty for our sins. All other ways that man can devise will lead only to Hell come Judgment Day. You are either with God or against God.  Have you made peace with God through Jesus Christ?  Please pray to God for mercy through Jesus Christ and He will show you mercy. Judgment Day is for any individual only a heart beat away, but for the world it is coming very soon, given all of the signs of the times that we are currently all living in.

Map source: https://sonlightcamp.org/2017/01/15/first-light/

Introduction

Concerning end-times prophecy, you can pick up almost any book on the subject today and you’ll find many references to “the Battle of Armageddon” (mentioned in Revelation 16:16).  In those books you’ll often find a description of some future earthly/physical battle that the authors believe will take place between various nations of the world and national Israel in the literal physical location of the plain of Megiddo in northern Israel.  Is there any validity to this interpretation?  We need to take a closer look at what God has to say in Judges chapters 4&5, focusing in particular on the roles of Deborah and Barak in the destruction of the Canaanites and the implications that they hold for us today.  

And as we proceed in this post, looking only at one geographical location of the Bible, the River Kishon, please bear in mind that the Judges 4 account is entirely prophetic! Although the events in the account actually occurred in history, and are accurately recorded in the Bible, the account nonetheless is an Historical Parable foretelling what will occur in the short period just prior to the end of the world and Judgment Day when Jesus returns from Heaven on the clouds of Glory and destroys this world and all who hate God and His Word.

Barak, serving as a “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, came down from Mount Tabor with Deborah and 10,000 men (who are together “Types” of the Eternal Church of God, the “Saints”) with Barak to destroy all the Canaanites (“Types” of the enemies of God, the unsaved of the world) at the River Kishon in the Valley of Megiddo (Jezreel) (Which altogether develop a “Type” of Judgment Day).

This post is an another excerpt of a larger exposition on Judges 4&5. It shows how perfectly God uses Types and Allegories to convey spiritual truths that can be understood if God graciously gifts us the Eyes to See (and if we make the effort to look, by prayerfully reading the Bible, as God lovingly instructs us to so read).

The River Kishon is at the Foot of Mount Tabor (to which Judgment Comes from Heaven Like a “Snare” Upon All Mankind)

In Judges 4:7, we read how God, speaking through Deborah, would bring Sisera to the river Kishon* קִישׁוֹן (qîšôn)^H7028 (meaning “winding” or “twisted/bent“, like a fishhook?) from the Hebrew root word “qowsh”(קוֹשׁ (qôš)) ^H6983, which is the diminutive of “yaqosh” (יָקֹשׁ (yāqōš))^H3369, meaning “entangled” or “to set a trap or snare” like that of a fowler) that is located at the foot of mount Tabor in the middle of the plain of Megiddo (from which Armageddon is derived) for Barak to meet in battle.

Nonetheless, God promises security from Judgment Day to the believer who trusts in the LORD Jesus Christ, as we read in Psalm 91:1-3, “¶He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, [He is] my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341 of the fowler (קוֹשׁ (qôš)^H6983, [and] from the noisome pestilence.“

Also a fishhook is, without doubt, also a “snare” as we read in Amos 4:2, “The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.“

The Allegorical Location of the Battle of Armageddon (Judgment Day) Is SET AS A “SNARE“

God makes it clear in Judges 5:19 that the battle in Judges chapter 4 is to be linked both geographically with the valley of Megiddo, and therefore there is no question of its relationship spiritually to the the location representing the end of the world that is known as the Battle of Armageddon, “The kings came [and] fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.”

Note how this ties in with Revelation 16:16-18, which tells us, “¶And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.” 

Another link between Armageddon and Judgment Day, when Jesus returns as Judge (but also with salvation for the believers), can be found in Zechariah 12:10-12 “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.” And  these verses are referring back to 2 Kings 23:29, when King Josiah was slain by Pharaoh Nechoh in the valley of Megiddo and there was a great mourning for King Josiah in Jerusalem. (Hadadrimmon is a town in the valley of Megiddo named after two false gods of Syria (Haddad and Rimmon))

And we know from Judges 5:21 that the Valley of Megiddo is through which the river Kishon flows (1 Kings 18:40), “The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river Kishon. O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.”

On the one hand, we know from Joshua 23:13, that God would use other nations as “snares” and “traps” to punish the disobedient of His people, “Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out [any of] these nations from before you; but they shall be snares (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341and traps (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš)) ^H4170 unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.“

Psalm 35:8, “Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ))^H7568 that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.“

We also note that in Psalm 69:22&23 we read, “Let their table become a snare (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341 before them: and [that which should have been] for [their] welfare, [let it become] a trap  (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš)) ^H4170. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.”  These verses are referenced in Romans 11:9&10, ¶And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway”.

