The Fulfillment of the Law and Prophets

When speaking to the Jews, Jesus often used the phrase "this was done to fulfill the words of the prophet....".  The Jews were familiar with the words of the Law and the Prophets and some of them must have been saying, "Ooooh, cool, that's what that meant!" What a eureka it must have been to those who had ears to hear!  Many, however, even though they knew Moses writings and the Prophets, did not have ears to hear.

I will be examining and bringing to light some scriptures that state very clearly how the old is fulfilled in the new, beginning with the book of Matthew since it was specifically written to Jews.  As Paul says, the message came first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, even the judgment came first to the Jews (Rom 2:9,10).  Jesus said He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel and said to His disciples: "I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves" (Matt 10). 

Paul and Barnabas later boldly said to the Jews, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles." (Acts 13:46) Later Paul said, "I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." (Romans 11:25)  God's order is "first the natural, then the spiritual" (1 Cor 15:46) even in how the gospel went forth.  It was first given to natural Israel and was rejected by them, then the door was opened to bring the gospel to Spiritual Israel.  Everything shifts from the natural to the Spiritual as the process of "out with the old, and in with the new" takes place. (More about this another time)

Hebrews 8 says the priesthood of the old covenant were a "copy and shadow of the heavenly things to come" and that Christ's ministry is a "more excellent ministry" and that "He is mediator of a  better covenant, which was established on better promises...for if the first had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second." By making a new covenant "the old has become OBSOLETE" (obsolete #3822-to declare worn out) and was "growing old and ready to vanish away" already in the day.  The old covenant provides us with a shadow...a dark, vague, outline, of what was to come but when it had come the lights went on for those who had eyes to see!  How exciting it must have been for believing Jews in that day to have those eureka moments as the Lord opened the eyes of their understanding.  How exciting it is for us today as we read the words of Jesus and the new covenant writers, that the eyes of our understanding are opened!  Here is how scripture says it in Luke 24:

Everything comes to light in Christ, He is the substance of the old, in Him the veil of spiritual blindness is removed and the eyes of our understanding are opened.  Without the new, the old covenant remains a dark shadow and our understanding remains veiled. In the new we can clearly see the fulfillment of the old.  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:14:

The scriptures I have quoted above are so important I felt it necessary to include them them here in there entirety for further study before going on to the scriptures from Matthew.

Hebrews 8:

Hebrews 10

2 Corinthians 3

All things concerning Christ fulfilled: 

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. ¹⁸

Matthew 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

Matthew 26:55 In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. 56 But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

Luke 18:31 Then He [Jesus] took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.

Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.

Scriptures from the book of Matthew that speak of the fulfillment of specific words of the prophets of old:

Matthew 1:21-23 

 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,”(Is.7:14) which is translated, “God with us.”

Matthew 2:14-23 

¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, ¹⁵ and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” (Num. 24:8, Hos. 11:1) ¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 
      

      ¹⁸ “ A voice was heard in Ramah,
      Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
      Rachel weeping for her children,
      Refusing to be comforted,
      Because they are no more.” (Jer. 31:15)

¹⁹ Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰ saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” ²¹ Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. ²³ And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (Judges 13:5)

Matthew 4

¹² Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. ¹³ And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:       

      ¹⁵ “ The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
      By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
      Galilee of the Gentiles:
       ¹⁶ The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
      And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
      Light has dawned.” (Is.9:1,2)

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 8

¹⁶ When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, ¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:


      “ He Himself took our infirmities
      And bore our sicknesses.” (Is. 53:4)

Matthew 12

¹⁵ But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. ¹⁶ Yet He warned them not to make Him known, ¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 

      ¹⁸ “ Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,
      My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!
      I will put My Spirit upon Him,
      And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
       ¹⁹ He will not quarrel nor cry out,
      Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
       ²⁰ A bruised reed He will not break,
      And smoking flax He will not quench,
      Till He sends forth justice to victory;
       ²¹ And in His name Gentiles will trust.” (Is. 42:1-4, 49:3)

Matthew 13

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, ³⁵ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 

      “ I will open My mouth in parables;
       I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.” (Ps.78:2)

Matthew 21

³ And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”
⁴ All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
       ⁵ “ Tell the daughter of Zion,

      ‘ Behold, your King is coming to you,
      Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
      A colt, the foal of a donkey.’” (Zech. 9:9)

