Bereansearching Bible Studies

Introduction

In the Book of Job, chapter 40, God dedicates the last ten verses of the chapter to provide His description of a very large and fearsome land dwelling creature, which is called “behemoth”, leaving one to wonder what is the point of that? Was it simply to provide an example of God’s great might and superior creative power whereby Job would thus be diminished by comparison? Or is there something else…beyond the physical…which could easily be overlooked when understanding the Bible only from a literal, grammatical, and historical perspective?

This study will show that there is, indeed, far more than just meets the “physical” eye as viewed from only a human perspective, if God is so pleased to allow one to see from a “spiritual” perspective, having blessed him or her with “Spiritual Ears and Spiritual Eyes“. God also specifies 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.” The means of comparing spiritual things with spiritual is by carefully comparing of scripture with scripture, searching out the words for their original Hebrew meanings, because all Biblical scripture is spiritual, precisely as we are told in 2 Peter 1:21, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.“

Spiritual Perspective: This study will show that God provided to Job (and us) with a spiritual allegorical portrait of the great adversary of God and all mankind, the Devil/Satan.

Dear reader, please read on to see the explanation of this otherwise hidden spiritual truth.

Before reading further, this teacher would like the reader to understand what is a “parable” and how and why Jesus ALWAYS employed parables when speaking to the multitudes. Moreover, the purpose of “parables” (often referred to as “earthly stories with heavenly meanings”) has everything to do with God’s Magnificent Plan of Salvation. Therefore, the Bible should NEVER be assumed to be read and understood from a purely superficial, earthly, perspective.

Verse by Verse, Hebraic Word Study of Job 40:15-24

Beginning in Job 40:15, when God was speaking to Job out of a “whirlwind“, we are first introduced to an unusually large and strong creature whom God describes as the “behemoth“, saying:

1) Job 40:15, “Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass (חָצִיר (ḥāṣîr))^H2682 as an ox.”

So then the behemoth, which in the original Hebrew is בַּהֲמוֹת (bahămôṯ)^H930 (a masculine noun that is found only once in the whole Bible), is another “creature”, just like Job, a man, who only God, Alone, could make. The Behemoth was also evidently created at about the same time. Note that the behemoth is described as being a vegetarian because he eats “grass” like an ox (and hence not a carnivore, at least it appears to be the case until we look more closely at this verse).

But what does God have to say about “grass” in the Bible? One thing that we are told in both the Old and New Testaments is that, from a spiritual perspective, mankind can be likened to grass as we read in Psalm 103:15&16, “[As for] man, his days [are] as grass (חָצִיר (ḥāṣîr))^H2682: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.” and 1 Peter 1:24, “For all flesh [is] as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower  thereof falleth away:“

Spiritual Perspective: So, oddly enough, it would seem that the behemoth could be “spiritually” viewed as capable of eating people? It is therefore worth remembering what we are told in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:“

* Interestingly, the Hebrew word for “behemoth” is closely associated with another Hebrew word, בְּהֵמָה (bᵊhēmâ)^H929, which is found nearly 200 times in the Bible, interpreted as either beast (136x), cattle (53x). And it should be particularly noted what we are told in Genesis 3:14&15, when God cursed the devil, “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle (בְּהֵמָה (bᵊhēmâ))^H929 and above every beast (חַי (ḥay))^H2416of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” [NOTE: The word that is translated as “beast”, חַי (ḥay)^H2416, is translated elsewhere in the Old Testament variously as live (197x), life (144x), beast (76x), alive (31x), creature (15x),running (7x), living thing (6x), raw (6x), miscellaneous (19x). Therefore, from a spiritual standpoint, it could be interpreted to mean “all living creatures”.]

2) Job 40:16, we read, “Lo now, his strength [is] in his loins, and his force [is] in the navel of his belly.”

Each word has various alternative ways of being translated into English.

The word for “strength” is in the original Hebrew כֹּחַ (kōaḥ) ^H3581, which has been translated by the King James translators variously as strength (58x), power (47x), might (7x), force (3x), ability (2x),  able (2x), able (with H6113) (1x), chameleon (1x), fruits (1x),  powerful (1x), substance (1x), wealth (1x). [Note that one time it is translated as a large unclean lizard, which is a bit surprising to say the least.]

The word for “force” is in the original Hebrew is אוֹן (‘ôn)^H202, which has been translated by the King James translators variously as strength (7x), might (2x), force (1x), goods (1x), substance (1x). It can be said that it is referring to vigor, generative power, wealth, or physical strength. However, interestingly, it is derived from the root word, אָוֶן (‘āven)^H205, which has been translated by the King James translators variously as iniquity (47x), wicked(ness) (8x), vanity (6x),  affliction (3x), mischief (3x), unrighteous (2x), evil (1x), false (1x),  idol (1x), mourners (1x), mourning (1x), nought (1x), sorrow (1x), unjust (1x), vain (1x).

Spiritual Perspective: Note that each of these attributes can be “spiritually” ascribed to the devil, one way or another.

The word for “navel” is שָׁרִיר (šārîr)^H8306, which is only found once in the entire Bible (here in Job), but is similar to שֹׁר (H8270) and שֹׁרֶר (H8326), which have also been translated as “navel” and refer to a hard part of the belly or umbilical cord. However, interestingly enough, the word is said to derived from a root word, שָׁרַר (shârar)^H8324, which is said to be hostile, an opponent, hence an “enemy”.

Spiritual Perspective: So then, we see repetitive indications that the behemoth is a creature that is NOT “good”, but has power and might that can be associated with a large lurking lizard, that is potentially “wicked” and having negative connotations such as that which can be associated with an “enemy” just like the devil. For additional insights on how these words can be metaphorically linked to the devil, please see “The Devil in Disguise: Haman the Agagite and Amalekite“

3) Job 40:17, “He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.“

The original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “moveth” is חָפֵץ (ḥāp̄ēṣ)^H2654, which has been interpreted variously as delight (39x), please (14x), desire (9x), will (3x), pleasure (3x), favour (2x), like (2x), moveth (1x), would (1x), at all (1x). So, therefore, we could say that this behemoth uses his tail for his pleasure and delight.

His “Tail”

Remember the red dragon, which served as a picture of the devil in Revelation 12:4, “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.“

Spiritual Perspective: The devil “delighted”, and was “pleased”, to destroy one third of the angels with his “tail”. (Please see for example Jude 1:6)

The original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “tail” is זָנָב (zānāḇ)^H2180, and has consistently been interpreted solely as meaning “tail” (11x).

It is therefore worth a moment to consider the implications of this word, given that it consistently suggests a negative connotation. A few examples:

1. In Deuteronomy 28:13, while discussing the blessings that would come upon Israel if it continued in obedience to God, God said, “And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do [them]:” Note also that the reverse would be the case if Israel became disobedient according to Deuteronomy 28:44.
2. Isaiah 9:15, “The ancient and honourable, he [is] the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he [is] the tail. [Bearing in mind that God is the Ancient and Honorable and the Head, while the devil is the father of lies, and along with his prophets, is the tail. Jesus said, while describing the devil in John 8:44, “…When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.“]
3. Revelation 9:19, “For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails [were] like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.“

Note that the “tail” of the behemoth is compared with a “cedar” (a tree), which is quite large and strong, hence the thought of the tail being something equivalent to a large dinosaur’s tail (when viewed from a purely earthly perspective).

Finally, regarding “tail”, not how in Revelation, Chapter Nine, we read in verses 1&2 that, “¶And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.” A bit later in verse 10&11 we read how an army of locusts that had been loosed from the bottomless pit (a picture of Hell) and were described thusly, “And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, [which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [his] name Apollyon.” Abaddon and Apollyon means “Destroyer”, hence that king/angel is the devil, who we know will be loosed by God during the Final Tribulation.

Near the end of the chapter we read of an army of 200 million horsemen described in verses 17-19, “And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses [were] as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and  brimstone.“By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone,  which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails [were] like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.”

So these “horses” embodied the three key elements of God’s Judgment as we read in Revelation 14:10&11, “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 shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth  the mark of his name.”

Note also that their “power” was in their “mouths” and their “tails” which were like that of “serpents”. This is clearly reminding us that the devil (represented by the serpent), “destroys” both with his tail like the serpent and with his mouth by telling lies. In similar fashion, the behemoth’s tail is clearly powerful, and so is his mouth, which we will read about further on in Job 40:23.

The Sinews and Stones Are Wrapped Together

In the last part of the verse we read “the sinews of his stones are wrapped together“, where the word that is translated as “stones” is פחד (p̄ḥḏ)^H6344 is found only this once in the whole Bible. However, nearly the exact same word, פַּחַד (paḥaḏ)^H6343, is translated variously as fear (40x), dread (3x), great (2x), terror (2x), dreadful (1x), greatly (1x).

Spiritual Perspective: We could therefore say that, somehow, within the behemoth’s sinews and loins is only fear, dread, and terror wrapped together, therefore the behemoth is, by his very essence, quite dreadful…just like the devil.

There is also another more subtle implication when we look at both verses 16 and 17 taken together in that the “loins” and “stones” can also point to the behemoth’s progeny. And the devil’s progeny, or offspring, are his followers. Remember what Jesus said to the self righteous Pharisees in John 8:44, “Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.“

4) Job 40:18, “His bones [are as] strong pieces of brass; his bones [are] like bars of iron.”

This is a very important verse because it is describing the behemoth’s skeletal structure as being equivalent to both “strong pieces of brass” and “bars of iron“. “Brass” and “Iron” are used by God in the Bible to relate to the dominion of Hell. Let’s look at some examples, while bearing in mind what Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:18, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (Πέτρος (petros)) ^G4074, and upon this rock (πέτρα (petra))^G4073 I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.“

1. In Psalm 107:16, we read prophetically about Jesus conquering Hell for the believers, “For he (Jesus)hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.” and in:
2. Isaiah 45:2, “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:“
3. In Deuteronomy 4:20, we read where God compares the salvation of His people, National Israel, as thought they had been taken out Hell (Egypt) where the evil pharaoh was a “type” of the devil, “But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, [even] out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as [ye are] this day.” The “Iron furnace” is a clear reference to Hell, in which Egypt is being used as an allegory of Hell, from which God (by a mighty stretched out arm) brought out and saved His people.
4. Remember also the penalties that God promised to national Israel if they were disobedient to His Commandments, which included what we are told in Leviticus 26:18&19, “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 of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:” In other words, the disobedient’s heaven will be like Hell.
5. Leviticus 26:19, “And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:”
6. Similarly, in Deuteronomy 28:23, “And thy heaven that [is] over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee [shall be] iron.” and
7. Deuteronomy 33:25, “Thy shoes [shall be] iron and brass; and as thy days, [so shall] thy strength [be].”
8. Isaiahj 48:4, “Because I knew that thou [art] obstinate, and thy neck [is] an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;“
9. Job 28:2, “Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten [out] of the stone.“

Remember also the description of the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ first 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 brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.” and then in Revelation 1:15, “And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.” Similarly we read in Revelation 10:1, “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow [was] upon his head, and his face [was] as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:” Indeed, in order to defeat death and Hell, Jesus had to endure death and Hell. And let’s not forget the Brass Serpent on the pole, which God used to represent the fact that Jesus had to become sin for His Elect and that Jesus had to endure the fires of Hell in order to save them.

