By Walter Giddings
November 26, 2023
Scripture Reading: Genesis 34:20-23
We began our 1st Lesson on Captivity Names with this question: where in our Bibles do we find the histories of our People Israel in Captivity? In that lesson we began with Daniel 1, and reviewed the history of the four Hebrew children, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. All four Hebrews were better known in the Chaldean language of Babylon as Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The King found the four Hebrew sons “ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in his realm”. The Scriptures put us in remembrance that Daniel’s request of the King, concerning the dream he could not remember, prevented the slaughter of all the palace advisors who failed to help the King recall his awesome dream and interpret it! (Daniel 1:17). How did the four Hebrew sons become “ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in his realm”?
17 As for these four children, God
gave them knowledge and skill in
all learning and wisdom: and Dan-
iel had understanding in all visions
and dreams.
Daniel chapter one.
“God gave them knowledge and skill”. If someone were to ask us why God gave these four children knowledge and skill, what would we answer?
(Proverbs 25:2). According to The Scriptures should we pursue this answer?
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a
thing: but the honour of kings is to
search out a matter.
Proverbs chapter twenty-five.
(1 Timothy 6:14-15). Paul has just given Timothy the commandment to “fight the good fight of faith” and “lay hold on eternal life”, giving him charge “in the sight of God”.
c 14 That thou keep this command-
ment without spot, unrebukeable,
until the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ:
p 15 Which in his times he shall shew
who is the blessed and only Potentate
the King of kings, and Lord of lords.
First Timothy chapter six.
How can Christ Jesus be “King of kings” if there are no “kings” of whom he can be King? And how can Christ Jesus be “Lord of lords” if there are no “lords” of whom he can be “Lord”? Who are these kings and lords? (Deuteronomy 10:17).
Have we never heard from Ephraim, the British Empire, that according to the ancient duties of Englishmen a man is the king of his castle, though the walls have holes, and the wind blows through it? And his woman is the queen of that same castle? And the King as the head of civil government cannot enter there without the householder’s permission? And the King and the Queen of that Household make the Law, in accordance to The Authorized Version 1611, American Version (Blackstone’s Commentaries)? Is this the custom of the Anglo Saxons? Are customs part of the Tradition of the Fathers? Are Rituals always suspect?
17 For the LORD your God is God
of gods, and Lord of lords, a great
God, a mighty and a terrible, which
regardeth not persons, nor taketh
reward.
Deuteronomy chapter ten.
A “God of gods”. Who today regards persons and takes reward?
(Psalms the 82nd). Who are these small “g” gods? Look at Verse 1:
1 God standeth in the congregation
of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
Do we know who these small g “gods” are? Look at Psalm 82, verses 6-7.
c 6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all
of you are children of the most High.
p 7 But ye shall die like Adam, and
fall like one of the princes.
Psalms, chapter eighty-two.
(John 10:30-36). Does Scripture interpret Scripture?
[stand]
c 30 I and my father are one.
p 31 Then the Jews took up stones a-
gain to stone him.
c 32 Jesus answered them, many good
works have I shewed you from my
Father; for which of those works do
ye stone me?
p 33 The Jews answered him, saying,
For a good work we stone thee not;
but for blasphemy; and because that
thou, being a man, makest thyself
God.
c 34 Jesus answered them, Is it not
written in your law, I said ye are
gods?
p 35 If he called them gods, unto
whom the word of God came, and
the scripture cannot be broken:
c 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father
hath sanctified and sent into the
world, Thou blasphemest, because
I said, I am the Son of God?
John chapter ten.
[Please be seated]
Would God’s Children have God’s Surname? Can we have God’s last Name if we have not been born from above, with his seed remaining in us? Who would dare to accuse God in the flesh, God Incarnate of blasphemy? Can the Scripture be broken? If we have Christ in us “the hope of glory” [Colossians 1:27], are we our Heavenly Father’s children on earth? (Revelation 17:14). Are we the kings and lords of whom Christ is King and Lord?
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.
Revelation chapter seventeen.
Is that us? “Called, and chosen, and faithful”. Will that be us?
Pop Quiz! The Pastors are exempt. Pew sitters: your turn to display your skills as Berean Christians.
Why did God give these four Hebrew children “knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom” [Daniel 1]? To make this fairer we will mimic the rules the Bereans obeyed. This will be an open book test! This is the day of weekly assembly. We are in full fellowship here. We are allowed to help each other.
What is our answer?
(John 11:4). Why did Jesus delay going to Bethany? He had heard that a precious brother was sick.
4 When Jesus heard that, he said,
This sickness is not unto death, but
for the glory of God, that the Son of
God might be glorified thereby.
(Verses 39-40). Though the Jews of late sought to stone him Jesus returned with the Apostles to Judaea and arrived at the tomb of Lazarus.
p 39 Jesus said, Take ye away the
stone. Martha, the sister of him
that was dead, saith unto him,
Lord, by this time he stinketh:
for he hath been dead four days.
c 40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not
unto thee, that, if thou wouldest be-
lieve, thou shouldest see the glory
of God.
