Israel in the flesh is our example in the spirit. Whatever happened to Israel and still happens to Israel in the flesh must happen to every believer. Israel, although a nation, symbolizes every believer as an individual. Every believer will be called out of Egypt (flesh) and every believer will go through the wilderness (dying to self). Every believer will experience the things we read about in the bible that happened to Israel as a nation. In fact that is exactly why they happened. That is our template to follow.
1 Cor 10
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
1 Cor 15
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
We know by now that if Israel in the flesh is our example in spirit, and it is logical, then the flesh comes first and then the spirit. So then if all we have to do is look to Israel for our template we should find it rather easy. Only there is a problem. You see after the death of King Solomon a strange thing happens. The kingdom splits in two. Ten tribes to the North and two tribes to the South. The northern ten is called Israel or Ephraim and the southern two are called Judah. The northern ten or Ephraim have as capital the city of Samaria and the southern two have Jerusalem as capital.
So what now? There are two and only one is right. The answer is both are our examples, one is an example of how to follow the Lord in Spirit and the other is an example of how not to follow the Lord. The northern kingdom or Ephraim represents the fleshly believers or churches and the southern kingdom or Judah, represents the spiritual believers or churches. Why do I say that and how can I confirm the doctrine. Well we have the bible and there were written in the bible many things concerning this exact topic, especially in the prophets. Let’s look at a few to gain a better understanding of how this template works that the Lord gave us. The purpose of this study is so that we can come to the realization once and for all that we are not allowed to be carnal or fleshly. To be fleshly causes us to die in spirit once again like in the garden. Sure it takes a lifetime but after a certain point, such a person cannot be led to repentance again because they cannot crucify Christ again.
Hebrews 6
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 if they fall away(fleshly), to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
7 For the earth(soul) which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God;
8 but if it bears thorns and briers(deceitfulness of riches and worries of life, fleshly things), it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
This is what the Lord says concerning the two kingdoms and so the two groups of believers. Spiritual and carnal believers.
Ezekiel 23:
1 The word of the LORD came again to me, saying:
2 ” Son of man, there were two women, The daughters of one mother.
3 They committed harlotry in Egypt, They committed harlotry in their youth; Their breasts were there embraced, Their virgin bosom was there pressed.
4 Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister; They were Mine, And they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
Before we can go on we have to ask an important question. Why exactly is God calling them those names? Well as with many other times the Lord is bringing across His point in a poetic and prophetic manner. It is all to do with the meaning of the names. In our language we see nothing, but to the ancient Israelites the meaning of what God was saying would have been very obvious. Let’s just have a look at the meanings.
Samaria (northern kingdom) was called Oholah. The word consists of two words: Her and tent. So the meaning of the word is “she who has a tent” or “tent woman”
Jerusalem (southern kingdom) was called Oholibah. That word consists of four words and it spell out the following: “My tent is in her” or “ tent of the Highest”
How interesting because we know that God wants to live in us and rule and reign by His Spirit in His temple who we are. In other words God is tabernacling with the younger sister Jerusalem. She is spiritual. The older sister Samaria has a tent or space where the Lord could tabernacle but she is not spiritual and thus not allowing God to rule and reign in her as King. She is carnal or fleshly. Isn’t it amazing how the Lord creates a vivid picture in words to bring across His doctrine and wishes? But what’s even more amazing is that we absolutely ignore this truth and are happy and content to continue in our carnal lifestyle as if it has no consequences. When we hear the truth and see it we better go test it to see if it is in fact the truth. We have to test all but keep the good.
1 Thes 5
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
20 Do not despise prophecies.
21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
Now that we have established that the northern kingdom of Ephraim is the carnal or fleshly believers or church with whom God does not tabernacle, we have a duty to go study them, to see where they went wrong, and what they did to be alienated from God. Where and why they went wrong and what we can do to avoid making that mistake. That is why they made the mistake so that we can learn and don’t have to do the same thing. That is why they were fleshly, and why was Judah considered to be spiritual enough for God to tabernacle with. See we can now no longer sit around and wait for the pastor to do the work because chances are, the pastor himself is a northern person from Samaria and fleshly. No we have to go make sure for ourselves and study the bible!
I will show you some points on the matter that I have found in my years of study but that’s not all of it. More than that you have to go and test what I am saying as well because I might be from Samaria as well. Further if it does happen in the flesh first and then the spirit it will be happening in the churches as prophesied. The last thing we want now is to be in one of those churches. So let’s determine how exactly the northern kingdom was or became fleshly.
After Solomon died the Lord appointed Jeroboam king of Ephraim. God said to him that if he kept the precepts and statutes of God he would have a name and heritage like David. In the southern kingdom of Judah, Rehoboam the son of Solomon and grandson of David is king. Jeroboam is a fleshly man and tries in his own power to secure his kingdom and in the process, he sins. More than that the sin he commits is considered the worst sin of all kings ever.
