Jos 6:26 KJV And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it. 1Ki 16:33-34 KJV And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. (34) In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun. The Curse was promised to occur... it did occur in Ahab's day through Hiel. 1Ki 17:1 KJV And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. In the very next verse, Elijah comes and spends the same amount of time Jesus came and ministered. - 3.5 years.
2Ki 2:11-22 KJV And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (12) And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. (13) He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; (14) And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. (15) And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. (16) And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, Ye shall not send. (17) And when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, Send. They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not. (18) And when they came again to him, (for he tarried at Jericho,) he said unto them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? (19) And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. (20) And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. (21) And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. (22) So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.
In this story, Joshua issued a curse should anyone rebuild the city.
Gen 2:17 KJV But 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. Man did indeed eat of the tree, and death ensued as a result.
But then, just as Elijah came after Hiel's incident, came Jesus.
Immediately after we read of Hiel, we read Elijah came on the scene.
2Ki 2:14 KJV And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. WHERE IS THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH?
Act 4:13 KJV Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And there is a deeper meaning here as well.
Between Christ and the Church's ministry, Jesus died on the cross and departed from this world.
Elisha said they must bring him a new cruse and put salt in it.
Cruses are vessels.
The great message of the cross is that we are made NEW BOTTLES. Mat 9:17 KJV Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved. 2Co 5:17 KJVR Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Salt is used in the bible to symbolize incorruption. Lev 2:13 says salt had to always be part of a sacrifice. Lev 2:13 KJV And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. Ezek 43:24 also showed salt thrown into sacrifices. Eze 43:24 KJV And thou shalt offer them before the LORD, and the priests shall cast salt upon them, and they shall offer them up for a burnt offering unto the LORD. Mat 5:13 shows we are salt of earth. Mat 5:13 KJV Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. WE ARE SALT.
A new dish or bowl speaks of something untainted -- undefiled. We have been made new.
Sin is a cheater and will continue on if we allow it, even though we’ve been freed from it. And I wish to deal with this in detail today. Keep in mind Elisha's claim to the power of Elijah upon himself as we continue. We died to sin once and for all.
Mat 16:24 KJV Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. SELF must be denied continually.
1Co 9:27 KJV But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. That is because self and flesh are part of us.
But SIN is not a part of us.
Rom 6:7 KJV For he that is dead is freed from sin. When it comes to self and flesh, the cross does not kill us and leave us without a worry over those two things.
Isa 59:2 KJV But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Rom 5:1 KJV Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: But we have peace with God by the cross of Jesus, and are no longer at war with Him.
Rom 6:10-11 KJV For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. (11) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Watch this: Rom 6:7 KJV For he that is dead is freed from sin. Rom 6:18 KJV Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. We are freed from sin, and verse 7 says he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:17-18 KJV But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. (18) Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. Verse 17 attributes our freedom from sin in verse 18 to obedience to the doctrine -- obedience from the heart.
So if we're freed from sin, and verse 17 says it is because we obeyed the doctrine, and verse 7 says death frees us from sin, then the DOCTRINE we obey somehow causes us to DIE to sin. Believers are already dead to sin. Col 2:20 KJV Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, Col 3:3 KJV For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Rom 6:8 KJV Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: And the way this works is that we are PLANTED INTO JESUS CHRIST'S DEATH. Rom 6:5 KJV For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: The term “PLANTED” here is speaking of an engrafting as a mistle-toe is attached into an oak tree and lives off the life of the oak tree.
Here is what he received. Rom 6:9-10 KJV Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. (10) For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Living is a term that refers to practical life.
And the next verse says that all of these things Jesus received because He died are what we receive because we were planted into his death. Rom 6:11 KJV Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That is why verse 5 says we're planted in his death as well as his resurrection.
Rom 6:10 KJV For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Rom 6:11 KJV Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. YOU ARE A NEW VESSEL since you've been saved.
2Co 5:14 KJV For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: All of us are dead since His death was for us to experience the benefits of dying. But we not only are to not live unto sin, but alive unto God, but also not live to OURSELVES, but to God. 2Co 5:15 KJV And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Rom 6:11 KJV Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He not only does not live to sin, but is dead to sin, but he does not live to HIMSELF either. You died to sin once and for all. Rom 6:10-11 KJV For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. (11) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Sin said we had to die.
Heb 9:25-28 KJV Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; (26) For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (27) And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: (28) So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. No more worries for sin with Jesus Christ.
Rom 6:9 KJV Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. Death only hangs over your head if you had not yet died.
So when death comes at you, you can claim you already died to it through Christ's death.
The death and barren land that struck Jericho would never more return, once Elisha took the NEW CRUSE with salt in it, and poured it into the spring of the waters -- the source. When you know you already died all the deaths to sin that you required, you know that sin and death has no more power over you.
HIEL means “LIVING OF GOD.”
But we die through CHRIST's death! The new cruse speaks of you as a new vessel now, with the old life, that still had not died and was susceptible to death, gone. The salt speaks of the INCORRUPTION put into us through the experience, and the truth preached to us.
But when you know you died ONCE to sin, you are going to resist it far more fully than if you think you can go so far and have to see yourself sin sooner or later. You are the NEW CRUSE, full of salt! Heal the death sting of sin out of yourself, and then touch the world and carry on the work of Jesus. Where is the Lord God of JESUS? What God did for Him is to be with us! We have the mantle! Isa 40:28-31 KJVR Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. (29) He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. (30) Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: (31) But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. This passage begins the same way Romans 6 speaks.
God does not faint nor grow weary.
|