(For more understanding, see the Bible studies The Mark Of The Beast, and At Night. Also see the article Exiles In Babylon.)
Genesis 15:7-14 – In this passage we see Abraham driving away the birds of prey that came down upon the covenant carcasses used in the covenant between God and him. They are a picture of the demonic host that come to destroy that which ensures the covenant promise of eternal life between God and mankind. The covenant in Christ is that which ensures the possession of our eternal inheritance in Him. It is based upon the sacrifice that has been willingly entered into by both parties, per the conditions of God. Like Abram, our part in the covenant is to drive away the demonic birds of prey that come to rob, kill, and destroy. Obedience to God, saying no to their continual temptations, is the way to keep covenant. Disobedience to God while in covenant with Him is what allows the demons to devour that which ensures our covenant with God. As we shew them away, the covenant of God in Jesus Christ is kept intact and established, ensuring our entrance into the Promised Land. This is the vital importance of working together with the Holy Spirit so that we do not receive His grace toward us in vain (2 Cor. 6:1) which is to not allow it to change us on the inside through submission, resulting in our becoming a covenant breaker. (See Romans 1:31- “faithless” [NIV], “untrustworthy” [NAS], “covenant breakers” [KJV]; definition: “covenant-breaking, faithless, i.e. treacherous to compacts”)
7 And He said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it."
8 He said, "O Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?" [To possess in Hebrew is “to inherit, to seize, to occupy, to be an heir.”]
9 So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.
11 The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep [8639] fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.
13 God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.
14 "But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.
NASU
OT:8639 tardemah (tar-day-maw')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from OT:7290; a lethargy or (by implication) trance:
KJV - deep sleep.
It’s interesting that at the end of the day a “deep sleep” fell upon Abraham (see verses below for more on deep sleep). This sleep is that which is pictured through the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 right before the Bridegroom appeared for the wedding feast at the end of the day (see more verses below on deep sleep). As the end of this day, this age approaches, we too must be awakened from our spiritual lethargy that naturally occurs late in the day when we are becoming tired.
It was through the covenant that Abraham was assured of his possession from God. This is why the birds of prey had to be driven away from the all-important covenant carcasses. We need to do the same today. This is our part in the covenant. The demonic vultures are sure to gather wherever a covenant in Christ has been made with all the spiritual descendants of Abraham. They try to devour what has been placed on the altar. This is why Peter said; “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Peter 5:8-9/NIV) Assurance of God’s promises are through covenant which is why we must, like Abraham, drive the birds of prey away. They come to destroy our covenant commitment by attacking our fleshly natures which they feed off. It keeps them alive, active in our lives. Driving them away is never ending while in these fleshly bodies. As we mature in Christ, becoming more like Him, we become more disciplined, guarding through the Holy Spirit the sacrifice of our lives in the new covenant in Christ.
In the judgment of God against Adam and Eve when they sinned by acting upon the deception of the serpent, the Lord said to the serpent; “…on your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life.” (Genesis 3:14/NAS) Part of the Lord’s indictment against Adam was; “By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19/NAS) Through this we see that the serpent feeds on the dust, and that Adam, whose name means “mankind,” is the dust. What I see in this is that the devil feeds on the dust nature, the fallen nature of man. The less there is of it for him to feed on, the less he will be able to harass us. We give him plenty to feed on when we disobey. This is when the Lord mercifully sends in an Abram to the church to put the demons to flight.
Deuteronomy 28:26 – This is one of the curses for disobedience given to Israel by God. In times of revival, when His glorious presence is restored among His people (see the Bible study The Proper Order), the demons are forcefully scattered through the presence of God. James 2:19 says; “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.” (NIV) They fear God, not man. He is the One who frightens them away.
26 "Your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away.
