Different Spirits Different Voices

In the latest Torah portions, we have been introduced to a number of

people.
Isaac and Ishmael
Jacob, Esau, and Lavan
Joseph, and his brothers.

In each of these settings, we can discern

Two different spirits
Two different worlds
Two different voices
 These people had an inclination towards God.
Or, they had an inclination towards selfishness and greed

Jacob and Esau

Jacob and Lavan

Joseph and his brothers

Joshua and Caleb versus larger Israel.

Numbers 14:24
But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed
me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his
descendants shall possess it.

Numbers 14:30
not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you
dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
Genesis 39:2
The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he
was in the house of his Egyptian master.

Joshua 24:14–15
“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in
faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the
River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom
you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region
beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.
But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
 Jacob became Israel
Israel learned to struggle with God, not the earth (Edom)

Genesis 31:4-7
So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock
was and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with
favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. You
know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father
has cheated me and changed my wages ten times.

Jacob does not return deceit with deceit. He depended upon God to watch
over the situation
Jacob, Transformed from a deceiver to one focused on God, has a new
relationship with his brother.
He demonstrates the fruit of having a different spirit.
Genesis 32:30
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen
God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

Genesis 33:5
And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he
said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God
has graciously given your servant.”
 How do we today inculcate a spirit that is inclined to God?

Psalm 119:30
I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.
Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Psalm 119:24
Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.
Psalm 119:27
Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on
your wondrous works.
Two Spirits. Two Voices. Two paths. Two destinations

The Spirit of the Age

The Spirit of the Messiah

But How to tell the difference?

It may not be as easy as we think.

 Two Voices in the world
The Voice of the Lamb
The voice of the dragon

The voice of the Lamb

Mark 9:7. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the
cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
 The Two Voices

The voice of the dragon

Revelation 13:11
Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a
lamb and it spoke like a dragon

It is tempting to think that it is easy to know the difference between the

Lamb’s voice and that of the enemy.
But it may be quite difficult.
 The Lamb and the Beast or dragon
The true, and the deceptions
The mark of God, the mark of the beast.
The two cities, Zion, and Babylon
Likened to two women

Revelation 13:14
and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it
deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for
the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
 The enemy is a deceiver and a mimic

The Beast. Looks like a lamb, speaks like a dragon

Has a seeming mortal wound. Is resurrected
Exercises authority
Commands worship and many follow it.
Looks like light

2 Corinthians 11:14–15
And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is
no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of
righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds
 The enemy is a deceiver and a mimic
Mark 13:22
For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and
wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.

The Lamb and the dragon

Revelation 13:11–12
Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a
lamb and it spoke like a dragon.

It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes
the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound
was healed.
 The Beast and His Deceptions
The Beast tries to mimic the Messiah
He looks like a king
He exercises great authority

Revelation 13:1–2
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with
ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its
mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his
throne and great authority.
 The Beast and His Deceptions
The Best tries to mimic the Messiah. He wants to seem omnipresent

Revelation 17:8
The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the
bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names
have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will
marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
 Two Women
The Woman and City of Folly

Proverbs 9:14–17
She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the
town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way,
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who lacks sense she says,
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
 The Beast and His Deceptions
Two Cities are Described
These Two cities are also called Women

Babylon the Great

Revelation 18:16
Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and
scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!
 Two Women
The Woman Babylon

Revelation 17:4–6
The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels
and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the
impurities of her sexual immorality.
And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother
of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”
And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the
martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.
 The Woman Babylon
Her Ultimate Fate

Revelation 18:21
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the
sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and
will be found no more
 Two Women
The Woman of Wisdom

Revelation 12:1
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the
moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

Proverbs 9:3–6
She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town,
“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks sense she says,
“Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple
ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”
 The Woman of Virtue

Revelation 19:7–8
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb
has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe
herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous
deeds of the saints.
 The Woman of Virtue

Revelation 21:2
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
 The Woman of Virtue

Revelation 21:9–14
Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke
to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city
Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most
rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names
of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—
on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb.
 The Messiah Who is Mimicked
Revelation 5:6
And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I
saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with
seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

Revelation 1:18
and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the
keys of Death and Hades.
Revelation 19:12
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a
name written that no one knows but himself.
 The voice of the Dragon, looking like a Lamb, today:

“Every age has heard it, the voice that speaks from hell: “Sacrifice your
children, and for you it will be well”. -Michael Card.

