Monthly Archives: June 2010
Changing Spiritual Diapers! Feeding Spiritual Babies with Spiritual Bottles!
(Ver 1.1) Except when natural babies sleep, they are in constant dependency upon their parents for all of their physical needs. If you have had children, you know this is true. Babies would never survive without the care and nurturing of a parental figure. Mothers of course play a central role in this care, but this does not alleviate responsibility of the father. Natural food is not automatically provided to a child without the mother’s cooperation, at first children are not even able to feed themselves, they cannot walk, they cannot talk, they are only able to cry if they need something and then the parent has to figure out what that need is. Normally, this is not a difficult process, if you haven’t fed them in a while, then you feed them. If you have fed them recently, then you check their diapers and see if they need changing. The process of raising children is not overly complicated, yet we sometimes forget that these natural things are repeated in the spiritual realm. Just like we have physical babies in the world, we also have many spiritual babies in the world.
Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Many times we get people born again and immediately expect them to walk and talk the spiritual language and know what to do in every situation. This is not how it works in the physical world and it is not how it should work in the spiritual world either. As I read the internet Blogs from people who call themselves Christians, I can tell who is a little mature and those that just think they are mature but are just crying out loud and making a noise to be heard. It would appear that the baby Christians are the ones that make the most noise and the ones that cry for the most attention. The Baby Christians are sometimes the ones that need their spiritual diapers changed and those that need to drink more milk to learn more of the truth.
1Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
God is giving you some amazing spiritual information in this verse. This verse says that we are not born again in a spiritual full grown, mature state of existence. It means there is a spiritual growth process that should be followed for new Christians. You should not make a new Christian and expect them to work like one that has been around 30 years in the church. It means you should have structure established to feed them and to help them in order to teach them in the ways that they should go. God tells us in Proverbs 22:6 to train up a child in the way that they should go and when they are older they will not depart from it. If you have any wisdom at all, you can apply that verse to both the physical and spiritual realms to know how to treat physical and spiritual new babies. New baby Christians are going to need structure, a planned growth cycle, a parental growth partner, and a time to grow spiritually. Baby Christians do not automatically know what to do in every situation. If you leave them alone they will just normally go back to their own old ways and life situations that they already know. If they were alcoholics before being saved, Satan will try to get them back in the bars. If they were thieves and robbers before being saved, Satan will attempt to try to revert them back to what they already know how to do.
Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Jesus speaking here is not talking about a physical house. If you think he is you are very ignorant of spiritual symbolism. Jesus is speaking of the heart of man. Jesus is also speaking of evil spirits who live in the hearts, minds and bodies of people. You see if you save someone in the world, you might get the evil spirit out of a person temporarily, but Jesus says they will try to return.
Mat 12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Evil spirits always try to return to the house they exited from. It is a familiar place that they know and they like. People who are born again and new baby Christians do not know what to do when these spirits return.
Mat 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
If you are a mature Christian that witnesses to someone and gets them born again, you should understand what Jesus prophesied that will happen to people who become new Christians. Just because you are a Christian does not mean, Satan is through with you. He is still in the business of deception and he wants to trick you into going back to your ways that you previously knew. Jesus tells us about a house, that has been swept clean and is now empty. You do understand that Jesus is speaking of a person without any understanding of spiritual things. This clean house is said to be vulnerable to a stronger attack of the spiritual forces of darkness. This spirit will bring back seven other spirits to try to get back into the house that the one lived in. Jesus says if they are successful, the condition of that man will be worse than the beginning. Keep this in mind when dealing with new converts. They may be under attack and not realize it. If you read in Ephesians 4:14, it tells us how spiritual children are very vulnerable to false doctrines and the deception of the enemy. These are important things to know. Spiritual babies are very open to deception, simply because of naivety and ignorance. It is a spiritual situation of not knowing what you do not know that makes them extremely vulnerable.
1Co 3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
We are told to desire the sincere milk of the Word of God in 1 Peter 2:2. In this verse found in 1 Corinthians 3:2, God is again using a symbolic analogy of natural substances in relationship to spiritual truths. The Milk of God’s Word are the representative types of the basic foundational truths found in the Bible. The basics are the foundation to building a strong understanding of more advanced topics found in the Bible. Truth always builds upon truth. Advanced topics are totally dependent upon a full understanding of basic topics. These advanced Topics of God are called the meat of the Word. Just as natural babies are unable to eat natural meat, spiritual babies struggle with eating the strong subjects of God’s word. I believe that is why many people spiritually choke on some of my blogs, but that is my opinion. Advanced subjects in the Bible are not understandable to baby Christians. So what are the Basic subjects that you should already know fully? Some of them are listed in Hebrews:
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
As you can read this verse is talking about spiritual growth. The term translated as “perfection” does not mean that we will become perfect and not make any mistakes. No, the term “perfection” means “maturity”. God is expecting Christians to grow spiritually, and to become mature Christians. This is only possible, if they continue drinking the Milk of God’s Words and learning to understand the basics therein. The term “Principle Doctrines” is referring to the initial or first teachings of Christ. These first teachings are the basics. Every church with new converts should have a basic class for new born Christians. These classes should include subjects that cause them to learn Christian fundamentals. The identity of Jesus Christ, the Blood of Christ, the Word of God, Salvation, Redemption, and the Holy Spirit. That was some of my list of items, but here are some more that God gives us in the Bible:
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
God says these are also basic doctrines that we should be intimately aware of. I rarely see anybody speaking on any of these subjects. Maybe they do, but it is just not where I notice it. Bible basics are the most important things to get to new Christians. If they can understand the basics, then they are better able to grasp the tougher stuff that they also need to learn about.
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Caring for spiritual babies is a lot like, caring for natural babies. They need a lot of attention to get to where they can do things right for themselves. They will need you to feed them spiritual milk until they can eat solid food on their own. Many times you will have to also change their spiritual diapers and that involves putting up with some of the smelly stuff that they produce. There are many rewards with doing this right, you can see in the Bible that Paul and the disciples spent a lot of time with people, feeding them and caring for them to get them to grow up.
1Co 14:20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
I hope that you enjoyed my spiritual lesson on babies in the church and I pray it will help you to deal with people more closely. God Bless!
Getting The People Out of Egypt is Easier than Getting Egypt Out of the People!
(Ver 1.1) God gives us some very valuable information from the Children of Israel in the Old Testament. They spent nearly 400 years living in the foreign land called Egypt, governed by a Godless people who became their masters. Of course the picture is given to us from the New Testament that these things were written to give us patterns of things to come as examples to those in the last days on the earth (1 Cor 10:11). What lessons can we, the church learn from the information given to us concerning the natural nation of Israel? Let’s look at some scriptures in Acts 7 and see a sermon given by the man Stephen.
Act 7:36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
God delivered Israel from the bondage of the world slave system of Egypt. God did this by demonstrating a series of great signs and wonders through the faithful service of His servant Moses. So far we have a story with many major spiritual patterns being revealed to us. Egypt is a type of the Word System controlled by Satan. Moses is a type of Jesus Christ our deliverer. Just as Moses was sent to Israel after 400 years of Israel’s captivity, Jesus Christ was sent to the earth after 4000 years of human bondage to the captivity of sin. The people of Israel are representative of the those who are saved who are now members of the church of Jesus Christ. As you read this sermon found in Acts, you can see some of these things being revealed to us. This story tells of Moses being given the Law of God on Mt Sinai and how the children of Israel ignored it.
Act 7:39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,
Here in Acts 7:39, is the beginning of the key part of this lesson. The children of Israel after spending time in the wilderness, thought it was better to go back into their life of slavery and return to Egypt. All because things got a little tough. This is the title of this lesson, you can get the people out of Egypt, but getting Egypt out of the people is a much more difficult job. What was it that made Israel want to return? Had they forgotten already how much they asked God for a deliverer to free them from their task masters?
Act 7:40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
It’s funny how people see things, isn’t it? These people thought that because Moses had gone up on the Mountain to meet with God and it was such a long time that God did not care about them anymore or maybe God did not really exist. It would appear that they no longer even believed there was a real God. The people all told Aaron to make them gods that they could see. You have to assume that meant they did not have any faith in a God that they could not see. Seems like we still hear that compliant today. You can see that the culture of Egypt was so prevalent within them, they were more comfortable with that old life style and the Old Egyptian ways of worship. They totally ignored all of the great signs and wonders that they had seen God do and wanted to fall back into a system that they had seen was defeated. All they could remember is how they had seen the people of Egypt worship gods that they made with their hands and this was all that they focused on during this uncertain time of trouble. It would seem that their long term memory took over and their short term memory vanished. Maybe they forgot that God killed most of the Egyptians in the Red Sea and there was really not that much to go back to. How do you know what they were thinking, all you can see is what they did. They reverted back to their old lifestyle and this is a major problem found in the church today.
Act 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
So the children of Israel, got their way and they made gods that they could see with their physical eyes. They sacrificed offerings to these gods and they worship them. This verse ends with the statement that they rejoiced in the works of their hands. Isn’t that a great way to put what we see in the world today? People make things today and still worship them with their money and their time. Hollywood movies are a great example of this. Oh well, I guess I won’t go there.
Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
I often wonder, why save a people if you know you are going to have to destroy most of them. Thankfully, God is not like people on the earth. People on the earth would not go through that much trouble to bring anyone out of Egypt, if only a small number of them were going to make it into the promised land. However, God would come to the earth and still die for you, even if you were the only one that was going to be saved. You have more value to God than anything. God gave everyone the same opportunity to believe and go into the promise land, because the people did not believe, was not God’s fault. The people of Israel can only blame themselves for not believing God.
Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
To show you things from God’s point of view, God tells us a secret here in Revelation 11:8. The spiritual name for Israel and Jerusalem, is still Egypt. This just goes to show you how difficult it is to shed your past. God took the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but God never really succeeded in getting Egypt out of the children of Israel. You can read this chapter in Revelation 11 and see that this is speaking about a coming prophetic event during the time of the tribulation. So you can pretty much still see that even then, God calls Israel the spiritual Egypt.
We all have pasts and things we use to do. We all have had experiences that we would have rather not gone through. These are the patterns of the Egypt in our lives. What the church should learn from this lesson, is that new converts into the body of Christ will always be drawn back to what they know in their natural past. Until a new Christian grows up spiritually and matures, they are extremely vulnerable to the deception of the enemy. There will always be times in every Christian experience where it will appear that you are going through a wilderness type journey. When in these spiritual wildernesses, you will find yourself, many times asking where is this God that saved me? It is during these times that strong church leadership and mentoring will be required. Just as you should not give birth to a natural new baby and expect them to feed themselves, new Christians need special attention also. In order to continue to grow in spiritual things, people need to continue in the Bible and their personal relationship with God is essential. The encouragement from a Christian mentor, will go a long way in helping new Christians make it into the promise land. When times of adversary come, and you are tempted to go back to your old familiar ways, spend time with God and God’s Word to find direction and purpose. Seek the face of God, like Moses did on the Mountain Top. Renew your mind with the Word of God and eventually, the old ways will not be desirable. Keep walking and do not give up, the wilderness does not last forever. Pretty soon the wilderness will appear as only a distant memory that helped to make you stronger. Only you can make the choice to not try to return to Egypt and die in the wilderness. What’s on the inside of you?
The TOP 10 Reasons Jesus Christ Came into the World?
(Ver 1.4) Many times we study the Bible and only see one perspective, because that is where our focus is. Our minds, our preconceived thoughts and prejudices can cause us to miss what the Bible actually says. People’s Bible study approach is very much like my approach to proof reading my blogs. Many times I type what I think I should say, but when I go back and reread it a few days later, it turns out what I typed was not actually what I had originally intended. Also, many times my typing errors are missed, because I read what I thought I typed and not what it actually says. All this does is prove that people can look right at the words written on a page and still not ever tell what they exactly said or meant. Students in school prove this everyday with their textbooks. This is why I believe that many times people do not see what the Bible actually says either. They see what they think it says and ignore what it actually says and they end up missing what God wanted to teach them in the frist place..
I have already blogged on the fact that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. God purposely becoming a man can cause many people to stumble. The Creator becoming a part of His creation, that just boggles many people’s minds. However, God did this and you either have to accept it or choose to reject it by your onw freewill. Today I want to discuss some of the top reasons that I have found, why God did this. What does God and the Bible say, were the top reasons for God’s personal appearance on this planet? If you think it was just for one reason, you would be greatly mistaken. God rarely does only one thing at a time for a single threaded purpose or plan. God is a highly complex and intelligent being that can accomplish many things with one simple act. We just have to be smart enough to read and find out what these were and then why God said that He came to visit us. While I do not profess to know every reason I will give at least 10 of the top reasons that I have discovered from the Bible.
1. To Die
I believe the number one reason why Jesus came to the earth and was born a human man, was so that he could die. Did you know that it is impossible to kill God? God is a supreme spiritual power and it is impossible to eliminate God from existence. But, that does not mean that God as a man could not die a normal physical death. It is pretty obvious that Jesus proved that after hanging on the cross. When Jesus said it is finished, He fulfilled His number 1 purpose for coming into the world. His death accomplished more than you can imagine right now, but read this verse:
Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of Jesus, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Jesus Christ was born a human male on the earth so that he could taste death for all of us. The Bible says that it is appointed unto every man, once to die (Heb 9:27). In becoming a man we can clearly see that God did not intend for Jesus the man to live on the earth forever or to set up a natural kingdom or rule in this dimension of time. God specifically came to the earth in a very temporary capacity, on purpose with the set goal to die after 33 years of being present as a man. Death is also a separating force that terminates covenants. You can learn this by reading the words of Ruth, when she says “Until death separates me from thee”. If God wants to die on the earth, you can conclude that He wants to end whatever covenants that He was previously tied to. I know that is not a popular teaching, but it is a logical deduction based upon the facts established in the Bible. You do realize that the living mortal man Jesus of Nazareth did not establish a New Covenant with anyone while He was here in His mortal physical state? You see the New Covenant was implemented by the risen from the dead Jesus Christ. The Risen Jesus is now an immortal and omnipotent spiritual being and only He can implement a new eternal covenant that never existed before. This is a fact that you rarely hear taught in church. Jesus Christ is the first born from the dead and the heir of everything (Heb 1:2). What is an heir? An Heir is only someone who inherits what someone who died has left. Uh oh? Who died? What was left? Who are the heirs? You see why the Bible is so difficult to understand for most people? The Bible is more complex than most understand.
2. To Save Sinners
I believe the number two reason Jesus came to this planet in a physical form was so that He could save us. We of course are like everyone else and we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). Even though we are not really worthy of salvation, God chose to save us anyway. I have heard many people in the world say we just want what we are deserved. In other words in their minds the government owes them something and they deserve to get it all just because they belong in this country. That is an attitude that is based upon pride and error. You do not want what you are deserved, you are far better off asking for mercy.
1Ti 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Sin was a separating force from the righteousness of God. God had to do something with the sin problem of man, if we ever were to have any hope. God does this by becoming the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). God’s own personal blood was shed to pay the price for our sin. The Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Heb 9:22). It also goes on to say that the blood of natural bulls and goats cannot take away the sins of the world. So it required a higher price and only the blood of God Himself could satisfy this price.
3. To Save That Which Was Lost
This reason I will probably not be able to elaborate on fully in this lesson. Many will read this next verse that I give and think that it is talking about the previous reason, but I do not personally think that is what Jesus was talking about. Jesus did tell us that He was sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Mat 15:24). So we do understand that people are spoken of in the Bible as being lost. What I think is that it was more than that, which Jesus was talking about in this next verse.
Luk 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Did you notice that this verse does not say, “Those Who Were Lost”? Why is that important? Why is that necessary to see? What was lost? What must be saved? Many just think we the people were what was lost and that is the only thing that God came here to save. That of course is a very narrow minded focus on what God is capable of doing. Let me answer these questions by asking you a question. Why is it necessary for God to create a new heaven and a new earth? You should really give that some serious thought before you try to answer that question. Could it be that is what was lost? I only buy a new car because something happened to my old car, either a wreck, or just old age and it died. Some people trade cars like they buy new underwear or socks, but God is not this way. You have to realize that there is a major problem with the old, if God implements a new anything. I mean think about it, can’t God ever create anything that lasts? Is He not God? It would appear that something happens to the old heaven and the old earth that causes God to create a new physical and spiritual realm. So I do not deny that people are also lost. In 2nd Corinthians 4:3 it says “If our gospel is hid, it is hid to them that are lost”. But, this word can mean “destroyed” or “perishing”. So while you could say people are lost, you actually find this statement:
Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
You see you can find more scriptures about people having been reconciled back to God in the New Testament than you can find scriptures that speak about people being lost.
Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
So the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ’s death is that we have been reconciled back in right relationship with God. I think I will leave the rest of this discusion to a future lesson on the subject.
4. For The Resurrection of the Dead
God told Adam, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and said that in the day that you do, you will surely die. That of course represents the poor choice that Adam made that perpetuated death upon the entire human race. Death ruled man, man feared death, death is an enemy to man and God came to solve the problem of death. Here is a scripture verse that helps us to see this:
1Co 15:21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
Jesus Christ is called the “Last Adam” and because the first Adam brought death into the world, Jesus was able to come as a second man to end death’s domination over us. You see death was a separating force that kept us from God because of Sin. Adam sinned and sold himself into the bondage of sin and Christ came and paid the cost for our redemption with His blood. It is an awesome work of God that He has accomplished. The immortal God becomes mortal and dies so that the mortal men and women in the world can become immortal and live with Him forever. It’s all a part of God’s great exchange offer. Exchange your life for His life and you become the winner!
5. To Undo the Works of the Devil
I hope that you do understand who the devil is? I hope you also understand that Satan is not on God’s payroll and does not work for God. You see God has the power to tell Satan what to do, but yet is this the way God is? Is God pulling all of the strings in heaven and causing everything in the world to happen exactly like He wants it to happen? You see I do not think so. You do understand that the Sovereign God is able to give man “freewill” by His choice and design? If you do not understand that man has a “freewill” you do not understand that it was you that chose to get out of bed this morning and not God. If you think that God controls what you do every day, then you need to come to understand the Bible with greater clarity. Let’s keep going and look at what the Bible says about Satan:
Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Both of these verses speak of God attempting to “destroy” the devil or the works of the devil. Why would this be necessary, if God is in control of the devil already? You see the problem that some seminaries teach, don’t you? The term “destroy” does not mean to obliterate into non-existence as you would think it does. It means to “loosen”, “dissolve”, “undo” or “reverse” the actions of the devil. In other words Jesus came to undo the consequences of something that Satan directly caused. I hope you understand the concept of “cause” and “effect” found within the physical sciences. I think I first learned this concept in a High School Physics class, that every effect that we can observe always has a root cause. For example, when you see waves in a pond, you can deduce that something was thrown into the pond to cause the waves. It is not a hard concept to grasp. What you have to ask yourself is what were the effects of Satan’s work that God had to come personally to reverse? This is a tough question to answer in this lesson, so we will continue on.
