Genesis w/Notes Complete

Genesis 1 King James Version (KJV)

1 In the beginning* God created the heaven and the earth.

*H7225 רֵאשִׁית Be-re’shiyth (Bet ray-sheeth’) n-f. 1. the first, in place, time, order or rank. The word “beginning” or Be-re’shyit contains the Hebrew letters Bet, Resh, Aleph, Shin, Yod and Tav. These were pictographic letters with each creating their own word. These words are often compared to our compound words like “goodhearted” or “soft-spoken” only a little more complex.

The word ‘beginning’ here is translated by the individual Hebrew letters thusly; Bet is Tent/house, Resh is head/father, Aleph means leader, Shin is a set of fangs/teeth meaning piercing, Yod is a hand/arm and Tav is a set of Crossed sticks. (See appendix A)

The full understanding of the word ‘beginning’ is now, “The head of the house of the Father, pierced by the hand, on a cross, to bring the covenant.”

This is explained to us in Isaiah 46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”

God is telling us that He will send Yeshua Messiah (Jesus in the Greek) to redeem the world from the very first word in Scripture. The words “In the” are simply implied. Additionally we know, according to Deuteronomy 19:15, that there must be two (or three) witnesses to establish a matter. There will be accompanying verses to witness the points being made along the way. Next we will see 4 credible witnesses, David, Solomon, Isaiah and John the Apostle. Later we will see the account of Job and God concerning these events as well.

Psalm 102:25 “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.”

Isaiah 45:6-7 “That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.”
Isaiah 45:18-19 “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.”
Proverbs 8:22-36 “The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world? When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.”

John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was (inside) with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

When you read carefully you will see that the creation of the heaven and the earth are not said to have occurred on the first day; rather it occurred at “the beginning”. The first day was not necessarily the beginning; the beginning could have contain any amount of undocumented time, and as we see the 1^st day came later.

If we take those opening words of Genesis literally then the thing that occurred on the first day was the creation of light, and its separation from darkness. The wording leaves open the distinct possibility that the heavens and earth were created sometime BEFORE the first day of what we have dubbed “Creation”.
 ² And the earth was* without form**, and void***; and darkness**** was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

*H1961 הָיָה hayah (haw-yaw) v. 1. to exist. 2. to be or become.3. to come into being, i.e. to happen, to occur

**H8414 תֹּהוּ tohuw (to’-hoo) n-m. 1. a desolation (of surface), i.e. desert. 2. (figuratively) a worthless thing.

*** H922 בֹּהוּ bohuw (bo’-hoo) n-m. 1. a void, vacuity. 2. an undistinguishable ruin.

**** H2822 חֹשֶׁךְ choshek (cho-shek’) n-m. 1. the dark. 2. (literally) darkness. 3. (figuratively) misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness.)

The question becomes, are these first two verses of Genesis stand-alone sentences? Father God has to relate the magnitude of creation to a simple sheep herder. I can hear the conversation in my head. “Moses, you know I made all of this.” Moses replies “yes Lord.” And so we get Genesis 1:1.

How long the heavens and the earth may have just sat there we aren’t told. What exactly happened on the Earth we are not directly told either. There are varying theories as to the events, first is at some point God decided to take the universe He had created and spark it with life and give it a new order. And He began that new process by creating light, and that’s when we encounter the first “day”.

Next, there are some that have presented the idea that the Earth was immediately created in its fullness, beautiful and containing all manner of plants and animals. Then, when Lucifer fell and was cast to the earth as a penalty he brought about chaos, darkness and destroyed much of what God had created.

Jeremiah 4:23 “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.”

The creation of light (Yeshua) would be the next obvious and prophetic occurrence, also, in order to complete the creation of mankind (Adam) there must be a shared likeness of the essences of God to be able to “make them in our image.”

My thought on this passage would add another dimension to the meaning of this verse, the “here and now”. What was God (I will use His Hebrew name[s] often: YHVH, Jehovah, Elohim, Adonai, etc.) trying to tell Moses in that moment? In Exodus 3:14 He describes His name and His nature as “I am who I am.” This gives us the notion that YHVH is always in the “here and now”. Again, what is He trying to tell Moses in that moment?

Could this actually be a foreshadowing of the flood? The word ‘and’ in scripture is always a conjunction. This means we are adding to the previous statement. The word could have easily been ‘also’, ‘additionally’ or the word ‘but’.

Imagine if you will the sentence reading as follows; “But, the earth became a worthless thing because wickedness misery and death were on the surface making it undistinguishable to the Creator.” That this action of wickedness caused the Spirit of God to move.

The word “upon” is the Hebrew word H5921 עַל `al (al) prep., and it means “above, over, upon, against, or by reason of”. This would give us the context of YHVH using His Spirit to move the waters against the evil in the world.

³ And God said, Let there be* light**: and there was light.

*H1961 הָיָה hayah (haw-yaw) v. 1. to exist. 2. to be or become.3. to come into being, i.e. to happen, to occur**The Hebrew word for “light” is “owr”.

This word does not mean an object that emits light like the sun, moon or the stars, not even like a lamp. Rather it means to make luminous or better yet it is “kindled glorious”. When the Bible says God is light it says Elohim is “owr”. This word is closely associated with life and joy and goodness.

⁴ And God saw*** the light, that it was good****: and God divided the light from the darkness.

*** The word “saw” here is the combination of two words. H7200 רָאָה ra’ah (raw-aw’) v. (literally or figuratively) to see. Plus H853 אֵת ‘eth (ayth) prt-x.1. (properly) self. 2. (generally) used to point out the object of a verb (or preposition) more definitely. This meaning points us to the word ‘understand’. YHVH understood the light as being “good” or in Hebrew “tov”.

****The word “good” in Hebrew is “tov” and it does not simply “pleasant”. It means capable of, presently engaged in the process of, and destined for, completely fulfilling the Divine purpose for which it was created. Something “evil-ra” or wicked is something that stops something or someone from being able or capable of fulfilling their Divine purpose.

1 John 1:5-7 “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth (torah): But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

John1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Psalm 119:130 “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”

Using the references above from John and the Psalmist leads me to believe this is the creation of Yeshua Messiah to oppose the darkness that had presented itself in the Earth. When John tells us ‘the light shined in the darkness’ it is the literal existence of Yeshua, in human form, in the midst of the wicked.

⁵ And God called the light Day*, and the darkness** he called Night***. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Now notice something strange: on the first day, God said He created light. Yet, it was on the fourth day that God created the Sun.
*H3117 יוֹם yowm (yome) n-m. 1. a day (as the warm hours). 2. from one sunset to the next. Additionally we see definitions of yowm to be “+ always, + elder, ever(-lasting, -more), life-full, + perpetually, fullness.

**The Hebrew word for “darkness” here is “choshek”. In the Hebrew culture this word was more than the opposite of “owr” (the opposite of illumination). Choshek carries in it the sense of blindness, of misery, of falsehood and ignorance.  It means something that leads to death and destruction.  It is not a word that describes the natural, and good, phenomenon of nighttime.

***In Hebrew, night is H3915 לַיִל layil (lah’-yil) n-m. 1. (properly) a twist (away of the light), 2. (figuratively) adversity.

1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”

Isaiah 27:1 “In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.”

Matthew 17:17 And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?”

Acts 20:30 “and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

2 Peter 3:15-16 “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”

Evening is H6153 עֶרֶב `ereb (eh’-reɓ) n-m. dusk, and morning is H1242 בֹּקֶר boqer (bo’-ker) n-m. 1. (properly) dawn (as the break of day). For me this confirms the light and dark are references to Yeshua and Satan as there are separate words for the passage of what we call days and nights.

⁶ And God said, Let there be a firmament* in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

*H7549 רָקִיַע raqiya` (raw-kee’-ah) n-m. 1. (properly) an expanse 2. (apparently) the visible arch of the sky. This word is rooted in H7554 רָקַע raqa` (raw-kah’) v. 1. to pound the earth (as a sign of passion). 2. (by analogy) to expand (by hammering).

Dividing waters from waters, on the surface {no pun intended} seems to be an impossibility to the human mind. When we look at the properties of the world we live in we can see the waters of the lakes streams and oceans. What we cannot see are the waters found within the atmosphere unless one considers the clouds. The atmosphere are made up of gases like Oxygen and argon with the bulk being nitrogen, all of which exist in a liquid form. These gases are suspended in the dome of the earth and we consume them with the process called “aspiration”. Aspiration is defined as: “audible breath that accompanies or comprises a speech sound; a drawing of something in, out, up, or through by or as if by suction; the act of breathing and especially of breathing in”. Here we see Gods perfect plan to give us waters we can draw into our lungs and the waters we need to hydrate our bodies.

⁷ And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Psalm 33:6 “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”

Amos 9:6 “It is he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name.”

⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Job 37:18 “Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?”

Revelation 4:6 “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.”

One can see from these verses the correlation between the firmaments, or heavens, being a solid looking glass and that YHVH is seated above it always keeping a watchful eye on things.

⁹ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

¹¹ And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

¹² And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

¹³ And the evening and the morning were the third day.

The number 3 in scripture number operates as a “sign-post” in Scripture study for the reader to “pay attention” to the significance of the next event. Likewise, here it shows the salvation of man through the regeneration of Christ; first of the life of the creation, production of fruit, then the death and the rebirth of the seed.

John 12:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”

John 15:4-7 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

¹⁴ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs*, and for seasons**, and for days***, and years****:

* H226 אוֹת ‘owth (oth) n-f. a signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence.

**H4150 מֹעֵד mo`ed (mo-ade’) 1. (properly) an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season. 2. (specifically) a festival.

*** H3117 יוֹם yowm (yome) n-m. 1. a day (as the warm hours). 2. (literal) from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next.

**** H8141 שָׁנֶה shaneh (shaw-neh’) n-f. a year (as a revolution of time).

All pagan religions have identified their gods and associated them with the Sun, in doing so they have separated themselves from the true light “owr” to follow the ruler of the day. The word “seasons” in Hebrew is “mo’ed” and means an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season, or a festival. The lights were given to us to establish Gods timing and calendar.

The division between light and dark, holy and wicked, God and the Adversary are defined for us here as well as Daniels dream in Daniel 7:24-25; “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”

The polytheistic double meaning, as for the sun, and as in the contemporary name of a false god. i.e. Zeus, Apollos, Cronus etc. This theology is what leads to the ‘sun dial’ so men could control times and days outside of the instructions of YHVH.

¹⁵ And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

We see an entirely different word is used for “light” here, than what is used in earlier verses. Here, the Hebrew word is “maorot”. Sound familiar? It’s the word from which we get the modern word Meteor.  Maor means an object that emits light, a luminous body or luminary, maorot is plural, or lights.

Psalm 19:1-6 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.”

¹⁶ And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

With this verse here I will stand in strong opposition to the scientist in the room. I believe the moon produces its own light and does not simply reflect the light of the sun. I believe the thought of the moon only reflecting light is based solely on the simplistic mind of man.

 

¹⁷ And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

¹⁸ And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

Again I will argue against modern science and the traditions of men to say the Sun and the Moon are not outside the world where we exist. Enoch provides us with further information on the matter.

Enoch 41:5-7 “And I saw the chambers of the sun and moon, whence they proceed and whither they come again, and their glorious return, and how one is superior to the other, and their stately path, and how they do not leave their path, and they add nothing to their path and they take nothing from it, and they keep faith with each other, in accordance with the oath by which they are bound together. And first the sun goes forth and traverses his path according to the commandment of the Lord of Spirits. And after that I saw the hidden and the visible path of the moon, and she accomplishes the course of her path in that place by day and by night–the one holding a position opposite to the other before the Lord of Spirits.”

Paying close attention the creation of night and day occur on day one whereas the creation of the sun and moon are here on day four. This is important to the understanding that YHVH has created light and life separate from day, and that darkness and death are separate from night. In paganism and polytheism the sun and moon are worshiped as gods and that they control prosperity and destruction.

Exodus 20:3-4 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”

¹⁹ And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

²¹ And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

²² And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

²³ And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Job 38:4-24 “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken. Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?)

²⁷ So God created man ( הָֽאָדָם֙ ’ā·ḏām) in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Notice here we are told that God made them, plural, male and female in a simultaneous mention. As a child I was taught a song about the equality of YHVH’s creation. It went “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves children of the world.” This appears to concur with the idea of the races, all 70 that are mentioned in the Tower of Babel account being created equally.

We will see in the story of Joseph in Pharaoh’s court the 70 nations being mentioned again. The multitude of nations created here would be designed for redemption through the teachings of the Torah to the set-apart nation of Adam.

The idea of evangelism is not a new concept during the time of Jesus and His earthly ministry. YHVH would create Adam to bring forth the gospel message to the people he had created. The gospel is the Kingdom of Heaven, or the ability to reside once again in the same place and time as the Creator.

Revelation 21:1-3 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

1 Corinthians 15:45 “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.’”

Romans 8:29-30 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

²⁸ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

²⁹ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat (H402 אָכְלָה ‘oklah (ok-law’) n-f.food.).

³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

God originally designed us to be fully sustained by the fruits and vegetables and herbs of the garden. We will see as the result of man’s disobedience we will become omnivorous adding into our system certain animals. Genesis 9 will bring us this command.

³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

² And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (Jubilees 2:17-19, 21 “And He gave us a great sign, the Shabbat day, that we should work six days, but keep Shabbat on the seventh day from all work. And all the malakim of the presence, and all the malakim of sanctification, these two great classes -He has bidden us to keep the Shabbat with Him in heaven and on earth. And He said to us: ‘Behold, I will separate unto Myself a people from among all the peoples, and these shall keep the Shabbat day, and I will sanctify them unto Myself as My people, and will bless them; as I have sanctified the Shabbat day and do sanctify it unto Myself, even so will I bless them, and they shall be My people and I will be their Sovereign Ruler. And thus He created therein a sign in accordance with which they should keep Shabbat with us on the seventh day, to eat and to drink, and to bless Him who has created all things as He has blessed and sanctified unto Himself a peculiar people above all peoples, and that they should keep Shabbat together with us.”)

³ And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (God announces in Chapter 2 in verses 2 and 3, emphasizing the importance of the seventh day a full three times. The Hebrew word used is “Sabbath” means to cease, to stop, to desist (to quit working). “Rest” is the result, or evidence of stopping ones work, but it’s not really the meaning of the word. The conclusion the Hebrew sages say it points to is quitting your normal activities; it doesn’t mean that you necessarily stop doing everything. The Hebrew word nachan is usually translated “rest” but it more means to comfort or console; nachan is the root word for the name “noach”….Noah another word for rest. Also, “sha’an” means to lean, and “shamat”, which means to throw down or lay down; here God said that He “qadash” the 7^th day, He consecrated it and set it completely apart from any other day. There is only one with the authority who can consecrate or declare anything holy and that being is God Almighty. For mankind to believe that we can declare by means of any church government, creed or statute that something is holy should be considered an absurdity. The Sabbath was given only to Israel through Moses at Mt. Sinai as many contemporary Christians have been taught. Shabbat is a specific day of the week that God set apart as holy for all believers. It is taught that Shabbat was simply part of the Laws of Moses; that is, Sabbath observance is commanded in those rules and ordinances God set down at Mt. Sinai shortly after Israel departed Egypt. Around the late 2^nd century AD it became a goal of the now Roman dominated church to abandon anything that seemed to apply to the Hebrew people, eventually in the 4^th century the church officially abolished the Shabbat. Some of you may be questioning that last statement (that the church abolished the Sabbath) but all you need to do to know the truth is read the actual church documents from the several meetings of the ecumenical councils convened by Emperor Constantine; specifically read the Council of Laodicea document, Canon #29, as established in the middle part of the 4^th century AD, and you will find that the Church explicitly declared the Sabbath to be a Jewish holy day and therefore the church should have no part it. Thus the Council of Laodicea declared that Sabbath observance (as well as meeting together for worship on the 7^thday, Saturday, the Shabbat) was to end. Instead communal worship should occur on a NEW day…the 1^st day of the week…..which was already the standard day of meeting together to worship the most widely accepted and politically correct god of the Roman Empire, the sun god Mithra. This is why that the 1^st day of the week’s name is Sun-day because it was the Roman Empire’s set apart day of worship of the sun-god. And since this newly minted celebration needed a name to replace “Sabbath” and that the new name given was to be The Lord’s Day. So what the majority of the institutional church has been practicing for 1700 years is NOT a Sabbath that has been moved by one day from the 7^th to the 1^st day; rather it is an entirely different celebration, established by the Roman Church at the Council of Laodicea in 364 AD, at the direction of the then current emperor of Rome, Constantine. This fact is not disputed by the Roman Church or Christian scholars. “Not the Creator of Universe, in Genesis 2:1-3,-but the Catholic Church can claim the honor of having granted man a pause to his work every seven days.” (S. C. Mosna, Storia della Domenica, 1969, pp. 366-367) “The authority of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures, because the Church had changed…the Sabbath into Sunday, not by command of Christ, but by its own authority.” (Canon and Tradition, p. 263) The heads of religious governments of all the great Christian denominations like the Catholics, Protestants, Greek Orthodox, Anglican, and others agree; although a few hang on to the loose notion that the Sabbath can be any day we choose. In reality God established the Shabbat immediately upon finishing His Creation, as we have just read long before there was such a thing as a Hebrew. The Sabbath was not something given to, and reserved for, the Law of Moses and the people of the Exodus. The Sabbath was given to ALL humanity that choose to follow the God of the universe YHVH. Isaiah 56:6-7 “Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” Isaiah 66:22-23 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.)

⁴ These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, (Revelation 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” John 1:1-4 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

⁵ And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. (On the surface one could say that, well, this was all about the NEED for a gardener; that is until one has a gardener to care for the garden you can’t have plants or they will not thrive. Rather the issue is that all of the plant life God created was FOR man’s benefit. Plants were to be man’s sole food supply; man was to be a plant eater. Why have a garden if there wasn’t a man to eat the produce? It would be a waste. Until there was a man who needed the resulting purpose of the plant life, in order to eat and sustain human life, there was no need for plant life. Now we have to grasp the concept that there was not a man yet created to till the soil. However, Genesis 1:27 very clearly states men and women had already been created??! )

⁶ But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

⁷ And the Lord God formed man (הָֽאָדָ֗ם hā-’ā-ḏām) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Luke 3:38 King James Version (KJV) “Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.”) (Since the recounting of the creation ends clearly in Chapter 1 with males and females having been created and the second chapter begins anew with the 7^th day rest, one can conclude the creation of Adam, the tiller of the Garden, is next in chronological order or the 8^th day.

The letter “H” in Hebrew is also the number 8 and both denote the status of being set-apart. EIGHT: sh’moneh in Hebrew, from the root shah’meyn “to make fat” or “to cover with fat” which means to super-abound.  The first of a new series: there are seven days in a week; the 8th day is the beginning of a new series of days.  It is the number of salvation, resurrection, and new birth/regeneration.

• Eight is the first cubic number (2 x 2 x 2). This is significant because the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and in the Jerusalem Temple was the same height, length and breadth–a perfect cube [1 Kings 6:20].
• Eight is the number of our salvation and the Second Coming. It is the day Christ arose from the dead [Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:1-10].

The males and females of the 6^th day are the ‘Goyim’ or nations, thus answering the nagging question “how did Cain find a wife after leaving the Garden?” Psalm 4:3 “But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself…”) (In order to become a living creature, and more specifically a human living creature, he had to be injected with life. And this life, “chayyim”, was accomplished by means of God supernaturally breathing it into him. The Hebrew word used for breathed or breathing is “naphach” and it is a root word that is good for us to understand. The essence is that breath, breathing, and being, as in a living being, are all something ethereal. Something outside of the physical act of copulation has caused it. Something that comes from outside the physical, the 4 dimensional universe, in which we live, is the catalyst for this life. YHVH is the source of life; in fact the “life” or propagative of creation is in YHVH; life is one of His attributes. So to this point life is NOT exclusive to humans. Life was put into all of YHVH’s living creatures, by YHVH Himself, as an act of the divine will. “Chayyim” is a masculine plural noun the same as Elohim, so then, one can translate that short phrase as “the breath of LIVES”. There is a difficulty theologians have had for many centuries in trying to decide “if the soul, generally acknowledged as the seat or essence of life, is the same thing as spirit; or if spirit and soul are two different things?” These theologians state they are separate attributes but both coming from YHVH, both coming from a dimension outside of our Universe. That unique ability comes from the spirit-life, which is somewhat different than the soul-life. The soul-life is what gives animation to basic life. YHVH is spirit and the way we are told that we commune with YHVH is by means of the spirit. YHVH breathed both the soul-life and the spirit-life into man (הָֽאָדָ֗ם hā-’ā-ḏām). The addition of the [hā] symbol denotes the addition of a consecration or set-apart status to the creation. We can see this same thing in the life of Abram and Sarai. When YHVH changes their names to Abraham and Sarah he adds the [hā] symbol to the end of their names. It is a curious notation to see the [hā] symbol comes at the beginning of Adam’s name as well as Eve which is Ha’avvah in Hebrew, whereas with Abram and Sarai it is added to the end. This is an example of the redemption process as well. Adam and Eve were created in a set-apart status, pre-fall, while Abram and Sarai were set-apart after the fall.)

⁸ And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (East has great spiritual significance. It is almost always associated with holiness, and it is a key for us to gain deeper knowledge of God’s truths. The Garden of Eden is not the same thing as the Land of Eden, or, just Eden. The Land of Eden is a large regional area, which has definite boundaries. The Garden of Eden is a specific and separate area, also with boundaries, located WITHIN the Land of Eden. Adam; he was not created inside the Garden, he was created outside the Garden and subsequently placed into it. So God brought man from a good place, the Land of Eden, into a better place the Garden of Eden. A place of very close relationship with Him. And that’s just what God wants to do with us; He wants to bring us from a place that often SEEMS sufficient, at least outwardly, for our needs and to set us down upon a Holy place. In fact He wants a connection with us that is almost too fantastic to comprehend: He wants to dwell inside of us! The word “Eden” is translated as “delight” and contains the Hebrew letters ayin, dalet, nun sofit. In the Paleo or Pictographic Hebrew this is “the visible {ayin} pathway/doorway {dalet} to the Messiah {nun sofit})

⁹ And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life (Life, in the sense meant here, means real life…..the life that God intended for man…..a holy life, an eternal life.) also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (God tells Adam that in this fabulous Garden, which will provide for Adam’s every need, he is free to eat anything he wants (likely an enormous variety); however he is to regard the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as death itself. Note: Eve did not even yet exist when this instruction was given. It was given to Adam and he bore the responsibility to carry it out and see to it that she did so as well.)

¹⁰ And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

¹¹ The name of the first is Pison (dispersive): that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; (Possibly the Nile. Egyptian Gold was obtained by crushing the white quartz rock which was found in the desert and also panned from silt found in the river beds. Bdellium is used in perfumery, as incense and in traditional medicine. It is an adulterant of the more costly myrrh. A semi-transparent oleo-gum resin extracted from Commiphora wightii and from Commiphora africana trees growing in Ethiopia.)

¹² And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

¹³ And the name of the second river is Gihon (river of paradise): the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. (H3568 כּוּשׁ Kuwsh (koosh) n/l. Cush (or Ethiopia), the name of a son of Ham, and of his territory.)

¹⁴ And the name of the third river is Hiddekel (Tigris): that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

¹⁵ And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (On the surface one could say that, well, this was all about the NEED for a gardener; that is until one has a gardener to care for the garden you can’t have plants or they will not thrive. This places God in the position of depending on man in order for God to even have a garden. God NEVER depends on man. Rather the issue is that all of the plant life God created was FOR man’s benefit. Plants were to be man’s sole food supply; man was to be a plant eater. Why have a garden if there wasn’t a man to eat the produce? It would be a waste. Until there was a man who needed the resulting purpose of the plant life, in order to eat and sustain human life, there was no need for plant life. The terms “to dress it and to keep it” is from the Hebrew word “Shamar” to tend, protect, watch over or defend at all costs. The root of that word is “SH’MA” meaning to hear, trust and obey the voice of the Lord God and act accordingly.)

¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

¹⁷ 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. (Tree in Hebrew is “etsah” and comes from the primary definition “to counsel or that which supports”. This helps to explain the events about to unfold. God specifically warned against taking counsel {eating = consuming the information} from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as it is none other than Lucifer. Lucifer wanted to teach them wickedness to separate them from God in the very same way he wants to with you.) (2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Genesis 5:5 “And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.”) These scriptures confirm the warning YHVH set before them. Adam died prior to the fullness of the day, or, the thousand year mark.)

¹⁸ And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet (aid) for him.