Every argument advocating abortion is a variation on this theme.

I am too poor to afford a child. Sacrifice the child.
My career will be upended. Sacrifice the child.
I can’t do well in college. Sacrifice the child.

The voice is always couched in terms of sympathy, compassion, care for today’s
needs or desires. But only for the mother.

It is a false compassion, a false sympathy

 The voice of the Dragon, looking like a Lamb, today:

Other sacrifices of our children

My career is too important. Outsource all of my child’s life

My day is too hectic. Turn on the cartoons to babysit the child.

Someone else can teach my children values, Bible, and morality. I am too busy
chasing my career, or what have you.

Sacrifice your children and for you it will be well.

 The Voice of the Lamb
Concerning work and charity

Deuteronomy 15:13–14
And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed.
You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and
out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to
him.

Ephesians 4:28
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his
own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
 The voice of the Dragon, looking like a Lamb, today:

No one should be in poverty, so society must provide a good living for all. After
all, this is social justice.

The Voice of the lamb

Ancient Jewish wisdom: The highest level (of 8) of charity:

The greatest level, above which there is no greater, is to support a fellow Jew by
endowing him with a gift or loan, or entering into a partnership with him, or
finding employment for him, in order to strengthen his hand so that he will not
need to be dependent upon others

This is the very definition of small business capitalism.

Promoting responsibility, getting jobs, these are the words of the Lamb. The
voice from hell goes the opposite of responsibility, and looks for short term
alleviations of pain in order to make the person rendering assistance feel better
about themselves, instead of actually helping another person.
 The Voice of the Lamb
Concerning children

Psalm 127:4
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.

Psalm 128:3–4
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like
olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears
the LORD.
 Thoughts on the Marks
The Mark of the Beast
The Mark of God

Revelation 13:16–17 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor,
both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no
one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the
number of its name.

Revelation 7:3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we
have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

Revelation 9:4b [harm] … only those people who do not have the seal of God on
their foreheads
 Thoughts on the Marks
The Mark of the Beast
The Mark of God

Ezekiel 9:4 And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through
Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over
all the abominations that are committed in it.”

Who sees the mark? The angels, God Himself.

The Exodus. Is the Pesach blood on the outside or inside?

The Mark. Is is physical, or is it like an inclination?

Where is our inclination? Towards God, or towards, the beast?
 Thoughts for Today

The dragon sounds good, but his voice leads ultimately to destruction
The Lamb speaks truth and His word lead to life

Practice not being deceived.

Learn His Word and how God thinks about the great issues of our day.

Practice Biblical charity and generosity.

Don’t listen to the gilded voices saying it is someone else’s responsibility.
This is part of the endurance God tells us about.
Endure difficulties from the world, with joy.
 Final Encouragements

As we look to the end of the ages, which has come upon us:
What do we look for?
An escape from pain and suffering?
A theology that tells us we are on the sidelines?

Or, do we look for endurance:

Revelation 12:17a
Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on
the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold
to the testimony of Jesus.
 God has a message of discipline to His people
Leviticus 26:27–28 (ESV)
But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me,
then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you
sevenfold for your sins.

The plagues of Revelation serve the same purpose.

To bring repentance and a return to God for ALL of His creation
 God has a message of endurance to His people
Matthew 24:13
But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Romans 5:3–4
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces
endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Revelation 14:12
Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments
of God and their faith in Jesus.
 What does this mean for us today?

Revelation 16:15
Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping
his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!

Revelation 14:12
Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments
of God and their faith in Jesus.

Are we only in the stands watching?

One answer might be No! We need endurance to get through it.