6. Jesus Came and Died, So that the Holy Spirit Could Come In and Abide
This is a simple truth, but yet very important to understand. Without Jesus’ death we would not have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us today. Of course the Holy Spirit is only in those who have received Him and not in everyone. God does not force His entrance into the spirits of anyone. Here is a verse of scripture that tells us something that Jesus said to us personally:
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Jesus said in Revelation 3:20, “Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and will open the door, I will come in a sup with him”. So Jesus said I will come inside, if you open the door to your house and let me in. This is a symbolic representation of the heart of man. The comforter residing on the inside is a benefit, that nobody possessed before Christ died. Jesus told us that it was better that he go away so that he could send us the Comforter (John 16:7). While Jesus was here in the flesh, that would have been really cool to see. However, Jesus clearly tells us that it is better the way we have it now than the physical Jesus when He was here. You see a physical Jesus was the manifestation of the omnipotent God of Creation with limitations. Jesus could only talk to a limited number of people at a time. Jesus could only say one thing to everyone at the same time. Jesus had to eat, sleep and do other business, just like we do every day. Jesus was God with severe limitations and restrictions. If you do not understand that statement, I’m sorry I do not have time to explain it. Now that every Christian has God on a personal internal level, they have a teacher, the guide, the comforter and a true friend on the inside that cam speak to everyone independently and say something different to each of us at the same time. That is the benefit of the Holy Spirit over the physical Jesus.
7. To Fulfill the Law
Jesus made several statements about the law that are very profound. One of them was that heaven and earth would pass away but the law (God’s Word) would never pass away (Luke 21:33). This would indicate that the Word of God is something that is eternal. What does it mean to fulfill something said? I believe that it means to perform that which was spoken.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
God’s words are prophetic and contain information about coming events. God tells us that the “End is declared from the Beginning” (Isa 46:10). God therefore knows the outcome even before He started. God always recorded the outcome in the Bible for us to see before it actually happens on our timeline. Before God did anything, God spoke and then it happens. Jesus spoke repeatedly about the words of the prophets being fulfilled while they were walking about. Jesus declared that everything written about him would be fulfilled. We can therefore logically conclude that Jesus came to fulfill the Words of God that were prophesied about him.
Luk 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
As you can see the Old Testament Law of Moses is said to be words that describe Jesus and what He will do and accomplish. These are very important things to note.
8. To Reveal the Hidden Wisdom and Words of God
The Natural Nation of Israel and the Natural Jews have held the Words of God for thousands of years and yet they still do not understand what they say. Jesus tried to teach as many who would hear the truth, but not very many people actually grasped the truth. What you must realize is that the Bible was written in a manner that concealed information making it difficult for natural men to understand. I believe that Jesus came to give us understanding and teach us the truth. Now that Jesus is raised from the dead, I believe this understanding has been made available to us by the work of the Holy Spirit within us.
Mat 13:35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.
God has recorded many of the hidden wisdoms of God in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Jesus came and taught about natural things in the form of parables that revealed vastly profound spiritual truths, yet most of the listeners did not understand them.
Luk 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
You can go into many of the verses in the New Testament and see what Jesus revealed to His disciples. Jesus went through the Old Testament starting with Genesis and showed these followers that He was written about on almost every page. All of this was secrets hidden from the plain view of man. I call this hiding the truth in plain sight. God used many techniques to disguise the truth, but yet it was right there for us to see. Did you know the term “mystery” only occurs in the New Testament? While God wrote the mysteries in the Old Testament, God did not specifically tell anyone that they were there. Jesus came along and read the scriptures and could see and understand the hidden secrets in the Word of God, since the Author of the Word was inside of Him. Jesus took these secrets and opened them up for people to see and after He was raised from the dead the disciples finally got it.
9. To Build a New Spiritual City
Jesus Christ became the chief cornerstone to a new spiritual City of God, called the New Jerusalem. This spiritual city reflects a new beginning, with a spiritual people who are called those who are righteous in the eyes of God. This organized spiritual structure is a new spiritual family of God and many of the old family members of God’s previous family have been omitted. That is not very good news for them.
Heb 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
You see even as Solomon built God a temple in Jerusalem as a type and pattern for the future spiritual work of the One that is greater than Solomon, Jesus came to the earth to become the builder of a new name of God. As the Son of God, a son’s responsibility is to marry and carry on the family name.
1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
God tells us very clearly that each of us in the church is a “Living Stone” in a “Spritual House”. Do you understand this type of building project? Probably not, but yet God is using natural things to describe a spiritual structure made up of people. This new spiritual house is the Bride of Christ, called the New Jerusalem in Revelation. If you want to learn more about that you can go and read my blog on that subject, “The Bride of Christ Revealed“.
10. To Divide
Here is my reason number 10 for the coming of Jesus Christ into the world. This is of course a controversial reason for the coming of Jesus Christ, because it is not widely taught nor understood by many. As you read this statement that Jesus makes, it would appear to contradict what the Bible says in other places. Let’s just read and see what Jesus said personally about coming to the earth:
Luk 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
Jesus is called the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6), yet here in Luke Jesus said this is not why I am here. That is a pretty radical statement being made by the Son of God. God says I came to divide the earth and not to bring peace on the earth. What is God talking about? If you have read my other blogs you may already know the answer, but I will tell you again briefly. On the 4th day of creation God divides Day from Night and gives the Sun to Rule the Day and the Moon to Rule the Night. The Night is a 12 hour period of darkness, the Day is a 12 hour period of Light. These two separate divisions are symbolic representations for what Jesus is talking about in this verse in Luke. Jesus is called the “Sun of Righteousness” (Mal 4:2). Jesus is called the “Light of the World” (Jo 8:12). Jesus is called the “True Light” (Jo 1:9). Jesus is called the “Day Star” (2 Peter 1:19). Jesus is called the “Bright and Morning Star” (Rev 22:16). All of these are synonymous terms for the Sun that produces light on our planet. Jesus came into the world as the spiritual Light of the World and His Word causes illumination in the hearts of men and women so that they no longer live in darkness. Being children of the light and children of the day, we are the ones that have been divided from those that remain in the darkness (1 Th 5:5). All of this is a division that is taking place in the spiritual realm. God is dividing those who belong to Christ from those who belong to Satan. The end result is said to be completely different for both of these groups.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Jesus speaks of two divisions of people in this one basic statement. Those that are righteous go to a realm of life everlasting, and those that are unrighteous to everlasting punishment. Two different results, two different people, two different divisions. This was one of the key reasons Jesus came to the earth and God declares it. You can choose to believe it or reject it.
The Spiritual New Birth! The Importance of Learning Spiritual Things in the Bible!
(Ver 1.3) This is Part 1 in an essential basic Bible study series on the subject of Savlation and the Spiritual New Birth of God.. So many bloggers on the internet want to ignore the real important eternal spiritual things of God and want to only focus on the temporary natural things that mean very little. Because they think carnally they have been blinded spiritually to the things that God wants to teach them. I hope that I am not talking about you. Today I want to discuss a Bible Basic Truth that every Christian should already know a little bit about. This is the subject of the New Birth, a subject that totally revolves around spiritual actions of God and not the natural thoughts of men. What you should see when you study the Bible is that God gives us natural things as patterns for us to understand the hidden spiritual things. Of course if you do not understand these natural things, you will not understand the spiritual things either. Here is the challenge that God throws down to us in 1 Corinthians:
1Co 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.
How natural are you? We are all a little bit natural and many are more natural than they are spiritual. God is very clear when He states the problem we are faced with in the church today. We have many people teaching spiritual things and many people that are just not able to grasp it because they are not able to understand it without getting the knowledge past their flesh and minds and into their spirits. People want to figure out God using only their natural human minds and reasoning and God says your mind is incapable of understanding anything about His spiritual things. The more natural thinking you are the more difficulty you will have with understanding anything that is spiritual.
1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
Every new Christian starts as a spiritual baby in Christ. Just as natural babies cannot eat steak and the food that grownups eat, baby Christians have trouble digesting anything that has great substance and meaning to it. Have you ever noticed that kids and children often times think they know more than they do? They like to pretend that they are highly intelligent, even teenagers tend to think they know more than their parents.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
This is why many people even in churches today are unable to understand anything about the spiritual things that other people teach. Jesus made a definite requirement to enter into the Kingdom of God. What does it mean to be born again?
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
This is a classic example of a spiritual teacher trying to teach something to a natural thinking man. Jesus is attempting to discuss spiritual things and this man in John 3 wants to ask a natural question. Nicodemus asks Jesus how a man when he is old can enter back into the stomach of his mother. To Nicodemus it was a good question, but to Jesus it was just a clear indication that this man did not understand what he said.
Joh 3:5 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.
Jesus tries with another statement to explain the process. I would doubt that you fully understand this scripture either. Jesus is not speaking of Water Baptism in this verse and I would bet that most people think that is what He is talking about. Jesus is comparing two different births, one natural and one spiritual. When you are in your mother’s womb, you are surrounded by water. When her water breaks, she knows it is time to deliver. Jesus is comparing this natural event to the spiritual birth process. Again Jesus tells us that unless a man is born naturally and spiritually you will never make it into the Kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
We can again see the comparison being confirmed in this next verse in John. Jesus tells us very clearly that being born again has nothing to do with the flesh. To be born again is a spiritual birth process and something that happens inside of you. No one can observe it when it happens, but they can observe the changes that it makes in you externally. This verse represents a spiritual law being revealed to us. Whoever is born of the flesh is just that, flesh! But, whoever is born of the Spirit, they are now a new spirit.
1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
You see the spiritual birth process dramatically resembles the natural birth process, but yet it is completely different at the same time. Both birth processes were initiated by planting seed. The natural seed of a man is called sperm and it impregnates a woman and a natural child is born. This natural seed is called corruptible seed and this is directly compared to the incorruptible seed of the Word of God. Everyone that becomes a Christian does so as a result of hearing God’s Word.
1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
You see these people in Corinth were disputing among themselves, again thinking naturally and carnally and missing the spiritual things of God that Paul was trying to get them to see. This is the same chapter that Paul said earlier that he could not talk to them about spiritual things because they were still baby Christians. Paul reveals a part of the spiritual birth process in this verse. Paul planted the incorruptible seed of the Word of God into the hearts of the people and Apollos came along and watered it to get it to grow. If the people understood any of it, it would eventually begin to grow and produce fruit unto God.
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
You may not fully understand the process of being born again, but yet you can still participate in it and learn about the process later. God designed a specific plan and a specific process for getting men and women born again. This process is actually outlined in this verse in Romans. It seems to start with a preacher being sent to the people. The preacher tells the people about Jesus, what He has done for them and the people can choose to believe it and to accept Jesus as their Savior. It is not a long or complicated process, but yet it is also very profound. Salvation is a system based upon Words and Faith. If you have ever read any of my other blogs you know that I say some pretty new things about these two subjects from the verses found in Bible. God’s Word System of Salvation is vastly criticized and ridiculed by those who think naturally and do not understand it.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
This verse found in 2 Corinthians speaks about the new birth. God informs us that we have become a new creation. This of course is a creation within the spiritual realm of God. The term “new creation”, means we are now something that has never existed before. We are something “fresh” and “brand new”. Being born again spiritually, gives us a new start, a new beginning as this verse says. The old things, the old ways, the old behavior and the things we use to do have now passed away or vanished. You could say the old you was buried and the new you has been raised to life. The Old Man was natural and carnal with a self centered focus. The New Man is a person that sees things differently and has a new spiritual perspective on life and others around them.
When God says “All” things have become new, you have to understand what the term “All” means in this context. It does not mean everything as in an all inclusive new you. While the inside spirit part of you is new, the outside physical parts of you are still the same. The body still wants the same foods you ate before you were born again. The flesh still wants to do the same things that it has always done. Then there is the mind and you have the same mind that you always had. You still have the same memories, the same experiences, the same way of thinking and all of these things are part of a spiritual growth process that begins when you are “Born Again”. God tells us in Romans 12:2 that “we should not conform to this world’s ways”. He then tells us “to be transformed by the renewing of our minds”. To renew your mind is a lengthy process that involves you learning spiritual things that will allow you to grow and mature in Christ. Just as children take many years to mature physically, so it is with spiritual babies. They need time to learn and understand the new spiritual things that God wants them to learn.
1Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
What we learn by reading the Bible is that there is a growth process. It starts with the Word of God and will end with the Word of God. The milk of the Word represents the basic concepts, ideas, facts and information that provide you with the foundation for your spiritual beliefs. Most of the time, these concepts are not as simple as you would like them to be, however you keep drinking them in until you grow enough to mature. As you mature you will be able to grasp more complex and advanced topics in the Bible. These are not always easy to digest either, but yet if God gave them to us, then they have a purpose for us to know and to understand.
This has been a comprehensive overview of the New Birth process. This is a spiritual reality that occurs when you accept Jesus as your Savior. What God has done in the natural is a direct pattern for what God has done in the spiritual realm. If you can learn and understand this process, it might help you to share it with others.
If you would like to contiue reading in this series of lessons you may go directly to “Part 2“.
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If you want to know how to get saved and know that you are with confidence you can go to: How to know that I am saved?
The Hidden Jesus in Genesis! Jesus Revealed in the Hidden Patterns of Genesis!
(Ver 1.5) Jesus makes a very profound and awesome statement in the Gospels while He was speaking to the people of the natural nation of Israel. These are such tremendously important words that we (Christians) need to grasp and fully understand what they say and what they mean. Please read with me this statement spoken by the Almighty God personally to humans:
Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
A witness is someone who testifies in court of law. A witness in a court of law is someone who comes in and testifies about what they know, what they have seen or for something as an expert that is relevant and pertains to the case in question. An expert witness in a court case is someone who can speak with a certain level of authority on the specific related subject about the case. So God’s claim in this verse appears to indicate that the Bible is an expert witness for God’s case that He is presenting to us about the existence of Jesus Christ and His true identity. We should be able to clearly see what God is saying about the purpose of the Bible. God claims that the Old Testament contained hidden information about who Jesus was and what He is going to accomplish before He was done. 
Jesus also clearly informed us that we needed to search the scriptures to find this information. If we are required to become a “Sherlock Holmes” type of Christian doing a search of the written word in order to find these facts, that would mean that this information is not always clearly presented on the initial surface reading. This would also indicate that the information about Jesus was purposely hidden either from someone or for someone like us to find. For example, why do parents hide Easter eggs for their young children? Is it to protect the candy from being discovered? No actually it is more for the fun of seeing their children search for them with eager expectations of finding them. The purpose of hiding eggs is not to keep the children from ever finding the candy but it does simply create a challenge for them that provides the parents the pleasure of seeing the excitement derived from their discovery. This is a key concept that is needed to fully grasp about the words found in the Old Testament. The Bible contains literally many hidden secrets about Jesus and these concealed clues were placed there by our Heavenly Father for us (His children) to search and discover.
The Law of Moses was given to Israel on Mt Sinai and they carried these words for many hundreds of years. The Jewish people preserved them and cared for them and then when the author of the book appeared before them in the flesh they killed him. Why is this, I asked myself? I can see Jesus in the Old Testament, why couldn’t they see Jesus in the same way? That of course is a really good question to consider. I would guess that it is extremely more difficult to see what you do not know personally exists. For Christians who know Jesus personally, they have a much greater advantage over the people in Jesus’ days on the earth. They did not know Him like we can know Him so it is much easier for us to discover Jesus in the hidden verses in O.T. books like Genesis. The rest of this lesson will be about something that I have blogged on before, but maybe not in this direct context and under this specific title. This lesson will focus on the hidden Jesus in Genesis and I will give you at least three really good examples of Him that maybe you have not seen before. I will focus only on the first two chapters of Genesis and you will certainly be amazed if you can see it. Before, we start, I pray that the eyes of your understanding be opened and enlightened to see God’s truth.
Genesis 1:1
Let’s start with Genesis 1:1, where it says “In the beginning God created, the heaven and the earth”. Did you know Jesus was Hidden in this verse in Genesis by the Author? However, unless you read and study it in the original Hebrew language you probably did not specifically know this. The 4th word of the original Hebrew text is a word that has been completely omitted from the English translation and this one word reveals Jesus in this verse in a very profound way. The Hebrew word omitted in this verse is actually not a real word at all and thus the reason for the omission of a translation to the English language. The translators simply did not understand what to do with it, so they omitted it. This omitted word consists of only two Hebrew letters. These two letters are the “alef” and the “tav”. These two Hebrew letters just so happen to be the very first and very last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Does that help you to see Jesus better now? What I am saying is that Genesis 1:1 should have read “In the beginning the A-Z God created the heavens and the earth”. The translators did not understand the significance and they ignored the word being connected to the name of God.
Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
This new information should start to illuminate many spiritual light bulbs inside your heart and mind. You see , here in the book of Revelation chapter 1 and verse 8 Jesus calls Himself the “Alpha and the Omega”. It just so happens that these are also the very first and very last letters of an alphabet, but here it is of the Greek Alphabet. If the translators would have converted these two Greek letters to English properly Jesus would have said “I am the A and the Z”. Now do you see the connection more clearly? Also consider the fact that Jesus was a Hebrew. He spoke predominately Hebrew to the Jewish people. Therefore, when spoken this verse in Revelation could have been written in Hebrew and said “I am the Alef and the Tav”. Since it was written in Greek the Apostle John did the inspired thing to convert into Greek letters from the original spoken Hebrew. The English translators could have followed His example and legally translated it as the A and the Z.
What God is doing is revealing who created the world that we live in. Jesus Christ was the Word of God and He created ALL things that we can see and observe. Without Him was nothing that was made, made (John 1:1-3). So Jesus is clearly identified as the creator God, the “A-Z God” who created everything that was created. This is a very profound and priceless conformation of the identity of the Messiah to be the man Jesus Christ. In the Beginning the A-Z God created the heavens and the earth. That is how this verse should have read, now let’s go find Jesus in some other verses in Genesis.
Genesis 1:15-19 Day 4 of Creation
Gen 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Gen 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
Gen 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
Gen 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
Gen 1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
I want to skip down in chapter 1 of Genesis to the described Day 4 of creation. This day is one of the most important hidden references to Jesus in all of Genesis. I do not profess to know every hidden reference to Jesus in Genesis, but I feel this one is one of the most important to see based upon my current understanding of the Bible. You see on Day 4 of the creation account, God tells us of two opposing lights. What God is doing is speaking symbolically and prophetically in these verses about Jesus Christ and what will be accomplished by His appearance on the earth.
