Bereansearching Bible Studies

Introduction

This post is an extension to the exposition of Judges 4&5. There it was explained how Deborah (meaning “bee” in the original Hebrew,  דְּבוֹרָה (dᵊḇôrâ) ^H1682, which is from the root word דָּבַר (dāḇar) ^H1696 meaning to “speak” or “declare”, is intimately linked with the Hebrew word for “word“דָּבָר (dāḇār)^H1697).  

It is an interesting fact that, where bees gather, you will also find “honey” (דְּבַשׁ (dᵊḇaš))^H1706 or “honeycomb” (נֹפֶת (nōp̄eṯ))^H5317, that comes from bees. And the those two words, as so translated from the original Hebrew, are both often used typologically to represent the Word of God/the Gospel of Jesus Christ (see Judges 14:8&9*, and Psalm 119:103, and Revelation 10:9&10 and below). This is entirely consistent with the fact that Deborah was a “prophetess”, or someone who faithfully proclaims the Word of God.  However, “bees” דְּבוֹרָה (dᵊḇôrâ) ^H1682 are also used by God in the Bible to denote a means of judgment that God sends in response to rebellion (because they are given power to chase and sting, see for example Isaiah 7:18 and Deuteronomy 1:44).  It is also noteworthy that Jesus said 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.” That last day is Judgment Day!

And note the parallel with Isaiah 11:4, “But with righteousness shall he (Jesus) 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 it should also be noted that honey is never to be burned as an offering to God as we read in Leviticus 2:11, “¶No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD,shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey^H1706, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.“ The Words of God will never pass away. (It should also be noted that the leaven represents “sin” (Matthew 16:12) and there can be no sin associated with the burnt offering…remembering that Jesus knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21)).

Honey as Found in the Bible

To underscore how the word that is translated as “honey” in the Bible consistently points us to the “Word of God”, please note for example, in Psalm 119:103, where we read, “How sweet are thy words unto my taste! [yea, sweeter] than honey ^H1706 to my mouth!”  In Proverbs 24:13 &14, we can see a clear link between honey and “knowledge of wisdom“, which is associated with The Word (Which Is Jesus), “My son, eat thou honey^H1706, because [it is] good; and the honeycomb^H5317, [which is] sweet to thy taste: So [shall] the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found [it], then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.“

It is also interesting to note that in Proverbs 23:8, we read in the context of eating with an unsaved person that “The morsel [which] thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.” God is equating eating and vomiting up with losing sweet words is spiritually saying that

And in Ezekiel 2:6-10 when God told Ezekiel to eat the roll (words were on the roll/scroll) we read,

“¶ And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns [be] with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they [be] a rebellious house. And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they [are] most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee. ¶And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book [was] therein; And he spread it before me; and it [was] written within and without: and [there was] written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.“

And then immediately following in Ezekiel 3:1-4, “¶Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll. And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat [it]; and it was in my mouth as honey ^H1706 for sweetness. And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.”

God is clearly and unequivocally equating “honey” with His Word! But please also note how that while the book (the Bible) was sweet in the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel (who represents all believers who have God’s Word faithfully in their mouths), that same Word is nonetheless full of “lamentations, and mourning, and woe” to the unsaved and rebellious of the world.

Please also note the similarity/close correlation with what we read in Revelation 10:9&10, “And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.”

Also in Psalm 19:7-11, we read, “The law of the LORD [is] perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD [is] sure, making wise the simple.The statutes of the LORD [are] right, rejoicing the heart:the commandment of the LORD [is] pure, enlightening the eyes.The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD [are] true [and] righteous altogether. More to be desired [are they] than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey ^H1706 and the honeycomb^H5317. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: [and] in keeping of them [there is] great reward.“

And in Psalm 81:16, “He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey ^H1706 out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.” What this is saying spiritually is that God would have fed them with Jesus, Who Is the Word of God, as typified by the wheat (bread of life) and the “honey out of the rock” (and the “rock” that was smitten was representative of Jesus, Who was smitten for the believers’ sins and the “honey” is again representative of God’s Word that brings and sustains eternal life coming from Him).

Please also note that when Jonathan ate the honey that his eyes were enlightened!  See1 Samuel 14:25-29, with the last verse saying, “Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey ^H1706“

So then, it is therefore no coincidence that we find in Proverbs 16:24, “Pleasant (נֹעַם (nōʿam)) ^H5278 words (אֵמֶר (‘ēmer)) ^H561 [are as] an honeycomb (נֹפֶת (nōp̄eṯ))^H5317, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”  This is particularly salient when we consider that the word in the original Hebrew, “Noam”, is another Biblical reference to Jesus (The staff “Beauty” is נֹעַם (nōʿam) ^H5278 in Zechariah 11:10, and its price was 30 pieces of silver, etc.).

Given that it can be shown that “Noam” is representative of Jesus, then we can see that this verse is really telling us that “Jesus’s words are like honeycomb, and they are sweet to the soul and health to the bones.”  Jesus’s words (and He is The Word) give us eternal life and they are very sweet and indeed very healthy for us! Note also the similarity with this verse in Proverbs 15:26, “The thoughts of the wicked [are] an abomination to the LORD: but [the words] of the pure [are] pleasant (נֹעַם (nōʿam)) ^H5278 words (אֵמֶר (‘ēmer)) ^H561.” While the word translated as “word” is (אֵמֶר (‘ēmer)) ^H561 and not דָּבָר (dāḇār)^H1697 there is still an implicit relationship between them, and hence also in a more nuanced way between God’s Word and the honeycomb.

To reinforce this point, God provides two very contrasting instances of the use of the identical word, “honeycomb” (נֹפֶת (nōp̄eṯ))^H5317:

1. The first instance is Proverbs 5:3, “For the lips of a strange woman drop [as] an honeycomb (נֹפֶת (nōp̄eṯ))^H5317, and her mouth [is] smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.“
2. The second, and quite contrasting instance, is in Song of Solomon 4:11, “Thy lips, O [my] spouse, drop as the honeycomb (נֹפֶת (nōp̄eṯ))^H5317: honey (דְּבַשׁ (dᵊḇaš))^H1706 and milk [are] under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments [is] like the smell of Lebanon.“

What God appears to be telling us, from a Spiritual perspective, is that:

1. In the first instance, the “honeycomb” in view is that of a false gospel being portrayed as the True Gospel of Jesus Christ. That “honeycomb” is actually spiritual poison, and it is found coming from the lips of those, in adulterous churches, who preach a false gospel that will only lead the hearers straight to Hell.
2. But, in the second instance, in the Song of Solomon, we see a beautiful portrait of the Love between Jesus and His Bride, the Eternal Church. There we see a portrait of Jesus praising His Bride, with Jesus saying that she has the True Gospel of Salvation, which is being typified by that life giving honeycomb on her lips (along with honey under her tongue) that can lead the hearers to Heaven. How beautiful is that?!

And we should also remember the the last thing that Jesus ate after His Resurrection and just before He Ascended into Heaven was “honeycomb“. Note the specific verses and the context as they are given to us in Luke 24:41-45, “And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took [it], and did eat before them. ¶And he said unto them, These [are] the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and [in] the prophets, and [in] the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,“. Interestingly, while honey and honeycomb were on the lips of Jesus while He was speaking these last words to the disciples, they were enlightened to understand the scriptures. That was no coincidence! Note how that is exactly what happened to Jonathan when he tasted honey?…he was also enlightened. Please see more about this below.

* In Judges 14:8&9, we read how Samson had killed a lion with his bare hands, and that he later found honey in its dead carcase. Samson then ate some of the honey and also provided some to his parents to eat as well, “And after a time he returned to take her (Samson’s first wife in Timnah), and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, [there was] a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion.” One interpretation is that this could be a prefigurement of Jesus being both the lion (of Judah), as well as the one who killed it (Jesus laid down His own life) to provide the Word of God (the honey) to the disciples/believers typified by his father and mother. And remember just as Samson ate the honey, so did Jesus meditate on God’s Word as well.

The Land Flowing with “Milk and Honey” is another Allegory for Heaven

We also know that the “Promised Land (typifying Heaven) is frequently described in the Bible as a land that is flowing (or floweth) with “milk (חָלָב (ḥālāḇ)) ^H2461 and honey (דְּבַשׁ (dᵊḇaš))^H1706“(see for example Exodus 3:8). The phrase “milk and honey” is actually found 20 times in the Old Testament.  Is it not interesting that both milk and honey are related to this Creation of God, and, hence are not reliant in any way on the work of man? They are also dependent on green grass and flowers to be produced, but they result in a means of sustenance for man. Only those who are the chosen of God can enter into that land of rest (from work), a land that is flowing with milk and honey, hence that land of milk and honey is an earthly picture of the Spiritual Heaven wherein mankind can have eternal rest and sustenance for that which it cannot labor.

Heaven and Melita (Honey)

And it should also be noted here that when Paul’s was shipwrecked, that the “certain island” that Paul prophesied about in Acts 27:26 was named Melita (currently known as the island of Malta) in Acts 28:1. Melita (Μελίτη (melitē)^G3194 means “Honey” and it was also used in this event to portray “Heaven”… to where all 276 souls on the ship were saved, even though the ship (representing the corporate church just before judgment day) was destroyed.  Some swam,”And the rest, some on boards, and some on [broken pieces] of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.”  Note to the Reader: There is great spiritual significance pertaining to both the Shipwreck and the Island of Melita. Please see the study of “Numbers in the Bible” (looking at Lesson #2, The Saving of “276” Souls from a Shipwreck) and the “Geographical Parable of the Island of Melita“.

Finally, with regard to “honey”, as it is employed in the Bible, we are also apparently given some warnings that we should take in the Word carefully, such as meditating on it, and not rushing through it as we also read in Proverbs 25:16, “Hast thou found honey^H1706? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.”  We simply cannot absorb the Bible as if we were reading any other book. It has to be taken in slowly, and prayerfully, and pondered in the heart. Isaiah 28:10 tells us, “For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:” And in Proverbs 25:27, we find this additional warning, “[It is] not good to eat much honey^H1706: so [for men] to search their own glory [is not] glory.”  

While this last verse is not entirely clear to this teacher, it may be that we are also being admonished by God that while studying God’s Word to seek enlightenment, we must be careful to discern our personal motivations.  Is it to glorify God? (which is all that it should be) or is it somehow a vehicle by which we are contributing to our own vanity because we have been enabled to see things that might otherwise be hidden from others? (Remember Jonathan and how his “eyes have been enlightened” when he “tasted a little of the honey^H1706 “, 1 Samuel 14:29?) If we have been enlightened by God through the reading and hearing of God’s Word, not only should we be willing to humbly share that honey with others, but we must never presume for one moment any pridefulness as a result of any such enlightenment. Proverbs 20:12, “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them.” Whatever spiritual discernment that we might have, it is solely a gift from God, and therefore, God, Alone, gets ALL of the Glory!

POSTSCRIPT

One final note regarding “honeycomb^“H5317, which we have been shown so clearly represents the Word of God. Proverbs 27:7 tells us the following, “The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; ^H5317 but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.“ It would be fair to say that this proverb is telling us that those who are full with the things of this world are not hungering and thirsting for the Word of God, and moreover, they will despise the Word and Jesus Who The Word represents. They are satisfied with this sin cursed earth. This world is all that they desire. They do not see a need for Jesus, because they have it all in the here and now. However, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:  for they shall be filled.” The hungry soul is aware of its need for Jesus, and even the bitter judgments found in the Word of God are sweet to that soul.