¹⁹ And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. (Make a mental note of the fact that the beasts are made from the ground. Figuring that the Gen.1 creation of humans was for humans to populate the earth, having their souls put in the clay bodies of this earth for their restoration. Likewise figuring it is that the “Adamic” race in Gen. 2 was to rule the earth, and that they would have had life eternal, had they chosen GOD’s Will instead of their own. Adam was placed in a separated place from other humans, so that, he could be taught to be a wise eternal ruler on this earth, under the guidance of YHWH. Also, it makes sense that when Satan [the tree of the knowledge of both good and evil—having once been good and turned evil] having beguiled Adam & Eve this rulership of earth ceased for Adam. Romans 5:14 “Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.” 1 Corinthians 15:45 “Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”)

²⁰ And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. (The Hebrew term for “name” is “Shem” and is not only a title but that of an expression of the essence or character of the being. We can see this in the Rino {nose} saurus {great beast} and the flowering plant Clematis which will climb-at-us. Later on we see Adam {ruddy or red} and is out of the word “adamah” which means ground, Eve’s Hebrew name is Havvah which means life bearing.)

²¹ And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; (The Hebrew word for ‘ribs’ is “tsalah” and it means, “to curve.” Strong’s #6763 & #6760. The curved, or twisted, helix in DNA is made up of X & Y chromosomes which are the two sex chromosomes that determine the gender of the fetus. All females have two X chromosomes and all males have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. Girls inherit their XX chromosome from their mother, and boys inherit their Y chromosome from their father. The presence of a Y chromosome determines that the fetus will be a boy, while the absence of a Y chromosome determines that the fetus will be a girl. God, operating under the Deoxyribonucleic Acid principles that He spoke into existence, caused Adam to sleep and genetically copied the DNA of his X chromosome and made Eve XX. Why did God choose to open Adam’s flesh surgically in order to remove the XX curve of the female gender? After all, He is God, why didn’t He just supernaturally copy the XX chromosome without opening the flesh? God spoke these natural laws into existence, for Him to violate these principles would make void His own Word {Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”}).

²² And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. (The Hebrew word for ‘made’ is “banah”. It means, “to build.” Strong’s #1129. The human DNA is constructed of two halves. Replication of the two strands takes place when both halves of the helix are pulled apart and then used as a template to copy the original model. The information received from this genetic copying is how replication of the original model is built. God, the Creator of Adam, copied His own work genetically when He built Eve. The word ‘replicate’ defined by Webster’s Dictionary means, “to duplicate.” The word ‘replica’ defined by Webster’s Dictionary means, “a reproduction or copy of a work, especially a copy by the maker of the original.”)

²³ And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

²⁴ Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (The concept of marriage is introduced as well as the MOST important principle of marriage, which is that a man and wife are to be considered as if they were one flesh; in God’s eyes they are organically and spiritually interconnected. Humans are not to remain bonded to our parents; rather we are to bond with our mate in a way that goes beyond even the physical connection we all had at one time with our mothers. This is God’s plan. You are not a husband or wife because you have a marriage certificate, it is the result of your relationship. The other person allows you the opportunity to be in relationship with them and thus the union has been established. Afterwards it is the marriage covenant, or promise, to which the two parties hold true to the relationship; “in sickness and in health”.  The same is with God, he allows you the opportunity to be in relationship with him, establishing this through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is our responsibility to continue that relationship though adherence to his Torah/instructions. The Paleo Hebrew for man is “aleph-yod-shin” and for woman is “aleph-shin-hey”. What they have in common is the “aleph-shin”, that which differs is the “yod” and “hey”, together “yod” and “hey” spell “Yah” or God. It is the presence of God within the relationship that solidifies the roles of each person and blesses the marriage covenant.)

²⁵ And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (The word naked here is the Hebrew word “aram” and it means to “bare”, be cunning, or prudent. Prudent is defined as “having or showing careful good judgment” thus they were attentive at this time to the instructions of God. So many times we are caught up or taught up about them being without clothing. While this may very well be the case as there is no immodesty in the perfection of the garden. Their nakedness likewise means there was nothing they had to conceal from God and they were free of cloaks or covering their actions.)

3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Earlier we learned the Hebrew word used for breathed or breathing is “naphach”. Here the word “serpent” is “nachash” Strong’s H5172 which means “to hiss, or whisper a magic spell”. The word subtil here is again the word “aram”. We can see here the serpent was unique……a separate and distinct living being…but in a very negative way. Now did the spirit of Satan overtake and possess a poor, unwitting snake? Or was the snake a physical form that Satan took on, different and apparently appealing; a form willed by his own doing in order to be visible and so that he might communicate with Adam and Eve? Satan is able to counterfeit anything and I agree with many of the ancient sages that the serpent could well have been Satan’s attempt to mimic God by creating life…….counterfeit life. This, in my understanding, is a literary use of parallelism, Satan had used the characteristics of the serpent to writhe his way into the lives of Adam and Eve telling both of them lies about God and the purpose man had in the garden. Additionally, Satan does have the ability to appear in any form he chooses {seen as a river to Abraham in the book of Jasher} and it is more likely he appeared in the form of a being common to the garden. The Malakim are a type and class of angels present in the garden. The term “Mal’akh” simply means the one who is sent, often translated as “messenger”. The word mal’akh suggests that it is the form of the root “maqtal” denoting “the tool” or “the means of performing it”. We can determine that these angelic host were placed into the garden as helpers to Adam and Eve to teach them how to tend the plants. This would be the open door Satan had to spin his web of deceit. Jubilees tells us “And after the completion of the seven years, which he had completed there, seven years exactly, [8 A.M.] and in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the serpent came and approached the woman.”)

² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: (Notice how the conversation appears to of a nature course of action. Eve isn’t at all shocked that the serpent talks. According to the book of Jubilees “And on that day on which Adam went forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savior an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame. And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they could no longer speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue.”)

³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Notice Eve’s reply contains only one tree when God had shown them 2 trees. Likewise she adds to the instruction the command of “not to touch.” H5060 נָגַע naga` (naw-gah’) v. 1. (properly) to touch. 2. to lay the hand upon (for any purpose). 3. (by euphemism) to lie with a woman. H6086 עֵץ `ets (ates) n-m. a tree (from its firmness) [from H6095]. H6095 עָצָה `atsah (aw-tsaw’) v.1. (properly) to fasten (or make firm). 2. (hence) to close (the eyes). H6096 עָצֶה `atseh (aw-tseh’) n-m. the spine (as giving firmness to the body). [also from H6095]  Isaiah 61:3 “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”

Man has a real tendency to add to God’s Word even more than subtracting from it. And the old serpent knew the instant Havvah (or perhaps Adam) lied…..by embellishing what God’s instruction actually was…………… he had them in his grasp. It is really dicey to add to God’s Word. The Hebrews did it and do it. The Church does it every day and it has all come to no good. 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” G1818 ἐξαπατάω exapatao (ex-a-pa-taō’) v.to seduce wholly. Webster’s 1. To draw aside or entice from the path of rectitude and duty in any manner, by flattery, promises, bribes or otherwise; to tempt and lead to iniquity; to corrupt; to deprave. 2. To entice to a surrender of chastity.)

⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (Satan wants humanity to think that they can live in any way they desire without the consequences of their actions. In Genesis 2:17 we see the word “die” referring to the end of mortal life. It was a warning to Adam that it was also the end of their eternal lives. Eve related the thought of spiritual death while Satan answered with the idea they would not experience immediate physical death. (Isaiah 22:14 “And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts.”) We will see the results of these actions announced in upcoming verses and we will need to note that it is “because” they acted that way. It wasn’t God handing them a punishment it was already within the design of natural order that things went awry for mankind thereafter.)

⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Ecclesiastes 1:18 “Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.” Adam and Eve were basically intellectual children in adult bodies having not yet experienced “life”. When we talk about seeing life through the eyes of a child, we mean they have not yet learned that people don’t always do what they say they’ll do or are supposed to do. Or that some people for no discernable reason will hurt you; some may even take your life and freedom from you. We call this the innocence of childhood. How is that innocence eventually taken from them? Knowledge. So knowledge and wisdom brings with it its own set of problems. Yet it is a human desire…..as with Eve…..to seek knowledge and wisdom devoid of relationship. John 9:41 “Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.”)

⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good (not the word “tov” as earlier, here it is “towb” meaning externally pretty) for food (consume or partake), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (creates a longing), and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof (this word in Hebrew is “parah” and means to bear fruit), and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

⁷ And the eyes (“ayin” vision) of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked (without covering); and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Isaiah 14:12-22 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, everyone in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord.” Revelation 3:17-18 “Because you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see.”)

⁸ And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day (“I’ruach ha-yom”): and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. (“I’ruach ha-yom” literally means “at the appointed time of breathing” God had breathed the breath of life into Adam, then establish a regular schedule of “breathing” into him the instructions of his living. This the point of the Sabbath it is our appointed time for God to breathe life back into our existence. Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke {Torah} is easy, and my burden is light.”)

⁹ And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

¹⁰ And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. (Adam now sees as a result of disobeying YHWH the potential evil present within himself. Capable of breaking one commandment he is now aware that all the commandments can be broken and is now fearful of what his next move may be. Adam had uncovered the endless pursuit of ‘self’ and was overwhelmed by the power it has against the relationship of man with God. Naked tells us Adam had exposed this trait of autonomous, crave-centric behavior and lost the covering of God’s desired provision.

¹¹ And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

¹² And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (Thus begins the “blame game” and the never ending desire to clean up our actions by dumping the sinful behavior upon someone or something else. We see this in the lives of humans all day every day and in all manners of living. They will say things like: “It’s not my fault after all I … [insert excuse].” The excuse becomes the ‘dumping grounds’ for the behavior rooted in self-satisfaction. All manner of social issues are easily explained away with “It’s not my fault after all I was born this way” as if somehow God purposefully makes sin. Sin makes itself and is made in the moment of choosing self over the ordained plan of God.)

¹³ And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. (Eve takes her turn at blaming with the serpent as the targeted dumping ground. The word “beguiled” here is an interesting one. “nasha”  means 1. to lead astray. 2. (mentally) to delude. 3. (morally) to seduce. There is much controversy on the subject of Eve’s “beguiling” and if it was, in fact, a complete representation to the definition. {including all 3} The scriptures say the following:  Isaiah 14:12, 20-21 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.” John 8:37-44 “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”  Abraham would have 2 seed lines, the righteous through Sarah and wicked through Hagar. Likewise we will see in chapter 6 here in Genesis “That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” The result of these unions are explained a few verses later: “And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.” The Hebrew definition of ‘sons of God’ is of ultimate importance when considering this topic. “bene HaElohim” [possessive plural] a son [as a builder of the family name] the Supreme God [specifically, in the plural, especially with the article] to wit: the supreme angels. The angelic beings spoken of in Jude 1:6 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” are the same beings spoken of here in Genesis. Where did they gather this idea?
More on this in chapter 6.

¹⁴ And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed (to accurse, to devote to destruction) above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: (The word ‘cattle’ is the Hebrew word “bhemah” meaning “dumb beast” and ‘beast of the field’ is actually “chayah” is {as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural} “life”. God is announcing to Satan that he will receive the heaviest punishment of all of creation. The phrase ‘dust shalt thou eat’ is better understood as “pulverized and completely consumed” and who was made from the dust of the ground? 1 Peter 5:8 “Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.” Psalm 49:14-15 “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.” Jeremiah 31:11 “For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.” Hebrews 2:14 “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Ecclesiastes 3:20 “All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again”)

¹⁵ And I will put enmity (hostility or hatred) between thee and the woman, and between thy seed (child/children) and her seed (child/children); it shall bruise (overwhelm) thy head (chief, rank, rule), and thou shalt bruise his heel. (to circumvent or restrain) (Hebrews 2:14-15 “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Matthew 13:34-40 “All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. John 8:42-44 “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Notice the text separates ‘F” from “f” )

¹⁶ Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow (wearisomeness H6093) and thy conception (pregnancy); in sorrow (pain, toil H6089) thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

¹⁷ And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened (give attention or obedience) unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (This cursing, as well as the one Satan received, are direct results of tampering with creation. In similar fashion to other laws that cannot be broken, think “law of gravity”, is the existence of an unstoppable and exacting reaction based upon the previous action. In the case of gravity we know that “everything that goes up must come down” and with the introduction of foreign matter the base changes. This is exactly what occurred when Adam and Eve consumed the lies of Satan. They introduced foreign matter into the whole of creation thereby corrupting the image of Gods design.)

¹⁸ Thorns (pains) also and thistles (irritations) shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

¹⁹ In the sweat (agitated/exhausted) of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

²⁰ And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. (In the pictographic ancient Hebrew the name ‘Eve’ is written with “hey” “vav” ”qamets” ”chet” and it can be translated “His voice harkens a thruway” yet another illustration of the prophecy that Yeshua will be born. Eve is then the mother of all of those with the life found in Yeshua, or spiritual living.)

²¹ Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats (robes or coverings) of skins (animal hide), and clothed them. (There is a duality of meanings possible in this verse. If we look at Job 10:9-11 “Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.” Job 14:22 “But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.” Job 31:33 “If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom” 1 Corinthians 15:39-40 “All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. Luke 24:39 “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” It would appear to be the transformation of the creation called man from a spirit-body to a fleshly body as a result of the sin. Sin being the agent for degeneration. Secondly, this is the institution of blood sacrifice for the remission of sins. Many would argue that these were only established in the Levitical era after Mt. Saini yet we will see in the upcoming story of Cain and Abel that sin offering required bloodshed as taught here by God himself. God’s living creatures…..what we typically call animals……are very important to God. Man is certainly above the animals, placed into dominion over the animals, yet we’re made of the same stuff as the animals; the dust of the ground. And, God put that same “neshemah”, the spirit of life, into both animals and mankind. If one could attach a human emotion to God, it was a terrible thing the day God had to kill an animal or two to make clothing to cover Adam and Eve; it would have grieved Him greatly. And, it grieved Him when, for His own good reasons, it became necessary for animals to be slain on a regular basis for blood sacrifice, in order to atone for men’s sins.)

²² And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know * good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: (know = yada`and means “acknowledge, acquaintance (-ted with), advise, answer, appoint, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with, familiar, have respect for)

²³ Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

²⁴ So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (The cherubim serve the purpose of magnifying the holiness and power of God. This is one of their main responsibilities throughout the Bible. In addition to singing God’s praises, they also serve as a visible reminder of the majesty and glory of God and His abiding presence with His people. Adam was brought into the goodness and blessing of the Garden and the presence of YHWH. Once he rebelled he was returned to the “dust” where he was taken. Jubilees 3:27-28 “And on that day on which Adam went forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savior an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame. And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they could no longer speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue.”)

 

4 And Adam knew (yada’) Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. (“Cain” H7014: a lance or spear [through the idea of a piercing and a wail, such as from childbirth] / also: Acquired [as an intentional secondary meaning of Cain’s name; by inference through word play]. The origin of the Kenites, Canaanites, Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims and other tribes. [Giants]  John 19:34 “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.”)

² And she again* bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. (Abel, the name means ‘empty, vain or brief’. One has to consider the texts lack of disclosure on time, as well as, the statement of Adam “knowing” his wife a second time. [*H3254 יָסַף yacaph (yaw-saf’) v.1. to add or augment. 2. (often adverbially) to continue to do a thing.] It would then be plausible that the two [Cain and Abel] were in fact born at the same time. This would instantly bring truth to the promise from God of multiplying not only the weariness but here too the conception in Chapter 3. This will also open a discussion on the “father” of Cain as he will not be mentioned in the lineage of Adam in Chapter 5 yet he was the firstborn and firstborn has a huge significance in Hebrew culture. Also, they brought sacrifices at the same time, when both had reached the age of accountability. {fraternal twins} The keeper of sheep attests to the shepherd and is an illustration to the Messiah; while Cain is a tiller, which means: “to be enslaved, to work or serve”. We see here the dividing of mankind into the children of promise and the children of destruction by the description of Cain and Abel’s undertakings.)

³ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. (Somewhat nonspecific as to the quality of the offering, yet this is not the main issue as we already know God has set the standard for sacrifice as one requiring bloodshed.)

⁴ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat (choice or best) thereof. And the Lord had respect (to inspect, consider) unto Abel and to his offering:
(Let’s remember that at this time man was only to eat plants….. not animals. Therefore the purpose for Sheep in this era was NOT for meat rather it was for sacrifice and clothing. The animals Abel was producing could have served no other purpose than as a service to God and for the wool or skins for clothing and perhaps tents. So we could further combine these two purposes for the Sheep under one title: covering. Do you see this? The Sheep, the Lamb, was to provide covering [clothing] for man’s physical nakedness, and it was also to provide covering [its own innocent blood] for man’s spiritual nakedness, his sin.  But it was not meant for his nourishment.)

⁵ But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth (be angry, burn, be displeased), and his countenance (facial expression) fell.

⁶ And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? (Matthew 23:32-35 “Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation [G1081 γέννημα gennema (ǰen’-nee-ma) n. offspring.] of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.” G3789 ὄφις ophis (o’-fis) n.1. a snake. 2. (figuratively, of sly cunning) an artfully malicious person.3. (especially) Satan.)

⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. (God reminds Cain here that he has the opportunity to follow the instruction of God and bring the proper sacrifice and all will be well and good in His sight. In the very same manner as Adam and Eve in the garden, once Cain had it in his mind that there were other options the Talebearer, or Satan, would be there to influence his behavior and enslave him to the chains of sin.)

⁸ And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. (A man who did exactly what YHWH had commanded was killed by a man that came before God by doing things his own way. The Pharisees had likewise stopped listening to the voice of God and had set up their own religious system and killed Messiah. Just like Christianity today that doesn’t follow after God’s instructions and has established their own way of worshipping.)

⁹ And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

¹⁰ And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. (Hebrews 12:24 “And to Jesus the mediator of the new (H3501 rejuvenated) covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” Abel’s blood cried out for justice while Yeshua’s blood for mercy.)

¹¹ And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; (Just like the events in the Garden there was disobedience thus resulting in curse and then exile. Hebrews 12:24 “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”)

¹² When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. (fugitive = H5128 – means to waver, to sift, to [go] up and down. It is interesting again the ties this has to Satan: Job 1:7 ”And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” The word vagabond H5110 is the Hebrew word “nuwd” and it means: to nod, i.e. waver, to wander, flee, disappear, or to taunt.)

¹³ And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

¹⁴ Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that everyone that findeth me shall slay me.

¹⁵ And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. (Where would the “everyone” or people have come from to kill Cain? These would be the ‘Goyim’ or nations created on the 6^th day.)

¹⁶ And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. (It is certainly noteworthy that there was an entire area of the earth named “Nod”. Vagabond or vagrancy is the state of living as a vagrant; homelessness. Cain and those settled in the “Nod” exhibit a behavior and are without an eternal home.)

¹⁷ And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. (We will see some very closely titled names in the genealogy of Cain to those of the genealogy of Adam….why? Because Satan wants to be, just as he deceived Adam and Eve, “like God”. This is intentional to add confusion, doubt and delusion to mind of those seeking to be followers of YHVH.)

¹⁸ And unto Enoch was born Irad (fugitive): and Irad begat Mehujael (smitten of God): and Mehujael begat Methusael (as the Superior or Indomitable Strength but used of any deity): and Methusael begat Lamech.

¹⁹ And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah (ornament, as in trophy), and the name of the other Zillah (shaded/hidden).

²⁰ And Adah bare Jabal (course, way): he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.

²¹ And his brother’s name was Jubal (to bring especially with pomp): he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. (Personal reflective question: Any wonder why the music industry is so prominent in sex, violence, drugs and debauchery? Or why they want to have their own awards programs? )

²² And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah. (Naamah appears in Sumerian Kings list as one of the mates of the archangel Samael. She, along with her cohort Lilith, according to the Zohar [Jewish mysticism] visit him and bear his demonic children, who became the Plagues of Mankind. Noah’s wife was named Naamah as well, however she was one of Enoch’s descendants thus a cousin several times removed from Noah. Just like today when there are thousands, if not millions, of people who have the same name (Fred, Rebecca, Kathy, Elizabeth) so it was then. Lots of people had the same name so we have to be careful as we read the Bible not to mix up people simply because they bore the same name. The Babylonian Talmud, Sumerian Kings List, The Epic of Gilgamesh and Zohar are often over looked by the Roman centered church system yet the reoccurrence of these events in harmonious synchronicity draws more than simple curiosity to the issue. After the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Book of Enoch the issue is no longer a vague, or simply pagan idea.)

²³ And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. (Lamech is far removed from God and Lamech [as had Cain and many others] breaks God’s instruction about the institution of marriage; of a man and woman being joined as one flesh: he gets greedy and takes TWO wives. And, then, listen to the proud, rebellious Lamech who boasts this to his 2 wives.)

²⁴ If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

²⁵ And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

²⁶ And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call (wail) upon the name (towards the character) of the Lord.

5 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; (In Genesis 14:18 we read, “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” This is the first mention of this individual in scripture. For many years I took Melchizedek to be just another of the many strange names to be found in the Bible.

Then I come across Hebrews 7:1-4 “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. Wow! Talk about perspective. Now I HAD to consider how great this man was…….
The name comes from two Hebrew words Melech meaning King and Tzedek meaning righteousness, and from the scriptures we know that “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Romans 5.19 So this King of Righteousness can only be Jesus Christ in the flesh. Walking and talking with Abraham in the Old Testament.

We can further test this out with the scriptures in Revelation 22:13 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” And in John 1:1, 14a “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us”

I believe we as humans and in particular humans trained by Greco-Roman theologians, we are continually thinking in a linear format and the Bible is simply not written in such a way. The end is known from the beginning and the beginning reveals the end, one without the other leaves the reader without the full knowledge of God’s plan for mankind and Satan plans to destroy us.

David pens for us in Psalm 110 “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.” This again is a foreshadow to the reign of Christ on Earth during the Millennial Kingdom after his second coming, the permanent slaughter of Satan’s earthly dominance where he has establish his kings.”

Having affirmed the Kingdom and authority as well as the eternal reign of Jesus let’s look at the priesthood. Hebrews 4:14 tells us “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” And in specific terms he is again mentioned in Hebrews 5:10 “Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchizedek.”

The question now comes to mind, how would Abraham have known this Melchizedek? Where would he have gotten the knowledge to offer him a tithe? After all the Torah had not been written down as Moses was not even born yet. And what would be the importance of a priesthood if there was not a temple yet? Abraham wasn’t even a Jew or a Hebrew or an Israelite ….he was a Chaldean…..from BABYLON! (Tower of Babel, the epicenter of paganism and Satanic worship)

In Genesis chapters 5, 8, and 11 we read several genealogies and so many times we see the hard to pronounce names and either skip over them or make a horrible attempt to say them without ever trying to see their significance. Abraham was a descendant of Noah and as such Noah knew Jesus/Melchizedek personally. This is whom the instruction for the Ark were given to Noah. This is also the reason Noah was found righteous when the rest of the world was not.

Beginning with Adam, Jesus himself was, and still is, the Great High Priest giving the instruction. In Hebrew the word instruction is Torah. Jesus taught Adam, Adam taught Seth and it continued until Lamech. Lamech fell to the ways of the world and Noah followed his great grandfather Enochs teaching. This same pattern happens after the flood when Abrahams father Terah follows Nimord and God calls Abraham out of the land of Ur.

The Torah didn’t just appear on Mt Saini when Moses followed Gods call, it began when the world was created. The Torah was taught by example in the days following the fall then passed generation to generation “in the order of Melchizedek” so that humanity knew how to live according to Gods wishes. The Aaronic priesthood was to carry on this obligation and did so for some time. Yet the hearts of men overtook the desires of God and they perverted the Torah with traditions and obligations that God did not ordain. Thus, Jesus, i.e. Melchizedek, had to return to set us back on the correct path. )

² Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

³ And Adam (man) lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:

⁴ And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth (appointed) were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

⁵ And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. (“And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: ‘On the day that you eat thereof you shall die.’ For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it. ~Jubilees 4:30 Adam would have had 70 years in relationship with God directly in the perfection of the Garden.)

⁶ And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos: (mortal)

⁷ And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:

⁸ And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

⁹ And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Kenan: (sorrow)

¹⁰ And Enos lived after he begat Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:

¹¹ And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.

¹² And Cainan lived seventy years and begat Mahalaleel: (the blessed God)

¹³ And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:

¹⁴ And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.

¹⁵ And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: (shall come down)

¹⁶ And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:

¹⁷ And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

¹⁸ And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: (teaching)

(Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was translated* that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”) (*G3346 μετατίθημι metatithemi (me-ta-tiy’-thee-miy) v. 1. to transfer. 2. (literally) to transport. 3. (by implication) to exchange. 4. (reflexively) to change sides. 5. (figuratively) to pervert. [from G3326 and G5087]KJV: carry over, change, remove, translate, turn)

¹⁹ And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: (Enoch, according to Jubilees, “was the first among men that are born on earth who learnt writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years according to the order of their separate months. And he was the first to write a testimony and he testified to the sons of men among the generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and set in order the months and recounted the Shabbats of the years as we made them, known to him. And what was and what will be he saw in a vision of his sleep, as it will happen to the children of men throughout their generations until the Day of Judgment; he saw and understood everything, and wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for all the children of men and for their generations.” 1Enoch 1:1-2 “The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are to be removed. And he took up his parable and said–Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, ⌈which⌉ the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come.”

²⁰ And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

²¹ And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: (his death shall bring)

²² And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

²³ And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:

²⁴ And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

²⁵ And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech. (the despairing)

²⁶ And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:

²⁷ And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.