Job 22:10, “Therefore snares (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341 [are] round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;“

Backstory to Judges Chapters 4 and 5

These two chapters make it clear that God had raised up the Canaanites to punish Israel for its apostasy. In Judges 2:1-3, we read, “¶And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be [as thorns] in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš)) ^H4170 unto you.”

Note also that the wicked do try to “snare” the righteous, but, nonetheless, they will be caught in the net of their own devices as we read in,

Psalm 35:8, “Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ)) ^H7568 that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.“

Psalm 64:5, “They encourage themselves [in] an evil matter: they commune of laying snares (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš)) ^H4170 privily; they say, Who shall see them?“

This one verse includes FOUR different terms for “snares”: Psalm 140:5, “The proud have hid a snare (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341 for me, and cords (or bands, (חֵבֶל (ḥēḇel) ^H2256); they have spread a net (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ)) ^H7568 by the wayside; they have set gins (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš)) ^H4170 for me. Selah.“

Psalm 141:9 &10, Keep me from the snares (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341 [which] they have laid (יָקֹשׁ (yāqōš))^H3369 for me, and the gins (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš)) ^H4170 of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their own nets (מִכְמָר (miḵmār))^H4364, whilst that I withal escape.“

Psalm 142:3, “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341 for me.“

Proverbs 1:18, tells us that the evil, wicked, greedy people actually trap themselves: “And they lay wait for their [own] blood; they lurk privily for their [own] lives.” and note how this correlates with Psalm 9:15-17, “The heathen are sunk down in the pit [that] they made: in the net (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ))^H7568 which they hid is their own foot taken. The LORD is known [by] the judgment [which] he executeth: the wicked is snared (נָקַשׁ (nāqaš)) ^H5367 in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, [and] all the nations that forget God.“

Ultimately, God Uses the Imagery of “Snares” and “Nets” to Catch Men’s Souls

Regarding the wicked, Job 18:8-10, “For he is cast into a net (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ))^H7568 by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare (שְׂבָכָה (śᵊḇāḵâ))^H7639. The gin (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341 shall take [him] by the heel, [and] the robber shall prevail against him. The snare (חֵבֶל (ḥēḇel))^H2256 [is] laid for him in the ground, and a trap (מַלְכֹּדֶת (malkōḏeṯ)) ^H4434 for him in the way.”

Job 19:6, “Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net (מָצוּד (māṣûḏ)) ^H4686.” Note that the word translated here as “net” can also be viewed as a type of “stronghold” or “a place enclosing” like “a snare”.

Psalm 66:11, “Thou broughtest us into the net (מָצוּד (māṣûḏ)); ^H4686 thou laidst affliction upon our loins.“

Ezekiel 12:13, “My net רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ))^H7568 also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare (מָצוּד (māṣûḏ)) ^H4686: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.“

Ezekiel 17:20, “And I will spread my net (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ))^H7568 upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare (מָצוּד (māṣûḏ)),^H4686 and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.“

Ecclesiastes 9:12, “For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net (מָצוֹד (māṣôḏ))^H4685, and as the birds that are caught in the snare (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341; so [are] the sons of men snared (יָקֹשׁ (yāqōš))^H3369 in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.“

That “evil time” is Judgment Day, and that “snare” the Hebrew “qowsh” (קוֹשׁ (qôš)) ^H6983, the diminutive of “yaqosh” (יָקֹשׁ (yāqōš))^H3369, meaning “entangled” or “to set a trap or snare“, which is the word from which Kishon, קִישׁוֹן (qîšôn)^H7028 (the “winding“river), is derived, and it clearly tells us that it is allegorically pointing to the ultimate “snare” for mankind that awaits everyone who is unsaved on Judgment Day! The connection is found in Isaiah 29:21, “That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare (קוֹשׁ (qôš)) ^H6983 for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.“

Isaiah 8:13-15, “Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341and for a snare (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš))^H4170 to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared (יָקֹשׁ (yāqōš)) ^H3369, and be taken.“

Isaiah 24:17&18, “Fear, and the pit, and the snare (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.”

 Isaiah 28:13, “But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared (יָקֹשׁ (yāqōš)) ^H3369, and taken.“

Jeremiah 50:24, “I have laid a snare (יָקֹשׁ (yāqōš)) ^H3369 for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.” Remember that “Babylon” represents “the world” when Judgment Day comes (Revelation 14:8, Revelation 16:19, Revelation 17:5, Revelation 18:2, Revelation 18:10, Revelation 18:21).

Lamentations 3:47, “Fear and a snare (פַּחַת (paḥaṯ))^H6354 is come upon us, desolation and destruction.”

