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FIRE FROM THE ROCK or THE LORD OUR PEACE
"there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh..." - Judges 6:21
Today we're going to examine fire from the Rock that consumes the flesh. Now anyone who's been a believer in Jesus for any amount of time should know the flesh is not a good thing, and it's the works of the flesh, and lusts of the flesh that bring us into sin. And we are called to mortify the flesh, crucify the flesh, and put to death the flesh.
Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." So, we are the sacrifice; a living sacrifice, called to be holy and acceptable to God.
This message might seem like it's going down 2 or 3 different rabbit trails, but bear with it, because they all meet up at the end in one place.
The full scripture in Judges is: "Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight."
I did a message on this back in '22: How Moses brought water from the Rock at Horeb, but here the Angel of the LORD Yahweh brings FIRE from the Rock - and we know from 1 Corinthians 10:4 the Rock is Christ. And in Deuteronomy 32:3-4, "Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." Here we see the LORD Yahweh named as the Rock, just more evidence of Christ and Yahweh God, Yahweh Elohim being one.
And, the Angel of the LORD is also Christ, as we shall see.
Judges 6:22-24, "And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O LORD God! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah Shalom..." יהוה שלום
Now we know Christ is our peace. Ephesians 2:13-18,
"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."
So this is all about Christ. We need to clearly see Christ revealed in the Old Testament, because a lot of folk today won't use the Old Testament, or think it's irrelevant. But the Old Testament is the only Scripture Jesus and the Apostles quoted: still relevant; just not under law but under grace through faith (Eph 2:8). But still, we ESTABLISH the law through faith. (Rom 3:31)
That word "establish" is "istemi" in Greek: means to set, stand by, establish, make firm, fix; to cause a person or thing to keep his or its place. So we could say we are to stand by, or keep the law by faith. It's just not by works, but rather grace through faith.
So don't let anyone tell you "You don't have to keep the 10 commandments," because it's still God's law. Again, we keep them by FAITH, by the liberty to be free from sin - and all the works Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:5, and Colossians 3:5-6, that keep one out of the kingdom of God, and brings about the wrath of God, ARE the breaking of one or more of the 10 commandments! So don't be deceived by antinomians,* for they have taken many a soul to hell by preaching liberty TO SIN, rather than liberty FROM SIN.
*[Antinomianism (Ancient Greek: ἀντί [anti] "against" and νόμος [nomos] "law") is any view which rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms (Latin: mores), or is at least considered to do so. The term has both religious and secular meanings. In some Christian belief systems, an antinomian is one who takes the principle of salvation by faith and divine grace to the point of asserting that the saved are not bound to follow the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments]
Now to continue on Christ being our peace, and we will come back to the fire from the Rock, and see how that can bring us peace: first, John 14:27 as Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure, said, " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." And in 1 Corinthians 14:33, " For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." 2 Thessalonians 3:16, such a great blessing, "Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means." Amen!
This brings us now to Isaiah 9:6 "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."
This is one of the greatest Messianic prophecies, for it confirms Jesus would come as a child, and then some of the names being mighty God, everlasting Father. El Gibbor אל גבור is "Mighty God". Isaiah knew about idolatry and to call any being "Mighty God" other than Yahweh Elohim would be idolatrous and blasphemous. He's also called "Everlasting father" which is Abiad, אביעד . "Ab" being "Father." Now look at Jesus prayer in the garden of Gethsemane: 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" Jesus used the Aramaic word for Father that contains the Hebrew root Ab: Aramaic being a sister language to Hebrew. Just more evidence of Jesus and the father being one.
But let's look at another name there in Isaiah, the name "Wonderful" in Hebrew that's, "Pila" פלא .Now, let's go back to Judges: this time to chapter 13 where Manoah, Samsons Dad is visited by the Angel of the LORD.. First verses 17 & 18, " And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?"
The Hebrew word translated "Secret" there is "Pila'i" פלאי . Notice anything? It's got the same root as Isaiah, translated "Wonderful." In fact it's meaning is more like "Wonderful, Miraculous, Extraordinary, etc." [The letter Yod י at the end, when used as a suffix is a first person singular, possessive, as "my" and is used in the word "Ani" אני which means "I" - Yod also symbolizes the Holy One, the Creator whose name יהוה begins with Yod. (Hebrew is read right to left)]
We see then that at the time Jesus was concealed and "secret" in the Old Testament, except in a few prophecies by the time of Judges, that He revealed one of His names he later revealed to Isaiah some 600 - 700 years later!