Matthew 27

³ Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” ⁵ Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. ⁶ But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” ⁷ And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. ⁸ Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
⁹ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, ¹⁰ and gave them for the potter’s field, as the LORD directed me.” (Zech. 11:12, er 32:6-9, Zech. 11:12,13)

Copies and Shadows---Substance which is Christ (Col. 2:17, Heb. 8:5, 10:1)

Written epistles---Living epistles (2 Cor. 3:1-3)

Letter of the Law---Spirit of the Law (vs. 4-6)

Ministry of Death----Ministry of the Spirit (7-8)

Ministry of Condemnation---Ministry of righteousness (vs. 9)

Old passing away---New remaining (vs. 11)

Veil remains unlifted in reading the old testament---Veil is taken away in Christ (vs. 12-18)

Old Covenant Obsolete---Better Covenant, more excellent ministry, better promises (Hebrews 8)

Law on Stone Tablets---Law written on the Heart (Hebrews 8)

Annuling of the former commandment---bringing in of a better hope (Hebrews 7:18)

Jews outwardly---Jews inwardly (Romans 2:28-30)

Distinction by race, social class, or sex---No distinctions-All one in Christ (Gal. 3:28)

Circumcision of the flesh---Circumcision of the heart  (Romans 2:28-30)

Levitical Priesthood--- Endless Priesthood of Christ  (1 Peter 2:1-10, Hebrews 7)

Temple in Jerusalem---Body is the Temple (holy of holies) (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 6:19)

Natural Jerusalem---Spiritual Jerusalem, holy city, prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband, not earthy (Rev. 21)

Visible External Temporal Kingdom---Invisible Internal Eternal Kingdom (Luke 17:21)

Bondage to sin and death---Freedom from sin and eternal life (Romans 6)

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Psalm 7           
    ⁹ Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
         But establish the just;
         For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds.
    ¹⁰ My defense is of God,
         Who saves the upright in heart. 
         
   ¹⁴ Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity;
         Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood.
     ¹⁵ He made a pit and dug it out,
          And has fallen into the ditch which he made.
     ¹⁶ His trouble shall return upon his own head,
          And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.
         
    ¹⁷ I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness,
         And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.

Isaiah 45

       ⁵ I am the LORD, and there is no other;
      There is no God besides Me.
      I will gird you, though you have not known Me, 
      

       ⁶ That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
      That there is none besides Me.
      I am the LORD, and there is no other; 
        

      ⁷ I form the light and create darkness,
      I make peace and create calamity (evil);
      I, the LORD, do all these things.’

        ⁸ “ Rain down, you heavens, from above,
      And let the skies pour down righteousness;
      Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,
      And let righteousness spring up together.
      I, the LORD, have created it. 
       

      ⁹ “ Woe to him who strives with his Maker!
      Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
      Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
      Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’? 
             

       ¹² I have made the earth,
      And created man on it.
      I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
      And all their host I have commanded. 
      

     ¹³ I have raised him up in righteousness,
      And I will direct all his ways;
      He shall build My city
      And let My exiles go free,
      Not for price nor reward,”
      Says the LORD of hosts.

        ²² “ Look to Me, and be saved,
      All you ends of the earth!
      For I am God, and there is no other. 
      

      ²³ I have sworn by Myself;
      The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
      And shall not return,
      That to Me every knee shall bow,
      Every tongue shall take an oath. 
      

There are opposing forces at work in the earth, light and darkness, peace and calamity.  The wickedness of the wicked coming to an end, as his own trouble returns upon his own head and as he falls into the ditch he himself has dug.  Righteousness will be established, directed by the Master builder of the "city" and every knee will bow and every tongue take an oath as the Word of the Lord goes out and does not return void. 

Matthew 25:45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

Luke 9:48 “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.”

Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

1 Corinthians 6:3-5  Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?  If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?

2. Authority: If you can be trusted in the small stuff you will be trusted with big stuff.

3. Generosity: Give and it will be given to you.

4. Freedom: When one turns to the Lord one finds freedom (repentance is essentially a turning)

5. Possession: Ask and you will receive.

6. Abundance: Seek and you will find.

7. Opportunity: Knock and the door will be opened to you.

Who is this?  Some say he is the Satan.  Some say he is an earthly king.  See Ezekiel 28:12-19 as well.

Lucifer: Hebrew # 1966 "haylale" - light bearer, shining one, morning star (Thayer) 

Isaiah 14 

12 “ How you are fallen from heaven,
      O Lucifer, son of the morning!
      How you are cut down to the ground,
      You who weakened the nations!

