PROFILE AND PROPHECY OF THE CHURCH

11-06-16 This message may be viewed live streaming video at www.tabernacleofmoses.org commencing today Sunday at 11:00am, and repeated 24/7 for one week; thereafter, the audio and notes without video are archived.

The height of our revelations depends upon the correctness of our doctrines (our building blocks)

Commentary: Judges 7:7,7 = Is it coincidental (is anything coincidental in the Bible?) that seven is the Biblical number that symbolizes “completion?” The seventh book (7) of the Bible is Judges. The seventh chapter (7) of Judges profiles the salvation of the church (i.e., all imputed for righteousness born-again peoples). The seventh verse (7) of Judges 7:7,7 describes us as deliverers (“eagles” Isa 40:31; “saviours” Obad 1:21) – yes, we are the 777 saints.

A PRESENT-DAY APPLICATION

(Judg 7:1)  Then Jerubbaal [Heb: let Baal defend his cause; Baal will be taught], who is Gideon [Heb: feller (a warrior) /// to fell a tree] [a type and shadow of Jesus Christ], and all the people that were with him [32,000 warriors], rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod [Heb: fountain of trembling]: so that the host of the Midianites [Heb: brawling, contentious, discord, strife] [“Ishmaelites”Judg 8:24] were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

1.    Nelson’s Illustrated  Bible Dict: “Mohammed claimed Ishmael as his ancestor, as do most Arabs.” [Commentary: The prophet Mohammed (570 – 632 A.D.) founded Islam]

THE WHEAT AND THE TARES

(Judg 7:2,3)  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee [32,000 Israelite warriors] are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves [Heb: boast] against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me [i.e., working their way to heaven]. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return [to their homes] and depart early from mount Gilead [Heb: mass of testimony, heap of witness] [a type and shadow of the O.T. brasen altar and the N.T. cross]. And there returned [to their homes] of the people twenty and two thousand [22,000 who did not believe God]; and there remained ten thousand [10,000 who did believe God].

THE SILVER (sheep) AND THE GOLD (shepherds)

(Judg 7:4-7)  And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people [the 10,000 who believed God] are yet too many; bring them down unto the water [a Biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit], and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This [person] shall go with thee [on to victory], the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee [on to victory], the same shall not go. So he [Gideon] brought down the [10,000] people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men [300]: but all the rest of the people [9,700] bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people [9,700] go every man unto his place [“his tent” v.8].

1.    try = Heb: to fuse (metal), refine: refine, founder, goldsmith, melt, pure, purge away, try.

2.    (Zech 13:7-9)  Awake, O sword, against my shepherd [Heb: pastor], and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones [the sheep of the flock]. And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts (66.6 %) therein shall be cut off and die; but the third [part] shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them [Heb: to fuse (metal), melt, purify, purge away] as silver is refined, and will try them [Heb: test] them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.  

THE RAPTURE, AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF TESTING

(Judg 7:8)  So the [300] people took [Heb: received] victuals [Heb: food] [from the 9,700] in their hand [Heb: power], and their trumpets [the word of God]: and he sent all the rest of Israel [9,700] every man unto his tent, and retained [Heb: seized] those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

1.    (1 Thess 4:16,17)  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up [Gk: seized: plucked, pulled up] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

(Judg 7:16-18)  And he [Gideon] divided the three hundred men into three companies [representing God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit], and he put a trumpet [“the trump of God” 1 Thess 4:16] in every man's hand [Heb: power], with empty pitchers [Heb: earthenware], and lamps [Heb: torches] within the pitchers. And he said unto them, Look on me [Num 21:7-9], and do likewise: and, behold, when I come to the outside of the camp [of the Midianites], it shall be that, as I do, so shall ye do. When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow ye the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and say, The sword of the LORD [i.e., the Word of God], and of Gideon.

(Judg 7:19-22)  So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch [10 pm]; and they had but newly set the watch [Heb: guard, protect: beware, take heed]: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. And the three hundred [300] blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

(Judg 7:23-25)  And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites. And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb [Heb: a raven] and Zeeb [Heb: a wolf]; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.

SACRIFICE WITHHELD

(Judg 8:4-7)  And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men [300] that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them [the remaining 15,000 Midianites: Judg 8:10]. And he said unto the [Israelite] men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah [Heb: sacrifice] and Zalmunna [Heb: withheld], kings of Midian. And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? And Gideon said, Therefore when the LORD hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into mine hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.

Amen