Here we see Yeshua - Jesus, revealing Himself with a little bit of a riddle, a mystery; but not too hard to figure out, especially knowing something of the original Hebrew and Greek. It's kind of using a play on words. Paul did write in Colossians 1:26, "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory"
And again, the Book of Judges: we looked at chapter 6 where the Angel of the LORD comes to Gideon, then later in chapter 13 where He comes to Manoah and his wife. We see He brings fire from the Rock with Gideon, and again with Manoah. You see how "the angel did wondrously," and Manoah and his wife look on, "FOR it came to pass, when the flame went up..."
Again here the root "Pila" is used for "wondrously", sometimes verbalized as "Pala" but still spelled פלא as in "to be wonderful, extraordinary, to do extraordinary, hard, or difficult thing." Here then is the full passage of Judges 13:19-22,
"So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God."
Now we see Mannoah, when the Angel of the LORD caused fire to go up to heaven, and ascended in it, realizing "We have seen God!" (vs. 13:22) So we see fire again, and the symbol of the ascension of Jesus portrayed, and indeed: Jesus baptized in what? FIRE! The Holy Ghost and Fire. Oh, let the fire of God consume thy flesh, and as the coale from the altar in Isaiah 6, cleanse thine lips, and purify thee as gold is tried! And may you receive the PEACE that can only come from the Prince of Peace!
Oh, come to know these deep things of God, for you live at such a time as this, that you have the Scriptures, and they are expounded to you, that ye can know them and walk in them. "For our God is a consuming fire." (Heb 12:29) Let that fire that proceedeth from the Rock of Christ burn now! "Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me, use me!" as the song goes.
Let this Holy Fire drive out the sin in our lives, burn it up: drive it away and consume, as the Israelites were commanded to drive out the inhabitants of the land, for they were sinful and a snare unto them, in Numbers 33:55, "But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell."
Look at 1 Corinthians 3:11-17, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
Christ is the foundation stone, again , THE ROCK, from which comes FIRE. You see here at Christs judgment seat anything that believers do that are useless works will be burned up. I do not know what that entails, nor do I want to, yet, am afraid I will be subjected to this, and probably every believer to some degree more or less. I prefer less over more, because fire is painful. It's nice when it's warm and gives heat: painful when the coal pops and lands on your lap! I'd much rather seek the Holy Ghost and fire HERE and let God purify me now, as He also commands us to do.
(continued in next post)
"there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh..." - Judges 6:21
Today we're going to examine fire from the Rock that consumes the flesh. Now anyone who's been a believer in Jesus for any amount of time should know the flesh is not a good thing, and it's the works of the flesh, and lusts of the flesh that bring us into sin. And we are called to mortify the flesh, crucify the flesh, and put to death the flesh.
Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." So, we are the sacrifice; a living sacrifice, called to be holy and acceptable to God.
This message might seem like it's going down 2 or 3 different rabbit trails, but bear with it, because they all meet up at the end in one place.
The full scripture in Judges is: "Then the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight."
I did a message on this back in '22: How Moses brought water from the Rock at Horeb, but here the Angel of the LORD Yahweh brings FIRE from the Rock - and we know from 1 Corinthians 10:4 the Rock is Christ. And in Deuteronomy 32:3-4, "Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." Here we see the LORD Yahweh named as the Rock, just more evidence of Christ and Yahweh God, Yahweh Elohim being one.
And, the Angel of the LORD is also Christ, as we shall see.
Judges 6:22-24, "And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O LORD God! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah Shalom..." יהוה שלום
Now we know Christ is our peace. Ephesians 2:13-18,
"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."
So this is all about Christ. We need to clearly see Christ revealed in the Old Testament, because a lot of folk today won't use the Old Testament, or think it's irrelevant. But the Old Testament is the only Scripture Jesus and the Apostles quoted: still relevant; just not under law but under grace through faith (Eph 2:8). But still, we ESTABLISH the law through faith. (Rom 3:31)
That word "establish" is "istemi" in Greek: means to set, stand by, establish, make firm, fix; to cause a person or thing to keep his or its place. So we could say we are to stand by, or keep the law by faith. It's just not by works, but rather grace through faith.
So don't let anyone tell you "You don't have to keep the 10 commandments," because it's still God's law. Again, we keep them by FAITH, by the liberty to be free from sin - and all the works Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:5, and Colossians 3:5-6, that keep one out of the kingdom of God, and brings about the wrath of God, ARE the breaking of one or more of the 10 commandments! So don't be deceived by antinomians,* for they have taken many a soul to hell by preaching liberty TO SIN, rather than liberty FROM SIN.