²⁸ And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:

²⁹ And he called his name Noah, (rest, comfort) saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. (Notice that Noah was in Seth’s line. Notice also that Noah’s father’s name was Lamech. This is NOT the same Lamech that was the fifth in line from Cain. Just like today when there are thousands, if not millions, of people who have the same name (Fred, Rebecca, Kathy, Elizabeth) so it was then. Lots of people had the same name so we have to be careful as we read the Bible not to mix up people simply because they bore the same name.)

³⁰ And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:

³¹ And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

³² And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, (1 Timothy 6:20-21 “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.”)

² That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. (There are those that will claim the “sons of God” are the righteous line of Seth. This position is quickly eliminated when we read scripture. Clearly seen in Job 38:1-7 the sons of God existed before mankind was created…“Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” The “sons of God” are not of the earthly realm, originally of the heavenly realm come down here with the intent to defile creation and establish their own authority. Jude 1:6-8 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.” Jubilees addresses more detail “the malakim of YAHWEH saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants. And torahlessness increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way, alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walks on the earth -all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other, and torahlessness increased on the earth”)

³ And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. (God has decided to give man 120 more years to straighten up and fly right before He destroyed them with the Great Flood. This was a warning.)

⁴ There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. (The King James Bible and many other Bible translations have translated N’filim to mean “giants”. It was the Greek Septuagint developed in 250 BC who first took that tact. It took the Hebrew word N’filim and translated it to the Greek word “gigante”. In Hebrew however N’filim is from the root word “nephal”, which means “fallen” or “to fall upon”. Sons of God is in Hebrew Benei HaElohim and we’ll see other references to these mysterious Benei HaElohim in later parts of the Bible, but just know for now that they were some type of high-ranking spiritual being of one of the types of Angels {Malakhim?}. They represented a joining together of the worst of the spiritual world with the worst of the physical world. Jubilees 5:6-7 “And against the angels whom He had sent upon the earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave commandment to root them out of all their dominion, and He bade us to bind them in the depths of the earth, and behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept) separate. And against their sons went forth a command from before His face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed from under heaven.) Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”)

⁵ And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

⁶ And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

⁷ And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. (He repented that He made all men INCLUDING Noah. Why is it was that Noah was saved, but the rest of the world wasn’t? Noah didn’t earn his righteousness and we don’t earn ours; he and we simply received grace. That part of the equation has NEVER been any different from the beginning of the world until today. That is EXACTLY what happens when we trust in Jesus.)

⁸ But Noah found grace (Unmerited favor) in the eyes of the Lord. (So, it is high time that the wrong-minded Christian doctrine of demanding we choose the Law or choose Grace be put to rest. That choice was never put before us by the Lord. The Law was never a salvation document. From the beginning, all throughout the OT, and right on to Revelation, Grace has always been the only way to a right relationship with the Lord. The Hebrews believed that, just as we believe it. This dynamic was set up for the sole purpose of getting us to believe that, for the Christian, the Bible begins at the book of Matthew. That the OT is obsolete. That the Torah is now abolished. And, that the Jews were ditched by God in favor of the gentile Church. None of which is so.)

⁹ These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just (“tsaddik”…Hebrew for righteous) man and perfect (“tammim”, which is usually translated as blameless or whole-hearted) in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

¹⁰ And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Shem that will soon be identified to us a special set-apart line of people. It is interesting that Shem means “name”. One of God’s titles that is commonly used by Jews is “HaShem”…..The Name. It is also interesting that Hebrew Tradition is that that mysterious biblical King and Priest of Shalem, called Melchizedek, who Abraham would bow down to and give tithes, was actually Shem.)

¹¹ The earth also was corrupt (“shachath” polluted to the point of ruin) before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

¹² And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. (“basar” is translated as “flesh”; basar, and flesh, doesn’t just refer to man [although at times it DOES mean man]. Rather it can, and just as often does, refer to animals. Adam means man or mankind, but that is not used here in this context so the idea at play is speaking more about all living flesh; everything to which God gave life is at fault: Man and animals. Even more interesting is what or who God DOESN’T blame: He doesn’t blame Satan. Notice in 2 Samuel 23: 20 “And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab” as in corrupted flesh.)

¹³ And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

¹⁴ Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. (In Hebrew the Ark is called a “tevah”; it is the same term used for the basket that baby Moses would be placed in centuries later. A tevah is a box-like craft that is not the same thing as a boat or a ship. It is simply a device that floats, rudderless, and without a crew to operate it. The idea is that a tevah is guided only by God’s hand and providence and mankind is but a passenger. As for the construction material there are no perfectly translatable tree names for “gopher wood”. Noting the physical similarity between the Hebrew letters g and k, suggest that the word may actually be kaphar, the Hebrew word meaning “pitch”; thus kaphar wood would be “pitched wood”. [H3722 כָּפַר kaphar (kaw-far’) v.1. to cover, to make an atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge] I would submit that the Acacia tree was used for several reasons. Egyptian mythology has associated the acacia tree with characteristics of the tree of life, not that the Egyptians are noteworthy, but the whole of the Sumerian-Akkadian post flood world considered the Acacia tree of great value. Several parts [mainly bark, root, and resin] of Acacia species are used to make incense for rituals. Smoke from acacia bark is thought to keep demons and ghosts away and to put the gods in a good mood. According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, the acacia tree may be the “burning bush” [Exodus 3:2] which Moses encountered in the desert. Also, when God gave Moses the instructions for building the Tabernacle, he said to “make an ark” and “a table of acacia wood” [Exodus 25:10 & 23]. Also, in the Christian tradition, Christ’s crown of thorns is thought to have been woven from acacia thorns.)

¹⁵ And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. (450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and almost 5 stories in height. Marine engineers calculate that it would have had a displacement of about 43,000 tons or 86 million pounds!)

¹⁶ A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. (We see an interesting God-principle set down in the detailed instructions for the Ark: nothing is left for Noah to do but to accept God’s means of salvation for him and his family by following its prescription exactly. Here we also see that even Salvation is a co-operative effort between mankind and God. God’s role is to provide it; mankind’s role is to accept it by means of a moral choice of our will. But as much as Salvation is by grace, there are obligations that we have to God and some of it involves actions on our part.) (Philippians 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.)

¹⁷ And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die. (Noah and his family had to begin by believing what God told them: first, that mankind was wicked and God would soon destroy them. Second, that there IS a means to escape the destruction. Third, that means of escape is designed by the Lord and ONLY that means is available. Fourth, Noah would have to act in order for his deliverance to come about. So it took great faith on Noah’s part to take God at His word when the current circumstances didn’t seem to indicate how such a thing could possibly take place. And it took effort; it was not simply a passive acknowledgment or intellectual acquiescence. There was with Noah, as with us today, the simple formula of “salvation by faith through grace” and several millennium before Paul writes anything about it. Likewise, James 2:26 tells us, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” Noah could have believed all he wanted to, but, had he not picked up a hammer, he would have died along with the rest of them.)

¹⁸ But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. (H1320 בָּשָׂר basar (baw-sawr’) n-m.1. flesh (from its freshness).2. (by extension) body, person.3. (by euphemism) the external genitals of a man. This gives light to the idea that 2 of all types of humans were aboard the ark. Asian, African, and so on. The basic and divinely ideal family unit is defined and it is to consist of ONE male and ONE female; not ONE male and several females as in the case of Cain’s offspring Lamech. So even in the narrative of Noah’s Ark we get the God-principle not only of marriage being a permanent bonding of male and female, but also of marriage being exclusive and monogamous.)

²⁰ Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. (Notice the words “after their kind”, this is in reference to the animals that have not been corrupted in the flesh. Then the text states that God will bring them to Noah and that he does not need to go searching for the correct ones.)

²¹ And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. (As with the Garden, food for mankind and animals was plants and plants alone. Now did that mean that some animals didn’t eat other animals and that man did NOT eat meat at this time? No; rather it meant that God defined food as plants and therefore when animals or humans ate animals [or other things] they were eating things that were NOT food. Not even fish was for food as of this time. Food, by God’s definition, is not merely anything that you can manage to get into your mouth and swallow, or anything that might taste reasonably good.)

²² Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
(Matthew 24:37-39 “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”)

7 And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. (We find in the Old Testament Hebrews a great emphasis is placed on DOING God’s commands….what is usually called “works” and “legalism”; but, the reason for the Hebrews’ obsession with DOING…..their motivation……  is far less a matter of gaining something from it, than from obedience due to the overwhelming gratefulness of being one of God’s chosen people.)

² Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. (Clean means ritually pure and unclean means NOT ritually pure. In the case of animal sacrifices to God, only “clean” animals may be used. But, the question comes, were these animals….or at least some of them…..being loaded onto the Ark for the purpose of being part of the food supply during their confinement in the Ark…..food for human consumption? In the case of Genesis and Noah, prior to the flood, food was ONLY green plants. Animals weren’t any more a candidate to be food than a rock or a handful of dirt. Noah and his children weren’t hungry for a nice juicy steak……because meat wasn’t food; food was edible plants. Since God called Noah a righteous man, I also have NO doubt that Noah and his family remained vegetarians. So, prior to the Flood, to Noah, clean and unclean simply meant animals that God had told him were suitable for sacrifice or those that weren’t……food wasn’t part of the equation until after the flood.)

³ Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. (If Noah was going to sacrifice from every single species of clean animal (which he did), had there been only a single pair of each clean species brought on board, this first sacrifice would have signaled the extinction of that species. Right?)

⁴ For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

⁵ And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.

⁶ And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

⁷ And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

⁸ Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

⁹ There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. (Hebraic writing include an second account when adding emphasis and usually is expanded in details, here we see it threefold adding permanence and assures the account.)

¹⁰ And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. (Make note of the timeline marked out here. We have encountered the term “the great deep” before. Back in Genesis 1, we are told that darkness, SPIRITUAL DARKNESS, hovered over the great deep. Could it be that this great deep, being emptied of its water in order to judge the world with a Flood, was also being readied to judge Satan? For in Revelation, we are told that at the end of the Tribulation Satan is going to be thrown into the Abyss, the “abbussos”, the same word used for “great deep”. Could the source of the floodwater, and the place where Satan will be chained up for 1000 years, be the same? The “Abzu” in the Sumerian and Akkadian languages literally, ab=’water’ zu=’deep’, was the name for the primeval sea below the void space of the underworld. In the city of Eridu [the location of the Tower of Babel], Enki’s temple was known as E2-abzu [house of the cosmic waters] and was located at the edge of a swamp. Enki is one of the many names given to Nimrod, the engineer of the tower and the resulting pagan religious systems all across the globe.)

¹² And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³ In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; (there is much controversy as to the bloodline of the wives of his sons. So would say they had the Nephilim gene coursing through their veins while others state that God would not allow any imperfections aboard the Ark. Hold on to that thought until we get to the mid-point of the flood.)
¹⁴ They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

¹⁵ And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath* of life. (This breath or “ruach” is the same as in the creation of Adam and is the source of life, the eternal spirit, from YHWH. It is here where we see the case for the Nephilim gene entering into the ark via the wives of Noah’s sons. God created the universe with perfect counterparts in mind, for Adam there was Eve. With ‘up’ comes ‘down’, every ‘in’ has an ‘out’ and so on. So it is conceivable that God allowed this to happen, yet, we witness the ark to come, the ark of the covenant of Moses, to be sanctified or set apart unto holiness.)

¹⁶ And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in. (Revelation 3:7-10 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;  I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”)

¹⁷ And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. (Here we see that the waters continued to increase even after the rain stopped.

¹⁸ And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

¹⁹ And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

²⁰ Fifteen cubits (about 25 feet) upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

²¹ And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

²² All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

²³ And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. (How interesting it is that the selfsame flood that destroyed the old also purified and made way for the new. Death of that which was corrupted was needed in order to prepare for new life. And, again, we have a type and a shadow of what was to come. For Christ, called Living Water in the NT, is what this all pointed to. Our old natures die, and we are purified through this Living Water. And, it sets up all the symbolic meaning of water baptism.)

²⁴ And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. (Another time stamp to keep of note for later: Additionally we can see in Revelation 9:1-5 “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.”)

8 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind* to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;
(The Hebrew word used here is “ruach”. In Hebrew, Holy Spirit is Ruach HaKodesh. Ruach is commonly used in the OT as a word to describe God’s spirit, or sometimes “spirit” in general. So, this rushing wind was more than just a weather event; the wind was real and literal, but it also involves the idea that this wind had a spiritual component as it was “of God”.)

² The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

³ And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. (another time stamp to keep of note for later)

⁴ And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. (“And the ark went and rested on the top of Lubar, one of the mountains of Ararat.” Jubilees 6:28)

⁵ And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

⁶ And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

⁷ And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. (Earlier we learned the word “fugitive” = H5128 – means to waver, to sift, to [go] up and down. It is interesting again the ties this has to Satan: Job 1:7”And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” One would have to piece together a puzzle that many would consider to be unthinkable. Yet, we can see from the accounts already before us that Satan has the ability to manifest himself in any shape or form he chooses. In the garden it was as a serpent and here as a raven. How can that be? Ask yourself, based on the time lines given, what bird can fly nonstop for 6 months [conservative estimate] or possibly a year without something “supernatural” intervening? The oldest book of the Bible is Job [per all scholars] and would corroborate the likeliness of the raven-Satan entity. This too would help to explain how the Nephilim returned after the flood. One could see Satan seeking out the ability to once again rule the earth through these hideous creatures using the sinful pride of Ham to get the job done by using the same beguiling as he did in the Garden. Also, why are we only told of the dove in Sunday school? Is it inconvenient to talk of the raven? Side note: ever wonder about Edgar Allen Poe’s writing of ‘The Raven’ …..Think maybe he had an encounter with Satan during his drug induced forays? I think yes!)

⁸ Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

⁹ But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

¹⁰ And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

¹¹ And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

¹² And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him anymore.

¹³ And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. (The “church” has these varying ideas of whether that verse was referring to the 17th day of the 2nd month of the Hebrew year, or, the 17th day of the 2nd month of Noah’s 601st year of life. Well, it’s both. This was NOT a solar year, 365 days. This was a Hebrew lunar year. It was 12 New Moons plus 11 days; generally about 359 days. This is the total time Noah and his family spent on the ark.)

¹⁴ And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

¹⁵ And God spake unto Noah, saying,

¹⁶ Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

¹⁷ Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. (God instructs Noah to come out of the Ark in husband and wife pairs, both man and beast. Word placement in the Torah has very distinct meaning, watch what happens next.)

¹⁸ And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him: (First we see that the men went out in a privileged or priority order without their wives.)

¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. (Secondly, we can see that the animals were not ushered out in the paired order, as God commanded, they left the ark on their own accord. Lastly, what we do not see here is the statement: “and Noah did all that the Lord had commanded”. This is the first time we see a lapse in Noah’s behavior or what one could conclude as a sinful act.)

²⁰ And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (By performing this series of sacrifices, Noah would be in repentance of his prior behavior and affirming that he would take up the mantle of the line of Seth: the godly line of people. See note on chapter 5 on the order of Melchizedek. Jubilees 7:2,5 “And he made wine there from and put it into a vessel, and kept it until the fifth year, [1321 A.M.] until the first day, on the new month of the first month. And he celebrated with joy the day of this feast, and he made a burnt sacrifice unto YAHWEH, one young ox and one ram, and seven sheep, each a year old, and a kid of the goats, that he might make atonement thereby for himself and his sons. And he placed all their offerings mingled with oil upon it, and afterwards he sprinkled wine on the fire which he had previously made on the altar, and he placed incense on the altar and caused a sweet savoir to ascend acceptable before YAHWEH his Sovereign Ruler.”)

²¹ And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.

²² While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Immediately following the Flood, the Earth was a very different place from what it had been just a few short months earlier. The Oceans were more extensive, and therefore, there was less land surface than before the Flood. The land was nearly barren of vegetation and devoid of animal life. The mist that enveloped the air and watered the vegetation was gone. The formerly even and temperate world climate would begin to have more variations. Seasons became more pronounced, and as a result, more important because the growth of plants for food depended on temperature, and certain amounts of sunlight to be present. And, most dramatically, only 8 people of the Adamiac race, 2 of the other races, and a handful of animals were left to inhabit, and then to repopulate, the entire surface of the earth.)

9 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. (Noah, just like us, was born with a fallen nature into a fallen world. Because Noah trusted and obeyed God, God simply declared Noah righteous. This most fundamental principle of Salvation……trusting God and being credited (as opposed to earning) righteousness…… is the same exact principle that we all count on today; and it is present right here, a second time in the OT, in Genesis, first with the mercy shown to Adam and now to Noah.)

² And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. (The great changes in the governing dynamics of man’s existence, in his relationship to his environment, and in his responsibilities before God are evident right away in V2: whereas animals were once fearless, trusting, and in willing subjection to man before the Flood, now God ordains that man’s dominion over animals will be by force. The very same animals that so docilely appeared before Adam to be named, will now be terrified of man. V3 tells us that meat is no longer a prohibited food for man; animal flesh is now an approved food source. I’ve heard people ask how it was the Noah got all those “wild animals” to enter the Ark; simple: before the Flood man had a different relationship with animals than after.)

³ Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. (Here again, it must have grieved YHWH greatly, when for reasons I cannot fathom, the Father of all things instructed Noah and his descendants that they could now kill countless thousands, and then millions, of His beloved living creatures for food. This was a HUGE matter. When we’re told that God knows when a sparrow falls from the sky, it’s because that sparrow is one of His living creatures who no longer lives. Not “knowing” the sparrow in the sense that a single dollar is important to an accountant reconciling his books; rather, because God put His Life Spirit into that creature, and now it was extinguished. We too often look at that verse only from the viewpoint of how important man is……because it also says he numbers the hair on our heads. But, that’s not the entire point it is that even a bird is important to Him. So, WAY before Jesus came to the world, God was watching His living creatures die on account of mankind’s sin.)

⁴ But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

⁵ And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.

⁶ Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. (The early Rabbis and Scribes came to the conclusion that if God turned over to man the terrible matter of determining capital punishment, the right to take human life, then certainly lesser matters of life such as authority over wives, children, servants, property, land, etc. was also now in man’s hands. From this came what was eventually called the 7 Noachide Laws. The Noachide Laws were essentially the most fundamental principles of civil justice as told by God to Noah, from which all other civil laws would be based. We don’t actually see these 7 laws specifically enumerated at this point in the Scriptures. Interestingly, though, thousands of years later, after Christ has come and gone, these Noachide Laws will play a role in the determination of the Jerusalem Council of 49 AD as to the minimum behavioral requirements for gentiles who want to fellowship with, and worship alongside of, Jews who have come to believe that Jesus was their Messiah. These Noachide Laws are the following: 1. Men were prohibited from idol worship. 2. Man was not to commit blasphemy (taking God’s name in vain). 3. Man was not to murder. 4. There was to be no incest. 5. There was to be no robbing and stealing. 6. Man was not to eat blood nor was he to eat the meat of animals that had been strangled (and therefore, they had not been “bled”). 7. Man was to submit to the authority of a civil government.)

⁷ And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

⁸ And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,

⁹ And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

¹⁰ And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

¹¹ And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth.

¹² And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

¹³ I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. (1)

¹⁴ And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: (2)

¹⁵ And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

¹⁶ And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. (3 times God declares the rainbow, likewise he declares it to be His covenant 3 times)

¹⁷ And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. (This covenant is a contract, a promise; in this case it is between God and Noah….BUT…..it is also promise from God to ALL living flesh. This particular covenant, or contract, is unilateral; the contract does NOT depend on man’s response nor man’s behavior……its all on God. Imagine being a person of the first few generations of Noah, as he repeatedly explained why there were only 30 to 50 people on the planet. Then they had to retell the story over and over until there were a few hundred and a few thousand. They would be thinking about the story and that each time it rained, there was a little bit of anxiousness as they waited for the rain to STOP!)

¹⁸ And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. (Why the mention of Ham fathering Canaan? Must be of significance. There is something very telling about the names of the sons. ‘shem’ literally means ‘name’ in Hebrew, yet when given as the name of person it means:  honor, authority, character. It has roots in the words ‘shema’ [to hear] and ‘shamar’ [to keep or revere] and God reveals his Torah in the tents of Shem. Ham is rooted in the words ‘cham’ [hot-blooded], ‘chema’ [confrontational], and ‘chamas’ [warlike] with people of these characteristics being revealed. Japheth is rooted in the words ‘patah’ [easily deceived], ‘petiy’ [gullible or simple minded] and ‘piytah’ which means easily seduced]. This will greatly enhance understanding of actions of the people in later books as well in all of history.)

¹⁹ These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

²⁰ And Noah began to be an husbandman (compound Hebrew word: “ish” ,“adamah” meaning ‘man of the earth’.) , and he planted a vineyard:

²¹ And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. (There is some speculation here that Noah may have become depressed because of the daunting situation in which he found himself. Just one year before that world was full of plants animals and people, now all was gone and it was up to him to regenerate the entire earth. Noah would know in his heart that the people he fathered, would in time, be again a disappointment to God. Talk about pressure! Noah was just a man. He had flaws, and the beauty of our Holy Scriptures is that they don’t sanitize humans and make them perfect and infallible like all the false religions tend to do with their leaders and founders. Noah had many sons and daughters over the 600 years of life he had attained at the moment the Flood began. ….daughters, granddaughters, grandsons, great grandsons, and too many “greats” to speak, all were deemed wicked by Yahweh and all were destroyed right along with everyone else in the deluge. Perhaps this is weighing heavily on his mind.)

²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. (The Hebrew word for nakedness is ‘ervah’ meaning [nudity, the pudenda]; Webster’s defines pudenda as “The human external genitalia, especially of a woman.” Leviticus 18:8 “The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.” It will become evident in the next Chapter that the Nephilim gene had somehow survived the flood. These verses in Genesis do not go far enough in explaining the events but their significance is recorded. It is believed that Ham and Canaan had learned the way to become a part of the Nephilim or how to revive the gene line and that it had something to do with the physical violation of Noah’s wife. Leviticus 20:11 “And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”)

²³ And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

²⁴ And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

²⁵ And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

²⁶ And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. (Now, here’s the thing to keep at the forefront of your mind as we go forward: the accursed Canaan, son of Ham, is the founder and namesake of the Land of Canaan….. the Land that God told Moses and then Joshua to take away from its inhabitants (who were the descendants of Canaan). The land that God set aside for his chosen people, Israel, as they came up out of Egypt. The Canaanites, Ham’s descendants, would eventually bow down to the Israelites, Shem’s descendants. And Noah’s prophetic blessing set all this into motion and will culminate when Messiah comes in the near future.)

²⁷ God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

²⁸ And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

²⁹ And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

10 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. (There are 70 names mentioned here which is the “Table of Nations’ and are assigned a separate distinct language at the Tower of Babel.)

² The sons of Japheth; Gomer (to come to an end), and Magog (barbarous), and Madai, (medes) and Javan (hot and active), and Tubal (confusion), and Meshech (a possession), and Tiras.(desire)

³ And the sons of Gomer (completion); Ashkenaz (expelled), and Riphath (remedy, medicine), and Togarmah.(which is all bone)

⁴ And the sons of Javan; Elishah (it is God that helps), and Tarshish (contemplation), Kittim, (islander) and Dodanim (leaders).

⁵ By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. (H3956 לָשׁוֹן lashown (law-shone’) n-m. לָשֹׁן lashon (law-shone’) לְשֹׁנָה lshonah (lesh-o-naw’) the tongue (of man or animals), used literally (as the instrument of licking, eating, or speech), and figuratively (speech, an ingot, a fork of flame, a cove of water). These are the people of the 6^th day creation.

⁶ And the sons of Ham; Cush (black: terror), and Mizraim (double straightness), and Phut (afflicted), and Canaan. (trafficker) (Cush is Ethiopia. Mizraim is Egypt. Put is Libya, and Canaan is the founder of the Land of Canaan. The book of Jubilees tells us “And the son grew, and his father taught him writing, and he went to seek for himself a place where he might seize for himself a city. And he found a writing which former generations had carved on the rock, and he read what was thereon, and he transcribed it and sinned owing to it; for it contained the teaching of the Watchers in accordance with which they used to observe the omens of the sun and moon and stars in all the signs of heaven. And he wrote it down and said nothing regarding it; for he was afraid to speak to Noah about it lest he should be angry with him on account of it.”)

⁷ And the sons of Cush; Seba (drink thou), and Havilah (anguish), and Sabtah (compassed the chamber), and Raamah (thunder), and Sabtechah (compassed the smiting): and the sons of Raamah; Sheba (he who is coming), and Dedan.(their love)

⁸ And Cush begat Nimrod (we shall rebel): he began to be a mighty one in the earth. (The words state that Nimrod ‘began’ H2490 חָלַל chalal (chaw-lal’) v. (properly) to bore. to begin (as if by an “opening wedge”). To defile. This indicates that there was a process by which Nimrod could traverse the natural and become a Nephilim.)

⁹ He was a mighty hunter (eager to take prey and set snares) before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.

¹⁰ And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel (to confuse or mix), and Erech (to lengthen, prolong or live with), and Accad (to subtly strengthen), and Calneh (fortress of Anu), in the land of Shinar.