For more on how God uses “Iron” as a metaphor for “Hell”, please see this post: “The Songs of Moses“

Spiritual Perspective: We could therefore say, from a “spiritual” perspective, that the behemoth can be integrally associated with Hell, given that Hell is consistently represented in the Bible by both “brass” and “bars of iron”.

5) Job 40:19, “He [is] the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach [unto him].“

The word for “chief” is in the original Hebrew רֵאשִׁית (rē’šîṯ)^H7225, which has been translated by the King James translators variously as  beginning (18x), firstfruits (11x), first (9x), chief (8x), miscellaneous (5x). The word for “ways” is in the original Hebrew דֶּרֶךְ (dereḵ)^H1870, which has been translated by the King James translators variously as way (590x), toward (31x), journey (23x), manner (8x), miscellaneous (53x).

The first part of this verse could therefore also be interpreted as saying that the behemoth was from the “beginning”, or “first”, accustomed with the ways of God. Remembering that in Daniel 8:23, which describes the anti-Christ, the devil, “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.” Note that the word that is translated as “dark sayings” is from the original Hebrew חִידָה (ḥîḏâ)^H2420, which has been translated variously as riddle (9x), dark sayings (3x), hard question (2x), dark sentence (1x), proverb (1x), dark speech (1x). Hence the devil understands spiritual implications of God’s Word, but the devil cannot obey it, and can only pervert God’s Word and the devil is forever in rebellion to the Word because the devil is the epitome of evil.

Genesis 3:1 describes the devil (“the serpent“) thusly, “¶Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made…” God created him that way, and the devil serves Go’s purposes as the adversary (which in the Hebrew is שָׂטָן (śāṭān)^H7854). Remember what God said in Isaiah 45:7, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things].“

In the second part of the verse we see that it is God who not only made the behemoth, fashioned him, and purposed him, but it is only God who can approach near to that behemoth with a “sword”. What does that imply?

The word for “sword” is in the original Hebrew, חֶרֶב (ḥereḇ)^H2719, which has been translated by the King James translators variously as sword (401x), knife (5x), dagger (3x), axes (1x), mattocks (1x), TOOL (1x), sword (with H3027) (1x), so it is safe to say that this is meant to be a weapon that is used to kill and destroy. For more on how this word is used by God in the Bible, particularly as it relates to God’s Judgment, please see this post: “Lightning, Swords, and Arrows: Weapons of Judgment Coming on Judgment Day“

The words taken together “make” “to approach” are from the original Hebrew word, נָגַשׁ (nāḡaš)^H5066, which as been translated by the King James translators variously as (come, draw, etc)..near (55x), come (14x), (come, draw, etc)..nigh (12x), bring (13x), … hither (7x), offer (7x), approach (5x), forth (3x), miscellaneous (9x). Hence, the word is suggesting a very close approach.

The “Sword” is the “Word of God” Coming Out of the Mouth of Jesus!

The Word of God is equated to a “sword” here in Ephesians 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” and  Revelation 19:21, “And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.“ Also, Revelation 2:16, “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

We were also told earlier in the Book of Revelation in Revelation 1:16, “He (Jesus) had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two–edged sword, and His countenance [was] like the sun shining in its strength.” and in Revelation 2:12, “¶And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he (Jesus) which hath the sharp sword with two edges;“

Hosea 6:5, “Therefore have I hewed [them] by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments [are as] the light [that] goeth forth.“

Spiritual Perspective: It will be the Word of God (Jesus Christ), coming as a Sword of Judgment that will come near to kill and destroy the devil forever on Judgment Day.

6) Job 40:20, “Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.”

The mountains in the Bible refer to kingdoms. And the kingdoms of this world provide this behemoth his food/prey and it is where the “beasts” of the fields “play”.

As was noted earlier, referring back to Genesis 3:14&15, the original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “beasts” is חַי (ḥay)^H2416, which has been interpreted variously as live (197x), life (144x), beast (76x), alive (31x), creature (15x),  running (7x),living thing (6x), raw (6x), miscellaneous (19x). Therefore, from a spiritual standpoint, in this case, it could be interpreted to mean those who are “physically” “alive”.

The original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “play” is שָׂחַק (śāḥaq)^H7832, which has been interpreted variously as play (10x), laugh (10x), rejoice (3x), scorn (3x), sport (3x), merry (2x), mock (2x), deride (1x), derision (1x), mockers (1x), which for the most part can be viewed in the negative context consistent with mock, scorn, laugh, deride or showing contempt.

Note also that the Bible refers to the unsaved of mankind as “brute beasts” in both 2 Peter 2:12, “But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;” and in regard to what Jude 1:8 refers to as “filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.“, we read in Jude 1:10, “But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.”

And with regard to “mockers” and “scorners”, we read in Jude 1:17-19, “But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.” and in Proverbs 3:34, “Surely he (the LORD) scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.” and Proverbs 19:29, “Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.“

Spiritual Perspective: So we can again see that the context can be viewed from a spiritual perspective as describing the devil finding his prey in the earthly kingdoms, where the unsaved live, typified by the beasts and mockers/scorners.

7) Job 40:21, “He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.“

The word in the original Hebrew that has been translated into English as “lieth” is שָׂחַק (śāḥaq)^H7832, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as lie (106x), sleep (48x), lie down (43x), rest (3x), lien (2x), miscellaneous (10x). Interestingly, the Bible also uses this word to suggest a sexual context, as we see in Genesis 19:32-35 and elsewhere (e.g.,Genesis 26:10 and Genesis 30:15).

The word in the original Hebrew that has been translated into English as “shady trees” is צֶאֱלִים (ṣe’ĕlîm)^H6628 is found only twice in the Bible, here and in the very next verse. It is said to also mean “Lotus tree” or “slender”, so it is difficult to ascribe a “spiritual meaning”, however the double use of the word and the context of the next verse makes clear that these shady trees provide a place of concealment and a hiding place. This context is made even more clear by the use of the next key word, “covert“.

The word in the original Hebrew that has been translated into English as “covert” is סֵתֶר (sēṯer)^H5643, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as secret (12x), secretly (9x), covert (5x), secret place (3x), hiding place (2x), backbiting (1x), covering (1x), disguiseth (1x), privily (1x), protection (1x).

Then the word in the original Hebrew that has been translated into English as “reed” is קָנֶה (qānê) ^H7070, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as reed (28x), branch (24x), calamus (3x), cane (2x),  stalk (2x), balance (1x), bone (1x), spearmen (1x), so we can conclude that it is a reedy plant that is associated with a marshland based on it relationship with mire depicted by the next word “fens”

The word in the original Hebrew that has been translated into English as “fens” is בִּצָּה (biṣṣâ)^H1207, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as mire (1x), fens (1x), miry place (1x) suggesting a damp, swampy place. In fact, it is also found earlier in the Book of Job, in Job 8:11, “Can the rush grow up without mire בִּצָּה (biṣṣâ)^H1207? can the flag grow without water?”

When we look elsewhere in the Bible for references to “mire” we find that it is almost always provided in a negative context, most particularly with Hell.

Among the original Hebrew words that are also translated as “mire” is חֹמֶר (ḥōmer)^H2563, which is also translated variously as clay (11x), homer (11x), morter (4x), mire (2x), heap (2x). It is also found in Job 30:19, “He hath cast me into the mire (חֹמֶר (ḥōmer))^H2563, and I am become like dust and ashes.“

Another word in the original Hebrew that is translated as “mire” or “mirey” is יָוֵן (yāvēn)^H3121 as we find in Psalm 69:2, “I sink in יָוֵן (yāvēn)^H3121 deep mire יָוֵן (yāvēn)^H3121, where [there is] no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.” and in Psalm 40:2, “He (The LORD, Who heard his cry) brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, [and] established my goings.“, which in both these cases makes a clear association between Hell (an “horrible pit”) and both “mirey” and deep “mire”, from the which salvation is sought from God.

Spiritual Perspective: Once again there is a negative context, in the which the behemoth (devil) can been seen to be spiritually bankrupt in a concealment setting that can also be associated with Hell.

8) Job 40:22, “The shady trees cover him [with] their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.“

The word in the original Hebrew that has been translated into English as “brook” is נַחַל (naḥal)^H5158, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as river (56x), brook (46x), valley (23x), stream (11x), flood (5x).

Spiritual Perspective: This verse is similar to the previous one, and reinforces that the behemoth, like the devil, is concealed among the shadows, and that he is concealing himself and his activity, which activity also implicitly suggests sexual fornication. The devil and his activities are withheld from the eyes of unsaved and unsuspecting mankind (but not God).

9) In Job 40:23, “Behold, he drinketh up a river, [and] hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.“

The original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “drinketh” is עָשַׁק (ʿāšaq)^H6231, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as: oppress (23x), oppressor (4x), defraud (3x), wrong (2x), deceived (1x), deceitfully gotten (1x), oppression (1x), drink up (1x), violence (1x). Note how in every single other context, besides “drink up”, the implication is once again entirely negative. And, as a result we could also interpret this verse as saying that the behemoth obtains by “deceit” and “oppresses”/”does violence” and hence has taken dominion over the “river”, נָהָר (nāhā)^H5104 which is generally understood to be a source of life. Note that the first place that this word is found in the Bible is in Genesis 2:10, pertaining to the Garden of Eden where both “the tree of life” and “the tree of knowledge of good and evil” were located: “And a river (נָהָר (nāhā)^H5104 went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.“

The original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “hasteth” is חָפַז (ḥāp̄az)^H2648, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as haste (3x), to haste (3x), make haste (2x), tremble (1x). Therefore, the behemoth is not alarmed or fearful.

The original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “trusteth” is בָּטַח (bāṭaḥ)^H982, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as trust (103x), confidence (4x), secure (4x), confident (2x), bold (1x), careless (1x), hope (1x), hoped (1x), ones (1x), sure (1x), women (1x). The behemoth seems to be confident that he can swallow up the river Jordan as though he believes that he has dominion over it.

But what does the river Jordan represent? The Jordan River is a 156-mile-long river that flows north to south from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in the Bible over 185 times, and each time is significant in its own way. For example, Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan by John the Baptist (Mark 1:9-11). Naaman the Syrian was cleansed of Leprosy in it (2 Kings 5:10-14).

But we also know that the Jordan river played an important role in serving as an allegorical reference for Hell in Joshua 3:15-17, that apart from God’s intervention, the Jordan River, being at “flood” stage, would have prevented God’s people from entering into the Promised Land (picturing Heaven) after their wilderness sojourn. In the last verse we read, “And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.” Similarly, both Elijah and Elisha were able to cross over the river Jordan without getting wet, as we read in 2 Kings 2:8, “And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped [it] together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.” The waters of Jordan did not touch God’s people in those two cases, just as the fires of Hell cannot touch the elect children of God.

It is no coincidence that we read of the serpent/dragon in Revelation 12:15&16, “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”

Spiritual Perspective: So does not this appear to be saying…from a spiritual perspective…that the devil had taken over dominion of the source of life from Adam and Eve by his “deceit” (he lied to Eve) and that he only “oppresses”/”does violence” to all of mankind as a result. The devil, in his pride, is not afraid of Hell and is confident that he can have dominion over Hell and hence over all of those who are destined for it.

