The Call of Abraham – Part 5 – God, the Builder and Maker of ALL Things –

The Call of Abraham
Part 5

God, the Builder and Maker of All Things
and
The Heavenly City Above
Hebrews 11:10 and Genesis 15:1-7

For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:10)

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After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. (Genesis 15:1)
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? (Genesis 15:2) 

And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. (Genesis 15:3)
And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. (Genesis 15:4)
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. (Genesis 15:5)
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. (Genesis 15:7)

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The Mystery of the Stars

And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. (Genesis 15:5)

   Genesis Chapter 15 has two main elements: Abram the man of the earth and the Lord from heaven. In Hebrews 11:10, Abraham was looking for a city not of the earth, but a heavenly city whose Builder and Maker is God. Abram stood in a ruined world and a world of sinful man. Abram was a man of faith who was led by the Lord. Today, the children of God, as we travel from faith to faith, we seek that same city that God has prepared for His own. There are many building blocks in the word of God and Genesis 15 is full of progressive revelations that opens into many pages throughout the Old and New Testament.
   In Genesis 15:2, Abram was worried about the temporal, his seed; however, in verse 5, the Lord presented heavenly things NOT of the earth. Look toward the heavens. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. (Genesis 15:5) These stars that we see in the blackness of night are symbolic, a foreshadow, a telling, or prophecy from God Himself that as the stars in heaven, Abram would have a seed, both Jew and Gentile that would cover the expanse beyond the heavens. The stars are merely a gateway to the knowledge of the heavenly city. So shall thy seed be. Count the stars and number them if you can. Abel was the first seed, and he was one of the brightest stars of faith. His faith in the more excellent sacrifice connected his light with the Light and life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Cain was of the deep dark night. There was NO light IN Cain. He loved darkness and hated the light and Cain was of that wicked one known as the Devil, Satan, the old serpent and Lucifer. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. (1st John 3:12)
   These two seeds (Abel and Cain) were established at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan would have his dark seed covered in sin and death. God would have His seed of Light and Righteousness out of the womb of faith. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16) These two seeds were established at the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil. One, under the curse of sin and death, and persuaded and moved by the power of the devil, the prince of the air. The other seed was separated unto heavenly righteousness under the sacrificial life and blood and love of God. This seed was NOT of an earthly people, but a heavenly genealogy, a heavenly nation, a divine people chosen of God that will dwell in His celestial light for ALL eternity. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1st Peter 2:9) Seth, in Genesis Chapter 4, was the second seed of faith to replace Abel. And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. (Genesis 4:25) And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: (Genesis 5:3)
   God has continued this seed of faith throughout the word of God into our present time and age and into the future. Man attempts to make all seeds as the NATURAL seed of mankind, however, the seed of faith and the child of faith is BORN in the Supernatural womb of faith by the divine appointment of God. The seed of faith has its own genealogy. It is a heavenly genealogy, and man has NO PLACE in creating that genealogy. It is recorded and kept by God alone. Those of faith in the Lord Jesus from Abel to the LAST member of the Bride called by faith are ALL part of the plan of God. From the beginning God has been planning a NEW HEAVEN and a NEW EARTH filled with righteousness IN the Lord Jesus Christ, a seed that is from the Eternal Seed which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16)
   Remember that BEFORE when Abraham stood before God, the Lord told him to look over the land, now, God removed him from earthly circumstances and Abram was to lift up his eyes toward heaven and enter into a realm of faith that he knew not. In Hebrews 11:10, we see the knowledge of Genesis Chapter 15 increased the faith of Abram to NOT only see the stars above, but to see BEYOND the stars to a celestial city whose Builder and Maker is God.
   This city is filled with the seeds of righteousness, those of the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Even today, look toward the heavens and let your faith take you BEYOND the heavens, yes, LOOK UP, not down. Begin by counting the stars . . . still a mystery for mankind with all man’s technology, with his probes into the universe, with his space stations and telescopes, mankind can still NOT fully number the stars. What we have in both the Hebrews 11:10 and Genesis 15:5 is the Builder, God, who has created ALL things is the complete Sovereign of all that He has built. Yes, it was a mystery to Abram and to all of mankind. But it is NOT a mystery for God. It has all been planned and sealed in His determinate counsels.
   God opens another window for us about eternity past, present and future in Psalm 139:13-18.

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13)
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (Psalm 139:14)
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. (Psalm 139:15)
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:16)
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! (Psalm 139:17)
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. (Psalm 139:18)

   This reveals the Lord Jesus as the Creator of the soul and building that soul in the darkness and depth of the earth, giving that soul a spirit and life, and giving that soul members of bone and flesh, of blood and water, giving that soul the breath of life, and bringing it into the world. Is this not a mystery to most? Yet, it is the Lord Jesus who not only formed the heavens with His hands but BREATHED the breath of life INTO every soul that has been born into the world. And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7) On that fact alone, every person should call out to be saved, and yet SIN, the sin that Adam brought into the world, has blackened the souls of all of mankind. Through the seed of faith, God brings LIGHT and LIFE back to the blackened soul through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Psalm 23, God RESTORES the soul because the souls of all of mankind born of the race of Adam NEED the Light and Life of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ and the ONLY way to receive that Light and Life IS through the FAITH, which is IN Christ Jesus, who is the Builder and Maker of ALL things. As the Lord Jesus has counted the souls of faith, He has also counted the souls of darkness. He KNOWS the numbers of the stars, and He also KNOWS their names.

● Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. (Psalm 147:1)
The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. (Psalm 147:2)
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)
He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. (Psalm 147:4)
Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. (Psalm 147:5)
The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground. (Psalm 147:6)
Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: (Psalm 147:7)
Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. (Psalm 147:8)
He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. (Psalm 147:9)
He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. (Psalm 147:10)
The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. (Psalm 147:11)
● And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: (Hebrews 1:10)
● Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. (Psalm 102.25)

   Each and every one of the stars has its own mysteries in the giant kaleidoscope of the heavenlies and BEYOND. The stars, as the word of God, are the portals into the mysteries of God. What one of YOU has considered that the Lord Jesus Christ, the manifestation of the Living God has metered out the heavens and placed the stars and given each a name and a celestial voice to proclaim His glory throughout the universe. If the stars, which contain magma chambers of nuclear fire, can proclaim the GLORY of God, so we, as the burning lights of earth, as the children of God, should magnify His name with every breath that we take.
   We have allowed the earth and its realm of humankind to magnify itself over the things of our blessed Savior. In our sight, the sight of faith, we should be building in our minds and in our hearts and in our souls the NEW heavens and the NEW earth for we are heavenly people. Our eyes and hearts should always be searching, as Abram, for the heavenly city above as the Maker of all things, the Lord Jesus, the beginning of the creation of God, has formed worlds beyond our own material world.

● Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:2)
● In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
The same was in the beginning with God. (John 1:2)
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)
● But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. (1st Corinthians 8:6)
● For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16)
● Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:3)

   Why should we consider all of these verses when dealing with Genesis Chapter 15? Wipe the scales from your eyes and SEE the divine Light. Build on your most holy faith. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, (Jude 1:20) Can you see it? God was revealing HIMSELF to Abram. God was revealing HIS POWER, and HIS MAJESTY. He was not merely showing Abram the stars, but HIS SOVEREIGNTY and HIS CONTROL over His stars. He was building IN Abram a continuation of faith, from faith to faith. Through the life of Abram, as we will hopefully see, it was and is a HOLY FAITH that CANNOT be removed. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; (Hebrews 3:1) In Hebrews 3:1, within the brethren, IS the most HOLY FAITH of the Lord Jesus Christ. In some ways, FAITH is as a fire that purifies both gold and silver. FAITH removes the dross from our lives when we BUILD on our most HOLY faith. Just for the record, from faith to faith is only mentioned ONE time in Scripture. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17) Your most holy faith is only recorded once in Scripture. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. (Jude 1:20)
   The words holy brethren are only mentioned twice in all of Scripture. Thus, it takes in the holy brethren of the Old Testament and the holy brethren of the New Testament. The number two is the number of witness and each time it is the witness of a monumental part and witness in the word of God. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. (1st Thessalonians 5:27) Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; (Hebrews 3:1) These two verses magnify both the written word of God and the Living Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. For HE is the Apostle, the FAITHFUL WITNESS. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14) He is the High Priest of our profession. (Hebrews 7) It is Christ who is our Melchisedec . . . a PRIEST FOREVER made higher than the heavens. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. (Hebrews 7:26)