¹¹ Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh (abode of Ninus, fish goddess), and the city Rehoboth (avenue or path), and Calah (completion and strength), (Asshur is simply the Assyrian name for Nimrod; Nimrod being a Babylonian name.)

¹² And Resen (bridle control) between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
(Where does it all begin? The fight between good and evil? Consider this: Anu, the Sumerian god known as “Lord of the Constellations, Spirits and Demons” [i.e. Satan] was said to have fathered more than 50 different gods and goddesses of the ancient world. These ancient names of Enlil, Naama, Ishtar and so on, would become the gods and goddesses of the Greeks and Romans. Zeus, Apollos, Diana are all the exact same demons. Nimrod and his wife Sameramis are known by each of the 70 different languages just by a different name. So reading this back, right to left as the Hebrews write, we can see it was Nimrods goal to: Bridle or control mankind completely with his path to the home and fortress of Anu by subtly strengthening a prolonged mixing or confusion of religion. We can see this in the influence that Constantine (Mithras- Roman name for Nimrod) introduced and still prevails today.)

¹³ And Mizraim begat Ludim (fire brand; travailing), and Anamim (affliction of water), and Lehabim (flames; blades), and Naphtuhim, (openings)

¹⁴ And Pathrusim (moistened morsel), and Casluhim (forgiven ones), (out of whom came Philistim,) (The modern word for Philistine, is Palestine. The bulk of the Palestinians who we see fighting the Israeli Jews every night on TV, are Arabs from various areas of the Middle East, who came as immigrants to the Holy Land area over the last 75 -100 years. The fact is that many of these people have made a conscious decision, out of their hatred for Israel, to identify with the Philistines because the Philistines were Israel’s arch enemy. By identifying with the Philistines, Palestinian Arabs have given up their heritage of the line of good…..Shem…..to join the line of evil…..Ham. They, as have most Arabs, also given up the Semite God, Yahweh, for a false god, Allah. And, they’re going to be judged for it, and we need to pray for them to wake up to this fact before it’s too late.) and Caphtorim.(bowing to spy)

¹⁵ And Canaan begat Sidon (hunting) his first born, and Heth,(terror)

¹⁶ And the Jebusite (trodden down), and the Amorite (sayers), and the Girgasite,(stranger draw near)

¹⁷ And the Hivite (shooting beams of light), and the Arkite (my gnawing), and the Sinite,(thorn)

¹⁸ And the Arvadite (shall break loose), and the Zemarite (double woolens), and the Hamathite (enclosures of wrath): and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

¹⁹ And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

²⁰ These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.

²¹ Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.

²² The children of Shem; Elam (to conceal), and Asshur (This is the Hebrew name not the Assyrian name we encountered earlier in Nimrod and it means ‘to be straight, honest’), and Arphaxad (a healer), and Lud (exclamation), and Aram. (citadel)

²³ And the children of Aram; Uz (consultation), and Hul (circle), and Gether (the vale of trial or searching), and Mash.(Saving)

²⁴ And Arphaxad begat Salah (spear); and Salah begat Eber (to cross over).

²⁵ And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg (earthquake or great divide); for in his days was the earth divided (division of land ownership); and his brother’s name was Joktan.(he will be made little)

²⁶ And Joktan begat Almodad (immeasurable), and Sheleph (extract), and Hazarmaveth (village of death), and Jerah,(lunar cycle)

²⁷ And Hadoram (noble honor), and Uzal (wondering), and Diklah (place of palms),

²⁸ And Obal (stripped bare), and Abimael (God is Father), and Sheba (Oath),

²⁹ And Ophir (fruitful) , and Havilah (circular), and Jobab (howler): all these were the sons of Joktan.
Jobab (howler) …………………… Announcing

Havilah (circular) ……………….. to the world

Ophir (fruitful)…………………… the productive

Sheba (Oath)……………………… promise of

Abimael (God is Father) ……….. The Savior

Obal (stripped bare) ……………. shedding {blood}

Uzal (wondering) ………………… inspiring

Hadoram (noble honor)…………. grace

Jerah,(lunar cycle)………………… as the passover lamb,

Hazarmaveth (village of death) … Hell / Damnation

Sheleph (extract) ………………….removed

Almodad (immeasurable) ………. forever,

Joktan.(he will be made little) …. The child

Peleg (great divide)………………..setting apart

Eber (to cross over) ……………….those coming,

Salah (spear) ……………………….breaking through

Gether (the vale) …………………. the valley or death

Mash.(Saving) …………………….. to salvation

Hul (circle) …………………………. for the earth,

Aram. (citadel)…………………….. our fortress

Lud (exclamation) …………………proclaiming

Asshur (straight, honest’) ……… the truth

Elam (to conceal) …………………. of faith

Shem (name) …………………….in His Name = Yeshua the Messiah!

³⁰ And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.

³¹ These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

³² These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. (Jubilees 10:2-13 “And the sons of Noah came to Noah their father, and they told him concerning the demons which were leading astray and blinding and slaying his sons’ sons. And he prayed before YAHWEH his Sovereign Ruler, and said: ‘YAHWEH of the spirits of all flesh, who have shown mercy unto me
And have saved me and my sons from the waters of the flood,
And have not caused me to perish as You did the sons of perdition;
For Your free unmerited pardon has been great towards me,
And great has been Your mercy to my soul;
Let Your free unmerited pardon be lift up upon my sons,
And let not wicked spirits rule over them
Lest they should destroy them from the earth. But do You bless me and my sons, that we may increase and Multiply and replenish the earth. And You know how Your Watchers, the fathers of these spirits, acted in my day: and as for these spirits which are living, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring destruction on the sons of your servant, my Sovereign Ruler; for these are malignant, and created in order to destroy. And let them not rule over the spirits of the living; for You alone can exercise dominion over them. And let them not have power over the sons of the righteous from henceforth and forevermore.’ And YAHWEH our Sovereign Ruler bade us to bind all.  And the chief of the spirits, Mastema, came and said: ‘YAHWEH, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them listen to my voice, and do all that I shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.’ And He said: Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation.’ And one of us He commanded that we should teach Noah all their medicines; for He knew that they would not walk in uprightness, nor strive in righteousness. And we did according to all His words: all the malignant evil ones we bound in the place of condemnation and a tenth part of them we left that they might be subject before Satan on the earth. And we explained to Noah all the medicines of their diseases, together with their seductions, how he might heal them with herbs of the earth. And Noah wrote down all things in a book as we instructed him concerning every kind of medicine. Thus the evil spirits were precluded from (hurting) the sons of Noah.”)

11 And the whole earth was of one language*, and of one speech**. (As always YHWH has a perfect design in His creation. Why would there be only one language? We can see in Zephaniah 3:9 “For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” There will be a return to one perfect language so that we may praise Him. *H8193 שָׂפָה saphah (saw-faw’) n-f.שֶׂפֶת sepheth (sef-eth’) [dual and plural] 1. the lip (as a natural boundary). 2. (by implication) language. [from H5486] KJV: conclusion, end.** H1697 דָּבָר dabar (daw-ɓaw’) n-m. (royally) a sovereign or royal edict, a matter or a word spoken by a king which carries the innate force of a royal command. These are the royal commands of a self-appointed king – Nimrod.)

² And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. (Shinar is in modern day Iraq, near the Persian Gulf, in an area dominated by the city of Basra. Shinar and Sumer are the same place, just different languages.)

³ And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

⁴ And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. (Proverbs 18:10 “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” Genesis 12:1-2 “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great”)

⁵ And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. (The ‘tower’ seems to be an innocent and industrious project until we discover the true intent behind it. The plot is twofold, first to open a portal to the heavenly realm, and second to Kill God. One of the many names for Nimrod, the foreman of this project, is Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was a vile, filthy, man. Yet the myth says of him that he was “2/3 god and 1/3 man.” Numerically speaking we see immediately the significance of the description, that being, the .666 is two-thirds. Gilgamesh set up tyranny, he opposed YHVH and did his utmost to get people to forsake Him. Therefore we should translate Genesis 10:8-10 to read, “Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a tyrant in the earth. He was a tyrannical hunter in opposition to the Lord. Thus it is said, “Nimrod the tyrannical opponent of YHVH.”” The Gilgamesh Epic describes the first “God is Dead” movement. In the Epic, the hero is a vile, filthy, perverted person, yet he is presented as the greatest, strongest, hero that ever lived. Gilgamesh devises a plan: that the one who sent the Flood, so he will not trouble them anymore, Gilgamesh sets out to kill the perpetrator. Psalm 2:1-5 “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.” Jubilee 10:18-21 And in the three and thirtieth jubilee, in the first year in the second week, Peleg took to himself a wife, whose name was Lomna the daughter of Sina’ar, and she bare him a son in the fourth year of this week, and he called his name Reu; for he said: ‘Behold the children of men have become evil through the wicked purpose of building for themselves a city and a tower in the land of Shinar.’  For they departed from the land of Ararat eastward to Shinar; for in his days they built the city and the tower, saying, ‘Go to, let us ascend thereby into heaven.’ And they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick with fire, and the bricks served them for stone, and the clay with which they cemented them together was asphalt which comes out of the sea, and out of the fountains of water in the land of Shinar. And they built it: forty and three years [1645-1688 A.M.] were they building it; its breadth was 203 bricks, and the height (of a brick) was the third of one; its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms [9550 feet!], and (the extent of one wall was) thirteen stades (and of the other thirty stades {Greek unit of measurement, the stade, the distance covered in the original Greek footraces (about 600 feet [180 metres])}).) 7800×18,000

⁶ And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. (The people were organically connected and inseparable and God didn’t like this. But wait, what is so bad about their being united? All for one, one for all? Is this not the cry from every pulpit, in every church, in our land? Unity, unity! They built a tower up to the heavens to make a reputation of having power and authority in themselves. And, the REASON they wanted the reputation was to show God that they were NOT going to be obedient to Him and scatter as they fully understood they were to do. Further, anyone planning to be a dictator, as was Nimrod, has to demonstrate that he is all-powerful, so that the people will submit to him. It is apparent from the wording that even from the days of Noah, man was to scatter, to disperse, to repopulate the whole world…… those were God’s instructions. Those orders hadn’t been lost or forgotten, they had simply been ignored. But, now, at Nimrod’s leadership, they set out to openly DEFY God’s order to disperse. Unity in the sense of the designs of mankind….including how the ‘church’ defines it, is a false doctrine. The people had a leader, and they had a vision and a purpose that they thought was good; and so, since they ALL thought it, and ALL wanted it, they had unity. The key is what or who the unifying agent is. Consensus and compromise is man’s kind of unity. God’s type of unity is unity in Him, in His Torah, the perfect plan and design for mankind.)

⁷ Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. (Do you see this fascinating connection between Pentecost and the Tower of Babel? At the Tower, God broke up man’s type of unity by giving them different languages, so they couldn’t communicate….so that man’s kind of unity was undone and limited. The HUMAN spirit was what was driving mankind at the Tower of Babel, and the HUMAN spirit was what was defining unity.  Now, at Pentecost, Shavuot, God puts the Holy Spirit into man, and unifies them BY MEANS OF GOD’s SPIRIT……not by means of compromise and consensus. The unity was not a physical type of unity; it was a spiritual type of unity. He even gives them the ability to understand and speak languages they never understood or spoke before…..the exact opposite of what happened at the Tower of Babel when he gave them each languages that they could NOT understand.)

⁸ So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

⁹ Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (The original name was Bav-el or ‘the city of God’. Eventually, it’s meaning got changed to reflect what happened there; and the word Babel came to mean confusion. The second half of Psalm 2 is found here after the scattering of the heathen and their attempt to rule. Psalm 2:6-12 “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.  I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” We today, are in that generation that is actively reincarnating what Nimrod tried to do…… to bind all the world into one people, echad, under one rule, and one ruler…..a man. And, large segments of the church are blindly leading the way preaching tolerance, world harmony, peace at any price, and the end of Torah such that instead we should trust the goodness of our hearts.)

¹⁰ These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: (This appears to be a repeat of the prior, yet it completes the genealogy from Shem to Abram or Abraham.The book of Jasher tells us in Chapter 9:5-6 “And when Abram came out from the cave, he went to Noah and his son Shem, and he remained with them to learn the instruction of the Lord and his ways, and no man knew where Abram was, and Abram served Noah and Shem his son for a long time. And Abram was in Noah’s house thirty-nine years, and Abram knew the Lord from three years old, and he went in the ways of the Lord until the day of his death, as Noah and his son Shem had taught him; and all the sons of the earth in those days greatly transgressed against the Lord, and they rebelled against him and they served other gods, and they forgot the Lord who had created them in the earth; and the inhabitants of the earth made unto themselves, at that time, every man his god; gods of wood and stone which could neither speak, hear, nor deliver, and the sons of men served them and they became their gods.)

¹¹ And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

¹² And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

¹³ And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

¹⁴ And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

¹⁵ And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

¹⁶ And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

¹⁷ And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

¹⁸ And Peleg (dividing) lived thirty years, and begat Reu: (friend)

¹⁹ And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

²⁰ And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: (intertwined)

²¹ And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. (In the book of Jubilees we read in its synchronized account: ch 11:1-4 “1 And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first year thereof, Reu took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Ora, the daughter of ‘Ur, the son of Kesed, and she bare him a son, and he called his name Serug, in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee. And the sons of Noah [broad term for all of his descendants] began to war on each other, to take captive and to slay each other, and to shed the blood of men on the earth, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities, and walls, and towers, and individuals began to exalt themselves above the nation, and to found the beginnings of kingdoms, and to go to war people against people, and nation against nation, and city against city, and all began to do evil, and to acquire arms, and to teach their sons war, and they began to capture cities, and to sell male and female slaves. And Ur, the son of Kesed, built the city of ‘Ara of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father. And they made for themselves molten images, and they worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made for themselves, and they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant spirits assisted and seduced them into committing transgression and uncleanness. Interestingly enough, Simulacra are copies that depict things that either had no original to begin with, or that no longer have an original. The simulacra are the significations and symbolism of culture and media that construct perceived reality, the acquired understanding by which our lives and shared existence is and are rendered legible; society has become so saturated with these simulacra and our lives so saturated with the constructs of society that all meaning was being rendered meaningless by being infinitely mutable. [changing, inconsistent]
Simulacra breaks the sign-order into 4 stages: The first stage is a faithful image/copy, where we believe, and it may even be correct, that a sign is a “reflection of a profound reality”, this is a good appearance, in what is called “the sacramental order”.

The second stage is perversion of reality, this is where we come to believe the sign to be an unfaithful copy, which “masks and denatures” reality as an “evil appearance—it is of the order of maleficence”. Here, signs and images do not faithfully reveal reality to us, but can hint at the existence of an obscure reality which the sign itself is incapable of encapsulating.

The third stage masks the absence of a profound reality, where the sign pretends to be a faithful copy, but it is a copy with no original. Signs and images claim to represent something real, but no representation is taking place and arbitrary images are merely suggested as things which they have no relationship to. This is the “order of sorcery”, a regime of semantic algebra where all human meaning is conjured artificially to appear as a reference to the (increasingly) hermetic truth.

The fourth stage is pure simulation, in which the simulacrum has no relationship to any reality whatsoever. Here, signs merely reflect other signs and any claim to reality on the part of images or signs is only of the order of other such claims. This is a regime of total equivalency, where cultural products need no longer even pretend to be real in a naïve sense, because the experiences of consumers’ lives are so predominantly artificial that even claims to reality are expected to be phrased in artificial, “hyperreal” terms. Any naïve pretension to reality as such is perceived as bereft of critical self-awareness, and thus as oversentimental.)

²² And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: (snorer/asleep)

²³ And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

²⁴ And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: (wild goat sometimes scapegoat i.e. Satan)

²⁵ And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

²⁶ And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram (High father), Nahor (snorer/asleep), and Haran. (mountaineer)

²⁷ Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. (veil)

²⁸ And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur (fire) of the Chaldees. (Kasedim; these territories were named after those people founding the site, thus Kased was one of the relatives of Terah, yet not recorded as part of this lineage.)

²⁹ And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

³⁰ But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. (A curious thing, often overlooked, it seems that it was initially Terah, not Abraham, who FIRST got the call to take his family and move to the land of Canaan. Ur was in essence the capital city and it was also a very wicked place; in fact it was the cultural center for the worship of the Sun god Anu/Enki/Ba’al. In the upcoming chapter we see choosing Abraham to be blessed. We are not given many reasons why and most would assume Abraham was either a righteous man like Noah or it was completely random. The Book of Jubilees again reveals some information that aids in this question. Chapter 12:1-5,12 “And it came to pass that Abram said to Terah his father, saying, ‘Father!’ And he said, ‘Behold, here am I, my son.’ And he said, ‘What help and profit have we from those idols which you do worship, And before which you do bow yourself? For there is no spirit in them, For they are dumb forms, and a misleading of the heart. Worship them not: Worship YAHWEH the Sovereign Ruler of heaven, Who causes the rain and the dew to descend on the earth And does everything upon the earth, And has created everything by His word, And all life is from before His face. Why do you worship things that have no spirit in them? For they are the work of hands, And on your shoulders do you bear them, And you have no help from them, But they are a great cause of shame to those who make them, And a misleading of the heart to those who worship them: Worship them not.’ Abram arose by night, and burned the house of the idols, and he burned all that was in the house and no man knew it.” Abraham would ‘Shma’ the words of YHWH and took action, that’s why God chose him, Abraham put his faith into action.)

³² And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

12 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: (In Hebrew, the words our English Bibles translate as ‘go out’ are Lech Lecha. These words literally mean ‘go unto yourself’ or ‘find out who you really are’. YHVH is asking this of all His children, so, what is involved for us? For Abraham and Sarah it meant saying goodbye to something familiar and comfortable. It also meant leaving relationships and associations they thought would always be a part of their lives. This will be our situation too, in order to make progress in understanding God’s divine will and call on our lives. What is clear is that Abraham’s parents were just as pagan as the rest of the world at this time. It is unimaginable that prior to God’s calling upon him that Abraham divorced himself from multiple god worship; otherwise he would have been at odds with his entire family at every step; implicit in the command of God for Abram to leave his country, and leave his father, and leave his family, is that separation was demanded. What Abraham was going to have to do could not be accomplished by remaining among a people…including his own family…. thoroughly dedicated to their perverted religion. Jasher 9:8 tell us “And Terah had twelve gods of large size, made of wood and stone, after the twelve months of the year, and he served each one monthly, and every month Terah would bring his meat offering and drink offering to his gods; thus did Terah all the days.” Continuing in Jasher 11:15-40 “15 And Terah his father was in those days, still captain of the host of king Nimrod, and he still followed strange gods. And Abram came to his father’s house and saw twelve gods standing there in their temples, and the anger of Abram was kindled when he saw these images in his father’s house. And Abram said, As the Lord liveth these images shall not remain in my father’s house; so shall the Lord who created me do unto me if in three days’ time I do not break them all. And Abram went from them, and his anger burned within him. And Abram hastened and went from the chamber to his father’s outer court, and he found his father sitting in the court, and all his servants with him, and Abram came and sat before him. And Abram asked his father, saying, Father, tell me where is God who created heaven and earth, and all the sons of men upon earth, and who created thee and me. And Terah answered his son Abram and said, Behold those who created us are all with us in the house. And Abram said to his father, My lord, shew them to me I pray thee; and Terah brought Abram into the chamber of the inner court, and Abram saw, and behold the whole room was full of gods of wood and stone, twelve great images and others less than they without number. And Terah said to his son, Behold these are they which made all thou seest upon earth, and which created me and thee, and all mankind. And Terah bowed down to his gods, and he then went away from them, and Abram, his son, went away with him. And when Abram had gone from them he went to his mother and sat before her, and he said to his mother, Behold, my father has shown me those who made heaven and earth, and all the sons of men. Now, therefore, hasten and fetch a kid from the flock, and make of it savory meat, that I may bring it to my father’s gods as an offering for them to eat; perhaps I may thereby become acceptable to them. And his mother did so, and she fetched a kid, and made savory meat thereof, and brought it to Abram, and Abram took the savory meat from his mother and brought it before his father’s gods, and he drew nigh to them that they might eat; and Terah his father, did not know of it. And Abram saw on the day when he was sitting amongst them, that they had no voice, no hearing, no motion, and not one of them could stretch forth his hand to eat. And Abram mocked them, and said, Surely the savory meat that I prepared has not pleased them, or perhaps it was too little for them, and for that reason they would not eat; therefore tomorrow I will prepare fresh savory meat, better and more plentiful than this, in order that I may see the result. And it was on the next day that Abram directed his mother concerning the savory meat, and his mother rose and fetched three fine kids from the flock, and she made of them some excellent savory meat, such as her son was fond of, and she gave it to her son Abram; and Terah his father did not know of it. And Abram took the savory meat from his mother, and brought it before his father’s gods into the chamber; and he came nigh unto them that they might eat, and he placed it before them, and Abram sat before them all day, thinking perhaps they might eat. And Abram viewed them, and behold they had neither voice nor hearing, nor did one of them stretch forth his hand to the meat to eat. And in the evening of that day in that house Abram was clothed with the spirit of God. And he called out and said, Wo unto my father and this wicked generation, whose hearts are all inclined to vanity, who serve these idols of wood and stone which can neither eat, smell, hear nor speak, who have mouths without speech, eyes without sight, ears without hearing, hands without feeling, and legs which cannot move; like them are those that made them and that trust in them. And when Abram saw all these things his anger was kindled against his father, and he hastened and took a hatchet in his hand, and came unto the chamber of the gods, and he broke all his father’s gods. And when he had done breaking the images, he placed the hatchet in the hand of the great god which was there before them, and he went out; and Terah his father came home, for he had heard at the door the sound of the striking of the hatchet; so Terah came into the house to know what this was about. And Terah, having heard the noise of the hatchet in the room of images, ran to the room to the images, and he met Abram going out. And Terah entered the room and found all the idols fallen down and broken, and the hatchet in the hand of the largest, which was not broken, and the savory meat which Abram his son had made was still before them. And when Terah saw this his anger was greatly kindled, and he hastened and went from the room to Abram. And he found Abram his son still sitting in the house; and he said to him, What is this work thou hast done to my gods?

And Abram answered Terah his father and he said, Not so my lord, for I brought savory meat before them, and when I came nigh to them with the meat that they might eat, they all at once stretched forth their hands to eat before the great one had put forth his hand to eat. And the large one saw their works that they did before him, and his anger was violently kindled against them, and he went and took the hatchet that was in the house and came to them and broke them all, and behold the hatchet is yet in his hand as thou seest.” In Jubilees 12: 12 “And in the sixtieth year of the life of Abram, that is, in the fourth week, in the fourth year thereof, Abram arose by night, and burned the house of the idols, and he burned all that was in the house and no man knew it.” Any wonder why YHWH calls Abram? He is a get it done kinda guy! YHVH has promised to take His people in the last days and lead them back to the land. YHVH is calling to a people who are prepared to leave behind the inherited lies of their forefathers, a people who are prepared to step out in faith and leave behind all the comforts that they have grown accustomed to- YHVH is calling a people just like he called Abraham- YHVH is calling a people of faith! Matthew 10:37 “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”)

² And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (This means that Abraham and his descendants are going to become a people; by definition a separate nation, one that up to that point didn’t exist. And, if that is to happen, then Abraham and Sarai must have children, and their children must have children, and lots of descendants after them to the point that sometime in the future, there will be a sufficient number of these descendants, who remain identified with one another, to be counted as a “nation”. What is fascinating is that even in our time, 4000 years later, more than half the population of this planet is represented by the 3 great monotheistic religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, in which Abraham is the revered patriarch of each of these.)

³ And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (What God does for Abraham is going to benefit more than just Abraham. What Abraham does in obedience to God is going to, itself, be a blessing to others. This is a serious warning; not to Abraham, but to all the peoples of the world, from that moment forward: God expects people to recognize that Abraham is chosen of God, and he is to be respected and honored. God is not just referring to Abraham himself. He is speaking of Abraham’s line; even more specifically, of the special nation that will come from Abraham…… his descendants. These promises are neither idle nor obsolete; these promises, given in the form of a covenant, became a law of the spiritual and physical universe…..an unchangeable fact of life… the instant God pronounced it. To ignore this is the utmost folly. To fight against it leads to destruction because the entire operation of the Universe has been finely tuned to achieve the terms of this permanent covenant.)