NASU
Because of rebellion and disobedience in the Body of Christ in America, there aren’t many preachers with the knowledge of Satan’s deceptions (and the anointing and unction of God) that are used to devour God’s children. Truth in doctrine exposes the devil’s plans which is why he introduced his doctrines, in particular “once saved, always saved.” If you believe you can never lose your right to become the sons of God after receiving Christ you will not take seriously, or even see our part in shewing away the birds of prey from our covenant with God (see the Bible study The Right To Possess And Sonship). Like Esau, it could cost us our inheritance (Hebrews 12:14-17).
Kevin Carter: The Consequences of Photojournalism
In 1994, South African photojournalist Kevin Carter won the Pulitzer prize for his disturbing photograph of a Sudanese child being stalked by a vulture. That same year, Kevin Carter committed suicide. Without the facts surrounding his death, this behavior may seem surprising. But Carter received heaps of criticism for his actions. While in Sudan, near the village of Ayod, Carter found a small, emaciated toddler struggling to make her way to the food station. When she stopped to rest, a vulture landed nearby with his eyes on the little girl. Carter took twenty minutes to take the photo, wanting the best shot possible, before chasing the bird away. The photo was published in The New York Times in March of 1993, and sparked a wide reaction. People wanted to know what happened to the child, and if Carter had assisted her. The Times issued a statement saying that the girl was able to make it to the food station, but beyond that no one knows what happened to her. Because of this, Carter was bombarded with questions about why he did not help the girl, and only used her to take a photograph…
The Warnings From Jeremiah To Apostate Israel
Jeremiah 7:33-34
33 "The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away.
34 "Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a ruin.
NASU
Jeremiah 12:7-13 – The birds of prey and the beasts of the field gathered around because of the wicked shepherds who were not faithful in their work. The same thing has happened to the majority of the church in America.
7 "I have forsaken My house, I have abandoned My inheritance; I have given the beloved of My soul Into the hand of her enemies.
8 "My inheritance has become to Me Like a lion in the forest; She has roared against Me; Therefore I have come to hate her.
9 "Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me? Are the birds of prey against her on every side? Go, gather all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour!
10 "Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard, They have trampled down My field; They have made My pleasant field A desolate wilderness.
11 "It has been made a desolation, Desolate, it mourns before Me; The whole land has been made desolate, Because no man lays it to heart.
12 "On all the bare heights in the wilderness Destroyers have come, for a sword of the Lord is devouring from one end of the land even to the other; there is no peace for anyone.
13 "They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns, they have strained themselves to no profit. But be ashamed of your harvest because of the fierce anger of the Lord."
NASU
Jeremiah 16:1-5
1 The word of the Lord also came to me saying,
2 "You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place."
3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bear them, and their fathers who beget them in this land:
4 "They will die of deadly diseases, they will not be lamented or buried; they will be as dung on the surface of the ground and come to an end by sword and famine, and their carcasses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth."
5 For thus says the Lord, "Do not enter a house of mourning, or go to lament or to console them; for I have withdrawn My peace from this people," declares the Lord, "My lovingkindness and compassion.
NASU
Jeremiah 19:7
7 "I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.
NASU
Deep Sleep
Genesis 2:21
21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep [8639] to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
NASU
1 Samuel 26:12-13
12 So David took the spear and the jug of water from beside Saul's head, and they went away, but no one saw or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because a sound sleep [8639] from the Lord had fallen on them.
13 Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the mountain at a distance with a large area between them.
NASU
Job 4:13-14
13 Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep [8639] falls on men,
14 fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.
NIV
Proverbs 19:15
15 Laziness casts into a deep sleep [8639], and an idle man will suffer hunger.
NASU
Isaiah 29:9-10 – See the note below.
9 Be delayed [“linger, tarry, to question or hesitate”] and wait, Blind yourselves and be blind [“to smear the eyes shut”]; They become drunk, but not with wine, They stagger [“to waver, to be unstable, to be tossed about”], but not with strong drink.
10 For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep [8639 – “lethargy, trance”], He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers.