In studying the days of creation I learned that every day of creation represented a prophetic day of man’s future on the earth. Since the beginning of Adam’s creation it has been approximately 6000 years. 6000 years can be divided evenly by 1000 giving us an answer of 6. These 6 equal periods of 1000 years represent a prophetic day in the definition of God’s timetable for man. We learn in 2 Peter 3:8 where God gives us a definition of a prophetic day that is a direct quote of a verse found in Psalm 90:4. God defines that a day to Him is exactly like 1000 years to humans. So the 6 days of creation plus the 7th day of God’s rest turn out to be prophetic days of all of man’s history on the earth. So what happens on the 4th day of creation? God assigns a greater light to rule the day and a lesser light to rule the night. The greater light is of course a synonymous title for the Sun and the lesser light is certainly the moon. But, God is not talking about only natural things, God is prophesying about two spiritual kingdoms to come. Jesus was born on the earth some 4000 years after Adam and this can be easily translated as during the time of the 4th day of creation. God is prophesying that Jesus will rule the kingdom of day and be the Sun light of our world. God is further stating that Satan (the symbolic moon) will rule the kingdom of the night and all those people that live in this darkness. There are so many scriptures that can be found in the Bible that speak of this profound revelation. I will not attempt to give you them all, but I will go through a few to get you started. You can read other blogs that I have written to find more information on this subject. Or just search your Bible on your phone or computer and look for words like night, day, darkness and light.
Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
In Malachi 4:2 Jesus Christ is prophesied as coming again in a very similar way that was being described in Genesis 1. Here Jesus is called the “Sun of Righteousness” that will “arise”. In this verse He is not spoken of as the “Son of God”, but here He is in direct connection to being the “Sun of God”. You can understand that God is speaking symbolically again about far greater spiritual truths. These are clues to knowing the truth but we are required to search and put them together correctly with the Lord’s help of course.
Joh 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
Joh 1:8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
Joh 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
In John 1:7-9, the Bible talks about John the Baptist and Jesus and calls Jesus the “True Light” in verse 9. You see if you think about this logically you can see that our sun in the sky is our physical natural true light that rules over the day and the moon represents the opposite realm that rules over the night. This is a direct comparison of the two great lights in the sky mentioned in Genesis 1. In John 8:12 Jesus is speaking and He calls himself the “Light of the World”. He then says that those who follow Him will not walk in darkness (night) where the unstated moon (Satan) rules. You can again see a spiritual reference to a truth that is revealed in Genesis on the 4th day of creation. These opposing truths are called Day vs. night, the Sun vs. the moon, and the Light vs. the darkness. These are all symbolic representations of the hearts and spirits of men and women in the world today. Two spiritual dimensions and conditions that are directly opposed to each other and ruled by opposite spirits. Again in John 12:46 Jesus says, “I am come as a light to the world, that those who believe in me should not abide in darkness”. Jesus says those who do not follow Christ and His ways are those that are walking and living in the darkness and who are ruled by the night and Satan. This CANNOT be speaking of Christians. There is absolutely no logical way this can come close to the truth for those that believe the moon represents Christians. I have heard this belief from several people before, but it just does not balance with scriptures. A Christian is either ruled by Jesus in the Day or governed and ruled by Satan in the darkness..
2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Here we have another great verse that declares Jesus to be the Sun that arises and shines in human hearts to light our spirits so that we can see and understand His truth. Notice the keyword connection “arise” given here that matches what Malachi prophesied about the “Sun of Righteousness”. That is NOT a coincidence. These are all profound confirmations to the 4th day of creation. Notice that this verse in 2 Peter is speaking about previously written prophetic words concerning a light arising in a previously named dark place. We have to search and look for these words and find them, could this be those that we found mentioned in Genesis and Malachi? All you have to do is read it and see what it says about these two lights to see how much is related to what we have observed.
That is part of the difficulty in correct Bible interpretation. The Sun is called by many different names, titles and descriptions in the Bible so we have to be wise enough to see the connections and find them all using God’s help. In Genesis the Sun is called the “Greater Light”. In John the Spiritual Sun was called the “True Light”. Here in 2 Peter the Sun is called the “Day Star”. You do understand that our sun is our closest star to our planet and normally this start is the only one we can see during daylight hours? These are just some of the ways that God uses to hide information in the Bible for us to find. In Revelation 22:16 you can see Jesus being called the “Bright and Morning Star”. This again is a new symbolic reference to the Sun in Genesis 1 and Malachi 4 that arises in the hearts of men. These are all extremely important things to learn and to understand. I hope and pray that was sufficient to at least motivate you to go learn more.
Genesis 2 Adam and Eve
Another way God uses stories in the Old Testament to hide spiritual information concerning Jesus is through the use of typology. These are true natural stories of real natural people, places and things that have greater spiritual meanings attached to them to reveal to us hidden things that we cannot see. Sometimes types and shadows can be hard to recognize and difficult to discover or understand. However, God has given to us some clues in the Bible to help us and to point us to what to look for. Always trust the Holy Spirit to help you in your Bible study. He is the only one that truly knows what it means. In the 2nd chapter of Genesis God gives us the detailed account of the creation of man and of the woman, the law of marriage and the story of the beginning of the first human family on the planet. This entire chapter is a more detailed view of Day 6 of creation described in Genesis 1. Why is this detail information important and how does this relate to the claim of Jesus to be hidden in Genesis? That is a really good question. So here is the beginning of the primary reason why this is so important to know:
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Here is a direct clue from God showing us a direct connection between two different men both called Adam. This verse compares the first created man Adam to the man Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ here is being called the “Last Adam”. Why is that? What you discover when you study Genesis 2, is that the first natural man Adam was a natural pattern for the last spiritual man Adam that was to come. So whatever God did to and for the first man Adam, is what will happen to the Last Man Adam in the spiritual realm. That of course is some totally new information to many Christians and it may be hard to accept at first, but just keep studying and you will see that it is true.
God created Adam’s wife and took her body from his body. You will recall God put Adam asleep and took from his side the bone to create a woman. As a result of what God did, Adam says “She is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”. In other words, Eve was called the “body of Adam”. According to the law of marriage given to us in Genesis 2, it says “The man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh”. One flesh is just another way of saying “One Body”. Many people know that the Church is called the Body of Christ in the N.T. and yet they do not know how we became the Body of Christ. We can answer this mystery very easily if we see that by the law of marriage and the pattern of the first man Adam Genesis 2, the church has now become the Body of Jesus by a new covenant of marriage. You can see this very clearly by reading verses in Ephesians 5 about husbands and wives and then God reveals that this is a mystery that concerns Christ and the church.
Remember when Jesus was hanging on the cross? He died on that cross and in the N.T. this is often referred to as being asleep (1 Cor 11:30, 1 Cor 15:51). Jesus Christ being dead (asleep) on the cross was pierced in His side by a Roman soldier’s spear. Does this sound familiar to what we read in Genesis 2? Out of His side flowed Blood and Water. These are two powerful elements of our salvation to become His bride. Jesus Christ is the spiritual Last Adam who marries a wife who becomes His Body born out of His side. Because Eve is a woman that births every natural and physical being on this planet she represents a natural type of another spiritual woman who will birth spiritual realities in God’s new covenant family. I have many other blogs that talk about this in much more depth if you are interested.
Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Conclusion
These were just 3 of the examples of the hidden Jesus in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. I hope that you learned something and can now begin to see how to learn to search out other hidden references to Jesus in Genesis trusting in God’s guidance. Many times these hidden references are not obvious at all, so we have to search for scriptures and find references, definitions, types and patterns revealed in other parts of the Bible. Jesus told us to search the scriptures, for these are they that testify of Him! The evidence for God can be found in His Word. God Bless!
God’s Word Based System! Are ALL Spoken Words Prophetic?
(Ver 1.1) Today will be another lesson (Part 6) from the Bible on the spoken words of God and man. If you have not read this series from the beginning I would suggest that you go and start reading with “Part 1“. As we read the Bible we can clearly see that God assigned certain men in the Bible with a gift of “prophecy”. These men were called the “Prophets” of God and they wrote vast amounts of scriptures about future events. So a prophetic word is one that could be taken as a future prediction of events to come. I’m really not a big fan of that definition of Prophecy. You see you can very easily confuse the words of “Nostradamus” as being future predictions, but did they come from God? Were they “Prophetic” or were they just someone writing down random thoughts of what they think will happen? I personally do not think they were prophetic or from God. Here is what I believe about prophecy and the realm of time. I believe that God lives outside of the limitation of time and space. The Bible says “In the beginning, God created….”. So we know before the beginning of time and space, God already existed. I believe that God can see all of humanity in a single view from start to end. The Bible says “I make known the end from the beginning”. Therefore, I believe that when God showed men in the Bible what to write about concerning future events, in the eyes of God, they had already happened from God’s perspective and God was just reporting what happened, before it actually happens in our time line. This is of course very difficult to comprehend how this is possible, yet men like Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein probably could better see it with many of the things that they have written about, to name a couple of modern day people who think outside of the box. So God’s prophecies are not predictions of things that might happen, they are just news reports of things that have already happened on our timeline. This is of course not predestination either. God did not cause all of them to happen, many times God just knew what men would do and used that for His purpose and plan. There is a major difference in the two perspectives of Prophecy. Every day, economists and people on Wall Street predict where the market is going based upon world events and factors that they observe around them. However, many, many times they are totally wrong so what they say did not come from God and was not prophetic and God did not perform what they said to fulfill it.
The complexities of the Bible are so huge that this is a very difficult subject to teach on. There are many factors and dependencies that we need to be aware of that it is impossible to teach on everything at once. Right now I am primarily concerned with the subject of Spoken Words so that will be my main focus of the rest of this lesson.
A while back I wrote a blog on “Speak to your Rock” and then I wrote a follow-up to that about “Idle Words“. At the very least, it would appear that God is trying to teach men, that what they say has significance to what happens in their lives. So I had a reader ask me this question, “Are words spoken by people prophetic because God showed them what will happen and therefore, they speak it and then it comes to pass in their lives”? Today’s blog will be an attempt to answer this question and hopefully explain what I meant in the other blogs that preceded this one on Spoken Words.
We can clearly see that every word spoken by people does not immediately happen to them. I believe this is by God’s design, if things happened exactly like people say, very few would have made it past a very young age. You see we have many people who say things out of ignorance and they generally do not mean a thing. You have many other people in the world who lie and these words generally do not mean anything. You have many other people who say things as a joke to be funny and these generally don’t mean anything either. Then there are words of slang that have crept into our mainstream that say the opposite than what they normally mean. Michael Jackson use to say “Ilm Bad” when he really meant “I’m Good”. There are just too many examples of people saying things that never happen so how do you balance that with other specific examples of men and women who have said something and it actually happens, exactly like they said? Was it a coincidence or an accident or was it something greater? In one blog I told you about Elvis Presley who was heard more than once to say that he would never out live his mother’s age when she died. Elvis died in 1977 at the age of 42, His mother had died in 1958 at the age of 46. So did what Elvis say cause what happened to him, or was it just a prediction that accidently occurred? You have to at least think about it and see that it is pretty amazing. I also gave you another example of my personal grandmother. She was getting older and did not like to drive her car in traffic. She was over heard by some other family members to say that “Some crazy driver would be the death of me”. One day as she was leaving one of her son’s houses and on the way back home, she pulled out in front of a couple of teenagers who were racing on the street where they should not have been. They broad sided my grandmother’s car and she was killed instantly. So again, we have to ask the question, did what she say cause it to happen or was it just an amazing coincidence? I could give you more examples like these, but I think we should shift focus to the Bible and see what we can find there about this subject. What the Bible says is far more important than any personal testimonies of people you cannot verify what they said.
In the O.T. in the book of Numbers chapter 13, God gives us an example that is very profound and has great significance to our current subject of spoken words. In this chapter, God tells Moses to send out 12 spies into the land that He has given to them. Their job is to look at the land and see if it is good and come back and report it to the people. Moses chooses 12 men, one from each of the tribes of Israel and they go and spy out the land. They then return to make their report back to the people after 40 days bringing large clusters of grapes. The twelve spies were divided into two groups. Ten said that there are strong people and walled cities. Two of them Joshua and Caleb said, “Let’s go up and take it, we are well able”. But, the ten said “We are not able, for they are stronger than we are”. The ten spies said “We are but grasshoppers in their eyes”. The ten spies stir up the majority of the people to believe they were unable to take the land that God had given to them. As a result of the “Evil Report” they began to say “Let’s go back to Egypt, and it would be better to die in the wilderness”.
In Numbers 14, Joshua and Caleb try to convince the people that they are able because God is with them and the defense of the inhabitants of the land has departed from them. What can we learn from this lesson found in the Bible? The Bible says these things happened and were recorded to be examples for us, the church. Two spies said “We can do it” and ten spies said “We are not able to do it” and both of these groups of people got exactly what they said. This is a lesson that you should begin to apply to your life and see how it applies to the things that you say. Review what you have said in the past and see if it is not what you are getting right now!
Let’s look at another example of a Bible story, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established. In 1 Samuel 17, the story of David and Goliath is a classic Sunday School story of how God used David to kill the giant Goliath. But, how was God able to do this with David and not with any of the other thousands of soldiers in the army of Israel? What was different about David? If you notice when you read this chapter, David was not afraid of this giant and all the other men in the army were terrified. Does this sound familiar with the story of the 10 spies? Weren’t they all afraid of the giants also? If you read this chapter closely you will also notice exactly what David said that made the difference to allow God to use him and not anyone else.
1Sa 17:37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
This is the beginning of a series of positive things that David says. David has great confidence in God’s ability to deliver. David has great confidence in God’s covenant. David says “God will be with me and deliver me from this Philistine”. Isn’t this like what Joshua and Caleb were saying? Can you tell the difference between a good report and an evil report? Both are spoken words, but one says “I will win” and the other says “I will lose”. Does what you say have any bearing on what God is able to do? If you do not understand that it does, you will forever be deceived into thinking that you have no responsibility in the outcome of your life.
Now let’s examine the real battle of David and Goliath. In Numbers 17:43 Goliath who also has a mouth full of words for Israel, starts to speak to David and asks “Am I a dog that you send out a boy with a staff?” Goliath curses David with his gods and tells David what he is about to do to him and his flesh. Can you see this is the real battle? David could have believed what Goliath said and run back home to watch the sheep and said forget this war stuff. Instead, David says this:
1Sa 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
These are the words that permit God to do mighty things. Because of David’s faith in God and God’s ability to save, David continues to speak and declare the end even before the beginning:
1Sa 17:46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
As you can see David got exactly what He said. The stone left his sling and hit the giant in the only exposed spot on his body that was vulnerable and David ended up taking the giant’s head off with the giant’s own sword. As a result of David’s victory the rest of Israel suddenly got religion and remembered the God of Israel and were not afraid anymore. The army of God was victorious over the Philistines that day because of the words of a shepherd boy who would eventually become King. Did David’s words have anything to do with David becoming King? You bet they did exactly that. There are many Bible lessons that speak of things exactly like this. Because you have never looked for them, does not mean they do not exist.
What you discover by digging deep into the Bible, is that the world is based on a word and faith system. God tells us in the Bible that everything we see was created from things that we cannot see (Heb 11:3), these things that we cannot see are words. The words of God became the things that we see around us. If you look at Genesis 1, you will notice the Bible repeatedly would say “And God Said….”. These words that God spoke originated from God’s Spirit and became the things that we perceive with our natural senses. If Words created our universe that we live in, then Words can still change it. Of course are these changes only limited to God’s Words or does the words of others effect what happens in the world? That is a big question to consider. Many religious people like to think that God controls everything that happens in the world. A huge volcano eruption that was God’s work, so they think. A big hurricane, that was also an act of God, so they think. I guess what we need to figure out is, is this what the Bible says?
Jesus Christ is called the Word of God in Rev 19:13. Then in John 1:1 it says “In the beginning was the Word and the Words was with God and the Word Was God!”. So we cannot separate God from His word, they are said to be one in the same. In John 1:14, it says “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” in speaking of God becoming a man in Jesus of Nazareth. John 1:14 gives us an example of how God’s word, by His Spirit can become something natural and physical. So God is His Word and the Word of God is God! God’s Word can also become a physical something that we can perceive with our senses. So far so good?
Then we see Jesus teaching us a farming lesson in Mark 4. The parable given there is about a farmer who throws seeds into different types of soil and some of the soil produces fruit and some does not. There are numerous symbolisms given to us in this parable, the soil is said to be the hearts of man. The birds of the air are demonic forces that attempt to eat the seed so that it will not produce. Finally, Jesus tells us that the seeds that are being planted are “The Words of God” (Mark 4:14). Now let me ask you a simple question, if God’s words are seeds, are all words that are spoken seeds? Is this possible? If you read another parable you might begin to see that it is entirely possible. In Matthew 13:24, Jesus tells us another parable about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is like a man who sows good seed in his field…”. Remember the fields are the hearts of men. The Good Seed is the Word of God. What is the opposite of Good Seed, I believe it would be Bad or Evil Seed. Uh Oh, remember the “Evil Report”? So in verse 25 of Matthew 13 Jesus says “an enemy came in and sowed tares among the wheat”. If you read on you find that the tares have become the children of the enemy and the wheat the children of God. Who is the enemy? Satan would qualify as the enemy of God who has sown the bad seed or evil words into the world. So now we have two different kinds of seed being spoken of, one evil and one good. Those from God are good seeds, those from Satan are evil seeds. I hope that you are understanding that people now have a choice of what to speak. They can choose to speak the “good seed” or they can choose to speak the bad or “evil seed”. In Deuteronomy 30:19, God says “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life that you and your seed may live”. Did you notice the reference to seed again? This is a double reference to two different things simultaneously. Seeds can be your children and seeds can be your words. In this verse this is spoken of in terms of blessing and cursing again and we can see more implied references to your spoken words. Jesus cursed the fig tree and blessed the little children with the same mouth. Jesus gave us object lessons of how a mouth can produce two completely different results based upon the seeds that they sow. One was a blessing to the children and one was a curse to the fig tree. So man can choose to live or die by their spoken words. Is this what the Bible says? If you read in Proverbs you find a very powerful truth being spoken of and it says “Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue, those that love it shall eat the fruit thereof”. So did you notice what this verse said? It said your tongue has power and your words are the seeds that produce results, either good or bad. Do you understand this?
So words are seeds that are planted in your heart that produces some result or crop in your life. You can plant good seeds from God’s Word or you can plant evil seeds from Satan. The soil of your heart really does not know the difference. Someone asked me if I thought that your words were prophetic? I would ask you, if a farmer planted a field full of corn seed, is that the crop he will harvest in the process of time? Did the farmer prophesy “corn” into existence or was it the fact that he planted the seed and the crop grew up and produced what was put in the soil. So Words are seeds and produce either the good or bad things that were spoken or planted in your heart? I of course oversimplified this lesson because it takes more than just speaking words to get something to happen in your life. Faith must also be present. Faith is the belief and expectation of something or someone that you do not see or feel with your physical senses. You believe in God and that He exists, even though you have never seen Him, that is faith. You believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and was raised from the dead, and that is faith, since you were not there to witness it personally.