⁴ So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. (Separation in one way or another is a prerequisite to serving God. Does that separation even involve family? You bet it does, and interestingly that is precisely the example given here. Separation could also be from friends who simply do not share the values you know you must follow; or others who find you odd due to the wholeheartedness that you now have in following and serving Yahweh. Perhaps the separation must be from a church or a synagogue that has, over time, lost it’s first love, and now blindly chases after the world. Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” This is all about separation, not hatred in the sense that we typically think of it. This is about being prepared to be at odds with those closest to you…….as was Abraham with his family…..once you are called by God. Matthew 10:34-36 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.” Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life.” Acts 7:1-4 “Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.” Isaiah 41:8 “But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.” John 15:14 “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” The calling of Abram was not a call to ‘join’ anything, but the exact opposite. Abram was to disentangle himself from all associations that colored his thinking, to UNLEARN everything he had ever been taught about gods and worship. Abram was to completely start over in life with only his relationship with the Creator and follow His guidance. Psalm 118:8 “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”)

⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran (parched); and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. (Haran is the sister-city of Ur and full of Sun-god worship. YHVH being the Good Shepherd ‘called Abram by name’ and ‘lead him out’ of Ur, and then Haran. Abram ‘knew the shepherds voice’ and ‘followed him’ with great faith and trust. John 10:3 “To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” Hebrews 11:8 “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.” )

⁶ And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. (Today, Shechem is known as Nablus, one of the cities under Palestinian control in the West Bank area of dispute. And, there, God actually appeared to Abraham in some unspecified visible form. God appearing to a man, from a Biblical perspective, was rare indeed. But, it was to make a very clear point that we must take at face value to this day: there, God told Abraham that THIS was the land He was giving to him and to all his descendants.)

⁷ And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. (Of all the Biblical principles, covenant is the one we need understand best because it is through the process of covenant that God’s set-apart people (Israel) were created, and through covenant that by trust in God…namely in Yeshua…….we can be saved. The Hebrew word for covenant is B’rit, which comes from the Hebrew root word Barah, which means to “cut or divide” this is done literally and figuratively in multiple ways. Cutting Abram out of Ur, dividing Terah’s household, then there is the gutting and dividing of the sacrifice. There are many uniquely Hebrew concepts….such as the concept embodied in the Hebrew word B’rit or Shalom or Messiah…..that don’t have parallels in another language or culture. The overwhelming characteristic of a God-made biblical covenant as opposed to a covenant between men, or a even modern day promises or contracts, is that once God makes a covenant, it literally becomes a physical law of the universe: like gravity, or the speed of light, or the laws of Thermodynamics. In fact, the Hebrews themselves acknowledge this, because B’rit, their word for covenant, is also used to indicate the “laws of nature”. When God makes a covenant with His creation, that covenant is woven into the very fabric of both space and time; it effects how the universe operates; and it also has an effect in the spiritual realm, because the spiritual realm is the SOURCE of a God-made covenant. So, now, armed with this understanding of covenants, let’s go back to the terms of the covenant that God made with Abraham, understanding that this was not a CONDITIONAL covenant, it was a PERMANENT covenant. And, by definition, a covenant is FOREVER.)

⁸ And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel (House of God) on the west, and Hai (destroyed/heap) on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. (Jubilees 13:8 “And it came to pass in the first year, on the new month of the first month, that he built an altar on this mountain, and called on the NAME of YAHWEH: ‘You, the eternal YAHWEH, are my Sovereign Ruler.’ This occurs on the exact same day of the year as Noah’s sacrifice for deliverance. Look at the choices mankind has: to abide in Bethel [House of God] or [destroyed/heap].We will see this again in the life of Moses as he stands between the mountains. Deuteronomy 30:19 “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live :”)

⁹ And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. (Negev is Hebrew for “south”.)

¹⁰ And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. (This is the beginning of a pattern; the common question we usually ask of any Biblical event or law or instruction or principle or decision, is WHY? Why is almost always the wrong question to ask about God-ordained things. “Why” is a Greek way of thinking. You generally won’t find answers to WHY in the Bible, the way we have been taught to seek and discover WHY by using the scientific method…which is a Greek way of thinking. Rather, God instructs us by giving us patterns. He describes and explains an event, and later, a similar event will occur with a similar method and a similar outcome. The reason that the later event occurred the way it did was that it conformed to the pattern of the previous event. God’s way of explanation is by means of exposing patterns, not by explaining WHY. We should understand that without doubt, Abraham’s travels had nothing to do with his being someone with the urge of wanderlust; moving was always dangerous and difficult. Rather, the first Patriarch’s movements had more to do with the never-ending search of an owner of herds and flocks for new water and pasture sources.)

¹¹ And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

¹² Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

¹³ Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. (Truth be told, she was actually both his wife and his sister…… his half-sister, daughter of another of his own father’s wives. Sarai was only 10 years younger than Abraham; making her about 75 years old.)

¹⁴ And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. (H3303 יָפֶה yapheh [yaw-feh’] adj. beautiful – this word is composed of the letters “yod”, “feh”, & “hey” which are represented in the pictographic Hebrew as ‘hand’, ‘mouth’ & ‘revelation’. Sarah most likely was not what modern day people would expect to find on a magazine cover. Sarah’s beauty was in her actions, her speech and the manner in which she revealed her role as a loving wife and mother. She was a model….. a model of the intended role of a help-meet as YHVH had created woman to be. She made the richness and blessings of the covenant come to life to lead people to relationship with YHVH.)

¹⁵ The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. (Jasher 15:17-19 “And Sarai also prayed at that time and said, O Lord God thou didst tell my Lord Abram to go from his land and from his father’s house to the land of Canaan, and thou didst promise to do well with him if he would perform thy commands; now behold we have done that which thou didst command us, and we left our land and our families, and we went to a strange land and to a people whom we have not known before. And we came to this land to avoid the famine, and this evil accident has befallen me; now therefore, O Lord God, deliver us and save us from the hand of this oppressor, and do well with me for the sake of thy mercy. And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Sarai, and the Lord sent an angel to deliver Sarai from the power of Pharaoh.”)

¹⁶ And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

¹⁷ And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.

¹⁸ And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

¹⁹ Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

²⁰ And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. (This sounds an awful lot like Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Yes. This is another of those biblical types; this event sets up the pattern for that event that was to come several centuries later: the coming to Egypt of Jacob, and the subsequent exodus from Egypt of Jacob’s people, now called Israelites.)

13 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

² And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

³ And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

⁴ Unto the place of the altar, which he had make there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

⁵ And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

⁶ And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

⁷ And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite [Nephilim] dwelled then in the land.

⁸ And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we be brethren.

⁹ Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

¹⁰ And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. (Lot doesn’t want to come out of Babylon)

¹¹ Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east*: and they separated themselves the one from the other. (East means righteous or Godly, so Lot was willfully heading into paganism, a mixture of faith and rebellion. Revelation 3:15-16 “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Have you left behind the lies inherited from your fathers, or like Terah do you cling to them? Do they mean more to you than fulfilling divine destiny? Is Sunday church, Christmas and Easter just too appealing? Do you value those that engage in these practices more highly than you value your relationship to YHVH? Have you parted ways with those that claim the same faith as you, people who you enjoy having a relationship with, but, they are people you know are not ultimately on the same journey? Or are you loathing the break in ties as they meet a need in making you feel good about yourself?)

¹² Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. (We will see in the text forthcoming the decision to bring Lot is, and has been, a painful one as it is in direct opposition to God’s instructions to leave his family behind. Times get tough during the stay in Canaan and Abraham goes into Egypt of his own accord and not according to instruction and again we see trouble. Abraham dishonors and endangers his wife when she is brought into Pharaoh’s harem. The divine intervention of God plaguing Pharaoh is the display of grace upon Abraham. Remember the letter added to Abrams name? Grace is a covenant term and can take the form of forgiveness while in other times it can be discipline or even supernatural intervention. There are even those occasions where grace is represented by God hiding his face from us, either because we are in an unapproachable state of being, or we are in need of recognizing that all that we are is found in Him. Cliché “absence makes the heart grow fonder” is often the most frightening. Here we can see that YHVH proved His ability to keep covenant by making good his promise to bless Abram despite knowing full well he had done nothing to deserve such a blessing.)

¹³ But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

¹⁴ And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: (Abraham is again told to separate himself from family)

¹⁵ For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

¹⁶ And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. (Galatians 3:8 “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.”)

¹⁷ Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. (“Chazakah”, the walking the length and breadth of a land, was a widespread legal custom of that era. It was known by many early civilization, the Egyptians, as well as the Hittites, and attested to in their ancient documents. The concept was that when a piece of property was acquired, the new owner had to walk the perimeter of the entire property, which was symbolic of ‘marking his territory’ if you will. Not until the new owner had done this was the transfer complete. Some cultures even required the king or ruler to walk the perimeter of his kingdom from time-to-time to re-establish his sovereignty over that territory. There would be no amount of sin or rebellion that Abraham or his descendants could commit to cause God to rescind that covenant, and over and over again the Prophets remind us of that in scripture. Reading Ezekiel 36 and 37 we can clearly see the call for House of Israel to live out their responsibility to the covenant. Yet, for the last several hundred years, much of the Church has said that that covenant no longer exists, and that God has instead disposed of his promise to Abraham and essentially turned it over to gentile Christians, as the New Israel. Nonsense. Most certainly Yahweh warned that the people would be removed from that land……for a time……because of their lusting after other gods. But, NEVER was it ever going to be permanently taken from them by Yahweh, and THAT is made abundantly clear in the Bible. American politicians talk about severing the West Bank from the possession of Israel, through tremendous political pressure, and giving that land to the Palestinians as their own sovereign nation; and that in the hope of peace. We even have a large coalition of churches demanding the very same thing out of a doctrine of tolerance, fairness and mercy for the Arabs and the Palestinians. This is precisely the land God gave to Abraham and set aside for his descendants for all time. And, God has warned that those who go against his descendants [those that curse Abraham], He will come against and judge [they will be cursed]. We must understand that peace with the world means war with God. You can clearly see, God’s pattern of dividing, selecting, and electing has never ended; we are living in one of those defining and dividing moments of God. And, part of that dividing and separating process God is using is based around each person’s answer to a single question: where do you stand on Israel? And, like it or not, we must choose one side or the other. We can choose to obey God and honor His covenants and His Torah having peace with Him, or we can stand with the world and the apostate church. Standing, [i.e. grafting into the stick of Ephraim] with Israel [the whole house] is standing with God. Not standing with Israel is standing with the world and against God. )

¹⁸ Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord. (Building an altar was customary to declare one god or another’s authority over that territory.)

14 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar (This king was usually associated with Hammurabi, who ruled Babylonia from 1792 BC until his death in 1750 BC. It is fashionable to identify Amraphel with Aralius, one of the names on the later Babylonian king-lists, and “the subjects and princes of Nimrod called his name Amraphel [means ‘I will cast down”], saying that at the tower his princes and men fell through his means.” – Book of Jasher 11), Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; (Tidal a transliteration of Tudhaliya – either referring to the first king of the Hittite New Kingdom (Tudhaliya I) or the proto-Hittite king named Tudhaliya.)

² That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. (“The son of evil with iniquity (Bera king of Sodom) will come, but the Splendor of the Father (the Son; the Messiah), who is the King of the Earth (Shinab king of Admah), strong and fast (Shemeber king of Zeboiim), will destroy him (King of Bela), who is insignificant and small (which is Zoar).”)

³ All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. (Siddim – a derivation of the word שׂד (shed), meaning demon, a word that has to do with the Babylonian word shedu, which denotes an evil spirit. The Valley Of Siddim would then mean the Valley Of Demons.)

⁴ Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. (Chedorlaomer is a transliteration of the Elamite compound Kudur-Lagamar, meaning servant of Lagamaru – a reference to Lagamaru, an Elamite deity, also known as the Mesopotamian goddesses, such as Isnikarap, Ishtar, and Nanna, whose existence was mentioned by Ashurbanipal and is the counterpart of the Akkadian god Ninurta. Ninurta was a Sumerian and the Akkadian god of hunting and war. According to Sumerian mythology, Ninurta slays each of the monsters later known as the “Slain Heroes” (the Warrior Dragon, the Palm Tree King, Lord Saman-ana, the Bison-beast, the Mermaid, the Seven-headed Snake, the Six-headed Wild Ram) This is the exact same legend is formed by the Persians as Nergal, Greeks as Hercules and the Romans as Saturn. Nergal was sometimes called a demon and even identified with Satan. According to Collin de Plancy and Johann Weyer, Nergal was depicted as the chief of Hell’s “secret police”, and worked as “an honorary spy in the service of Beelzebub”.)

⁵ And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims (“giants”) in Ashteroth (“of the two horns or peaks”; same as the goddess Ashtharoth <H6251>, same as Ishtar, the wife of Baal. — [Nephilim]) Karnaim, and the Zuzims (“roving creatures”; people of Ammon east of the Jordan, the same as Zamzummim Deut 2:20— [Nephilim]) in Ham, and the Emins (“terrors”; ancient inhabitants of Moab — [Nephilim]) in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

⁶ And the Horites (“cave dweller”) in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.

⁷ And they returned, and came to Enmishpat,( <H5880> “spring of judgment”; The West Bank) which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites (“people of lapping”; sons of Esau — [Nephilim]), and also the Amorites (“sayer”{possibly soothsayer}; implies Nephilim), that dwelt in Hazezontamar.

⁸ And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;

⁹ With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

¹⁰ And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits (asphalt tar); and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

¹¹ And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.

¹² And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. (Abram: type of the Messiah, Lot: the type of the people of Israel, or Hebrew people, the spoil (goods) of Sodom and Gomorrah: the type of the wealth of Saudi Arabia.)

¹³ And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.

¹⁴ And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. (Anyone catch the legend of the Greeks ‘300’? [ponder that for later]; this is a typology of born-again believers; the obedient and faithful [Saints] who will come back with the Messiah.)

¹⁵ And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah (means hiding place), which is on the left hand of Damascus.

¹⁶ And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. (Abram with his allies and servants brings back his brother, Lot, the spoil, women and children, and all the people from captivity. The same thing we will see with Moses and the same that we hold in our hearts for the one true Messiah Yeshua at the second coming.)

¹⁷ And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.

¹⁸ And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. (Jasher 16:11-12 “And Adonizedek king of Jerusalem, the same was Shem, went out with his men to meet Abram and his people, with bread and wine, and they remained together in the valley of Melech. And Adonizedek blessed Abram, and Abram gave him a tenth from all that he had brought from the spoil of his enemies, for Adonizedek was a priest before God. The name comes from two Hebrew words Melech meaning King and Tzedek meaning righteousness, and from the scriptures we know that “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Romans 5.19. So this King of Righteousness can only be Jesus Christ in the flesh. Walking and talking with Abraham in the Old Testament. We can further test this out with the scriptures in Revelation 22:13 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” And in John 1:1, 14a “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” I believe we as humans and in particular humans trained by Greco-Roman theologians, we are continually thinking in a linear format and the Bible is simply not written in such a way. The end is known from the beginning and the beginning reveals the end, one without the other leaves the reader without the full knowledge of God’s plan for mankind and Satan plans to destroy us.

David pens for us in Psalm 110 “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.” This again is a foreshadow to the reign of Christ on Earth during the Millennial Kingdom after his second coming, the permanent slaughter of Satan’s earthly dominance where he has establish his kings.” Having affirmed the Kingdom and authority as well as the eternal reign of Jesus let’s look at the priesthood. Hebrews 4:14 tells us “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” And in specific terms he is again mentioned in Hebrews 5:10 “Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” The question now comes to mind, how would Abraham have known this Melchizedek? Where would he have gotten the knowledge to offer him a tithe? After all the Torah had not been written down as Moses was not even born yet. And what would be the importance of a priesthood if there was not a temple yet? Abraham wasn’t even a Jew or a Hebrew or an Israelite ….he was a Chaldean…..from BABYLON! Beginning with Adam, Jesus himself was, and still is, the Great High Priest giving the instruction. In Hebrew the word instruction is Torah. Jesus taught Adam, Adam taught Seth and it continued until Lamech. Lamech fell to the ways of the world and Noah followed his great grandfather Enoch’s teaching. This same pattern happens after the flood when Abrahams father Terah follows Nimrod and God calls Abraham out of the land of Ur. The Torah didn’t just appear on Mt Saini when Moses followed Gods call, it began when the world was created. The Torah was taught by example in the days following the fall then passed generation to generation “in the order of Melchizedek” so that humanity knew how to live according to Gods wishes. The Aaronic priesthood was to carry on this obligation and did so for some time. Yet the hearts of men overtook the desires of God and they perverted the Torah with traditions and obligations that God did not ordain. Thus, Jesus, i.e. Melchizedek, had to return to set us back on the correct path. Matthew 5:18 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Revelation 14:12 “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”)

¹⁹ And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

²⁰ And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. (Hebrews 7:1-4,7 “For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.  Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.” John 8:58 “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”)

²¹ And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

²² And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,

²³ That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet (of something valueless), and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: (Abraham is saying “I don’t want you (as a representative of the Evil One) to ever to be able to say that my abundance had anything to do with you. Whatever I have, be it little or much, comes from God, and I don’t want whatever it is you can offer me.” A wise lesson for all of us: the most important characteristic of ANYTHING is not WHAT it is; it’s the source it came from. John 1:26-27 “John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”)

²⁴ Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

15 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. (Fear? What exactly was the fear Abram was experiencing? Had he not just flexed his muscles and defeated those northern armies? It was the fear that those kings would come back to take retribution because of Abram smiting them. Reward? Reward Abram for what? For refusing to be enriched by the evil king of Sodom; for choosing to place his faith in God. Abram apparently was rethinking his idealistic and principled refusal to accept ALL that he had liberated from Chedorlaomer and had returned to the king of Sodom…… except for that 10% given to Melchizedek. Abram would have been instantly an even wealthier man if he simply had accepted the ruler of Sodom’s most generous offer.)

² And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer (sturdiness) of Damascus?

³ And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. (God says I’m going to do this and so for you……but how often do we respond “yeah, God, but how? How are you going to do it, WHEN are you going to do it? It sure doesn’t look like it’s happening or is there any evidence it ever will.” Yes, Abram may have been God’s man, but he was still just a man.)

⁴ And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

⁵ And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

⁶ And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Here we are told something that so many modern Believers are so sure it was only a NT promise, one brought by Jesus: “He (Abraham) believed God, and God credited it to him as righteousness”. Here was the essence of God’s plan of salvation: trust God, and God will credit it to us as righteousness. This is the very meaning of grace. Grace was Adam’s hope, it was Noah’s, and it was Abraham’s. Grace was the foundation of the Torah given to Moses and is the foundation of the renewed Covenant in Yeshua; it is precisely our hope today. It has never changed.)

⁷ And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees (Babylon), to give thee this land to inherit it.

⁸ And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? (All the customs and traditions of civil society in Abraham’s era, including promises, that were real had structure. That shouldn’t be surprising to us; our promises today also have structure, they are called contracts. We may not realize it, but we perfectly well expect to deal with God in our cultural terms and in ways we can understand. Abram was waiting for the promise of God to be put into a structure that he recognized as valid. God is merciful. So, what happens next is that a VISIBLE form of a covenant making procedure…..done within the cultural norms for the time is performed for Abraham. I say visible, because Abraham could actually see it with his own eyes, and it was recognizable for what it was. And, I also say visible, because when God speaks and makes a promise, it already is a covenant far superior to anything that can be written down or sealed via a ritual. The fabric of space and time is altered when God makes a covenant; the entire Universe is re-shaped and focused around that covenant. That is not allegory or poem; it is the absolute reality of the situation. There doesn’t have to be some human procedure performed in order for His promise to become a legal covenant; Yahweh did this to give Abraham peace about it.)

⁹ And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

¹⁰ And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. (The oldest, most primitive way of creating a covenant was called “cutting a covenant”……Hebrew, “b’rit”, which means literally means, “cutting or dividing”. The earliest covenant making procedure  happened by a representative of each side of a proposed covenant agreement cutting their arm with a knife, and then holding the cuts together to signify mixing the blood; or in some cultures, blood was actually sucked from each other’s’ wounds an ingested by the opposite party. Solemn oaths were sworn, invoking the name of the god each participant worshipped, because a covenant was sacred. In all cases, blood and a god were at the center of the ceremony. In time, a different rite appeared, which involved cutting animals, instead of each other. And, generally, this cutting meant not just slashing an animal to draw blood, but literally killing it and cutting it up…dividing it; either into halves, or into several pieces. The pieces would be laid out on the ground, organized and separated into two groups, and then both participants of the covenant would walk between the pieces, while swearing an oath in the name of their god. Blood was integral in covenant making, because covenants were deemed to be a life-fellowship….and because life was in the blood. Understand what that means: the covenant was life-long, and the participants considered themselves to have been joined together, almost as one flesh, under whatever terms that covenant demanded. Salt, together with bread, was usually eaten as the final event of the covenant ceremony. The participants eating a meal together upon completion of the covenant was a way of signifying that a new family-type relationship had been formed. Salt became so important to the transaction, that the making of a covenant was sometimes called the Covenant of Salt. In fact, in some cultures the act of simply exchanging salt was at times enough to conclude a covenant over an everyday matter, without blood or all the other ritual. We find this idea of the Covenant of Salt mentioned in both the OT and the NT.)

¹¹ And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. (Vultures or scavenger birds are symbolic of death and evil: this was Satan trying to disrupt and stop the covenant because he knew well what it was going to lead to. How often we are warned in the Scriptures that when God promises us good things, Satan will come and try to steal it away. Satan wants you to have what he has to offer you, not what God has already given to you. As those birds swooped down, Abraham could have simply sat there and thought, “well, easy come easy go”, and not fought the evil. Or, more in tune with the modern Church attitude, he could have been completely passive, deciding, “Well, if God wants the promise to go forth, HE will have to do battle with that vulture, the Devil”. Wrong. We are Yahweh’s warriors on earth. We are going to have to get our hands dirty, and put ourselves at risk. Prayer does NOT replace action; prayer prepares us for action. Abram driving those birds away is the Torah equivalent to James’ famous N.T. saying: “resist the devil, and he will flee from you”.)

¹² And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. (The word used here, in Hebrew, for “dark dread” is chashekah. This word ought to sound familiar to us, for its root is the word choshek. And, choshek simply means darkness; but as we learned back in Genesis 1, this doesn’t mean nighttime. It is a spiritual term…..it means dread, evil, death, blindness….so chashekah is a negative term and it indicates that its source is from the spirit world.)

¹³ And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

¹⁴ And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

¹⁵ And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

¹⁶ But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Generally speaking, rabbinical tradition is that the 400-year period begins with the birth of Isaac, and that the 430-year figure begins with the day this covenant with Abraham was made official. We are told in the Bible that 190 years passed from the birth of Isaac until Jacob took his small family down to Egypt. So, if the Rabbis are right, then Israel was not in Egypt 400 years, but only 210 [190 + 210 = 400]. To explain this problem they say that being in a foreign land INCLUDED some of the time spent in Canaan BEFORE moving to Egypt. And, if we look in the Septuagint [the Greek translation of the O.T.], or the Samaritan version of the Torah, we’ll find that those manuscripts specifically state that the period of 430 years included the time in Canaan. This is an interesting clue about how Yahweh operates. In some intricate way that is beyond humans to fathom, God uses the acts of the wicked to achieve His purposes, even to the ultimate benefit of His people. Further, this also indicates God’s absolute foreknowledge of all things. He KNOWS in advance when this wickedness of the Amorites will reach some critical mass; and at the same time He knows in advance when His people Israel will be ready to leave Egypt; and He knows in advance when the Pharaohs of Egypt will have oppressed His people too much, so that God will be justified in smiting them. Enoch 9.4-10 tells us: “And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azâzêl hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dûdâêl, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there forever, and cover his face that he may not see light. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azâzêl: to him ascribe all sin.’ And to Gabriel said the Lord: ‘Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have. And no request that they (i.e. their fathers) make of thee shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and that each one of them will live five hundred years.’”)

¹⁷ And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. (Smoke and fire usually represents the presence of God in the Bible. God walked between the pieces signifying His agreement and word to keep the terms of the covenant. Notice: Abraham did NOT walk between the pieces. Why? Because this was a unilateral covenant; this was not a two-way deal. This was entirely on God. God made promises and had obligations…… Abraham did NOT! Everything promised from this covenant was up to God to make happen.)

¹⁸ In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (For those who want to say that either the Bible doesn’t SAY just what land mass constitutes “the promised land”, or that this covenant has ended, just read this covenant. It is quite literal; to the south, the boundary is the “river of Egypt”. This is NOT the Nile. Rather it is identified with the Wadi el-‘Arish, down in the Sinai. After identifying the southern border, the northern border is said to be “the great river”. The great river has long been an epithet for the Euphrates River that flows to this day from modern day Syria into Iraq. The eastern and western boundaries are a little less explicit, as it refers to the location by means of the areas certain tribes occupy. However, the western boundary is the Mediterranean Sea, because that is the end of the land mass of Canaan, and the location of these tribes is fairly well attested to as including land to the east of the Jordan River, on into the current Kingdom of Jordan, and probably a minor part of westernmost Saudi Arabia.)

¹⁹ The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

²⁰ And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

²¹ And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. (The Nephilim tribes)

16 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. (Sarah has heard from YHVH that she will be the mother of a great nation now for 30+ years. She has now most certainly become “weary in the well-doing”. She takes matters into her own hand and tries to “help” YHVH with his eternal plan. This is obviously the work of Satan deceiving Sarah with his old line “did God really say that?” Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This was not YHVH’s plan, it was hatched in the fallen and flawed reasoning of a wounded human being. Sarah would have been considered less than a woman if she had not produced a male offspring by the inhabitants of the day/region.)