1 Kings 12
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David:
27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” (better translation “the God that brought you out of Egypt is here”)
29 And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.
31 He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
32 Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made.
33 So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.
So before we can continue we need to set a few things straight here. There are those of the opinion that Jeroboam created new gods for Israel to serve and that is the big transgression. When in actual fact that was not the case at all. He never created new gods, he simply changed the place where they worshipped God and the system they used to worship God. Our God with the name Yahweh. There have been many archaeological discoveries at the temple Jeroboam built in Dan. And it is very clear that the system of religion and worship they used there was merely a copy of the happenings at the temple in Jerusalem. It was a copy religion or a replacement system that he put in place. The temple that was built in Bethel was never found and probably never will be found. You see there was a young king from Judah who captured the area later on and he destroyed the false system and copy religious things they were sinning with. This young king’s name was Josiah. This is what the bible says on the matter.
2 Kings 23
15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image.
19 Now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the LORD to anger; and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel.
So what’s the big deal? Why is this the sin of all sins? Well because Jeroboam is afraid, and thus without faith and trust in God, of losing his kingdom and he hatches a plan to keep the ten tribes close by. Before his plan all the tribes would pilgrimage to Jerusalem once a year for the Passover feast which the Lord instituted when he called them out of Egypt. That could be dangerous for Jeroboam because the people might decide to go back to the southern kingdom and place themselves under the rule of the sons of David. He cunningly builds copy temples in Bethel and in Dan and instructs the people not to go all the way to Jerusalem but rather to his new convenient temples. These two temples were at the borders of the northern kingdom, one at the northern border at Dan and one at the southern border at Bethel. And in-between them and scattered about he created high places where people could go and offer and pray as well.
We know that they were only allowed by the Lord to worship and offer and pray at Jerusalem and specifically at the temple in Jerusalem. The temple at Jerusalem symbolizes the body of Christ and Christ is the only way to God. One way and that is by the Messiah, symbolized by the temple in Jerusalem. So what Jeroboam did is make another way to God, other than Jesus. Not a new Messiah or religion, just another Jesus. God does not approve at all and calls it the sin of sins. Actually because of this great sin, Ephraim or Israel was taken away in captivity by the Assyrian and is still missing to this day.
There is another part of the sin of Jeroboam that is very important to see and should not be overlooked. He says to the people that whoever of the people can become priests in the temples and high places. All they need to do is consecrate them and then they are priests of that place. God’s chosen Levites and sons of Aaron are supposed to have that works and position. It is a covenant of God.
1 Kings 13
33 After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
34 And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth.
In answer to those who believe Jeroboam made new gods. Why would it bother God that Jeroboam did not choose Levites for the positions of priests if it was new gods. No they made high places and temples and temple service for God. After Jeroboam almost all the kings of the northern kingdom sinned in the sin of Jeroboam. In fact even today it is called “the sin of Jeroboam”. If you are still not clear on what the big deal is let me put it to you like this. It was a fleshly church system of religion that was made by man with the exact same practices as the real one. Very dubious! The god had the same name as the true God it was just in another location and instead of having Levites for priests they had anyone who chose to be priests. Further instead of worshipping the God that lives above the cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant, they worshipped the god that lived above the golden calves’ as if God would go and stay above the golden calves. It sounds a lot like the golden calf in the wilderness that Aaron made. Aaron said here is the god that led you out of Egypt. They also wanted to pray to God through the golden calf. They were also fleshly and wanted to see something tangible to pray through. They were not willing to by faith walk in the spirit. There is more in the prophets about this:
Hoseah 8
2 Israel will cry to Me, ‘ My God, we know You!’
3 Israel has rejected the good; The enemy will pursue him.
4 ” They set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them. From their silver and gold They made idols for themselves — That they might be cut off.
5 Your calf is rejected, O Samaria! My anger is aroused against them — How long until they attain to innocence?
6 For from Israel is even this: A workman made it, and it is not God; But the calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces.
7 ” They sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no bud; It shall never produce meal. If it should produce, Aliens would swallow it up.
8 Israel is swallowed up; Now they are among the Gentiles Like a vessel in which is no pleasure.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey alone by itself; Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Yes, though they have hired among the nations, Now I will gather them; And they shall sorrow a little, Because of the burden of the king of princes.
11 ” Because Ephraim has made many altars for sin, They have become for him altars for sinning.
12 I have written for him the great things of My law, But they were considered a strange thing.
13 For the sacrifices of My offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat it, But the LORD does not accept them. Now He will remember their iniquity and punish their sins. They shall return to Egypt.
14 ” For Israel has forgotten his Maker, And has built temples; Judah also has multiplied fortified cities; But I will send fire upon his cities, And it shall devour his palaces.”