But the Souls of the Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are as Birds Set Free From Snares

Psalm 124:7&8, “Our soul is escaped (מָלַט (mālaṭ))^H4422 as a bird out of the snare (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341 of the fowlers (יָקֹשׁ (yāqōš))^H3369: the snare (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341 is broken, and we are escaped (מָלַט (mālaṭ))^H4422. Our help [is] in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” [Note “escaped” can also be interpreted as “delivered” or “saved”]

Proverbs 14:27, “The fear of the LORD [is] a fountain of life, to depart from the snares (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš))^H4170  of death.“

False Gospels are Snares for Men’s Souls

Finally, Proverbs Chapter 7 is a parable that addresses the dangers of being enticed by, and falling prey to, a false gospel, typified by the harlot, the strange woman/adulteress (while the goodman of the house is away on long journey until “the day appointed”/new moon), that snares the unwary, simple ones, who are “void of understanding“. Proverbs 7:23 tells us the end of such as a result, “Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341, and knoweth not that it [is] for his life.” And then the stern warning by God to everyone in the last verse of the chapter, Proverbs 7:27, “Her house [is] the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.” Notice the clear link between the “snare” and “death” and “hell”.

Jesus Warned of The Final Snare to Come!

Remember, that Jesus spoke of Judgment Day in the context of a “snare” in Luke 21:34&35, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare (παγίς (pagis))^G3803 shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.”

And look again at how Jesus statement harmonizes with what God gives to us in Psalm 9:15-17, “The heathen are sunk down in the pit [that] they made: in the net (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ))^H7568 which they hid is their own foot taken. The LORD is known [by] the judgment [which] he executeth: the wicked is snared (נָקַשׁ (nāqaš)) ^H5367 in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, [and] all the nations that forget God.”

And again, please also note the consistency with Psalm 35:8, “Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ)) ^H7568 that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.”

And the harmony with Psalm 11:6, “Upon the wicked he shall rain snares (פַּח (paḥ))^H6341, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: [this shall be] the portion of their cup.”

Please note also that God tells us clearly in Isaiah 28:13 that those, who refuse to hear the Word of God, will be condemned as though they would be caught in a snare. “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 (יָקֹשׁ (yāqōš))^H3369, and taken.” (Again this is the very root word from which Kishon (the river) is derived.)

Moreover, regardless of the derivation of mount Tabor, which the evidence provided above (and in more detail in a separate post) makes a strong case for mount Tabor to represent Heaven, there is no doubt that God clearly has established severe Judgment at the foot of mount Tabor in association with the river Kishon (“to snare”), and the Megiddo (e.g., Armageddon) valley that it flows through. This is because it is also a fact that after Elijah confounded the 450 prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:20-40 on top of mount Carmel (near the Mediterranean Sea), that we read in verse 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, and slew them there.“

We should also take particular note that both mount Tabor and mount Carmel are both mentioned in the same verse in Jeremiah 46:18, “[As] I live, saith the King, whose name [is] the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor [is] among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, [so] shall he come.” It would seem that God is saying that He Is surely coming again in Judgment (on Judgment Day) as surely as He did bring Judgment to the valley of Megiddo (Armageddon) from both mount Tabor and mount Carmel in the past.

*Note: The destruction of Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon is corroborated in Psalm 83:9, “Do unto them as [unto] the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison (Kishon):” Also in 1 Samuel 12:9, when Samuel was chastising the people of Israel by recounting God’s mighty works and God’s punishments for apostasy, “And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.“

Conclusion

In this study we have seen yet another case where God has masterfully crafted history, and the recording of it, and in this case particularly the use of geography, to prefigure the return of the Lord Jesus Christ on Judgment Day.  Judgment Day will be the last event in history when the Lord Jesus Christ will come back in the clouds of Glory from Heaven (as “Typified” by Mount Tabor) to destroy all wickedness, and send all of the unsaved to an eternity in Hell, and put an end to this entire creation, which is under the curse of sin and death.  It will mark the end of time and the beginning of eternity wherein righteousness will dwell in new heavens and a new earth forever. Judgment Day will come upon all mankind as an unexpected “snare” (or net) to which we have nonetheless all been forewarned!

In Proverbs 1:17, we are told “Surely in vain the net (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ))^H7568 is spread in the sight of any bird (כָּנָף (kānāp̄)^H3671 with בַּעַל (baʿal))^H1167. This appears to be highlighting the fact that a bird (representing a believer owned by God…because baʿal implies “being owned”) will not fly into a net (snare) set (by those professing false gospels) when the bird is made aware of the net being prepared to catch it. God protects by forewarning His elect saints, who cannot and will not be led astray, which He is describing as those who see the net for what it is.

The believers will not be caught in the net of a false gospel. Those false gospel purveyors will be caught in the snare of their own making, as well as unbelievers who are not God’s chosen who are also caught in the net, because they did not have the eyes to perceive it as such.