NASU
Another sign of this age being in the twilight, soon to enter fully into the night of terror and great darkness pictured in Abraham is the so-called “drunk in the Spirit” experience in the church (see Chapter Four, Drunk In The Spirit, in my book Babylon’s Counterfeit Glory). To linger around Babylon’s wine is to have your eyes smeared over, making you unable to see the Lord’s way (see Strange And Perverse Things in Chapter Seven, Deadly Poison, in my book Babylon’s Counterfeit Glory). In His rebuke of the church in Laodicea, the Lord said; “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” (Revelation 3:17-18/NIV) He also said they were lukewarm, or spiritually lethargic which sounds like the definition for “deep sleep.” Remember, all ten virgins were sleeping in Matthew 25.
Like Paul who shook of the viper into the fire (Acts 28:1-6), we must shake off the effects of Babylon (the confusing mix of all false religion). Everything that can be shaken will be in the wind of the coming storm of the Lord. (See the Bible study Babylon’s Counterfeit Glory, as well as the book by the same name.)
Hebrews 12:25-29 – The promise of a coming shaking around the globe, as well as in the unseen realm (See the Bible study Shaking). Knowing this is coming, we should serve God with an attitude of gratitude, offering to Him our “acceptable service with reverence and awe.” (See the Bible study Acceptable Sacrifice.)
25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.
26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven."
27 And this expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
29 for our God is a consuming fire.
NASB
Revelation 6:12-13 – In the final judgments on earth, John describes a heavenly shaking (see the Bible study Shaking).
12 And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;
13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.
NASB
Song of Solomon 2:15 – It can be the “foxes,” even the “little foxes” that can ruin the Lord’s vineyard in us. The seemingly insignificant sins can do great damage.
15 Catch for us the foxes [7776], the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.
NIV
OT:7776 shuw`al (shoo-awl')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
or shu`al (shoo-awl'); from the same as OT:8168 [see below]; a jackal (as a burrower):
KJV - fox.
(Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
a fox, a burrower
a) a fox
b) perhaps also jackal
OT:8168 sho`al (sho'-al)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from an unused root meaning to hollow out; the palm; by extension, a handful:
KJV - handful, hollow of the hand.
(Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
a hollow hand, the hollow of a hand, a handful
a) a hollow hand, the hollow of a hand
b) a handful
Spurgeon’s Morning And Evening Devotional
May 30 AM – “Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines.”
(Song of Solomon 2:15)
A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may hide the sun. Little foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart. These little sins burrow in the soul, and make it so full of that which is hateful to Christ, that He will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion with us. A great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable. Jesus will not walk with His people unless they drive out every known sin. He says, "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." Some Christians very seldom enjoy their Savior’s presence. How is this? Surely it must be an affliction for a tender child to be separated from his father. Art thou a child of God, and yet satisfied to go on without seeing thy Father's face? What! thou the spouse of Christ, and yet content without His company! Surely, thou hast fallen into a sad state, for the chaste spouse of Christ mourns like a dove without her mate, when he has left her. Ask, then, the question, what has driven Christ from thee? He hides His face behind the wall of thy sins. That wall may be built up of little pebbles, as easily as of great stones. The sea is made of drops; the rocks are made of grains: and the sea which divides thee from Christ may be filled with the drops of thy little sins; and the rock which has well nigh wrecked thy barque, may have been made by the daily working of the coral insects of thy little sins. If thou wouldst live with Christ, and walk with Christ, and see Christ, and have fellowship with Christ, take heed of "the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes." Jesus invites you to go with Him and take them. He will surely, like Samson, take the foxes at once and easily. Go with Him to the hunting.
Ezekiel 13:2-7 – False prophets are like animals that burrow, causing the foundation, or ground to become unstable. They cause the destruction of all who accept their lies as truth.
2 "Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, 'Listen to the word of the Lord!
3 'Thus says the Lord God, "Woe to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing.
4 "O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins.
5 "You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the Lord.
6 "They see falsehood and lying divination who are saying, 'The Lord declares,' when the Lord has not sent them; yet they hope for the fulfillment of their word.
7 "Did you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, 'The Lord declares,' but it is not I who have spoken?"'"
NASU
Luke 17:32-37 – See the note below (same as Matthew 24:28).