   In Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. We see the eternal care of the Eternal God for the child of faith. It is the LORD who was the shield of Abram. It is the LORD who is the Possessor of the exceeding great reward. All of the blessings of Abram came from above. Now again, we have another bright burning star of faith. In Genesis 15:1 the GREAT I AM, the LORD of glory proclaims that HE IS A SHIELD to Abram. This was the first time that the word SHIELD is recorded in Scripture. After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward. (Genesis 15:1) For those who do not want to be recognized with faithful Abram or with the Old Testament, the words SHIELD of faith for the New Testament saints AND Old Testament saints is found in Ephesians 6:16, Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. The words SHIELD of FAITH are only mentioned once. If you will come with me, I want you to take a giant step from faith to faith. When the Lord Jesus called the apostle Paul, Paul received a revelation directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. And we find Paul repeating THAT revelation in Acts Chapter 26, This begins in verse 13 and continues on to verse 18. However, we are only going to concentrate on the last seven words of verse 18 . . . sanctified by faith that is in me. Do you see the wonder in these seven words? We who have been born again ARE SANCTIFIED, not by faith that is within US, BUT by the FAITH that is IN the Lord Jesus Christ. HE IS THE TREASURY OF ALL FAITH. 

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)

   Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

   Again, in Hebrews, we see the DEPOSITORY of ALL FAITH is WITHIN the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 17, the Lord Jesus refers to the saints in this way.

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: (John 17:22)
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:23)

    Now to complete the circle: from Genesis 15:1 to Ephesians 6:16, the LORD is THE SHIELD in Genesis 15:1. Our FAITH IN CHRIST is given BY the Lord Jesus Christ and HE possesses that FAITH WITHIN US, and thereby HE IS OUR SHIELD OF FAITH . . . one and the same with Genesis 15:1.
   As with Abram, the SHIELD OF FAITH has a temporal side and a Supernatural side. The SHIELD of FAITH is formed by God and NOT by man. As Christ becomes more of your life, the SHIELD of FAITH becomes your confidence in Christ. Then you move from faith to faith. The phrase SHIELD of FAITH is only mentioned ONCE and that is also the last time that the word SHIELD is mentioned, it connects to the word SHIELD mentioned the first time in Genesis 15:1. Is the brightness of the stars beginning to shine for you? As far back as the man Job, we have the mysteries of the stars.

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THE SHIELDED MYSTERIOUS SEALED STARS

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward. (Genesis 15:1)

● Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but [have] none; neither let it see the dawning of the day: (Job 3:9)
● Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars.(Job 9:7)
● [Is] not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are! (Job 22:12)
● Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. (Job 25:5)
● When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7)

  Let us continue with the mystery of the stars in the word of God. Twinkle, twinkle little star, are you ready . . . Thy word giveth light. ¶ NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105) For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: (Proverbs 6:23) Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11) When you look up at the stars, even through the natural eye, you can tell that some stars are brighter than others. This has nothing to do with distance, but it is our perception of the stars that some stars shine brighter. The reason behind this is to evaluate US. It is understandable that some of us have more light than others. Many of us are in different stages of Christian growth, however, ALL of the children of God have the Spirit of Life within.
   When Abram listened to the Lord and God stated that He was his SHIELD and his great reward that Abram thought back to the victory over the four kings of darkness from the land of Shinar, and how the Lord gave Abram a great victory over the ROOT of darkness. Then after that victory, Abram was presented to the bread and wine from the King of peace and the King of righteousness. It was the High Priest of the most high God, Melchisedec, who presented to Abram the exceeding great reward. Remember that the SHIELD of FAITH has a temporal side and a Supernatural side. This SHIELD of FAITH is also the SHIELD of God’s salvation.

● God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect. (2nd Samuel 22:33)
He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet: and setteth me upon my high places. (2nd Samuel 22:34)
He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. (2nd Samuel 22:35)
Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great. (2nd Samuel 22:36)
Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip. (2nd Samuel 22:37)
● Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? (Job 31:4)

   The Supernatural side of the shield of faith is God directing us to our salvation. It is God putting Light in our path that we might become possessors’ of the truth of God. The Bible is not merely a book as the world would inform you, but it is A UNIVERSE of words with Supernatural meaning, and Supernatural connections. When you look up and view the vastness of the heavenly stars, you only see a portion of the heavens. The word of God is the same, for when we open the pages, we only see a portion of the heavens above; however, God also reveals the VASTNESS of the darkness below.
   If we could only just lay hold of the celestial wealth and mind of the word of God, we would be able to see that ALL MY STEPS have been given by God. It is HE who has brought me into the path of salvation. It is GOD who is the shield of my salvation and my shield of faith. The combination of the words . . . MY steps are only mentioned ten times in Scripture. Isn’t that interesting, that with two feet together that we have ten toes, and those ten toes aid our steps into the future. Both our toes and fingers remind us of the Laws of God . . . TEN toes (the walk) . . . TEN fingers (our works). Our TEN toes direct us into the truth of God, and our hands present us with the work of God and both bring us, as Abram, to Melchisedec.
   As Abram looked on the face of the VISIBLE God, he could say in his heart, In thy presence is the fullness of joy. This is what is behind the SHIELD of faith. On the outward side, the temporal side, the Lord Jesus is the SHIELD of my eternal salvation. He is the SHIELD and PRESERVER of my exceeding great reward. Let us ALL lay hold of the POWER within both the POWER of the front of the SHIELD of faith and the POWER behind the SHIELD of faith. There is a great truth that principalities and powers and the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places is NO match for the SHIELD of faith. Look toward the heavens and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. There is a spiritual truth to the womb of faith. We find the meaning to the womb of faith in Galatians 4:27. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Here is the seed of faith that we sow in an ungodly world. Although the Lord Jesus has POWER over the principalities and the powers of this ungodly world, the children of God, the sons of God, THROUGH FAITH have been given the GREAT commandment to ‘go into all the world and SOW the SEED, the SEED of FAITH which is the word of God. It is TRUE that Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

● So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)
But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. (Romans 10:18)
● But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; (Romans 10:8)

   When Abram was called, he believed God, which coincides with Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Although we might not have children in a natural sense, we have children ABOVE in some cases, stars without numbers. God has given many servants both in the Old and New Testaments, and since the final revelation that was given to the Church in the King James Bible, there have been many stars lit in the heavens in the womb of faith. There are the children of the earth, and there are the children who are not of this world who live in the heavens without number. On the outward side of the shield of faith, they live on earth sowing the seed of faith with a heavenly heart, soul and spirit. With many more children than the world can see. The womb of faith is greater than the natural womb.
   This is only the beginning into Genesis Chapter 15 where God develops both a heavenly seed and an earthly seed. According to Scripture, the promises of the heavenlies and the innumerable seed in the determinate counsels of God embrace both Jew AND Gentile. Although Abram was the recipient of the prophecy of his seed, it is up to us to see throughout Scripture that this prophecy was more than an earthly seed, and that the promises of God expand beyond the stars. There is a JERUSALEM ABOVE, there is a heavenly city.

But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22)
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (Hebrews 12:23)
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24)

● But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (Galatians 4:26)
● And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. (Isaiah 2:2)
● Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Revelation 3:12)
● And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:12)
● And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, (Revelation 21:10)

   There is also the Jerusalem, which is BELOW, and one day this will be the city of the Great King, Jesus Christ when He sets up His millennial Kingdom and reigns in Jerusalem. Psalm 147 in its entirety is a preview of the seed of Abram living in peace in the Great City of Jerusalem on earth. This will be the fulfillment of the earthly seed of Abram and the prophesy given in Genesis Chapter 15.
    Since the heavens and the stars declare the glory of God so also each star has a distinctive voice, and although we do not understand the audial frequencies of those voices, they SING to the glory of God. This was the same God of glory who appeared to Abram and called him OUT of Ur of Chaldees. The city in the heavens is not built by man. It was built by God. The city has foundations that are set and established by God. Man has nothing to do with this great city for only the redeemed of the Lord will dwell there. The foundation of their FAITH is built on the Lord Jesus Christ. They are not the builders of their own faith, neither are they the builders of the heavenly Jerusalem, nor the building of the Church, which is the Bride of the Lord.