*[Antinomianism (Ancient Greek: ἀντί [anti] "against" and νόμος [nomos] "law") is any view which rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms (Latin: mores), or is at least considered to do so. The term has both religious and secular meanings. In some Christian belief systems, an antinomian is one who takes the principle of salvation by faith and divine grace to the point of asserting that the saved are not bound to follow the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments]
Now to continue on Christ being our peace, and we will come back to the fire from the Rock, and see how that can bring us peace: first, John 14:27 as Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure, said, " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." And in 1 Corinthians 14:33, " For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." 2 Thessalonians 3:16, such a great blessing, "Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means." Amen!
This brings us now to Isaiah 9:6 "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."
This is one of the greatest Messianic prophecies, for it confirms Jesus would come as a child, and then some of the names being mighty God, everlasting Father. El Gibbor אל גבור is "Mighty God". Isaiah knew about idolatry and to call any being "Mighty God" other than Yahweh Elohim would be idolatrous and blasphemous. He's also called "Everlasting father" which is Abiad, אביעד . "Ab" being "Father." Now look at Jesus prayer in the garden of Gethsemane: 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" Jesus used the Aramaic word for Father that contains the Hebrew root Ab: Aramaic being a sister language to Hebrew. Just more evidence of Jesus and the father being one.
But let's look at another name there in Isaiah, the name "Wonderful" in Hebrew that's, "Pila" פלא .Now, let's go back to Judges: this time to chapter 13 where Manoah, Samsons Dad is visited by the Angel of the LORD.. First verses 17 & 18, " And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?"
The Hebrew word translated "Secret" there is "Pila'i" פלאי . Notice anything? It's got the same root as Isaiah, translated "Wonderful." In fact it's meaning is more like "Wonderful, Miraculous, Extraordinary, etc." [The letter Yod י at the end, when used as a suffix is a first person singular, possessive, as "my" and is used in the word "Ani" אני which means "I" - Yod also symbolizes the Holy One, the Creator whose name יהוה begins with Yod. (Hebrew is read right to left)]
We see then that at the time Jesus was concealed and "secret" in the Old Testament, except in a few prophecies by the time of Judges, that He revealed one of His names he later revealed to Isaiah some 600 - 700 years later!
Here we see Yeshua - Jesus, revealing Himself with a little bit of a riddle, a mystery; but not too hard to figure out, especially knowing something of the original Hebrew and Greek. It's kind of using a play on words. Paul did write in Colossians 1:26, "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory"
And again, the Book of Judges: we looked at chapter 6 where the Angel of the LORD comes to Gideon, then later in chapter 13 where He comes to Manoah and his wife. We see He brings fire from the Rock with Gideon, and again with Manoah. You see how "the angel did wondrously," and Manoah and his wife look on, "FOR it came to pass, when the flame went up..."
Again here the root "Pila" is used for "wondrously", sometimes verbalized as "Pala" but still spelled פלא as in "to be wonderful, extraordinary, to do extraordinary, hard, or difficult thing." Here then is the full passage of Judges 13:19-22,
"So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God."
Now we see Mannoah, when the Angel of the LORD caused fire to go up to heaven, and ascended in it, realizing "We have seen God!" (vs. 13:22) So we see fire again, and the symbol of the ascension of Jesus portrayed, and indeed: Jesus baptized in what? FIRE! The Holy Ghost and Fire. Oh, let the fire of God consume thy flesh, and as the coale from the altar in Isaiah 6, cleanse thine lips, and purify thee as gold is tried! And may you receive the PEACE that can only come from the Prince of Peace!
Oh, come to know these deep things of God, for you live at such a time as this, that you have the Scriptures, and they are expounded to you, that ye can know them and walk in them. "For our God is a consuming fire." (Heb 12:29) Let that fire that proceedeth from the Rock of Christ burn now! "Spirit of the Living God, Fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me, use me!" as the song goes.
Let this Holy Fire drive out the sin in our lives, burn it up: drive it away and consume, as the Israelites were commanded to drive out the inhabitants of the land, for they were sinful and a snare unto them, in Numbers 33:55, "But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell."
Look at 1 Corinthians 3:11-17, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
Christ is the foundation stone, again , THE ROCK, from which comes FIRE. You see here at Christs judgment seat anything that believers do that are useless works will be burned up. I do not know what that entails, nor do I want to, yet, am afraid I will be subjected to this, and probably every believer to some degree more or less. I prefer less over more, because fire is painful. It's nice when it's warm and gives heat: painful when the coal pops and lands on your lap! I'd much rather seek the Holy Ghost and fire HERE and let God purify me now, as He also commands us to do.
(continued in next post)