John chapter eleven.
“Thou shouldest see the glory of God.” And in verse 4: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God.”
(1 Corinthians 10:31). Why does God continue to send us on the earth into a fallen world?! Is that God’s Will? Or was that Adam’s Choice?
31 Whether therefore, ye eat, or drink
or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God.
First Corinthians chapter ten.
(2 Corinthians 4:15). Should we “do all to the glory of God”?
15 For all things are for your sakes,
that the abundant grace might
through the thanksgiving of many
redound to the glory of God.
Second Corinthians chapter four.
“The abundant grace might … redound to the glory of God.” Did God give to the four Hebrew children “knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom” for His Glory and to show His Power? How many Jews from the House of Judah in Babylonian Captivity did God save through Daniel and his kindred? Is God able to deliver His children out of trouble? Does God do everything, even Judgment, from his abundant mercies and loving kindnesses? (Revelation 3:4-5). He that is “alive for evermore” and has “the keys of hell and of death” tells John to write this “unto the angel of the church in Sardis”:
p 4 Thou hast a few names even in
Sardis which have not defiled their
garments; and they shall walk with
me in white: for they are worthy.
c 5 He that overcometh, the same
shall be clothed in white raiment;
and I will not blot out his name out
of the book of life, but I will confess
his name before my Father, and be-
fore his angels.
Revelation chapter three.
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” [Verse 6]. Can we imagine Jesus, having to blot out the name of one of our family members or acquaintances, and He is weeping copiously!!! (Matthew 10:22).
22 And ye shall be hated of all men
for my name’s sake: but he that en-
dureth to the end shall be saved.
Matthew chapter ten.
Did we see in a previous Lesson, Captivity, Captive, we are in Captivity to The Good Shepherd, or we are in Captivity to mortal Captors on Earth. (Jeremiah 50:6-7). How did we, we who stood to inherit all things, how did we go astray?
p 6 My people hath been lost sheep:
their shepherds have caused them to
go astray, they have turned them away
on the mountains: they have gone from
mountain to hill, they have forgotten
their resting place.
c 7 All that found them have devour-
ed them: and their adversaries said,
we offend not, because they have sin-
ned against the LORD, the habitation
of justice, even the LORD, the hope of
their fathers.
Jeremiah chapter fifty.
Classmates, Congregation of the Living God: you just now read Verse 7!!! Who are they that devour lost sheep when they find them?! What does Jeremiah, the weeping Prophet call “All that found them have devoured them”? Adversaries! “Their Adversaries”! Do Sheep give Stupid a new Name?! Do Sheep fight the very thing that would deliver them out of their Troubles? What did Jeremiah receive from the LORD that “their adversaries” understand? Do the adversaries of God’s sheep know when they get the upper hand? Who are “their adversaries” who know they have the upper hand when lost sheep go astray?!
Can we find a 2nd Witness to adversaries understanding they can devour lost sheep gone astray? (Genesis 34:20-23). This Doctrine is first presented in Genesis:
p 20 And Hamor and Shechem his son
came unto the gate of their city, and
communed with the men of their city,
saying,
c 21 These men are peaceable with us;
therefore let them dwell in the land,
and trade therein; for the land, be-
hold, it is large enough for them; let
us take their daughters to us for wives,
and let us give them our daughters.
22 Only herein will the men consent
unto us for to dwell with us, to be one
people, if every male among us be
circumcised, as they are circumcised.
c 23 Shall not their cattle and their sub-
stance, and every beast of theirs be ours?
only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.
Genesis chapter thirty-four.
“Shall not their cattle and their substance, and every beast of theirs be ours?” Do the Canaanites know that intermarriage, that is, unlawful marriage devours sheep? How many sheep understand this?! Stray Sheep Fall! If God in the Person of The Holy Spirit did not intervene and reveal the Truth of His Word to us, would Adam be extinct, and Israel dinosaured?! (Psalm 21:8-11). Is there a 2nd Witness to The Sheep being devoured by this “mischievous device”?
p 8 Thine hand shall find out all thine
enemies: thy right hand shall find
out those that hate thee.
c 9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery
oven in the time of thine anger: the
LORD shall swallow them up in his
wrath, and the fire shall devour them.
p 10 Their fruit shall thou destroy from
the earth, and their seed from among
the sons of Adam.
c 11 For they intended evil against thee:
they imagined a mischievous device,
which they are not able to perform.
Psalms chapter twenty-one.
Is “the LORD’s hand ... shortened that it cannot save”? [Isaiah 59:1]
(Luke 16:8). Why do the adversaries devouring sheep understand so readily, while sheep have no concept of what is at stake? How does this happen?
8 And the lord commended the un-
just steward, because he had done
wisely: for the children of this
world are in their generation wiser
than the children of light.