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (Ephesians 2:19)
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; (Ephesians 2:20)
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (Ephesians 2:21)

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FAITH ESTABLISHED RIGHTEOUSNESS
IN THE WORLD ONCE AGAIN THROUGH ABRAM

And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)

   The cornerstone of the Church and our FAITH is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is both the Author, the Finisher, and the Possessor of our FAITH. We see faith’s walk in Abram and the expansion of his vision in both the SEEN and the UNSEEN. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) We also see in Abraham’s faith that the foundation of his faith walked with him, the Lord presented Himself as ‘I AM thy shield, and exceeding great reward.‘ Here we see Abram AND the Lord BUILDING on Abram’s most holy faith. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. (Jude 1:20) As Christ is THE ETERNAL WORD, He is also THE ETERNAL WORD OF FAITH. Abram believed God as he talked with God in a vision, and we have here a great progression in Abram’s faith, GOD ADDED righteousness. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. (Revelation 19:11) In these two verses we have the first mention of righteousness presented to Abram and in Revelation 19, we have the last mention of righteousness to the world. He is the SAME LORD over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
   Abram is truly a jewel of FAITH of many jewels throughout the history of mankind who have been plucked out of darkness by the Lord of glory. All are as precious stones surrounded by the most Precious Stone, the God of glory who appeared to Abram. And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, (Acts 7:2) This manifestation of the God of glory was the Lord Jesus Christ. He appeared to Abram to establish once again FAITH in the world after the sons of Noah showed that they all had NO FAITH.

● And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. (2nd Thessalonians 3:2)
● Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. (Matthew 17:17)
● He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. (Mark 9:19)
● And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. (Luke 9:41)
● Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. (John 20:27)
● And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. (Deuteronomy 32:20)
● And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. (Acts 14:27)

   The evidence is overwhelming that NOT ALL MEN have faith, and that God can even look over a nation and a generation and say to them that they have NO FAITH. Prior to the coming of the Lord and His manifestation as the Son of God, the Gentiles were locked into darkness, and they had NO ACCESS to God’s FAITH except when God Supernaturally touched one of their hearts. In Acts 14:27, the word door is very important because FAITH to the Gentiles was opened by the TRUE DOOR, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the ONLY time that the phrase the door of faith is used. This takes us back to the DOOR of salvation in John 10, verse 9, I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; (Revelation 3:7)
I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. (Revelation 3:9) Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)

   In Revelation Chapter 3, it is also recorded by the VOICE of the Lord Jesus Christ that I have set before thee an open door. Now let’s lace a few things together, Christ is the FOUNDATION of our salvation. He is the OPEN DOOR TO GOD. Christ is the FOUNDATION of our faith, He is the OPEN DOOR of FAITH. Christ is the FOUNDATION of our holiness and righteousness, and He is the DOOR, and the Chief Cornerstone of the Church of the Living God. He is the ONLY DOOR that God has provided for the souls of man. We see all these wonderful facets in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

   God IN Christ moved to call Abram and imparted FAITH to him. This is extremely difficult to understand for man likes to feel that he alone is the author of his own faith. Man has never understood that FAITH is NOT NATURAL TO MAN. Sinful man forfeited that aspect of faith when Adam brought sin into the world. FAITH IS A SUPERNATURAL GIFT OF GOD, and it is to be treasured IN CHRIST, for the Lord Jesus Christ is both the TREASURY and the TREASURER of FAITH. We see this portrayed in Hebrews Chapter 9 for as the Testator, He confirms with the testament that He is the Author and the Finisher of the FAITH that presents to us SALVATION and FAITH IN HIS BLOOD. 

● Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12)
● And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15)
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. (Hebrews 9:16)
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. (Hebrews 9:17)
Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. (Hebrews 9:18)
● Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (Romans 3:25)
● Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: (Leviticus 16:15)

   Let us return to Genesis Chapter 15. God presents the heavens and the stars to Abram. God in His sovereignty and foreknowledge presented to Abram, through the number of the stars, a FUTURE SCENE that would be innumerable. Once again let us remind ourselves that each and every one of those lights in the darkness had been named by the Almighty God. How vast those names must be, and with God there is no repetition, what a vast vault of names that must be in the naming of stars. As these lights in the heavens each have a name, so each and every saint, each and every child of God will get a NEW NAME from their Master. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Revelation 2:17) Just to clarify the overcomer that is presented in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3, it is the Lord speaking to the Church, it is the Church Age. The overcomers are the true saints of life; they have stepped out of darkness into the glorious light of the Lord and in His Light they exist. They are prepared to lay down their lives as Antipas in Revelation 2:13. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, [even] where Satan’s seat [is]: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas [was] my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. Just as Antipas and the overcomers in all seven churches, we are here to bring light into a world of darkness. The overcomers do not consist of TWO races (Jew and Gentile), but they are ALL ONE IN CHRIST.

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3:27)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)

   God was IN Christ reconciling the world unto himself. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (2nd Corinthians 5:19) This verse discloses to us the FULL DEITY of the GODHEAD IN the Lord Jesus Christ, the EXPRESS IMAGE of God, the BRIGHTNESS of God’s glory appeared to Abram when he was YET in Mesopotamia. God was IN CHRIST reconciling Abram IN the PAST. God was IN CHRIST on the cross of Calvary, the place of the skull reconciling the PRESENT. God was IN CHRIST reconciling ALL those of the Age of the Church. God was IN CHRIST reconciling the seed of Abram, the heavenly seed in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. YOU, I speak directly to YOU. . . YOU are either DEAD to sin or ALIVE by the Spirit of life which is IN Christ Jesus, for GOD was IN CHRIST reconciling the world unto Himself. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2) We should add Acts 26:14-18.

And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. (Acts 26:14)
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. (Acts 26:15)
But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; (Acts 26:16)
Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, (Acts 26:17)
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18)

   To add to the many facets of the Jewel which is the Lord Jesus Christ, it is HE who reveals the POWER of the gospel. Christ is the Enabler to divinely appoint His prophets, His ministers, His preachers, and to reveal IN them the POWER of the gospel that CHRIST has given to the world, to break the shackles of darkness, and the power of Satan, to open the eyes and to remove the blindness of sin, to give light to those who are in darkness, and to set the prisoner free. Out of the deepest and darkest dungeons of the earth, the children of God come forth with the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ with the POWER of His gospel. These verses in the book of Acts relate much to us and we should lay hold of these truths.
   I wish to draw your attention to the last seven words of verse 18 . . . sanctified by faith that is in me. The Lord proclaimed that we are SANCTIFIED by FAITH that is in HIM. What does this mean? BY HIS gospel, we have received FAITH and we are SANCTIFIED by that FAITH that is in HIM. Notice, that it does not say that it is faith in US, but it is FAITH IN HIM because He is the Treasury of faith. He is the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our FAITH. We are DIVINELY SET APART FOR HIS SERVICE, for He sanctified us IN the gospel and BY the FAITH that is IN HIM.

—–◆—–
I AM
THE ALMIGHTY GOD
THE POWER OF GOD

After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. (Genesis 15:1)

  There is still much to see in Genesis Chapter 15. The Lord uses His title, I AM. It is the first time in Scripture that He identifies Himself as I AM. Genesis 15:1, After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. This divine title is seen once again in verse 7, And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. Although these two mentions of I AM (I am) are NOT Capitalized, we should realize that Chapter 15 is NOT ALL ABOUT Abram. God is revealing His Sovereignty, the expanse of His creation, and the POWER that He has over ALL of His creation including HIS POWER over the seed of mankind.

And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. (Genesis 15:4)
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. (Genesis 15:5)

   Chapter 15 has many references to the POWER of God. We also see Him as the Minister of Righteousness, (verse 6). Just so we can see a connection by the Spirit of God to the I AM. God addresses Himself in Genesis 17:1 as I AM the Almighty God. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. (Genesis 17:1)

   Remember that in ALL Scripture we are dealing with the MIND OF the SPIRIT of God, and this is a good place to bring in John 8:58, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Again, notice that the words I am are NOT capitalized, YET the Jews in John Chapter 8 through their runaway emotions picked up stones to stone him. They were well versed in Scripture NOT like the Church today, they KNEW that reference of I AM was in Exodus 3:14, And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. I also want you to notice Exodus 3:6, Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. God said to Moses I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob to each one of these forefathers God referred to Himself as I AM the God of thy fathers. Let us return to the gospel of John . . . .

● Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. (John 8:59)
● Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. (John 10:31)
Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? (John 10:32)
The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. (John 10:33)

   The Lord Jesus Christ brings out His ETERNAL PLACE in the GODHEAD and then specifies that He is the I AM of Scripture. Compare Colossians 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily with Isaiah 43:10 -15.

Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. (Isaiah 43:10)
I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. (Isaiah 43:11)
I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. (Isaiah 43:12)
Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? (Isaiah 43:13)
Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. (Isaiah 43:14)
I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. (Isaiah 43:15)

   Picture the Holy Spirit of God with an artist’s brush in His hand as He paints an image of the INVISIBLE God through the written words of God. This image is the revelation of the GODHEAD: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. In this portrait we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Since we are tying the Almighty God that appeared to Abram here in 2nd Corinthians 4:6, the Holy Spirit ties the glory of God that appeared to Abram in the FACE of Jesus Christ, who IS THE GLORY of the invisible God, and then the Holy Spirit ties the Lord Jesus as the Creator who commanded the Light to shine out of darkness in Genesis 1:3. It is Christ whom the Holy Spirit presents to us as the manifestation of the invisible God.
   The Lord also BUILDS on Abram’s faith for in Genesis 17:1, God gives Abraham another revelation. For the first time in Scripture, the manifest image of the invisible God declared that He is the Almighty God. This COMBINES or unifies the I AM and THE ALMIGHTY GOD, and by the way, the name Almighty God is only used by the Holy Spirit in the Scripture THREE times.

1. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. (Genesis 17:1)
2. And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard [even] to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. (Ezekiel 10:5)
3. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Revelation 19:15)

   I say unto you, that the Almighty God IS the Almighty Father, the Almighty Son, and the Almighty Spirit. The first mention is here in Genesis 17:1, it is His Person and Possession. In the second mention in Ezekiel 10:5, it is His voice and His declaration. In the third documentation it is in the closing of the Revelation of God, it is the wrath of the Lamb, the Almighty God against His enemies. Since we are now in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ and the closing pages of prophecy, we also have the LAST mention of the I AM in Revelation 22:16, I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
  The first two words I Jesus discloses that He is SOVEREIGN over the things in heaven as well as the things on earth, He has sent His angel to testify to the churches. In the next sentence we have I am the root, I AM the ROOT of ALL THINGS. I AM the ROOT of the kingdom of David, and I AM the offspring to fulfill the Kingdom of God. Think of what the Spirit of God is saying to us. No one has ever been able to claim SOVEREIGN manhood, there has NEVER been a man except the Lord Jesus who has been a deified MAN. When He revealed Himself as the God of glory to Abram, He WAS and IS THAT GLORY in the express image of the invisible God. His revelation of Manhood was the FULL GODHEAD, the Almighty God.

   From heaven the Lord Jesus Christ WAS and IS both the seed of David, He WAS and IS according to Galatians 3:16 the seed of Abel, and ALL the children of faith including Abram and to our present day and age, and to the end of the millennial kingdom. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. While we are in the book of the Revelation, Revelation 22:13 begins with I AM. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Notice that the Lord Jesus does not address Himself in the words, I Jesus, but He is speaking and declaring His position was and is the I AM of the Alpha and the Omega, He is the beginning of the creation of God. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; He is also the Omega, He is the Finisher, the End of the creation of God. He will create the NEW heavens and the NEW earth where the Lord Jesus will complete weaving the tapestry of eternity, as He was the beginning of Genesis 1:1, so He will be the LAST when the wonder of God is PERFECTED. We, as the children of God, will ALL sit down in the eternal kingdom of God. May we look to the stars in wonder of what waits us beyond the stars.

—–◆—–
THE GREAT DARKNESS
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. (Genesis 15:12)

  In verse 12 of Genesis 15, there is a great darkness. These two words used together is only documented ONE time in Scripture. This is BEFORE the clouds of affliction begin to grow, not only in the life of Abram, but in his seed as well. Out of the furnace of affliction, Egypt emerged his seed. They (his seed) would serve four hundred years in the furnace of affliction in brutal slavery. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years. (Genesis 15:13) This is also a window of prophecy that takes us further than the book of Exodus to the LAST divine prophecies in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the LAST FURNACE OF AFFLICTION that Israel will suffer under the iron hand of The Beast and the kings of the earth. (Read Revelation 12) For years, there has been a conflict about the time element when they children of Jacob were in bondage in Egypt. Some have said that Scripture erroneously documents that it was four hundred years for they were in Egypt longer than 400 years. This is true that they were in Egypt longer than four hundred years; however, Scripture is NOT wrong. While under the realm of Joseph they (Israel) were not slaves, in fact, they grew and prospered under Joseph’s reign. After Joseph died, there arose a Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. That was the beginning of the four hundred years of affliction.
   Through His ministry on earth and the ministry of the Spirit of God through the epistles, one thing that the Lord constantly reminds us is that we should BEWARE of the traditions of man, and traditions of ‘the fathers,’ and the traditions of the church.

—–◆—–
TAKE ME

And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. (Genesis 15:9)

  Now we will return back to verse 9 . . . the words take me seems out of place until the Spirit of God connects the greater sacrifice in the greater darkness of the cross when the entire world was plunged into darkness from the sixth hour to the ninth hour of the Lord’s crucifixion on the place of the skull. CLICK HERE for more about the number nine.

   Abram was told to take a heifer of three years of age, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, then a turtle dove and a young pigeon. The ministry of the Lord from the Jordan, the river of death, to the cross of Calvary, the cross of death, was approximately three years. In three years He worked miracles among the children of Israel that NO OTHER had ever done. The words that He spoke to Israel were words of LIFE and LIGHT for Israel was in great darkness.
   John informs us in his closing words of his gospel that there were many other miracles that Jesus performed that were NOT written. John supposed that if ALL had been written about the Lord Jesus that the world would not be able to contain the books written. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. (John 21:25)

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: (John 20:30)
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:31)

  In ‘the offering’ of Genesis verse 9, the Holy Spirit DELIBERATELY leaves OUT the word ‘offering,’ or ‘sacrifice,’ because of the beginning of the verse of the two words Take me. After the flood, Noah’s offering was referred to as an offering to God and that it was a sweet savor unto the Lord.

And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (Genesis 8:20)
And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (Genesis 8:21)

   When Abram went into the land, he offered an offering to the Lord which keeping WITH Noah’s sacrifice was also a sweet savor unto the LORD. These words Take me, are meant to stand out as God’s relationship to the animals and to the two birds. In the gospels, we have the words, Take me twice, once in Matthew and once in Mark.

In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. (Matthew 26:55)
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me? (Mark 14:48)

  These two words take me were spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ when a band of men came to take Him. He KNEW that His hour had come, and that the cross was before Him, for He had prayed in the garden (with tears as great drops of blood fell) that this hour would pass from Him, but KNOWING the magnitude of the offering of His soul, He uttered the words, nevertheless not my will, but what thou wilt. Three times it is documented in Scripture that He spoke the words of submission to the will of God.

● And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (Matthew 26:39)
● And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. (Mark 14:36)
● Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42)

   Previously in John 12:32, the Lord had said, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all [men] unto me. He also referred to the serpent of brass that Moses had lifted up before the children of Israel because of the serpents among them that if they looked up to the serpent of brass they would not perish from the serpent’s bite because of their sins.

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:13) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: (John 3:14) That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15)

 The Lord Jesus was well aware that the works of the old serpent, the devil, plus sin and death had to be dealt with. Thus, He surrendered Himself to the brutal crucifixion of the cross as well as the hours of darkness when the furnace of affliction and the suffering of God’s judgment AGAINST sin would roll over His soul as an offering to God. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:10)
   In Genesis 15, the word ‘offering’ or ‘sacrifice’ are NOT mentioned. WHY? Because God was presenting Himself through the words take me. The heifer, the she goat, and the ram, each being three years old totaled the number nine. The end of the single digits expresses the finality and the words of the Lord Jesus, It is finished. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:30)

   Now, let us examine the turtle dove and the young pigeon . . . the turtle dove is a sign of peace. It is also the sign of new life, as with Noah. The dove searched the earth and finally brought back an olive leaf which also speaks of peace. This then leaves the young pigeon. Isn’t it amazing that the pigeon has been used as the messenger of man for man, and how these birds RETURN to the very place that they were launched from. They have been used in times of peace, in times of war and conflict throughout the ages. Remember that the Lord Jesus declared that He would not only send a Comforter, but that Comforter, the Holy Spirit of God, would bring messages from God to the children of God and also from the children of God to God. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (John 14:16)
   Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (John 16:12) The word he/He, the Spirit of God, (the Spirit of truth) will lead you into all truth, although the Spirit of God cannot be seen, He is a member of the GODHEAD, and has personality, and He is a HE and presents the words of God and the interpretation of the words of God WITHOUT ERROR to the children of God. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. (John 15:26) Again, Why is the word ‘offering’ or ‘sacrifice’ NOT used in Genesis Chapter 15? It is because this was God’s part of the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross IN the hours of darkness. This was the realization of The Burnt Offering. What transpired in those hours of darkness has been kept from us. However, we have a slight shadow of what took place through Psalm 22.