This teacher also just found this article on the Internet that provides an interesting fact concerning honey: https://historyfacts.com/world-history/fact/archaeologists-have-found-3000-year-old-pots-of-honey-that-are-still-edible/

Honey is the only food source that NEVER SPOILS! God made honey to be that way because God chose it to be emblematic of His Word. The Word of God will NEVER PASS AWAY! Jesus told us:

 Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.“

 Mar 13:31, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.“

Luke 21:33, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

Introduction

The rainbow is a magnificent spectacle in the sky that is described scientifically as an “optical phenomenon that can occur under certain meteorological conditions. It is caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky“. What is not said is that it is God Who created the conditions, the water molecules, and the sun to cast the sunlight, which make possible the presence and viewing of any rainbow.

The Rainbow, from a Biblical standpoint, has great spiritual significance, which is only meant to Glorify God. In fact, the Bible tells us that the rainbow is representative of “the glory of the LORD” as we read here in Ezekiel 1:28, “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain (the rainbow), so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This [was] the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw [it], I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.“

However, in our day, the rainbow has now been co-opted as a symbol representing those who are entirely opposed to God and His Word (the Bible) and who seek only to glorify themselves (and their sins) through identification with the rainbow. It is not hyperbole to say that the differences in these two viewpoints are so vast that they have risen to Biblical Proportions.

So let us first review how the Rainbow is described to us in the Bible.

The Biblical Meaning of the Rainbow

The very first mention of a “rainbow” in all of western literature can be found in the Bible, in the Book of Genesis (the first book of the Bible). There we find, following the Great Flood of Noah’s day, that God declares in Genesis 9:8-17,

“¶ And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that [is] with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. ¶ And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that [is] with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow (קֶשֶׁת (qešeṯ))^H7198 (the rainbow) in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow (קֶשֶׁת (qešeṯ))^H7198shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow (קֶשֶׁת (qešeṯ))^H7198shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it,that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.” (The word for “bow” is the same as the bow, with arrows, used historically in warfare.)

However, before moving on, we also need to look into why God sent the Great Flood in the first place. In Genesis 6:5, we read, “¶And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Notice that destruction came because of the wickedness and continuous evil of mankind, which holds particular import for us in our day, as we will see below.

The second place in the Bible that a “rainbow” is mentioned is in Ezekiel 1:28 (as was noted above in the Introduction), “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain (the rainbow), so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw [it], I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.” In this case, the prophet Ezekiel was describing what he saw as “visions of God” that equated a rainbow with the glory of the LORD God.

The last two places in the Bible, which specifically mention a “rainbow”, are found in the Book of Revelation (the last book of the Bible) in Revelation 4:3, which describes Jesus, the Creator and The LORD God Almighty, sitting on the Throne in Heaven, “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and [there was] a rainbow (ἶρις (iris))^G2463 round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” and then Revelation 10:1, “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow (ἶρις (iris))^G2463 [was] upon his head, and his face [was] as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:“

If we compare and integrate all of the four places in the Bible that refer to the Rainbow, then we can see that the Rainbow was established by God as a token of remembrance of a Covenant that God established between Himself and all mankind, and every living creature, following the devastating world-wide flood of Noah’s day. That Covenant stated that God would never again destroy the world by a flood of water. Then we next see in both of the prophetical visions, witnessed by both the prophet Ezekiel and John the Revelator, that the rainbow refers to the glory surrounding the Throne of God and upon the Head of God, indicating to us that the rainbow also represents the Glory of God, the LORD God Almighty, Who we know Is also The LORD Jesus Christ. We can also see His coming to the earth, first to bring the Gospel of Salvation in the little book (the Bible)in which the Word is manifested Revelation 10:8-11, and next to Judge the whole earth on Judgment Day, when there is time no longer Revelation 10:6, just as Jesus was judged for His Elect in 33 AD who are received up into Heaven.

The Rainbow Appears Only AFTER Judgment Is Finished!

But we should also take note of the fact that the rainbow was only first seen AFTER the flood of Noah’s Day, which was AFTER the Judgment of God on the world in Noah’s Day. And the following three times all prophetically refer to Jesus in Heaven when He is seated on His Throne in His Glory surrounded by His Saints, also seated with golden crowns, which can only be AFTER the Judgment of God on Jesus Christ for the sins of God’s elect in 33 AD. Jesus is seated meaning His Work is Finished. This means that The Final Judgment for the elect of God, the believers, the saints, The Bride of Christ, is also in the past!

And that is evidence of the fulfillment of the “New Covenant” established by Jesus’ Sacrifice on the cross that we read about in Hebrews 12:22-24, “¶But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel.”

How is this different from the meaning of the rainbow that is being accepted in our world today?

The Rainbow, and Its Meaning, Has Been Usurped

In today’s culture, predominantly today’s “western” culture, the rainbow is now publicly portrayed as a symbol adopted by those who identify with each other together under the heading of “Pride”.

What does the Bible say about “Pride”?

Suffice it to say, “Pride” is Biblically emblematic of the stumbling block of the Original Sin of Adam, which resulted in all mankind having been condemned to eternal death in Hell by God.  

The very first verse in the Bible that specifically addresses the word “pride” is found in the context of God’s Righteous Judgment for disobedience to God and His commandments, as we find in the following verses:

Leviticus 26:14-19, “But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, [but] that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride (גָּאוֹן (gā’ôn) ^H1347) of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:” Note that the words “iron” and “brass” are Biblical references to Hell, and that the number “seven” in the Bible points to the “Perfection” of whatever is in view.

There are many verses in the Bible that specifically denounce pride, and the proud and arrogant. Here is but a small sample of some key verses that address pride.

In Proverbs 16:18, “Pride (גָּאוֹן (gā’ôn) ^H1347) [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

Proverbs 21:4, “An high look, and a proud heart, [and] the plowing of the wicked, [is] sin.”

Proverbs 21:10, “The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes.“

Psalm 119:21, “Thou hast rebuked the proud (זֵד (zēḏ) ^H2086) [that are] cursed, which do err from thy commandments.” The word translated from the original Hebrew as proud here is זֵד (zēḏ) ^H2086, meaning “arrogant”, “proud”, “insolent”, and “presumptuous”.

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.”

In the New Testament, we read in James 4:6, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”

The Culture of Pride Has Become Ascendent Today

And is it not interesting how we are living in a time that both glorifies evil and abominable acts and lifestyles, while also promoting demonic icons in our culture (generally identified as “pop culture”). Marriage between a man and women is no longer sacrosanct. Full-term babies can be killed with impunity in the name of “health care”. Children are being subjected to grave perversions in our public schools. The Bible is abhorred in our society today, while the books of other religions are not only tolerated, but are being actively promoted. I will not go on to enumerate all the specific sins here, but rather simply point the reader to some Bible verses to ponder, which are generally not well known in our day.

Romans 1:18–32, “¶ 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. ¶ 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. ¶ And even as they did not like to retain God in [ their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.“

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.“

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

Ecclesiastes 8:11, “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.”

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.“

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

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

When Jesus is not being honored as The King today, then destruction will come soon. In Judges 21:25, we read what happened to Israel when they had no king, and it is happening in our world today, “In those days [there was] no king in Israel: every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.“

And we could all benefit by heeding the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:20, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane [and] vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:“

Finally, In Isaiah, chapter 14, we read where God denounced and condemned the devil to Hell for his “pride”, although the original Hebrew word גָּאוֹן (gā’ôn) ^H1347 is translated in the King James Version of the English Bible as “pomp” in Isaiah 14:11-15, “Thy pomp (גָּאוֹן (gā’ôn) ^H1347) is brought down to the grave, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 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 likethe most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” And as a side note, is it not interesting that, in 2023, in a nation that founded its laws on Judeo-Christian principles, a televised music awards program showcased someone portraying the devil singing a song called “Unholy”, while a major sports team celebrated a sacrilegious group that that openly mocks Jesus’s Atonement?

God Will Judge, exactly as we are told in 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. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.”

So Why is Sin Abounding So Much Now in Our Day?

God makes it very clear in the Bible that He Is Sovereign over all of His Creation. God tells us that while the devil was bound at the cross upon the death of Jesus Christ in 33AD, that God would let the devil loose from his prison for “a little season”, as a judgment against the world for not reverencing God and His Word (the Bible and Its Embodiment, Jesus Christ) as a prelude to the ultimate Judgment Day and the end of the world in Revelation 20:3 and Revelation 20:7-9.

This current era certainly seems to qualify as the period the Bible refers to as the “Great Tribulation”. Jesus also said that if those days were not cut short, then no one would be saved, but for the elect’s sake, the days will be shortened. We see this in Matthew 24:22, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” and 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.“

The bottom line is that we are now living in a heathen nation, and a heathen world, which has turned its back on The Creator God, and, therefore, iniquity is abounding. As a result, God is now pouring out His vials of Wrath upon the world, and one of the ways includes letting the devil “loose” from the prison where the devil had been bound from 33 AD until now. Churches have become largely apostate, because the devil has been allowed to take over the pulpit in many formerly Christian churches (as the “Abomination of Desolation“). Seeing that this is the case, we must conclude that we are all now in that “little season”.

And do not forget what Jesus said about the prelude (the beginning of sorrows) leading up to Judgment Day in Matthew 24:6-13, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. ¶Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” We have all seen enough of the above already.

Someone might say that this is all just the talk of a fool. OK, but please remember how, back in the Old Testament, God punished the ten northern tribes of Israel for their apostasy and for worshipping other gods, then later Judah and Jerusalem for doing the same thing. To learn more about how God used “Types” of the devil in the course of those horrendous events, please see this study on the Book of Nahum. But for all of us now, as the New Testament era comes to a close and Judgment Day approaches, the same kind of horrendous events have already begun to occur upon the whole world in the “spiritual” realm (and we are now seeing the effects in our physical/temporal world). God is not just letting loose a “Type” of the devil, but the devil himself has apparently now been loosed.

Think about it.

If any of this bothers you, then please cry out to God for mercy in the Name of Jesus Christ while you still have breath in your body.

Postscript: The Irony and Spiritual Implications of a Six-Color Rainbow Versus a Seven-Color Rainbow

Before proceeding further, it must be stated clearly that there is no Biblical basis for saying that the rainbow consists of any number of colors; either five, six, seven, or a million or more. The Bible is completely moot on that point. So where did the idea of seven colors come from?

Interestingly enough, for centuries, “western” culture had previously, generally accepted the view that the rainbow consists of seven distinct colors (although, from a purely empirical scientific view, the rainbow is in reality an indivisible and infinite spectrum of colors).

It has been claimed that Sir Isaac Newton, in England, back in the 1600s, derived the number as the result of experiments with a glass prism to refract sunlight. It should be noted that Sir Isaac Newton was not only a great scientist, physicist and mathematician, but Newton was also a professed Christian and devoted Bible student. It has been reported that Newton originally only saw five distinctly identifiable colors with his glass prism experiment, but later claimed that there were actually seven. According to some claimants, this was due, at least in part, to Newton’s awareness of the Biblical implications of the number “seven”.

And what are the Biblical implications of the number seven?

The number seven is consistently used in the Bible by God to point to the “Perfection” of whatever is in view, and most frequently having to do with time. There are the seven days in the week, the six days of creation culminating in the creation of mankind, followed by the seventh day of rest, known today as the Sabbath. Genesis 2:2&3, “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Then there are the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars that we read about in Revelation 3:1 “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” There are many other examples where the number of seven can be seen in Bible that underpin this interpretation. See Seven for additional references.

But what about the number six?

The Number Six

The number six is consistently used in the Bible in relation to mankind. God created man on the sixth day of creation. In Revelation 13:18, this is made very clear, “¶ Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.” The “666”, or the number six repeated three times. The number six will always fall short of the number seven, that represents God and His Perfection, Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Man is not God, just as “6” is not “7“.

It should also be noted that the number six also refers to “work”, which is the foundational evil of every false gospel, in that each contains and exalts the free will and works of men, rather than the Grace of God. So six, refers to man and, more specifically, man’s work, which is always and entirely evil and opposed to God. 

