Tag: Mind of Christ

Articles

Knowing the Lord

Pete

In today’s study, we are focusing on the truth that we are being transformed with a renewed mindset (Rom 12:2) meaning God being all and all which is the end purpose of Christ. This will come to pass exactly on schedule in the appointed times for all men as death (the carnal mind) is destroyed in every man.

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 

Dying to this death is the function of the lake of fire and how we overcome all that is at enmity with God. This is the only way we become like Christ and are being given His mind.

Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death [second death – Heb 2:14-15], we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 

Life cannot be “all in all” with God when enmity between Him and man still exists. Hence death has to be destroyed.

Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 

Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Man profess the Name of the Lord and proclaim to know Him, yet we only know Him in the flesh at first. It takes the coming of Christ in the Spirit, in faith, giving us eyes to see and ears to hear to usher in the age of the day of the Lord by which we grow into our true knowledge of the Lord and be given His mind through a fiery process.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

It is those being judged now in all areas of their lives that are being purified through the lake of fire that is simultaneously giving them the mind of Christ the more we endure in the fiery furnace in our day of the Lord.

1Co 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 

1Co 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? [only those judging all things now] But we have the mind of Christ. 

We have this crown in down payment form now as our foreheads have been sealed with the Spirit of Truth. Yet we have to endure to the end to receive the full prize of the upward calling of God, which is to have His mind, a crown of glory.

1Pe 5:4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Obedience Manifested by the Fear of the Lord

Knowledge of the Lord comes from understanding which originates from us fearing the Lord.

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

Knowledge of the holy is speaking of our obedience which conforms us into the image of the Lord. The gold we are buying in the fiery trials of our judgment (Rev 3:18, 1Pe 4:12) is the fear of the Lord. This is the beginning of us having wisdom into God’s ways.

Isa 33:5  The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

Isa 33:6  And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

It is our fiery lake of fire experience we have to endure to receive a new heart of the Lord. This is the true spiritual circumcision, made without man’s hands (Col 2:11) that brings with it a growing and healthy fear of the Lord.

Jer 32:39  And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

Jer 32:40  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

God’s judgments teach us the righteousness of Christ. It teaches us the fear of the Lord and leads to our receiving the great reward, the mind of Christ as a result.

Psa 19:11  Moreover by them [the judgments] is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. 

The fear of the Lord is how our obedience is being made manifest in our lives. It is through this fiery process, in our heavens and earth that the Lord is giving us age-abiding life. That is the Lord’s will for all men beginning with the house of God upon which judgment is first fallen (1Pe 4:17).

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

This fear is being taught in a similar way our earthly or physical father taught us and demonstrated they are in charge and we are to be obedient to their commandments. The Lord’s favor upon us is His grace which is chastening and scourging us into following His ways and commandments as His sons.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence [feared them]: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit [our good], that we might be partakers of his holiness.

So right there is the purpose for all judgment and all chastening that is scourging and bringing to naught the man of sin within us. To be made partakers of His holiness, we go through our chastening judgment and not cut those words out of our life. If we want to be like our Lord, we obey His Word as He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek that Word. If we hearken to Him, we are taught the fear of the Lord which hastens His coming within us.

Psa 34:11  Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 

Our Lord sets for us the supreme example of obedience and fearing God and how the prayers of one being made righteous are answered mightily.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 

Learning anything takes experience in doing it right but also doing it wrong. Our judgment is the correction of our Father bringing upon those whom He loves. We learn that it’s not just about doctrine, it is about doing righteousness, being obedient. The Lord rules not only in heaven with His truth but also in our earth as all things are being brought into subjection.

Act 7:49  Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? 

Act 7:50  Hath not my hand made all these things? 

The Lord is Lord of the outward heavens and earth but also the inward heaven (our mind) and the earth (our walk/bodies). The work of God in His Kingdom in ushering in righteousness is happening within our hearts and minds.

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Eternal Life is to Know the Lord

When we are dead to death, we are alive to Christ and the Father. This is the definition of “eternal” or “age abiding” life that the faithful receive first as they are the first to go through judgment and die to death.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 

Christ has already come in the hearts and minds of His sons. We henceforth are coming to know Him as we follow Him to the old man’s death (death to death) in the lake of fire.