10) In Job 40:24, “He taketh it with his eyes: [his] nose pierceth through snares.“

The original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “taketh” is לָקַח (lāqaḥ)^H3947, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as take (747x), receive (61x), take away (51x), fetch (31x), bring (25x), get (6x), take out (6x), carry away (5x), married (4x), buy (3x), miscellaneous (26x).

The original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “nose” is אַף (‘ap̄)^H639, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as anger (172x), wrath (42x), face (22x), nostrils (13x), nose (12x),  angry (4x), longsuffering (with H750) (4x), before (2x), countenance (1x), forbearing (1x), forehead (1x), snout (1x), worthy (1x). So we could say that the behemoth might be viewed as acting in “anger/wrath”.

The original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “pierceth through” is נָקַב (nāqaḇ)^H5344, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as curse (6x), expressed (6x), blaspheme (3x), bore (2x), name (2x), pierce (2x), Appoint (1x), holes (1x), pierce through (1x), strike through (1x).

So we might therefore say that the behemoth could be viewed as acting in “anger/wrath” to “curse” or “blaspheme“.

NOTE: Regarding “Blasphemies”, it is worth noting what we find in Revelation 13:1-5, where the John the Revelator saw “a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” That beast was given power by the red dragon and further described in verses 5&6 as “¶And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”

The original Hebrew word that has been translated into English as “snares” is מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš)^H4170, which has been interpreted by the King James translators variously as snare (20x), gin (3x), trap (2x), ensnared (1x), snared (1x). Note in particular these verses, 2 Samuel 22:6 (and Psalm 18:4), “The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš))^H4170 of death prevented (went before)me;” [Please see all of 2 Samuel 22:1–51  to see this wonderful Psalm of David that points us to the Jesus’ Atonement]

Two other verses link this word for “snare” with death:

1. Proverbs 13:14, “The law of the wise [is] a fountain of life, to depart from the snares (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš))^H4170 of death.”
2. Proverbs 14:27, “The fear of the LORD [is] a fountain of life, to depart from the snares (מוֹקֵשׁ (môqēš))^H4170 of death.”

For more on the significance of snares in the Bible, please see: “Psalm 9:16 & Biblical Irony: Understanding God’s Temporal vs. Eternal Judgment and Justice” and “The Snare of Judgment Day“

Spiritual Perspective: The devil captures and takes away, hence controls, what he sees (mankind, starting with Adam and Eve), and in his “anger/wrath”, he “curses/blasphemes” God, as he captures the majority of mankind with the “snares” of death.

Conclusion

Whatever the specific “earthly” beast that is being described as the “behemoth” in the Book of Job, it is not the focus of this study, because it inconsequential to God’s “spiritual” purpose. In reality, the behemoth is just an allegory, given in a parable, to spiritually represent the devil and his character and powerful attributes, who God created and only God can overcome and vanquish.

It is a true mystery that God created the devil, indeed all evil…which is defined by any and all those of mankind who reject and rebel against Him…to ultimately serve God’s purposes.

Just as the devil was allowed by God to tempt Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the beginning of the Bible in Genesis that led the Fall of Adam (and hence all mankind) into sin, so we see at the beginning of the Book of Job the devil being allowed to put Job to the test through many harmful means. God is telling us that the behemoth was created by God to serve as a powerful adversary, just like the devil, and that only God can (and will) destroy the devil by the Sword, the Word (The Lord Jesus Christ), on Judgment Day.

In closing, please remember that the historical figure, Job, was a man described in Job 1:1 as being uniquely “perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.” Yet, the man Job was still a sinner in need of a Savior who said in Job 19:25, “I know [that] my redeemer liveth“. But we also can see how Job could serve as an allegorical “Type” for the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave up everything to save His people for God’s Glory. And only Jesus (not Job, or any “man” from Adam) could affirmatively respond to every question posed by God to Job. Hence, from that spiritual standpoint, God was speaking to Jesus in a rhetorical fashion, hence the whole book of Job is a historical parable. For some additional spiritual insights regarding the Book of Job, please also see: “Job’s Friends“.

More verses to ponder:

Proverbs 16:4, “The LORD hath made all [things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” and the day of evil is “Judgment Day”!

Colossians 1:16&17, “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.“

And when God told Moses to speak these words to Pharaoh, God was in fact explaining to us the role of the devil being used for God’s purposes as we read in Exodus 9:16, “And in very deed for this [cause] have I raised thee up, for to shew [in] thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.” This is reiterated also in Romans 9:17, in the context of election and God’s perfect plan of Salvation for His chosen people, “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.“

So it is neither in, nor of, man to be pure and sinless…It is not in man (including even Job) to warrant God’s favor by his own works and ways, as we read in Romans 9:16, “So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” God is entirely Sovereign over all of His creation. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

POSTSCRIPT: The Red Dragon Is Another Allegory describing the Devil, and Satan

In Revelation 12:3-9, we read about another fearsome beast, who God created, who is called the “red dragon” and identified as “the Devil, and Satan“, “¶ And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child (Jesus Christ), who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne.And the woman (the church) fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days. ¶And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought  against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 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.“

NOTE to the Reader: This teacher, just before posting this study on the website (New Year’s Day 2026,) had begun to read the Bible through again in a year and discovered the following: In Genesis 1:21, “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.” Interestingly, the original Hebrew word that is translated by the King James translators as “whales” is תַּנִּין (tannîn)^H8577, which has been translated variously in the Old Testament as dragon (21x), serpent (3x), but as whale only twice. In the “Song of Moses” (Deuteronomy Chapter 32), the same original Hebrew word in Deuteronomy 32:33, is translated as “dragons“. Moses was describing reprobates (the unsaved) and said, “Their wine [is] the poison of dragons (תַּנִּין (tannîn))^H8577, and the cruel venom of asps.” and then in Isaiah 27:1, “In that day (Judgment Day) the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš))^H5175, even leviathan that crooked serpent (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš))^H5175; and he shall slay the dragon  (תַּנִּין (tannîn))^H8577 that [is] in the sea.”

Moreover the very same original Hebrew word, נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš)^H5175, which is translated as “serpent” in the above verse, is the same word first found in the Bible in Genesis 3:1, “¶Now the serpent (נָחָשׁ (nāḥāš))^H5175was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” So then,  it would seem that God has not only equated that “serpent” with the devil, but also the “dragon“, the “leviathan” (and even the great “whales“ תַּנִּין (tannîn)^H8577 going all the way back in Genesis 1:24)

Introduction

The purpose of this post is to simply aggregate a number of verses in the Bible that make clear to us that God’s Wisdom is so far above mankind’s “wisdom” as to be compared to trying to fathom the extent of the universe. Simply stated there is an unfathomable gap between God’s Wisdom and mankind’s “wisdom”. Moreover, God’s Wisdom engulfs the spiritual domain that carnal mankind cannot begin to understand. God’s Wisdom is also counter-intuitive to mankind’s way of thinking as we will see below.

The reader is also directed to another post: “Wisdom Is the Principal Thing“.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31, “¶For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. ¶Where [is] the wise? where [is] the scribe? where  [is] the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. ¶For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.“

And then in the very next chapter, in 1 Corinthians 2:1-16, ¶And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. ¶Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ¶ But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. ¶Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.“

1 Corinthians 3:18-20,, “¶Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.“

Isaiah 55:8&9, “For my thoughts [are] not your thoughts, neither [are] your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.“

Colossians 2:8, “¶Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom; and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength as we read in 1 Corinthians 1:26-28, “¶For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, [yea], and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:”

Job Provides Some Additional Insights

The Book of Job has some interesting points that cannot be argued. God spoke directly to Job beginning in Job 38:1 –Job 41:34, where God makes clear that He is Supreme, Sovereign, Omnipotent, and Omniscient and created this universe for His Glory. Man is just a part of that creation. Yet we know that God Graciously condescended to reveal Himself to mankind, and even share His Kingdom with His chosen, by taking upon Himself a body of flesh and bones, in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, to become the Eternal Atoning Sacrifice for sin to bridge the unfathomable gap between God and Man. Amazing!

Introduction: What is the Meaning of “Quicken”?

To be “quickened” in the Biblical sense, is to be “born again“, by being made “spiritually alive“, which is accomplished by God as a gift to a person of His Holy Spirit. All believers are, and must be, quickened (“made alive”) by God’s Holy Spirit. That “quickening” by the Holy Spirit is integral and synonymous with Salvation, which is the result of the Atoning Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and the the resultant, implanted, faith in Jesus as that person’s Savior, which accompanies that quickening.

John 3:5-8, “¶Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.“

“Quicken” as Found in the Old Testament

All but one of the references in the Old Testament, which include the word that is translated into English as “quicken” by the King James translators, are found exclusively in the Book of Psalms, and nine of those are found in Psalm 119 (KJV). Notably, in Psalm 119, the quickening is closely linked to God’s Word, Judgments, and precept.

As noted above, that “quickening” by the Holy Spirit is the regeneration of the dead soul and is synonymous with Salvation. This is accomplished at the time appointed by God in the presence of God‘s Word and God‘s minister, which is why the gospel is to be preached and testified of throughout the world.

Notice how perfectly this fits with Romans 10:14-16, “¶How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

חָיָה (ḥāyâ)^H2421

The word in the Old Testament, which has been translated as “quicken” by the King James translators, is from the original Hebrew word, חָיָה (ḥāyâ)^H2421 which is actually found 262 times in the Bible and has been translated variously as live (153x), alive (34x), save (13x), quicken (14x), revive (12x), surely (10x), life (9x), recover (8x), miscellaneous (9x).

Psalm 71:20, “[Thou], which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.“

Psalm 80:18, “So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.”

Psalm 119:25, (DALETH). “My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.“

Psalm 119:37, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; [and] quicken thou me in thy way.“

Psalm 119:40, “Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.“

Psalm 119:88, “Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.“

Psalm 119:107, “I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.“

Psalm 119:149, “Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O LORD, quicken me according to thy judgment.“

Psalm 119:154, “Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.“

Psalm 119:156, “Great [are] thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments.“

Psalm 119:159, “Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.“

Psalm 143:11, “Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake: for thy righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.”

Psalm 119:50, “This [is] my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.“

Psalm 119:93, “I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.“

“Quicken” as Found in the New Testament

The key word that is found in the New Testament, which has been translated as “quicken” by the King James translators, is from the original Greek word, ζῳοποιέω (zōopoieō)^G2227, which is actually found twelve times in the New Testament and is translated variously as quicken (9x), give life (2x), make alive (1x).

ζῳοποιέω(zōopoieō)^G2227

1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:“

Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall ^G2227 also quicken (ζῳοποιέω (zōopoieō))^G2227your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall ^G2227 all be made alive. ^G2227“

[Note to the Reader: the second “all” cannot possibly mean “everyone”, which was indeed the case for the first “all”, as clearly only the believers are “quickened” (or “made alive” or “born again”).]

1 Corinthians 15:36, “[Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is ^G2227 not quickened, ^G2227except it die:“

 1 Corinthians 15:42-45, “¶So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening ^G2227 spirit.”

John 5:21, “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth ^G2227 [them]; even so the Son quickeneth ^G2227 whom he will.“

John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; ^G2227 the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.“

Romans 4:17, “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, [even] God, who quickeneth ^G2227 the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.”