For more verses to help underscore this point, please see Six.

By adopting a six-colored rainbow flag, those professing “Pride” are either consciously, or subconsciously, boasting themselves to be like God, while remaining far short of God’s Perfection. It cannot be more accurately explained than what we find in Romans 1:21-23, “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 by the way, it was no accident that the great Judgmental Noachian Flood came when Noah was exactly six hundred years old. Genesis 7:6

And speaking of the Flood in Noahs day, that Judgment on the world in that day was meant by God to be a prefigurement of the last and Final Judgment Day. There are many other prefigurements that portend Judgment Day at the end of the world, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the destruction of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea, the death of the Canaanites in Judges 4&5, the death of enemies of the Jews in Esther, etc. But Jesus specifically pointed to just two of them. Noah’s Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:37-39, “But as the days of Noe (Noah) 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.” and in Luke 17:26-30, “And as it was in the days of Noe (Noah), 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. 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.” 2 Peter 2:5 provides a bit of additional commentary, “And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;”

The bottom line conclusion is that this current ungodly world is ripe for the Final Judgment Day of God. Jesus also said in Luke 21:28, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then lookup, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” This is a time when everyone needs to ask themself, am I ready to meet God?

Note to the Reader:

Noah נֹחַ (nōaḥ) ^H5146, whose means “Rest” or “Consolation“, also relates in a way to Nahum (נַחוּם (naḥûm) ^H5151 as we read in Genesis 5:29, “And he called his name Noah, saying, This [same] shall comfort נָחַם (nāḥam)  ^H5162 us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” This word for “comfort” נָחַם (nāḥam)  ^H5162 , which is used here to pertain to Noah, is the root word from which Nahum (נַחוּם (naḥûm) ^H5151 is derived. For more on the Book of Nahum, please see The Book of Nahum. For some more spiritual insights concerning Noah’s Ark please see: Noah’s Ark Versus Moses’ Ark

This is an excerpt from a much larger exposition on Judges Chapters 4&5, that provides new significant insights on what we can expect on Judgment Day

Introduction

We are told in many different ways, through many different examples, that Jesus Christ will be coming down from Heaven on the clouds of Glory on Judgment Day, accompanied by His Army of Saints.

In Judges 4:14, we read the following, “¶And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this [is] the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the LORD gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.“

In that “Historical Parable“, as God provides us in Judges 4&5, it has been shown in a previous detailed exposition that Barak, which in the original Hebrew (בָּרָק (bārāq))^H1300 means both “Lightning” and “Glittering Sword“, is unequivocally representative of the Lord Jesus Christ as He will come down from Heaven (typified by Mt. Tabor) on Judgment Day to the earth (as typified by the Valley of Megiddo, which is also known as “Armageddon”).

The 10,000 men, who come down from mount Tabor following Barak, allegorically represent all of the “saints” (also known as the “believers”, the “saved”, the “elect“, the “sons of God”) who will come down from Heaven with Jesus on Judgment Day execute Judgment, Justice, and Vengeance (we know this, because it is entirely consistent with what we find in Jude 14&15, regarding Judgment Day “…Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints. To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard [speeches] which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.“). Please that the “saints” will accompany “the Lord” (Jesus Christ) to “execute judgment”.

NOTE: The number “Ten Thousand” is used by God in the Bible to spiritually represent ALL of the believers throughout ALL time, because it can be broken down as follows: 10X10X10X10 (or ten to the fourth power). In the Bible, the number ten spiritually represents “completeness” or “totality”, while the number four spiritually represents “universality”.

If we turn to Psalm 149:4-9, we read some VERY significant collaborating verses, “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.”  

Vengeance Belongs to God, but He Honors His Saints in Executing It With Jesus on the Last Day

Deuteronomy 32:35, “To me (God) [belongeth] vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in [due] time: for the day of their calamity [is] at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.“

Psalm 94:1, “¶ O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.“

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.”

In this earthly realm we are not to repay evil for evil but rather follow Jesus’s instruction as found in Matthew 5:44, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” But once the believers leave this earthly realm and join Jesus in Heaven, things will be completely different on Judgment Day.

And please also note three things from these verses:

1. On Judgment Day, the saints will executing the just Judgment that is “written“. The Bible is where the Law of God, and the punishments for disobedience to the Law, are “written.” Remember what we read in Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.“
2. All of Jesus’ Saints, the Believers, will have been given that honor of being participants with Jesus in executing Judgment.
3. We see a link between the mouths of the Saints bringing praises to God while handling the “twoedged sword“, which is Word of God! [Please see below, just before the Conclusion, for an explanation of God’s use of the spiritual “twoedged sword” in bringing Judgment.]

And note in particular what God tells us within the context of the Coming of Jesus Christ on Judgment Day described in Revelation 19:11-21 in Revelation 19:14, “And the armies [which were] in heaven (the saints) followed him (Jesus Christ) upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” 

Also please note the consistency with what God tells us in Isaiah 40:10, “Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong [hand], and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him.” Jesus is coming on Judgment Day with His “reward“, the “saints“, for whom He bought and paid for with His Atoning Sacrifice. Remember that the saints are indeed Jesus’ “reward”, as they are given to Him by God the Father. That is what we read in John 6:37, where Jesus said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” Note also the harmony of this understanding given the context as is shown in the very next verse in Isaiah 40:11, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry [them] in his bosom, [and] shall gently lead those that are with young.” Jesus’ is the Good Shepherd and the flock is His Church, the body of believers, the saints. (For more please see this study on The 23rd Psalm.)

We see similar language that helps to corroborate the above in Isaiah 62:11&12, “Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.“

Ephesians 1:18, “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,“

It is the eternal Church, the body of believers, the saints, of which Jesus Is The Eternal Head, who will come with Jesus to “execute judgment” on Judgment Day.  And looking back again at Judges chapter 4, it is clear that the physical destruction of the host of Sisera was by the “physical sword“, and, in the historical account, the slaughter was not done by Barak alone, but rather the Judgment by the “physical sword” would have had to have also been done by those who came with Barak.  And that battle was intended by God to be a physical prefigurement of the final Judgment Day, at which time the “Spiritual Sword” (the “Word of God“) will slay all of the unsaved in the world. That great slaughter (the so-called Battle of Armageddon) is also the remaining “work” before Jesus, which will be finished on Judgment Day.

Additional Biblical Historical Precedents

A Sample of Old Testament Proof Texts and Previews: God provides us some additional previews of Judgment Day back in Exodus, in Joshua, in Isaiah, and in Joel (similar to what was mentioned previously regarding Judges 4&5), where God describes how the believers/the saints, as the army of His wrath, will accompany Jesus in bringing Judgment on the unsaved on Judgment Day. Here are just five examples:

1) In Exodus 14:26-31, God destroyed Pharaoh and his Egyptian Army in the Red Sea, which typified the devil along with his host made up of unbelievers who will all be destroyed on Judgment Day: “¶And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, [and] all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry [land] in the midst of the sea; and the waters [were] a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. ¶Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore. And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.” Note also the description of this historical account in Psalm 106:8-11, “Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated [them], and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.“

2) In Exodus 32:25-28 the believers are typified by the Levites who stand with Moses (who in this case is a “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ). There we read, “¶And when Moses saw that the people [were] naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto [their] shame among their enemies:) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? [let him come] unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, [and] go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.“ And the 3000 represents the unsaved of the world, by which we see the number 3 (the purpose of God) X 10 (completeness) X 10 (completeness) X 10 (completeness). Please see also Numbers 16:28-35.

3) In Joshua 6:1-21, we have the detailed account of the destruction of the walled city of Jericho under Joshua’s direction (Joshua is an unequivocal “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, particularly since Joshua in Hebrew is Jesus in Greek meaning “Savior“). The Israelites participated in the Judgment Day for Jericho by shouting at Joshua’s command as we read in the last two verses of this portion of the account in Joshua 6:20&21, “¶So the people shouted when [the priests] blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that [was] in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.“

4) In Joshua 10:7-15 the believers are typified by “the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour“, and they accompany Joshua (who, as was pointed out above, is an unequivocal “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, particularly since Joshua in Hebrew is Jesus in Greek meaning “Savior“). There we read, “¶So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour. (reminiscent of Judges 4:10) And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee (reminiscent of Judges 4:16). Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly (reminiscent of 1 Thessalonians 5:3), [and] went up from Gilgal all night. And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, [and] were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven (reminiscent of Rev 16:21) upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than [they] whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. ¶Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed (reminiscent of Hab 3:11, and the “glittering spear” there is Barak בָּרָק (bārāq)^H1300, which points us again to Judgment Day!), until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. [Is] not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.” For more on the meaning of Gilgal please see: “Gilgal: Rolling Away the Reproach of Egypt“

5) In the Book of Isaiah 13:2-13, God provides yet another picture of Judgment Day in which the saints are being prepared and gathered together (“mustereth“) from the mountains (“from the end of Heaven“) for the destruction of this sinful world, “Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, [even] them that rejoice in my highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, [even] the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the LORD [is] at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces [shall be as] flames. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” (NOTE: There are additional warnings of Judgment Day in Isaiah 2:19-21 which compares with Revelation 6:12-17 )

5) In the Book of Joel 2:1-11, we see another very clear warning and depiction of Judgment Day, coming at the sound of a trumpet blowing, whereupon God with His mighty army (His Saints, the believers), brings Judgment upon the heathen. “¶Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for [it is] nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, [even] to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land [is] as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them [is] as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and [when] they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for [he is] strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” (NOTE: There are additional warnings of Judgment Day in Joel 3:11-17)

Repeating what was said earlier…concerning the last words of Moses in blessing Israel just before his death in Deuteronomy 33:2&3, “And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand [went] a fiery law for them.  Yea, he loved the people; all his saints [are] in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; [every one] shall receive of thy words.” Similarly, in blessing the offspring of Joseph (who serves as a “Type” for the Lord Jesus Christ), we read where Moses said in Deuteronomy 33:17, “His glory [is like] the firstling of his bullock, and his horns [are like] the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they [are] the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they [are] the thousands of Manasseh.“

Remembering also that just previously in Judges 4:10, we read how Barak “called” Zebulun and Naphtali (the believers from out of the Gentile nations) and he “went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went with him.“

Note: The phrase “at his feet” can more readily be understood to mean “to follow after” 

Again, we must remember that Barak is used of God to provide a clear and unequivocal “Type” of the LORD Jesus Christ!

Remember also what we find in the clearly Messianic verses of Zechariah 14:4&5, where the verses end by declaring that on Judgment Day, Jesus will come with all of His saints with Him, “and the LORD my God shall come, [and] all the saints with thee.”

It is also interesting what we read in Hannah’s prophetic prayer/song regarding Judgment Day in 1Sa 2:10, “The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.” (Please note that the “king” is pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that Jesus is God’s Anointed, but then, in Christ, so too are all of His saints.)

God’s Holy “Angels” Will Be His Elect, His Saints (the Kings and Priests) on Judgment Day

In Matthew 16:27, we read “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels (ἄγγελος (angelos))^G32; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.“; and in Matthew 24:31, “And he shall send his angels (ἄγγελος (angelos))^G32with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”; and Matthew 25:31&32, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels (ἄγγελος (angelos))^G32with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats:“

Note: Jesus makes all believers “kings” and “priests”, as we read in Revelation 1:5&6, “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 hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” This is reiterated in Revelation 5:10, where we see from the preceding verses that Jesus, as the Lamb of God, has redeemed the believers by His shed blood, “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” And we must conclude that God is not referring us to this sin-cursed earth (wherein the believers are merely pilgrims and sojourners), but rather to the “New” Earth to come…“wherein dwelleth righteousness” according to 2 Peter 3:13.