What people say with their mouths and believe in their hearts, that is what will happen in their life, either positive or negative. It is the law of Faith. Faith always existed in the world from Adam until now. Galatians 3:23 tells us that “Faith was Revealed” in the New Testament, meaning it was present in the Old Testament, but hidden from man and they did not understand it. So the Law of Faith existed when God told Moses to Speak to the Rock and God said that because you did not believe, you will not enter into the promise land. Moses did not believe, that is the opposite of faith. God told Moses what to do and Moses didn’t do it.
This is why God did not reveal the secrets of the Bible to the Old Testament saints. If they would have figured out how spiritual things worked back then, before Jesus came and provided salvation, we could have been in some real big trouble. God is now revealing how spiritual things work in these last days before Jesus comes back. Those who are spiritually mature will be able to see them and understand them, and those who are still childlike will reject them more than likely. I pray that you have understood these Bible verses and the spiritual laws revealed in them and now can apply them to your lives so that you can get Good Results and you and your seed will Live!
If you would like to continue reading this series of lessons on spoken words, you can go to “Part 7“.
Understanding Spoken Words! From the Abundance of the Heart the Mouth Leaks!
This is now Part 5 in a series of lessons about spoken words found in the Bible. If you have not read this series from the beginning I would suggest that you go and start reading from “Part 1“. God woke me up this morning and spoke to me. I read a guy on the internet and he blogged about God being allusive and hidden and so he concluded that God must not exist. A few minutes ago God woke me up in the middle of the night to convey some things to me about spoken words. People who say God does not talk to them do not know how God speaks so they are not listening to what He says. Today I want to discuss spoken words in the context that they are proof that God exists. Have you ever thought or asked yourself why people are communicators? Humans are social creatures that like to talk. Do you think that if no one was there to listen you would talk so much? What if you were on a deserted island and there was no one there to talk to, would you still talk to yourself or to God? Being made in the image and likeness of God we can clearly see that man was made for a purpose. By the design of God, man was made with the ability to communicate with God. God listens to your words no matter where you are or what you say. There is a direct spiritual connection between your mouth and God’s ear. Since there are billions of people on the planet and only one God, I do not know how He keeps track of everyone’s words at the same time, but He does and it must be easy for Him to do. God tells us in Matthew 12:36 that every idle word that we speak, we will give an account of each of them in the day of judgment. So apparently God has some ability to record and recall every word spoken from every human being that has ever been alive on this planet. Being a computer programmer, that is some amazing demonstration of power. That makes Google look like small potatoes. Google over the last 12 years or so has accumulated literally astronomical amounts of data, but this pales in comparison to what God is tracking in heaven.
Just the existence of your mouth and your tongue proves that someone was there to hear you even when you didn’t think that someone was listening. It goes to a simple debatable point that men sometimes try to make about a tree falling in the forest and no one being there to hear it, they always ask does it still make a sound? You see what difference would the sound be if there was no hearers. The sound would be just waves of energy that go nowhere and mean nothing. Atheist have a problem with answering why we are how we are. How we got here and why we have these intelligently designed features like a mouth that communicates with others and ears that have the ability to hear the sounds that others make. Nothing in the world that has any useful purpose got here by chance or accident. It is absolutely STUPID to think that man just evolved into what we are today. There is too much evidence to the contrary.
I have written hundreds of pages and thousands of words on a blog, why? Because someone takes the time to read some of them. Because I write, proves that you are out there reading. This is a very simple concept and a very profound truth. Because we can speak words, proves that God is listening to them. You might not like my logic or you might just ignore my logic, but nevertheless it is based upon truth.
Jesus taught us that our words have a spiritual connection to them. People do not understand this, clearly they are oblivious to the truth. Words spoken are not meaningless or mindless, even though many words are spoken without any thought given to them. This is what Jesus spoke to the Jews one day:
Mat 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
The heart of man, is the spirit of man. If you do not understand this you should study and use your brain to figure it out. Jesus clearly gives us a direct connection of the words that people speak to what they have in their spirits. You could say what comes out of your mouth comes out of your spirit. Jesus tells this group of people because of the evil that they have abundantly in their heart, it is impossible for them to speak anything but evil. Jesus repeats this statement in Luke 6:45. Good men speak good things because it is what they have abundantly in their hearts. Evil men speak evil things, because it is what they have abundantly in their hearts. This is some amazingly important information, yet people generally do not attempt to understand the significance. Here is another set of words spoken by Jesus about His words:
Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
This is again some very significant information about the spiritual realm. The spirit has precedence and dominance over the flesh. The only reason your body is here reading this blog is because your spirit is in your body to give it life. To quicken in the KJV Bible means to “give life to”. Why is this important? It is very important because of how Jesus ends this verse. Jesus said “My Words are spirit and life”. Jesus was informing us where the words came from, that He spoke. His words were from God’s mouth and God’s Spirit. Because God put abundantly good things into the heart of Jesus, Jesus was able to speak good things that caused people to live. You cannot separate God from His Word. You cannot separate the Word of God from God either. Both of these are the same person. God’s words are God’s Spirit!
So what does all of this have to do with you and I? If you can agree with these things that I have said from the Bible. How do they apply to the here and now? Since you were made in the image and likeness of God, you can easily make some assumptions that if God’s words are His Spirit, then your words are your spirit. After all that is what Jesus said, from the abundance of what you have in your spirit, your mouth speaks. Jesus is described in the Bible as having the “Sword of the Spirit” coming out of His mouth. This is just another way to say what Jesus said in John 6:63. The sword of God’s sprit is His spoken words. The sword of your spirit is also the words of your spirit and what is abundantly in it. Many people in the world, utter curse words and blaspheme God’s name in every other sentence. This represents what they have abundantly in their hearts. Whatever you have abundantly in your heart is what will leak out of your mouth, this is a law of God and the way things work and connect to the spiritual realm from the natural realm and vice versa. Your mouth produces words that originated from the spiritual realm. These words are a result of whatever you put in your spirit, good or bad. In Proverbs God said this:
Pro 18:21 Death and Life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Those are some of the strongest words found in the Bible about the words that come out of your mouth. This verse in Proverbs tells you very clearly that your tongue has power and as a result of what you say, you either live or you die. Please keep this in mind and learn what God is trying to get you to see. God Bless!
If you would like to continue reading this series of lessons on spoken words, you can continue with “Part 6“.
Understanding God’s Circumcision of the Heart!
(Ver 1.2) This is of course a potentially explosive subject of an extremely controversial nature. There are well over 100 verses in the Bible that have a related topic or subject. I will of course not be trying to speak to all of these verses. What I will be attempting to do is focus on God’s typology from the O.T. and how it applies to the spiritual realm in the N.T. The Bible can be very complex, God can speak of natural things and spiritual things and call them by the exact same names. This makes Bible interpretation very difficult for many people and causes a great number of people to be very confused. Today’s subject is a key example of this point. Circumcision is normally thought of in natural terms only, but we soon discover that God gave us this natural example to teach us of something that we could not see with our natural eyes. Here we go with today’s Hot Topic, the Circumcision of the Heart. Let’s start by looking at an Old Testament prophecy and see what it says:
Deu 30:6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
If you can read and see what this verse declares then you will better understand the verses that we will look at next in the New Testament. This verse tells us that God will do something that we are unable to do. This verse is not speaking of your physical heart, it is speaking of your spirit. In this verse God says I will circumcise your spirit. This of course is a symbolic spiritual operation and not a physical operation. After you are born again your spirit is uncovered, enabling you to see spiritual things. We’ll probably talk about this more soon, but notice this is an Old Testament verse so it has to be a prophetic future event. It also mentions your heart or your spirit and your soul and your flesh or body is the implied reference of circumcision. This helps us to see that man is a triune being made in the image and likeness of God.
Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 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.
As you can clearly see in these two verses in Romans, God is contrasting and comparing two different groups of people. Both are referred to as being Jews, but one group is said to be circumcised by God and the other group by the hands of men. What do you think this is talking about? I’m sure if you do not want to accept what it says, that you must have already created an alternative interpretation. What we discover in the Bible is that, God initiated natural circumcision in the flesh way back with Abraham. This was an outward sign of the Old Covenant. Of course this was only a male practice and not done to females. This was not something God did personally, you do understand that, don’t you? So down through the centuries, the priests of Israel would perform this ritual to the male child on the 8th day after birth. This is the circumcision done by the hands of men that God is speaking of and comparing it to the real circumcision. God says very clearly in Romans 2:28 and 29 that these are not the true Jews. As you can see that is an extremely unpopular verse of scripture in many churches. Of course I added the word “True” before Jews in order to introduce a qualifier or an adjective to distinguish one kind of Jew from another kind of Jew spoken of in the Bible. So you may not totally agree with my adjective, “True”. You see God calls them that have been circumcised inwardly of the heart and the spirit to be the “real” Jew. God does the inward circumcision in man’s spirit and this is a fact whether you are male or female in the natural realm. What God does in the spirit realm is the Real Deal and everything else that man does is just a temporary patterned type of the real.
When God says something is “inward” and describes this in relationship to the terms of “hearts” and “spirits”, God is revealing a world that we cannot normally see with our eyes. Unless God gives you a vision into the spiritual realm, you are limited to your natural perception of reality. You can of course learn about the spiritual realm of God, by correctly observing what God teaches us in the Bible. The Bible says that God is a Spirit (John 4:24), have you ever seen God? The Bible actually says no man has ever seen God (1 Jo 4:12). So God is speaking of a Spiritual Realm or Dimension that is different than the natural realm that we live in here. I would venture to say that there are many Christians in the world that must not know this.
So why did God give Israel the Law and all of these outward practices that they have done such a poor job at keeping? I believe one reason that God gave Israel the Law was to prove to man that he was incapable of keeping it. Meaning God recorded the law for man to see God’s level of expectations and His requirements to obtain or earn righteousness by works and no man has ever fulfilled these requirements, except for Jesus Christ.
Rom 2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made un circumcision.
We can again see in Romans that God declares that man could achieve righteousness of his own works if he was able to keep all of the law of God. But, since everyone has broken at least one law, God declares that you are guilty of breaking all of the law (James 2:10) So as a result of breaking the law, God says your outward physical circumcision has been rendered useless, you have become like the un-circumcision. So apparently the fact that you are circumcised in your flesh has been superseded by a spiritual requirement that you were not aware of.
Act 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
These are the words of Stephen speaking to the natural Jews on trial for his life as witnesses came before the elders and priests and lied to them about the words of Stephen. God further confirms that those who are judging Stephen are not the True Jews that God is looking for. God did not care about their fleshly signs of the Covenant of Old. God was using Stephen to look into their hearts and see that their spirits needed this circumcision done by God’s hands. You do understand that both Stephen and Paul were circumcised in their flesh and they counted this as unimportant. I guess I should change that, they saw a need for a greater circumcision done by God to be more important than that which was done by the hands of men. You can also learn that this circumcision involves your ears also. Did you know your spirit is connected to your ears? The Bible says “Faith comes by hearing”. Faith is a spiritual force and a factor that comes from hearing the truth of God’s Word. The truth can be easily rejected, as evidenced by the number of denominations in the Christian body. Evidently part of God’s circumcision results in the ability to hear the truth. Men can still choose to reject it and thus we have such a vast array of writings about what the truth is.
Col 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
This is another verse that declares the church to be the “circumcision” made without the hands of men. This of course is a spiritual circumcision done by God. This verse informs us that God has cut off the body of the sins of the flesh. What is this talking about? Just because we become a born again believer in Christ, we still have the same body that we did before we were saved. So God must be talking about something symbolically that occurred within us that has not occurred in those in the world. If you do not know what I am talking about, I would be concerned that I am not saved. You see Christians should be becoming more and more spiritually aware as they grow in Christ.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spiriit, that we are the children of God:
God is a Spirit and if you are born again the Spirit of God has now come into your spirit on the inside of you and He now is the witness to the fact that you are a child of God. Isn’t that what this verse is saying? Apparently according to this verse, Christians are suppose to be spiritually alive and aware. If you have become more aware of spiritual things and less aware of natural things, then you are a Real Christian. If you have more concern with things about your body, than you do with your spirit, I would be very concerned. God gives us a fact that the circumcision of the body is a removal of the dominance of the flesh that every non-believer still experiences. People in the world are more concerned with how they feel and how you make them feel than they are about you personally. This becoming spiritually aware is the circumcision of the body from the spirit of man done by God. God gives you the ability to focus on what is more important. God gives you the ability to focus on eternal things more than the temporary things of this world.
2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
What are these things that you can see being referenced in this verse? You can see your face in the mirror, you can see your food on your plate. You can see the house that you live in. You can see the car that you drive to name a few things that God said that are not that important. What are the things that you cannot see that God said were eternal? If your body is not eternal and God said you are, then you must be a spirit being that will live forever somewhere. Within the body of every human being is a spirit being that will exist somewhere forever. God is a Spirit and He will live forever. Every spiritual being is eternal. Did you know that the only thing that you will take with you to heaven or to hell is your experiences and memories on the earth. You will get a new body eventually, but that is not the body you have now. So what are the eternal things that you should be concerned with? I believe it is your job to get as many of your friends saved as you can. I believe it is your job to tell everyone that you can about Jesus and what He has done for them. These are the eternal things that you can take with you. Thank you for reading my Bible study on the circumcision done by the hands of God.
The Book of Ruth, Types and Shadows Revealed
(Ver 2.0) This is “Part 5” in a series of essential Bible lessons on “Understanding the Book of Ruth”. We have explored a lot of information, but have conceivably left out a lot of information at the same time. It is almost impossible to fully cover any subject in the Bible, because no one knows everything about the subjects in the Bible, except for God. I am a firm believer that God created this book of the Bible with an infinite number of thoughts and ideas, words and phrases, subjects and topics that are so well connected that it near impossible to discover them all in a human lifetime. I have already given you a significant amount of evidence that the type of Ruth appears to correspond to the spiritual characteristics of the church of Jesus Christ called His bride. We have also seen evidence that Boaz appears to be a type and “the” pattern representative of the spiritual savior and kinsman redeemer named Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There are a lot of Christians who do not understand these hidden types found within the Old Testament patterns. There are even some preachers who teach against these symbols being Christ and the church. I have heard several internet bloggers and teachers that attempt to convince us that the natural nation of Israel represents Ruth as the Bride of Christ. The claim proposes that only natural Israel can represent the woman Ruth who will be married to Jesus. These teachers further claim that since the Bible says the Church is the Body of Christ, they also call the church the husband to Israel. What they do is take one truth found in the New Testament and fail to balance it with other truths correctly. That is a major problem for the source of confusion.
I am saddened how people can be so ignorant and come up with such wild and crazy theological theories. These types of theories have such broad holes of contradictions within them and these can be easily seen if desired. But people do this and Satan enjoys the confusion that is caused in the church. Opinions and theories like these, do not hold water when analyzed correctly using the Bible. If you have not read this series of lessons from the beginning I would suggest that you go back and start with “Part 1“.
First of all, we need to remember that Ruth was a Gentile and that is obviously the first problem with this erroneous interpretation of Israel being the bride of Christ. A gentile by definition is not a natural Jew or a descendant of natural Israel. Ruth was a Moabite and a descendent of Lot, Abraham’s relative, but clearly clearly Ruth did not descend from Abraham. While reading the book of Ruth it is very challenging to see and know everything about what applies and how they apply to each of the given types and shadows. God selected truthful natural events, peoples and places in the Bible to represent future spiritual patterns that have or will occur in the future. However, the natural people, places and events do not always fit exactly and perfectly with what we know at this time. So it becomes difficult for some to understand how they all fit completely together. Much like a shadow being cast on the ground by the bright sunshine, a natural object makes a recognizable pattern on the ground, and so it is with Bible types and shadows also. The spiritual shadows found in the natural things of the Old Testament Bible leaves out most of the details of the coming spiritual reality that is causing the shadow. This is just how Bible types and shadows work by God’ design. Shadows always represent broad strokes of truth with a limited direct set of all of the details. But God is very wise and kind to insert enough clues to teach us how they are representative of the real spiritual realm. I hope we all understand this concept going forward. At the minimum please understand a lot of the details were omitted by God on purpose to both conceal and reveal the truth simultaneously. The fact that we do not know everything, we are blessed and should be thankful to God for our ability to see the parts that were revealed to us. Thank you LORD!
Let’s start today’s lesson by listing the primary themes and patterns that are found in the book of Ruth. I will list these in no particular order, and give you a brief description of what I believe they mean and then we will look at how to apply them.
|
Themes Found in the Book of Ruth |
Description |
| Life and Death | Elimilech and his sons all die after leaving Bethlehem. Death is said to be a separating force from the living. Death is also the beginning of the problem and the answer can only come from someone living. |
| Families | One central theme of the entire book. The story of one family’s struggle with life’s difficult circumstances and how a close relative comes to redeem them. |
| Hunger and Famine | A lack of food that causes people to do things that they would not normally do under better circumstances. |
| Widowhood | God’s legal separation for a marriage covenant between a wife and her husband. |
| The Law | The rules of God based upon the wisdom of God to help man learn their need for a redeemer. |
| Faith and Faithfulness | Faith is believing in something is true even when it looks like it is not true. Faithfulness is remaining loyal to someone or something even though it does not look like the best choice at the time. |
| Humility | The opposite of pride. A humble person always obtains the favor and the grace of God. |
| Wheat Harvests | A crop of intentionally planted seeds. |
| Passover | A specific time of the season for remembrance and the partaking of a covenant meal. |
| Near Kinsman | A relative that is living who is legally qualified to become our redeemer. |
| Love | The central theme of all of the Bible. |
| Grace | That which is given to us freely, even though we do not deserve it. We partake of God’s grace by our faith. |
| Redemption | The act of restoring one’s possessions back into your legal ownership. |
| Marriage | A covenant between a man and a woman. The two shall become one flesh! |
| Children | The reason for redemption. To raise up an heir and a name for the dead. |
In reading through my list of the primary themes found in the book of Ruth, I hope that you can begin to see how they fit into the spiritual picture of Christ and the church.