Moreover, so it is with God’s ultimate Snare of Judgment Day. There will not be any clear and immediate advance notice, and therefore, it will catch them, and all of the unsaved (the vast majority of mankind), completely unawares. Remember also that God has never specified the exact timing (e.g., the “day” or “hour” Matthew 24:36), as then it would not be a snare to catch them “unawares”

For additional background on God’s use of the word “net” (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ))^H7568 with respect to His Judgment, we have the following verse: Hosea 7:12, “When they shall go, I will spread my net (רֶשֶׁת (rešeṯ))^H7568 upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise (יָסַר (yāsar))^H3256 them, as their congregation hath heard.” (See also the aforementioned verses Ezekiel 12:13 and Ezekiel 17:20). The net and snare are both directly related to God’s sudden and unexpected Judgment.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:1&2, we are told in the epistle from the Apostle Paul, “¶But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” However, we are also told in 1 Thessalonians 5:4, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” (Please see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 for the full context and the comfort of knowing that “…God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,…“

In 2 Peter 3:10 we are also given similar information in the epistle from the Apostle Peter, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” And thankfully in 2 Peter 3:13 we read, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.“

Today’s Application: Are You Ready?

Jesus is the only Way of escape from the just penalty for our sins. All other ways that man can devise will lead only to Hell come Judgment Day. You are either with God or against God.  Have you made peace with God through Jesus Christ?  Please pray to God for mercy through Jesus Christ and He will show you mercy. Judgment Day is for any individual only a heart beat away, but for the world it is coming very soon, given all of the signs of the times that we are currently all living in.

Introduction

This post is simply a selected list of “Words of Wisdom” verses from the Bible, which, while they may not all be very well known, nonetheless they have great importance, and particular salience, for all of us in this world in our day. We are currently seeing a lot of hate and violence being displayed in our world today. The flames of hate and division are constantly being fueled by the wicked.

Reality Check

Natural mankind, the sons and daughters of Adam, are under the curse of sin and death. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us the true situation: “The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Well God knows it, and offers a means of escape from the just penalty that it requires. The Lord Jesus Christ paid for the sins of all those who are drawn to Him by God the Father, but everyone else is doomed to an eternity in Hell. And God tells it plainly like it is in Proverbs 8:36, “But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.“

The Bible Offers the Only Remedy and Consolation

As we consider the following Bible verses, which explain the true state of affairs of all mankind in the run up to Judgment Day (for those either remaining in rebellion against God and incurring His Wrath, or for those repenting and turning faithfully back to God and receiving His Mercy), please remember the words of the LORD Jesus Christ (God The Savior) that we find in Matthew 6:33&34, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.“

At the same time we must remember that this evil is spiritually sourced, and that sin will not stop until Jesus returns on Judgment Day. The believers are also told in Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world,  against spiritual wickedness in high [places].” and in 2 Peter 3:13, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.“

NOTE: We should also all be aware of the close correlation between Psalm 37 and Psalm 73, which provides additional applicable insights, as well the instruction to not fret about the evil, because God will soon bring Judgment upon ALL the perpetrators of evil for all the sinful wickedness that we now see in our world as well as throughout history.

May these verses be a blessing and comfort to all who ponder them.

The Situation Today: The World is Only Getting Worse

The Bible clearly warns of the difficult times that will come during the Final Tribulation, which describe things pretty much as we see them around us in our world today. We read this in 2 Timothy 3:1-7, “¶This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,  disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.“

We are also told in Romans 1:18-25, “¶For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and  unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed [it] unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so  that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. ¶Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness  through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.“

Signs of the Times for the End of the World

Specifically regarding the end of the world, when Jesus’ disciples privately asked Jesus in Matthew 24:3–14 (and also in Mark 13:3–13; Luke 21:7–19 ), “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?“, among the things mentioned were wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and other natural disasters (pretty much what has always been the case). However, Jesus also made clear that those were simply precursors to what would follow. Jesus went on to say that among of the key signs of the nearing of the end of the world would be a period of great tribulation and affliction, that “false Christs” (including the “Abomination of Desolation“) would arise to deceive many people with false gospels, and that there would be great persecution of the True Church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Jesus Is The Only Way to Eternal Salvation and Eternal Life).

Matthew 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” And Mark 13:22, “For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce,  if [it were] possible, even the elect.“

Jesus also said in Matthew 24:12, “iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” and we are told in Psalm 92:7, “When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; [it is] that they shall be destroyed for ever: But thou, LORD, [art most] high for evermore.“

When we look around the world today, we see a lot of things, consistent with those spoken of Jesus, coming to pass. Moreover, Jesus said, in Mark 13:20, “And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.” And in  Matthew 24:13, Jesus also said, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.“

Finally, in Matthew 24:14, Jesus made clear that the end would not come until the gospel of the kingdom of heaven would be preached everywhere in the world: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” And there are few, if any, places on earth where the Bible is not yet available in every language for every people.