13 For you have said in your heart:

      ‘ I will ascend into heaven,
      I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
      I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
      On the farthest sides of the north; 
       14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
      I will be like the Most High.’ 

15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
      To the lowest depths of the Pit. 
      

For some reason the translators of the KJV chose "Lucifer" for what should have been rendered "morning star" in Isaiah 14.  Lucifer has since become known as another name for Satan or the Devil.  Some of the newer bible translations have correctly translated it "morning star" or "day star".  So is this a reference to Satan or something else?

1. 2 Peter 1:19
   And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
   
2. Revelation 2:28
   and I will give him the morning star.
    
3. Revelation 22:16
   “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

Greek #5459 phosphoros--light-bearing ie. morning star (Strong's)

In Hebrews 9 there is an explanation of the fulfillment of this feast. 

11But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come,[NU which have come] with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

The day of atonement is a day of confession, fasting, and prayer.  A day of remembrance and of reconciliation between God and man.  Christ removed the need for a yearly atonement to be made and became our sacrificial lamb once for all to "cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God".  In the atoning sacrifice of His life we are free, redeemed, able to enter into our eternal inheritance.

23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Why did Jesus Christ not enter into the temple at Jerusalem and offer the once for all sacrifice in the manner of the old covenant High Priest?  Plain and simply God was done with types and shadows because the fulfillment and the reality of the new stood in the midst of the people in the man Jesus Christ.  Everything that pointed to Him prior to His coming now found expression and fulfillment in Him!  All these things still serve that one purpose, to point us to Christ, but in themselves have no meaning apart from Him.

"Now once at the end of the age"...this is a mysterious verse unless understood for what it says. Christ appeared at the end of the age...some older versions translate it, "end of the world". The period of time in which Jesus appeared upon the earth in the form of a man, was in the "last days" or the end of that age.  Today we are in a new age, an age in which sin has been done away with for He came to "put away sin".   And as it was appointed for men to die once..."so" or more accurately, "in this way", in other words, as it was appointed for men to die once, "Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many" in their place.  And the last line of this verse is the most interesting of all and the only place in the New Testament were there is a reference to a "second" appearing.  "To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."  This is not referring to an appearing for all to see...this is about a personal appearing to those who eagerly wait for Him. 

2 Peter 3 contains a verse with a similar emphasis: "11 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God".  This left me mystified for years as I pondered how we personally might hasten the coming of the day of God.  Peter asks the question... "what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God"?  This ties our personal godliness and holy conduct with His coming and the implication is that this is not a coming for "every eye to see" all at one time.  Although even the fact that every eye shall see him, and every knee shall (voluntarily) bow, and every tongue confess is a glorious reminder that He will come not only to some but to all. 

Judas, not Iscariot, asked Jesus as recorded in John 14:22, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

Christ's atonement at the cross made it possible for man to enter into a union with God that is mystical, personal, and invisible.  It is out of this union in which the Father and the Son have manifest themselves to us in the Spirit, that we will manifest to the world the glory of the Most High God in the fullness of time, even as He has promised.  Creation is groaning for the manifestation of the Sons of God.  The heart cry of Christ to His Father for His disciples was, "that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us." 

John 17

6“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. 8 For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. 
9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. 12 While I was with them in the world,I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. 

24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

This has been the plan of the ages and continues to be the plan of this age....that all men may be one, even as the Father and Son are One....that God may be all in all!!

The Day of Atonement, which is now our reality in Christ everyday through faith, is about acknowledging our freedom from sin and death and our hope of glory which is Christ in us.  This is the last feast before the Feast of Tabernacles on the Jewish calendar.  The feast of Tabernacles, is the coming together of heaven and earth, when God and man will once again reunite as they did in the firstborn Son, Jesus Christ, but this time heaven and earth will united in a corporate appearing of the Sons of God.

Hebrews 2

 10For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.

Hallelujah!  What a Saviour! 

The feast of trumpets precedes the Day of Atonement by 8 days.  Trumpets are used in various places in Scripture.  The Israelites blew trumpets as they marched around the city of Jericho.  The Roman army blew trumpets as they surrounded the city of Jerusalem in AD 70.  Trumpets were blown to gather the people together for an assembly or a feast.  The disciples are said to have "sounded forth" the word of God, the angels announced the birth of Christ with trumpets.   