2 Corinthians 3:6, “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. ^G2227“

Galatians 3:21, “[Is] the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, ^G2227 verily righteousness should have been by the law.“

1 Timothy 6:13, “I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth ^G2227all things, and [before] Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession;“

1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened ^G2227 by the Spirit:“

συζωοποιέω (syzōopoieō)^G4806

Another related word that is found in the New Testament, which has been translated as “quicken together”(implicitly in Christ) by the King James translators, is from the original Greek word,συζωοποιέω (syzōopoieō)^G4806, which is found twice in the New Testament (and implied once) and is translated either as quicken together with (1x) or quicken together (1x).

Ephesians 2:1, “And you [hath he quickened] (IMPLIED based upon verse 5 below), who were dead in trespasses and sins;“

Ephesians 2:5, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together^G4806 with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)“

 Colossians 2:13, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together ^G4806 with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;“

Deliverance from Bondage and the Condemnation of Carnal, Sinful, Flesh

In closing, let us all remember what we read in Romans 8:1-11, “[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace. Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.“

Conclusion

In the end, it all comes down to this: only by the sheer Grace of God alone do believers receive the Holy Spirit indwelling their hearts. This happens because God Himself chooses and calls them, and raises them spiritually from their dead spiritual state, “quickens” them (makes them truly alive), and causes them to be born again by the Spirit. Only then are their spiritual ears and eyes opened to perceive and understand the hidden Truth of God—and at the same time, He grants them the necessary faith, hope, and love, along with a genuine desire to obey Jesus. Apart from this Sovereign work of God’s Grace, it would be impossible.

Because that Truth is of God, and about God…then “spiritual” discernment is required (NOT carnal/ earthly/ human discernment).  Spiritual discernment can only come to someone who has been quickened by God’s Holy Spirit because the flesh is dead in sin. In Romans 7:14 we read, “For we know that the law (the whole Word of God, the Bible) is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.“ and later in Romans 7:18, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not.” and finally at the end of the chapter in Romans 7:24&25, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.“

POSTSCRIPT:

Most people are familiar with Colossians 1:18, “And he (The Lord Jesus Christ) is the head of the body, the church:  who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that  in all [things] he might have the preeminence.” Jesus is declared to be the “Firstborn from the dead”. Therefore, please note what we find in 1 Pe 3:18, “¶For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” Jesus was also the first to be “quickened” by God’s Holy Spirit at the Resurrection!

In Luke 13:6-9, we read the following where Jesus made reference to the “Fig Tree”, “¶He spake also this parable; A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, [well:] and if not, [then]  after that thou shalt cut it down.“

If we think about it, from an eternal Godly perspective, the “fig tree” is representative of the nation of Israel, which serves as a “Sign” in at least two ways.

The Fig Tree Represents National Israel

God refers to the nation of Israel as His “land” and then compares its coming under attack as a fig tree being “barked” (effectively being destroyed by being stripped of its bark), and we can see this when we read the following according to the prophet Joel in Joel 1:6&7, “For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth [are] the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast [it] away; the branches thereof are made white.” While it is unclear to which nation that the prophet Joel is referring as either having already come upon Israel, or will come upon Israel, to destroy it, we can say that God associates the fig tree with National Israel.

We can also look back over time and say that there are at least three times that Israel was attacked and essentially wiped out, first 1) by Egypt and Edom, then 2) by Assyria, then 3) by Babylon, but each time the nation of Israel survived to some degree with the last time (like the third year) being restored under the order of the Persian kings, which paved the way for Jesus to come nearly 400 years later. Then after a period of roughly 40 years following Jesus’s coming (when the Gospel was being preached in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria), Israel as a nation was completely destroyed by the Romans in ~70AD. Each time previously Israel continued to show signs of life, but there was still no “fruit” (souls were not being saved, because there was no effective repentant faith in Jesus). Finally, Jesus, Himself, came to Israel to personally proclaim the Gospel of Salvation, bringing the ultimate fertilizer of the fulfilled Word, but as a nation they still rejected that Word (Embodied by Jesus), and therefore Israel could never produce “fruit”. So God finally cut it down in 70 AD.

But what about now? Israel is once again a nation among nations in our world. Israel can be compared to a flourishing fig tree having leaves, but which cannot bear any fruit, because as a nation, Israel still rejects Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. Therefore, one must consider that God has re-established the nation of Israel as a “Sign” for our times. Remember what Jesus said to His disciples when they asked him for a sign of the end of time? Jesus replied with the parable that the fig tree would have leaves, but Jesus said nothing about “fruit”. Israel can never be able to bear any fruit because it will only continue to reject Jesus. There is no Biblical basis to expect that there will ever be a great revival in Israel as a nation. To the contrary, a careful reading of the Bible makes clear that National Israel’s special relationship with God ended at the cross, and was underscored with the destruction of the Holy Temple in ~70AD. That is the meaning of the Parable of the Fig Tree. Any and all claims to the contrary are simply false.

Please also see The Holy Temple of God, Will It Ever Be Rebuilt?

A Second Parable of the Fig Tree

When Jesus’ disciples asked Him in Matthew 24:3, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus answered, among other evidences, in Matthew 24:32-35 (& Mark 13:28–31; Luke 21:29–33 ) — “¶Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer [is] nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.“

The Barren Fig Tree Provides Insight

Matthew 21:18-22, “¶Now in the morning as he (Jesus) returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.¶ And when the disciples saw [it], they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! ¶Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this [which is done] to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.“

Consistent with this, is what we also see in Mark 11:12-14, “¶And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not [yet]. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard [it].” A bit later we read Mark 11:20, “¶And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.“

The fact of the matter is that God had effectively cursed National Israel because it rejected His Son, and as a result it can never bear fruit. How can it?… if, as a nation, Israel rejects the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus made clear in Luke 24:44 that all that the nation of Israel holds dear pointed to Him as The Promised Messiah, “And he said unto them (the disciples),  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.“

_____________

Conclusion

Joel 1:6&7 makes clear to us that God refers to Israel as His fig tree, which had been attacked and barked(stripped).

• Modern National Israel has leaves (life) but cannot produce fruit (because it rejects Jesus).
• Israel, typified by the fig tree, as a nation again is a “sign” heralding the End Times, and is NOT a portent of revival.
• National Israel’s special role ended at the cross and was sealed in 70 AD.
• Please see: “Is Time Almost Up?“

Physical descent from Abraham does not guarantee salvation, and neither does “physical” circumcision (by blood) or “physical” baptism (by water)…which only serve as “sign” of the two Covenants. Remember that “Not All Israel Is Israel” means that there is a larger “corporate” body (those who identified with either the Old Testament Nation of Israel, or who identify as “Christians” today) within which is found the smaller “eternal” body of God’s chosen people (the eternal Israel/eternal Church). Corporate fellowship with believers, just like Jewish lineage and practice, is no guarantee of Salvation. Salvation can only come by the “spiritual” circumcision of the heart and the “spiritual” baptism by washing and anointing of The Holy Spirit, as God applies to the elect believer, by His Grace alone, in Jesus Christ Alone (and only Jesus Is the true “Seed of Promise” through Abraham).

INTRODUCTION

There is significant controversy today regarding the theological interpretation of God’s Covenantal relationship with National Israel (the Old Testament nation) and whether that relationship continues today. Key questions include:

• Does God’s original promise to Abraham still apply to the modern nation of Israel, which inhabits the Bible’s ancestral land?
• What does this mean for the future?

Three prominent viewpoints address the relationship between the Christian Church and National Israel:

1. Dispensationalism: The Church is completely distinct from National Israel.
2. Replacement Theology: The Church has entirely replaced National Israel.
3. Covenant Theology: The Church is a separate expansion of National Israel.

[These viewpoints are explained in more detail, with rebuttals, in the Appendix.]

This study will show that all three views are flawed to some degree. The Bible provides the means to understand God’s true Covenantal relationship with the “eternal” Israel, which is:

• Neither separate from,
• Nor a replacement for,
• Nor an expansion of the corporate body represented by National Israel. This has always been God’s plan, though largely veiled until now for reasons known only to God.

National Israel was the visible, temporal, corporate presence of the people of God in the world throughout the Old Testament until the Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. The same is now true for the New Testament Church. National Israel and the New Testament Church over the past 4000 years have had God’s promises of blessings for obedience and warnings of curses for disobedience. God cares for each of them, for in them both are found the Eternal Israel of God, all because of the Promised Seed fulfilled in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Eternal Church of the Lord Jesus Christ consists of:

• An elect remnant from National Israel (a subset of that larger corporate body),
• Plus an elect portion from the entire Gentile world, all saved by grace alone, entirely within keeping with, and in complete fulfillment of, God’s promise to Abraham.

Jesus Christ is the promised “Seed” (singular) to Abraham. (Please see this related post: “The ‘Seed’ of Abraham Is Singular, or ‘One’, Who Is Jesus“.) In Christ, all believers (Jew and Gentile) are part of the eternal Israel and heirs according to the promise:

Galatians 3:29 — “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Note the consistency with what we read in Hosea 1:10, “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, [that] in the place where it was said unto them, Ye [are] not my people, [there] it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” This is describing the “Eternal Israel” made up of both Jews and Gentiles.

The Apostle Paul went further in the next chapter of Galatians to equate “National Israel” with the children of the bondwoman (Ishmael by Hagar) being bound to the Law, as opposed to the “Eternal Israel of God” being children of the free woman (Isaac by Sarah) being set free by Jesus as we read in  Galatians 4:21-31, “¶Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he [who was] of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman [was] by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, [thou] barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.“

The “Jerusalem which is above“ and free, as opposed to being in bondage to the law, is the “New Jerusalem” spoken of in both Revelation 3:12 and Revelation 21:2 “coming down from God out of heaven” which has NOTHING AT ALL to do with the earthly, carnal, Jerusalem in National Israel that we know today!

“¶Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him [that was born] after the Spirit, even so [it is] now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.“

Romans 4:13 — “¶For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law [be] heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, [there is] no transgression.”

The Law given to Moses for National Israel were entirely fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ (the Jewish Messiah), but God’s eternal promises to Abraham apply only to the elect—the spiritual “eternal Israel” (The elect remnant chosen Jew and Gentile in Christ)—NOT to physical National Israel (past or present). Election is by grace, not genealogy, nor national heritage, nor by the works of the law.

Romans 9:6-8 — “¶Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, [are they] all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.”

It is particularly important to remember back when Moses was lecturing Israel for its unbelief…even though the Israelites had seen many, many, miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness with their “physical eyes” in Deuteronomy 29:4…”Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.” Those Israelites remained spiritually deaf and blind in unbelief.

This is reiterated in Romans 11:5-10, “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then [is it] no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if [it be] of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. ¶ What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written [Deuteronomy 29:4, see also and Isaiah 6:10], God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear; ) unto this day. ¶And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.” And Psalm 69:23 tells us that for those who opposed Jesus and His Gospel, “Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.”