   When God gives us the four hundred years of the bondage of the nation of Israel in Egypt, He does not mention the name of the nation in Genesis Chapter 15 that WILL hold them in bondage. However, we do KNOW that the nation WAS Egypt. Israel was in bondage UNTIL the BLOOD of the LAMB was placed on the door posts and the lintel; this gave them a SHIELD from the angel of death. Those who were without that SHIELD of blood were judged by God. But the sweet savor of sacrifice is NOT seen again UNTIL the nation of Israel was free in the wilderness of Shur. It was then that the sweet savor returned in the burnt offering. And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. (Exodus 29:18)
   In the New Testament, we have Ephesians 5:2 where the offering of the Person of Christ, IN flesh, was called a sweetsmelling savor unto God the Father. And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. In the animals and the birds that Abram placed in order, there is NO earthen altar, there is NO wood, there is NO earthly fire, God particularly waited until the sun went down, and it was DARK, THEN God’s words Take me and what happened between the sacrifice: there came a smoking furnace of judgment and a lamp of fire. Again I refer you to Isaiah 53:10 and 11. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:10) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11) In the affliction of the Lord Jesus on the cross, He saw His seed. As the Almighty God, in the travail of His soul, He gave birth to ALL those of FAITH who had received (and yet WILL receive) the divine Seed which is Christ. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16) Here we see the RESULT of the words take me. In the process of His crucifixion, both the sweetsmelling savor to God AND the words It is finished for mankind, He had completed His own prophecy in Himself. If He be lifted up He will draw all men unto Himself And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all [men] unto me. The sweetsmelling savor is spiritually monumental and majestic because it encompassed ALL the animal sacrifices from Abel’s more excellent sacrifice TO the glorious sacrifice and LAST sacrifice, the sweetsmelling sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 5:2, it is the ONLY PLACE in Scripture that sweetsmelling is made ONE word. All the other sacrifices that were documented as sweet smelling or sweet savor were divided into TWO words, but HERE in Ephesians 5:2 God takes the unity of deity IN the sacrifice of His Son and joins the word sweet to the word smelling. The more excellent sacrifice of Abel became the PERFECT sacrifice of God in the words, Take me. 

   In Genesis Chapter 15 God shows us many things that are only mentioned ONCE in Scripture. The Holy Spirit of God wants us to learn from these particular declarations. We find ONE time in all of Scripture the words great darkness. Only ONE time we have the words smoking furnace and the words burning lamp. They are ALL found in this 15th Chapter. The mystery behind the animals is that it was the Person of the Lord presenting these animals IN sacrifice directly connecting HIMSELF, Take me . . . only in this relationship we find God directly connected to what we could call, an offering. Now, in the gospels, directly connected to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, It is finished COMPLETES the smoking furnace and the burning lamp of judgment upon the Person of the Son of God.
   It is finished is recorded twice in Scripture. Once in John 19:30, When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. And the second and last mention is in James 1:15, Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. In John19:30, This epical and glorious phrase finalizes the determinate counsels of God in the fullness of the time. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:5) In Galatians 4:4 we have a time period that embraces the cross throughout all eternity. It is designated as a particular time . . . as . . . the fulness of THE time. This is also the only place in Scripture that the Holy Spirit deliberately circled time as THE time. Verse 5 gives us a direct connection with the fullness of THE time in the complete work of the Lord Jesus Christ in our redemption from sin and from The Law. In the second and LAST mention of the words It is finished found in James 1:15 God the Holy Spirit presents the terror of death. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. This is sin and the terror of death, and it was the Lord who delivered us from that terror. He delivered us by Himself from the smoking furnace and from the burning lamp. We see all of this through Genesis 15. We see a Sovereign God in the number 1. We see the fullness of grace throughout time in the number 5. They are bound together, Take me by the sacrifice of judgment in the Lord Himself.
    Again, allow me to write that He endured the smoking furnace of affliction and the burning lamp of judgment. He took our sorrow onto Himself. The Highest Himself was manifested as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

● He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:4)
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
● Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:5)
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (Philippians 2:6)
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (Philippians 2:7)
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8)
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (Philippians 2:9)
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (Philippians 2:10)
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11)
● And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her. (Psalm 87:5)

   There is so much thought and meditation surrounding the two words of Take me. Three times in Scripture this phrase Take me is documented around the betrayal of Christ in Gethsemane, therefore bringing in God the Father; Take me, God the Son, Take me, God the Holy Spirit. The Jews came out against the GODHEAD in the darkness of night with swords and staves. This was AGAINST the DEPOSITORY of God’s peace in the Person of God’s Christ. They took the King of the Jews and crucified Him not only as the King but also as the Prince of Peace.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

    How Satan loves darkness, and the children of darkness how they hate the Light. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19) For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (John 3:20)
   The love and Light of God came into the world BY Jesus the Christ. The darkness of sin and death came into the world by Lucifer, the old serpent, the devil and Satan. The triumph of Lucifer was when he manifested himself before the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan brought sin to the body, and death to the soul. He darkened the spirit of man and man was completely destroyed in his relationship with his Creator. When the Son of God came, He brought light to the spirit and life to the soul and removed sin and death from the body through His life, His work and through His death. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
   The Son of the Father’s love endured the smoking furnace and the burning lamp: two symbols of judgment. The most violent and powerful forms of judgment is fire. The Lord of glory passed through the fires of God’s wrath to bring us safely home to our God. How great was the darkness for Him who was ALL LIGHT. All the powers of darkness came out AGAINST Him. The powers of the principalities, the powers of the rules of the darkness of this world, the powers of wickedness in high places, and the powers of the unseen hosts of Satan danced before Him and taunted Him, mocking and spewing out hateful guile. The bulls of Bashan (Psalm 22:12) surrounded Him as the Lamb of God, and with loving eyes He WEPT for them and looked up into the heavens and in abounding grace said, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. (Luke 23:33) Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. (Luke 23:34)

    Although many may disagree, MAN IS STILL in that UNFORGIVABLE STATE. ALL MEN ARE IN COMPLETE RUIN AND DARKNESS. Man’s ways, his thoughts, his heart and spirit are in complete darkness, yet God still cries out, Come unto me. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
   The take me of Genesis 15 leads to the garden, and the garden leads to the cross, and the cross leads to paradise. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Great Sower of the seed of grace. He is the Weaver of the great garment white and clean. He is the Opener of the great door to the peace of God. He is the Restorer of paradise lost and the lost soul. He is the Light and Life of ALL grace and truth, and it is He who is the ONLY GOD of comfort. For it is the Lord Jesus who has taken away the great darkness. Fear not little flock, I am He . . . TAKE ME.