The word translated as “angels” is from the original Greek word, ἄγγελος (angelos)^G32, which means “a messenger”, “envoy”, “one who is sent”, “an angel”, “a messenger from God.” And we know that all of the saints, the believers, are messengers sent by God to evangelize the world.

We see similar wording in Mark 8:38, we read “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels (ἄγγελος (angelos))^G32.“

This is stated again in 1 Thessalonians 3:13, “To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” Also in 1 Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

Daniel 7:22, “Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.“

Psalm 7:6 is particularly noteworthy as it involves the use of both “awake” and “arise” in the same verse, but, most importantly, the words are found within a verse that is entirely focusing on Judgment Day! “Arise,(קוּם (qûm)) ^H6965 O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake (עוּר (ʿûr))^H5782 for me [to] the judgment [that] thou hast commanded.”  which is followed immediately by Psalm 7:7, “So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.“

And although it is easy to see Jesus in the first instance, we can also see how this applies to the saints, Psalm 91:7&8, “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; [but] it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.”

Proverbs 21:15, “[It is] joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction [shall be] to the workers of iniquity.“

Note to the Reader: Such language, while clearly pointing to Judgment Day, can also be viewed as referring to both Jesus’ Atonement on the cross as well as to the entire New Testament era, when the saints go forth, spiritually slaying the wicked with the Word and subduing the Elect with the Gospel. Note also this admonition from God to those appointed to be judges (both to the saints, as well as earthly judges): 2 Chronicles 19:6&7, “And (Jehoshaphat) said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who [is] with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do [it]: for [there is] no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.” However, in our day, the situation is as we read in Romans 3:18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Proverbs 20:10, “Divers weights, [and] divers measures, both of them [are] alike abomination to the LORD.” Corruption, and justice unequally served, are both an abomination to the Lord!

We should also remember how this is entirely consistent what God told His people, National Israel, as a prefigurement of Judgment Day where we read what was written in Deuteronomy 7:2, “And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, [and] utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:“

Finally we read in Matthew 25:31-34, “¶When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels (ἄγγελος (angelos))^G32, hence”messengers”, the “saints”) with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:, And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [his] sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” (Please see also The Great Division)

The Idea of Having “Joy” in Bringing Judgment Unmercifully on the Unsaved is Unsavory to Anyone Still Living

Given that we are all still frail human beings, who are still physically alive in our temporal carnal fleshly bodies, it is extremely difficult for anyone to fathom, and disturbingly hard, even abhorrent, to imagine and/or look forward to, being active participants in the complete destruction of anyone without mercy. In fact, it is the exact opposite of what we are told to do in this life, wherein we are to be obedient to our God as Jesus commanded in Matthew 5:44, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” and in Luke 6:35, “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and [to] the evil.” We need to remember that in this life we are by nature the enemies of God and yet He loved His Elect sheep enough to die and go to Hell for them. But on Judgment Day, at the end of the world, those who were not saved will be reserved for Judgment as we read in Judges 5:31 (and throughout the Book of Revelation), “So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but [let] them that love him [be] as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.“

The Believers Will Be Changed

The stark contrast that exists between these two perspectives is because, on Judgment Day, the saints will have become like Jesus in their new glorified spiritual bodies at the resurrection, and then the saints, “the sons of God”, will see things perfectly as Jesus always has. We know this because of what we find in 1 John 3:2, “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.“

Also, as we saw in Jude14&15, in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10, we read, “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.“

All Things Will Be Made New, and the Former Things Will Not Be Remembered

We are also told by God the following in Revelation 21:4, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. ¶And he 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.“

And Ecclesiastes 1:11, “[There is] no remembrance of former [things]; neither shall there be [any] remembrance of [things] that are to come with [those] that shall come after.“

Bearing in mind what God also says in regards to the wicked who will come under Judgment in Psalm 73:20, “As a dream when [one] awaketh; [so], O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.” And in Job 20:8, “He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.“

An Honor Bestowed By God Upon the Saints

Moreover, as noted above, God makes clear in Psalm 149:9 us that He graciously grants this participation in the Judgment as an “honor” to His Saints. “To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.“

It is also noteworthy how Jesus worded this statement in Matthew 12:42, which referred to the Queen of Sheba (who we read about in 1 Kings 10:1-13), “The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon [is] here.” The Queen of Sheba/queen of the south is an allegorical “Type”, who represents all of the saints/believers throughout time who “shall rise up in the judgment” with Jesus Christ, Who Is The “Greater than Solomon“, on the Last Day, Judgment Day.

Additional corroboration can be found in these prophetic verses, in 1 Corinthians 6:2&3, “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?“ and Revelation 20:4-6, “¶And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection. Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.“

And remember when Jesus spoke to His disciples (who, in effect, represent all believers) in Matthew 19:28, “¶And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.“

Isaiah 32:1, “¶Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.” And we know that Jesus Is The King Who Reigns in Righteousness, and that the believers are the princes.

Malachi 4:2&3, “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do [this], saith the LORD of hosts.“

Please note the harmony that we find with this verse in Romans 16:20, “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you. Amen.”  The word “bruise” in the original Greek is συντρίβω (syntribō)^G4937, meaning “break”, “to break in pieces, shiver” and “to tread down“.

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

2 Chronicles 19:6, “And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who [is] with you in the judgment.“

Psalm 107:42, “The righteous shall see [it], and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.”

Moreover, Psalm 47:3 tells us that, “He shall subdue (דָּבַר (dāḇar))^H1696, the people under us, and the nations under our feet.” The word translated from the original Hebrew into English means “speak” or “declare”, which suggests that God will simply speak into being (by His Word Who is Jesus) the placing of the unsaved under the feet of the children of God, His Saints.

Revelation 14:10, “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he (the devil and the unsaved) shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels (the saints), and in the presence of the Lamb (The Lord Jesus Christ):

And remember what was discussed above earlier regarding the destruction of the Egyptians in the Red Sea in Exodus 14:30, “¶Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore.” Given that we are told that Israelites “saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore“, we have another indication that the believers will be observing the death of the wicked on Judgment Day.

Please also see again 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. ¶For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (not go before) them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.“

Somber Words of Admonition

In Psalm 2:7-12, we read of Jesus coming on Judgment Day, “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou [art] my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give [thee] the heathen [for] thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth [for] thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish [from] the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed [are] all they that put their trust in him.” The Lord Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God and He will destroy the potter’s vessels of dishonor. Please see: “God Is The Potter“.

The “Twoedged Sword” Is a Spiritual Weapon of God’s Judgment

And what is the “twoedged sword”?… It is the Word of God!…and therefore it is a “Spiritual Sword”! The Bible tells us so here 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.” Also in Revelation 1:16 where we read about the twoedged sword coming out of the mouth of Jesus (“the Son of man“), “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.”  Everyone who is unsaved will be judged on the basis of God’s Word, Who is Jesus, and it is the saved believers who are the attendant messengers and witnesses of that Word, both now and forever.  

And most notably, we know from John 12:48 where Jesus said, “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.”

A final reference to a sword out of the Mouth of Jesus can be found in Revelation 19:15&16, “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” While not specifically saying “twoedged”, by implication, it is the same “sharp sword”. Note also the consistency with what God tells us back in Isaiah 49:2, “And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me;” [Please also note the reference to an “arrow” (the polished shaft in the God’s quiver) which is another reference to a weapon of war that God associates with Judgment. This is another study in itself that has been elaborated here: “Lightning, Swords, and Arrows“]

The Word of God (Jesus is both The Word, as well as the Bringer of the Word) is also the Spiritual “Twoedged Sword” by which God will both Judge and Destroy all of the unbelievers on Judgment Day.

But why is the “Word of God” specifically identified with a “twoedged” sword?  It is because the Word of God brings about two different results. The Word of God is a bringer of both life and death, both salvation or condemnation, both “comfort” and “vengeance” (Please see: The Book of Nahum) .  We read in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who [is] sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.“

Conclusion

Judgment Day will be the last event in temporal history when the Lord Jesus Christ will come back in the clouds of Glory to destroy all wickedness, and send all of the unsaved of the world 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.  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.“ And please also note that this is not something that is an isolated verse. Peter is reiterating what can be found in these three verses:

1. Isaiah 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.”
2. Isaiah 65:17, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”
3. Revelation 21:1, “¶And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.“

Barak is an allegorical “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will be the Ultimate Judge at a battle that perfectly typifies the Ultimate Judgment that definitely will come on the Last Day, Judgment Day. 

And in closing, it is obvious to the reader that this post and most of the Bereansearching.com website is dripping with Judgment. This is not be design on the teacher’s part, but simply a recognition of the fact that this is a key message from God from the Bible. Judgment from God for sin is inevitable and unwavering. Either The LORD Jesus Christ was judged for a person’s sins, or that person will be judged and sent to Hell for eternity for his or her sins.  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.”

In 2 Corinthians 5:11, we are admonished, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.”  Given that God has recorded such a clear and unequivocal prophetic warning of the final judgment that is so assuredly coming; it is incumbent on everyone to search his or her own conscience (and heart) and ask himself or herself the big question: Am I ready to meet God?  It is my sincere prayer that whosoever reads this review will undergo that self-examination and be able to answer in the affirmative.  If not, it is still possible to cry out to God for mercy, for it is still the day of salvation.  (Please also remember that Barak was just a pre-figuring “shadow” of Jesus Christ, not the “substance.”  Only through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ is there any hope of salvation. 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.“)

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, dear reader, 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. Judge for yourselves if these things are true or not?

For more on what is meant by “being ready”, please see the “Parable of the Ten Virgins“.

Postscript:

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

Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the] book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.“

Revelation 20:15, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.“

Introduction

Another “Historical Parable” Pointing to the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ to Save His People for Himself

In the “Historical Parable” in 2 Kings, Chapter 4, verses 38-41, we read of the account of Elisha and some poison pottage. During a time of famine in Gilgal, wild gourds (which turned out to be poisonous) were placed in a seething pot for the sons of the prophets to eat, and they cried “Death in the Pot”! However, after Elisha had “meal” cast into the pot, the account ends with this marvelous statement: “And there was no harm in the pot.”

What Are “Historical Parables”?

Historical parables are factual historical events that are found in the Bible, 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:” (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), 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” 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 Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, that truth is not always readily apparent, and can even be deliberately hidden by God to an unbeliever. It will also be hidden to a professing Christian, if the Bible is read by that person in a careless manner, or if such persons are basing their understanding on the wisdom of men rather than the Wisdom of God.

There are many “historical parables” in the Bible, found in both the Old and New Testaments, which can be easily missed in casual reading. This is because the majority of them are veiled in “allegory”. Some of them are more intrinsically obvious than others. Here are just two examples of fairly obvious ones:

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.

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, comparison of scripture with scripture to be understood, in accordance with 1 Corinthians 2:13-14, “which the Holy Ghost teacheth: comparing spiritual things with spiritual“. In all cases, however, a “True” understanding of historical parables is entirely dependent on God Alone, through His Holy Spirit.

It should also be noted that the parables spoken by Jesus are not to be considered the same as “historical” parables, in that Jesus’ parables cannot be related to a specific factual historical account as is recorded in the Bible, but rather were “earthly stories” intended to teach a “Heavenly/spiritual” lessons. See for example The Good Samaritan, the Talents, the Sower. Nonetheless, all parables, whether historical or not, ultimately lead to the same 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 eyes, would 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, 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?“

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

Elisha and the Poison Pottage

In 2 Kings 4:38-41 we read, “¶And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and [there was] a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets [were] sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred [them] into the pot of pottage: for they knew [them] not. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O [thou] man of God, [there is] death in the pot. And they could not eat [thereof]. ¶But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast [it] into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.“

If one looks only at the “plain sense” of this text in only a cursory perusal, the text will provide the reader with a general “feel good” sense that the God of the Bible works miracles through His Prophets. And while there is not question that God, through Elisha, did miraculously heal, or purify, an otherwise poisonous soup by the casting of some “meal” into the pot. But is that all there is to this historical account? Is there something more than just the “plain sense” would indicate? Let us look more closely at the key elements of this short text by comparing scripture with scripture (“spiritual things with spiritual“).