1Jn 5:20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding [His mind], that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 

This gift of God that comes via grace is what makes us One with the Lord and our Father. This begins with the household of God separated from this world who are the first to partake of the Lord’s mind.

Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 

Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 

Joh 17:23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 

Our suffering through our judgment, carrying our cross to death is what we do in order to receive the gift of God which is eternal life.

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into [the second] death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

It is a desire to love (obey) God and to know Him that is the reward and the prize we as the possessor’s of God’s oracles are pursuing. If the love of God is in our hearts, we are pressing onward and upward for this high calling to know the Lord.

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

This will take us going to our death and experiencing all the vengeance of the Lord for His Holy temple that we have defiled (1Co 3:17).

Heb 10:30  For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

Heb 10:31  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 

The best litmus test of do we truly “know the Lord” is to examine ourselves on which will help us stay on the narrow way.

1Jn 2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1Jn 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

All of us are the many that at first say we know Him, but we have yet to go through the fire and die that is necessary to know Him in Spirit and Truth.

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

It’s the same lesson for the foolish virgins who we are before we become wise and gain understanding and know Him by going through the fire. That is the only place oil can be purchased that will give us what is needed to keep our internal lamps burning.

Mat 25:12  But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 

No man can enter in any other way except by living out all the wrath of God. That wrath is the same as the seven plagues brought to us by the seven angels of the Lord.

Rev 15:8  The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. 

When carnal mindedness, which is death, is destroyed; then all men will have a new mind.  This comes by losing the old mindset, which spiritually speaking is a beheading of our old man in our day of judgment. The new man (the overcomer in us) is raised to life as the dead in us (the old man and his mind) is destroyed.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

New life comes forth from death in the Lord’s fire. If we die with Him, we live with Him and that is how we come to know Him and His power. The plan of our redemption and overcoming the world has never been changed. It was always there from Genesis to Revelation. The process is how we gain knowledge and receive His mind, knowing the Lord.

Exo 6:6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:

Exodus 6:7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

To know He is the Lord of our heavens and our earth, we are given not only a new mind (heaven) but also a new heart.

Jeremiah 24:7 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

Eze 36:26  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

How does the Lord do this and by what process? We need not guess or speculate but go to the source of Truth (Psa 119:160).

Eze 36:27  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Rom 5:5  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God (zeal to obey the Lord) has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Agape or true love really means.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Our carnal minds are being slain right before our eyes.

Ezekiel 6:7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

The carnal mind being slain by the sword of the Lord is what brings us to life. Only the faithful are given to experience salvation in this age when the armies of Christ bring the fiery words of life to our hearing.

Rev 19:21  And the remnant were slain with the sword of him [died to second death by the Body’s sword] that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. 

Ezekiel 11:10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Looking behind ourselves, it is the entire experience that will be attributed to the Lord and His works in us. Every step we take including our eating of the tree of good and evil is all the Lord’s work.

Ezekiel 12:15 And they shall know that I am the LORD, WHEN I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.

Our time of judgment, the time when the wrath of God is at hand (Rev 1:3) is when we are blessed and begin to come into the true knowledge of the Lord.

Ezekiel 25:17 And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.  

Judgments are what brings about death to the old man which is life for the new man. The other side of the same two-edged sword (Heb 4:12)! We know He is the Lord when He is destroying the old mindset replacing it with the new.

Ezekiel 37:6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

There is no boasting for resurrecting ourselves from the spiritually dead. We know we are unworthy and unprofitable servants (Luk 17:10) who have simply been blessed by the Lord and are doing our reasonable service (Rom 12:1).

Ezekiel 37:13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves

Knowing all of this and the Lord’s plan for His people what shall we be doing?  Our lives do not continue in the same way and manner as before.

Heb 10:24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love [obedience unto holiness] and to good works:

Heb 10:25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Studies

The Floating Axe Head

Pete

The Floating Axe Head

Key Verses: 2Ki 6:1 – 6:7

The focus of this new series entitled “For Our Admonition” is to draw out the spiritual significance of key events, conquests and parables from the OT books of the judges and kings of Israel; specifically, Judges, 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles.  Why are these events so important to understand?