The battle cry has gone out and Christ has won the victory.  He has made atonement for the people.  The feast of Tabernacles is the only feast that yet remains unfulfilled.  It is referred to as the feast of ingathering, the feast of joy, the feast of unity, the feast of rest, the feast of restoration, the feast of glory, and the feast of His appearing.  For when Christ who is our life appears, then we will appear united together with Him in glory!! (Col 3)

Psalm 82 (King James with Correct Names of God inserted)

A psalm of Asaph

 ¹God (ELOHIM) standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods (ELOHIM).

 ²How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

Can this truly be Asaph (who is he by the way?) saying God judges unjustly?

 ³Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

 ⁴Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

 ⁵They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

 ⁶I have said, Ye are gods (ELOHIM); and all of you are children of the most High (El Elyon).

 ⁷But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

 ⁸Arise, O God (ELOHIM), judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

Please admit you are as fascinated as I am at verse 6!  And how did the translators decide which words "elohim" to capitalize and translate "God" and which to not capitalize and translate 'gods'?

Reminds me of the passage from Genesis 3:

²And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

 ³But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

 ⁴And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

 ⁵For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods (elohim), knowing good and evil.

 ⁶And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 ⁷And the eyes of them both were opened

The words of the woman and of the serpent are somewhat different that what God said to Adam though.  Take note:

¹⁶And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

 ¹⁷But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The woman added to what the LORD God told the man: ""neither shall ye touch it".   The serpent contradicted what the LORD God said and added to it as well:

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

 ⁵For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods (elohim), knowing good and evil.

 ⁶And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

This is our natural tendancy is it not to embellish the words of God to make them sound more severe or to diminish their importance by adding to them in order to satisfy our own desires. 

Immediately upon eating of the tree they became "self" conscious!  There original state was one of "God" consciousness.

⁷And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

 ⁸And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

The immediate effect of sin was a sense of separation from God, the awareness of "self".  Prior to the fall the man and woman walked with God in complete harmony and freedom; after the fall there was fear and separation, an awareness of "self".  As I have previously written, the key to returning to a state of unity with God is releasing of the power of "self, recognizing when "self" is attempting to sit on the throne of our lives and consciously releasing the authority it is attempting to usurp, back to El Elyon, the most high God.  Knowing good and evil has indeed opened our eyes and we have become like 'gods' running things according to our "self"ish ways. 

I Corinthians 15:

²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

 ²³But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

 ²⁴Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

 ²⁵For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

Christ is reigning and all things will be put under His feet.  We are seeing the most high God exercising His ability to subject all things to Himself and will continue to see more.  The birth pangs are upon us in this age as we enter into the Sabbath rest of the Lord.  Psalm 82 is a passage for today.  He is the possessor of the earth and all nations are His.  He has the power to shake its foundations and woe to the inhabitants who belittle His power in favor of worshiping the god of "self".  In the New Testament there were many warnings to the Jewish people, the result of their disobedience and unwillingness to come into the new covenant cost them the price of severe punishment.  We are seeing another layer of the fulfillment of scripture for this day.  There will be severe judgment once again for those who refuse to come under the authority and blessing of the most high God, El Elyon.  He will possess the earth,  He will exert His authority over mankind,  He will do what it takes to subject all things to Himself, and He will bless and protect those who are surrendered to Him. 

I refuse to present this as some ultimatum, the fiery wrath of an angry God who will throw the evil doers into hell.  It is not about that, never has been, never will be!  God is the Almighty Father (Yahweh), Mother (El Shaddai), Possessor (El Elyon), Supreme God (Elohim), etc.  His desire is to bring His creation into maturity.  We all know that what matures us as individuals is the experience and trials of life. They bring out our worst and our best and refine us as we learn to surrender to God.  The time is right to bring creation into maturity.  There will no longer be place for fickle children as in the garden, who were not able to withstand the suggestion of the serpent, but grown up sons able to obey, be blessed and be a blessing. 

El Elyon first appears in scripture in Genesis 14:

¹⁸And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God (El Elyon).

 ¹⁹And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God (El Elyon), possessor of heaven and earth:

 ²⁰And blessed be the most high God (El Elyon), which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

 ²¹And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

 ²²And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD (Yahweh), the most high God (El Elyon), the possessor of heaven and earth,

God is raising up a Melchizadek priesthood in this day, in the likeness of Christ, the first born son, a priesthood who will minister before El Elyon, the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth. 

More about that another day.