² And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. (Interesting how Adam listened to his wife at the fall and here we see Abram listening to his wife, both concerning promises issued by YHWH. Hagar was gift from Pharaoh; in fact, she supposedly was a princess from Pharaoh’s own household. In a completely usual and normal tradition for the day, Sarai offered Hagar to Abraham as a substitute; that is, Hagar would have Abraham’s child, but technically as per the tradition of the era, the child would actually belong to Abraham and Sarai.)

³ And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

⁴ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. (Now, notice that the scripture does NOT say that Abraham married Hagar; it says Sarai gave her to him AS, or LIKE, a wife. In other words, she was a substitute, a concubine. She was a baby-making machine. But, there is no marriage involved here, which is not only the ancient Hebrew view, it makes sense within the context of the verses, whereas some translations labeling her as Abraham’s wife do not. She REMAINED a handmaiden to Sarai, as Abraham affirms in V6, and in V9 the Angel of the Lord tells her to go back and submit to her mistress, Sarai. If Hagar was a true wife, she would no longer have been under Sarai, she would have become an equal; further, she wouldn’t belong to Sarai any longer, she would belong to Abraham.)

⁵ And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.

⁶ But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

⁷ And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

⁸ And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.

⁹ And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

¹⁰ And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

¹¹ And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. (The Angel of the Lord found Hagar and told her to return UNDER SARAI’s authority. Verses 11 and 12 say that Hagar was told she’d have a boy child, and that his child would produce an enormous number of descendants. And, Ishmael, meaning, “God pays attention”, or “God has given heed”, was to be the child’s name. While Ishmael is the patriarch of several races and lines, primarily he is remembered for creating the Arabs. And, notice where the land of the Arabs, Arabia, eventually came to be: EAST of Israel. It’s important to remember today, in our time, that Abraham is the true father of both the Arabs and the Israelites. And, that both the Arab peoples AND the Israelites are from the line of Shem, meaning they are Semites. Let us also remember, that in our time, what the Evening TV News Anchors call Arabs rarely actually are. Most of these supposed Arabs are actually Persians, Egyptians, and others from the line of Ham….. totally different from TRUE Arabs who are from the line of Shem. What the news tends to do is identify every Muslim (which is a religion) as an Arab (which is a family line), which is completely incorrect.)

¹² And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

¹³ And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

¹⁴ Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi (well of a living (One) of my vision.); behold, it is between Kadesh (barren sanctuary) and Bered. (hail)

¹⁵ And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son’s name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

¹⁶ And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

17 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. (tamiym is the Hebrew word meaning: without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely. To what would Abram be measured to be found without blemish? The Torah or the Commands of God, as they existed well before Mt. Sinai.)

² And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. (Here we see there is something more than just faith and belief in YHVH. There is the condition of obedience to the commands of YHVH in order to make the covenant complete. Has this changed? Malachi 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I change not” John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Genesis 26:4-5 “And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” Daniel 9:4 “And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments” Hebrews 11:7” By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house”)

³ And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

⁴ As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. (More than just Israel)

⁵ Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram (high/exalted father), but thy name shall be Abraham (father of a multitude); for a father of many nations have I made thee. (In the Hebrew alphabet the 5^th letter ה which is ‘hey’ and it means grace. So Father adds to their names the title of the trait of which He bestows upon them, accrediting righteousness. In the Book Of Jubilees Chapter 15 YHWH appeared to Abram and Names him Abraham at the feast of the First-fruits. 1 “And in the fifth year of the fourth week of this jubilee, [1979 A.M.] in the third month, in the middle of the month, Abram celebrated the feast of the first-fruits of the grain harvest. 2 And he offered new offerings on the altar, the first-fruits of the produce, unto YAHWEH, an heifer and a goat and a sheep on the altar as a burnt sacrifice unto YAHWEH; their fruit offerings and their drink offerings he offered upon the altar with frankincense. 3 And YAHWEH appeared to Abram, and said to him:” )

⁶ And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. (Matthew 1:1-16 “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias; And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa; And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias; And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon: And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor; And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”)

⁷ And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. (1 Chronicles 16:15-17 “Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant”)

⁸ And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

⁹ And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. (Galatians 3:29 “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” John 8:39 “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.”)

¹⁰ This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

¹¹ And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. (Dispensational theology states that the death and resurrection of Christ nullified all the “laws” or instructions of the Old Testament. We can see from Paul and Timothy’s action in Acts 16 they did not have the same opinion. Acts 16:1-5 “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek: Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek. And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.” Derbe was a city in the Roman province of Galatia in Asia Minor, and in the ethnic region of Lycaonia in modern day Turkey.)

¹² And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. (Looking back at creation one must ask themselves this question: does the circumcision on the 8^th day seem random, or despite everyone’s claim to health reasons*, does it signify a connection to the set apart creation of Adam on the 8^th day? And, should we continue this practice? 1 Corinthians 6:20 “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [*”Approximately 3 percent of boys who are not circumcised will end up needing the procedure when they get older, because of an infection or the fact that their foreskin doesn’t retract properly (a condition known as phimosis”~ parents.com])

¹³ He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
(Jubilees 15:22-29 “And He left off speaking with him, and YAHWEH went up from Abraham. And Abraham did according as YAHWEH had said to him, and he took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and whom he had bought with his money, every male in his house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin. And on the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and all the men of his house, and all those, whom he had bought with money from the children of the stranger, were circumcised with him. This Torah is for all the generations forever, and there is no circumcision of the days, and no omission of one day out of the eight days; for it is an eternal ordinance, ordained and written on the heavenly tablets. And every one that is born, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised on the eighth day, belongs not to the children of the covenant which YAHWEH made with Abraham, but to the children of destruction; nor is there, moreover, any sign on him that he is YAHWEH’s, but (he is destined) to be destroyed and slain from the earth, and to be rooted out of the earth, for he has broken the covenant of YAHWEH our Sovereign Ruler. For all the malakim of the presence and all the malakim of sanctification have been so created from the day of their creation, and before the malakim of the presence and the malakim of sanctification He has sanctified Yisrael, that they should be with Him and with His kodesh malakim. And do you command the children of Yisrael and let them observe the sign of this covenant for their generations as an eternal ordinance, and they will not be rooted out of the land. For the command is ordained for a covenant, that they should observe it forever among all the children of Yisrael.” Note “Israel” or Jacob has not been borne yet; nor Moses, yet we see again and again the Torah of God.)

¹⁴ And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant. (Exodus 19:5-6 “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” 1 Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”)

¹⁵ And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

¹⁶ And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? (“Isaac” means ‘he shall laugh’ – Abrahams laughter may well be more so in astonishment due to their age.)

¹⁸ And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

¹⁹ And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes* shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. (*H5387 נָשִׂיא nasiy’ (naw-see’) n-m. נָשִׂא nasi’ (naw-see’) (properly) an exalted one, i.e. a king or sheik. The Arab sheiks)

²¹ But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year. (Jubilees 15:30-34 “For Ishmael and his sons and his brothers and Esau, YAHWEH did not cause to approach Him, and he chose them not because they are the children of Abraham, because He knew them, but He chose Yisrael to be His people. And He sanctified it, and gathered it from amongst all the children of men; for there are many nations and many peoples, and all are His, and over all has He placed spirits in authority to lead them astray from Him. But over Yisrael He did not appoint any malak or spirit, for He alone is their ruler, and He will preserve them and require them at the hand of His malakim and His spirits, and at the hand of all His powers in order that He may preserve them and bless them, and that they may be His and He may be theirs from henceforth forever. And now I announce unto you that the children of Yisrael will not keep true to this ordinance, and they will not circumcise their sons according to all this Torah; for in the flesh of their circumcision they will omit this circumcision of their sons, and all of them, sons of Belial, will leave their sons uncircumcised as they were born. And there will be great wrath from YAHWEH against the children of Yisrael, because they have forsaken His covenant and turned aside from His word, and provoked and blasphemed, inasmuch as they do not observe the ordinance of this Torah; for they have treated their members like the Gentiles, so that they may be removed and rooted out of the land. And there will no more be pardon or forgiveness unto them [so that there should be forgiveness and pardon] for all the sin of this eternal error.)

²² And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

²³ And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.

²⁴ And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. (There are some sects of Arabs that hold to the tradition of circumcision at age 13)

²⁶ In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

²⁷ And all the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

18 And the Lord* appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; (*H3068 יְהוָה Yhvah (yeh-vaw’) n/p. the self-Existent or Eternal, the I AM. There is no doubt this is some manifestation of God Almighty because the scripture directly says so. It says Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh, Yahveh, appeared to Abraham. On the other hand, we are told insistently, that no man can look upon God the Father and live. Not even Moses was permitted this honor, though he asked for it.)

² And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men# stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, (#H582 אֱנוֹשׁ ‘enowsh (en-oshe’) n-m. 1. (properly) a mortal (and thus differing from the more dignified H120). 2. (hence) a man in general (singly or collectively). NEVER does the word enowsh refer to spirit beings.)

³ And said, My Lord**, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: (**H136 אֲדֹנָי ‘Adonay (ad-o-noy’) n-m. [meaning] Lord [used as a proper name of God only]. When Adonai is referring to God it’s not denoting more than one, it’s simply denoting greatness.)

⁴ Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

⁵ And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

⁶ And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

⁷ And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. (All this bowing and scraping Abraham is doing…..calling them lords……telling his wife to hurry and bring food…..foot bathing, etc…….is just typical and traditional Middle Eastern hospitality of that era; and to some degree it exists even today. Nothing Abraham does is out of the ordinary for greeting much welcomed guests.)

⁸ And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

⁹ And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. (This is a rhetorical question. This is simply a nice way to open a conversation about Sarah. It’s not that these men don’t know the answer.  The fact is, spirit beings, and particularly God, and has to dumb things down pretty severely to communicate with humans.)

¹⁰ And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. (Notice how each of God’s promises build upon earlier promises. And, how each covenant is built upon earlier covenants. A new promise or new covenant doesn’t replace or countermand an earlier one; it simply takes the sum of the earlier ones to the next level. When one builds a house, it starts with preparing the ground. Over that prepared ground a foundation is built. One can no longer see the ground under the foundation, but it’s still there. Upon that foundation the first floor is built. One can no longer see the foundation, but it’s still there. Upon the first floor, the 2nd floor is built, and so on. One thing built upon the former. Without the ground you can’t have a foundation; without the foundation you can’t have the 1st floor; without the 1st floor you can’t have the 2nd. If you could remove the prepared ground from under the foundation, the building would collapse. If you could remove the foundation from under the first floor, the building would fall. If you could slide the 1st floor out from underneath the 2nd floor, the building would instantly become rubble. Each portion of the structure of the house is dependent on the other; leave one out, or remove one, and the house is destroyed. This is how God’s covenants work. The New Covenant, the Covenant of Jesus Christ, is not a covenant that replaces the earlier ones, nor does it stand-alone. The New Covenant is dependent on ALL the earlier ones, and it is the fulfillment of all the earlier ones…each covenant built upon the ones preceding it. The promises of God to Abraham in bringing about an heir sets up this pattern of bringing about His will in stages.)

¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

¹² Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? (H7130 קֶרֶב qereb (keh’-reɓ) n-m.(properly) the nearest part, i.e. the center, whether literal, figurative or adverbial. It is difficult to determine, yet completely plausible that this was not an out-loud belly laugh, it seems to indicate this was more of a ‘mental’ thing…”HA! He has got to be kidding” and even so YHVH could ‘hear’ it.)

¹³ And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

¹⁴ Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

¹⁵ Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. (Considering this as an internal thought makes it easier to understand why Sarah would have denied it. She would have thought that she was the only one that knew it happened as she considered the event in her own human bounds. Jubilees 16:16-31 “And we returned in the seventh month, and found Sarah with child before us] and we blessed him, and we announced to him all the things which had been decreed concerning him, that he should not die till he should beget six sons more, and should see them before he died; but that in Yitschaq should his name and seed be called: And that all the seed of his sons should be Gentiles, and be reckoned with the Gentiles; but from the sons of Yitschaq one should become a kodesh seed, and should not be reckoned among the Gentiles. For he should become the portion of the Most High, and all his seed had fallen into the possession of YAHWEH, that it should be unto YAHWEH a people for His possession above all nations and that it should become a kingdom and priests and a kodesh nation. And we went our way, and we announced to Sarah all that we had told him, and they both rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And he built there an altar to YAHWEH who had delivered him, and who was making him rejoice in the land of his sojourning, and he celebrated a festival of joy in this month seven days, near the altar which he had built at the “Well of the Oath”. And he built booths for himself and for his servants on this festival, and he was the first to celebrate the feast of tabernacles on the earth. And during these seven days he brought each day to the altar a burnt offering to YAHWEH, two oxen, two rams, seven sheep, one he-goat, for a sin offering, that he might atone thereby for himself and for his seed. And, as a thank-offering, seven rams, seven kids, seven sheep, and seven he-goats, and their fruit offerings and their drink offerings; and he burnt all the fat thereof on the altar, a chosen offering unto YAHWEH for a sweet smelling savor. And morning and evening he burnt fragrant substances, frankincense and galbanum, and stackte, and nard, and myrrh, and spice, and costum; all these seven he offered, crushed, mixed together in equal parts (and) pure. And he celebrated this feast during seven days, rejoicing with all his heart and with all his soul, he and all those who were in his house, and there was no stranger with him, nor any that was uncircumcised. And he blessed his Creator who had created him in his generation, for He had created him according to His good pleasure; for He knew and perceived that from him would arise the plant of righteousness for the eternal generations, and from him a kodesh seed, so that it should become like Him who had made all things. And he blessed and rejoiced, and he called the name of this festival “The Festival of YAHWEH”, a joy acceptable to the Most High YAHWEH. And we blessed him forever, and all his seed after him throughout all the generations of the earth, because he celebrated this festival in its season, according to the testimony of the heavenly tablets. For this reason it is ordained on the heavenly tablets concerning Yisrael, that they shall celebrate the feast of tabernacles seven days with joy, in the seventh month, acceptable before YAHWEH -a statute forever throughout their generations every year. And to this there is no limit of days; for it is ordained forever regarding Yisrael that they should celebrate it and dwell in booths, and set wreaths upon their heads, and take leafy boughs, and willows from the brook. And Abraham took branches of palm trees, and the fruit of goodly trees, and every day going round the altar with the branches seven times [a day] in the morning, he praised and gave thanks to YAHWEH his Sovereign Ruler for all things in joy.”)

¹⁶ And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

¹⁷ And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; (At least one thing we should take from this is that God does not keep His plans for mankind a secret. He does not keep the reasons for His judgments on people and nations secret. He does not keep the reasons for giving out blessings a secret. Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”)

¹⁸ Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

¹⁹ For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

²⁰ And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; (The book of Jasher describes some of the actions of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. “And when a poor man came to their land they would give him silver and gold, and cause a proclamation in the whole city not to give him a morsel of bread to eat, and if the stranger should remain there some days, and die from hunger, not having been able to obtain a morsel of bread, then at his death all the people of the city would come and take their silver and gold which they had given to him. And those that could recognize the silver or gold which they had given him took it back, and at his death they also stripped him of his garments, and they would fight about them, and he that prevailed over his neighbor took them.” Another example: “And in the course of time Sarah sent Eliezer to Sodom, to see Lot and inquire after his welfare. And Eliezer went to Sodom, and he met a man of Sodom fighting with a stranger, and the man of Sodom stripped the poor man of all his clothes and went away. And this poor man cried to Eliezer and supplicated his favor on account of what the man of Sodom had done to him. And he said to him, Why dost you act thus to the poor man who came to your land? And the man of Sodom answered Eliezer, saying, Is this man your brother, or have the people of Sodom made you a judge this day, that you speak about this man?  And Eliezer strove with the man of Sodom on account of the poor man, and when Eliezer approached to recover the poor man’s clothes from the man of Sodom, he hastened and with a stone smote Eliezer in the forehead. And the blood flowed copiously from Eliezer’s forehead, and when the man saw the blood he caught hold of Eliezer, saying, Give me my hire for having rid you of this bad blood that was in your forehead, for such is the custom and the law in our land.”

²¹ I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know. (2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished”)

²² And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.

²³ And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? (The entire concept of repentance is nowhere to be found, yet, in Genesis….and it will be some time before we do see it develop. The only issue, thus far revealed, in God’s justice system as regards mankind’s behavior is: is that person righteous in God’s eyes, or not. The wicked remain wicked, and the righteous remain righteous. We don’t find Noah pleading with the wicked to repent; we don’t find Abraham pleading with the wicked to repent. In Abraham’s pleadings to Yahweh, it’s not about whether the people who are doing wrong might REPENT and turn from their evil; it’s ONLY about whether those who are NOT doing wrong will be judged right along with those who ARE doing wrong. Repentance does not play a role in the story of Sodom, any more than it played a role in the Flood story of Noah. Sodom was but the primary city, and government seat, of a 5-city district that was under common rule; Gomorrah was one of those 5 cities. So, when ONLY the name Sodom is mentioned, it is just that Sodom is representative of the whole district.  When destruction was finally poured out, it was upon all 5 cities. There is a major difference between God pouring out His supernatural wrath, and His permitting bad things to happen, by which all are affected. For instance, let’s say that “the big one” hits San Francisco; that 9.0 earthquake that is utterly devastating levels the city, and thousands are killed. Now, we all know that in our time, San Francisco is held up as a kind of Sodom and Gomorrah. So, are we to take this hypothetical 9.0 earthquake as an outpouring of God’s wrath on that city? No. That the earthquake occurred, in a way, was indeed allowed by Yahweh, but it was not an ACT of Yahweh. The good WILL be killed along with the wicked as occurs with all these cataclysmic events that have happened over the centuries. But, the earthquake fault has existed for millions of years, and earthquakes of that size have occurred before along that fault-line. It’s just that now, millions of people live there, whereas they didn’t before. The outpouring of God’s wrath is when God SENDS a catastrophe. It is unique. Its scope is so far beyond what nature could normally do, and it occurs at a time that God ordains. The Flood is one example. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is another. At the end of the world, the earth’s population will see phenomenon never before seen by man; and the Bible clearly states God is sending it as a judgment. An outpouring of God’s wrath is preceded by ample warning. It’s not sudden and unannounced.)

²⁴ Peradventure* there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? (*to come into being, i.e. to happen, to occur)

²⁵ That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

²⁶ And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

²⁷ And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

²⁸ Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

²⁹ And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.

³⁰ And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

³¹ And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake. (Isaiah 1:18-20 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.)

³² And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake. (We’ll find in later books of the Bible that 10 is a common minimum number for a useful congregation size. To this day, Jews generally will not conduct a service, nor even pray in a group of less than 10 individuals; in Hebrew this is called a minyan. So, YHWH was saying that providing there was a minyan in the midst of the wicked population, He would stay His hand of judgment. Psalm 11:5-6 “The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.”)

³³ And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

19 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; (So, what can we learn about Yahweh and/or about angels from this event? For one thing, angels have the ability to take on physical dimension. In fact, if we can point to one concrete thing we can know about angels from Scripture, it is that USUALLY they take on human form when they interact with humans. Generally speaking, the humans in the Bible story don’t realize at first that these “men” they’re seeing and talking to aren’t really men at all, but rather are angels. Often we will see that once the humans realize that these “men” are angels, fear sets in, and the humans fall on their faces in worship or literally feint from fright, which is apparently, the main reason the angels take on human form in the first place. That is, so they don’t, quite literally, scare humans to the point of utter disorientation or even death. Angels……messengers, malach, are apparently somewhat lower spirit being who don’t always have free will nor freedom. They are sent from Heaven to do specific tasks under specific orders from Yahweh. They have no latitude or option to exercise their personal wills in the matter. That is why they are, indeed, messengers. They don’t create the message, they simply transport it. And, the message can be in the form of destruction, of which they apparently can have almost unlimited force at their disposal to accomplish.)

² And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

³ And he pressed (to peck at) upon them greatly (vehemently); and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. (Lot made Matzah, unleavened bread, for them to eat. We saw earlier where Abraham had Sarah make “cakes” or bread with leaven, so we can make the connection to the day this occurred; Passover adding more significance and prophecy to the arriving Savior. And, now, he has to hurry to leave, that type is carried forward several centuries later to the making of unleavened bread before Israel hurriedly left Egypt.)

⁴ But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

⁵ And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

⁶ And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,

⁷ And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.

⁸ Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

⁹ And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

¹⁰ But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.

¹¹ And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

¹² And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:

¹³ For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.

¹⁴ And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

¹⁵ And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

¹⁸ And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:

¹⁹ Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:

²⁰ Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

²¹ And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.

²² Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

²³ The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. (As weak as was Lot’s faith, and as apparently unusable Lot was for God’s good purposes, God still saved him for Lot was, after all, one of His. What a sad summary we get of Lot’s existence as he walks by sight whereas Abraham walks by faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight”. )

²⁴ Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;

²⁵ And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

²⁶ But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. (The Hebrew term “not looking back” is an idiom; it simply means to dally or to hesitate. What appears to have actually happened is that Lot’s wife didn’t heed the warnings and lagged behind. Proverbs 6:15 “Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.” The indication is that IMMEDIATELY upon Lot and His family stepping outside the city walls, the destruction began. Lot’s wife suffered the same fate as the other inhabitants of the district. Ecclesiastes 9:12 “For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”)

²⁷ And Abraham get up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord:

²⁸ And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹ And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. (Then we find out exactly why God saved Lot: we’re told it was because Abraham had asked him to. It was because the righteous Abraham had pled for the life of Lot. James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Something all of us need to keep in mind. Your prayers can lead to saving the unsaved, encouraging the weak and bring the much needed assistance of the Creator to the aid of another.)

³⁰ And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

³¹ And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:

³² Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

³³ And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

³⁴ And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

³⁵ And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.

³⁶ Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

³⁷ And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. (Daniel 11:41 “He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” God will allow in the end times the descendants if Lot and Esau a special protection.)

³⁸ And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. (Behaving as a carnal Believer, and in yet another bad judgment, Lot left the place God had prepared for him, and took his two daughters with him, and they moved into a cave up in the hill country.  Lot, because of his fears and lack of obedience and discipline and faith, had put his daughters in a terrible predicament. They were now in a remote location [East of the Dead Sea] and far from any husband prospects; archeology has shown that the area to which Lot and his 2 daughters migrated was utterly barren and without population centers during this era. Quite literally, the 3 remaining family members of Lot thought they had witnessed the end of the world. … the only people left on planet earth as a result of God’s judgment on the world. The two girls apparently did not understand that what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah was but a localized disaster; and it would seem that neither did Lot. His daughters, physically mature enough to bear children, would have been terribly ashamed for NOT having children, because that was the primary duty of a woman in those days. So, now without husbands and apparently yet to bear children, the sisters made a pact with each other: they were going to get their father drunk, and have sex with him so they would have children. This seemed perfectly fine to their twisted little minds, for they had been raised up in the city of Sodom where this wicked act would have been par for the course. But, this was NOT normal, not even for Biblical times. A man, fathering children by his own daughters, was looked down upon. And, the result of this abomination was two children who would go on to become the founders of the nations of Moab and Ammon: two archenemies of Israel, and therefore, of God. It is amazing what our selfish and faithless acts can lead to. It is interesting to note that in Deuteronomy two nations are singled out as being those with which intermarriage to Israelites may not take place: Moab and Ammon. Deuteronomy 23:3 “An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever”)

20 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. (This is the land of the Philistines, of note, Palestinian is but the Greek word for Philistine. The place called Shur is actually in Egypt; Shur is just the Hebrew form of the Aramaic word Shur-a, which means “a wall”. Centuries before Abraham, the Egyptians had built a fortification wall roughly along the line of the modern day Suez Canal. Its purpose was to protect itself against those hordes of Asians to the North of them that constantly pestered Egypt. There is reasonable evidence that the wall existed about 400 years before Abraham, in ancient Egyptian archives, in the document that scholars have dubbed “The Prophecy of Nepherti”.)

² And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. (Sarah is technically Abraham’s half-sister, different mothers but the same father. Abimelech is a fairly common name for that era, so it is kind of a combination title and name……and it means, “my father is king” [Abba, father, melech, king] The king was trying to make an alliance with Abraham in the customary way of that era: marry a family member of the hoped for ally.)

³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.

⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?

⁵ Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

⁶ And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. (It’s obvious from the story that there was mutual respect and peaceful intentions, not kidnapping that was going on here. There is no indication of force. God acknowledges that Abimelech was telling the truth, but then goes on to say that it was divine power that kept Abimelech from touching Sarah…….because if he had, then no excuse would have sufficed, death would have been the penalty.)

⁷ Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

⁸ Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.

⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. (Much like the result of Adams sin the ground would not produce food as the world was originally designed, we see here a “curse” that prevents the interruption of Gods promise to Abraham of a child coming unto Sarah. This is protecting the perfect lineage to the Savior.)

¹⁰ And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

¹¹ And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.

¹² And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

¹³ And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

¹⁴ And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.

¹⁵ And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

¹⁶ And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

¹⁷ So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. (God “restored” Abimelech and his household, in an unspecified amount of time, none of Abimelech’s wives or concubines produced any children for him. So, this story we just read in a few verses probably played out over a several month period at the least.)