1. Elisha

It is interesting to note that Elisha in Hebrew (אֱלִישָׁע (‘ĕlîšāʿ)) ^H477 means “God Is Salvation”, somewhat similar to Elijah (אֵלִיָּה (‘ēlîyâ))^H452, which means “God of Jehovah”, from whom Elisha received his mantle. More significantly, Though Elisha is clearly differ in its spelling and pronunciation, “Elisha” does effectively have nearly identical meaning as that for “Joshua”, hence “Jesus”, as described below.

2. Gilgal

“Elisha came again to Gilgal.” Clearly Elisha had been there before. We also know that this is the case, as we read a little earlier in 2 Kings 2:1 “¶And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from 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 It is 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).
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 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 symbolized by mankind’s bondage to the devil in Hell (Typified by 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.

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

After once in Deuteronomy 11:30, the very next 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 : ¶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 away the reproach 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.“

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”.

3. Dearth in the Land

2 Kings 4:38 informs that there was a “dearth” in the land. The Hebrew word translated as “dearth” is רָעָב (rāʿāḇ) ^H7458 is most generally translated “famine”, and famine in the Bible is used as a metaphor or allegory for a period in which the Word of God is lacking.

We know this, because we read in Amos 8:11, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine (רָעָב (rāʿāḇ)) ^H7458 in the land, not a famine (רָעָב (rāʿāḇ)) ^H7458 of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:” There, God was warning Israel of the 400-year period during which God did not send any more word to them at all. And it is quite notable that of the 101 times we find this same Hebrew word for “famine” in the Old Testament, this is the very last time and therefore further corroboration of the interpretation.

A dearth in Gilgal thus refers to the period when the true Word of God, the Gospel of Salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ Alone is largely, if not completely, absent from the earthly representation of God’s Kingdom, the corporate church. That was the condition prevailing in Israel when Elisha succeeded Elijah as the prophet of God. It can also be expected to be characteristic of the short end-time period that immediately precedes Judgment Day. For more on the spiritual meaning of a dearth in the land and the end times implications, please see: Famine in the Land

4. The Great Pot

The word “pot” appears five times in these four verses. We are told that it was also a “great”pot. The word translated as “pot” is the original Hebrew word (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518. That Hebrew word is found 34 times in the Old Testament and is translated into English variously as pot (21x), caldron (5x), thorns (4x), washpot (with H7366) (2x), pans (1x).

In Psalm 58:1&2, God is pronouncing judgment on the “wicked congregation” where we read, “¶[[To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David.]] Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.” And then in Psalm 58:9, “Before your pots (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518 can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in [his] wrath.“

God would seem therefore to be referring to a congregation, and in this instance, the congregation of the wicked, and likening the congregations to vessels. In Ecclesiastes 7:6 we also see, “For as the crackling of thorns (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518 under a pot (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518, so [is] the laughter of the fool: this also [is] vanity.” This would seem to indicate that the condemnation is upon the fools who do not see the imminent judgment, they being both the thorns and the pot. In Isa 34:1-15, we see God’s condemnation of apostate Israel, especially in verse 13 associating them with “thorns”, which will be consumed by God’s wrath. “And thorns (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518 shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, [and] a court for owls. (note that the thorns, nettles and brambles remind us of the curse upon Adam in Genesis 3:18, “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;“

In Jeremiah 1:13&14, God refers to Babylon as the “seething pot”, referring to that angry nation, that God was about to use to bring judgment upon Judah. “¶And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518; and the face thereof is toward the north. ¶Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.“

And in Ezekiel 11:1-3, the “cauldron” is again a reference to a pot under judgment. “¶Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD’S house, which looketh eastward:and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. Then said he unto me, Son of man, these [are] the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city: Which say, [It is] not near; let us build houses: this [city is] the caldron (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518, and we [be] the flesh.“

Ezekiel 24:3-14, God declares a parable of judgment against Jerusalem (the day when Babylon attacks it) in which Jerusalem is compared to a seething pot (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518.

Although in both Psalm 60:8 and Psalm 108:9 where we see that the cursed nation of Moab is called a “washpot” by God, “Moab [is] my washpot;” The word translated as “washpot” is the same word in the original Hebrew for “pot” (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518.

Finally, the very last time that the word translated from the original Hebrew as “pot” is found in the Bible is in Zechariah 14:20&21, “¶In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518 in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot (סִיר (sîr)) ^H5518 in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.” These prophetic verses indicate that there will be dedication to God in His Holy Temple involving the pots and a seething sacrifice that ensures a cleansing for the people.

It would therefore seem fair to say that, overall, the “pot” refers to all vessels of humanity, which are, by their nature, cursed and under the judgment of God, like Babylon, especially because of the poisonous cursed ingredients, producing the death in the pot. However, we shall see that the “meal” (actually flour, see below under “Meal”) refers to the foundational element of bread, which we know refers to the Body of Jesus Christ, such that when it is added to the pot, makes the pot free from the curse of sin and death and destruction on the evil day, Judgment Day.

5. Pottage

We soon learn that the “sons of the prophets” were “sitting before” Elisha. Given the context of this historical account and the meaning of the name Elisha being essentially the same as Jesus, that Elisha, much like his predecessor Elijah, is being used by God as a “Type” to represent Jesus. Moreover, the “sons of the prophets” are representative of all of the true believers. They were representative of the children of God sitting before Jesus to seek for spiritual food from Christ, even as Mary (Martha’ sister) sat at Jesus’ feet to listen to Him speak (Luke 10:39).

To underscore this point, let us look at the very last words of Moses before his death in Deuteronomy 33:2&3, “And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand [went] a fiery law for them.  Yea, he loved the people; all his saints [are] in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; [every one] shall receive of thy words.” All the saints are also the sons of the prophets who are sitting at the feet of Jesus for His Words.

Elisha subsequently said to his servant, “Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.” Elisha told his servant to boil some kind of soup, or stew, in a pot (like a kettle/cauldron) for the men to eat. This is representative of how when believers humbly come before God, prayerfully expressing their hunger for His Word, God will see to it that we are spiritually fed from His Word. And that will be the case even when the majority of corporate Christian congregations are beset by a famine of the hearing of the Word.

The believers are assured in Psalm 33:18&19, “Behold, the eye of the LORD [is] upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.”, and in Psalm 37:19, “They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.“

6. The Field Is the World

The word translated as “field” is from the original Hebrew word, שָׂדֶה (śāḏê)^H7704, which is first found in the Bible (where God was cursing Adam for his original sin) in Genesis 3:18, “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field (שָׂדֶה (śāḏê))^H7704;”

In the 2nd Kings chapter 4 account, we read that one of the servants went out to gather herbs, or vegetables, for the soup/stew to seethe in the pot. But that servant went to the wrong place. He went into “the field”, which, according to the Bible, is a picture of “the world” as we are told by Jesus in His explanation of the Parable of the “Wheat and the Tares” (see also the Parable of the Sower).

In Matthew 13:38, Jesus said, “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one];”

And in John 4:35, Jesus said, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and [then] cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” The fields are those parts of the world in which the remnant chosen by grace have been scattered. Hence, He tells us to ask God to send out workers into the harvest field.

But we must remember getting back to the Parable of the Wheat and Tares that the time is growing short because the ultimate Harvest is at the end of the world. In Matthew 13:39 Jesus said, “The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.“

7. Wild Gourds From a Wild Vine

Nevertheless, the sin-cursed world is not the right place to find food for believers. Not surprisingly, therefore, all this servant could gather were wild gourds from a wild vine. The word translated as “wild” in this account is from the original Hebrew word, שָׂדֶה (śāḏê) ^H7704, which is translated as “field” 292 times in the Bible, and only eight times as “wild“. As was noted above, In Matthew 13:38, Jesus said, “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one];”

The “True Vine”, Is Jesus Himself, as we read in John 15:1-8, “¶ I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruitof itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye,except ye abide in me. ¶I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.“

Contrariwise, a wild vine represents something that is sinful, worldly, and naturally opposed to God. Remember the apostle Paul says in Romans 11:24 is addressing the Gentile believers, “For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural [branches], be graffed into their own olive tree?” [Note to the reader: Please also take a closer look at Romans Chapter 11, verses 7 to 36]

Parable of the Vineyard: Another source of “Wild” Fruit

Similarly we read in Isaiah 5:1-7, where God was lamenting over Israel’s failure to bear good fruit despite God’s loving care,

“Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard:I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; [and] break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged;but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.”

It should be noted that the single word translated as “wild grapes” in the original Hebrew is בְּאֻשִׁים (bᵊ’ušîm) ^H891, is only used these two times in the entire Bible. The word actually means, “poisonous berries“, but given the context, it makes sense that they were translated in the King James Bible as “wild grapes”.

This parable is already explained for us by God in the last verse above. Israel and Judah were represented by “the vineyard” and “the vine“, respectively, and they should have brought forth judgment and righteousness, but instead brought forth poison in the form of rebellion, which, according to 1 Samuel 15:23 “For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry.” God makes clear that He will bring judgment upon them for their iniquities.

We should also look at Deuteronomy 32:32&33, where, in the “Song of Moses“, God is condemning
national Israel because they “provoked him to jealousy with strange [gods], with abominations provoked they him to anger.” National Israel was condemned because it was in rebellion against God, “For their vine [is] of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes [are] grapes of gall, their clusters [are] bitter: Their wine [is] the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.“

So we can see that in the time of famine in Gilgal, that there clearly was no shortage of such “wild gourds” or “wild grapes” in the world back in Elisha’s day, and that is still the case in our world today. The lone servant, who went out into the world, was able to gather a lap full (a garment full) of of “wild gourds”. By shredding them into the pot of pottage, he effectively introduced worldly, and therefore unBiblical, ideas into that from which the church would normally, faithfully, feed the flock.

8. Deadly poison (“Death in the Pot!)

“And they knew them not.” When false prophets first begin to infiltrate the various congregations of the corporate church and bring in heresies and false gospels that are injected and mixed into the church’s teaching, the people in the pews will not often realize it. The devil is very cunning. 2 Corinthians 11:14&15 tell us, “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.“

Thankfully, and most mercifully, God protects His own from being snared by such false gospels. Describing believers as His sheep, Jesus says in the Parable of the Good Shepherd in John 10:5 “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers“.

In other words, true believers, having the indwelling Holy Spirit as their Counselor. and Guide, know that and gospel other than that of the Bible will not bring salvation, but rather lead only to eternal death and destruction. Therefore, when “the sons of the prophets” began to eat off the pottage, they cried out, “There is death in the pot!” They realized immediately that there was poison in the food. They had Spiritual Discernment.

9. Meal 

To provide the necessary cure, Elisha asked for “meal” and then cast the meal into the pot. What does that represent?

The Hebrew word translated as “meal” קֶמַח (qemaḥ^) H7058 is sometimes translated in the Bible as “flour”, and in the Books of Exodus 29:2 , Leviticus 2:1 and Numbers 6:15 are typical of many verses where God commands the children of Israel to offer “fine flour” or cakes baked from “fine flour” as offerings. Like the lambs and bulls and grains and other sacrifices offered at the temple, the “meal” is a symbol pointing to the body of the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.

Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the “true bread from heaven” (John 6:32), “the bread of life” (John 6:35). Partaking of the Word of God will keep us from being harmed by any false teaching. Thus, God declares in Mark 16:18, “They (the believers) shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.“

10. No “Harm” in the Pot

This historical account, which is indeed another “historical parable”, ends with this marvelous statement: “And there was no harm in the pot.” It should be noted however that the word “harm”, as is translated into English by the King James translators, is actually derived from two key words in the original Hebrew.

The first word is רַע (raʿ)^H745, means “evil“, and it is the very same Hebrew word that we found all the way back in the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 2:9, “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil (רַע (raʿ)) ^H7451“.

The second word in the original Hebrew is דָּבָר (dāḇār)^H1697, which means “word(s)“. (To see just how important that the word “dabar” is in the Bible, which is translated over 800 times as “word” or “words” (and over 200 times as “thing(s) and over 60 times as “matter”, but sometimes erroneously as is shown in the Appendix Below.)

So then, God is telling us that when it says “no harm”, when we look closely at the original Hebrew, we find that “no harm” is really saying that there are “no evil word(s)” in the pot. Is that not most interesting? Since when do “words” go into a pot? This is why at least one translator (e.g., Young’s Literal Translation) felt compelled to substitute “thing(s)” to say “no evil thing” in the pot, because it would seem, from a human perspective, to better conform to the “plain sense”. However, such a translation effectively nullifies the “spiritual sense”, which God has imbedded in His Word. This is just more evidence of how God has perfectly, magnificently, and supernaturally crafted the historical events of the Bible, and the recording of them, to convey spiritual truth to those to whom God graciously grants the eyes to see and the ears to hear.

And as a result, we can more clearly see how this historical parable is really telling us that, even in a time of famine, the “sons of the prophets” were nonetheless adequately and safely nourished, just as in times of apostasy, the true believing Christians will be spiritually fed with the True Word of God (Jesus Christ) and that there will be no evil, or false, words/gospels to poison them.

Conclusion

The historical account in 2 Kings 4:38-41 is more than just another intriguing miraculous story in the Old Testament. And the truth that it reveals is highly pertinent for anyone who believes that the Bible is God’s Word and that Jesus Christ Is our Only Hope for salvation from sin.

This study provides an allegorical interpretation of the 2 Kings text, and it shows how if we prayerfully read the Bible to search beyond just a surficial level…not stopping at only the “plain sense”, then, by God’s grace, alone, the deep richness and hid treasures of God’s Word can be revealed. Those hid treasures will consistently point us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus’s own exposition of Old Testament Scriptures validate this point, as we find in the account on the Road to Emmaus.  In Luke 24:27, we read of Jesus teaching his disciples, “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Please see this exposition: The-Road-To-Emmaus

We are living in a day when there is indeed a famine in the land, “a dearth in Gilgal”. By and large, the corporate church has ceased to faithfully proclaim the whole counsel of God. The True Gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ Alone, along with the key doctrines from the Bible on which it is based, have become so perverted that most congregations are, for all practical purposes, just playing church with worldly ideas.

For the unsaved, these congregations offer nothing but “death in the pot”. But true believers will not be fooled. It is not that they are any more intelligent than other churchgoers. Rather, God Is Faithful. Jesus Christ has promised that He shall not lose any of the children that the Father has given Him. John 6:39 “This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day.”

Meanwhile, we must sit humbly before God, ever seeking wisdom from His Word. Instead of believing everything we hear from the pulpit, or, nowadays, whatever we can find by searching the world wide internet for what man’s wisdom teaches, we must instead strictly rely on the Bible itself to bring us truth (and be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11,”These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.“)

Please remember what we read in 1 Corinthians 2:13, “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.“

By the grace of God, thankfully, the believers will then be well equipped by God to go through any time of great apostasy, and we can confidently hope to see Jesus face to face immediately upon death, or on Judgment Day, whichever comes first.

NOTE to the Reader: The above exposition expands upon a study previously published by Jesse Gistand in 1992.

APPENDIX: Jesus is the Personification of The Word

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 as it reads in the original Hebrew using an Interlinear Bible or Online cross-reference like this: http://biblehub.com/text/proverbs/25-2.htm, we find that it can also 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. Remember what we are told in Acts 10:43, “To him (Jesus) give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” And let us not forget what Jesus said in John 5:39: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me“

“Dāḇār” is also found in other key verses:

• Note what is found in Proverbs 16:20 where the King James Version translation reads, “He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good:…” but in the original Hebrew it reads, “He who wisely understands or heeds unto the word (דָּבָר (dāḇār))^H1697 shall find good…” 
• And in Psalm 56:10 we read (as also translated in the King James Version), “In God will I praise his word (דָּבָ֑ר (“dabar”))^H1697: in the Lord will I praise his word (דָּבָר (dāḇār))^H1697.” 
• And in Psalm 33:6 we read, “By the word (דָּבָר (dāḇār)) of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” 
• And in Psalm 145:5, “I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works (actually “words” (דָּבָר (dāḇār))^H1697 in the original Hebrew).“

And to make the connection between Jesus (the Son of God) and the Word as unmistakable as possible, we read in 1 John 5:7, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.

POSTSCRIPT: Another “Historical Parable” Follows Immediately Afterward

The last three verses of 2 Kings, Chapter 4, provide us with another “historical parable”. Once again it has to do with food and feeding the people while being overseen by the “man of God”, Elisha, who serves here as a “Type” of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the man came with food offerings to Elisha from “Baalshalisha” which means “thrice-great lord” and is a place in Ephraim near Gilgal.

In 2 Kings 4:42-44 we read, “¶And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. ¶And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave [thereof]. So he set [it]  before them, and they did eat, and left [thereof], according to the word of the LORD.“

So then, right after the feeding of the sons of the prophets, we find more sustenance being multiplied and enough to feed 100 men with leftovers afterward. This is quite similar to what we read in Matthew 14:13–21; and Matthew 15:32–39  where Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes. This is a word portrait showing the Gospel being multiplied to feed the people unto salvation.

Introduction

The Biblical account that we find in Numbers 21:4-9 of the brazen serpent lifted up on a pole, is a somewhat bizarre and unexpected one when viewed initially from a Christian perspective. However, this historical account forms another “historical parable“, which clearly points us to the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we can rest assured of the correctness of that interpretation, not because it is a generally accepted understanding by Christian theologians and academics (which it is), but rather because God provides that correlation “plainly” to us later in the New Testament as is stated by Jesus in the Book of John.

The Brass (Brasen) Serpent

The first time we read about the “serpent of brass” is in Numbers 21:4-9. There, speaking of the children of Israel with Moses in the wilderness, we read, “¶And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for [there is] no bread, neither [is there any] water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents (שָׂרָף (śārāp̄))^H8314  among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. ¶Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš)) ^H5175 from us. And Moses prayed for the people. ¶And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent (שָׂרָף (śārāp̄))^H8314, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš)) ^H5175 of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš)) ^H5175 had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš)) ^H5175 of brass, he lived.“

The children of Israel spoke against God and Moses (Moses is a “Type” for the Law of God) and complained about the manna from Heaven [Numbers 21:5 tells us that their “soul” “loatheth” that “light bread” (manna), and remember Jesus identified Himself as the Manna from Heaven in John 6:41-58].

Revelation 2:17 also tells us, “¶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].

So then, the children of Israel were, in effect, loathing Jesus and His Atoning Sacrifice, and we immediately see what happened next…

“Fiery”

Therefore, God brought judgment upon them in the form of “fiery serpents” (שָׂרָף (śārāp̄))^H8314 and people were bitten and died. This showed the children of Israel that they were the ones in sin, and they then came to Moses to confess that sin and ask for God’s mercy. When Moses prayed for the people, God instructed Moses to make a brass serpent, and to put it upon a pole, so that the people could be healed from the bites of the serpents by beholding, or looking upon, the brass serpent. There was no other way by which God would heal them from the deadly poison from the fiery serpents.

We must remember as it is stated in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” and as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” and also 1 John 3:5, “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.“

We should also note the other places that the word “fiery” or “fire” (אֵשׁ (‘ēš)) ^H784 or “flame” (לָהַט (lāhaṭ)) ^H3857 can be found in the Bible, as they always are used by God in the Bible to denote “Judgment“.

Psalm 104:4 makes clear that that “O LORD my God” is the One, “Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming (לָהַט (lāhaṭ)) ^H3857 fire (אֵשׁ (‘ēš)) ^H784:“

God refers back to Psalm 104 in Hebrews 1:7 “And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame (φλόξ (phlox)) ^G5395 of fire (πῦρ (pyr)). ^G4442.”

In Daniel 7:9-14, where we see the foreshadowing account of Judgment Day, “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery (נוּר (nûr)) ^H5135 flame, and his wheels as burning fire (נוּר (nûr)) ^H5135.  A fiery (נוּר (nûr)) ^H5135 stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” The Ancient of Days would have to be God The Father, while the Son of man is clearly Jesus Christ.

The last words of Moses before his death in Deuteronomy 33:2&3, “And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand [went] a fiery (אֵשׁ (‘ēš)) ^H784 law for them.  Yea, he loved the people; all his saints [are] in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; [every one] shall receive of thy words.“

Moreover, the words “flame/flaming” and “sword” are used together almost as bookends in the Bible being present in both Genesis and Revelation (but interwoven throughout all of the Bible).

Regarding Adam and Eve after having been driven out of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:24 we read, “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming (לָהַט (lāhaṭ)) ^H3857 sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

Then in Revelation 1:14-16, which is speaking of Jesus, “His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame (φλόξ (phlox)) ^G5395 of fire (πῦρ (pyr)). ^G4442; 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 two edged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength.”

“Serpent“

Upon seeing the word “serpent”, a believing Christian (even one having only a minimum of Biblical understanding today) would immediately think first the serpent being related to the devil (who precipitated the Sin and Fall of Adam). This is because the first use of the word in the Bible is in found in Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš)) ^H5175 was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.”  Then, reading on, we find in Genesis 3:2-6, “¶And the woman said unto the serpent (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš)) ^H5175, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. ¶ And the serpent (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš)) ^H5175 said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.¶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” And we all know what happened next. Sin entered into the world and the whole of creation came under the curse of sin and death.

We can see therefore how this would be perplexing to a Christian. How could God use a symbol, that is Biblically associated with the devil and, therefore, the sin that followed, to be something that could be used in any way to heal someone? It is naturally quite counter-intuitive to a Christian.

However, the solution to this conundrum is found in the following “typologies” (And, again, God provides the corroborative proof of these typologies/allegories to show that this historical account is also an “historical parable”):

“Brass”

The use of the words in the original Hebrew for brass (or brasen) comes from the word: (נְחשֶׁת (nᵊḥš))^H5178 that is translated 103 times in the King James Version as “brass“, and never “bronze” as is the case in most modern day translations.

This teacher finds it rather odd that the modern translators, those who reject the King James Version reading of “brass” (נְחשֶׁת (nᵊḥš))^H5178 that is translated 103 times in the KJV as “brass” and never “bronze”, have consistently substituted the word “bronze”. This is odd because we know from the New Testament that Jesus is intimately identified with “fine brass” (polished or shiny, and not dull like bronze) as we find in Revelation 1:15, “And his feet like unto fine brass (χαλκολίβανον (chalkolibanon)) ^G5474 as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.” and Revelation 2:18 “And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet [are] like fine brass; (χαλκολίβανον (chalkolibanon)) ^G5474

And please note how this is perfectly borne out in Daniel 10:6, “His body also [was] like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished (קָלָל (qālāl))^H7044 brass (נְחשֶׁת (nᵊḥš))^H5178 , and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.” (and note that the original Hebrew word for ‘polished’ has also be interpreted as “burnished” in Ezekiel 1:7, which also describes the “brass” (נְחשֶׁת (nᵊḥš))^H5178 feet of a spiritual representation for Jesus.)