Luke chapter sixteen.
“The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”
What does “in their generation” mean? Is this a reference to how their generation was generated?
(Luke 3:23 and 38). Students of The Scriptures have a much better understanding of how we were generated than our kinsfolk and acquaintances do, whose Bibles gather dust!
23 And Jesus himself began to be
about thirty years of age, being (as
was supposed) the son of Joseph
which was the son of Heli.
The G5207 Greek word “huios”, “hwee-os”, meaning son, appears only once in this verse. Why do some English words in the King James Version translation get printed in the font italics? “The son”, in italics, appears all the way to Verse 38:
38 Which was the son of Enos, which
was the son of Seth, which was the
son of Adam, which was the son of
God.
Luke chapter three.
Why does Verse 38 say “Adam ... was the son of God”? Did Adam lose sonship in The Great Transgression? In Luke chapter 3 did the Translators insert “the son” in order to give us the understanding of the Greek idiom that the son in Verse 23 is understood to apply to every generation back to Adam and to God? Post Calvary and the Resurrection, did the indwelling of the Holy Spirit restore sonship to the sons and daughters of Adam? Is that why Paul wrote to the Colossians, “Christ in you the hope of glory”? [1:27] Are we “the children of light”, as it says in Luke 16:8?
Who then are “the children of this world”? Are they, “in their generation wiser than the children of light”? Were Hamor and his son Shechem and their kin, the Canaanites “the children of this world”? (Matthew 10:16). Here Christ tells us he sends us forth as sheep in wolf country!
16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep
in the midst of wolves: be ye there-
fore wise as serpents, and harmless
as doves.
Matthew chapter ten.
Pastor Don used his two opportunities from the Pulpit at Homecoming Conference to preach True Revival reminds Israel that we have adversaries, seeking to devour the sheep! Is it God’s Will that he sends us forth? Was it God’s Will that we be “sheep in the midst of wolves”? Or, was that Adam’s Choice? What advice does Jesus give us now that we are stuck here in the image of the earthy, flesh and bone and blood, instead of the image of the heavenly, flesh and bone and glory?
(Matthew 13:38-39). What about this “wise as serpents” business?! Who are the children of this world that are wiser than the children of light? Are they serpents? How can the serpent have children?
p 38 The field is the world: the good
seed are the children of the kingdom;
but the tares are the children of the
wicked one;
c 39 The enemy that sowed them is the
devil; the harvest is the end of the
world; and the reapers are the angels.
Matthew chapter thirteen.
My question is for the men of this body: heads of house, husbands, fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers. If the seed we sow are potentially the children of the kingdom, what does that make us? Does the answer lie in the last three offices in the list of offices in which men serve on this side of life? Is the Devil the wicked one? Does Jesus clearly declare in “the parable of the Tares” that the tares are the children of the Devil? Tell me, please: what escape is there from this conclusion? Does the devil have children in this fallen world? Our marching orders: “be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
How do I do that if Serpents did not exist? Is that why I do not grasp much concerning the Serpent’s subtilty? Have I spent years in ignorance of Serpent seed, the mortals that devour the sheep who are out from under The Good Shepherd’s Captivity?
Did Jeremiah identify these mortals as the adversaries that devour the sheep? Would our Adversaries have “enmity” toward us sheep?
15 And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his
heel.
Genesis chapter three.
What are our captivity names? What have they done with our names?
Bibliography
Genesis 24:20-23
Daniel 1:17 “God gave them knowledge and skill”.
Proverbs 25:2 “the honour of kings”.
1 Timothy 6:14-15 “the King of kings and Lord of lords”.
Deuteronomy 10:17 “God of gods and Lord of lords”.
Psalms 82:1, 6-7 “Children of the most High”
John 10:30-36 “I said ye are gods”.
[Colossians 1:27] “the hope of glory”.
Revelation 17:14 “called and chosen and faithful”.
[Daniel 1:17] “skill in all learning and wisdom”.
John 11:4 “for the Glory of God”.
John 11:39-40 “thou shouldest see the glory of God”.
1 Corinthians 10:31 “do all to the glory of God”.
2 Corinthians 4:15 “to the glory of God”.
Revelation 3:4-5 “He that overcometh”.
Matthew 10:22 “He that endureth to the end”
Jeremiah 50:6-7 “their adversaries said, we offend not”
Genesis 34:20-23 “their cattle and their substance .. be ours”.
Psalm 21:8-11 “they imagined a mischievous device”.
[Isaiah 59:1] “Is the LORD’s hand .. shortened”.
Luke 16:8 “the children of this world”.
Luke 3:23, 38 “Adam .. was the son of God”.
[Colossians 1:27] “Christ in you”
Matthew 10:16 “be ye therefore wise as serpents”.
Matthew 13:38,39 “the enemy that sowed them is the devil”.
Genesis 3:15 “thy seed and her seed”.