32 Remember Lot's wife!
33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.
34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken [3880] and the other left [863].
35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left."
37 "Where, Lord?" they asked. He replied, "Where there is a dead body [4983], there the vultures [105] will gather."
NIV
37 And answering they said to Him, "Where, Lord?" And He said to them, "Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered."
NASU
NT:3880 paralambano (par-al-am-ban'-o)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from NT:3844 and NT:2983; to receive near, i.e. associate with oneself (in any familiar or intimate act or relation); by analogy, to assume an office; figuratively, to learn:
KJV - receive, take (unto, with).
(Thayer's Greek Lexicon)
1. to take to (compare para, IV. 1), to take with oneself, to join to oneself: tina, an associate, a companion (Matthew 17:1)
2. to receive something transmitted
a. properly: an office to be discharged (Col. 4:17)
b. to receive with the mind (1 Cor. 11:23)
NT:863 aphiemi (af-ee'-ay-mee)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from NT:575 and hiemi (to send; an intens. form of eimi, to go); to send forth, in various applications (as follow):
KJV - cry, forgive, forsake, lay aside, leave, let (alone, be, go, have), omit, put (send) away, remit, suffer, yield up.
(Thayer's Greek Lexicon)
1. to send away
a. to bid go away or depart (Matt. 13:36)
b. to send forth, yield up, emit: to expire (Matt. 27:50)
c. to let go, let alone, let be
1. to disregard (Matt. 15:14)
2. to leave, not to discuss now,
3. to omit, neglect (Matt. 23:23)
d. to let go, give up, a debt, by not demanding it
e. to give up, keep no longer
2. to permit, allow, not to hinder
a. followed by a present infinitive (Mark 10:14)
b. without an infinitive (Matt. 3:15)
c. to give up a thing to one (Matt. 5:40)
d. followed by hina (Mark 11:16)
e. followed by the simple hortative subjunctive( Matt. 7:4)
3. to leave, go away from one
a. in order to go to another place (Matt. 22:22)
b. to depart from one whom one wishes to quit (Matt. 4:11)
c. to depart from one and leave him to himself, so that all mutual claims are abandoned (Matt. 4:22)
d. to desert one (wrongfully) (Matt. 26:56)
e. to go away leaving something behind (Matt. 5:24)
f. to leave one by not taking him as a companion
g. to leave on dying, leave behind one (Matt. 22:25)
h. to leave so that what is left may remain, leave remaining (Matt. 24:2)
i. afienai followed by the accusative of a noun or pronoun with an accusative of the predicate (Buttmann, sec. 144, 18) (Luke 10:30)
NT:4983 soma (so'-mah)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from NT:4982; the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively:
KJV - bodily, body, slave.
(Thayer's Greek Lexicon)
a body
1. the body both of men and of animals
a. a dead body or corpse (Luke 17:37)
b. the living body:
c. Since according to ancient law in the case of slaves the body was the chief thing taken into account
(Rev. 18:13)
2. The name is transferred to the bodies of plants (1 Cor. 15:37), and of stars
3. tropically sooma is used of a (large or small) number of men closely united into one society, or family as it were; a social, ethical, mystical body; the church (Romans 12:5)
4. hee skia and to sooma are distinguished as the shadow and the thing itself which casts the shadow (Col. 2:17)
NT:105 aetos (ah-et-os')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from the same as NT:109; an eagle (from its wind-like flight):
KJV - eagle.
(Thayer's Greek Lexicon)
“…The meaning of the proverb (cf. examples in Wetstein (1752) on Matthew, the passage cited) quoted in both passages is, 'where there are sinners, there judgments from heaven will not be wanting'.”
EAGLE
aetos [NT:105] - "an eagle" (also a vulture), is perhaps connected with aemi, "to blow," as of the wind, on account of its windlike flight. In Matthew 24:28 and Luke 17:37 the vultures are probably intended. The meaning seems to be that, as these birds of prey gather where the carcass is, so the judgments of God will descend upon the corrupt state of humanity. The figure of the "eagle" is used in Ezekiel 17 to represent the great powers of Egypt and Babylon, as being employed to punish corrupt and faithless Israel. Cf. Job 39:30; Proverbs 30:17. The "eagle" is mentioned elsewhere in the NT in Rev. 4:7; 8:13 (RV); 12:14. There are eight species in Palestine.