This is a reference to the Spirit Man who dwells within us all.  Having been sick for years I once cried out to the Lord in despair of my bodily condition pleading, "Lord I want a new body."  He replied "You already have a new body."  His meaning was clear and He confirmed it for me with scripture.

Col. 2: 9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 

2For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.

Our yearning is not for the grave.  No one is running to the grave in order to find eternal life.  Our spirit cries out from within us, when we allow it room to operate freely, for Life and for our mortality to be swallowed up by it.  It is our sin-sickness, our short-comings, our missing the mark, that makes us yearn for a life that is higher than our natural life.  I know your Spirit knows that you have never yearned for the grave so that you could be made one with God. Our yearning is not that we be unclothed but that we be further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life!

5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Some teach that we have been given a little deposit of God and that we do not yet have the fullness. In my past religious tradition it was explained that this little deposit of the Spirit was given to convict us of sin, I guess that so we would be motivated to change through guilt. It is also taught that because we only have a little guarantee of Him in us, a little morsel, we are only able to experience Him a little bit, and live in only a portion of obedience until He returns.  There is in no way confirmation in scripture for  that thinking, in fact there is much that points to the opposite.  This guarantee of the Spirit, which according to John is the Father and the Son dwelling in us, is simply and completely the seed of the fullness of the Godhead, planted lovingly in us by our heavenly Father so that we may grow up into the "full measure of the stature of Christ!" (Eph. 4) All the gifts and ministries of the Spirit have but one purpose: that creation would come into the glorious liberty of sonship!

6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.

The words "at home" in the body have nothing to do with being alive in the flesh.  Anyone who knows the Lord knows full well that while we live upon this earth in flesh bodies we are without a doubt NOT absent from the Him, even as He himself has said...'we have this treasure in earthen vessels', 'Christ in us the hope of glory', and Paul declaration when questioned about the authority by which he spoke, he replied, "Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith,... don't you know Jesus Christ lives in you!"  This verse does not mean that while you are living in a flesh body you are absent from the Lord!!!  What it does mean is that while you are finding your comfort, being 'at home' in your flesh life you are absent or separate from the Lord.  Whenever we are confident and comfortable in our flesh as opposed to being confident and finding comfort in the Lord we are absent from Him and the evidence of His life is absent from us.  It is simply an exhortation from Paul to find your life in HIM not in your fleshly existance.

7 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

In other words we do not live according to the things we can see, or natural things, we live by faith in an unseen, but very PRESENT God who is the King. (Luke 17:21) 

8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present (with the Lord) or (in other words) absent (from the body), to be well pleasing to Him.

In brackets I have added what Paul left out but what is clearly inferred.  Our difficulty in "getting" it is only due to a misinterpretation, having been told that it is talking about when you are dead you are with the Lord and when you are alive you are not,  not because it is unclear or difficult to understand.  He is just reiterating what he previously said.  In other words being 'present with the Lord' OR 'absent from the body' is just two ways of saying the same thing.  To be present with the Lord is to be absent and not finding comfort or being 'at home' in the body or flesh. To be absent or not finding comfort and not being at home in the flesh IS to be present with the Lord. 

If you have had the experience of being filled with the Spirit and have known His workings in your life, you will also know that when He moves in you, your flesh is out of the way and when you grieve the moving of His Spirit, it is because your flesh is in the way.  If you have not been filled in a tangable way, seek Him for the filling of His Spirit and allow Him to begin to teach you how to abide in Him.

If this passage is indeed about dying in order to be with the Lord then this verse makes no sense at all. 

9Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 

I have never known a person to make it their aim that when they are DEAD to be pleasing to the Lord!  Can you imagine saying "Yep when I die I am going to make it a priority to be pleasing to the Lord!" Also Paul makes it clear in Romans 8 that the flesh cannot please God.  So this verse cannot mean "Therefore we make it our aim whether we are dead OR living in the flesh, to be well pleasing to Him.  That would be ridiculous!!! 

He also says in 2 Cor. 13:5 "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified." We know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord is in and with us if we have been awakened by the Spirit. There is no doubt about His presence if you have truly been found of the Lord.

10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.   