Moreover, at this point in time, there is most certainly a lot of blatant spiritual wickedness and evil unlike that ever seen in the world before (and that is most certainly comparable to the events just prior to the Noachian Flood and in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah), which is negatively affecting all aspects of life on earth.

Proverbial Points to Ponder

Here are just some of things that God tells us clearly in His Word, the Bible, which He provides for us all to consider:

Psalm 12:8, “The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.”

Psalm 58:3, “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.“

Ecclesiastes 8:11-13, “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his [days] be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him: But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong [his] days, [which are] as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.”

Ezra 7:26, “And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether [it be] unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.”

Isaiah 26:10, “Let favour be shewed to the wicked, [yet] will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.“

Isaiah 57:21, “[There is] no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” and also Isaiah 48:22, “[There is] no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.”

Isaiah 59:4, “None calleth for justice, nor [any] pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.“

Isaiah 59:7 &8, “Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts [are] thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction [are] in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and [there is] no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.“

Isaiah 32:5-7, “The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said [to be] bountiful. For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also of the churl [are] evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.”

Ecclesiastes 9:3, “This [is] an evil among all [things] that are done under the sun, that [there is] one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that [they go] to the dead.“

Proverbs 10:7, “The memory of the just [is] blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.”

Proverbs 11:9, “An hypocrite with [his] mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.“

Proverbs 11:10, “When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, [there is] shouting.” [“cheers“?]

Proverbs 11:11 “By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.“

Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.“

Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”

Isaiah 57:1, “¶The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth [it] to heart: and merciful men [are] taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil [to come].”

Job 34:21&22, “For his eyes [are] upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings. [There is] no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.“

Job 8:11-13, “Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water? Whilst it [is] yet in his greenness, [and] not cut down, it withereth before any [other] herb. So [are] the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish: Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust [shall] be a spider’s web.“

Job 5:2, “For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.“

Proverbs 18:3, “When the wicked cometh, [then] cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach.“

Proverbs 18:5, “[It is] not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment.“

God Hates a Lying Tongue and Lying Lips

Among the Seven Things that God Hates and are an Abomination to Him is a “Lying tongue“:

Proverbs 6:16-19, “These six [things] doth the LORD hate: yea, seven [are] an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief. A false witness [that] speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.“

Proverbs 12:19, “The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue [is] but for a moment.“

Psalm 31:18, “Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.“

Proverbs 21:6, “The getting of treasures by a lying tongue [is] a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.“

Proverbs 26:28, “A lying tongue hateth [those that are] afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.“

Proverbs 24:24&25, “He that saith unto the wicked, Thou [art] righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: But to them that rebuke [him] shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.“

The Wicked are Doomed

Job 18:5, “Yea, the light of the wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall not shine.“

Job 20:4-7, “Knowest thou [not] this of old, since man was placed upon earth, That the triumphing of the wicked [is] short, and the joy of the hypocrite [but] for a moment? Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; [Yet] he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where [is] he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. The eye also [which] saw him shall [see him] no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.“

Proverbs 28:4, “They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.“

Proverbs 21:17, “He that loveth pleasure [shall be] a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.“

Proverbs 28:5, “Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all [things].“

Proverbs 28:10, “Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good [things] in possession.“

Proverbs 28:15, “As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so [is] a wicked ruler over the poor people.“

Proverbs 28:16, “The prince that wanteth (lacks) understanding is also a great oppressor: [but] he that hateth covetousness shall prolong [his] days.

Proverbs 28:18, “Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but [he that is] perverse [in his] ways shall fall at once.

Proverbs 28:20, “A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.“

Proverbs 28:28, “When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase.“

Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.“

Proverbs 29:4, “The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts (bribes) overthroweth it.“

Proverbs 29:12, “If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants [are] wicked.“

Proverbs 29:27, “An unjust man [is] an abomination to the just: and [he that is] upright in the way [is] abomination to the wicked.“

Jeremiah 17:9-11, “The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it? 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. [As] the partridge sitteth [on eggs], and hatcheth [them] not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool. To gain wealth via corruption will only lead to that person’s destruction. God equates a fool with the unsaved, hence that person is going to Hell.