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 

This series plans to exemplify the Bible “meaning what it means” rather than meaning what it literally says.  All these words are in parables, and written in similitudes, the Old and the New Testaments (Hos 12:10) to keep the world blind and only enable those blessed few given ears to hear and eyes to see and understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God (1Co 2:7, Rom 11:7).

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 

It is not only the WORDS, but the very EVENTS themselves that are in parables and thus hidden from carnal eyes and ears to understand.

Mar 4:11  And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all things are done in parables:

We are reviewing history but not for the history lesson but instead for ministration of spiritual understanding which was the reason for these historical events.

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us (the Elect) they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you ……

We begin the series with a short story about a sunken and lost axe head.

2Ki 6:1  And the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 

2Ki 6:2  Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. 

2Ki 6:3  And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. 

2Ki 6:4  So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood. 

2Ki 6:5  But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed. 

2Ki 6:6  And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. 

2Ki 6:7  Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it. 

Only the Lord can work miracles including causing an axe head, a piece of heavy iron, to rise to the surface of water and float.  This story is not about a physical miracle but instead is an admonition of how we, as the Lord’s Axe, will have us, the chief of sinners, to rise above fleshly lusts and overcome sin. These miracles are impossible with man but are nothing to the Lord who is working all things (Mat 19:26) as salvation is His work in all of us (Isa 64:8). Jesus Christ brings truth and grace which shall not fail to have us rise up in victory over sin.

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

The first symbol we see are “the sons of the prophets” introduced in our first verse.  Sons are the offspring of their father and inwardly and outwardly represent the “kings and priests in training” (our fellow brothers and sisters).  Paul and his spiritual son Timothy are perhaps the best example of this (1Co 4:15-16).

Elisha and God’s elect are given to minister grace and bring onto maturity by feeding them the Word of the Lord (Joh 21:15, Eze 34:16).  All the Lord’s prophets in training complain that the way is too “strait” as we are first unable to bear the burden of carrying our cross, not yet understanding or counting the cost.

Hab 1:2  O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!

Luk 14:27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Our complaints in our immaturity (weak in faith) speak to our inability to overcome our enemies who are the adversaries of our obedience (the flesh, the sea, the waters).  Seeing how the Hebrew word H6862 “tsar” is primarily used helps us to see this more clearly in these verses.

H6862, tsar

Total KJV Occurrences: 103

enemies, 26

adversaries, 21

trouble, 17

enemy, 9

adversary, 6

distress, 4

affliction, 3

strait, 3  – 2Ki_6:1

enemy’s, 2    foes, 2

We simply don’t have the faith at first to stand in the fire and take the heat of the Lord’s suffering (Phi, 1:29, Isa 48:10).  We are overcome by our flesh before we are being made into overcomers (Gen 49:19).  The promise made to a murderous Cain (all men) is that all mankind will rule over sin (Gen 4:7) in due time.  Overcoming is salvation and is accomplished by having our sins exposed and burned away in God’s consuming fire (Heb 12:29).

Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

The sons of God, collectively are the church, the called-out ones (G1577 – Ekklesia) who are being led to separate themselves from their carnal enemies within and without.  Coming out of Babylon and separating ourselves from the world (abstaining from spiritual fornication) is a firm commandment of the Lord (Act 15:20, 2Co 6:16, Rev 18:4).  The people of the Lord are being of one mind and stay together in working out their salvation.

2Ki 6:2  Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a [one]  beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. 

2Ki 6:3  And one said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I will go. 

2Ki 6:4  So he went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.

We see the symbols of the Jordan, a beam and wood in these verses, leading up to the axe head being lost.  Comparing spiritual with spiritual the meaning is dug out by the Lord’s kings in training (Pro 25:2) using the sum of the word (ASV – Psa 119:160).