And let us never forget what Jesus said in both Matthew 3:9, “And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to [our] father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” and Luke 3:8, “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to [our] father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.“

Galatians 3:7-9, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, [saying], In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

The “Eternal Israel” are indeed the true children of God (NOT “National Israel”), and are those who are spoken of as being of Abraham as we read in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.“

Please this post: “The Children of God“

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God’s Covenantal Promise to Abraham

Genesis 17:1-8 — God promises Abraham an everlasting covenant to him and his “seed” after him….”I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.“

The Holy Spirit provides us commentary in:

Acts 3:25&26, “Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed (σπέρματί, singular) shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” (Note that the Gospel go first to the Jews as we read in Acts 1:8 where Jesus told His disciples, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.“)

Galatians 3:16 — “Now to Abraham and his seed (σπέρματι, singular) were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds (σπέρμασιν, plural), as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed (σπέρματι, singular), which is Christ.” Please see this study on the basis for correct understanding on how the “‘Seed’ is Singular” and points us to the Lord Jesus Christ!

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What “Israel” Is the Bible Really Referencing?

The Hebrew word יִשְׂרָאֵל (yiśrā’ēl) H3478 means “Prince of God” (2,489x in KJV). It has five distinct uses:

1. Jacob personally (Genesis 32:28).
2. The Nation descended from Jacob.
3. The ten northern tribes after the split from Judah/Benjamin.
4. The Lord Jesus Christ (Typologically).
5. The body of believers in Christ (Jew and Gentile)—the “eternal/spiritual” Israel.

Galatians 3:7, 26-29 declares, “…they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.… ¶For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye [be] Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

There is no salvific efficacy in being Jewish. Eternal Israel = those in Christ, saved by grace alone, not lineage.

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Promises Made, Promises Kept

God fulfilled all “earthly” land promises to National Israel in the days of Solomon:

Joshua 21:43-45 — “There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.”

Nehemiah 9:7&8 — “Thou [art] the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram…to give [it, I say], to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou [art] righteous:”

1 Kings 8:56 — “There hath not failed one word of all his good promise.”

Hebrews 6:13-20 — God confirmed the promise with an oath, giving strong consolation to the heirs of promise, with Jesus as the forerunner and High Priest forever.

God always keeps His promises!

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“Eternal” Israel Was Always in View, NOT “National” Israel

Paul uses the olive tree allegory (Romans 11:13–27):

• Natural branches (National Israel) broken off due to unbelief.
• Wild branches (Gentiles) grafted in by faith.
• Admonition: Do not boast—God can cut off wild branches too.
• Some natural branches can be re-grafted if they believe.

Romans 11:25-26 — “Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:”

“All Israel shall be saved” = All of the “eternal” Israel (all the elect remnant of Jews from “National Israel” + all elect from the Gentiles), NOT all of “National” Israel, because as a nation, Israel will remain in its blindness as we see today.

Olive oil, which comes from the olive tree, in the Bible symbolizes The Holy Spirit (for anointing and for providing the light). (See: “Jesus’ Parable of the Ten Virgins”)

Note to the Reader: Please note the similarity in the symbology regarding the root and branch of the olive tree above with the vine described by Jesus 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 fruit of 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 Iin 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.“

2 Peter 1:5-8 also describes the fruitfulness that comes by faith in Jesus, “¶And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make [you that ye shall] neither [be] barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.“

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The Books of Ruth and Esther: Additional Insights

Book	Represents	Key Insight
Ruth	Elimelech (National Israel, left the House of Bread & died) Naomi (Jewish remnant) + Ruth, the Moabitess (Gentiles)	National Israel removed, but two women saved by grace (via Boaz) = Church
Esther	Queen Vashti → Queen Esther	National Israel rebelled and removed; Church installed as the better Bride

Esther 1:19 — Vashti’s royal estate was given to “another that is better than she”.

(See posts: “Queen Vashti, A Spiritual Portrait of National Israel” and “Queen Esther, A Spiritual Portrait of the Bride of Christ“.)

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A Remnant According to Election of Grace

Romans 10:21 → 11:1-5 — God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. A remnant is saved by grace, not by works (like Elijah’s 7,000; 1 Kings 19:18)

(Please see: “The Doctrine of Election Is Salvation by God’s Sovereign Grace Alone”.)

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What About the Holy Temple of God?

“Dispensationalists” expect a future, earthly, third temple, animal sacrifices, and a literal millennial reign of Jesus in earthly Jerusalem. This is ENTIRELY unbiblical and denies Christ’s finished work!

• The Holy of Holies was exposed Matthew 27:51, “¶And, behold, tthe veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;“.
• The temple was destroyed in 70 AD.
• The true Temple is spiritual: believers in the New Jerusalem (Heavenly, NOT earthly)!

Hebrews 11:9, “By faith he (Abraham) sojourned in the land of promise, as [in] a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker [is] God.“

(Please see: “The Holy Temple of God, Will It Ever Be Rebuilt?”.)

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National Israel Today: A “Sign” of the End Times

“The Parable of the Fig Tree“

When Jesus’ disciples asked Him in Matthew 24:3, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus answered, among other evidences, in Matthew 24:32-35 (& Mark 13:28–31; Luke 21:29–33 ) — “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh“

• Joel 1:6&7: Israel = God’s fig tree, attacked and barked (stripped).
• Modern Israel = leaves but no fruit (because it rejects Jesus).
• Israel, typified by the fig tree, as a nation again is a “sign” heralding the End Times, NOT a portent of revival.
• National Israel’s special role ended at the cross and was sealed in 70 AD.
• Please see: “Is Time Almost Up?“

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Other Points to Ponder

• Luke 20:13-16 (Parable of the Vineyard): National Israel killed the Son (Jesus); hence the kingdom was given to others.
• Matthew 23:37-39 (And in Luke 13:34&35): Jesus lamented over Jerusalem: “Your house is left unto you desolate.” Note: Jesus’ reference to “as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings” is expound in this post: “Boaz’s Skirt“.
• Romans 2:28&29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither [is that] circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter; whose praise [is] not of men, but of God.“
• Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.“
• Colossians 3:11, “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond [nor] free: but Christ [is] all, and in all.”
• Galatians 6:15&16, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. ¶And as many as walk according to this rule, peace [be] on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.“

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CONCLUSION: Saved Redeemed Sinners Are the True Eternal Israel of God

Physical descent from Abraham does not guarantee salvation, and neither does “physical” circumcision (by blood) or “physical” baptism (by water)…which only serve as “sign” of the two Covenants. Remember that “not all Israel is Israel” means that there is a larger “corporate” body (those who identified with either the Old Testament Nation of Israel or who identify as “Christians” today) within which is found the smaller “eternal” body of God’s chosen people (the eternal Israel/eternal Church). Corporate fellowship with believers, just like Jewish lineage and practice, is no guarantee of Salvation. Only the “spiritual” circumcision of the heart and the “spiritual” baptism by washing of The Holy Spirit as applied to the elect believer by God, by His Grace alone, in Jesus Christ Alone (and only Jesus Is the true “Seed of Promise”).

We read in Acts 10:34, “Then Peter opened [his] mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness,  is accepted with him.” and the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 2:11, “For there is no respect of persons with God.“

• Ishmael vs. Isaac (Both were circumcised)
• Esau vs. Jacob (Both were circumcised)…

— But only Isaac and Jacob were chosen—by election, not by either works or lineage.

Romans 9:6-8 — “…For they [are] not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, [are they] all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.”

Romans 9:11-13, “(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)… As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.“

We see this very clearly also in Romans 2:28&29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither [is that] circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter; whose praise [is] not of men, but of God.“

Acts 10:34-35, “…God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”

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APPENDIX: Three Viewpoints of National Israel Vis-à-Vis the Christian Church

1. Dispensationalism

• Two peoples: Israel and the Church.
• Promises to Israel fulfilled in a literal 1,000-year kingdom after a pre-tribulation rapture and seven year tribulation period.
• Influenced by Scofield Bible and John Darby.
• Rejects allegorical interpretation; insists on literal-grammatical-historical hermeneutic.
• Rebuttal: Denies Christ’s finished work; expects restored temple with sacrifices (which is abominable!). The veil was rent, top to bottom, exposing the Holy of Holies (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45) and ; then the temple was destroyed. NOTE to the Reader: This teacher holds to a different hermeneutic, which is explained in these two posts: Refutation-of-the-literal-grammatical-historical-hermeneutic-and-dispensationalism, and Dialogue-for-and-against-the-allegorical-method-of-biblical-understanding.

2. Covenant Theology

• Views Scripture through Covenant of Works of the Old Testament followed by establishment of the New Testament Covenant of Grace.
• All biblical covenants are simply outworkings of these plans.
• Rebuttal: Implies that God needed a Plan B for failure of Plan A. However, Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Salvation was ALWAYS and ONLY by grace!

3. Replacement Theology (Supersessionism)

• The Church replaces Israel entirely.
• No spiritual future for National Israel.
• Rebuttal: Partially correct, but misses that Eternal Israel was always God’s focus—NEVER a Plan B.

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Key Takeaway:

Eternal Israel = elect remnant of Jews + elect Gentiles in Christ = Christ’s Church and His Eternal Bride.
National Israel = the “Means“, the key element of God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan, but NOT the fulfillment of those Means, and the National Israel of today serves as a prophetic sign (being “the fig tree in leaf, but without fruit“) that heralds the fact that Jesus is coming back again soon!

Introduction

This post is simply for pointing out a noteworthy juxtaposition created by a remarkable Christian, John Newton (1725-1807), in which two of his hymns taken together have both an unmistakable salience for the believer and a point of instruction for all mankind.

It is sufficient to simply post the texts of both hymns and let the reader consider the applications:

“Day of Judgment! Day of Wonders!” by John Newton (1774)

“Amazing Grace” by John Newton (1779)

Another Hymn worthy of consideration is: “O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing” by Charles Wesley (1739)

Introduction

What does it mean to “speak with new tongues”? In Mark 16:17, we read where the Lord Jesus Christ said, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They 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.” Does it mean that the believers are to babble in church like those in the charismatic churches of today who are said to speak “in tongues”? Or does it mean something else?

If we are to take these “signs” literally, then only those capable of picking up a cobra or rattlesnake and not dying from the venom, or who can drink poison and survive would qualify as believers. But that is not what Jesus meant, otherwise essentially no one could be counted as a believer if that were the case. The same is true with believers speaking “in new tongues”. There has to be a spiritual meaning involved.

Picking Up Serpents and Drinking Poison Without Harm?

Before moving on to addressing the meaning of speaking “with new tongues”, let us look at the taking up of serpents and drinking any deadly thing without being harmed. Jesus made clear that these would be the signs that follow believers.

The reality is that all of these openly visible “physical” manifestations in the early New Testament church era were a “sign” of what actually takes place “spiritually” in the life of every believer who has been quickened by God’s Holy Spirit, just as Jesus said would be the case. With regard to taking up serpents without harm, we should remember what we read in Act 28:3-6, where the Apostle Paul, after having just survived a shipwreck on The Island of Melita, was bitten by a poisonous serpent, but no harm came to him. That was an unmistakeable “physical” sign, or manifestation, of what takes place “spiritually” in the life of every believer. “And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid [them] on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the [venomous] beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.“

Although Paul’s picking up a venomous serpent, and even being bitten by it (but remaining unharmed), was clearly “literal”, it also served as an historical parable (and therefore a “sign”), which carried a “spiritual” implication. God used this exemplary “sign” to point to the fact that believers will be able to “spiritually” deal with the devil’s (the “serpent’s”) lies, and thus will not be enticed or fooled by purveyors of false gospels that would otherwise “spiritually” kill the hearers.