¹⁸ For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.

21 And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.

² For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time* of which God had spoken to him. (H4150 מוֹעֵד mow`ed (mo-ade’) n-m. an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season.)

³ And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. (The promise, 25 years in the making, Sarai had a child: Yitz’chak (Isaac); Isaac means, “he laughs”.)

⁴ And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him. (See notes on Genesis 17:10-12 / Galatians 3:29 “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” This is a conditional promise, based on our faith and action AFTER we have accepted the salvation of Yeshua. Romans 4:9-11 “Cometh this blessedness (salvation) then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also”. Galatians 4:21-30 “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law [earning your salvation though the sacrificial system and all of your own ceremonial efforts thereby rejecting Yeshua; baptism doesn’t save your soul, nor does circumcision, or being a youth pastor or a door greeter, deacon or singing in the choir…get it!], do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid [Ishmael], the other by a freewoman. [Isaac]  But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh [man’s traditions]; but he of the freewoman was by promise. [Instructions of YHVH] Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the Mount Sinai [sacrificial system], which gendereth to bondage [tied to the endless work of sacrifice], which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem [sacrifice of Yeshua] which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. [there will be far more that are outside of salvation than those that are saved]  Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh [Ishmael] persecuted him that was born after the Spirit [Isaac], even so it is now. [Pharisees wanting to impose the sacrificial system as well as all the laws of the Talmud, Mishnah and the Oral traditions] Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Hebrews 2:14 “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil”)

⁵ And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.

⁶ And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.

⁷ And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age. (They were astonished and dumbfounded to say the least.)

⁸ And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. (Jubilees 16:16-29 “And we returned in the seventh month, and found Sarah with child before us] and we blessed him, and we announced to him all the things which had been decreed concerning him, that he should not die till he should beget six sons more, and should see them before he died; but that in Yitschaq should his name and seed be called: And that all the seed of his sons should be Gentiles, and be reckoned with the Gentiles; but from the sons of Yitschaq one should become a kodesh seed, and should not be reckoned among the Gentiles. For he should become the portion of the Most High, and all his seed had fallen into the possession of YAHWEH, that it should be unto YAHWEH a people for His possession above all nations and that it should become a kingdom and priests and a kodesh [holy] nation. And we went our way, and we announced to Sarah all that we had told him, and they both rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And he built there an altar to YAHWEH who had delivered him, and who was making him rejoice in the land of his sojourning, and he celebrated a festival of joy in this month seven days, near the altar which he had built at the “Well of the Oath”. And he built booths for himself and for his servants on this festival, and he was the first to celebrate the feast of tabernacles on the earth. And during these seven days he brought each day to the altar a burnt offering to YAHWEH, two oxen, two rams, seven sheep, one he-goat, for a sin offering, that he might atone thereby for himself and for his seed. And, as a thank-offering, seven rams, seven kids, seven sheep, and seven he-goats, and their fruit offerings and their drink offerings; and he burnt all the fat thereof on the altar, a chosen offering unto YAHWEH for a sweet smelling savor. And morning and evening he burnt fragrant substances, frankincense and galbanum, and stackte, and nard, and myrrh, and spice, and costum; all these seven he offered, crushed, mixed together in equal parts (and) pure. And he celebrated this feast during seven days, rejoicing with all his heart and with all his soul, he and all those who were in his house, and there was no stranger with him, nor any that was uncircumcised. And he blessed his Creator who had created him in his generation, for He had created him according to His good pleasure; for He knew and perceived that from him would arise the plant of righteousness for the eternal generations, and from him a kodesh seed, so that it should become like Him who had made all things. And he blessed and rejoiced, and he called the name of this festival “The Festival of YAHWEH”, a joy acceptable to the Most High YAHWEH. And we blessed him forever, and all his seed after him throughout all the generations of the earth, because he celebrated this festival in its season, according to the testimony of the heavenly tablets. For this reason it is ordained on the heavenly tablets concerning Yisrael, that they shall celebrate the feast of tabernacles seven days with joy, in the seventh month, acceptable before YAHWEH -a statute forever throughout their generations every year.” Another example of Torah and Feasts prior to the “Law of Moses”)

⁹ And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. (H6711 צָחַק tsachaq (tsaw-chak’) v.1. to laugh outright [in merriment or scorn].2. to sport. Another definition of the word sport is as an intransitive verb: a :  to amuse oneself : or to deviate or vary abruptly from type. Looking at the book of Jasher we can see that Ishmael may have done something very unsettling to bring about Sarah’s concern and eventual ire. Jasher 20:12-14 “And YAHWEH was with Ishmael the son of Abraham, and he grew up, and he learned to use the bow and became an archer. And when Yitschaq was five years old he was sitting with Ishmael at the door of the tent. And Ishmael came to Yitschaq and seated himself opposite to him, and he took the bow and drew it and put the arrow in it, and intended to slay Yitschaq.”)

¹⁰ Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

¹¹ And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

¹² And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

¹³ And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. (Known as the law of ‘Lipit-Ishtar’ [§25] (Code of Hammurabi) it was the law of the land in Abrahams era. Abraham had the right to accept or deny Ishmael as an heir to his estate, BECAUSE Ishmael was born to a slave woman. It is obvious by all accounts that Ishmael had been accepted by Abraham as the heir-apparent of the clan. Therefore, Ishmael was to have been given the firstborn’s share of Abraham’s very substantial wealth; and by this, Hagar, Ishmael’s mother, would also have benefited. However, because Hagar was a slave, the slave’s owner had at all times the right to grant freedom to the slave. Hagar, belonged, legally, to Sarah. When Sarah went to Abraham and told him to cast out Hagar and that son of hers, Ishmael, it was Sarah’s legal right to do so. However, when a slave woman was released, it was the choice of the FATHER of her children if those children were to be released along with her. Sarah could NOT legally order Ishmael out…….but she could banish Hagar. Abraham’s decision to order Hagar out was not his to make; BUT…..his decision to follow Sarah’s desire for Ishmael to also leave most definitely WAS entirely up to Abraham.  And, when he agreed to do as Sarah asked, Ishmael’s inheritance went down the drain. Ishmael and Hagar, in a moment, went from being wealthy and having authority, to being penniless and homeless.)

¹⁴ And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵ And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

¹⁶ And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

¹⁷ And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

¹⁸ Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
(Notice, now, that this messenger did not appear before Hagar…..he simply called out to Hagar from up in heaven. There is nothing that speaks of an appearance. Notice also that we are told “God” (Elohim) heard the cry of the boy…..not the cry of the mother. Was this an angel or was this God? Angels usually make it clear that they are doing the bidding of God; but here the messenger says, “I will make Ishmael a great nation”. But, notice that there is NO promise of land; just a nation. And, just to be clear, in Bible terms nations are not about land or territory, they are about people groups.)

¹⁹ And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

²⁰ And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

²¹ And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt. (Paran is an area roughly between the southern-end of the Dead Sea to about halfway down into the Sinai Peninsula, and eastward into the area that would someday be known as Midian; or more generally, as the Arabian Peninsula.)

²² And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:

²³ Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned.

²⁴ And Abraham said, I will swear.

²⁵ And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.

²⁶ And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing; neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day.

²⁷ And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.

²⁸ And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹ And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?

³⁰ And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.

³¹ Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.

³² Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

³³ And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.

³⁴ And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines’ land many days.

22 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt* Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. (*H5254 נָסָה nacah (naw-saw’) v. to test. This is important: because the reason for telling us in the initial sentence that “this is a test”, is so as we read about it we don’t fret and wonder if in some way Yahweh actually sanctions human sacrifice on some level. Something we don’t see in the Bible is how this comes about. The Books of Jubilee and Jasher give us more detail. Jasher 22:41-44 “And when Yitschaq was thirty-seven years old, Ishmael his brother was going about with him in the tent. And Ishmael boasted of himself to Yitschaq, saying, I was thirteen years old when YAHWEH spoke to my father to circumcise us, and I did according to the word of YAHWEH which he spoke to my father, and I gave my soul unto YAHWEH, and I did not transgress his word which he commanded my father. And Yitschaq answered Ishmael, saying, Why dost you boast to me about this, about a little bit of your flesh which you didst take from your body, concerning which YAHWEH commanded you? As YAHWEH liveth, the ALMIGHTY of my father Abraham, if YAHWEH should say unto my father, Take now your son Yitschaq and bring him up an offering before me, I would not refrain but I would joyfully accede to it.” What an opportunity for Satan to step in and try to thwart the plans of God of bringing the Messiah through Abraham’s covenant. Enter the opportunist: Jasher 22:45-53 “And YAHWEH heard the word that Yitschaq spoke to Ishmael, and it seemed good in the sight of YAHWEH, and he thought to try Abraham in this matter. And the day arrived when the sons of YAHWEH came and placed themselves before YAHWEH, and Satan also came with the sons of YAHWEH before YAHWEH. And YAHWEH said unto Satan, Whence come you? and Satan answered YAHWEH and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And YAHWEH said to Satan, What is your word to me concerning all the children of the earth? and Satan answered YAHWEH and said, I have seen all the children of the earth who serve you and remember you when they require anything from you. And when you give them the thing which they require from you, they sit at their ease, and forsake you and they remember you no more. Hast you seen Abraham the son of Terah, who at first had no children, and he served you and erected altars to you wherever he came, and he brought up offerings upon them, and he proclaimed your name continually to all the children of the earth. And now that his son Yitschaq is born to him, he has forsaken you, he has made a great feast for all the inhabitants of the land, and YAHWEH he has forgotten. For amidst all that he has done he brought you no offering; neither burnt offering nor peace offering, neither ox, lamb nor goat of all that he killed on the day that his son was weaned. Even from the time of his son’s birth till now, being thirty-seven years, he built no altar before you, nor brought any offering to you, for he saw that you didst give what he requested before you, and he therefore forsook you.” Satan is always the accuser and twister of details concerning humanity; what he doesn’t know is the depths of our hearts. Jasher 22:54-55 “And YAHWEH said to Satan, Hast you thus considered my servant Abraham? for there is none like him upon earth, a perfect and an upright man before me, one that fears YAHWEH and avoids evil; as I live, were I to say unto him, Bring up Yitschaq your son before me, he would not withhold him from me, much more if I told him to bring up a burnt offering before me from his flock or herds. And Satan answered YAHWEH and said, Speak then now unto Abraham as you hast said, and you wilt see whether he will not this day transgress and cast aside your words.” And so, we will see.)

² And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. (Mt. Moriah is where the Temple used to, and will again someday, exist; that place that today is called the Temple Mount. Approximately a 50 miles journey, a 3 day journey, that lies ahead of him…..lots of time to think, and back out of the agonizing purpose of this trip. From the moment that Abraham gets this command, he will, in his mind consider Isaac as already dead, it is just a matter of fulfilling the command.)

³ And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. (Jasher 23:21-23 “And Abraham took two of his young men with him, Ishmael the son of Hagar and Eliezer his servant, and they went together with them, and while they were walking in the road the young men spoke these words to themselves, And Ishmael said to Eliezer, Now my father Abraham is going with Yitschaq to bring him up for a burnt offering to YAHWEH, as He commanded him. Now when he returns he will give unto me all that he possesses, to inherit after him, for I am his first born.” Greed, envy and power are the tools of Satan over and over again in this world. They are the propellant for this event yet Satan will not leave all the work for humanity.)

⁴ Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

⁵ And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. (Abraham had been given a promise – Isaac would have a multitude of children and as of yet he had not. This would make God to be a liar, so, Abraham knew that God would have to “make a way where there is no way.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.)

⁶ And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. (So many times in this world we are “called” or “nudged” or better yet inclined to do something that we know has the stamp of YHWH all over it, and yet, sadly, we shrink up and do not do it. Why? There are other voices, those in our own mind of doubt, fear and worry, or even perhaps of some “well-meaning” friend or relative that says to you “have you considered the outcome”. These voices are in like manner to those we see here in the telling of Isaac and Abraham. Jasher 23:25-28 “And while Abraham was proceeding with his son Yitschaq along the road, Satan came and appeared to Abraham in the figure of a very aged man, humble and of contrite spirit, and he approached Abraham and said to him, Art you silly or brutish, that you go to do this thing this day to your only son? For YAHWEH gave you a son in your latter days, in your old age, and wilt you go and slaughter him this day because he committed no violence, and wilt you cause the soul of your only son to perish from the earth? Dost you not know and understand that this thing cannot be from YAHWEH? for YAHWEH cannot do unto man such evil upon earth to say to him, Go slaughter your child. And Abraham heard this and knew that it was the word of Satan who endeavored to draw him aside from the way of YAHWEH, but Abraham would not hearken to the voice of Satan, and Abraham rebuked him so that he went away.” Do you know the sound of Satan’s voice? Even when it’s masked by someone humble and contrite? What about those in partnership with you, do they know which is the voice of YHWH? and which is the voice of the Adversary? Jasher 23:29-33 “And Satan returned and came to Yitschaq; and he appeared unto Yitschaq in the figure of a young man comely and well favored. And he approached Yitschaq and said unto him, Dost you not know and understand that your old silly father brings you to the slaughter this day for naught? Now therefore, my son, do not listen nor attend to him, for he is a silly old man, and let not your precious soul and beautiful figure be lost from the earth. And Yitschaq heard this, and said unto Abraham, Hast you heard, my father, that which this man has spoken? even thus has he spoken. And Abraham answered his son Yitschaq and said to him, Take heed of him and do not listen to his words, nor attend to him, for he is Satan, endeavoring to draw us aside this day from the commands of YAHWEH.”)

⁷ And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

⁸ And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. (Confidence and faith in YHWH is what He requires of us all. Abraham has this in a huge way and nothing will stop him. Again, knowing that God cannot lie, Abraham knows that the offering of salvation to Isaac is representative to the salvation of all men in the prophetic display being made here. If we can recall back to Chapter 14 Abraham witnessed YHWH defeat the armies of Giants and in Chapter 19 He decimates 5 cities instantly! Yet, sadly, Satan is relentless. How many times have you felt like there were seemingly insurmountable obstacles to your mission? Jasher 23:34-40 “And Abraham still rebuked Satan, and Satan went from them, and seeing he could not prevail over them he hid himself from them, and he went and passed before them in the road; and he transformed himself to a large brook of water in the road, and Abraham and Yitschaq and his two young men reached that place, and they saw a brook large and powerful as the mighty waters. And they entered the brook and passed through it, and the waters at first reached their legs. And they went deeper in the brook and the waters reached up to their necks, and they were all terrified on account of the water; and while they were going over the brook Abraham recognized that place, and he knew that there was no water there before. And Abraham said to his son Yitschaq, I know this place in which there was no brook nor water, now therefore it is this Satan who does all this to us, to draw us aside this day from the commands of YAHWEH. And Abraham rebuked him and said unto him, YAHWEH rebuke you, O Satan, begone from us for we go by the commands of YAHWEH. And Satan was terrified at the voice of Abraham, and he went away from them, and the place again became dry land as it was at first. And Abraham went with Yitschaq toward the place that YAHWEH had told him.” Notice how Abraham KNEW this place. This where he and YHWH communed with one another on several occasions prior. He wasn’t in unfamiliar territory. Does your “mission” [some would say their “calling”] have you in unfamiliar territory? The Bible is our map for life and our “calling”. We are called to “go and make disciples”. How can you make a disciple when you have not trodden the path yourself? Do you feel like you are drowning in a sea of doubt, fear and worry? Or do you know the place you are in well enough to rebuke Satan and keep going?)

⁹ And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. (Joel 3:17 “So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her anymore.” This is a perfect parallel to Yeshua being required to bear upon his back the wooden cross that would become the means of his death…a sacrificial death. The amazing symbolism of the Father and the Son going together to the sacrificial altar; obviously, both were necessary. The Father couldn’t perform a sacrifice without a sacrificial offering, his Son, and the Son couldn’t be sacrificed without the impetus of his Father. The Father attribute and the Son attribute act together, in fullest unity, at all times. YHVH hung on that cross just as surely as Yeshua did. The Son attribute, Isaac, was to be the sacrifice, and the Father attribute, Abraham, was to initiate and accept the sacrifice. When Yeshua died, it was the human aspect of him that died; the divine lived on.   When Yeshua died, it was the son attribute that was the sacrifice…….it was the Father attribute that initiated and accepted that sacrifice. Isaac was something over 25 years old at this point in the scriptures; The idea that a grade school aged boy was who Isaac was at this time is strictly a modern gentile Christian invention that makes for cute pictures and the idea of a pitiful, helpless child being forced into something from which there was no escape. Isaac was to be a lesson and demonstration of a spiritual principle and YHVH stopped it once the vivid picture of what the cost TO GOD was going to be.)

¹⁰ And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. (Matthew 26:39 “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

¹¹ And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

¹² And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. (More symbolism of the Savior to come; Three days after Isaac was “condemned” to death, he arose from the altar, alive. Christ arose from the dead 3 days after he was condemned.)

¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh (YHVH provides): as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

¹⁶ And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

¹⁷ That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

¹⁸ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (A reminder of the covenant already in place.)

¹⁹ So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. (no mention of Isaac here ….and there will not be any until he is united to his bride at the well of LaHai Roi…. The same exact place Christ will be united to His bride!)

²⁰ And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah (queen), she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor;

²¹ Huz (consultation) his firstborn, and Buz (disrespect) his brother, and Kemuel (rise firmly) the father of Aram, (citadel)

²² And Chesed, and Hazo (seer), and Pildash, and Jidlaph (tearful), and Bethuel.(destroyer of God)

²³ And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

²⁴ And his concubine, whose name was Reumah (raised), she bare also Tebah (massacre) , and Gaham (flame), and Thahash (fur bearing animal), and Maachah.(depression)

23 And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah. (It is interesting to note the description of Sarah’s age; 100 represents abundance and wisdom, 7 is the second perfect number and shows innocence, 20 represents strength and the doubling of divine order. Her son Isaac is the second in the divine order of the covenant.)

² And Sarah died in Kirjatharba (city of the four giants); the same is Hebron (seat of association) in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

³ And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth (terror), saying,

⁴ I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

⁵ And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,

⁶ Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

⁷ And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.

⁸ And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron (fawn like) the son of Zohar, (he will shine)

⁹ That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a burying place amongst you.

¹⁰ And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,

¹¹ Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

¹² And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land.

¹³ And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there.

¹⁴ And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him,

¹⁵ My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

¹⁶ And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. (Abraham and his clan were resident aliens in Canaan. It was typical of that day that foreigners could NOT purchase land. Land was everything; for a family to lose its land was a catastrophe. For a family to sell it’s land to a foreigner was an abomination. Yet, it did occur and it was legal. Had Abraham accepted it as a gift, not only would that have been insulting to the Hittites that he would do such a thing, but it likely would have been challenged in the years to come by someone claiming that it was wrong to sell land to a resident alien in the first place. So, Abraham could not accept Ephron’s offer of the cave as a gift. Yet, Abraham also had to very careful in his bargaining for it; because if he bought it at a price that did not seem fair to later generations, that was reason enough to take the land back. The price, established by the seller of400 shekels of silver was very high yet Ephron makes a light joke by saying “what is that between you and me?” like it was an insignificant amount. With Abraham graciously insisting that he is happy to pay full price, he took away most legal challenges that could have led to having that land taken away from him or his descendants sometime in the future.)

¹⁷ And the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the borders round about, were made sure

¹⁸ Unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.

¹⁹ And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan. (It is tradition that Adam & Eve were buried in the cave at Machpelah [means coupling] and Abraham would have known this. Adam & Eve would be joined by the other couples of the covenant, Abraham & Sarah, Isaac & Rebecca, Jacob & Leah.)

²⁰ And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the sons of Heth.

24 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. (Parallels in this Chapter: Abraham ~ YHVH, Servant/Eliezar ~ Holy Spirit, Isaac ~ Yeshua, Rebecca ~ the bride of Christ, 10 camels ~ 10 tribes of Israel, Laban & Rebecca family ~ much of Christendom. This will help to example the difference in being the bride of Christ to that of the wedding guest. Matthew 25:1-12 “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.  Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.” Revelation 3:8-10 “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied [contradict] my name. [character] Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews [true believers], and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep [guard] thee from the hour of temptation [tests and trials], which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” When we look at the image of a lamp we must consider Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” As we know from John 1:1 “word” has two meanings: both revealing Jesus. The vessel of the human body must contain both “words”, that being, the Holy Spirit by way of Salvation through Jesus Christ and the written word or Torah. This combination makes the scripture “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” become manifest.)

² And Abraham said unto his eldest servant (Eliezer of Damascus) of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: ([H3409 יָרֵךְ yarek (yaw-rake’) n-f. 1. the thigh (from its fleshy softness). 2. by euphem. the generative parts.] This is a rather graphic description, yet it goes to illustrate the conviction of Abraham to the covenant which is represented in the circumcision.)

³ And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: (The Canaanites were a mixed race with the Nephilim. Jubilees 22:20-21 “Be you ware, my son Yacob, of taking a wife from any seed of the daughters of Canaan; for all his seed is to be rooted out of the earth. For, owing to the transgression of Ham, Canaan erred, and all his seed shall be destroyed from off the earth and all the residue thereof, and none springing from him shall be saved on the Day of Judgment.” Genesis 9:25-27 “And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”)

⁴ But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. (The “theme” of the Bible can be directly related to marriage, from the joining of Adam & Eve to the covenant at Mt. Saini and finally at the Revelation when Jesus returns for His bride. Jesus manifests his first miracle at the wedding in Cana and His two most significant parables are about weddings.)

⁵ And the servant said unto him, Peradventure (suppose) the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?

⁶ And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.

⁷ The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.

⁸ And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again. (There is an obvious issue with Isaac going to the land of Abrahams family…. Recalling the idol worship of his father…. But the bloodline would be pure from the Nephilim pollution.)

⁹ And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter. (What does this “hand under the thigh mean”? this is a Hebrew idiom; and it is referring to Abraham’s genitals. It is in the male genitals that the sign of the covenant with YHVH is carried; circumcision. Genesis 17:11 “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.” It has been less than 40 years since this covenant was established and as such very much in their memory. This odd action is seen as petitioning the power and presence of God as the One who created the covenant, and also the One who guarantees the oath.)

¹⁰ And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. (This is a 500 mile trip, Nahor means “snoring”, while these people were descendants of Shem and part of YHVH’s set apart race, they were “asleep” to the Torah [instructions] of YHVH. Jeremiah 16:19 “O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.”)

¹¹ And he made his camels (burden bearing) to kneel down (to bless God as an act of adoration.) without (outside) the city (margin) by a well (H874 בָּאַר ba’ar ‘to explain’) of water (Torah) the depths (detailed) at the time of the evening (before the light arrives), even the time that women go out to draw water.

(John 4:7-14 “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.  (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

¹² And he said O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.

¹³ Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:

¹⁴ And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah (fetching beauty) came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

¹⁶ And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

¹⁷ And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.

¹⁸ And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted (ran), and let down her pitcher* upon her hand, and gave him drink. (*H3537 כַּד kad (kad) n-f. from an unused root meaning to deepen] this verse displays the need to bring forth the living water of Torah both in word and deed. James 2:17-18 “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”)

¹⁹ And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

²⁰ And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. (Depending on their needs, camels can drink up to 114 liters of water in a 10-minute sitting. Converting to gallons….that’s 30 gallons per camel…10 camels….300 gallons! This was no small feat! With a 5 gallon pitcher about 10 pounds of clay holding 40 pounds of water each of the 60 trips to troughs was 50 pounds for a total of 1.5 tons of water!)

²¹ And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

²² And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold; (The Hebrew shekel appears to have been 160 grains in the Troy measurement system, or 0.3646 Troy ounce, from the coins that have been found. The Babylonian appears to have been 320 grains and the Phoenician shekel was about 224 grains. The nose ring would have been about 0.2 ounce and the bracelets about 36.5 ounces. In 2013 gold reached an all-time high of $1794.10 an ounce, making the gift given here worth more than $65,800!)

²³ And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?

²⁴ And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.

²⁵ She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in. (the bride displays hospitality)

²⁶ And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped* the Lord. (*H7812 שָׁחָה shachah (shaw-chaw’) v. 1. to depress, crouch. 2. (especially reflexive) to fall prostrate to (in homage to royalty or God). Worship begins in the obedience of the instructions, Abraham went, Eliezer went, Abraham obeyed, Eliezer obeyed, then they praised YHVH for the outcomes.)

²⁷ And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren. (There was no chest pounding or ball spiking….there was humility. Eliezer is not a natural born Hebrew and he is worshipping the Lord God YHVH.)

²⁸ And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother’s house these things.

²⁹ And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban (white): and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well. (Matthew 23.27 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”)

³⁰ And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels at the well. ³¹ And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. (Laban claims for himself that which belongs to his father, offers up flattery and angles to acquire gain without relationship. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”)

³² And the man came into the house: and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men’s feet that were with him. (Laban does not serve Eliezer, he allows Eliezer to serve himself.)

³³ And there was set meat before him to eat: but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.

³⁴ And he said, I am Abraham’s servant.

³⁵ And the Lord hath blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.

³⁶ And Sarah my master’s wife bare a son to my master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he hath.