The name Jordan, referring to the River, comes from the Hebrew word H3381 meaning to descend and go downward.  The Jordan River symbolizes our baptism into Christ being a key part of the one baptism of Eph 4:5 as we are being led out of the world and made into a mature man in Christ.  The Jordan River in its negative use, represents an obstacle we must get beyond to enter into the promised land and cleans the land of its defiling giants.  The giants are the besetting sins, idols and false doctrines that becomes spiritual nourishment to the new man when we are able to pass over Jordan by faith in the Word.

Num 14:8  If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey.

Num 14:9  Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

Every man taking “a” beam is the Lord’s people having “one” [H259] Mind.  A beam is what holds up a roof and in fact the Hebrew word H6982 is translated either as beam or as roof, in its only use in the Scriptures.  As the temple of God, our roof or beam relates back to our mindset which must be transformed.

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Php 2:2  Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 

The carnal mind is what keeps us from believing and this must be chopped away by the battle axe of the Lord.  Only then will we be able to engage with the Lord and His Christ in overcoming the giants in the land.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Men are likened to trees in Scripture and the carnal mind is symbolized by the same wood that must be devoured by the Word of God we are so blessed to be able to hear now in this age.

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Learning to walk by faith requires us to first walk by the works of the law and try to save ourselves by our own strength and initiative.  We cannot and will not get across the Jordan until we follow the priests of the Lord and stand still in the waters of Jordan.

Jos 3:3  And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.

Jos 3:8  And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. 

Chopping our beam of wood with an axe head that comes loose and SINKS into the river is symbolism for us saving ourselves by our own works.  The true circumcision is without hands (no iron tool is used) as salvation is solely of the Lord.

Col 2:11  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Exo 20:25  And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

Living by every word God speaks (Mat 4:4, 1Co 3:21), we, are being ensured that our experience at failure is how we learn righteousness in the end (Isa 26:9, Tit 2:11).

2Ki 6:5  But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed

To learn to swim we first must sink into the waters and fail.  It is the same with overcoming sin When we do not have faith, we sink in the waters and are unable to rise above the flesh and a saviour is truly needed.

Psa 18:16  He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

Psa 18:17  He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

Our faith is not our own, it is a gift (Eph 2:8, Jam 1:17) and is the faith OF Jesus Christ.

Eph 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift

In that sense, the axe was borrowed, or as H7592 is more often translated, the axe was asked or requested of us to do the job.  Squandering our cherished gifts and being overcome and sinking into the waters brings torment (Rev 14:11) and suffering all in the presence of the Lamb and the saints of the Lord.  We are appointed to suffer (Phi 1:29) yet when we suffer for our lack of faith (i.e. unrighteousness) we are in in torment and are not happy.

1Pe 3:14  But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

Our response to finding ourselves sunk into the waters of the Jordan, incapable of doing battle in the promised land is to seek help from Jesus Christ and specifically His Christ.

1Pe 5:5  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble….

1Pe 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Jas 5:14  Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:

Jas 5:15  And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

We, are individually as God’s elect, an axe head who is on a wooden handle (carnal fleshly body) but have and are growing into the mind of Christ as we travail together.  The word for axe head is actually the word for iron.

H1270, barzel

Total KJV Occurrences: 77

iron, 73

head, 2  Deu_19:5, 2Ki_6:5

ax, 1 2Ki_6:5

smith, 1

The Lord’s people are the iron or head of the axe.  This is the one mind of Christ that we sharpen each other with and exercise our spiritual senses to gain dominion over the Lord’s enemies.

Pro 27:17  Iron [H1270] sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

The negative side of iron is its representation of our carnality and immaturity before we are proven and remolded in the fire of judgment.  Iron in its unrefined state is rejected of the Lord and represents the works of the flesh.  But iron also has a positive side as it is used to squash all rebellion to the Lord’s ways and commandments.

The rod of iron is the mind of Jesus Christ, His Word, that is ruling in His elect.  As the Lord’s instruments of salvation, His prophets are the Lord’s battle Axe once being prepared for service. The carnal minds of all men and the heathen nations, within and without, are being smashed to pieces by the Lord’s battle exe.  Anything to do with our old man is destroyed by this axe.

Jer 51:20 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;

Jer 51:21 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; ….

Jer 51:23  I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.