Now let’s list the primary people and places found in the book of Ruth and see if we can determine who they possibly represent by looking at the definition of their names from the Strong’s concordance.
|
Name |
Definition of the Name |
| Elimilech | God of the King |
| Naomi | Pleasant |
| Mahlon | Sick |
| Chilion | Pinning destruction |
| Ruth | Friend |
| Orpah | Mane, back of the neck |
| Boaz | Unknown Root Word of unknown Meaning |
| Obed | Servant |
| Mara | Bitter |
| Bethlehem | House of Bread |
| Moab | The Mother’s Father |
BETHLEHEM
These are most of the primary characters and places revealed to us in the book of Ruth. As you can tell by reviewing the list, we still have a lot to learn. Let’s start near the end of the list first with BethlehemJudah. Places are often times used in the Bible to signify a spiritual state or a realm of existence. BethlehemJudah as it is called in verse 1 of Ruth chapter 1 is like the key place where the descendants of the tribe of Judah lived. When Joseph and Mary were about to have the baby Jesus, they were required by decree to go to Bethlehem, because they were of the lineage and descents of King David who came from the House of Judah. Because of this royal command of a census they were required to travel to their home city to pay their tax. Thus Jesus was born in the exact prophesied location (Micah 5:2), even though his parents did not live there. That was a very tricky thing for God to accomplish. If you recall, the Jews thought Jesus was from Nazareth and thus missed the coming of their Messiah. We can conclude or at least assume that the story of Ruth is related to Jesus, because of this given specific location.
Most of the time, the names of people and places in the Bible have meanings attached to them. Many times these names help to reveal the characteristics and types of the spiritual realm entity that they represent. Often times the meaning of names reveals clues that are definitely important to understanding the meaning of the typology in the story. Judah is a Hebrew word that means several things and has vast implications attached to it. Judah comes from a word that means “to throw with your hands”, it also has implications of reverence and worship as in to “praise”. In other words to “worship” with “extended hands”. Bethlehem as we have already seen means “the house of bread”. We can see that the word “house” means a family of relatives. The term bread means “food for the implied life and strength of men”. Are you seeing anything that sounds familiar? Jesus said He was the bread of life (John 6:48). So we must be talking about the family of God in this story of Ruth. This would mean that Judah represents the people who praise God, who are part of the city and the family of God.
MOAB
Moab is of course much more difficult to get people to see, because they have really given it no thought or deep study. Moab was the incestuous son of Lot and his daughter. Moab the son of Lot was also a half-brother to his mother. Moab was both the son of Lot and the grandson of Lot and all of this just complicates things. The term Moab means “the mother’s father”. The region of Moab was where Elimilech traveled when he thought there was no food (bread) in Bethlehem. These Moabites were Gentile people who were not in covenant with God and were not the children of Abraham. So we can see that this has an implied meaning of those outside of the family of God. This could be representative of the unsaved world and the all the people in it. Ruth of course was a Moabitish woman and therefore came from the realm of the unsaved to be married in covenant with the Savior and her redeemer. Moab is mentioned more than 100 times in the Bible and most of the time it is not a positive place or reference. Moab is usually a better place to be from than a place to be living in now. We can understand this is a picture of the Bride of Christ. Those who have come out of their Moab and now live in the House of God’s Bread of Life. The type of the church is a very good picture of those who have come out of false gods, to know the true living God. Ruth is a great type of this picture and I believe this is why God put her in this book of the Bible.
RUTH
The name “Ruth” means “a friend”. Jesus picked up on this in the book of John and revealed to us the connection when speaking to His disciples:
Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Jesus clearly speaking to the future church calls them His friends. Do you think this was an accident or a coincidence that Jesus did this? I definitely do not think so. I believe it is a clue that represents His connection to the book of Ruth and helps to identify the symbolic reference to the bride of the redeemer. We know that Ruth exemplified certain qualities in the Bible that are related to those of the church today. The primary quality that qualifies Ruth as a type of the church is “faith”. Ruth trusted in a God she did not yet know and God came through for her above and beyond all of her expectations. Next, the quality of “faithfulness”. Faithfulness is related to faith, but yet still different. To be faithful to your spouse is what Ruth was to Naomi and eventually to Boaz. The third quality of Ruth that qualifies her for the type of the church is “humility”. The true church should be humble in their attitudes and come with respect and reverence towards their Savior and Redeemer. Humility is the opposite to pride, and pride was the downfall of Lucifer. By remaining humble before God we are qualified to receive the grace of God.
I want to add a fourth quality. Ruth trusted completely in a religion and a people that were not her people. As sinners we are not in the family of God. We were born naturally as uncircumcised (not in covenant) with God people. But Ruth saw something in this family that was different than how she was raised and she followed her mother-in-law into this path of becoming a part of her family. The Jewish family of Naomi became her family. How does this pattern fit the church? We should know by reading the New Testament that the New Covenant began with only Jewish people. The 12 disciples were Jewish, the 120 in the upper room in Acts 2 were all Jewish, the apostle Paul was Jewish, etc. So when God moved to save the Gentiles, they all had to trust what these Jewish people were telling them was true. Wow, I think that is amazing. I thank God for the Jewish people that spread the message of Good News to everyone in the world.
BOAZ
Boaz has a name that has no direct definition attached using Strong’s definitions. But the BDB (Brown-Driver-Briggs) says it means “fleetness” and the NASEC says it means “quickness”. This appears to indicate a person who is fast in motion, reaction or response. But, I believe the best description of Boaz comes from his personal title descriptions. These seem to help us identify his spiritual position within the story in precision. We saw earlier that Boaz was called the Kinsman Redeemer. That means a near relative who has the legal ability and responsibility to redeem. That is exactly what Jesus is. Jesus left heaven and became a man just like one of us. Because of Jesus’ unselfish acts of kindness and love we have an unmerited opportunity for salvation made available to us.
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
We can clearly see in the N.T. that it talks of Jesus being the redeemer of the church. He has bought us out of a situation that we could not solve ourselves. This was exactly Ruth’s situation in the O.T. As you recall Ruth was from Moab and we have found that this represents the unsaved natural world.
1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The church is said to have been bought with a price and we have become His property from the purchased price of His shed blood. This is exactly the pattern of the transaction that took place in the book of Ruth. Boaz redeemed the property of his dead brother and also bought the woman Ruth to be his wife in the transaction. This is what God did, and it was God’s idea, God’s plan for redemption, and God’s system of salvation. To humans it does not make much sense, but to those who can see , it is a great and wise plan. Boaz is called a near relative, Jesus you could say was our near relative. Because Jesus became a man, like one of us, that qualifies Jesus to be our redeemer. Boaz demonstrated love, kindness, grace and extends favor to his future bride when she is unable to do anything to save herself. This is also a perfect picture of Christ and the Church. By Grace are we Saved through Faith.
The Marriage of Boaz and Ruth the Gentile
While the Bible is very complex, it does present us some clues to the relationship of Jesus and the church. There are specific verses found in the Bible that declare the Gentiles will trust in the coming Messiah. Ruth obviously trusted in Boaz enough to lay by his feet on the threshing floor. Ruth put her confidence in her redeemer and this was a picture of church to Christ.
Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
This verse in Isaiah is referring to Jesus Christ, who is the picture of Boaz. In relationship to Jesus, He is mentioned to be the “Light of the Gentiles”. We can easily see how this fits with the picture of Ruth. So while the name Ruth is not directly mentioned in the Bible, the type of Ruth is mentioned in verses like these that I am giving you. Here is another one that is applicable:
Isa 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
The Root of Jesse is again a reference to Jesus Christ our redeemer. The reference is given to us in this verse that the Ruths of the world will seek after Him. In reading the story of Ruth, you notice that Ruth goes from a poor widow field laborer to a woman married to one of the richest men in the city. Do you think Boaz’s rest was good for Ruth? How does the wealth of Jesus compare to that of Boaz’s money and possessions?
Mat 12:21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
Speaking of Jesus, in Matthew, the Gentiles put their confidence in Him. This is the church to their redeemer. Isaiah 11:10 is also quoted in Romans 15:12 and declares that the Gentiles have put their trust in their Boaz. The Bible tells us in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son….”. We could say it in another way also, that “God so loved Ruth from Moab that he gave His Boaz to redeem us…” and all I did was change the names to the symbolic names found in the Book of Ruth. We can easily see that Boaz was motivated by love when he did what he did for Ruth and Naomi. Because of Ruth’s faith towards God she is now the wife of the savior and redeemer. A marriage in the Bible is a covenant in the eyes of God and a covenant is a marriage. You can see this revelation clearly by examining verses found in Jeremiah31:32 and Malachi 2:14 to name a couple of the obvious verses that you can find and read in the Bible. So far the picture of Ruth as the church and bride fits with other verses in the Bible that state Jesus is the bridegroom (John 3:29, Revelation 21:9).
ELIMILECH
Elimilech is a very specific Hebrew name that means a very specific thing. The name “Elimilech” means “God of the King”. Right there is where the difficulty begins for most Christians. That is a Hebrew word that has the name of God “Elohiym” joined to the Hebrew word for “King”. This of course has widespread implications written on it everywhere. As you recall from the book of Ruth, Elimilech dies. So who in the Bible is the “God of the King”? David was a popular King in the Bible and the God of King David was “Elohiym”. But I do not believe David is the correct answer for who this represents.
Maybe we should start with who is the real King? Our King is said to be Jesus Christ. Jesus is called the King of kings (Rev 19:16, Rev 17:14). David was told by God that one of his descendants would sit upon the throne forever as eternal King. Jesus also qualifies as a Son of David for this position. So we can fairly easily conclude that Jesus is the King. Who is the God of Jesus? You can begin to see the challenge starting to get much deeper now and much harder to understand. We all should know that Jesus was God and there is none beyond or above Him. The God of the Bible is the only true and living God. We can begin to see glimpses into the complexity of God’s manifested and revealed natures and personalities. There is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost and yet these three are all still One God.
So anyway Elimilech must represent our Creator God just using the name’s definition. But, how is this possible? It is technically not possible for God to die, however if God does not die for our sins, our sins are not forgiven. Thus we have a paradox and a puzzle presented to us from the Bible. Jesus Christ was the Son of God, yet at the same time He was God in the flesh. So whatever happens to Jesus, happens to God. This is just basic logic using the verses that we have covered. If Satan and the Jews hang Jesus Christ on a cross, they are hanging God himself on the cross. Do you remember what Jesus said in a parable about killing the “heir”? (Luke 20:14) Jesus tells of a field that has been let out to a husbandman and the owner of the field sends servants to collect of the fruit, but they come away empty. Now, finally the owner of the field sends his son, saying they will respect him, but they do not, instead they kill him because he is the heir of the property that hey do not own but are using temporarily. By killing the Son of God, they think they have possessed the inheritance. Instead they have sealed their fate.
It is important to note that Elimilech in this story represents God who dies. Through His death a redeemer is now required to save the property that He had owned. The Redeemer is of course also God and His name is Jesus Christ. Remember what Romans 7 teaches us. Paul writing to Jewish people tells them they are in bondage to the LAW and their covenant with God the Father until He dies. Then in verse 4 Paul gives them the good news, that they are now freed from that law because of the death of Jesus on the cross. By Jesus having died, the Old Covenant was terminated. Now they were free to enter into marriage covenant with someone new and Paul informs us this should be the Risen from the Dead LORD JESUS CHRIST. Wow, this should cause a lot of new light to begin to shine within your spirit.
NAOMI
Naomi is called “Pleasant” by the meaning of her name. Since she is married to Elimilech who represent God the Father, then we can conclude very easily that Naomi is an allegorical representation of the people in the natural Nation of Israel and those that were under the law of Moses. Naomi represents the Old Covenant relationship with God. The female wife of the Old Testament God of Abraham. She knows the law and uses the law. In the book of Ruth Naomi is the mother-in-law to Ruth and she tells her what to do based upon her knowledge of the law to get her redeemer. This again is an exact picture of the early church. Do you realize that the only Bible the early church had was the Old Testament? Jesus taught exclusively from the text from these O.T. books. Peter taught from the O.T. in the book of Acts. The New Testament contains a whole bunch of quotes from the Old Testament. What God did was finally reveal the true meaning of the Old Testament to the church. Before, the church came along the O.T. was a giant spiritual puzzle of information that no man could understand. However, the New Testament is written largely from the revelation given to Paul and the other apostles about the things that explain what the O.T. really means. However, it also gives us a pattern that God can still hide more information for us to discover, even today.
Jer 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
As you can clearly see in this scripture written in Jeremiah, God says that His Old Covenant was a marriage to the people of natural Israel. God is said to be their husband, they are implied to be the wife. We can therefore conclude that this is a revealed pattern of the coming New Covenant also. If one covenant was a marriage, the other covenant is also a marriage. The first is to a natural people, and the New is to a spiritual people.
So Naomi was married to Elimilech and Israel was married to Elohim (God). Naomi became a widow after her husband died, and so did Israel. So it still is a little bit difficult to understand, I know. We know that Ruth is faithful to Naomi and this seems to be a perfect picture of the Church’s continued faithfulness to the nation of Israel even today. It seems that the whole world wants to destroy the nation of Israel, except for a few that are controlled by a predominate Christian presence. The hatred towards the nation of Israel is extremely unique among all nations. I do not recall any other nation being so easily maligned and attacked in so many different ways. It is noteworthy to mention that the nation of Israel receives support from the Christians of the world and this is a picture of Ruth. Just as Naomi benefited from Ruth’s marriage to Boaz, Israel benefits from the church’s marriage to Jesus Christ. However, it is still important to note that Boaz was not married to Naomi, only Ruth was in covenant with Boaz and this is how the New Covenant is today also. Jesus Christ, the risen Son of God is in covenant with the Church and not natural Israel. Israel can receive benefits from the church’s relationship, but they are required to be born again and join the same church for salvation as everyone else. The Bible says that Israel is being provoked to “jealousy” (Rom 10:19). What makes you jealous? What makes women jealous? Other women make women jealous. Jealousy occurs when someone has something that you do not have. The church now has a better covenant with God, that Israel does not have anymore and this is the point of jealousy.
Rom 9:25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
God prophecies something in Hosea that is very profound and reveals the coming jealousy of Israel. Israel who were God’s people are now said not to be God’s people. Yes or No? Of course that is what it says, whether you like it or not. The nation of natural Israel who was the beloved wife of God, is now not the wife of God. These are physical vs. spiritual truths being presented to us. God is saying that I will make a New Covenant with a people that were not my people and now they will become my New Covenant spiritual people and my new beloved wife. This is the picture of Ruth and Boaz given to us in this story of love and redemption.
Death and Marriage
Now let’s examine a new aspect that the Bible talks about that maybe you have not seen before. If you recall I said earlier that death was a legal separation of marriages. That means when Ruth’s husband died she was now free to marry another man without retribution or the accusation of adultery. This is a Bible principle and a law found in the Bible that I refer to as the “Law of Marriage”. This is what Jesus says about the subject:
Mat 19:9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
These are the words of God himself and they tell you exactly what God thinks about people’s wrong attitudes in the world today. I believe the divorce rate within the church is up to around 50% and that is crazy. So what does this have to do with the story of Ruth, you ask? This is what it has to do with the story of Ruth:
Rom 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
In this chapter of Roman God is discussing marriage covenants and He says that a woman is bound to her covenant husband by the established law of God (Gen 2:24). If you recall in Genesis 2, when God created woman (Eve), she came from the body of her husband Adam. God then gave us the law of marriage. “A husband shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall be one flesh”. So just because you get a divorce that does not solve the “one flesh” part of God’s covenant arrangement. As you can see in Romans 7:2 the wife is joined to her husband as long as he is alive. But, since Ruth’s husband was dead that changes everything. Let’s keep reading in Romans:
Rom 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
So a woman who divorces her husband and marries another man is called an adulterer. So what does this have to do with Ruth, well you have to just read the next verse in Romans to find that out:
Rom 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
In this chapter of Romans, God is speaking directly to the natural Jews and not the Gentiles. Why is that important? Because the natural Jews were the people that were married to God in the Old Covenant and if they now wanted to be married in covenant with another man while their first husband was still living, they would be in adultery. This is of course a very difficult thing to think about. God is a spiritual being and it is impossible to kill a spiritual being. That is why God became a natural and mortal man. By becoming a natural human man, God can now experience death (Heb 2:14). As you can see in Romans 7:4 it says very clearly that because Jesus died, they (Jews that know the law) are now legally free to “marry” another husband. This is a picture of the risen Jesus and the New Covenant. Did you realize that the New Covenant is with the Risen from the dead Jesus and not with the natural Jesus who walked the face of the earth as a natural human mortal male? Did you realize that this is an important fact to know?
The risen from the dead Lord Jesus is an eternal being and now a manifested permanent member of the Godhead. So the difference between Jesus the natural man and the risen Jesus, is that the natural man was born of a woman as a mortal man who could die and the risen Jesus was born of the Spirit cannot die anymore. The risen Jesus was born of the Spirit and He is the Immortal God Man. There are some big differences between the two. In Hebrews 13:20 God informs us that Jesus was raised from the dead in order to implement an everlasting covenant marriage. This statement has staggering implications that other covenants not implement by the same Power of God are potentially not everlasting. In fact Jesus claims in John 14:6 that He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except by and through Him. Wow, that is an amazing statement. This would seem to imply angelic beings as well as every human on the planet, past present and future.
I know that Jesus our savior we have a covenant with Him alone. I also know that He was God in the flesh, but yet He was not God in His full Omnipotent Powers, or it would have been impossible to kill Him. Jesus was a man that was able to be killed and that is not God in His FULL Deity Power. So did God die? If God did not experience death then you and I will soon have to experience it and we won’t like the end results. We know that “through death he (Jesus) destroyed him that had the power of death (Satan)” (Heb 2:14). So it is important to note that Jesus died physically and through his death he accomplished many positive things for us. Thank you Jesus
The Coming Wheat Harvest
This story of Ruth is a natural example of a spiritual truth that has occurred and is occurring already in the spiritual realm. We the church are gleaning and gathering in the harvest of God’s spiritual crop of people in the world which is God’s harvest field.
Jas 5:7 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.
You see in the book of Ruth, the woman works the field to bring in a ripe crop. This is all typological to the story of the Church reaping the harvest of God’s precious fruit that He is still waiting patiently for. There will come a time when the harvest is over and that is a day of grave consequences for many, yet that is the reality of God. Jesus told us in Matthew 9:37 that the “harvest is truly plenteous but the laborers are few”. God is of course not talking about a natural harvest, but a spiritual harvest of people. Jesus taught numerous things about spiritual things, using crops, fields, seeds and laborers. You should go and study all of these and see how they relate to the story of Ruth. I believe you will find them very important to know.
The Nearer Kinsman Redeemer
I would like us to look at the unnamed man in the story of Ruth that is referred to as the nearer kinsman redeemer. This part of the story takes place in Chapter 4 beginning at verse 1. It might be good for you to go and reread it to see the details given to us by God. Boaz goes to the gate of the city. This represents the place of government and business. Boaz requests the elders of the city to witness what he must do. A man that Boaz recognizes comes by the gate and this is the nearer kinsman redeemer that has the first right of refusal to buy the land of Naomi. Boaz tells the nearer relative that he must buy the property of their brother Elimelech and if he does not, he will do his family responsibility to buy it. But Boaz also informs this nearer kinsman redeemer that he must also marry Ruth the Moabite gentile to raise up a seed for the dead brother. This when the nearer kinsman informs everyone that this will “mar” his inheritance.