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THE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY

   Follow the history of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through Psalm 105. This Psalm follows the history of the seed of Abram UNTIL they entered into the land and were given ALL the lands of the heathen. This was to partially fulfill the word given to Abram in Genesis 15:13 and 14. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; (Genesis 15:13) And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. (Genesis 15:14) These words were a direct prophecy given to Abram by the ETERNAL WORD of God out of the mouth of the Almighty God. Man was NOT engaged in this prophecy since there was neither a prophet nor a mediator involved. These words were DIRECTLY from the mouth of God to show God’s Sovereignty over the present and into the future. This prophetic word has to do with the genealogy of the seed of Abram. After their 400 years of bondage, the Lord told Abram that He Himself will bring them out of their bondage with great substance, which was completely fulfilled when God sent Moses who was a proper child or a sent child. By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. (Hebrews 11:23)
   As we see the prophecies of the past fulfilled, we should understand the future fulfillment of the prophecies in the New Testament. As Peter wrote in 2nd Peter 1:19, we have also a MORE SURE word of prophecy. 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. How does the Lord know these things? He is the God of foreknowledge. He is the determinate counsel within His Being. The Father counsels with the Son, and both counsel with the Holy Spirit. In their determinate counsels they have determined the very beginning to the very end. Within this, they have complete foreknowledge of the history of the world, and its population. Again, some will disagree, but it is a FACT . . . MAN CANNOT STEP OUT OF THE BOUNDARIES OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY. Yes, man in Adam is confined to the Sovereign will of God. Ask yourself, Why all the prophetic truths around the life of the Son of God was COMPLETELY revealed from the Old Testament in His lifetime. Not one prophecy failed. So, when Peter wrote that, we have a more sure word of prophecy, ALL future prophecy WILL BE FULFILLED.

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EUPHRATES, THE GREAT RIVER
THE RIVER OF BABYLON
FROM THE RIVER OF EGYPT TO THE RIVER EUPHRATES

In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (Genesis 15:18)

   In verse 18 of Genesis Chapter 15, we have a covenant of the land from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River. This great river Euphrates is mentioned five times in Scripture. This prophecy of Chapter 15 stretches from the great river of Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River. This river goes all the way back to Genesis 2:14, And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. (Genesis 2:10)
    In Genesis Chapter 2 we have five rivers mentioned from Genesis 2:10 to 2:14 that parted into four rivers.

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. (Genesis 2:10)
The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; (Genesis 2:11)
And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. (Genesis 2:12)
And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. (Genesis 2:13)
And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. (Genesis 2:14)

   God gives us the Supernatural. There is ONE river that went our from Eden, and then it divided into FOUR heads or four rivers. The first was Pison, the second Gihon, the third was Hiddekel and the fourth was Euphrates. In Scripture six times a great river is mentioned, five times it is Euphrates and the sixth time it is the Hiddekel in Daniel 10:4. This takes us back to Genesis 2:14 where both rivers are mentioned: the Hiddekel and the Euphrates; thus, this gives us two great rivers. The third river Hiddekel is hidden from our view, it disappears and then reappears in the book of Daniel. In Daniel Chapter 10, we have the Supernatural God revealing to Daniel things to come.
   The Hiddekel being the third river of God can also spiritually represent the third Person of the GODHEAD. The Hiddekel is the hidden river or the UNSEEN, the number three represents not only the third Person of the GODHEAD, but it also represents the fullness of the GODHEAD that we SEE in Daniel 10. Pay attention to verse 17.

Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days. (Daniel 10:14)
And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. (Daniel 10:15)
And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. (Daniel 10:16)
For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. (Daniel 10:17)
Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, (Daniel 10:18)

   In verse 14 there is a familiar prophecy. Why do I say that? Simply because it is the continued affliction of the Jewish people by the Gentile world. Again, we have a prophecy directly stated from the mouth of the Lord. In verse 18 we have like the appearance of a man. It is the manifestation of the Lord Jesus Himself as the Lord. Also, this prophecy gives us the trial and tribulation that Israel will go through in the latter days which are quickly closing in on us. Daniel was the only man in Scripture that was called a man greatly beloved.

1. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew [thee]; for thou [art] greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. (Daniel 9:23)
2 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. (Daniel 10:11)
3 And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace [be] unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me. (Daniel 10:19)

   When you connect the number three you have the Hiddekel, which is the third river in Genesis 2, it is hidden from sight UNTIL we get to the book of Daniel, and then it is revealed as the GREAT RIVER. This is in connection with Daniel being called GREATLY BELOVED three times. This also gives us the three days and three nights that the Lord was hidden from sight in the sepulcher of Joseph. And YES, it also connects us to Joseph, Jacob’s son, but that is for another article and another day and another time. The Hiddekel leads us to the river of God, the one river which had four heads. This in itself is Supernatural. The book of Psalms begins in Psalm 1 by the river of God. ALL CONNECT TOGETHER.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (Psalm 1:1)
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. (Psalm 1:12
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. (Psalm 13)
The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. (Psalm 1:4)
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. (Psalm 1:5)
For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Psalm 1:6)

   In the absence of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth, it is the Spirit of God who leads us by the waters of God to the fountain Head which IS the Lord Jesus Christ. The waters that the Lord Jesus gives us flows IN us and swelling up as a river of Life. In John 4, these waters of life are IN our blessed Lord of glory. ALL CONNECT TOGETHER.

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10)
The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? (John 4:11)
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? (John 4:12)
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: (John 4:13)

   As the Hiddekel, the third river of life in the GODHEAD remains out of sight from mankind and the world, the voice of the Lord Jesus is funneled through His Spirit, the Comforter, the Spirit of God with the waters of ETERNAL life. Supernaturally the Lord Jesus sits upon the throne of grace and righteousness. The same waters of life that He gave the woman at the well in Samaria flows from His throne to us. Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1st Peter 1:8)
   Peter also wrote of the fullness that we receive from Christ although He is out of our sight, we feel the glory of God in Him and the fullness of the GODHEAD fills us with the waters of eternal life. When the Lord sits on His millennial throne there will be a river specified as the river of God that flows from His throne. ALL CONNECT TOGETHER.

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)
In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:2)
And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: (Revelation 22:3)
And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. (Revelation 22:4)
And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)
And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. (Revelation 22:6)
Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. (Revelation 22:7)

   As we see with the third river Hiddekel there is direct prophecy connected to that river in Daniel Chapter 10. In Genesis Chapter 15, we have the fourth river, the great river Euphrates. The number four is the number of the world: north, south, east and west. God connects the people of Israel with two great rivers: the river Hiddekel in Daniel and the Euphrates River in Genesis Chapter 15. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (Genesis 15:18) Although the river of Egypt is mentioned, it is the great river, the Euphrates that gets our attention because it is the land of Shinar, and it is the LAST place of Israel’s bondage in the Old Testament. It bridges Egypt with Babylon.

   The four hundred years of bondage in Egypt AFTER Joseph (who is a type of our Savior Jesus Christ) and the seventy years of bondage in Babylon AFTER the last great and righteous king, the boy king called Josiah became the fulfillment of a prophecy.  Josiah became ANOTHER CONNECTION to fulfill the will of God.

● And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. (2nd Chronicles 34:31)
And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. (2nd Chronicles 34:32)
And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the LORD their God. And all his days they departed not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers. (2nd Chronicles 34:33)
● But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem. (2nd Kings 23:23)
Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. (2nd Kings 23:24)
And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. (2nd Kings 23:25)
Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal. (2nd Kings 23:26)
And the LORD said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. (2nd Kings 23:27)

   When Israel was in distress before the judgment of God, God sent a savior king. This boy king Josiah fulfilled a prophecy given in the days of Jeroboam, and Jeroboam was the man who caused Israel to sin by placing two golden calves of idolatry, one in Bethel and the other in Dan.

● Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord. (2nd Chronicles 13:6)
And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them. (2nd Chronicles 13:7)
And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods. (2nd Chronicles 13:8)
● If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. (1st Kings 12:27)
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. (1st Kings 12:28)
And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. (1st Kings 12:29)
And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. (1st Kings 12:30)
And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. (1st Kings 13:1)
And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee. (1st Kings 13:2)
And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. (1st Kings 13:3)
And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. (1st Kings 13:4)
The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. (1st Kings 13:5)
● Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. (2nd Chronicles 34:1)
And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. (2nd Chronicles 34:2)
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. (2nd Chronicles 34:3)
And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. (2nd Chronicles 34:4)
And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. (2nd Chronicles 34:5)
And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. (2nd Chronicles 34:6)
And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. (2nd Chronicles 34:7)

   The prophecy of the boy king was given approximately 975 B.C., and the birth of Josiah was approximately 641 B.C. So, we can approximate the time period between the giving of the prophecy and its fulfillment as 341 years. What is so remarkable is that this tremendous prophecy was given by an unnamed man of God. The prophecy not only described the boy king but gave the name JOSIAH to the yet unborn king approximately 341 years BEFORE Josiah’s birth. This boy king would destroy the altars of Jeroboam and burn the bones of the corrupt priest upon it thus fulfilling ALL of that prophecy.