Daniel 4:17, “This matter [is] by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.“

2 Timothy 3:12&13, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.“

James 1:9, “¶Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.“

The Book of Job, Chapter 20 (as well as Job Chapter 18, verses 5-21), has something to teach us regarding the “wicked” (a word that is tossed around too loosely in our world today)…“The Triumph of the Wicked Is Short” Job 20:1-29, “¶Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said, Therefore do my thoughts cause me to answer, and for [this] I make haste. I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer. Knowest thou [not] this of old, since man was placed upon earth, That the triumphing of the wicked [is] short, and the joy of the hypocrite [but] for a moment? Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; [Yet] he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where [is] he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. The eye also [which] saw him shall see [him] no more; neither shall his place any more behold him. His children shall seek to please the poor, and his hands shall restore their goods. His bones are full [of the sin] of his youth, which shall lie down with him in the dust. Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, [though] he hide it under his tongue; [Though] he spare it, and forsake it not; but keep it still within his mouth: [Yet] his meat in his bowels is turned, [it is] the gall of asps within him. He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. He shall suck the poison of asps: the viper’s tongue shall slay him. He shall not see the rivers, the floods, the brooks of honey and butter. That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow [it] down: according to [his] substance [shall] the restitution [be], and he shall not rejoice [therein]. Because he hath oppressed [and] hath forsaken the poor; [because] he hath violently taken away an house which he builded not; Surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly, he shall not save of that which he desired. There shall none of his meat be left; therefore shall no man look for his goods. In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: every hand of the wicked shall come upon him. [When] he is about to fill his belly, [God] shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain [it] upon him while he is eating. He shall flee from the iron weapon, [and] the bow of steel shall strike him through. It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glittering sword (בָּרָק bārāq)^H1300,cometh out of his gall: terrors [are] upon him. All darkness [shall be] hid in his secret places: a fire not blown shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tabernacle. The heaven shall reveal his iniquity; and the earth shall rise up against him. The increase of his house shall depart, [and his goods] shall flow away in the day of his (God’s) wrath. This [is] the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.”

Clear Warnings Regarding Abominations

A number of other verses describe exactly what is happening today in blatant and open fashion, as opposed to times past when such things were only done in darkness and secret.

Exodus 23:1, “¶Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to [do] evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest [judgment]:” Do not tell lies against another, but tell the truth so as to not indict an innocent man. Do not join mobs, and do not add your voice to those who are against the laws and justice that are meant to protect society. Additional commentary can be found here.

Proverbs 17:15, “He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both [are] abomination to the LORD.”

Isaiah 3:9, “The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide [it] not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.“

Isaiah 3:12 “[As for] my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause [thee] to err, and destroy the way of thy paths“.

1 Timothy 2:12, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.“

Habakkuk 1:2-4, “O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! [even] cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause [me] to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence [are] before me: and there are [that] raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.“

Romans 1:24-27 “¶Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. ¶For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet (just).“

Leviticus 18:22, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination.“

Matthew 19:4, “¶And he (Jesus) answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made [them] at the beginning made them male and female,“

Leviticus 20:13, “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.“

Deuteronomy 22:5, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so [are] abomination unto the LORD thy God.”

Leviticus 19:28 “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I [am] the LORD.”

Isaiah 5:20, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!“

Isaiah 5:21, “Woe unto [them that are] wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!“

Micah 2:1-3, “¶Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they covet fields, and take [them] by violence; and houses, and take [them] away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. ¶Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time [is] evil.”

Deuteronomy 19:18, “And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, [if] the witness [be] a false witness, [and] hath testified falsely against his brother; Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.“

1 Timothy 1:8-10, “¶But we know that the law [is] good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;“

1 Corinthians 3:19&20, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.“

1 Corinthians 6:9&10, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.“

2 Thessalonians 2:11, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Reaping What You Sow

Job 4:8, “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.“

Proverbs 22:8 “He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.“

Galatians 6:7, “¶Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.“

Hosea 8:7, “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

2 Samuel 3:39, “…the LORD shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.“

God’s Instruction and God’s Remedy: Psalm 37 and Psalm 73

Psalm 37 and Psalm 73 are Biblical Bookends that tell the believers not to worry or fret. This is because God has it ALL under control, and the wicked will soon perish forever.(If at all possible, please read All of the verses found in those chapters…below are merely a sample)

Psalm 37 Security of Those Who Trust in the LORD, and Insecurity of the Wicked.

Psalm 37:1 “[[A Psalm of David.]] “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.“

Psalm 37:7, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.“

Psalms 37:8-10, “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked [shall] not [be]: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it [shall] not [be].“

Psalm 37:38-40, “But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous [is] of the LORD: [he is] their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.”

Psalm 73 The End of the Wicked Contrasted with That of the Righteous.

Psalm 73:3, “For I was envious at the foolish, [when] I saw the prosperity of the wicked.“

Psalm 73:6-10, “Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly [concerning] oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.“

Psalm 73:12, “Behold, these [are] the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase [in] riches.”

Psalm 73:16&17, “When I thought to know this, it [was] too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; [then] understood I their end.“

Psalm 73:18&19, “Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they [brought] into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.”