There is so much more to talk about in this passage.  What is the judgement seat of Christ?  When do we appear before it?  Is it all about a record keeping God who will one day unfold our LIST of sins while we stand before Him?  NO!  We stand in His presence daily if we are seeking to follow Him and if we are running from Him it is inevitable that we will come to a place of standing before him that He might do a work of separation in our lives: dividing between spirit and soul!  The words for judgement in Greek indicate a tribunal and also a separation.  We need to learn to daily come before Him and ask Him to judge our hearts, to expose us to ourselves so that we can work out our salvation.  There is no waiting for a 'day' to come, for He says "Today, if you hear my voice do not harden your hearts!"  God is not in the business of public humiliation.  He is all about healing and restoring and redeeming His creation.  He is not waiting for a day to set things straight, He is at work daily in our lives if we are surrendered to Him.  We are also seeing with more evidence than ever, that he is shaking the foundations of the earth in order to bring the lost to Himself.

12For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. 13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Here Paul is declaring the victory that Christ has won for us over sin and DEATH, "that those who live should live no longer for themselves", finding their comfort and feeling 'at home' in their flesh, "but for Him who died for them and rose again."  It is so clear, is it not?

16Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.

It is time to stop navel gazing and putting all of our focus on the flesh, having our experience rooted in flesh, and seeing each other in the flesh.  Paul declares that because of what Christ has done we no longer regard each other according to the flesh.  Even Christ who once walked in a flesh body among men is now no longer known according to his flesh...for we now have a much deeper experience of knowing Him by His Spirit which resides within us and among us.  This is the walk of faith and not of sight.  This is the supernatural experience of walking beyond the natural, seeing in each other the life of Christ that resides there, even as Paul exhorted his hearers to "Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith...don't you know that Jesus Christ is in you?"

17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Once we begin by faith to see ourselves and each other as a new creation, the old having passed away, all things having become new, we will transcend this dimension, we will walk on "streets of gold"...which is just an allegorical way of saying 'our walk will be divine!'  How is this verse to be understood if we interpret the first part of this passage as meaning that we need to die to be with the Lord and when we are alive we are not? 

20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Finally, we are not waiting for something new to happen.  We are being called to stand up in what already has come to pass, to agree with what God has already accomplished, and enter into the righteousness of God in Him.  God has reconciled us to Himself.  He has prepared, through the death and resurrection of Christ, a dwelling place for Himself where He will live in unity and oneness with His creation.  This dwelling place is His temple, His Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary, the heavenly bedroom, in which He waits to make sweet love to His bride eternally. 

"Don't you know you are the temple, the Holy of Holies, of the Holy Spirit who is in you?"  "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?"  Won't you come into Him, even as He has come into you?  Jesus said of the coming day of the Spirit at Pentecost in John 14:20: "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you." If you realize His presence within You, endeavor to release yourself daily from the dead natural life that is the inclination of your flesh by offering yourself to Him so that the 'two shall become as one' together manifesting the glory of the Lord.  For "when the Christ -- our life -- may be manifested, then also we with him shall be manifested in glory." (Col 3:4 YLT)

So much of Madame Guyon's work is about how to live in a deep and abiding love relationship with God.  She is considered one of the Christian Mystics, which really just means that she believed God speaks to His people and that we can have a deeply personal love relationship with Him.  Mystics do not hold to any one doctrinal belief system, they cross over denominational barriers, but they endeavor to live in a deeply personal communicative relationship that is characterized by increasing self-abandonment and increasing spiritual connection with God.

Wikipedia defines it in this way:

Mysticism, from the Greek μυω (muo, "to conceal"), is the pursuit of achieving communion with or conscious awareness of God (the divine ultimate reality) through direct, personal experience, intuition or insight; the belief in the existence of realities beyond ordinary perceptual or intellectual apprehension that are central to being and directly accessible through personal experience; or the belief that such experiences are an important source of knowledge.

My personal endeavor is perhaps best expressed in Colossians 1 by Paul.  He states that God has chosen him to reveal "26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." I see life as a journey of discovery.  Our hope of glory is not in something outside of ourselves but within ourselves.  Once the layer of flesh that keeps it concealed is removed, the vibrant life force that is Christ in us begins to manifest and we enter into the resurrection experience that Paul speaks of in Philippians 3: 

10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Ok enough said...now for some quotes from Chapter 4 of Mdme Guyon's "Final Steps in Christian Maturity". 

I find it impossible to believe that one who places his whole happiness, his whole state, in the hands of God alone could then continue to have a list of desires for his own happiness to bring to his Lord.  None but that one who dwells in God by love can place all his happiness in God alone.  To seek to place your happiness in God by the strength of your will, or out of fear, or even "to please God" are all horrible states and poor motives.