We can know this because God refers to the devil’s servants as we read in Deuteronomy 32:33, “Their wine [is] the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.“, which is expounded further in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:13, “Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips:” This is reiterated in Psalm 140:1-3, “¶[[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.]] Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man; Which imagine mischiefs in [their] heart; continually are they gathered together [for] war. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison [is] under their lips. Selah.” and in Psalm 58:4&5, regarding the wicked and violent men, “Their poison [is] like the poison of a serpent: [they are] like the deaf adder [that] stoppeth her ear; Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.“

Similarly, Jesus’ description of the “sign” of true believers as being unable to be harmed by drinking anything poisonous does not refer to “literal” earthly poisons, but rather to “spiritual” poison. Jesus was highlighting the fact that no believer can be harmed through the hearing of a false gospel (which is spiritual poison that comes from the devil). God’s elect, if they do come in contact with false gospels, will not be harmed nor destroyed by them. This correlates with teaching of Revelation 17:2, wherein God describes the “poison” of the wine of fornication of the great harlot being consumed by all the reprobate world, “With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” That wine is indeed poisonous, as it will most certainly destroy mens’ souls.

Speaking with New Tongues?

But what about speaking with new tongues? The first recorded occurrence of the believers speaking in “new tongues”, after being newly indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit, is found in Acts Chapter 2. On Pentecost Day in 33AD, the Holy Spirit gave the apostles had the ability to speak to the assembled crowds of Jews in Jerusalem in languages with which the apostles were otherwise unfamiliar.

Acts 2:4-12, “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ¶And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another,Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, andAsia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya aboutCyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?“

It is clear, then, that the tongues in Acts 2 were “literal” and were spoken in understandable human languages, which served as a “literal” physically discerned “sign” that Jesus said would be a hallmark of all believers. The gift of speaking in new tongues, as exemplified in Acts 2, is generally accepted to mean that it is the miraculous ability to speak a language that believers, like the apostles, did not previously know in order to minister to a person who spoke that particular language. Some believe that the “speaking in tongues” later mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:1—11 are the same as the speaking in tongues that unfolded in Acts 2.

However, others (particularly those who identify as “charismatics”) believe that the “tongues” in 1 Corinthians 12:1—11 are related, but different, to the “new tongues” of Acts 2. They interpret the gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians 12:1—11 as being a private prayer language between a believer and God and/or the miraculous ability to speak an unknown language in order to minister to other believers (not unbelievers, and not people who can understand the language as was the case in Acts 2).

So then, what is the reality concerning speaking in new tongues?

“tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not:“

We need to search further in the Bible for potential insights. In 1 Corinthians 14:21&22, we read, “¶In the law it is written, With [men of] other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. ¶Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying [serveth] not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.” The Apostle Paul was referring back to the prophesy of Isaiah found in Isaiah 28:11-13, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This [is] the rest [wherewith] ye may cause the weary to rest; and this [is] the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.“

Moreover, the other “signs” that Jesus said would follow the believers…the casting out of devils and healing the sick…are also not to be taken “literally”, but more importantly “spiritually”, in that those who under the domination of the devil, and who are sin sick, can only be saved through the hearing of faithful and prayerful preaching of Jesus’ Gospel of Salvation. For more on healings serving as “signs”, please see: “The Great Physician: Another Name for the Lord Jesus Christ“.

Conclusion

Speaking in “New Tongues”, is indeed as a “sign” that follows all believers who, upon conversion and the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit, speak in a new tongue by faithfully proclaiming the New Testament Gospel that they did not speak before. It is noteworthy that, just as was prophesied by Isaiah, the majority of national Israel could neither hear, nor understand, nor believe.

And just as noteworthy is the fact that this has also been true for the majority of the Gentile world throughout the entire New Testament era. The Gospel is still like a foreign language, which most people can neither hear nor understand, apart from God’s Gracious and Divine intervention. Previous to conversion, the believers themselves knew nothing about, nor even cared to know, the Gospel of Salvation that was wrought through the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ unless God had intervened to save them.

Introduction

We all have on occasion heard the phrase “Great Physician” with respect to Jesus’ ability to heal the physically sick during His earthly Ministry. We also have these scriptural proverbial references spoken by Jesus which make clear the link between “physical” healings to their equivalent “spiritual” healings, with Himself being the “physician” in Mark 2:17, “When Jesus heard [it], he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” and in Luke 4:23, “And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.“

For background, we should be reminded of when Jesus was in the Nazareth synagogue (at the very beginning of His three plus year ministry) where He opened the Book of Isaiah Isaiah 61:1&2 that we read about in Luke 4:16-21 the following excerpt: “The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave [it] again to the minister, and sat down.” [For more on the spiritual meanings of this action, please see: “Jesus Opens the Book, Jesus Closes the Book“]

Notice that result of the “good tidings” from the Old Testament Hebrew and interpreted from the New Testament Greek as “gospel” (meaning “good news”) involved several “physical” rescues for humanity that typified “spiritual” salvation from Jesus, who had been declared to be anointed by God’s Holy Spirit.

1. Preaching the gospel to the “poor” (also “meek”, “humble”) is bringing the gospel of salvation to the “poor and humble in spirit” (those who lack in the hearing of the Gospel of Salvation made possible by the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ).
2. Healing the “brokenhearted” (the “downtrodden”) is pointing to the spiritual healing of those crushed under the power of the devil.
3. Preach “deliverance of the captives” is pointing to the means by which the hearers will be set free “spiritually” from bondage to both sin and the prison house of the devil.
4. “Recovering of sight to the blind” is pointing to the fact that all of mankind are by nature “spiritually” blind to their sin-sick state and need the eyes to be opened see their need of Jesus’ Salvation. Please see: The Hearing Ear and the Seeing Eye.
5. “To set at liberty them that are bruised” is another example whereby all of mankind is by nature in “spiritual” bondage to sin and the devil because of the original Fall of Adam, and who can only be freed by Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice.

Remember also, in Matthew 11:2-6, when the disciples of the imprisoned John the Baptist came to ask Jesus on John’s behalf if Jesus was the Christ, and Jesus’ only answer was “…Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is [he], whosoever shall not be offended in me.” This is also found in Luke 7:18-23 where we read in verse 22, “¶Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. And blessed is [he], whosoever shall not be offended in me.“

But let us also review again the majority of the “Physical” Healing Miracles that Jesus did which point to the “Spiritual” Healing Miracles that occur with Salvation that is only made possible by Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice.

1. Healing the Lepers: The dreaded disease of Leprosy was created by God to illustrate “physically” mankind’s “spiritual” sin-sick disease in the flesh that makes us all unclean by nature and unable to enter into the camp of God apart from a complete healing and cleansing. Only God could “physically” heal and cleanse a leper (Jesus healed many lepers), which points us to the fact that only God can “spiritually” heal and cleanse mankind’s leprous-like sin-sick` souls. For more on this please see: Jesus’ Cleansing of the Ten Lepers
2. Healing the Sick: Jesus healed the Apostle Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, who was sick with a fever, as we read in Matthew 8:14, “¶And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.” and in Capernaum, Jesus also healed a centurion’s servant, as is recorded in Luke 7:2-10, “And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.” There were also several occasions when Jesus performed a healing on the Sabbath day. In most of those instances, the healing was followed by a confrontation with the religious leaders: Mark 3:1-6 (also Luke 6:6-11)…the man with the withered hand; Luke 13:10-14…the woman having a debilitating infirmity for 18 years; Luke 14:1-6…the man having the “dropsy”; John 5:1-18, the crippled man at the Bethesda pool being “impotent” for 38 years .
3. Healing the Lame: Jesus healed the “physically” lame as a sign that served to show that all of mankind is like that lame or even a paralyzed person, unable to stand and walk properly. For more on this please see: Mephibosheth and God’s Covenant of Grace. We read in Luke 5:17-26 of Jesus having healed the paralyzed man carried to him on a bed.
4. Healing the Blind: The entire Ninth Chapter of John describes Jesus’ physical healing of a man who was born blind that involved Jesus’ applying His saliva to the man’s eyes. The earliest account of Jesus healing the blind involved the healing of the blind man in Bethsaida that we read about in Mark 8:22-26 which also involved Jesus applying His saliva to the man’s eyes. Mark’s gospel gives us another account of Jesus healing a blind man named Bartimaeus as in Jericho in Mark 10:46-52. There is another important case of Jesus healing a blind man in Luke 18:35-43 wherein the blind man cried out to Jesus and we read of the resulting interaction, “¶And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said,Lord, that I may receive my sight. ¶And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw [it], gave praise unto God.” Again the curing of “physical” blindness points us to the ultimate healing of man’s natural state of mind involving “spiritual” blindness that only God can cure.
5. Healing the Deaf and Dumb: Again, please see: The Hearing Ear and the Seeing Eye. In Mark 7:33-37, we read where Jesus healed a deaf and dumb man who could not speak near Decapolis. Jesus healed the man, but again as above, it involved the use of Jesus’ Saliva. The curing of “physical” dumbness points us to the ultimate healing of man’s natural state of mind involving “spiritual” dumbness that only God can cure. The believers so healed can “spiritually” speak with a new voice with a new tongue to preach the Gospel, as is elaborated in the main post above. Please see also: “Honoring God with One’s Mouth and Tongue“
6. Casting out Devils: In Luke 8:26-36 (and also Mark 5:1-13), we read where a man who had many devils, the so-called the Gerasene Demoniac, named “Legion“, was healed by Jesus with the devils/unclean spirits transferring to a heard (of about 2000 swine according to Mark 5:13) that all subsequently drowned in the Sea of Galilee. It is notable what we also read in Mark 1:34, “And he (Jesus) healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.“
7. Raising the Dead to Life: We have three distinct accounts of Jesus raising people from the dead to life, where all three point to the fact that only God can “physically” raise someone from “physical” death, but pointing to the fact that only God, through Jesus, can “spiritually” raise someone from the curse of sin and death to eternal “spiritual” life:
   • Daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:21-43, Matthew 9:18-25, Luke 8:40-56):  Jairus, a major patron of a synagogue, asks Jesus to heal his daughter, but while Jesus is on the way, Jairus is told his daughter has died. Jesus tells him she was only sleeping and wakes her with the words “Talitha cumi” (“Damsel arise”).
   • The Young Man from Nain (Luke 7:11-15): A young man, the son of a widow, is brought out for burial in Nain. Jesus sees her, and his pity causes him to tell her not to cry. Jesus approaches the coffin and tells the young man inside to get up, and he does so.
   • The Raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-44): A close friend of Jesus who had been dead for four days (such that his body was already stinking) is brought back to life when Jesus commands him to come forth from the grave. And Jesus made a couple of key points during this historical account:
     • Jesus said in John 11:4that the raising of the dead would be for “the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.“
     • We also read in John 11:25, “¶Jesus said unto her (Martha, the sister of Lazarus), I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? ¶She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” Jesus made clear the connection of the resurrection of Lazarus’ as a sign pointing to Jesus’ power over death to bring about the resurrection unto eternal life.

