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THE COVENANT WITH DEATH

Part VIII

In this study, we have repeatedly noted that the Spiritual realm, where we find the Kingdom of God, we frequently learn that the realm of the Spirit is what the prophets are actually addressing in the Scriptures. While physical individuals and earthly dominions are identified in the text, the LORD's prophets are tuned in to address the spiritual substance behind the earthly vessels being described.

Jesus Christ labored to point us to the Spiritual realm – that which the Scriptures tell us is the "substance" – through a discerning look at the "shadow," which is the reflection of the substance that is found in the fallen earthly creation.

"Meat [and] drink…[and] respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days …are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ…[where] ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance" (Colossians 2:16,17; Hebrews 10:34).

In our last installment of the Covenant with Death, we showed how Israel had deteriorated from their election as the people of the Lord, into a lawless mob that demanded that the spirit of "Death" be manifested in the Gentiles, through their insistent demands that Jesus Christ be crucified.

Our studies have identified the primary spiritual driver in Israel's apostasy is the spirit of "Hell," as opposed to the spirit of "Death" which indwelled the Gentiles. As the Scriptures reveal, the characteristics of "Hell" are associated with the imagery of the "False Prophet" in Revelation.

"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth…and he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship [read follow/embrace] the [spirit of the] first beast, whose deadly wound was healed" (Revelation 13:11, 12).

We have also shown that those "that dwell in the earth" (Revelation 6:10, 13:14, 14:6, 17:8, etc) are the lost, which is linked to the spirit of the "False Prophet," which comes up "out of the earth" (Revelation 13:11,12).

Thus while they were petitioning Pontius Pilate to execute Jesus, the Jews were actually drawing near to, and intreating the "Death" that was resident in the Romans, as their actions (externalized by the spirit of "Hell") desired the Life in Christ to come to an end.

As further evidence of our long time assertion that "Hell" desires to kill but cannot, we have noted the character attributes of the triad of the Spirits of Life and Death (and the "Hell" that seeks to straddle the two), have been manifested in previous earthly configurations.

In the case of the confluence of Herod, Herodias, and John the Baptist, we see that Herodias desired the death of John, but as the consort of King Herod, she did not have the authority.

"Herodias had a quarrel against [John], and would have killed him; but she could not" (Mark 6:19).

This is a classic trait of Hell, as Herodias schemed on how she could manipulate King Herod – who did have  the authority to execute – so that he would give the command to kill John the Baptist.

In the Spiritual formation lurking behind the physical configuration, we see a common characteristic of the "Death" that was associated with King Herod, as "Death" is reluctant to come forth, because it fears "Life."

"For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy" (Mark 6:20).

We have previously pointed out the identical Spiritual architecture existed in Ahab, Jezebel, and Naboth the Jezreelite, who resisted selling his vineyard to Ahab, because the sale would have violated the Old Covenant law, which Naboth desired to follow. This indicates the "Life" was present in Naboth.

Jezebel urged Ahab to wield his authority as the king, and simply kill Naboth in order to get his vineyard, but the "Death" in Ahab feared the upright man.

"And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel?" (I Kings 21:7).

Because Ahab was reluctant to kill the vessel reflecting the Life that resisted his desire to obtain the vineyard, he manifested the same reluctance to kill that Herod showed towards John the Baptist, as well as Pontius Pilate's reticence to execute Christ.

Jezebel did precisely as Herodias did, in concocting a scheme that would get Naboth murdered, by utilizing Ahab's authority to kill.

"So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal [saying] proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: and set two men, sons of Belial…to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die" (I Kings 21:8-10).

Once again, the characteristics manifested by Israel indicated the spirit that had captured them was the Hell "half" of the divided dominion of the Devil. On many occasions in multiple studies, we have noted the association between the "False Prophet" imagery in Revelation, and the "Hell" that is symbolized by the words captivity, torment, envy, greed, and a hundred other non lethal characteristics.

Of this partial list of attributes, captivity is central, for we see Scriptural evidence indicating that once in Hell, escape is impossible. For instance, the rich man in Hell could see the beggar who had also died, but he was  comforted in the arms of Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel.