   After the death of Josiah the nation of Israel fell into the sin once again through the same sin that had so easily beset them previously. All the good works of Josiah were overturned in a very short period of time. We can see this same thing in many nations for they will have a good ruler who lifts up the nation, and then an evil ruler will follow and destroy the works of the good ruler. This has happened over and over throughout the history of mankind. This will continue on until the righteous King, the Lord Jesus, sits upon His throne in Jerusalem to bring righteousness to Israel and to the world.
   Israel was taken into captivity into Babylon after the death of Josiah. There besides the waters of Babylon they wept bitter tears of anguish and hopelessness. Their desire to see the continuation of the promise of the expansion of their kingdom from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates had ended after king Solomon and their kingdom lost, and the prophetic word of Genesis 15 remained unfulfilled and thus, they wept by the waters of Babylon.

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. (Psalm 137:1)
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. (Psalm 137:2)
For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. (Psalm 137:3)
How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? (Psalm 137:4)
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. (Psalm 137:5)
If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. (Psalm 137:6)
Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. (Psalm 137:7)
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. (Psalm 137:8)
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. (Psalm 137:9)

   Why are we here in the prophecy given in Genesis 15 from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates? This is the land of Israel, yet sin has deprived them of their own land. Even now, today and in our age, the devil and those under his control are fiercely fighting to deny Israel the promises of God Almighty. CLICK HERE for more about the phrase ‘from the river to the sea.’

   After the prophetic word of Daniel is fulfilled in the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, Israel will finally have its FULL PORTION of land from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates, This Kingdom will be controlled under a Righteous King, who is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. It will not be a surrogate king as some believe, but it will be CHRIST who will sit upon His throne as both King and Priest in Jerusalem.

And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: (Zechariah 6:12) Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. (Zechariah 6:13)

   Christ will sit in Jerusalem as the King of Righteousness and as the High Priest, Melchisedec, the Priest of the most high God for one thousand years.

   When Josiah came to the throne, the entire nation was in ruin and under the fierce grip of sin and idolatry. The Temple of the Lord was closed. The doors were shut. The very Temple that Solomon had built in all of its glory was then in all of its neglect and ruin. But with the prophetic word introducing Josiah, we again see that the prophecies of the Lord are given with the same SOVEREIGN authority as His creation. The word of God that is given is under the control of the Spirit of Christ.

● For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2nd Peter 1:21)
● Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: (1st Peter 1:10)
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (1st Peter 1:11)
Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1st Peter 1:12)

   The word of God as we have it today in the King James Bible has been divinely sealed by the Spirit of God, although it carries a king’s title in the foreward, within its pages it shows forth the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ. The ONLY ONE who has the title TO the word of God IS the ONE who is called THE WORD in John 1:1- 4 and the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ in Revelation 19:13. Make no mistake. The Spirit of God can discern the authenticity of His own word. The word of God is under the full power of the GODHEAD. It is the word of God breathed upon us. It is the breath of God we listen to, and it is the Light of God that gives us life, and it is the FAITH of God that gives us grace. It is the truth of God that eternally seals us and it is so much more in the supernatural fabric of the pages of God.

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DEEP SLEEP
And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. (Genesis 15:12)
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. (Genesis 15:17)

   Now let us consider under the light of Scripture Abram’s DEEP SLEEP, a divinely appointed sleep. We can see the beginning of the deep sleep when God used deep sleep over Adam. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. (Genesis 2:21) The reason for Adam’s deep sleep was to bring a help mate to him. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. (Genesis 2:21) God searched all the animals that He had created, and did not find one qualified to be Adam’s help mate. The Creator of man KNEW that the help mate had to be unique from all the other creation. So, He caused a deep sleep to fall upon man. And although you may not have thought about it, the Lord was the first Chief Surgeon by opening the side of Adam. Then He removed a rib and then closed the flesh, but God was not through, He took that bone and made bone of Adam’s bone, and flesh from Adam’s flesh. There would be NO closer relationship between man and woman, only God would be closer. The result of this deep sleep was Eve.

And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. (Genesis 2:22)
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. (Genesis 2:23)
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:25)

   Here Adam spoke the truth. There was neither guile not deception in his words. Eve was born of Adam’s bone. He used the word MY to give the relationship that he felt with Eve, then flesh of MY flesh, God called her a help mate. She was to HELP Adam, not to hinder. She was to submit to her husband. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (Genesis 3:16) What is the difference between Genesis 2:25 and Genesis 3:16? When Adam spoke the words in Genesis 2, there was no guile involved, for sin had yet not come into the world. Adam looked upon Eve as he looked upon himself. In the gospels we are told that no man hates his own flesh. Then, in Genesis 3:16, all had changed, now they were ashamed of their nakedness because of sin. They hid themselves from God because of the darkness of sin for they KNEW that they would be exposed by God’s divine light. But even in trespass and sin, Eve was to submit herself to her husband. How things have changed when entire nations submit to women. You can be angry with me, but Genesis 3:16 still exists and is still relevant today, and those who will not submit to this, are out of the will of God.
   The second time that God used a deep sleep was with Abram. This was to spare Abram the horror of the great darkness. We have two different things here: we have a deep sleep and a great darkness. In the great darkness and in the deep sleep, one to shield Abram and the other to give a prophecy of his seed. The Lord speaks prophetically and this portion is not pleasant to the soul. His seed, at a future date, will endure four hundred years of slavery. In the great darkness the Lord will only pull back the darkness with the first-born lamb. A male with no blemish either within or without, and that blood of the lamb will deliver those within the house from death to life is IN the lamb. This is the deliverance of the seed of Abram that will be freed and go on their journey through the wilderness to the promised land. In Romans 8:1 and 2, we see our deliverance, and we see our Lamb, and through the Lamb of God and His Spirit we are free from The Law of Sin and Death. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
   There is NO condemnation to those who are IN Christ Jesus, you are IN the house under the blood of the Lamb. He, is our house. But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. (Hebrews 3:6) The world also loses sight of the Door that Christ IS the Door to salvation, but one has to be within the doorposts and the lintel. One has to be IN the cross. The house in Hebrews 3:6 is the divine House built by the Lord. He is the Builder and Maker through His sufferings on the cross. (Isaiah 53:14)

● Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:4)
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
● Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:10)
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)

   Not only do we see the smoking furnace and the lamp of fire in the suffering in the children of Israel, the seed of Abram, but we see the lamp of fire in the death of the Lord as He hung upon the cursed tree being made a curse for us, the redeemed of the Lord. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Galatians 3:13) Do you think that this was a light thing when the manifestation of God was made a curse for us? There is no deeper darkness, there is no curse any greater, and His suffering was beyond man’s understanding. As we read Revelation Chapters 4 and 5, we see that ONLY the Lamb has the authority to open the divine Book of Righteousness. He acquired that right through His blood.
   In Galatians 3:14 we have the opening up of the promises and blessings in Abram, that they may come upon the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. Look at the progression: in 3:13 you have Christ being made a curse for us, in 3:14 He opens up ALL the promises and blessing to BOTH Jew and Gentile. In Galatians 3:16, He is the promised seed of the woman, He is the Seed of God, the most holy thing, the holy child and the holy Man, thy seed which is Christ, who is the Seed of God, and the seed of faith. He is the promise of the Spirit through FAITH.
   The burning lamp passed BETWEEN those pieces, NOT OVER them, but BETWEEN them, consuming them. Remember that before Abram’s deep sleep that he fought the fowls and drove them away. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. (Genesis 15:11) Now, we, as the children of God, live in a day of fowls . . . the unclean thing. They come down on the sacrifice of Christ. The fowls cry out that He is NOT God, for they, according to Scripture, are the UNCLEAN things. They cry out that Christ, that holy thing, that holy child, that holy Man could have sinned. We, drive them away, for God demanded a PERFECT MAN in the LIKENESS of sinful flesh, a HOLY and RIGHTEOUS Man, a PERFECT SACRIFICE to die upon the cross and to shed His precious blood and to be under the smoking furnace and the burning lamp. The smoking furnace was JUDGMENT, and the burning lamp was to look upon the sacrifice and to see that it was PERFECT. The perfect sacrifice could only be found in the number three, the fullness of the GODHEAD bodily. That within the GODHEAD uniquely, they are all of ONE.
   In Genesis 15:9 the sacrifices are surrounded by the number THREE. Three times we have the word three, which gives us the number nine, which is God’s number of the perfection of completion, finality and judgment. ALL three numbers of the GODHEAD was instrumental in our salvation: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father endured the pain and suffering of His Son in the three hours of darkness upon the earth. God the Son accomplished the suffering on the cross in the three hours of darkness upon the whole earth. God the Holy Spirit relates to usward both the Father enduring and Christ’s suffering so that WE might understand that ALL this was done so that we might have LIFE in Christ and BE FREE from The Law of Sin and Death.
   The fullness of the GODHEAD is found in Colossians 2:9. Again, we see the number 2 of witness and the number 9 as the number of completion, It is finished. Remember all the verses that led to the curse upon the tree are found in Galatians Chapter 3. We are not through with the testimony of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and the ministry of the Spirit of God. The two birds, the turtle dove and the young pigeon are witnesses for the number two is the number of witness by the mouth of two or three witnesses.