The words “fine brass” refer to a purification by fire. The unmistakeable point being that the Lord Jesus Christ, The “Son of God”, who is pictured in Revelation as having feet that are of “fine brass” as if they “burned in a furnace“, and in Daniel as having feet as “polished (burnished) brass” is to remind us of Jesus’ Sacrifice and His having had to endure the purifying Judgmental flames and fires of Hell for His Elect, the Believers.

And it should be remembered that, according to Exodus 38:1-8, everything having to do with the “altar of burnt offering” was either overlain with, or made of, brass, which again points to Jesus as being the burnt offering for the sins of His elect and having had to endure the fires of Hell to Atone for those sins.

Remember the Fiery Furnace account, where Jesus was there to endure the flames on behalf of the three others in that fiery furnace heated “seven times hotter“.

We are thus assured that the meaning of the Hebrew word in the Old Testament (which is correctly translated as “brass” by the King James Translators) and of the Greek of the New Testament, where it is translated as “fine brass“, is to inform us that the featured associated object in focus, 1) the serpent on the pole in Numbers, and 2) Jesus Christ in Revelation, are both spiritually being pictured as having come under, and through, the Judgmental fires of Hell.

Jesus Identifies Himself with the Brass Serpent Pointing to His Death and Atoning Sacrifice: Jesus Had To Be Lifted Up on the Cross.

Earlier it was stated that the typology/allegory of the brass serpent being representative of the Lord Jesus Christ was made manifest by God Himself. Here are the proof texts.

In John 3:12-15 Jesus said, “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you [of] heavenly things?And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Note that the very next verse is the well known John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him  should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Which is followed by John 3:17, “For God sent not his Son into the world to  condemn the world; but that the world through  him might be saved.“

Additional clarity on the point and the meaning of being lifted up is explained in John 12:27-33, ” ¶Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father,save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice fromheaven, [saying], I have both glorified [it], and will glorify [it] again.The people therefore, that stood by, and heard [it], said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.¶Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all [men] unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.“

John 8:28 also tells us, “¶Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am [he], and [that] I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.“

Looking Unto Jesus

We are told in Hebrews 12:2 how the believer should be “looking”. We are to be “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.“

We must be like the certain Greeks in John 12:21, “The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.“!

Finally, remember what we read in Galatians 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Jesus became a curse, just as God cursed the devil (the serpent) in Genesis 3:14 “¶And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:”

And let us not forget the clearly Messianic verse, Zechariah 12:10 “¶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.“

And to show that there is no difference between the serpent and the devil that was cursed in Genesis 3, we read in Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

So the conclusion of the matter is that either Jesus bore the shame and punishment and became cursed (like a serpent) and paid the full penalty for a person’s sins (by going to Hell as indicated by the brass) or that person will be cursed like the devil and be sent to Hell instead.

The Idolatry of the Brass Serpent (Nehushtan)

The word Nehushtan (נְחֻשְׁתָּן (nᵊḥuštān))^H5180 occurs one time in the Bible, in 2 Kings 18:4-6, where king Hezekiah removed all the idols, because “He trusted in the LORD God of Israel“… “He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen (נְחשֶׁת (nᵊḥš))^H5178 serpent (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš)) ^H5175 that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor [any] that were before him. For he clave to the LORD, [and] departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses.” (NOTE that “clave” is like that in a marriage as is found in Genesis 2:24)

While it might be understandable how such an item that brought miraculous healing could become an object of idolatrous worship (hence the burning of incense to it), it was still blatant disobedience to God’s commands (Exodus 20:4&5) The brass serpent was God’s method of deliverance only during the account recorded in Numbers 21. There is no indication that God ever intended for the brass serpent to ever be used again. The message is that we must never worship the tools, or the people, God chooses to use, but to always and only bring the honor and glory to God Alone.

Interestingly, the word Nehushtan appears to simply mean “thing of brass.” Perhaps it was named “Nehushtan” to remind people that it was only a simple thing/piece of brass and nothing more. The brass serpent had no intrinsic value or power in and of itself. Moreover, even during the Numbers 21 account, it was Only God who healed the people from the bites of the fire serpents, NOT that “thing of brass“.

And to wrap up this issue, let us remember what we find in Romans 1:21-25, “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.“

The “Fiery Serpent” is a Tool That God Uses to Mete Out Judgment

In Isaiah 14:29, we read after God condemns king Nebuchadnezzar (who represents the devil, who was used by God to bring judgment on Judah) in Isaiah 14:12-23 and Assyria (led by king Sennacherib) who was used by God to bring Judgment on the majority of Judah, “Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice (“hissing tongued viper”), and his fruit [shall be] a fiery (שָׂרָף (śārāp̄))^H8314 flying serpent (שָׂרָף (śārāp̄))^H8314.“

This verse is apparently telling us that “Palestina” (which would seem to represent the whole Gentile world at large) had God’s “rod” broken (much like the “hammer” and “axe“, that were previously tools of God’s judgment also broken). Nonetheless, a time of Judgment was still coming, when God would bring again a “fiery flying serpent”, like those that bit the people in the wilderness of Moses’ day, upon the entire earth. This is more clearly foretold in Revelation 20:3 and Revelation 20:7. There are many reasons to believe that this may now b the case for the world today in 2023.

An Admonition to the Christian to Not “Tempt” God

The Apostle Paul wrote in the tenth chapter of 1 Corinthians several warnings to the church of Corinth which applies to all believers everywhere today. Among them we find 1 Corinthians 10:9, “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.” This of course is referring to the the events leading up to the lifting up of the brazen serpent on the pole described in this exposition because the people “spake against God“. That is meant in saying that they “tempted” God. We must not speak against, or lose faith in, Jesus, as He Alone Is our source of life.

The word “tempt” hearkens back to what we find in two places in the Old Testament: Exodus 17:7, “And he called the name of the place Massah (מַסָּה (massâ))^H4532 and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not? and Deuteronomy 6:16, “Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted [him] in Massah (מַסָּה (massâ))^H4532

The original Hebrew word that we read translated in English as Massah actually means “Temptation“. And Meribah means “strife” or “contention”, which is fitting given that Exodus 17:7 was when the people murmured against God for lack of water and Moses struck the rock to bring forth water (which is another historical parable in that the Law (represented by Moses) struck Jesus, who is our Rock of Salvation, and from Jesus flows rivers of Living Water.)

Conclusion

The “serpent of brass” (“Nehushtan“) is another one of God’s magnificently crafted “historical parables”, which, through allegory, give us greater insight on Who God Is, and how He Wrought Salvation through the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ Alone. Just as anyone who was bitten by a fiery serpent (a tool of God’s judgment, like the cursed devil) in Moses’ day could be healed by simply looking unto the brass/brasen serpent that Moses lifted up, so also can anyone look to Jesus Christ (Who was “lifted up” on the cross as the only Atonement for sin and “being made a curse for us“) to be spiritually healed and eternally saved. In order to avoid the fiery Judgment flames of Hell, The Lord Jesus Christ must have had to endure the fiery flames of Hell on behalf of everyone who believes on Him and looks to Him Alone.

The subsequent account of king Hezekiah, who destroyed the brass serpent (“Nehushtan” in 2 Kings), also serves as a powerful reminder to everyone that any earthly or carnal thing (even something or someone that at one time was used by God for our good) can become an idol. The worship of such an idol is not only blatant disobedience to God, it can never be a substitute for the worship of the True Eternal God. Our praise, worship, and adoration must be directed to God alone. Only The Lord Jesus Christ Alone, because of His Eternal Atoning Sacrifice for sin by enduring the fiery flames of Hell, can heal our sin sick souls and mercifully grant us eternal life.

Introduction

The Biblical historical account of Daniel in the Lion’s Den is often dismissed by the world at large to be just another fantastic story that could never really have taken place.  They similarly ascribe the label “fantasy” to the Book of Jonah or to Daniel’s Fiery Furnace.  It could even have been said by some skeptics that Daniel in the Lion’s den is nothing more than a children’s story, not unlike Aesop’s fable, “Androcles and the Lion”

Is that the case?  Absolutely NOT!

But it is another “Historical Parable” in the Bible that God crafted for our edification and pointing us to Jesus!

The Context

Daniel Chapter 1

The Book of Daniel begins by telling us about Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah having been taken captive into Babylon by king Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 1:1 &2 “¶In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.”

Then in the next two verses, Daniel 1:3&4, we read, “¶And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring [certain] of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as [had] ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.” Daniel was the first named among the four male Jews specifically identified  in chapter 1.

Then we read a bit further in verse Daniel 1:9, “Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.” And the “master” (also interpreted in other verses as “great”) of the Eunuchs was named Ashpenaz (אַשְׁפְּנַז (‘ašpᵊnaz)) ^H828 , and that name appears only once in the whole Bible) which one concordance states to mean, “I will make prominent the sprinkled“.  IF that is indeed the case, it would make perfect sense from a spiritual perspective. This is because it reminds of the care of the Holy Spirit for God’s beloved (as we saw with regard to two other eunuchs in the Book of Esther (Hegai and Hatach) who were clearly “Types”spiritually representing the Holy Spirit) and that regarding God’s Beloved, His Church, God states in Ezekiel 36:25, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.”

Reading through the rest of the first chapter of Daniel, we see that Daniel is recognized and was indeed well favored. After Daniel requested to abstain from daily eating the king’s meat and drinking the king’s wine in order to not become defiled, the prince (also “chief” or “captain”) of the eunuchs named Melzer (מֶלְצַר (melṣar)) ^H4453 (meaning “guardian” or “prefect of the treasury”) granted the request and instead provided “pulse” (evidently meaning sown vegetables) to eat and water to drink to both Daniel and his three companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (whose names were changed to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego). Then later when they were all four brought before king Nebuchadnezzar, we read in Daniel 1:20, “And in all matters of wisdom [and] understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians [and] astrologers that [were] in all his realm.” The last verse, Daniel 1:21, tells us, “And Daniel continued [even] unto the first year of king Cyrus.”

Daniel was chosen to serve in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar and, under God’s blessing, proved himself to be a wise counselor to the king, even rising above the king’s Babylonian advisors. This created jealousy against Daniel. In this foreign country of Babylon, people did not worship the one true God. Even in the midst of false worship and persecution, Daniel remained faithful to the true God and continued to pray and worship Him alone.

Daniel Chapter 2

Daniel is Promoted

King Nebuchadnezzar had his first dream that troubled him greatly, but he could not remember the dream, but nonetheless expected that “the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans” to both recount the dream and give the interpretation of it. When none of them could determine the dream or the interpretation thereof, the king ordered that all such wise men in the kingdom (which evidently included Daniel and his three companions) would be slain.  Then we read in Daniel 2:14&15 “Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch (אַרְיוֹךְ (‘aryôḵ))^H746 the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise [men] of Babylon. He answered and said to Arioch (אַרְיוֹךְ (‘aryôḵ)) ^H746 the king’s captain,Why [is] the decree [so] hasty from the king? Then Arioch (אַרְיוֹךְ (‘aryôḵ))^H746 made the thing known to Daniel.”

Note: Arioch (אַרְיוֹךְ (‘aryôḵ))^H746 means “lion-like”, and it is also the name of an earlier Babylonian king mentioned in Genesis 14:1&9

The Secret is Revealed by God to Daniel

Daniel 2:16-19,”Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise [men] of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.”

We later read in Daniel chapter 2, after Daniel was the only person capable of interpreting a dream of king Nebuchadnezzar, by God’s mercy alone, because it is Only “God in heaven that revealeth secrets” (Daniel 2:27 “¶Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise [men], the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visionsof thy head upon thy bed, are these;“

It was not by Daniel’s own intellect or any other man

The king then promoted Daniel as we read in Daniel 2:46-49, “¶Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth [it is], that your God [is] a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise [men] of Babylon. Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel [sat] in the gate of the king.”  Remember that Boaz in the Book of Ruth and Mordecai in the Book of Esther both also “sat in the gate” and they were both allegorical “Types”, who spiritually represented the Lord Jesus Christ.