Jesus’ Physical Healings Were Never Meant To Be the End Point

All physical afflictions, including death, are the result of sin, and Jesus’ supernatural actions in temporally addressing them were intended to serve together as “signs”, and not the substance, of Salvation. They pointed to Jesus’ ability to bring about “spiritual” healing that is eternal. Physically healing someone alone is as futile as trying to take something to treat a temperature without finding what is causing it.

Remember what we are told in Romans 5:12-14, “¶Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.“

When Jesus healed all of these resultant illnesses of sin, He was teaching that unless the root cause for sin is found and treated, there is no cure. In fact, we can for certain know that many of those who were healed by Jesus, including Lazarus who was raised from the dead, eventually all still died in their flesh. This provides us all with another important lesson as it proves that any focus today by those that seek and claim to be able to supernaturally heal men of their physical afflictions, clearly do not have the answer for the root cause.

Remember that Jesus made a point of comparing those with limitations and infirmities like “the poor, the lame, the maimed, and the blind” to those who are in need of repentance in both Luke 14:13, “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:” and Luke 14:21, “So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.”

The poor and infirm were representative of all the sin-sick souls who are in need of salvation, versus those who are self-righteous and do not see themselves in need of repentance and hence salvation. We see this in Luke 18:9, “¶And he (Jesus) spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:” and after which we are provided the “Parable of the Pharisee and the publican” in the subsequent verses:Luke 18:10-14.

Jesus is the Great Physician of the poor and infirm, who were identified as “sinners” and dismissed by the scribes and Pharisees as we read in Mark 2:17, “When Jesus heard [it], he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” and Luke 15:7, regarding the lost sheep “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Please see the post on Luke 15 for a more comprehensive review of the lost sheep, which includes the Parable of the Prodigal Son.)

Regarding the feast mentioned above, Jesus calls sinners to repentance and welcomes them to partake of the Great Wedding Feast come Judgment Day. (Please see the study on the Two Great Feasts.)

In closing let us remember what we read in Romans 8:5-11, “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded [is] death; but to be spiritually minded [is] life and peace. Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.“

Conclusion

The ‘physical’ healings by Jesus of people’s “physical” infirmities, like being “deaf”, “dumb”, “blind”, “lame”, “leprous”, etc., which included Jesus’ casting out devils and even raising people from death to life, were all intended to reveal, by analogy, God’s Magnificent “Spiritual” Healing and Cleansing Power, through the Person and Atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to heal His chosen from their sin sicknesses and bondage to the devil, which everyone has inherited from Adam and which perpetuate themselves throughout every generation. It is only because of the Intercession by the Great Physician, The Lord Jesus Christ, that all believers are healed from those spiritual infirmities, which otherwise separate everyone from God. Believers are spiritually resurrected from spiritual death to new life in Christ, being born again in the spirit by God’s Holy Spirit. Once spiritually awakened, the believers will have been given ears that ‘spiritually’ hear, eyes that ‘spiritually’ see, and new tongues with which they can ‘spiritually’ communicate the Gospel of Salvation, because the Word of God is now in them.

POSTSCRIPT:

In the Hymn, “O For a Thousand Tongues” by Charles Wesley (1707-1788), the last stanza reads:

Hear Him , ye deaf: His praise, ye dumb,

Your Loosed tongues employ;

Ye blind, behold your Savior come;

And leap, ye lame, for joy. Amen.

Introduction

In Jonah 2:9, we read where Jonah, crying out from within the belly of the whale says, “But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay [that] that I have vowed. Salvation [is] of the LORD.” Have you ever thought what “Salvation is of the LORD” actually means?

This study explores the implications of Jonah’s words for humanity—past, present, and future—drawing from various posts on the Bereansearching website. The goal is to be like Ezra and the Levites in Nehemiah 8:8, where we read of their effectiveness in conveying truth from the scriptures, “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused [them] to understand the reading.” This compendium focuses on God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan, centered on the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. May it be a helpful overview for every reader seeking The Truth, Who is Jesus.

1) God is the Creator of the Universe

No human being can “physically” see God and live, just as God told Moses in Exodus 33:20, “And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” As a result, there is a tendency of much of mankind to dismiss the fact that there is indeed an invisible God Who is nonetheless in total control of all of creation. However, God tells us Romans 1:20, “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.“

We also know that Jesus Christ, as God, The Creator, is made evident here in these exemplar verses:

• Hebrews 1:1-4, “¶God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.“
• John 1:1-3,: “¶In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
• John 1:14, ¶And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

For more, please see The Holy Trinity and The Earth as Described by God.

2) God Is Totally Sovereign

God is omniscient (ALL knowing) and omnipotent (ALL powerful). Psalm 135:6&7, “Whatsoever the LORD pleased, [that] did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.“

Nothing escapes His Knowledge, His Will, or His Grasp. We are told in Matthew 10:29&30 (also in Luke 12:6&7) that God knows every hair on every person’s head, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.“

Luke 8:17, “For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither [any thing] hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.“

For a deeper exploration, God’s Total Sovereignty: The Real Inconvenient Truth!

3) God’s Sovereignty Subsumes Salvation

Humanity often assumes control over their destiny, but salvation is entirely God’s prerogative. God’s Will overrules man’s will. God Sovereignly determines who is to receive salvation: we are all simply the work of God’s Hands.

This is perhaps the hardest thing for anyone to accept. Everyone likes to imagine oneself as the captain of his or her own fate. Human beings generally all get to choose what clothes to wear, and what to eat, as well as how to respond or initiate all other everyday issues that come our way. The one thing that we cannot choose, and over which we have NO control, is to choose to become one of God’s children.

Isaiah 64:8 makes clear the relationship of man versus God, “But now, O LORD, thou [art] our father; we [are] the clay, and thou our potter; and we all [are] the work of thy hand.” God is in charge, not man, and that includes whether a person will ever be saved or not. The “Doctrine of Election” is Salvation by God’s Sovereign Grace, Alone. Please see this post: God Is The Potter, We are the Clay (and His Workmanship).

Key verses (in addition to Romans chapter 9) underscore God’s sovereign election:

1. Matthew 22:14, “¶For many are called, but few are chosen.” (passive voice) (also Matthew 20:16)
2. John 15:16, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.“
3. John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.“
4. Ephesians 1:4&5, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,“

Salvation is by God’s grace alone, not the result of any human effort. Please see: Biblical Ironies and God’s Poetic Justice and Only One Way to Salvation.

4) Jesus’ Parables and the Doctrine of Election

Jesus’ parables—earthly stories with heavenly meanings—highlight spiritual truths supporting the doctrine of election. Parables serve as a linguistic vehicle that point to the necessity of Spiritual awakening and underscore that Salvation is by Election, which is only obtainable as a gift from God.

It is more than noteworthy that Jesus’ disciples asked him pointedly in Matthew 13:10, “¶And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?” We read of Jesus’ response in the next verse, in Matthew 13:11, “¶He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” The first “them” are the disciples, while the second “them” are the “multitudes”, among whom are all those who are not counted as being the children of God.

Jesus elaborated on the purpose of parables, and of His reasoning for employing them as a teaching tool, which has been expounded in depth in this post: Why Did Jesus Employ Parables in His Teachings?. Jesus explained to His disciples WHY He always spoke in parables to the multitudes as we read in Mark 4:11&12, “And he (Jesus Christ speaking to His disciples) said unto them, Unto you (the elect) it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without (the non-elect),all [these] things are done in parables:  That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and [their] sins should be forgiven them.“

Jesus was making clear that His teachings were never intended for “everyone”, but rather only to those to whom God had given “Spiritual Ears to Hear and Spiritual Eyes to See“.  And while each parable may or may not be fully understood by a believer, that does not diminish the point that a parable cannot be “truly” understood by anyone other than a believer (beyond the intellectual “understanding” as heard by someone’s “physical” ears), even when a parable is fully and openly explained. Matthew 11:25&26, “¶At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” Parables underscore a fundamental principle, the Doctrine of Election.

Perhaps the most significant of Jesus’ parables is “The Parable of the Sower“, because it helps to explain how God crafts His parables to help the believer with understanding of “All” parables. (Mark 4:13, “And he (Jesus) said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?). But Jesus went on to provide His disciples (and us) with the means to understand parables through His exegesis of the Parable of the Sower, teaching by example of 1 Corinthians 2:13, “not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (scripture with scripture). The Parable of the Sower addresses the various obstacles that inhibit the effectiveness of the Gospel of Salvation message, but, nonetheless God’s Word will take root in the prepared heart and bear fruit by leading others to Jesus Christ.

Other parables provide additional supporting insights on the doctrine of election, such as in the one with the separation of five wise virgins from the five foolish virgins, or in the separation of the faithful servants from the unfaithful servant, or in the separation of the sheep from the goats, or involving the separation of the people bidden to the Marriage Feast, who either have a wedding garment or do not, or the separation of the wheat from the tares. 

• The Parable of the Ten Virgins: Which teaches us that only those who have been anointed by God’s Holy Spirit will enter into Heaven to be with the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ
• The Parable of the Talents: Which teaches us to multiply the Gospel message of Salvation
• The Parable of the Good Samaritan: Which teaches us to have compassion for our fellow man, but also that The Lord Jesus Christ is exemplified by the Good Samaritan in saving and caring for spiritually dead souls.
• The Parable of Prodigal Son: Which teaches us that Jesus came to save sinners, repentant sinners, and not the “righteous”.
• The Great Separation: Which teaches us that there will be Great Division and Separation coming on Judgment Day (exemplified by the parables of the wheat and the tares, the sheep and the goats, the good fish and the bad fish in the net). 

God uses Parables to help us understand what really matters from an eternal perspective, and that Salvation is only a gift of unmerited favor from God. Speaking in parables is a metaphor for how God effectuates His Magnificent Salvation Plan.

In each of these parables, a clear distinction is made between that which is to be saved, versus that which is to be cast out into outer darkness, destroyed, and burned for eternity. These Parables repeatedly make the point that the end result for all of mankind since creation, come Judgment Day, is a Great Eternal Separation…either entering into Heaven with Jesus or being cast into Hell under the wrath of God for sin. 

The key takeaway is that Jesus did NOT die to save “everyone” from their sins! Jesus only came to save those whom God has chosen to save, who God counts to be among the elect of God and who are otherwise referred to as “the sheep” of the Flock of The Good Shepherd, Jesus. We must carefully consider what we find in Romans chapter 9, and in particular, Romans 9:13, “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.“

This is spelled out clearly as well in 1 Corinthians 2:10-14, “But God hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. ¶Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.“

5) The Lord Jesus Christ Will Be The Judge on Judgment Day!