God says very clearly here that they built temples and worshipped and sacrificed to God, but He will NOT accept it. Actually He will send them back to Egypt. What is Egypt? The flesh!! Through the years there were wars between the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. What follows are the sayings of one of the kings of Judah to the northern kingdom.
2 Chronicles 13
4 Then Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim, which is in the mountains of Ephraim, and said, “Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel:
5 Should you not know that the LORD God of Israel gave the dominion over Israel to David forever, to him and his sons, by a covenant of salt?
6 Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord.
7 Then worthless rogues gathered to him, and strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and inexperienced and could not withstand them.
8 And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hand of the sons of David; and you are a great multitude, and with you are the gold calves which Jeroboam made for you as gods.
9 Have you not cast out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made for yourselves priests, like the peoples of other lands, so that whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams may be a priest of things that are not gods?
10 But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken Him; and the priests who minister to the LORD are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites attend to their duties.
11 And they burn to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense; they also set the showbread in order on the pure gold table, and the lampstand of gold with its lamps to burn every evening; for we keep the command of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken Him.
12 Now look, God Himself is with us as our head, and His priests with sounding trumpets to sound the alarm against you. O children of Israel, do not fight against the LORD God of your fathers, for you shall not prosper!”
13 But Jeroboam caused an ambush to go around behind them; so they were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them.
14 And when Judah looked around, to their surprise the battle line was at both front and rear; and they cried out to the LORD, and the priests sounded the trumpets.
15 Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.
It couldn’t be clearer. God does not approve of that religion because it is not through His Son Jesus. It is also not spiritual! It is by the leading of religion in obedience to flesh and not the Spirit of the Lord. It must have been something to behold and it must have been very convincing or else the Israelites would not have been fooled. In the exact same manner, Satan created a new move or religion in which he deceives the whole world through the Roman church. But more than that because of the false system of our enemy people don’t have love for the truth to serve God in spirit anymore. They want to serve God in the flesh again! God does not approve and just like the northern kingdom He sends us away in captivity under delusion led by the principality of Assyria or the Assyrian. Satan knew full well that God would not approve and send us into captivity thus destroying the church like He did the northern kingdom. Following is more on the captivity in delusion as prophesied.
Amos 5
16 Therefore the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, says this: ” There shall be wailing in all streets, And they shall say in all the highways, ‘ Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmer to mourning, And skillful lamenters to wailing.
17 In all vineyards there shall be wailing, For I will pass through you,” Says the LORD.
18 Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light.
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him!
20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
21 ” I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
24 But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.
25 ” Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 You also carried Sikkuth your king And Chiun, your idols, The star of your gods, Which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,” Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.
Amos 6
1 Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, And trust in Mount Samaria, Notable persons in the chief nation, To whom the house of Israel comes!
2 Go over to Calneh and see; And from there go to Hamath the great; Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory?
3 Woe to you who put far off the day of doom, Who cause the seat of violence to come near;
4 Who lie on beds of ivory, Stretch out on your couches, Eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall;
5 Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David;
6 Who drink wine from bowls, And anoint yourselves with the best ointments, But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.
8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, The LORD God of hosts says: ” I abhor the pride of Jacob, And hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up the city And all that is in it.”
Amos 8
11 ” Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD, ” That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD.(delusion)
12 They shall wander from sea to sea, And from north to east; They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD, But shall not find it.
13 ” In that day the fair virgins And strong young men Shall faint from thirst.
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, Who say, ‘ As your god lives, O Dan!’ And, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives!’ They shall fall and never rise again.”
In the new testament, we read what Paul and Jesus had to say on the matter.
2 Cor 11
3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted — you may well put up with it!
The Roman church did indeed preach another Jesus. Just like Ephraim this religion has the same name and same practices, but is false and God does not approve. Because people do not love the truth anymore, and that is that God is Spirit and wants us to serve Him in spirit.
2 Thes 2
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
Jesus said the following when He was on earth:
Matthew 24
“Take heed that no one deceives you.
5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
So Jesus said that many will come in His name, saying that He (Jesus) is the Christ and deceive many because it will be a false religion and a false Jesus. It will be one with the same name and same religious practices but will be false.
Friend, I would like to ask you two questions today, actually I want you to ask yourself two questions today. Firstly, is your church a northern kingdom church? Remember the Roman church was only the beginning and afterward many other churches followed suit even if they were not catholic. Many protestant churches are also northern kingdom churches. Test your church and make sure you are in the right church. Pray and ask the Lord for discernment and He shall give it.
Secondly ask yourself, are you Oholah or Oholabah? Both those mean they have a tent or place where God can tabernacle but only one is the dwelling of the most high God. Are you serving God in spirit? Or are you practicing a fleshly religious system that looks and sounds like the true one but is not?
Till next time
God bless
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