We should also remember what we are told in Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret [things] belong unto the LORD our God: but those [things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for ever, that [we] may do all the words of this law.” and Psalm 25:14, “The secret of the LORD [is] with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.“

Daniel Chapter 4

Note that we see a repetition of some of the events and declarations from Chapter 2 are also in Chapter 4. In Daniel Chapter 4 we see that king Nebuchadnezzar has another dream, this time involving a great tree that is cut down and only a stump remains.  Daniel is able once again interpret the dream when no other man can. First is the request by the king to Daniel (Belteshazzar) in Daniel 4:9 “O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods [is] in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.  Then, after hearing Nebuchadnezzar describe his dream (unlike the earlier dream of the statue), Daniel ended his interpretation with the admonition in Daniel 4:27 “Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.”  Daniel was allegorically saying that the king needed to repent and turn away from his sins and show mercy to others, just as all believers do, and then to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the “poor” (unsaved) of the world that they might have salvation and eternal life.

After enduring God’s condemnation for his (King Nebuchadnezzar’s) pride, the king’s final words in the Bible are at the end of Chapter 4, in Daniel 4:37, “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” (See for example: Psalm 75:7 “But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.“)

Daniel Chapter 5

King Nebuchadnezzar had evidently died shortly after the end of Chapter 4, because we next read in Chapter 5 that king Nebuchadnezzar’s son, Belshazzar, is now king (who allegorically was represented by the remaining stump of the hewn down tree in Chapter 4). Daniel 5:1  tells us that this son, Belshazzar, held a great feast,  “¶Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.” and moreover in Daniel 5:3m, we read that he used the golden and silver vessels from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to drink from, “Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which [was] in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.”

As a result God sent a vision of a hand, writing on a palace wall, which writing required interpretation as we read in Daniel 5:5-10.

Then the queen told  king Belshazzar, that there was a man who could explain the meaning in Daniel 5:11 “There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom [is] the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I [say], thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, [and] soothsayers; Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.“

Then the king summoned Daniel and said in Daniel 5:14-16, “I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods [is] in thee, and [that] light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in theeAnd now the wise [men], the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing: And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and [have] a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

Daniel told king Belshazzar, Daniel 5:2 “But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know:and the God in whose hand thy breath [is], and whose [are] all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:

The meaning of the handwriting on the wall was interpreted to mean that the kingdom would be taken from Belshazzar, and, moreover, that the kingdom would be divided among the Medes and Persians.  That very night king Belshazzar was slain, and his kingdom came under the authority of King Cyrus of Media, as we read in the last verse of Daniel, Daniel 5:31 “And Darius the Median took the kingdom, [being] about threescore and two years old.”

Daniel Chapter 6: Daniel in the Lions’ Den

In Daniel 6:1&2, we read that King Darius established his kingdom and those to whom he delegated lesser authority to princes and presidents, which included Daniel. ¶It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel [was] first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.“

But there arose a conspiracy of jealousy against Daniel (being from Judah and neither a Mede or Babylonian) in Daniel 6:3-5, to wit, “Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he [was] faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find [it] against him concerning the law of his God.”

They conspirators went to the king to lay a trap for Daniel by asking the king to make a decree (that could not be annulled or changed, Daniel 6:15), whereby Daniel, because he was found being obedient to God in prayer, would be cast into a lion’s den. King Darius was not aware of the intent of the conspirators, or he evidently would not have agreed to such a decree. Nonetheless, upon finding out that Daniel would have to be thrown into the lion’s den, we read the following in Daniel 6:16, “¶Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel,and cast [him] into the den of lions. [Now] the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.“

Then king Darius “passed the night fasting,” and had no sleep, and he “arose early in the morning” to the lion’s den as we read in Daniel 6:18-20, and then, “And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: [and] the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?” To which Daniel replied, “Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.”

Daniel 6:22 “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” “Innocency” (זָכוּ (zāḵû)) ^H213 is from the Hebrew and is used only once in the whole Bible. before God…Here Daniel is clearly a “Type” to represent Jesus Christ, but also all believers in Christ.

We should note that while Daniel is an allegorical Type for the Lord Jesus Christ in this account, Daniel was still a man placed in this difficult temporal account.  It is similar to what happened to the three of Daniel’s companions who were thrown into the Fiery Furnace in Chapter 3. There we saw how Jesus was literally present with them, keeping them all safe, and here in the Lions’ Den we hear that God sent His Angel (Messenger), Who we must assume is also pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ.

God Is the One Who Stops the Mouths of Lions

Psalm 22:21,“Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns”.

In Hebrews 11:33 we read of the great men of faith,“Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,”

Ezekiel 22:25, [There is] a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

1 Peter 5:8,“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”  Resist him in faith.

Daniel “Trusted in his God”. Daniel “Believed.” Even if we are faithless, God is faithful 2 Timothy 2:13, “If we believe not, [yet] he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.“

1 Corinthians 1:4-9 “¶I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and [in]  all knowledge;Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:Who shall also confirm you unto the end, [that ye may be] blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”

A Stone Covered the Entrance to the Lions’ Den With Daniel Inside

Second Kings 24:8 declares, “Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he began to reign,” while 2 Chronicles 36:9 says, “Jehoiachin was 8 years old when he began to reign.” Skeptics and critics are quick to use this apparent contradiction as clear evidence of an error in the Bible. Those who hold to the inerrancy of the Bible vehemently disagree with the conclusion that the Bible is in error. So, why do these two verses have different numbers for Jehoiachin’s age, and which verse is correct?

The best explanation in regards to the apparent discrepancy in Jehoiachin’s age in 2 Kings 24:8 and 2 Chronicles 36:9 is that 2 Chronicles records Jehoiachin’s age when he was appointed co-regent with his father, and 2 Kings records Jehoiachin’s age when, after his father’s death, he became king in his own right. Other kings also used co-regents. David appointed Solomon king while David was still alive (1 Kings 1:33-40), and, when Uzziah was afflicted with leprosy, his son Jotham became co-regent (2 Chronicles 26:21). While there is no specific mention of a co-regency in regards to Jehoiachin, this is a plausible explanation for the difference between 2 Kings 24:8 and 2 Chronicles 36:9.

God’s Word is infallible.  The key for me has always been that such “apparent contradictions” can usually be explained with some study.  In this case, the most likely being that God is telling us that there was a ten-year period of a co-regency.  Especially given that when Jehoiachin was captured in 2 Kings along with his wives it says that he was 18, while the wives were not mentioned in 2 Chronicles which says he was 8 when he began to reign…which can only be reconciled as a co-regency at 8, then the father died when he was 18, then Jehoiachin ruled for ~3 months, was then captured and taken into captivity in Babylon. 

Second Kings 24:8 declares, “Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he began to reign,” while 2 Chronicles 36:9 says, “Jehoiachin was 8 years old when he began to reign.” Skeptics and critics are quick to use this apparent contradiction as clear evidence of an error in the Bible. Those who hold to the inerrancy of the Bible vehemently disagree with the conclusion that the Bible is in error. So, why do these two verses have different numbers for Jehoiachin’s age, and which verse is correct?

The best explanation in regards to the apparent discrepancy in Jehoiachin’s age in 2 Kings 24:8 and 2 Chronicles 36:9 is that 2 Chronicles records Jehoiachin’s age when he was appointed co-regent with his father, and 2 Kings records Jehoiachin’s age when, after his father’s death, he became king in his own right. Other kings also used co-regents. David appointed Solomon king while David was still alive (1 Kings 1:33-40), and, when Uzziah was afflicted with leprosy, his son Jotham became co-regent (2 Chronicles 26:21). While there is no specific mention of a co-regency in regards to Jehoiachin, this is a plausible explanation for the difference between 2 Kings 24:8 and 2 Chronicles 36:9.

God’s Word is infallible.  The key for me has always been that such “apparent contradictions” can usually be explained with some study.  In this case, the most likely being that God is telling us that there was a ten-year period of a co-regency.  Especially given that when Jehoiachin was captured in 2 Kings along with his wives it says that he was 18, while the wives were not mentioned in 2 Chronicles which says he was 8 when he began to reign…which can only be reconciled as a co-regency at 8, then the father died when he was 18, then Jehoiachin ruled for ~3 months, was then captured and taken into captivity in Babylon. 

The co-regency makes particular sense as Jehoiakim (Jehoiachin’s father) would’ve likely appointed his son as co-regent in the event that he, Jehoiakim (Jehoiachin’s father), would be captured and killed, because Jerusalem was under threat for two reasons:

1)Jehoiakim had rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar after serving Nebuchadnezzar for three years (2 Kings 24:1) and then was besieged by four nations sent by God, and

2) given that Egypt’s land around Jerusalem had been captured by the Babylonians (2 Kings 24:7 ), and it would have appeared (correctly) that Jerusalem was also soon to be overrun by the Babylonians. 

Another reason that it makes sense for Jehoiakim to have established his son, Jehoiachin (who is also known elsewhere in the Bible as Coniah), as a co-regent is because Jeremiah pronounced a curse upon King Jehoiakim by saying there would never be a descendant of Jehoiakim to sit on David’s throne (which typologically made clear that no apostate evil king would sit on Christ’s throne). Jehoiakim , being an evil king, would have thought that he could defeat that pronouncement by making his son a co-regent, but while Jehoiakim  may have temporarily done that via a co-regency and his son did reign for ~ 3 months, his descendents did not lead  to Christ (Jesus descended  through David’s son Nathan via Mary).

We see this in Jeremiah 22:24– Jeremiah 22:30 which finishes by saying, “Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man [that] shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” And we also know that subsequently the pronouncement was  ultimately fulfilled ,temporally, when we read in Jeremiah 37:1 “And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.”

Nonetheless, Jehoiachin was not killed in Babylon, he died naturally, as we read in Jeremiah 52:31– Jeremiah 52:34

We must remember what God tells us in 1Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”



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The co-regency makes particular sense as Jehoiakim (Jehoiachin’s father) would’ve likely appointed his son as co-regent in the event that he, Jehoiakim (Jehoiachin’s father), would be captured and killed, because Jerusalem was under threat for two reasons, 1)Jehoiakim had rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar after serving Nebuchadnezzar for three years (2 Kings 24:1) and then was besieged by four nations sent by God, and 2) given that Egypt’s land around Jerusalem had been captured by the Babylonians ( Kings 24:7), and it would have appeared (correctly) that Jerusalem was also soon to be overrun by the Babylonians. 

Another reason that it makes sense for Jehoiakim to have established his son, Jehoiachin (who is also known elsewhere in the Bible as Coniah), as a co-regent is because Jeremiah pronounced a curse upon King Jehoiakim by saying there would never be a descendant of Jehoiakim to sit on David’s throne (which typologically made clear that no apostate evil king would sit on Christ’s throne). Jehoiakim , being an evil king, would have thought that he could defeat that pronouncement by making his son a co-regent, but while Jehoiakim  may have temporarily done that via a co-regency and his son did reign for ~ 3 months, his descendents did not lead  to Christ (Jesus descended  through David’s son Nathan via Mary).

We see this in Jeremiah 22:24– Jeremiah 22:30 which finishes by saying, “Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man [that] shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” And we also know that subsequently the pronouncement was  ultimately fulfilled ,temporally ,when we read in Jeremiah 37:1 “And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.”

Nonetheless, Jehoiachin was not killed in Babylon, he died naturally, as we read in Jeremiah 52:31– Jeremiah 52:34

Remember this, in 1Corinthians 14:33

“For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”