Jesus will return as the Ultimate Judge on Judgment Day, accompanied by the saints (Please see “The Believers (The ‘Saints’) Will Be With Jesus in Bringing Judgment on Judgment Day!“). Scriptures like Matthew 10:28, warn of eternal consequences: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Jonah 2:2, where Jonah cries “out of the belly of hell,” typifies Christ’s atonement, enduring hell’s equivalent to save His elect. “And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.“

There are many references to Jesus’ Second Coming on Judgment Day. The following posts address the key facts:

1. Judgment Day is Coming Soon
2. Lightning, Swords, and Arrows
3. The Heavens Rolled Back as a Scroll
4. Coming Like a Snare
5. The Great Sacrifice of Judgment Day
6. Isaiah Chapters 1-3 

Moreover, in the run-up to Judgment Day, The Final Tribulation Will Be When the Devil is Loosed by God. But for anyone who is distressed upon hearing that this is the case, God tells the believer not to fret. These two posts help to explain the basis for that understanding: Biblical Proverbial Wisdom and Truth Applicable to Our World Today and Psalm 37.

6) Eternal Hell is Real

The following posts are self evident, but one thing needs to be made clear in addition. Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The “death” that is in view is not just physical death, but an eternity in Hell for the non-elect. Jesus’ Atonement paid this penalty in full for His chosen, His elect, which was the equivalent of an eternity in Hell (understanding that God is outside of space and time). That is the reality. If Jesus endured the wrath of God in Hell, then eternal Hell is part of that reality that everyone must accept.

1. Is There Really an Eternal Hell?
2. The Winepress of Shame
3. The Threshing Floor of God

7) God Conceals Himself in His Word

God hides spiritual truth from the non-elect. This is perhaps the hardest lesson to learn and teach.

Proverbs 25:2 (KJV) states: “[It is] the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings [is] to search out a matter.” This is perhaps one of the most significant and profound verses in the Bible because, as explained here in this post: “The Lord Jesus Christ is The Word“. The Hebrew word for “thing” and “matter” דָּבָר (dāḇār)^H1697 means “word,” pointing to Jesus, the Word (John 1:1).

Only the elect, guided by the Holy Spirit, discern these truths as we read in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned (ἀνακρίνω (anakrinō))^G350.” [This also brings us back again to the Doctrine of Election.]

This is extremely important! The natural man is NOT anointed with God’s Holy Spirit and without Him, it is impossible for the natural man to begin to grasp any saving understanding of what God is teaching the believers who have been given, by God, the Anointing of The Holy Spirit. The unsaved may understand intellectually (as the devil does), but they remain dead in their trespasses and sins.

The Road to Emmaus (Luke 24) illustrates this, as Jesus, after His Resurrection, opened the scriptures to His disciples (who did not initially recognize Him), revealing Himself in the Old Testament. That study explains the significance of the associated events and is entirely consistent with what Jesus made clear in John 5:39… that we are to “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”  

In Jesus’s day, the scriptures consisted ONLY of the Old Testament!  We therefore have a clear mandate to search, back in the Old Testament, to see how gloriously and amazingly God has embedded The Lord Jesus Christ within so many of the passages of the Old Testament. And the Bereanseaching website is dedicated to helping the reader see how this is so.

Remember this prayer of Jesus in Luke 10:21&22, “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father;  and who the Father is, but the Son, and [he] to whom the Son will reveal [him].“

Please see also this post: “God’s Word is a Mystery“. The Word of God is “Plain” to the Believer, but “Hidden” to the Non-Elect (and that is a “Mystery” in itself!).

The fundamentals of true Christianity are provided in a 15 Chapter Book entitled “Exalting the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ: The Key if Knowledge for Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible“. Chapter 12 focuses more on why God determined to conceal Himself in His Word.

CONCLUSION

“Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9) means Salvation is God’s Gift, according to God’s Sovereign Will and Good Pleasure, granted solely to His elect by His Grace alone. And “Salvation” means being saved from the just penalty for one’s sins, and that penalty would, apart from Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice, require an eternity in Hell come Judgment Day.

Parables are used by God to illustrate that Salvation is only for the elect of God, His Chosen people, His sheep. Matthew 22:14, “For many are called, but few [are] chosen.”…Note the word is “chosen” and NOT that the few “choose”. Romans 9:16, “So then [it is] not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.“

Only those born again by the Spirit can discern spiritual truths, as Romans 7:14-25, laments human carnality and exalts Christ’s deliverance. Believers, guided by the Holy Spirit, must search the scriptures (John 5:39) to see Jesus interwoven throughout the Bible, and be as the Greeks in John 12:20&21, who came up to the feast in Jerusalem to worship and say, “we would see Jesus.” May all who read this seek Him through His Word.

Introduction

The Great Tribulation is the “Little Season” when the Devil Will Be Loosed

in Revelation 20:1-3, we read, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”  We can both see and learn that it must be a part of God’s Magnificent Salvation Plan that God would let the devil loose for “a little season” just prior to Judgment Day. This raises a number of questions…Why? When? How Long? And What then?

The second chapter of Thessalonians provides us with some insights on the timing of the end of the world. NOT the “specific”, or “exact”, or “precise” timing, but “general” timing, along with some features associated with the very last of the last days. It is also entirely consistent with other passages of Holy Scripture as we will see in a bit.

The Bible does make clear that just prior to Judgment Day, at the end of time, will be a period also known as the “Great Tribulation as we read in verses Matthew 24:21 & 22, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 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 then we are told in Matthew 24:29-31, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man (Jesus Christ Himself) coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with 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.”

Note to the Reader: This post is excerpted in part from “Is Time Almost Up?  How Can Anyone Know?“

Thessalonians Chapter 2

Let us read together the first 15 verses of Paul’s second Epistle to the Thessalonians, Chapter 2:

2 Thessalonians 2:1, “¶Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him,”

2 Thessalonians 2:2, “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.“

2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;“

2 Thessalonians 2:4, “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.“

2 Thessalonians 2:5, “¶Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?“

2 Thessalonians 2:6, “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

2 Thessalonians 2:7, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will] let, until he be taken out of the way.“

2 Thessalonians 2:8, “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

2 Thessalonians 2:9, “[Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,“

2 Thessalonians 2:10, “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

2 Thessalonians 2:11, “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:“

2 Thessalonians 2:12, “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.“

2 Thessalonians 2:13, “¶But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:“

2 Thessalonians 2:14, “Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.“

2 Thessalonians 2:15, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.“

How Long? God will cut the time short

While the length of time of the “little season” is not specified, Jesus gives us the assurance, in Matthew 24:22, that the world will not be completely destroyed and that not everyone would die before Judgment Day (via nuclear war, pandemics (pestilences), earthquakes, famines, climate change, or whatever calamities) because: “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 it is repeated in Mark 13:20, “And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.”  This is also consistent with Apostle Paul’s Holy Spirit inspired statement in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

What then? The Coming of the Day of the Lord (JUDGMENT DAY)!

And From 2 Peter Chapter 3 (please see the whole Chapter) we find that at Jesus’s coming, which will herald the Final Judgment Day, the elements shall melt with fervent heat and that there will be an entirely new creation… Verses 3-8, “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

Zephaniah 3:8, “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination [is] to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, [even] all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.“

And then we must carefully consider these next two verses: 2 Peter 3:8&9, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” That is a clear indication that God’s timetable is not based on how mankind looks at time. It is dependent on God’s Magnificent Plan of Salvation whereby everyone who is to be saved (and brought into the Body of Christ), will be saved. None who were ordained to eternal life will perish (remain unsaved and go to Hell). Only God knows that precise timing of the end of the world when Jesus returns as Judge. And please note the harmony with what we read in James 5:7&8, “¶Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.“

Isaiah 34:4 “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the [fig] tree.”

Isaiah 51:6 “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.”

Revelation 6:14, “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.”

Luke 21:28, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

Jesus made very clear in Matthew 24:35 that this creation is temporal, but He and His Word are eternal: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

What is Coming: “New Heavens and a New Earth, Wherein Dwelleth Righteousness.“

2 Peter 3:10-13, “But the day of the Lord (Judgment Day) will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”  Peter was aware of what God said by the prophet Isaiah, inIsaiah 65:17 “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” and 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.”

What Should We Do Now?

Things certainly do not appear to be improving in the world, and for the most part, the world seems to have gone absolutely insane for reasons that are not obvious to any objective observer.  That is because the root cause is spiritual, and therefore not readily apparent or discernible to those who are trying to explain and or justify current events from a carnal perspective. They will blame it on climate change, or point the finger a political opponents, or whatever comes to their natural minds. 

However, the Bible offers us the very clear explanation, and predicts exactly what we are seeing in the world today, and what will be the final outcome.  In 2 Thessalonians 1:7-12 we are told, “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. Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Conclusion

Anyone and everyone is free to choose to either listen to, or ignore, the Truth as found in the Bible. One way or another, we will all have to come to the realization that all of creation and time and space is finite and will end at some point…and for any one individual that end will come at the point of physical death which is inevitable in any case. But the Bible teaches that there is still the reality of the final Judgment Day to come for sin for everyone who is not saved by the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ!

However, while anyone remains physically alive in this temporal earthly realm, there is still the hope and joy of knowing that there can be eternal peace with God through Jesus Christ (Alone), Who, as The Sin Bearer and The Punished Substitute, IF that person only cries out to God for mercy in Jesus’ Name before it is too late.  In order to stand in the presence of God, and to enter into the Temple of God not built with hands, we must be clothed in the robes of Jesus Christ’s Righteousness.

For the Believer, according to 2 Corinthians 5:1-11, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 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.”

Jesus warned of the coming Judgment Day and said the following in Luke 21:34-36, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

Comfort for the Believer in the End Times

Despite the increasingly tribulous times that we now find ourselves living in, and these are the Last Days, there remains the exquisite hope and comfort for all Believers. In Romans 8:26-39 (the entire chapter sums it all up) we read “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “¶But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (dead), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep (are dead) 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 (come before) them which are asleep (dead). 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.“

POSTSCRIPT: Judgment Day is Coming Soon!

Throughout the ages, many people have claimed to know when Judgment Day, the end of the world, is about to happen using the Bible as the basis.  Some will even erroneously claim to know, and then announce, exact dates for that day of destruction.  Whenever they do, whoever they are, they are all in complete contravention of the reality as spoken by Jesus in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

But is there at least a way that we might know approximately (e.g., the “Season”) when Judgment Day is coming, sooner than later?  Let us see what the Bible does reveal to us on this subject.  No matter what anyone has ever told you, or whatever you may have believed up until now…when Jesus comes back, it will be once and for all, and that will be “Judgment Day”, period! There will be NO carnal earthly reign on this sin-cursed earth for a thousand years (millennial era), but rather ETERNITY with our HOLY GOD!

In Matthew 24:14, Jesus is very explicit. Please read this chapter very carefully, and do so while keeping in mind the other passages listed below.  However, note where we read, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

Has that happened yet?  If the Gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ has been preached throughout all the world, via missionaries, publications, radio and television, or the World Wide Web (the Internet), including through vehicles such as this Bereansearching blog…should we not expect that Judgment Day is very close?

And have not very explicitly enumerated sins become public and in plain sight of all in defiance of God? We must, therefore, have to be VERY close to a time when the so-called “cup of iniquity” (idolatry and immorality) will become full (patterned after what we read about the 400 year/four generations sojourn of Israel in bondage in Egypt and the subsequent fate of the Amorites in Genesis 15:13-16, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.  And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites [is] not yet full.“)

2 Thessalonians 1:3-10, “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: [Which is] a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing [it is] a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 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 JesusChrist: 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“.