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
In this passage, Luke records Jesus’ teaching regarding His revealing to all mankind at the end of this age. He specifically states that it will occur “on that night” (see the Bible study At Night for more on this).
As defined in the Greek, to be taken is “to receive near, to take to or with oneself, to join to oneself.” It’s also defined as “to receive with the mind; figuratively, to learn.” (See The Meaning Of Forehead on page 1 in the Bible study The Mark Of The Beast regarding being joined.) This could be referring to Christ or the devil. In his letter to Timothy, Paul made the following statement; But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons… (1 Timothy 4:1/NASU) To pay attention to is by definition, “to turn the mind to, to apply oneself to, attach oneself to, hold or cleave to a person or a thing.” Through deception, the devil can, unknowingly, deceive the mind of a disciple of Christ to his accept his lies as truth. As forewarned in the Bible by Paul, this is occurring now in the great apostasy within the American church, right before “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him” (2 Thessalonians 2:1).
On the other hand, to be left is defined as, “to send forth, to send away, to let go.” It also means “to permit, allow, not to hinder, to leave so that what is left may remain.” As you can see, this can also be applied to the Lord or the devil. I believe the key is found in the next verse of our text.
The question the disciples asked Jesus regarding where the one whom He spoke of would be taken and the other left was, Where Lord? He replied, Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered (Luke 17:37). I believe this is a reference to His Body of followers, pictured by the togetherness of the two who were in bed, and those who were grinding together. They are a picture of those who have been joined together in Christ.
When vultures appear they come to take away for themselves that which they desire to devour (1 Peter 5:8). What they feed on keeps them alive. With no one to frighten them away, they do as they please.
Vultures naturally collect wherever a dead carcass is. In like fashion, the demonic hordes also gather where the covenanted Body of Christ has joined themselves to Him in His death. They do not gather around living flesh, a living person. It is only where the flesh has been put to death, through a covenant by the Spirit, that they are drawn. This is why we are harassed by them after turning to Christ, and why we must be actively involved driving them away through continued obedience to Christ and adherence to His truth lest they are allowed to take away our living sacrifice from the altar through disobedience and adherence to their lies (see Genesis 15:7-12 above for more insights).
The warning from Jesus is for His followers to be careful so as not to do as Lot’s wife who turned back in her heart to Sodom and was destroyed.
Hebrews 9:11-18 – See the note below.
11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh,
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works [NIV- “acts that lead to death”] to serve the living God?
15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called [see the Bible study Many Are Called] may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.
17 For a covenant is valid [949] only when men are dead, for it is never in force [2480] while the one who made it lives.
18 Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated [1457] without blood.
NASU
NT:949 bebaios (beb'-ah-yos)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from the base of NT:939 (through the idea of basality); stable (literally or figuratively):
KJV - firm, of force, steadfast, sure.
(Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)
stable, fast, firm, secure; properly: angkura (Hebrews 6:19)
NT:2480 ischuo (is-khoo'-o)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from NT:2479; to have (or exercise) force (literally or figuratively):
KJV - be able, avail, can do ([-not]), could, be good, might, prevail, be of strength, be whole, much work.
(Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)
to be strong,
1. to be strong in body, to be robust, to be in sound health (Matthew 9:12)
2. to have power
a. to have a power evinced in extraordinary deeds, i. e. to exert, wield, power: so of the gospel (Acts 19:20)
b. equivalent to be of force, avail (Heb. 9:17)
c. to be serviceable (Matthew 5:13)
d. followed by an infinitive to be able, can (Matthew 8:28)
NT:1457 egkainizo (eng-kahee-nid'-zo)
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
from NT:1456; to renew, i.e. inaugurate:
KJV - consecrate, dedicate.