Love alone should cause anyone to yield up his will to the Lord.  If it is not love that produces submission, eventually that submission will come out as something brutish.  When the believer relinquishes his soul, his will, his all to his Lord, desires nothing of himself and desires only God for the sake of God (and that, in a state of passionate love), then we see that he has made a good beginning.  Why? Because here is a state where there is no enjoyment with self as and end in view!

The glory of heaven is not the motive.  Nor can the motive be the wonderful feeling of the Lord's presence.  There must be no object, earthly or heavenly, that is your ultimate desire.  It is only that you have loved Him, have fallin in love with Him, and are in a state of loving Him.

It has been wisely said, "Motive is but the child of love."  If I love God alone, I will desire God alone.  If I love God alone for Himself alone, with no thought of self, then my desire will be in Him alone.  Later, to be sure, whatever comes from within will be pure and without selfish motive.

...Pure motive and pure desire are quiet and restful, filled and satisfied.  If a love is expressed toward an infinite God, and if that love itself has its origins in Him, and if the believer has no goal but the blessedness of God, then the desires withint the heart of that believer could not be manifested in something as common as restlessness or unsatisfied wants.  There must be present a sense of rest, a sense that "I have no ungratified wish, no unfullfilled personal desire."

Please realize that this foundation alone can be the true foundation--and the only unshakable foundation--for the believer to build his spiritual life upon.  Be mindful that most believers love God with some other state than this mixed in.  There is love for God that has within it a regard for the self and its needs.  Even worse, and perhaps more common, is the believer whose love for God is actually a love (and a seeking) for gratification of his own being.  He is seeking God because of what he feels when he loves his Lord.  When that dies (that is, when the feeling that goes along with that love dies), this Christian loses a great deal of interest in God!

This is a self seeking state, and it must be abandoned if we are to know true spiritual growth.  We must love Him without an end in view and even--as must come--without any feeling present to buttress us!  We must love Him with total disregard to dry spells and to times of spiritual abundance.  Our love must pass beyond the gratification that we get in loving God....otherwise we are built on shifting sand.

...The desire that is born within the self, that has reference to the self, is the result of a will that is still unpurified.  It is your Lord's desire to bring that will to nothing....until the will is one with your Lord.  Therefore your Lord must, from time to time, absorb--yes, and destoy--self originating desires.

...A believer who has been persecuted and becomes bitter...a believer who has known disappointment because of the conduct of another believer (or someone in the world) and is resentful...and most of all, that Christian who has been disappointed in God because of what He has done, and is unhappy with God and with the state he is in at the hands of so unfair a God...surely a Christian who experiences these emotions is not in a state where his will is in concert with God; he is, rather, in a state where self is originating the desires of the heart.

We do not always understand the will of God, but to trust His sovereignty completely is another matter.

When the Christian fixes his mind on what God should be, and then when God does not act according to his expectation, he will surely suffer disappointment....

...As the believer deepens in his abandonment to Christ, outward things (caused by persecution, injustice, and even pleasure of God) are things no longer percieved nor reacted to.

Phew!  I would change her last statement here to say "outward things are things no longer"... controlling us or our reactions."

Deep stuff!  This really has me thinking.

He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me, He loves me not.... 

Oh, of course, I forgot...He loves everyone no matter what BUT it all depends on whether they love Him back...AND His love demands that He eternally punish the ones that don't love Him back?  Right?

Or maybe He is just SAYING He loves everyone but really He doesn't?  Is it that He really only loves SOME and not all?

Hmmm, maybe it is that He KNOWS that some won't love Him so because He already knows that, He has already predetermined that their destiny is eternal torment.

Of course it could be that He loves some and hates others.

Sheesh!!!???  STOP already!!!

Could it possibly be that God IS in control? 

That He DOES love everyone?

That He knows exactly what He is doing?

And that we are the ones who are religiously schizophrenic and confused?

Get this...

^{Ephesians 1}

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, ⁹ having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, ¹⁰ that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. ¹¹ In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, ¹² that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Philipians 2

⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Guess I am just getting tired of the world maligning the name of God, making Him out to be a powerless wimp who created the earth and everything in it, only to go on vacation for 6,000 years leaving man in charge.  Hello!!! 

Oh... and by the way the word confess in Greek means " to acknowledge openly and joyfully", "to acknowledge or fully agree".

His will is indeed a "mystery" to our natural mind but His Word is actually very clear!