The Hebrew word H7843 that is translated as “mar” literally means to “ruin”. This nearer kinsman redeemer believed that by him taking this dead brother’s inheritance it would cause him to lose his own birthright. It is a very interesting problem. When is the first time this situation occurs in the Old Testament? It happens to occur in Genesis 38. In Genesis 38 God describes the story of Judah, his wife and his 3 sons. Judah arranges a marriage for his firstborn son and her name is Tamar. The firstborn son’s name is Er and he died without having any children with Tamar. Judah then gives Tamar to be the next in line kinsman brother named Ono. But this sons is just like the nearer redeemer in Ruth and refuses to have a child with Tamar because he would be raising up seed for his dead brother and not for himself. Onan finds displeasure with God for this act and he dies. There is a third son named Shelah and he is too young for Tamar and she is asked by Judah to wait until he is old enough to become his wife. But this never happens. It would appear that Judah fears to lose this son also by marrying him to Tamar.
Now we get to Tamar’s righteous deception. She tricks Judah into thinking she was a prostitute and she has Judah’s children. One of these twins becomes the continuation of the family line that produces Jesus the Lion from the tribe of Judah. Wow, this child for the dead was the one that carried the family line forward for Christ. Wow! Ok, what do you see in all of this typology? Remember that Ruth was a Gentile that became pregnant to carry on the same family lineage for Christ. Notice, how the Hebrew word that is translated as “daughter-in-law” in the book of Ruth is the same word used in Genesis 38 for Tamar. This is God connecting them together by His word selection, family lineage and repeated pattern. It is important to see the patterns being repeated with the parallels and similarities in these two stories.
Who could this nearer kinsman redeemer represent in our Bible typology examination? I see him as a mystery in the puzzle since he is unnamed. This is a very challenging spiritual person to to resolve. I have learned to observe what Satan is attempting to deceive us with in the church and the world. By carefully observing Satan’s plans to distract, discount and discourage us from believing in what the Bible teaches us, he causes people to have doubt like Eve. “Has God really said?” One thing I have seen is there has been a satanic agenda that has been extended in the world to try to get people to believe that Jesus our Lord and Savior (God in the Flesh) had physical children on the earth while He was in His mortal human body. The accusation is made that Jesus had a physical relationship with Mary Magdalene and she gave him natural children upon the earth that are still existing today. Wow, this is such nonsense. But it became a huge movie in 2003.
So why would the mortal Jesus not want to take a natural wife and create His own family on the earth? The answer is simply because this was NOT the plan of God. We need to go and read Romans 7:4 again. This verse reveals that the marriage covenant of the church is with the Risen from the Dead LORD Jesus Christ. This is so very important to know. The Risen LORD is now fully deity. He can then legally send His Spirit to live on the inside of each of us (His Body & Bride). This is one of the main reasons why Satan would have never crucified the LORD of Glory.
We will end this section with this information that is new to many Christians. Why did Jesus say a man must be born again to enter into the kingdom of heaven? Did Jesus include Himself in this statement or was the implied to be excluded? I believe the statement was ALL inclusive and Jesus spoke of Himself prophesying His destiny. You see in Colossians 1:18 that Jesus was the FIRSTBORN from the dead. God then tells us very clearly why this took place. God says He was born first from the dead in order to give Him “preeminence”. What does that mean? This Greek word G4409 means the first in rank and order.
God is teaching us that before Jesus was the first born from the dead, he was not the first in the order of rank or “preeminence”. Ok, now we are getting somewhere good. Boaz was not first in order when it came to his kinsman redeemer status to marry Ruth. So they went to another to legalize the purchase of Naomi’s land and the marriage of Ruth. Because natural Jesus refused to make any covenants this indicates there could have been others that were above Him in rank or order that had the right of first refusal to covenant with the church. I believe this could have been Lucifer aka Satan. But the time to rejoice is Satan thought this would cause him to lose his legal inheritance in heaven. Of course that was my opinion and I am still looking to confirm this in the Word of God. It is interesting that most humans and many Christians do not believe in a devil! Let us wrap this section up.
Nevertheless, since Jesus is now “preeminent over and will always remain this way, every other spiritual being that came before Him has been eliminated from claims to us. The church now has their legal kinsman redeemer that will allow us to live forever (Jn 3:16) and have a marriage covenant that will not cease (Heb 13:20). Praise the LORD!
The Heir of the Dead
This was the book of Ruth and while we did not attempt to go into every detail or every type given, I gave you enough details to get you started. I will leave you with this thought. If Ruth does represent the church and Boaz represents the Risen Jesus Christ. Why did Boaz marry Ruth? The primary purpose and responsibility of every kinsman redeemer is to raise up an heir for the dead. So how does this apply to the main story characters: God, Israel, Jesus, and the Church?
Boaz has a son through the Gentile woman Ruth, they called this son Obed, which means “God’s servant”. Who died? God died, Adam died, Jesus died to name a few obvious choices and candidates. Jesus the eternal God Man now resolves two primary spiritual and natural patterns. By Jesus’ death on the cross, God is now free from every previous covenant relationship, whether this was Israel, Adam, or Satan. By the Risen Jesus establishing a New Covenant that is said to be better, man’s eternal separation from God has also been resolved, if you want to receive it. In the Book of Ruth, Ruth has a child that is the heir of the dead man’s family. If Jesus is the husband and the church is the bride, you have to see that Jesus will have a spiritual child through His new covenant bride/wife. This child has to be the Spirit of God, since the church is a spiritual woman and Jesus said that which is born of spirit is spirit (John 3:6). So we can see that the church must be going to have a child some day that will become the heir to everything that is or was in the spiritual and natural realms and the ownership of both of these realms will revert completely and totally back to God forever. We can see a prophetic view of this coming pregnant woman and her child in Revelation 12. From this point forward in Revelation God reveals the end and the demise of Satan’s future and decrees Satan’s destiny from the heavenly Judicial system using the law of God. This of course is all new stuff, so I anticipate it will be difficult for you to accept until you learn more. I would recommend that you not throw it away, just because it is new and different. At least study it and see if it is true. Thanks for studying the Book of Ruth with me. God Bless.
The Book of Ruth, The Man with a Shoe Loose and The Marriage of the Bride! Chapter 4
(Ver 1.1) We are now in chapter 4 of the book of Ruth. If you have not been reading this series from the beginning you should go back and start with “Part 1“. As you read chapter 3 of Ruth you should have noticed that Boaz tells Ruth that there is a closer relative than himself and he will have to see if the closer relative is willing to fulfill the law and marry her. You should remember that the law gave a specific order of precedence for the fulfillment of the requirement of the law. The order went from the closest or nearest relative to the most distant relative and always included the oldest male first down to the youngest male. So Boaz was not the first in the line of living relatives to marry Ruth according to the law of Moses. Therefore, Boaz in chapter 4 goes to the city gate and finds the nearer relative to discuss the situation with him. Boaz at this point must already know his intentions because Boaz has gathered the elders of the city to witness the discussion between himself and this closer relative.
Rth 4:3 And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, which was our brother Elimelech’s:
Boaz starts with the good news first. Naomi the widow of our dead brother, is come back and she is selling his property. So far this is a deal for any man that has money to buy it. To own land is a sign of wealth and to own a lot of land is a sign of great wealth. But, that was the good news and not the complete picture so here goes Boaz to explain what else is required.
Rth 4:4 And I thought to advertise thee, saying, Buy it before the inhabitants, and before the elders of my people. If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it: but if thou wilt not redeem it, then tell me, that I may know: for there is none to redeem it beside thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.
So Boaz before the witnesses of the elders of the city informs this relative that it is his responsibility and his decision to make. He then informs him that besides them, there are no other relatives that are able to redeem the land of Naomi. This means that they are all either dead or there were just no other living male relatives born in the family.
Rth 4:5 Then said Boaz, What day thou buyest the field of the hand of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance.
Now Boaz starts in with the potential bad news. I guess it depends upon your point of view, but it is either good or bad based upon how it will affect you personally. Since Boaz was the younger brother in this relationship, it affects him differently than the older brother. Let’s think about this and how it affects each man. Boaz says that by buying the land from Naomi, they must also buy it from Ruth since she was married to the son of their brother. According to the law of Moses, this involves marrying the widow of the dead so that the family name is not removed from the face of the earth. Whatever son that Ruth and the redeemer has, becomes the heir of Elimelech ‘s land. You see it starts to get a little complicated at this point, since the future heir is now the owner of the dead family’s property, the relative that married the widow has no family or heir. I know this is not technically correct, but yet this is the way that these people viewed the situation. You can see that by the reaction of the closer relative to the news of marrying the widow Ruth.
Rth 4:6 And the kinsman said, I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right to thyself; for I cannot redeem it.
Did you see what the nearer kinsman said? He told Boaz I can’t redeem this land or marry the widow, because it will mess up my inheritance. In other words everything that he is in line for and everything his heirs are in line for will revert to the dead brother’s family and he would end up with nothing, so he thinks. So the nearer kinsman tells Boaz, I won’t redeem it, so you redeem it. This is of course what Boaz wanted to hear happen, yet the process had to be followed in the law and the procedures must be satisfied in the eyes of God and all legal actions satisfied with the elders of the city who were the witnesses.
Rth 4:7 Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.
Rth 4:8 Therefore the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he drew off his shoe.
As you can see, the nearer relative’s house is now called “the house of him who has his shoe loosed”. In the eyes of the law, Boaz has satisfied all requirements and responsibilities and is now free to legally marry Ruth. Boaz tells the elders and the people of the city that they are all witnesses to the fact that he has bought the property of Naomi and Ruth.
It might help you to understand what just happened based upon another story found in the Bible. In Genesis chapter 38 there is a story of another family who is directly related to our story. The story of the son of Israel named Judah. He has three sons and the firstborn is named, Er. When Er grows up big enough to marry, Judah gets him a wife named Tamar. Remember Tamar? The Bible says that Er was wicked in the eyes of God and so he died very young. Judah then told Er’s brother to take the dead brother’s wife and have an heir for his dead brother, the firstborn Er. But, the Bible says that Onan knew if he had sex with Tamar and had a child that it would be for his brother and he would not get anything. So Onan basically refused to fulfill his requirements and the Bible says that he was found to be evil in the eyes of the Lord and he also died young. So far not a good story, but yet this is how those in the Bible dealt with these matters. Judah tells the widow Tamar to wait for the third and last son to grow up and she would become his wife and then that son would raise up an heir for the dead firstborn. In the process of time, Tamar waits, but nothing happens. Apparently Judah was not a man of his word. Judah’s wife died and one day he went up to the city to do some business. Tamar hears about this and takes off her widow garments and dresses up like a prostitute, covers her face and waits for Judah to come by. She deceives Judah into having sex with her and she becomes pregnant. Judah did not have the payment for the sex, so he left her his signet ring, a bracelet and his staff as collateral security until the agreed payment could be sent to her.
Tamar was not there for the sex or the payment that was promised to her. She was there because Judah had not fulfilled what he had spoken to her and her dead husband, Judah’s firstborn had no heir to continue the family name. So even though her methods were not very admirable her intentions before God were highly commendable. So Judah eventually sends the payment back for the harlot that he could get back his collateral, but they could not find any prostitutes to pay.
Then time passes and three months later Judah is informed that Tamar has played the harlot and has become pregnant by harlotry. Judah is outraged and tells them to get her and she will be killed for her error. So she appears before Judah and tells him that before you do anything, I am guilty of nothing. Here is the father of my child and she shows him, his signet, bracelet and staff. Judah’s reaction is shock and immediately says she has been more righteous than him, because he had not given her to his younger son to be his wife. Like I said, this is not a great or a highly positive moral standard Bible story that you want to teach your children in Sunday School, yet it has great significance to the story in the book of Ruth. It helps to explain the dilemma that the nearer relative was experiencing. Tamar is also a name mentioned in the Genealogy of Jesus so it must have some relevance to something we need to know. If you search the Bible, you will discover that the term “daughter-in-law” is not widely used. In fact Tamar and Ruth are only two of four women in the Bible called by this title. So they are directly related and tied together meaning they share some commonalities that are very distinctive. As we continue through Ruth chapter 4 you will see why I went over this story.
Rth 4:10 Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses this day.
Boaz tells everyone to be witnesses to the fact that he has bought the land of the dead husband and he will marry the widow wife to raise up the name of the dead.
Rth 4:12 And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman.
The people of the city now speak a blessing on the actions of Boaz. Did you notice the name of Tamar being mentioned? You see if it was not for the illicit actions of Tamar there would be no Bethlehem or people to witness these deeds of Boaz. There would be no elders of the city, there would be no Elimilech, in fact there would be no Boaz. Everyone present was a descendant of the house of Judah whom Tamar his daughter-in-law bore to him. All of these people recognized that they would not be present if it were not for Tamar and they could foresee that down the road in the future there would be many people born on this planet who would be grateful that Ruth was there to raise up and continue the family name of the tribe of Judah. In fact looking at the genealogy found in the Bible, if not for Ruth and Boaz, there would have been no King David and eventually no Jesus Christ.
Rth 4:15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
Boaz fulfills the requirements of the law and marries one of the few women in the Bible that get mentioned by name in the genealogy of Jesus our Savior. Boaz is called the redeemer, the restorer of life. and a nourisher. These are all terms that could describe Jesus to us today. The story of Ruth is different than what many people think of when thinking of Jesus and the church. Yet it has many natural patterns in it that are very significant to this spiritual reality. In my next blog I will try to explore more of these patterns given to us in the Book of Ruth.
You can continue reading this series, by going to “Part 5“.
The Book of Ruth, The Marriage Proposal! Chapter 3
(Ver 1.1) We have already seen in chapter 2 where Ruth has found favor in the eyes of Boaz her potential kinsmen redeemer and she has even eaten with him in resemblance to a covenant type meal where they have shared bread. We can tell that Boaz likes this woman and grants her grace beyond all others. Naomi, Ruth’s mother-in-law knows the law and has recognized who Boaz is. In this next chapter we will see that God has orchestrated the answer to Ruth’s problems because of Ruth’s faith. God has answered her confidence in Him beyond her wildest imagination. It is amazing what trusting God a little can do. If you have not read the first part of this series I would suggest that you go back and start with “Part 1“. Now, let’s now look at chapter 3:
Rth 3:2 And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to night in the threshingfloor.
Apparently, Naomi has some inside scoop on what Boaz is up to. Either Naomi is very nosy or Boaz has been dropping some clever clues in some obvious places. You figure out which one it is. Naomi knows that tonight Boaz will be working late in the threshing floor with the harvest. Of course all of this is symbolic and has meaning. Threshing in the Bible times was the harvest time activity by which the grain was removed from the husk. The husk represented the tares (or false grain) when it was separated from the actual usable good pieces of the plant. It really does not matter how this is done for this story, just the fact that it is being done is the part that is significant to what we need to know. If you study the words of Jesus you find that there is another coming harvest of people in the world in Matthew 13. Jesus informs us that the world is the field and that the wheat is the children of the kingdom of God. The tares are the children of the evil one. So we can see the Book of Ruth is prophetic in nature and speaking of something, an event that is coming soon. You should go and read Matthew 13 and find out the pattern of things to come. Then you will better understand the shadows contained in the book of Ruth.
Rth 3:3 Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.
Obviously Naomi knows the law of Moses and tells Ruth to clean up herself really good and dress in her best garments and then to go to the threshing floor to meet Boaz. You can see that this is the picture of the church given to us in Revelation 19:7 where it says “his wife has made herself ready”. But, she tells her not to do anything until after he has eaten and finished drinking. It almost sounds like wait until the party is over and then do the following:
Rth 3:4 And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.
Here is where it gets complicated to understand. Maybe Naomi knows something I don’t, but Ruth is instructed to uncover Boaz’s feet and then to lay down and wait for him to wake up or return to a sober state and see what he has to say and then do what he says. The best that I have been able to figure out is that in Leviticus 18 God tells people not to uncover and make nude certain relatives for sexual purposes. God gives us a long list of individuals including your children and your grand children and says the reason why is if you see them naked, it is your nakedness that you are looking at because they came from you. What we can deduce from this, is that the practice of uncovering someone even partially is for sexual reasons and it is only OK for the husband and the wife. So in effect, Ruth is saying you are my husband, I have seen you naked. I know she only uncovered his feet, but it is a symbolic gesture that he realizes when he wakes to find her there at his feet.
Rth 3:7 And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his feet, and laid her down.
So Ruth told Naomi that she will do what she has spoken and that is exactly what she does. Remember Naomi is the one that knows the law and Boaz is the one that is suppose to follow the law and fulfill his obligation to the dead. So Naomi is in effect speeding up the process and making it happen. It would appear that Boaz is either dragging his feet (figuratively speaking) and not doing what he is required or there is more to the story than we know right now.
Rth 3:8 And it came to pass at midnight, that the man was afraid, and turned himself: and, behold, a woman lay at his feet.
Now midnight comes around and we can assume it has been at least a couple of hours. Ruth must have went to sleep also at the feet of Boaz waiting for him to wakeup. Midnight is a very specific hour. It is the 6th hour of the night, the beginning of the 3rd watch of the night and represents the middle of the darkness. It is interesting to note that this is the hour when people are easily frightened and become scared. It was around midnight when the death angel visited in Egypt and killed the firstborn who did not have the blood of the lamb on the doorposts. It is also interesting to note that in Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the 10 virgins. It just so happens that the bridegroom shows up at midnight and 5 of the virgins had oil and 5 of the virgins did not and were called foolish. So there is some significant parallels being given to us. Jesus Christ is called the “bridegroom” and the church is His bride. We can again see the connection between Jesus and the man called Boaz.
Rth 3:9 And he said, Who art thou? And she answered, I am Ruth thine handmaid: spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman.
The word that is interesting in this verse, is the word for “skirt”. This word actually refers to the wing of a feathered bird like an eagle and is translated like that many places. It is also used to refer to the hem of a garment or robe. The priests were required to sew tassels on the hem of their garments. Then there is this reference in Deuteronomy that seems to be in reference to an elicit sexual encounter.
Deu 22:30 A man shall not take his father’s wife, nor discover his father’s skirt.