As the tale progresses, the rich man begs Abraham to send the beggar to him with a drop of water, for he is in torment. Abraham says there is a great barrier between them, so those that are in paradise with Abraham cannot pass to the torment side – and those in torment are unable to traverse the gulf to paradise.

Obviously, this allegorical construct described the middle ground between Life and Death, where the decisions about eternity are made.

"Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision" (Joel 3:14).

The character attribute of captivity is why Christ repeatedly addressed the captivity that is found in sin (a euphemism for Hell), as the entire New Testament regularly speaks about setting the captives free.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" (John 8:34).

Even a casual read of the New Testament tells us that as He launched His ministry, Jesus quoted a Messianic prophecy from Isaiah:

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound" (Isaiah 61:1).

The reality of how Satan's gambit for power is based on the Spiritual weaponry -- where the two spirits of Hell and Death constitute the divided house of the Devil -- is revealed in multiple metaphors in the Bible.  

For example, when the Jews told Pontius Pilate that it was not lawful for them to kill Jesus (John 18:31), they exhibited the traits of the Spiritual Scorpions of Revelation, who had the power to torment, but were forbidden to kill.

"Unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And to them it was given that they should not kill…but that they should [torment]…and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man" (Revelation 9:3-5).

The presence of "torment" leads us to the story of the rich man in Hell:

"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously…the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments" (Luke 16:19,22,23).

Actually, there are many links which point us to the Spiritual affinity coursing through the earthly vessels. In the Old Testament, for instance, at the time when the Northern tribes broke away from the dynasty of David which the LORD had ordained, Rehoboam (Solomon's son) was king.

Instead of seeking to use the Spirit of the LORD to unify the division, he lashed out at the rebellion, manifesting the spirit that broke Israel into two nations.

"Whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions" (I Kings 12:11).  

Thus, while Samaria (the name Israel took when the Northern tribes seceded) was wrong to divide the nation as they were moving in response to the Flesh and Blood ambitions of their leader Jeroboam, the dynasty of David in Jerusalem contributed to the division as well.

In the days of Jesus, the Gentiles, who were seen in Daniel's prophecy of the four successive Gentile empires of Babyon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, dominated the Jews. Each Gentile kingdom worshiped devils, reckoning them to be gods. The Jews, who were chosen to shine the light of God to the Gentiles in order to demonstrate the glory of God, had instead imported the Gentiles' darkness.

The Northern 10 tribes which broke away were considerably more apostate that the remaining 2 tribes of Jews in Jerusalem, so the judgment of God fell on them first, through the rise of the Assyrians, who carried them away into bondage.

However, the Judeaens became haughty, as they viewed the destruction of Samaria (named after the capitol of the Northern 10 tribes who seceded from Israel) as a just recompense from God. However, the Lord viewed Judaea as following the same path.

"I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also…for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 3:8-10). 

The break between the two houses of Israel externalized the hemispheric halves of the divided mind of the devil. This architecture of the spirit also indicates the spiritual split is infinite. For example, while the Jews were inhabited by Hell as the Gentiles were indwelled by Death, the Jewish counsel of the Sanhedrin was comprised of the Sadducees, and the Pharisees.

The Sadducees did not believe in spiritual things, or angels, or even the resurrection, but the Pharisees confessed both. Thus, the Sadducees were indwelled by Death, even as the Pharisees were driven by Hell. Each of the two had further divisions, indicating this division continues into infinity, a regression the Scripture reveals as having no limit to the corrosive spirits of Death and Hell.

The fact that two opposite priesthoods joined together to retain power further accentuated their Lukewarm configuration.

"Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees" (Matthew 16:6).

The way this process deteriorates as the two polarities continually degrade the whole means there is no limit to how deep it will sink, and this spiritual power is described in the Revelation as the Bottomless Pit.

Furthermore, the Scripture tells us the Serpents and the Scorpions – which are actually Death and Hell -- had their power ignited by the dragon who led the rebellion against the LORD.

"And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon" (Revelation 9:11).

But we rejoice, for the Lord of glory sent His Son, to redeem those who are looking for His salvation.

"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death upon them hath the light shined" (Isaiah 9:2).

- James Lloyd