It those given to overcome that will be given to rule and tread on the rebellious world.

Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Iron, in the positive, is also our trials and torment that come from the Word and our abiding in the heat and pressure of our day of the Lord.  The temple of the Lord is built with LOTS of iron which are the many tribulations by which we enter into Christ (Act 14:22).

1Ch 22:14  Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance  …

The axe head falling into the waters of the river Jordan is representative of us being overcome and snared in our initial service to the Lord.  We are learning the hard way to believe in the promises of Christ and there is always a way of escape for any temptation we are given (1Co 10:13). Those being justified by faith are building the Temple but without the use of any iron tool.  Jesus Christ is building His church (Mat 16:18) via His three-day process of judgment and He does not need any works of the flesh to help Him out (Act 17:25).

1Ki 6:7 And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building.

Yet we learn to build the house by first building in error and having the fire of the Lord burn those works up (1Co 3:13-15).  Turning to our brethren, casting our cares upon Christ is how we are being lifted up in our time of trials and need.

2Ki 6:6  And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. 

The word for stick here is the same word for tree and wood [H6086] as it is far often translated.  Cutting down a tree and casting it into the waters was seen earlier in Israel’s history when they had no faith and could not drink the bitter waters.

Exo 15:23  And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah….

Exo 15:25  And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them

Not being able to drink bitter waters is the same as sinking into the waters and being overcome.  In both cases it was due to our lack of faith or unbelief.  The solution the Lord’s prophet provided was the same then as it is today.  Christ is hung on a tree to die (Act 5:30) and so we are dying to self in order for the iron to rise in the living waters.  Cutting down our tree is dying daily with Christ.  It is the way we overcome the flesh and this world.

Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Dying to the flesh makes the bitter waters sweet and in this parable, allows the axe head to rise and float on the surface of the river.  The axe head rising is Christ being resurrected within us, which happens when we count all things in the flesh as loss to win the higher prize.

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Php 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

The axe head floating to the top of the water is a parable on how it is possible for Jesus Christ (and us as His Christ – Joh 20:21) to walk on water which is symbolism for overcoming the flesh. We sink if we believe not in the Lord.  The elect of God is that axe head as part of the Body of Christ.  We are sinking at first until a prophet of the Lord, aka our fellow brethren, comes with rebuke/admonition/encouragement (fire, grace) that raises us up.

Mat 14:29  And he (Jesus) said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

Mat 14:30  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 

Mat 14:31  And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Our reasonable service is to lay down our lives for the brethren. This is another reason why it is better to give than to receive (Act 20:35) as giving our life is the greatest love (obedience) which yields the greatest blessings.  Our laying down our lives for the brethren as our Lord did for us, helps them to walk on water and be saved from their sins, a high calling indeed.

1Jn 3:16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Elisha showed (taught) the less mature son the secret to overcoming and rising above the waters.  We must die to self and to our flesh to be of useful service in the kingdom of God now and in the ages to come.

2Ki 6:7  Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it. 

Picking up our axe head is taking up our cross and following the Lord learning from our past shortcomings and the examples of our elders and mature brethren.

1Co 11:1  Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Rom 12:1  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.

Judgment by the Axe Head is already on the house of God (1Pe 4:17, Mat 3:10).   This is the fire that is correcting us and preparing us for our roles to come.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

Being dead to sin and alive to Christ is what walking on water and standing upon the sea spiritually symbolizes.  Overcoming is accomplished with lots of heat and pressure hence the representation as a sea of glass!

Rev 15:2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

The axe head story is a parable that reveals the process of how we are being made into overcomers and rise above the flesh.  Judgment is how all men are redeemed (Exo 6:6, Isa 1:27) and the sooner we embrace that, knowing it is God’s will to destroy our flesh and carnal minds, the sooner we will see the coming of the Lord within us in fuller glory.

2Pe 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

2Pe 3:13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

This series will continue, Lord willing, in the weeks ahead in looking at many more of the stories and events in the books of the kings that were written to help us endure to the end.

Sincere questions and comments are welcome.  You can also email me directly at   peterjwilson56@gmail.com

A Servant in Christ,  Pete