(Thayer’s Greek Lexicon)
to innovate,
1. to renew (2 Chron. 15:8)
2. to do anew, again:
3. to initiate, consecrate, dedicate (Heb. 9:18)
The writer of Hebrews speaks of the necessity of death in order for the covenant with God for obtaining eternal redemption (eternal inheritance) to be “valid,” which means “stable, fast, firm, secure.” The security of the believer is dependent upon the security of the covenant. It is always sure and steadfast on Christ’ side because He is faithful (2 Tim. 2:11-13). With us, it is crucial that we remain in a state of being “dead in Christ,” counting ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:10-12). Otherwise, the covenant is rendered ineffective in our lives. When we live for our wills, for ourselves, we make the power of the covenant powerless on our behalf. We are fighting its capacity through the eternal Spirit to conform us to the image of Christ. This is what the Bible refers to as a covenant breaker (Romans 1:31). We are treating the blood of Jesus, the blood of the new covenant, with rudeness and insult, as if it were a commonplace matter. The writer of Hebrews put it this way;
“How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”
(Hebrews 10:29/NASU)
By definition, to trample under foot is “to treat with rudeness and insult, or insulting neglect.” This refers to those who, after turning to Christ, turn away from Him to indulge in “willful sin” without repentance or the fear of consequences (see Hebrews 10:26-31). As the writer of Hebrews says, this “better” covenant is not through the blood of bulls and goats but the blood of Christ which makes it even more serious when slighted.
James 2:14-17
14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
NASU
Other Old Testament examples of judgments of God pictured through Birds of Prey
Isaiah 46:8-13
8 "Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors.
9 "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure';
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.
12 "Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded, Who are far from righteousness.
13 "I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; and My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, and My glory for Israel.
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Isaiah 18:4-7
4 For thus the Lord has told me, "I will look from My dwelling place quietly Like dazzling heat in the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest."
5 For before the harvest, as soon as the bud blossoms and the flower becomes a ripening grape, Then He will cut off the sprigs with pruning knives and remove and cut away the spreading branches.
6 They will be left [5800] together for mountain birds of prey, and for the beasts of the earth; and the birds of prey will spend the summer feeding on them, and all the beasts of the earth will spend harvest time on them.
7 At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and smooth, even from a people feared far and wide, a powerful and oppressive nation, whose land the rivers divide — to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, even Mount Zion.
NASU
OT:5800 `azab (aw-zab')
(Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)
a primitive root; to loosen, i.e. relinquish, permit, etc.
(Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon)
1) to leave, to loose, to forsake
a) (Qal) to leave
1) to depart from, to leave behind, to leave, to let alone
2) to leave, to abandon, to forsake, to neglect, to apostatize
3) to let loose, to set free, to let go, to free
b) (Niphal)
1) to be left to
2) to be forsaken
c) (Pual) to be deserted
2) to restore, to repair
(Qal) to repair
Ezekiel 32:1-10
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying,
2 "Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him, 'You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations, yet you are like the monster in the seas; And you burst forth in your rivers and muddied the waters with your feet and fouled their rivers.'"
3 Thus says the Lord God, "Now I will spread My net over you with a company of many peoples, And they shall lift you up in My net.
4 "I will leave you on the land; I will cast you on the open field. And I will cause all the birds of the heavens to dwell on you, and I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5 "I will lay your flesh on the mountains And fill the valleys with your refuse.
6 "I will also make the land drink the discharge of your blood as far as the mountains [see Ezekiel 39:19 below], and the ravines will be full of you.
7 "And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud And the moon will not give its light.
8 "All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you And will set darkness on your land," Declares the Lord God.
9 "I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known.
10 "I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before them; and they will tremble every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall."
NASU
Ezekiel 39:17-24
17 "As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, 'Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, "Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.
18 "You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 "So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. [Rev. 17:6 – “…the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints…”]
20 "You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war," declares the Lord God.
21 "And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.
22 "And the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God from that day onward.
23 "The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword.
24 "According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them."'"
NASU
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