● This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. (2nd Corinthians 13:1)
● One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. (Deuteronomy 19:15)

   It is amazing that in this sacrifice of Chapter 15 of Genesis that we have the fullness of sacrifice in the number three, and we have the fullness of witness in the number two. The tri-part animals are the witnesses upon the earth depicting Christ as the sacrifice. The two birds are the witnesses of the Holy Spirit both on earth and in heaven for the Spirit of God was sent from heaven to glorify the Son of God. He, the Holy Spirit of God descended and ascended as the witness of the Spirit of Christ and the Holy Spirit also called the Holy Ghost relates the two aspects of the turtle dove and the young pigeon. The turtle dove as the Holy Spirit is the relater of God’s love and God’s peace; the Holy Ghost is related to the young pigeon, He is a Messenger and He gives gifts to man.

● God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? (Hebrews 2:4)
● And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: (1st Corinthians 2:4)

   Both the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost as ONE leads us into all truth. This is a fact around the Spirit of God: the words all truth is only mentioned ONE time in Scripture, and it is found in the gospel of the Spirit John 16:13, Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. There is another interesting fact about the Spirit of truth and His title The Spirit of Truth in the gospel of John, the apostle John is the only one to use the title The Spirit of Truth four times.

● Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:17)
● But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: (John 15:26)
● Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (John 16:13)
● We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. (1st John 4:6)

   These verses will enlighten readers to the complete and active ministry of The Spirit of Truth. He is a Diviner of both truth and error. He is a Discerner of the intents of the heart; thereby, He acknowledges that He is the One who leads us into all truth.

   We have another connection with Abram and Genesis Chapter 15, and the New Testament in the phrase the fowls came. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. (Genesis 15:11) And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up. (Matthew 13:4) There is a third mention of fowls in Mark 4:4, however, these are fowls of the air. The two times that the fowls came can be traced directly to the serpent and his work on the earth to pluck away the seed of God. And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. In Mark 4:4, we have the fowls of the air, this shows Satan’s power as prince of the air, in the principalities and in the powers of the air and spiritual wickedness in high places.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (Ephesians 6:10)
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)

   Now the phrase, the fowls came down is only mentioned one time. Here we have a spiritual lesson, the fowls come down to desecrate the Son of God, the Lord of glory and His sacrifice for us. They come down to desecrate the Bible, the word of God. They come down to desecrate the children of God and to take away our song of redemption, and to take away all our spiritual blessings which we have in Christ Jesus. In Matthew 13:4 the fowls come to devour the seed which is the word of God. If you remember that in Matthew 4:4, Satan used the word of God AGAINST the Lord Jesus tempting Him by using a perverted word. Closely examine the temptations and you will find massive twisting of the word of God. The written word of God is directly part of the Living Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Five times the Lord Jesus refers directly to the words that He spoke as MY WORD and the verses are full of spiritual insight and value documented by the apostle John in his gospel and one time in Revelation 3:8.

● Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)
● Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; (John 8:31)
● I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. (John 8:37)
● Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. (John 8:43)
● I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)

   I don’t mean this to be repetitious, but the number five is the number of grace, and also this points us to the gospel of John Chapter 8: three times the Lord used the phrase my word. What is so amazing is that in the 8th Chapter is that He enforces my word three times. This is the particular Chapter that He declared to the Jews that He was before Abraham, and when He used the term I AM. Although I AM (I am) is NOT capitalized, the Jews KNEW that He was referring to the words of Exodus 3 at the burning bush where the Lord of glory used the term for His identification of HIS PERSON as I AM. The reason for this that there are NO boundaries in this particular name for here we see the fulfillment later in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ where the Lord Jesus proclaimed I AM the Alpha and the Omega. Again, the I am is NOT capitalized because of the purpose and time. By now, we should realize by the teaching of The Spirit of Truth that Christ IS ALL IN ALL. He is the I AM of Exodus Chapter 3. He is the I AM of John 8:58.

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58) Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. (John 8:59)

   These two verses tie the voice at the burning bush DIRECTLY to the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can deny that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning of the creation of God, and the Completer of God’s eternity. When the Jews heard His words, they picked up stones to stone Him for the Jews would NOT believe that Abram saw HIS day and rejoiced, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. (John 8:56) What this verse discloses is that Abraham understood the manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ in the FULLNESS OF THE TIME. This would be the fulfillment of prophecy which the Jews DID NOT and WOULD NOT understand. Then when the Lord made His proclamation that BEFORE Abraham was I AM . . . I AM . . . I AM. Why did I write this three times, because there are hard hearts out there who STILL WILL NOT BELIEVE and they also as the Jews of old picked up stones to stone the Lord of glory. Just to show you that HE WAS/IS the God of glory, He cloaked Himself and invisibly passed by. One more fact: the next Chapter in the gospel of John (Chapter 9) is about the man born blind encompasses all humanity.

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MY WORD

   Revelation 3:8 connects the words spoken in the New Testament to the complete word of God in the Old Testament. I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)

● And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD’S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not. (Numbers 11:23)
● Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. (Numbers 20:24)
● Concerning this house which thou art in building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments to walk in them; then will I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David thy father: (1st Kings 6:12)
● So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)
● For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. (Isaiah 66:2)
● Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it. (Jeremiah 1:12)
● The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What [is] the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:28)
● [Is] not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer [that] breaketh the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29)

   Connect the phrase my word with complete continuity with the Lord Jesus Christ in John 1:1-4. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1) The same was in the beginning with God. (John 1:2) All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3) In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)
   With these Scriptures and the TRUTH of these Scriptures you can drive away a multitude of fowls that come down AGAINST the word of God and AGAINST the true sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. On that dark night when Christ was betrayed after He poured out His soul in the garden, And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (Matthew 26:39) He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. (Matthew 26:42)
   Once in the gospel of Mark 14:36, And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. And in Luke’s gospel twice in Luke 22:20 and 42, Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
   Five times it is recorded that is . . . FIVE times GRACE prevailed over sorrow; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. Christ drove away the fowls in the garden to keep the fowls out of eternity and left us with the supernatural sacrifice that the birds of the air could not touch.
   Take me of Genesis 15 speaks throughout the entire Bible through both Old and New Testament.

● And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. (Genesis 15:9)
● In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. (Matthew 26;55)
● And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me? (Mark 14:38)

   Now if you can bear with me . . . in Scripture it is recorded only three times that the voice of the Lord used these two words, Take me, in reference to the Lord Himself AS the sacrifice of redemption. In the foreknowledge of God, the Lord KNEW in Genesis 15 that His Take me would be fulfilled at the cross. In the books of Matthew and Mark, the Lord submitted Himself to the cup of the Lord and His sacrifice of Himself upon Calvary, therefore, He KNEW what lay ahead in both Matthew 26:55 and Mark 14:48. The same voice of the Lord gives us the same circumstances BEFORE the sacrifice.
   In the gospel of Matthew, they came and took their rejected King. In Mark’s gospel unbeknown to them, they came and took the True and Faithful Servant of the Most High God. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14) I will close with this verse, And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. (Revelation 19:9) This is why the King James Bible is anointed by the Spirit of God. It proclaims within its pages that it is the true sayings of God. This was the ONLY time that the phrase true sayings of God are recorded. You miss out on these wonderful words in most translations because for they are not the true word of God. YES, I said it, and I’ll take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and I will drive away the fowls of the air.

● For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)
● Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (Colossians 2:8)
● And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:15)

Amen and Selah.

© Copyright – Michael Haigh
Published on August 18, 2025 @ 12:05 PM (EST).
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)