Psalm 73:22-28, “So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless I [am] continually with thee: thou hast holden [me] by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me [to] glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth [that] I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: [but] God [is] the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. But [it is] good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.“

Other Similar & Pertinent Verses Regarding the State of the Godless Who are Greedy for Riches and Do Not Fear God

Job 27:8, “For what [is] the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?

…and is not this exactly what Jesus said in

1. Matthew 16:26, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” and
2. Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?“and
3. Luke 9:25, “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?“

Moreover, remember what Jesus said in Luke 12:15, “…Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” and then Jesus immediately expounded the “Parable of the Certain Rich Man”, who accumulated many goods for himself as we read in Luke 12:19-21, “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, [and[ be merry. But God said unto him, [Thou] fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? ¶So [is] he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.“

And while we are on the subject, Jesus said in Mat 6:19-21, “¶Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.“

We also read further in Job, Chapter 27, some other statements by God against the wicked rich hypocrites of which this is just a sample: Job 27:13&14, “This [is] the portion of a wicked man with God, and the heritage of oppressors, [which] they shall receive of the Almighty. If his children be multiplied, [it is] for the sword: and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.” and Job 27:19&20, “The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered: he openeth his eyes, and he [is] not. Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.”

Job 21:13, “They (the wicked) spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.“

Job 21:30, “That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.” The day of wrath is Judgment Day as we are reminded in Jude 1:5, “¶ I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.“

Psalm 49:16&17, “Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.” (Please see below for the full context of Psalm 49.)

Note how this verse is corroborated in James 1:9, “¶Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.“

Proverbs 1:19, “So [are] the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; [which] taketh away the life of the owners thereof.“

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.“

The Wicked Are Condemned by God

What do we see in our world today?  Do we see respect for the law and order as set forth by God in the Bible?  Or do we see mankind making up its own laws, and doing that which is right in its own eyes. Psalm 36:1-4 says, “The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eye. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good. He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.” Criminals are freed and law enforcement officers are vilified and condemned.  

Psalm 7:11, “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry [with the wicked] every day.”

Psalm 10:3, “For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, [whom] the LORD abhorreth.”

Job 31:3, “[Is] not destruction to the wicked? and a strange [punishment] to the workers of iniquity?“

Psalm 32:10, “Many sorrows [shall be] to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.“

Proverbs 23:17, “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long.“

Proverbs 24:1&2, “¶Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.”

Proverbs 24:19&20, “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked; For there shall be no reward to the evil [man]; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.“

Ecclesiastes 5:8, “¶If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for [he that is] higher than the highest regardeth; and [there be] higher than they.” We must always remember what God is in complete charge. God not only sees everything, but God does allow what happens for His purposes. God makes clear that no matter what power anyone has in this life, God will Judge and punish the wicked for their deeds in due time, if not in this life, then definitely on Judgment Day. God tells us in Romans 12:19, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” So once again Fret Not!

A Day of Reckoning Is Coming

Isaiah 2:11&12, “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts [shall] be upon every [one that is] proud and lofty, and upon every [one that is] lifted up; and he shall be brought low:“

Isaiah 13:11“And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy (גָּאוֹן (gā’ôn) ^H1347) of the proud (זֵד (zēḏ)s ^H2086) to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”

1 Corinthians 15:33, “¶Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.“

Ecclesiastes 12:13&14, “¶Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.”

In Jeremiah 5:25, we read “Your iniquities have turned away these [things], and your sins have withholden good [things] from you. For among my people are found wicked [men]: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so [are] their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?“

Ecclesiastes 7:20, tells us plainly “For [there is] not a just man upon earth, that doeth good,and sinneth not.” and the same in Romans 3:10-18, “¶ As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips: Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness:Their feet [are] swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery [are] in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.“  and Romans 7:18, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.“

Psalm 10:4, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek [after God]: God [is] not in all his thoughts.“

This is and always has been the state of natural man apart from the Saving Grace and Mercy of God through the Sacrifice of the LORD Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.“

Conclusion

God, through His Word, the Bible, tells us the following:

1. God is completely Sovereign, and oversees everything that is going on in all of this creation. God has created all things for Himself, and continues to ordain and maintain them for His Glory, both good and evil (Isaiah 45:7; Proverbs 16:4; Romans 9:21-23). 
2. The Believers are not to fret or worry about all the evil, and the wicked evil doers, as the judgment and punishment of the wicked is sure. God makes clear that Judgment Day is definitely coming, and that Jesus will Judge everyone in the world according their works. Revelation 1:13-18, describes Jesus in allegorical language to describe some of Jesus’ attributes as the Judge, “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” Sadly, the vast majority of the world will be sent to Hell. Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 7:13&14, “¶Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [Is] the gate, and broad [Is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [Is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.“
3. When Jesus comes back on Judgment Day, the universe as we know it will be destroyed, but Jesus will create new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. 2 Peter 3:10-13, ¶ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. [Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
4. Luke 10:27, “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.“
5. Ecclesiastes 12:13, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man.“

POSTSCRIPT

Jesus warns us on what to expect in the days just prior to Judgment Day, the Day when Jesus sends the majority of mankind to Hell.