You can see that the man’s father and his father’s wife are spoken of in terms of being one. By the son uncovering his father’s wife he is said to uncover his father. So obviously Ruth must have learned something about the law herself. Boaz wakes up and is startled and asks who are you in the middle of the night. Ruth tells him I am Ruth and you are my near kinsmen redeemer. Now here is the other part that you miss reading the English part of the translation from the KJV Bible. This word “skirt” also occurs in the previous chapter, but is translated in a completely different way:
Rth 2:12 The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Reading this verse we can better understand what Ruth was trying to say to Boaz. Ruth was telling Boaz you are God’s answer to my problem, spread your wings over me and I will put my trust in you. If this is not a marriage proposal I do not know what you would call it. Wings are spoken of as a covering, and a place of safety in the O.T. Bible like in the Psalms. Many times this is God’s people under the wings of God’s protection. This is the picture of Ruth and Boaz as well as the Church and Jesus.
Look at this verse in Ezekiel and see if this is not what the woman Ruth is saying for her Redeemer to do to her.
Eze 16:8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.
God says to Israel, when I looked upon you I spread my skirt over you. You can again see the reference to nakedness and being unclothed. In association with these words God says I have entered into a covenant with you and you have become mine by marriage. This is a very clear picture of Christ and the church. If you recall in the N.T. the church is said to be clothed with Christ. We wear Christ as a symbolic garment. This is a covenant marriage description when the husband covers his bride.
Rth 3:10 And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.
A reference to the kindness of Ruth is exemplified by Boaz. She is also portrayed to be a woman of character and integrity who is not doing things just for her on good. Her thoughtfulness and the fact that she followed her wiser mother-in-law’s instructions all proved that Ruth was a great candidate for a wife. We do not know how old Boaz is, but by implications given he is not a young man. Based upon him potentially being one of Elimilech’s brothers who has already died, we can assume that he is closer to Naomi’s age than to Ruth’s age. Nevertheless, Ruth is commended for doing what she has done.
Rth 3:11 And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.
Boaz says that the whole city knows that she is a virtuous woman. Of course remember we are in Bethlehem, the future birthplace of Jesus. The Hebrew word translated as “Bethlehem” means the House of Bread. Another symbolic term for God’s spiritual house. Boaz commits to Ruth to do whatever is necessary to accomplished what she needed to satisfy his Lawful duty. Boaz has committed to do whatever is necessary to make her his wife. This is a marriage commitment and a verbal contract. Boaz has committed to redeem his dead brother’s debts and to raise up an heir for him, by marrying his dead brother’s son’s wife. This is the law of God, but also the wisdom of God and a picture of Christ and the church.
If you would like to continue this series of lessons, you can go to “Part 4“.
The Book of Ruth, Introduction to the Redeemer! Chapter 2
(Ver 1.1) In chapter one of Ruth we were introduced to many of the characters of the story of Ruth, but not all. If you did not read Part 1 of this series I would suggest that you go back and read the foundation and introduction and all of the information that I covered in chapter 1. I will not normally repeat myself so if you missed it, you just missed it.
So far we have seen that Naomi and Ruth have returned to Bethlehem during the time of the Barley Harvest and that they are in desperate shape financially. All of the men in their family have died and they have great needs just to survive. So let’s get into chapter 2 and the introduction of another primary character that will come to save the day.
Rth 2:1 And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a mighty man of wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz.
We are immediately introduced to some new concepts and a new character in the very first verse of Chapter 2. Boaz is described as a near relative of Elimelech, the dead husband of Naomi. This is where it starts to become important to learn and know what the law says. Because of God’s wisdom, the law provided for the situation that Naomi and Ruth now were facing. The law says that if a man should die without leaving any heirs, that a brother or near relative of the dead man was required to marry the widow and to have a child by her to become the heir of whatever was owned by that man who died. This would also mean that the dead man’s family name would not perish from the face of the earth. One of the men that was qualified to fulfill this requirement was a man who just so happened to be a very wealthy man and his name was Boaz. Here is the law of Moses that pertains to this matter:
Num 27:8 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.
Num 27:9 And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.
Num 27:10 And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren.
Num 27:11 And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.
What we see is an order of precedence and responsibility being established by the law of God. God declares a specific inheritance order when a man dies. God does this by design and for a purpose, that I will not get into in this blog. Let’s look at the order and analyze it, the order is always from the firstborn son, then the next born son, until the youngest son. If the man who dies has no sons, then his daughters can inherit in the same order from the firstborn to youngest. Next, if he has no living children, then the inheritance goes to the brothers of the man who died, again from the firstborn to youngest in that order. If he has no living brothers you go up the family tree to your father’s brothers, from oldest to youngest. The responsibility is thus passed to whomever is still living in the family from oldest to youngest, to inherit the dead man’s possessions. But, of course it is more complex than that. You also get the man’s debts and you must pay off those debts and redeem them. You just don’t get to take whatever he owned and make it yours, especially if his wife is still alive. Because she was also his and by the law of marriage she was one with him. So she has now also become your responsibility and there is more to it than that also. Here is more of the Law concerning widows and the brothers obligations:
Deu 25:5 If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.
Deu 25:6 And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.
Deu 25:7 And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.
Deu 25:8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her;
Deu 25:9 Then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.
Deu 25:10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.
This is some very strange stuff, however as you continue to read in Ruth you see that they definitely follow these rules and protocols as the law of God dictates. God says that if a woman is a widow it is up to her husband’s brother to marry her and raise up an heir for his dead older brother. If you recall it was the eldest who inherited everything anyway and the younger son would have had to work for the older son because he would have inherited it all from their father. This was just how it was in the Law. By the younger son refusing to marry the older son’s wife they had legal recourse to take it to the elders and thus the reputation of the younger son who refuses to take his brother’s wife, his name would be disgraced and he would no longer be a person of any significance within the House of Israel. They would change his name to “Him that has his shoe loosed”. We will talk about this more later as we go through the rest of the chapters of Ruth. For now let’s go to verse 2 of chapter two:
Rth 2:2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight I shall find grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter.
Obviously Ruth and Naomi are hungry and in need of food. Ruth asks Naomi if she can go into the field and glean to find food for them to eat. Fortunately for Ruth and Naomi God also provided for them in the law of Moses. God wrote a commandment that establishes a principle that we should probably even be following today:
Lev 19:10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your God.
God told the children of Israel not to pick their crops totally bare. Harvest time was a time to go and reap the crops, but it was also a time to leave some for the poor to come and get also. However, this was not a welfare system like a US government type of program. God did not give anyone anything for free. If the poor wanted to come and work and pick the crop to eat, they could eat, but if they wanted to have someone come and drop it off at their feet, they would go hungry. We can clearly see that Ruth had to go into the field and work to gather their food supply. Being a lone individual, she was unable to get rich from what she picked, but at least they could eat and not go hungry. Ten times in chapter two, it speaks of Ruth going into the harvest field to glean. Boaz happens to own the field that Ruth is working in and he sees her and asks his people who is this and they tell him Ruth the Moabitish who returned with Naomi from Moab. Boaz makes some commands and grants Ruth some extreme favor and grace. He commands his workers to help her gather and not to touch her. She is granted the ability to rest in their facilities and to drink from their water pitchers. This Gentile woman has found extreme favor with the right man and she does not even realize it yet. However, Ruth has one quality that exemplifies her beyond any other that might also be gleaning, she is humble. Humility is always the key to receiving grace.
Rth 2:10 Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?
The Bible says “God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble” (James 4:6). This is a Bible law and an established principle for receiving what you need. Boaz speaks further to Ruth and tells her that she has done well to stay with her mother-in-law and to live with a people she did not know. In other words Boaz was telling her that she had made the right choices:
Rth 2:12 The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Boaz now tells Ruth that she is trusting in the God of Israel. Because she has placed her confidence in the true God, God will reward her. Another way to say this is there are benefits to trusting in God. Ruth left her relatives and walked away from her old familiar life into a place she did not know and she has now found the favor with God. What made Ruth different than the other hundreds of widows that were in the land at that time? Ruth had faith, she trusted God. I really have not discussed applications of any of these scriptures up until this point. I have told you that the book of Ruth contains many significant types and shadows, which are natural examples of spiritual truths. I guess you might have already noticed that Ruth appears to be a type of the church. Those who have left their old lives and followed after the living God, trusting in His grace by faith. Does this sound familiar? It ought to if you are a Christian.
Rth 2:14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
Continuing through the 2nd chapter we see another pattern being discussed. Boaz invites Ruth to eat with him and gives her bread and vinegar. Did you know that in Bible times you did not eat with someone casually, because by eating with them you were entering into a covenant with them. Simply by sharing bread with someone a covenant is established. If you do not understand covenants, this is not something you do with your enemies by accident or chance because it could cost you your life. A covenant is a marriage in the eyes of God so that is why you do not enter into them by accident. Boaz obviously likes Ruth a lot and has decided by this action to enter into a covenant with her, for her to become his wife. After all of this Boaz commands his reapers to grant her even more favor and let her pick anywhere she wants, even from the parts they are working in. The reapers are further ordered to leave handfuls on purpose for her to get easily. I would say Boaz has a plan.
Ruth goes back to Naomi and tells her all the good news that she knows so far. How she met a man named Boaz and what he had said to her. Naomi becomes ecstatic and almost can’t contain herself and says the following:
Rth 2:20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.
Naomi realizes and knows the law of Moses and God. She recognizes now that God has not forgotten them or their dead husbands. It is important to note what Naomi says next about this man named Boaz. She calls him a near kin. That means he is not a distant relative. It could place Boaz in the category of a brother to Elimilech. She then calls him “one of our next kinsmen”. It is interesting to note now that she does not say our next kinsmen, just one of the next kinsmen. What’s the difference? Remember God had a specific order of priority and the oldest always had first responsibility to fulfill the law first. Now here is the introduction to one of the keywords found in the this Book of Ruth that you definitely need to know. The word “Kinsmen” is a Hebrew word that means a “Redeemer”.
What is a “Redeemer”? Obviously a Redeemer is someone who redeems? So what does that mean? It is often compared to someone who visits a modern pawn shop and sells a valuable item for cash. The owner of the pawn shop usually pays them pennies on the dollar for their item in hopes of them not coming back to redeem their item. To redeem your item means you pay the price to get your item back. Does any of this sound familiar? Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, he has paid the price for our sin and bought us back. This is redemption by God from the fact that mankind sold themselves to Satan.
Isa 52:3 For thus saith the LORD, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.
This is God’s message to the church. God declares that we have sold ourselves for nothing and therefore we would be bought back without money. In other words God was not going to pay any money to get us back, but that did not mean it didn’t cost anything. You see Jesus Christ gave his blood and life to pay the price of our redemption and this was more valuable than any money, gold or natural wealth.
At the end of chapter two of Ruth, Ruth tells Naomi that Boaz asks her to only work his field until the time of the end of the harvest season. I really do not know how you can read this story and not see the church and Christ throughout it. Christ owns the harvest field and the church are the laborers that are working to bring in the harvest. There is a coming time of the end of the harvest when it will be over. Jesus said in the Gospels “the harvest is great, but the laborers are few”. Jesus is not talking about a wheat or barley harvest or a natural crop. I guess because the natural Jews do not know the New Testament, they do not see the types and shadows given to them so clearly. It reminds me of a shadow portrait my son had done when he was young. I could look at it and recognize his profile immediately even though it was just an outline and showed no facial details. But, I could do this because I knew him and if you did not know him you would not know who it was a picture of. This is how the Bible is to those who do not know Jesus Christ. Because they do not know him personally, they do not recognize when they encounter a shadow that is projected and points you to him.
If you would like to continue reading this series, you can go to “Part 3“.
The Book of Ruth, An in Depth Study of the Church and Christ! Chapter 1
(Ver 1.1) I like the book of Ruth a lot. It is a very unique book of the Bible and a story full of types and shadows of the Messiah. The Bible is full of complex hidden information and this book contains some of the keys to information found in other places of the Bible. While the early church started with only Jewish believers and the disciples of Christ, today the church is widely considered to be a Gentile majority. There certainly exists Jewish Messianic believers and they are very valuable in the church, but yet they are a clear minority. These Jewish believers are called the “Remnant” in the book of Romans. What makes the book of Ruth unique, is the fact that the book is primarily the story of a Gentile woman. The life of a woman outside of the covenant of God’s Old Testament family. Why would God put a story of a Gentile in the Jewish O.T. Bible? Why is this significant? What information does it convey and reveal to us? Is the book of Ruth a prophetic statement on events to come? I will be going through this book of the Bible chapter by chapter and then wrap it up with a study of the typologies and symbolism given to us in the book of Ruth. In the entire Bible the name of Ruth only occurs 13 times in 13 total verses. There are 12 times in the book of Ruth and once in the book of Matthew. So other than the Book of Ruth itself, there is no direct references to Ruth, except in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew. God must have a special reason for naming this woman in the genealogy of Jesus our Savior. You see in the Genealogy of Jesus in Matthew only 6 women are directly mentioned and only four by actual name. One woman in the genealogy of Jesus is a symbolic spiritual reference. These women are 1.) Tamar 2). Rahab, 3). Ruth 4). the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba) 5). Babylon and 6). Mary the mother of Jesus. That is some very unique company, and a very honorable mention, isn’t it? What does Ruth have in common with these other women that God included them all in the genealogy of Jesus? I mean what a mixture of women they are, one is a deceiver Tamar who plays like she is a prostitute, 2) Rahab a woman who actually was a prostitute, 4) Bathsheba a woman who committed adultery with King David. Babylon is called the Great Whore in Revelation. Why mention any women and not all the women? Why pick what seems like some of the worst possible women to include in the Genealogy of Jesus? Both Ruth and Mary seem like saints compared to the others. You should really ask these kinds of questions, if you want to know the truth. God does nothing by accident or chance in the Bible. Every word, every name, every mention has a purpose and is designed to conceal or reveal information. Obviously these women are all mothers, so they have that in common. If it were possible and you could check the mitochondrial DNA of Jesus you would also see that Jesus’ DNA had signatures of each of the women encoded within His DNA. It also appears on the surface that all of the women mentioned in the Genealogy of Jesus are also widows. While it does not say that directly about Rahab, we can assume it. It does call Tamar a widow, Ruth is a widow, Bathsheba became a widow. Mary also became a widow. These are interesting little points to keep in the back of your mind. Perhaps we will get into more of the similarities between the women later, but for now let’s concentrate on just Ruth.
Let’s start by listing some of the characters found in the book of Ruth. There is of course Ruth, but she is not mentioned at first. What we discover is the underlying story is about a family from Bethlehem, the same city of the birth of Jesus. We can already begin to see some implied meanings based upon the city of David being the originating place of residence. The story starts with the mention of a famine being in the land around Bethlehem. The book of Ruth mentions that this family of four is forced to move in order to look for food. The head of the family is a man named “Elimelech” and his wife is called “Naomi”, and they have two sons, one is called “Mahlon” and the other is called “Chilion”. The Elimelech family is a family who has descended from Judah, the fourth son of Jacob and Leah. The book of Ruth starts by telling us that the story occurs during the time of the judges. This would have been after the children of Israel had taken the promised land and before the appointment of Saul as their first King. This would have occurred somewhere around 450 years after Jacob had his 12 sons. We do know that Israel was in captivity in Egypt for approximately 400 years and they wandered in the wilderness for another 40 years. So somewhere after that we can see that there came a famine in the land of Israel.
Elimelech decides to up and move his family to the land of Moab, because they have heard reports of there being food there. Now Moab is a region where the descendants of one of Lot’s sons lived, also named Moab. If you recall the story of Lot, Abraham asks God to spare him from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and God did. However, as they were leaving the cities, the wife of Lot looks back and turns into a pillar of salt. Now that only leaves Lot with his two daughters. So the story of Lot is that his two daughters get their father drunk so that he could have children or sons through them and their father’s name and family could continue. Not a very good story is it? It seems like the more you dig into the book of Ruth the more strange things you discover. What you must realize is that if there was no incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters there would be no story of Ruth. So while I do not say incest is good, God can cause good to come from anything that man does, no matter how wrong. So Ruth is a descendant of the incestuous relationship between Lot and his daughters.
The book of Ruth does not actually say how long they lived in Moab, but it implies that it was at least a little while, at the least many years. We do see in Ruth 1:4 that after Elimilech died and the sons married that there was a span of 10 years mentioned. We are not told how long it was before this or after this period of time is spoken of. So Elimilech moves his family to Moab. After a time there Elimilech dies and we do not know why. After this his two son’s find themselves wives to marry from the women in Moab. One wife is Ruth and the other wife is named Orpah and not Oprah! It then declares that after another passage of time, the sons also both die without having any children or heirs for the family. All of this so far is the just the first 5 verses of the book of Ruth and it covers several years of information.
Let’s put into perspective the family of Elimilech and the given time frame of these events. We know that Israel had departed from Egypt, being led by Moses and during this time period in the wilderness God gave Moses the Law. God is establishing a covenant relationship with the natural nation of Israel. God gives Moses the first 5 books of the Bible often times called the “Torah”. We also know that during this time period of Ruth that it was during the time of the Judges. So there were judges who ruled the people of Israel with the help of God’s prophets. Judges represent a legal system that is based upon laws. If anyone did wrong, they would face the judges. Moses had been given patterns of the temple of God, the ark of the covenant, the inclusion of the Levitical priests and the origination of animal blood sacrifices. So what do you think would happens if the covenant people of God would move away from all of this and go and live with a group of people who were not in covenant with God? Could this be the reason they died? I really do not know, but I can make logical assumptions based upon what happened, that it was at least related.
We know from reading the rest of the Book of Ruth that Naomi was familiar with the law of Moses. So they did not move away in ignorance, they moved away knowing what they were doing. However, since Elimilech was a descendant of Judah and not Levi, there were probably no more sacrifices being made for them. Unless of course they traveled back to Jerusalem to the temple and there is no reference to this happening. So Naomi, Ruth and Orpha are in a quandary. A predicament of tremendous proportions. Without any men left in the family they are doomed to a life of poverty and homelessness or either a life of prostitution. Naomi of course is older and is in the worst situation. Naomi tells her two “daughter-in-laws” to leave and go back to their families, thinking they have the best chance of finding new husbands with them. Her daughter-in-law Orpah does that and returns to her family and to her previous gods. However, Ruth demonstrates a different resolve, a different spirit of confidence. Even after Naomi told her that she is too old to have any more sons for Ruth to marry, Ruth tells Naomi, “Where you go, I go, Where You Live I will Live, Your People will be my People, Your God will be My God”. That if you do not realize it, is very strong covenant words for a lady who was not previously in covenant with the Almighty God. Then Ruth makes this statement:
Rth 1:17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
I made mention earlier that the book of Ruth contains clues to other events in the Bible and this is just one of them. The mention of death as a separating force is the only natural force that is capable of breaking a human covenant relationship. When a man marries a woman, in many ceremonies that I have attended, there is a clause in the vows that says something like “till death do you part”. In this statement, the participants are vowing to remain committed to the marriage covenant until one of them dies. Death is the only legal separation allowed from the law of marriage. Once you have sex with someone of the opposite sex you are legally married in the eyes of God and you are not separated legally until one of you dies. Because, Ruth’s husband had died, she was free from the law of marriage and is now able to legally marry another man. She could have chosen to go back to her family and find another man, but she chose to trust the God of her mother-in-law “Naomi” and the results of her faith was tremendously greater than she could have imagined. Ruth was also married to the older firstborn son of Elimilech, meaning she has a significant advantage over the other daughter-in-law. For Orpah to gain the same benefits as Ruth, would not have been possible according to the law, but we will get into that more later.
Let me briefly talk you through the law of marriage. The law of marriage is given to us first in the book of Genesis, chapter 2. God creates woman, a wife for the man Adam. God makes the woman’s body from parts of the man’s body. Adam saw Eve and said “She is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”. In other words Eve was the body of Adam in a different form. God then declares “that for this reason, shall a man leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh”. That is the law of marriage covenants, between a husband and a wife. Ruth was joined to her husband and the covenant of God, becoming one flesh with him. Ruth was technically under the law by marriage. However, since her husband died she was freed from the law.
Because Naomi had heard that God had visited the people of Israel and that there was again bread in the city of Bethlehem, they return back to Naomi’s former home city. Upon arriving, the people still remember her and are excited to see her, but she is really down and depressed that she left full and came back empty with nothing and very little hope. Naomi changes here name to “Mara” and tells people to call her that because it means “I’m bitter”. It is funny how people will accuse God of doing something that was of their own making. I never read anywhere that God told them to leave Bethlehem, so just because the circumstances didn’t look like they should stay, that did not mean they were suppose to leave. Did you understand what I just said?
So this is some of the basics found in chapter 1 of Ruth. Naomi and Ruth have returned to Bethlehem and it is in the time of the beginning of the Barley Harvest. So we know that Naomi had returned in or around the time of Passover, which can occur somewhere near March or April. In my next blog, I’ll talk more about the other primary character of Ruth that I have not introduced you to yet. This character is named Boaz and he is called the “kinsman redeemer” and we will discuss why this is also.
If you would like to continue reading this series you can continue with “Part 2” where we talk about chapter two, the introduction to the Redeemer.
Are You Hungry Yet? Blessed are Those that Hunger After Righteousness!
(Ver 1.1) God is asking you a question today, are you hungry yet? Too many times we in the world live in a state of contentment. Totally satisfied with who we are, what we know, what we have and where we are and being completely oblivious to wanting anything more in life. I am not talking about wanting more stuff, a bigger house or a new car or things like that. I am talking about being satisfied with what you think you know about the truth of God’s Word. We have vast numbers of church denominations in the world that are happy and content with everything they think that they know. They think they have arrived at a spiritual state of there not being anymore or any higher state of knowledge. I guess Christians like these have been deceived into believing they know as much as God. When in truth, they know little to nothing about God. People who sit in dead churches, eating stale bread of the doctrines of man and theological theories of seminaries are starving spiritually and they do not understand why. If you were in the middle of a desert where there was no fresh water around and you lived there so long that you were about to die, would you be smart enough to move? Clearly many Christians are not that smart. They live and die in a church that teaches nothing relevant, nothing new, nothing refreshing, nothing that satisfies the people’s spiritual thirst. People have become content with nothing and not knowing and thus live their life deceived.
Joh 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Jesus himself speaking, says that He is the “bread of life”. Bread is a staple and a basic food group requirement. The spiritual lessons of bread are vast in the Bible and you should spend a long time learning about them. Jesus tells us that because He is the “bread of life” those who come to him will never go hungry. Jesus is speaking figuratively, symbolically and spiritually and not naturally. Those churches that teach the full truth of Jesus will give people something that feeds them spiritually. Jesus while he walked the earth taught some radically different things in a manner that people never heard before. Jesus taught these truths with authority and power. Jesus said some very difficult things that most churches ignore. There are some churches that only want to concentrate on salvation and getting people saved and ignore the rest of the Bible. While this is an important part of the message of Christ, it is not the complete message. Once you get people saved, then what? Are they supposed to go through life defeated?
Did you realize that eating is not something people do once in their lives and they are done with it? That is the attitude of many Christians and that is not right. Eating is a continual process, something we do multiple times a day, every day. Morning, noon and night we eat physical food. Is spiritual food suppose to be different? Did God give us these natural things to teach us about the Spiritual things? Too many times Christians want a to go to church on Sunday for a cold spiritual snack and they think that will carry them spiritually for the rest of the week. What you should do is read and study the Bible just as much as you spend time eating natural food. In this way you will be as strong spiritually as you are physically. Plus there is some great news, you can’t get too spiritually fat! It is impossible to eat too much spiritually. There is no extreme where you can have too much of the Word of God. In fact it is really much different than people think. In the book of Joshua, God told Joshua to mediate day and night on the Law of God and by doing this God said He would be successful in life.
Luk 6:25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
So Jesus says something that is a warning to those that think that they are satisfied with what they know and what they have already learned. Because they think they are full now, they will soon become spiritually hungry. What does that tell you? It tells me not to be satisfied no matter how much I know and that we should make an effort to plan our next spiritual meal. Do not think that you know more than you do? Have you made yourself wise in your own eyes? Are you proud of what you can do, or what you have done? Do you place your confidence in your own ability and knowledge to solve your every problem? These are common traps of the enemy. Get people thinking like a teenager who thinks they know more than their parents.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
If you read the context of this verse you will discover that Jesus is not talking about natural things, but clearly about spiritual things. The disciples had asked Jesus why do you speak to them in parables? Jesus said it is not for them to “know the mysteries of Kingdom of Heaven”. But, to you it is given. So Jesus makes a direct division between two different groups of people. Those who can see spiritually and those who cannot see spiritually. Are they both spiritually hungry? I would say yes, they are both in need of the same spiritual food from God. But, Jesus says not everyone will get it. What is he talking about? Jesus is saying that those who think they know everything will lose even what they think they already know. But, to those who are truly hungry for the truth, more truth will be given to them. That is exactly why there are so many people blogging on the internet who do not know anything, but yet they blog like they do. These are empty heads speaking empty words to people with empty spirits and nobody is ever satisfied or grows spiritually. Get hungry for the truth and the truth will find you. Be diligent to seek the Knowledge of the Truth and God will cause it to move in your direction and overflow your cup of knowledge with good things that only God can show you.
Are You Hungry YET?
Blessings and Cursing from the Same Mouth, This Ought Not to Be!
(Ver 1.2) This is now Part 4 in the series of very important lessons on spoken words found in the Bible. If you have not read this series from the beginning I would suggest that you go and start reading with “Part 1“. The Bible contains some of the strongest language on what people say. Either Christians are not aware of this or they simply ignore it and pretend that it does not apply to them. God says in His Word that it is impossible for Him to lie. We can obviously see that with men and women in the world this is entirely possible. In my earlier blogs on spoken words I talked about the sword of your mouth and how it cuts two ways. A double edged sword proceeding out of your mouths, is a symbolic representation that tells us words have spiritual power. You can speak good things or you can speak evil things. Speaking evil things is much more than just speaking lies, as well as speaking good things is more than just speaking the truth. There is an established precedence in the Bible that spoken words establish blessings and in the opposite realm spoken words can also establish curses. Today I will explore this subject in more depth. Let me give you my foundational scripture reference s from the Book of James, let’s read them carefully:
Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Jas 3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Jas 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
You can clearly see that God is talking about your mouth, your tongue and the words that they produce. It is mentioned in verse 8, with the concept of the tongue being a potential poisonous serpent. That does not sound good, does it? Then in verse 10 it says your tongue can produce both blessings and curses. What are the blessings and cursing that this tongue produces? We are not talking about curse words, those 4 letter words that mature Christians do not normally say, although these could be a small part of what God is talking about. Let’s get a Bible example of cursing something. In the book of Mark, Jesus is visiting Jerusalem and traveling in and out of the city. One day Jesus on his walk, views a fig tree and walks up to it and finding no fruit on it, Jesus does the following:
Mar 11:14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
Many people read these stories in the Bible, but ignore the point that is being made. Was the words of Jesus a blessing to the tree or a cursing to the tree? Jesus looks at the fig tree and does not find any fruit on it. I do not believe that Jesus is angry at the tree, but I do believe that He chooses to use the barren fruitless fig tree to demonstrate a very powerful spiritual life and death lesson to His disciples. Jesus does not pray, or ask anyone else to do anything. Jesus simply looks at the tree and speaks words directly to it. Please notice that these words were not positive. The negative words were directed only at the bare fig tree, but they were loud enough for everyone near Him to hear them. The next day Jesus and the same disciples are passing back by the same fig tree and Peter stops everyone and says this:
Mar 11:21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
Peter tells Jesus, that the fig tree which He had cursed was dead. Jesus had just spoken negative words to something inanimate and living and Peter remembered it and called it speaking a curse. Notice that Jesus did not dispute it or deny it. The definition of this word “cursed” in the Strong’s means to “doom” and to “execrate”. To speak words that have a very negative effect on something is a better definition of the word. Jesus spoke some very simple words and said “No man eat fruit from you hereafter forever” and that resulted in the tree dying within 24 hours. Of course Jesus was God and this does not apply to you and me, and if you think that is true then you are wrong. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God came to the earth in His omnipotent Godhead powers. In fact if we study and search the Bible we will find the opposite being taught to us. In Acts 10:38 it says God had to anoint Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost power to do miracles. If Jesus was God in full power of the Godhead, Jesus would not need to be anointed by God, would he? Then in Hebrews 2:17 it says Jesus was made like us, his brothers. Jesus was a natural man and the Son of God at the same time. Jesus Christ the God Man became like the rest of us and chooses to become like one of His creations:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
These two verses in Philippians are very interesting. The term that Jesus “made of himself no reputation”, can be taken as He removed or separated Himself from His Deity power. Think about the “reputation of God” and then compare that with the reputation of Jesus Christ (the Anointed). These verses tell us very clearly that God became like a man. He looked like a man, he walked like a man, he talked like a man, he got tired like a man, he slept like a man, he ate like a man and went to the bathroom like a man. If God was here in his full deity power, you would not see some of the things that we see in the Bible. Jesus got hungry and thirsty, Jesus slept, Jesus wept, I mean look at the characteristics of God and see how they change in the life of Jesus Christ. While hanging on the cross Jesus said “I thirst”. Would God in his omnipotent power ever be thirsty? If Jesus Christ was here in the full deity power of the Almighty it would have been impossible to kill him physically, yet we see Jesus dying on a cross. Then there is the temptation of Jesus in the Gospels that I mentioned in the last lesson in this series. Jesus fasts for 40 days so he is obviously hungry and weak physically. Satan tries to get Jesus to do something simple for an Almighty God to do, by turning stones into bread. This is not something that is hard for God to do, is it? Why is this consider a temptation to God the omnipotent? It would only be a temptation if God had stripped himself of his deity power and was here on the earth operating within the limitations and constraints, like a normal human male. Do you understand this?
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
How is it even possible to tempt an omniscient God? A God who knows everything is unable to be tested or tried like a human yet that is what this verse said happened. Therefore, we cannot believe Jesus was God in His full deity abilities or this would invalidate the truth found here in Hebrews 4:15. If God is God and has the power and ability to create whatever He wants, whenever He wants how is it possible to ever tempt Him? You see in this verse in Hebrews it clearly says that Jesus can identify with how we feel. Because He was tempted in the exact same way that we are tempted, yet He did not sin. Was it possible for Jesus to sin? If it was not possible for Jesus to sin, it would not be a temptation to Him. If He was here as God, it would have been impossible to tempt Jesus with anything. Do people understand that Jesus was tempted in every way just like we are? How is this even possible if He is here in His Omnipotent Glorious Ability? Obviously it is not possible, so what does that teach us?
There are just so many references in the Bible to the man Jesus Christ not being in His omnipotent Godhead power that I cannot give you them all. I will give you another couple of examples of Jesus healing the sick. Was there anything that hindered or kept Jesus from healing anybody? You see if Jesus was God in his omnipotent power, no one would ever not get healed, if that is what God wanted to do. Do you agree? However, we find some conflicts with this thinking in the scriptures. If you read the 6th chapter of Mark you find some very interesting things occur. Jesus is visiting his hometown and place where he was raised as a child. But, when Jesus tries to heal people there, this is what the Bible says:
Mar 6:5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
So it did not say that Jesus would not heal anybody, it said He could not heal anybody. A mighty work is easy by any of God’s omnipotent standards, yet Jesus is unable to do anything mighty here, so obviously we have a situation that is very hard to explain away. Either Jesus was not operating in His Godhead Omnipotent power or there is a force greater than God that kept him from it. What do you think it was? I do not believe there is any force greater than God’s power so Jesus must have made the decision not to use this power. There are many other scriptures that you should take note of, but I will stop there for now.
The Jewish O.T. Bible says “God is not a man” (Num 23:19), therefore, the majority of the Jews did not recognize Him when He became a man in Jesus. Today we have the same foolish philosophy and reasoning in the reverse being projected that says Jesus was God in His full deity power and this is how He did all the miraculous things that He did. People put God in their religious box and expect Him to abide by their rules and this is a major mistake. Is God still God? If God chooses to do something different than what you like to think about on how God is supposed to act, can He only do that? If God wants to come to earth in the form of a man without using His deity powers in manifestation, can God do that? Is it legal? Is it even possible? I believe it was God’s choice to what He did and how He does it without our input or consultation. Obviously we need to realize that we have a lot to learn.
So let’s explore the flip side of the coin and look at the blessings. A blessing like a curse is a word based expression that someone speaks out of their mouth that results in a positive outcome. There are a lot of examples of this in the Bible and I will give you only a few of them:
Gen 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
There is an established pattern of words of blessings found in this verse in Genesis. Can you see how these words contrast with the example that Jesus showed the disciples when speaking a curse to the fig tree? By the law of first reference also called the law of first mention, we can discover that Spoken words from God can contain blessings. Blessing are what I will call “word containers” filled with love, favor, goodness and mercy within them. The words of curses that Jesus spoke were containers filled with poison. Uh oh. I believe we are now learning something very profound.
If God would have said nothing, there would have been no blessing from Him given even if He thought great thoughts about them. What we should realize is that silence is not always a blessing. I just like to call silence “Empty” buckets waiting to be filled. In many service times in churches people stand up for a moment of silence, thinking they are paying honor or respect to someone or something. I have not found a Bible verse to confirm this practice, have you? Could silence be something that Satan wants us to do instead of speaking a blessing over them? Could this silence simply be those empty containers awaiting to be filled with a positive expression? I believe that we can learn a very valuable spiritual lesson from this verse in Genesis. God speaks positive words as full containers of blessing to His children and the result was a positive God given outcome that occurred in their lives or we could also say this was God’s vision of possibility that was being transferred to his creation. I believe that this was the establishment of the spiritual law of either Blessings and Curses from spoken word containers being taught to us. God was teaching Adam and Eve by His awesome example, however, I’m not really sure if they got it.
Let’s move into the 27th chapter of Genesis and see the story of Isaac and his son Jacob. We know that Jacob became the Father of the natural nation of Israel. But, how did this occur, since he was not the firstborn son of Isaac? If you recall the story, I’ll shorten it in order to get to the part I need to get to. Jacob got Esau to sell his birth right for a meal. Later, Jacob’s mother helps Jacob implement a plan to get the blessing from his father Isaac. Isaac comes to his father when he was very old and he brings him a meal and some drink. Jacob is also dressed like Esau and smells like Esau.
Gen 27:23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him.
Isaac is tricked into blessing the younger son Jacob, thinking that he is blessing Esau.
Gen 27:27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed:
This is the beginning of the blessing, but not the end of it. What we again see is the established pattern of God being passed down upon the generations. Just as God blessed Adam and Eve with His words, Jacob is now getting the words of blessings of his father.
Gen 27:28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
Gen 27:29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
Jacob receives the words of blessings from his father Isaac. Jacob then goes out with the blessing and his brother Esau comes in from hunting and asking for the blessing. But, Isaac is very surprised saying “who are you”? Who was it that I blessed earlier?
Gen 27:33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.
If you read this carefully you will discover a principle, it is not as easy to take back your words after they have already been spoken. There are just a lot of Christians who do not have a clue what I just said and how it applies to them. If they say something by mistake they simply think it is OK to start over and do it again. It’s funny Isaac did not take this position or attitude. Isaac knew what was done was done. The blessing was given and it would not be taken back. Like I have said before, your words have more power and significance than you can imagine.
Gen 27:34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.
Esau pleads with his father for him to bless him also. But, Isaac says that it is too late:
Gen 27:35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.
This chapter in Genesis contains some amazing information, if you learn to apply it to your life in the here and now. Words are significantly powerful and can bless others, transfer blessings, transfer authority and ownership, and they are a legal contract in the eyes of God. Like Isaac you should learn to be a man or woman of your word, stand up and stand behind your words. Mean what you say and only say what you mean. Esau did not get a blessing from his father, because the blessing had already been given to Jacob. This represents character and moral fiber that few have in our world today.
There are just so many stories in the Bible about the blessings of God, I’ll just give you one more example from the O.T. This next story is also from Genesis and occurs in the 48th chapter. Joseph brings his two sons to Israel to be blessed. Israel is presented the sons with the older son on his right hand and the younger son on his left hand. The older son is expected to receive the Right Hand of blessing and the younger the Left Hand of blessing. But, Israel crosses his hands over and speaks the blessing upon his grandsons. Again we see a principle that Words are the mechanism of blessing containers being transferred upon these children. But, the hands are also being placed here with great significance and meaning.
Gen 48:20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
Joseph was not happy that his younger son got Israel’s right hand blessing. So there must have been meaning and significance to what happened. If it did not mean anything, it would not have mattered would it? The right hand of blessing is intended for the older son and Israel gave it to the younger. The net result was the younger son became a greater people in the eyes of God. So what you do and what you say matters and makes a difference in the life’s of your children. Learn the lessons from the Bible of the power of the blessing and then learn not to curse your children with your the words of your mouth and they will achieve and rise to level of what you have spoken over them. Words are seeds that grow in young hearts. If you tell your children they are nothing and nobody good, that is exactly what they become.
Mar 10:16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
People while Jesus walked the face of the earth realized the potential for the blessing still existed. People would bring their little children to Jesus for Him to bless them. There were those who tried to stop people from bringing their children to Jesus, but Jesus rebuked them and told them not to do this. Jesus said this is a spiritual law and a foundational way of the Kingdom of Heaven. To touch someone and speak positive words of blessings has a benefit that you probably do not fully understand. Children today are growing up and their parents put curses upon them rather than blessings. As a result the children grow up cursed. Your children will live up to your words, either positive or negative. What you transfer into them, is what they will achieve to. What you speak over them, is what they will become. It is a spiritual law found in the Bible.
If you like to continue reading this series of lessons on spoken words, you can go to “Part 5“.
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