Matthew 24:36, “¶But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.“

Luke 17:26, “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.“

Luke 17:28-30, “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed [them] all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.“

Mark 13:19 “For [in] those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created  unto this time, neither shall be.“

Matthew 24:32-35, “¶Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (The ‘Fig Tree’ represents National Israel, which was restored in 1948. Israel was restored as a nation among nations (as having leaves), but there can be no fruit if it does not accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ for salvation. And we are also very close to the end of that generation (if 70-80 years can be considered a literal generation per Psalm 90:10)).

Jeremiah 18:7-10, “[At what] instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy [it]; 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. And [at what] instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant [it]; 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.“

Amos 3:7, “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” and Mark 13:23, “But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things“.

Ecclesiastes 8:5&6, “Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment. Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man [is] great upon him.”

Also consider what we find in Ecclesiastes 3:14&15, “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him. That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. ¶ And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, [that] wickedness [was] there; and the place of righteousness, [that] iniquity [was] there. ¶ I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for [there is] a time there for every purpose and for every work.“

Psalm 49: The Folly of Putting Faith in Riches

Psalm 49:1, “¶[[To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.]] Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:“

Psalm 49:2, “Both low and high, rich and poor, together.“

Psalm 49:3, “My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart [shall be] of understanding.“

Psalm 49:4, “I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.“

Psalm 49:5, “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, [when] the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?“

Psalm 49:6, “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;“

Psalm 49:7, “None [of them] can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:“

Psalm 49:8, “(For the redemption of their soul [is] precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)“

Psalm 49:9, “That he should still live for ever, [and] not see corruption.“

Psalm 49:10, “For he seeth [that] wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.“

Psalm 49:11, “Their inward thought [is, that] their houses [shall continue] for ever, [and] their dwelling places to all generations; they call [their] lands after their own names.“

Psalm 49:12, “Nevertheless man [being] in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts [that] perish.”

Psalm 49:13, “This their way [is] their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.“

Psalm 49:14, “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.“

Psalm 49:15, “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.” The word for “grave” is really “Hell“.

Psalm 49:16, “Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;“

Psalm 49:17, “For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.“

Psalm 49:18, “Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and [men] will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.“

Psalm 49:19, “He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.”

Psalm 49:20, “Man [that is] in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts [that] perish.“

And let us remember once again what Jesus warned three times in:

1. Mat 16:26, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?“
2. Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?“
3. Luke 9:25, “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or  be cast away?“

The Pride of the Wicked Will Be Their Downfall

Proverbs 16:18, “Pride [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.“

Psalm 10:4, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek [after God]: God [is] not in all his thoughts.“

Psalm 73:6-10, “Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly [concerning] oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.“

2 Samual 22:28, “And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes [are] upon the haughty, [that] thou mayest bring [them] down.“

Proverbs 18:12, “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour [is] humility.“

Proverbs 21:24, “Proud [and] haughty scorner [is] his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.”

Job 26:12, “He (God) divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.“

Luke 1:51, “He (God) hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.“

Psalm 92:7, “When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; [it is] that they shall be destroyed for ever: But thou, LORD, [art most] high for evermore.“

POSTSCRIPT #2: Colossians, Chapter 3

Put On the New Self

This chapter gives powerful instruction and clear admonitions to the Believer regarding how to live in this evil world. These verse are most noteworthy because they express God’s deep love and devotion to the believers in comforting them by these words. These words offer the way to true inner peace and contentment to every believer. These words also make all the more clear that the believer has no right to fret about the state of the world or to be caught up in the things of the world that they take our eyes off of Jesus. As we read below, Jesus Christ “[is] all, and in all.”

Colossians 3:1, “¶If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.“

 Colossians 3:2, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.“

 Colossians 3:3, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

 Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

 Colossians 3:5, “¶Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness,  inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:”

Colossians 3:6, “For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:“

Colossians 3:7, “In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.”

Colossians 3:8, “¶But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.“

Colossians 3:9, “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;”

Colossians 3:10, “And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:“

Colossians 3:11, “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor  uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond [nor] free: but Christ [is] all, and in all.“

Colossians 3:12, “¶Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;“

Colossians 3:13, “Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye.”

Colossians 3:14, “And above all these things [put] on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.“

Colossians 3:15, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”

Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.“

Colossians 3:17, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.“

Finally brethren: 1 Timothy 6:6, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.“