³⁷ And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:

³⁸ But thou shalt go unto my father’s house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.

³⁹ And I said unto my master, Peradventure (suppose) the woman will not follow me.

⁴⁰ And he said unto me, The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father’s house:

⁴¹ Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath.

⁴² And I came this day unto the well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go: (The bride of Isaac as well as the bride of Christ must be like the father/Father. She must be will to leave behind all that she knows and go into a land (way of living) that will be shown to her (Torah). She must have a servant’s heart and a hospitable nature. She must be led by the Holy Spirit to follow the instructions and what will be revealed to her.)

⁴³ Behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink;

⁴⁴ And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my master’s son.

⁴⁵ And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.

⁴⁶ And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink also.

⁴⁷ And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.

⁴⁸ And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter unto his son.

⁴⁹ And now if ye will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.

⁵¹ Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her, and go, and let her be thy master’s son’s wife, as the Lord hath spoken.

⁵² And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth.

⁵³ And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.

⁵⁴ And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.

⁵⁵ And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go.

⁵⁶ And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. (Eliezer can see the scheming and games Laban was beginning and said he would have none of it.)

⁵⁷ And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth.

⁵⁸ And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. (An action marked only and fully in faith.)

⁵⁹ And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant, and his men.

⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them. (This was not a standard pronouncement given in that era over a young girl traveling to enter into marriage. Rather, this is a divine prophecy concerning her producing a large number of descendants AND that these descendants would have victory over their enemies. This plays in perfectly with the covenant YHVH had made with Abraham; the covenant which now would be inherited by Isaac.)

⁶¹ And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

⁶² And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country. (well of the Living One)

⁶³ And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide (beginning of a new day): and he lifted up his eyes (spiritual enlightenment), and saw, and, behold, the camels (the tribes) were coming.

⁶⁴ And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted (fell) off the camel.

⁶⁵ For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. (Hebrew women didn’t wear veils, it was also not Mesopotamian custom to wear veils as a show of modesty. There is no mention of Sarah wearing a veil. There was some use of veils in that part of the world, in that era, as kind of a decoration; even as a show of wealth. The only customary use of a veil among Israelites had to do with wedding and betrothal procedures. Rebecca was letting Isaac know that she was the one his father had chosen for him that she had consented to be his wife, and in fact, the betrothal period had already been entered into.)

⁶⁶ And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done.

⁶⁷ And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

25 Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. (H6999 קָטַר qatar [kaw-tar’] to smoke, turn into fragrance by fire)

² And she bare him Zimran (musical), and Jokshan (insidious), and Medan (quarrel), and Midian (contentious)*twins?, and Ishbak (he will leave), and Shuah(dell). (Take note here of the son Midian, this is a key in the story of Moses and the lineage of Yeshua. Exodus 2:15b-16, 21 “But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.”)

³ And Jokshan begat Sheba (Ethiopians), and Dedan (father of the Edomite). And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim (named after 2^nd son of Shem), and Letushim (oppressed ones), and Leummim.(communities)

⁴ And the sons of Midian; Ephah (obscurity), and Epher (gazelle), and Hanoch (initiated), and Abidah (knowing), and Eldaah (God of knowledge). All these were the children of Keturah. (Isaiah 60:1-7 “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.” For the sake of simplicity, what is being said here is that ARAB peoples will eventually become friends and servants of Israel and bring them wealth and prosperity. This is about the Arab peoples coming to worship Messiah in Israel, NOT for today, but for some time in the near future that hordes of Arabs will bow down to the Hebrew Messiah.)

⁵ And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.

⁶ But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. (Nebaioth was the firstborn son of Ishmael. His tribe is the people referred to as the Nabaiati we know these people as the Nabateans, and even more recently as the Jordanians of Petra. Kedar is spoken of many centuries after Genesis, are people who wandered about as shepherds and goat herders throughout the Arabian and Sinai Peninsulas. Without doubt, they form at least part of the modern day Bedouins. Adbe’el is known is Assyrian historical records as Idiba’il; sent to guard the Egyptian-Assyrian border. Dumah’s tribe shows up again in Isaiah 21. The occupied a territory just above Midian, along the Gulf of Aqaba, on the Arabian Peninsula. The tribe of Tema dwelled around a well-known oasis, northeast of Dedan, because it was located on a very well traveled caravan route that connected the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula with the lower reaches of the Mesopotamia. Jetur and Naphish appear to have integrated into a single tribe, and are described later on in the Bible (in 1 Chronicles 5) as the Hagrites…..a contraction for Hagar-ites, descendants of Hagar. For all practical purpose, nothing is known beyond pure speculation about the remaining 12 sons of Ishmael.)

⁷ And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. (Abraham is given the promise at age 75 and lives 100 more years. The number One is indivisible and not made up of any other number representing the unity of the One true God in which there is no division and denotes primacy, sovereignty, divine completeness or perfection. The “hundred” expands the concept into abundance.)

⁸ Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

⁹ And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; (Hebron)

¹⁰ The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

¹¹ And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.

¹² Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham:(People will call the descendants of Ishmael ‘Arabs’ or ‘Muslims’ and do not associate them with the descendants of Isaac typically labeled ‘Hebrews’. Both are sons of Abraham then would they not both be ‘Hebrews’? By God’s design, “Hebrew” was meant to be a term that described a physical or spiritual attribute of a person to operate under a set of laws and promises that God made with the first Hebrew, Abraham. A Hebrew’s earthly life was to revolve around his spiritual life. We call these laws and promises that define this overall life of a Hebrew the Abrahamic Covenant, and later they were given to Moses, and are now called Torah.)

¹³ And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth (fruitfulness); and Kedar (dusky), and Adbeel (disciplined of God), and Mibsam, (fragrant)

¹⁴ And Mishma (attentive), and Dumah (silence), and Massa, (burden)

¹⁵ Hadar (chamber), and Tema, Jetur (encircled), Naphish (refreshed), and Kedemah: (precedence)

¹⁶ These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.

¹⁷ And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.

¹⁸ And they dwelt from Havilah (circular) unto Shur (a wall), that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.

¹⁹ And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac:

²⁰ And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram (Syrian Highlands), the sister to Laban the Syrian.

²¹ And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. (intreated is to burn incense in worship, i.e. intercede reciprocally, to listen and to pray. James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”)

²² And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord.

²³ And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. (The word usually translated as struggled: and that word is ‘va-yitrotsetsu’. This word is H7533 רָצַץ ratsats (raw-tsats’) v. has more of the sense of crushing, and thrusting, and smashing…..something pretty violent. Unlike Isaac and Ishmael being born of the same father and different mothers, Jacob and Esau share both parents the same. We will still see the same division between being a Hebrew and not being one, by choice. Beginning with Jacob’s offspring, one was now a Hebrew by law [Torah].  If one was physically born to a Hebrew, that person was a Hebrew. Better yet if one who was NOT born a Hebrew…..that is, he is a gentile…..if that gentile, or any gentile, wants to become part of the Hebrew people, it is allowed now as it was then, by means of the same law [Torah]. Hebrews 5:9 “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him”)

²⁴ And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

²⁵ And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. (rough, red)

²⁶ And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob (heel grabber): and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. (Genesis 3:15 “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.”)

²⁷ And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter (to lie alongside i.e. in wait), a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain (perfect, plain, undefiled, upright) man, dwelling in tents. (The terminology used to describe Esau is the same as was used for Nimrod.)

²⁸ And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: (It is UNUSUAL that Jacob, at least 15 years old at this time, would have been doing the cooking; it just wasn’t done. Hebrew traditions that is part of every observant Jewish family today; it is a tradition that goes back to time immemorial and is called “sitting Shiva”. It is part of the rites of mourning the dead, the one who died was Abraham. Lentil soup is a traditional food eaten during the 7-day period of mourning or “sitting Shiva”.

³⁰ And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. (H8034 שֵׁם shem ; name as a mark or memorial of character / H123 אֱדֹם ‘Edom (ed-ome’) n/p. red, rosy) (The question here is why the new name? When God changed a person’s name and gave him a new name, it was usually to establish a new identity. The new name was a way to let them in on the divine plan and also to assure them that God’s plan would be fulfilled in them. The Book of Jasher gives some details: “Esau at that time, after the death of Abraham, frequently went in the field to hunt. And Nimrod king of Babel, the same was Amraphel, also frequently went with his mighty men to hunt in the field, and to walk about with his men in the cool of the day. And Nimrod was observing Esau all the days, for a jealousy was formed in the heart of Nimrod against Esau all the days. And on a certain day Esau went in the field to hunt, and he found Nimrod walking in the wilderness with his two men. And all his mighty men and his people were with him in the wilderness, but they removed at a distance from him, and they went from him in different directions to hunt, and Esau concealed himself for Nimrod, and he lurked for him in the wilderness. And Nimrod and his men that were with him did not know him, and Nimrod and his men frequently walked about in the field at the cool of the day, and to know where his men were hunting in the field. And Nimrod and two of his men that were with him came to the place where they were, when Esau started suddenly from his lurking place, and drew his sword, and hastened and ran to Nimrod and cut off his head. Esau saw the mighty men of Nimrod coming at a distance, he fled, and thereby escaped; and Esau took the valuable garments of Nimrod, which Nimrod’s father had bequeathed to Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole land, and he ran and concealed them in his house. And Esau took those garments and ran into the city on account of Nimrod’s men, and he came unto his father’s house wearied and exhausted from fight, and he was ready to die through grief when he approached his brother Yacob and sat before him. And he said unto his brother Yacob, Behold I shall die this day, and wherefore then do I want the birthright? And Yacob acted wisely with Esau in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright to Yacob, for it was so brought about by YAHWEH. And Esau’s portion in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth for the possession of a burial ground, Esau also sold to Yacob, and Yacob bought all this from his brother Esau for value given. And Yacob wrote the whole of this in a book, and he testified the same with witnesses, and he sealed it, and the book remained in the hands of Yacob.” Obadiah 1:6,8-10 “How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up! Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off forever.”)

³¹ And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

³² And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? (This birthright is not Esau’s to sell as it is the passing of the covenant from one to another. We can see it is not the same the right of the first born which is the inheritance of earthly possessions like land and cattle.)

³³ And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. (Philippians 3:18-19 “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ:  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.”)

³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright. (Jacob didn’t buy the birthright for a bowl of soup as much as he gave Esau what he wanted. The bigger issue here is that Esau despised his birthright, meaning, he declined the covenant YHVH had made with Abraham and his descendants. Esau continues his rebellion and marries a Canaanite woman [Nephilim] these offspring will be antagonists to the children of Israel.  Romans 9:13 “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Malachi 1:1-4 “The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.  Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation forever.” The key to Nimrods life was that he was a “builder of cities” and concerned himself with power, influence, control and the riches of the earth, Esau/Edom follows the example given by Nimrod. YHVH had already blessed the socks off Abraham and Isaac and was now ready to do the same for their children, yet, Esau took matters into his own hands.)

26 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. (The timing of chapter 26 necessarily occurs BEFORE chapter 25. So, the twins Esau and Jacob had not yet been born to Isaac. The king of the Philistines never would have inquired about Rebekah if he knew she was married; children being the dead giveaway that she WAS married.)

² And the Lord appeared* unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: (*The word va-yerah’, indicates an unmistakable contact with YHVH that includes a crystal clear message that could, but does not necessarily, include a visual experience. The word “appearance” should not be taken to mean YHVH made Himself visible; it’s more of an expression of near-ness of a human to God’s presence. Despite the fact that all his human instincts told him they must go elsewhere or perish from starvation, God told him to stay in the land God had set aside for Abraham and his descendants. That God would take him THROUGH the trouble, not out of it.)

³ Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

⁴ And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; (ALL humanity will have their hopes and well-being somehow organically connected to Israel.)

⁵ Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. (Jubilees 23:16,19-26 “And in that generation the sons shall convict their fathers and their elders of sin and unrighteousness, and of the words of their mouth and the great wickednesses which they perpetrate, and concerning their forsaking the covenant which YAHWEH made between them and Him, that they should observe and do all His commandments and His ordinances and all His Torah, without departing either to the right hand or the left. And they shall strive one with another, the young with the old, and the old with the young, the poor with the rich, the lowly with the great, and the beggar with the prince, on account of the Torah and the covenant; for they have forgotten commandment, and covenant, and feasts, and months, and Shabbats, and jubilees, and all judgments. And they shall stand swords and war to turn them back into the way; but they shall not return until much blood has been shed on the earth, one by another. And those who have escaped shall not return from their wickedness to the way of righteousness, but they shall all exalt themselves to deceit and wealth, that they may each take all that is his neighbor’s, and they shall name the great NAME of YAHWEH, but not in truth and not in righteousness, and they shall defile the kodesh of ha kodeshim with their uncleanness and the corruption of their pollution. And a great punishment shall befall the deeds of this generation from YAHWEH, and He will give them over to the sword and to judgment and to captivity, and to be plundered and devoured. And He will wake up against them the sinners of the Gentiles, who have neither mercy nor compassion, and who shall respect the person of none, neither old nor young, nor any one, for they are more wicked and strong to do evil than all the children of men. And they shall use violence against Yisrael and transgression against Yacob, And much blood shall be shed upon the earth, And there shall be none to gather and none to bury. In those days they shall cry aloud, And call and pray that they may be saved from the hand of the sinners, the Gentiles; But none shall be saved. And the heads of the children shall be white with grey hair, And a child of three weeks shall appear old like a man of one hundred years, And their stature shall be destroyed by tribulation and oppression. And in those days the children shall begin to study the laws, And to seek the commandments, And to return to the path of righteousness.” “Deuteronomy 30:15-19 “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live”)

⁶ And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: [2080-2101 A.M.]

⁷ And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.

⁸ And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. (It has been more than 100 years since Abraham had this same run-in with Abimelech, not the same Abimelech, but this man’s father. Like Henry 8^th having 7 prior monarchs named Henry, so too, this is another Abimelech. Abimelech is more of a title than a name, meaning: Father of the King)

⁹ And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

¹⁰ And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

¹¹ And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

¹² Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. (The reaping of hundred fold during a famine is a witness to the Hand of YHVH. This is also the result of Isaac following the instruction of YHVH. Matthew 13:3-9 “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”)

¹³ And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

¹⁴ For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. (Notice how the Philistines envied the possessions of the earth and the possession of the relationship to YHVH.)

¹⁵ For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. (To prevent people from settling there and out of anger and jealousy.)

¹⁶ And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.

¹⁷ And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

¹⁸ And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

¹⁹ And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing (living) water.

²⁰ And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek (strife); because they strove with him.

²¹ And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah. (sitnah means opposition; Jubilees says “name of the well ‘Perversity’, because they had been perverse with us.” Luke 6:29-30 “And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.”)

²² And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

²³ And he went up from thence to Beersheba. (The well of the Oath)

²⁴ And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

²⁵ And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

²⁶ Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath (possession) one of his friends, and Phichol (the mouth of all) the chief captain of his army.

²⁷ And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?

²⁸ And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; (they can see the hand of YHVH working for the benefit of Isaac and are now coming in a civic/political move)

²⁹ That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good (very questionable), and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the Lord.

³⁰ And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. (Sharing a meal solidifies an oath)

³¹ And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

³² And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.

³³ And he called it Shebah (seven) : therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day. (The well of the Oath)

³⁴ And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith (celebrated) the daughter of Beeri (fountained) the Hittite, and Bashemath (fragrance) the daughter of Elon (oak-grove) the Hittite:

³⁵ Which were a grief of mind (troubled their spirit) unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

 

27 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I. (Isaac is about 130, he won’t die for another 50 years, the “boys” are in their late 60’s!)

² And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:

³ Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison;

⁴ And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.

⁵ And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

⁶ And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,

⁷ Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death.

⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee.

⁹ Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

¹⁰ And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. (Esau continued to prove his unfitness to carry on the divine line he had begun the death of Abraham. Rebecca seeing that her doddling old husband refused to carry out God’s will, she doing whatever it took, took the matter into her own hands.)

¹¹ And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:

¹² My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. (Jacob is a bit reluctant; not because he thinks what they are doing may be wrong, but rather that they may be discovered and then have to bear the consequences.)

¹³ And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.

¹⁴ And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father loved.

¹⁵ And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:

¹⁶ And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:

¹⁷ And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸ And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?

¹⁹ And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

²⁰ And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me.

²¹ And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.

²² And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

²³ And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him.

²⁴ And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

²⁵ And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine and he drank.

²⁶ And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son.

²⁷ And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed:

²⁸ Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:

²⁹ Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee. (This is the same blessing YHVH gave Abraham, this blessing is like a man who sets up a will, signs a power of attorney, and then dies sometime later. While things have long ago been decided, no transfer of wealth or authority have yet taken place. Jacob went through all these contortions and pulled off all of these hurtful deceptions only to receive that which never could have been denied him anyway, because the Lord had already determined it.)

³⁰ And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

³¹ And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.

³² And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.

³³ And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.

³⁴ And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.

³⁵ And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.

³⁶ And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? (Esau blames his brother for losing both the birthright and the blessing when in fact he sold his birthright. He denounced his eternal responsibility for earthly comfort. The blessing was what Esau was after. The firstborn didn’t get everything, just the largest portion, the Bible calls it the Double portion. Along with that double portion, or two-thirds, he gets the right of leadership over the clan. Money, power and influence was what Esau equated to being blessed and not the bothersome covenant with YHVH.)

³⁷ And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

³⁸ And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. (Hebrews 12:15-17 “ Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”)

³⁹ And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; (“Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, “Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew of heaven from above.” NASB [and others] When one realizes that Edom, the land of Esau’, is located at the south end of the Dead Sea, stretching a short distance into the Arabian Peninsula. This land which was at that time, and has always been, is an arid and inhospitable land. Isn’t it puzzling why this verse was translated incorrectly as showing Esau being blessed to live in a lovely fertile place?)

⁴⁰ And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. (In other words, violence and pillaging shall be Esau’s way of gaining wealth and prosperity. Esau’s descendants didn’t become shepherds, they became conquerors and bands of robbers who descended on caravans that passed through their lands. War was their way of life; war is even at the heart of what is now their religion; Islam.)

⁴¹ And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. (Had Esau been happily blessed, and thereby destined that he would reside in a wonderful place, living off the richness of the land, would he have been so determined to kill Jacob? In the time of Jesus, some 1800 years later, the hated King Herod was himself a result of this curse on Esau as he was a descendant of Esau. The war that began in the womb was an integral part of the fulfilment of the cross.)

⁴² And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.

⁴³ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;

⁴⁴ And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother’s fury turn away;

⁴⁵ Until thy brother’s anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of you both in one day? (This is Rebekah recalling the curse of Cain because of the murder of Abel and Eve’s loss of both sons.)

⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me? (Nephilim)

28 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

² Arise, go to Padanaram (the table-land of Aram), to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughers of Laban thy mother’s brother.

³ And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;

⁴ And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

⁵ And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

⁶ When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;

⁷ And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram; (God will use a combinations of ‘God encounters’ and ‘God ordained life experiences’ to mold Jacob into the man that totally trusts Him and adheres to his Torah.)

⁸ And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father;

⁹ Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife. (Esau is exampling the trait of earning respect and blessing from his father after despising his birthright. Additionally Esau is mixing with the ancestors of another firstborn of human intercession and not YHVH’s divine plan in Ishmael’s family. 2 Peter 1:21 “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” The Arab world carries with them the genes of Esau, in particular, a large segment of the Turkish population is related to Esau, as are most Syrians, and the Kurdish people of Iraq. The Ottoman Empire which ruled the Middle East from about 1300 to just after WWI are descendants of Esau. The majority of Muslims in the world are related to Esau even the ones in Afghanistan. So, this enmity that would occur between twin brothers, Jacob and Esau, almost 4000 years ago, has everything to do with the condition of the world now, what led up to our current situation, and how it will all play out leading up to, and through, the Great Tribulation. This alliance will produce the circumstances that will bring about the anti-Christ and the end of history as we know it.)

¹⁰ And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. (Jacob never realized the blessing, it would skip him and go to his children because of his deception. Jacob was likely feeling pretty defeated right about now, he was running for his life and had to walk away empty handed just to survive. Proverbs 17:3 “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests hearts.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ”)

¹¹ And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. (The Stone of Scone also known as the Stone of Destiny, and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone—is an oblong block of red sandstone that was used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, and later stolen for the monarchs of England and now resides in the Kingdom of Great Britain. It is also known as Jacob’s Pillow Stone is about 26 inches (660 mm) by 16.75 inches (425 mm) by 10.5 inches (270 mm) and its weight is approximately 336 pounds.)

¹² And he dreamed, and behold a ladder* set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. (*H5549 סָלַל calal (saw-lal’) v. to mound up – H5551 סֻלָּם cullam (sool-lawm’) n-m. a stair-case. It is possible that this means a ziggurat. John 1:50-51  “Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”)

¹³ And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; (YHVH wanted to expressly tell Jacob that there IS a God and that there is ONLY ONE. Jacob was entering into a land where false god worship was not only prevalent but it was preferred. Recalling Abraham sent Eliezer so Isaac would be spared this influence.)

¹⁴ And thy seed shall be as the dust* of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (This is YHVH’s blessing and the passing of the Patriarchal torch to Jacob. Dust is also referenced as powder, ground or rubbish; this is quite a contrast to Abraham being told his descendants would be like the stars (princes) of the heavens.)

¹⁵ And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

¹⁶ And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. (God transfer His place of residence from Heaven to Earth, the Garden of Eden, and back again because of rebellion and sin. This stairway represented that broken connection between man and God. Another connection between heaven and earth would come, the Wilderness Tabernacle, still further into the future, the real ladder would come. John 1:51 “And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” This place is Beth-El or what will become Jerusalem.)

¹⁷ And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

¹⁸ And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. (Messiah means, in Hebrew, the anointed one. Isaiah 28:16 “Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.”)

¹⁹ And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. (Luz means Almond tree, when Aaron’s rod budded it was with Almond buds.)

²⁰ And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

²¹ So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God:

²² And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. (Tithe prior to the Mosaic Law…again…remember Abraham and Melchizadek )

29:1 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.

² And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth. (The three flocks represents The house of Judah, The House of Israel and the Gentiles or Nations.)

³ And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place. (Mark 16:4 “And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.” John 7:38 “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Exodus 17:6 “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”)

⁴ And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. (Haran is a place of settling for less, it is not yet the land of promise it is just short of it.)

⁵ And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. (The expectation of the author here is that the reader knows full well that Nahor is Abraham’s brother, and Laban is his grandson as he uses the Family/Clan association in Nahor.)

⁶ And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.

⁷ And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them.

⁸ And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.

⁹ And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep; for she kept them.

¹⁰ And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

¹¹ And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. (Very relieved to be in the land of his relatives, while a kiss was a common greeting among relatives it was not a good thing for an unmarried woman to be kissed by a man. Jacob is being a bit absurd.)

¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father.

¹³ And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.

¹⁴ And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.

¹⁵ And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?

¹⁶ And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. (Laban sees that Jacob would be a valuable addition to his family, as he is a gifted shepherd and a hard worker.)

¹⁷ Leah was tender (weak) eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. (very shapely)(Strong eyes or weak eyes were idioms that indicated either beauty or plainness. There is NO reference at all to Jacob having consulted God on his choice of a wife.)

¹⁸ And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.

¹⁹ And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. (Notice here we do not see a betrothal or a marriage contract between Jacob and Laban. There was not a covenant meal or a shedding of blood (Salt Covenant) to seal the deal, Jacob just jumped in and began working for his bride. Laban being the opportunist he lets it go.)

²⁰ And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.

²¹ And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. (Jacob doesn’t specifically state Rachel: Mark 4:24 “And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.”)

²² And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

²³ And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.

²⁴ And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid.

²⁵ And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? (There is that word beguiled – the same that was in the garden. *to delude or betray Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” As Jacob had deceived his father so did Laban deceive Jacob with the substitute wife of his marriage.)

²⁶ And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. (This is the same money grubbing and usurping man at the house when Eliezer went to fetch Rebekah.)

²⁷ Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

²⁸ And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. (This is an elderly man, 80 years old, suddenly finding himself in the position of trying to please not ONE but TWO wives. YHVH includes Leviticus 18:18 into the Torah for the exact same reason as exampled here with Jacob, that being, the disastrous life it creates. “Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.” Whenever we read Torah, or Scripture in general, we must learn to clearly distinguish between [1] a narrative account of what imperfect human beings do, and [2] what the instructions are from YHVH.)

²⁹ And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid. (“The world we live in today is full to overflowing with beautiful girls/women (and with handsome boys/men) and crafty Labans. They are a dime-a-dozen in our society. Take a walk in any shopping mall, check out the billboards in any city, or turn on the television or radio – even if just for a an advertisement or two – and you will see exactly what I mean. Please understand this is all a test. The Holy One knows where you are. He knows what you see every day. He is allowing you to be tested to see if you will, Like Jacob, allow yourself to be distracted from your destiny by physical beauty and high-minded but meaningless talk. Your destiny in the Covenant is far too precious to throw it all away for either a pretty girl (or guy) or a smooth talker line.” ~ William Bullock Sr.)

³⁰ And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

³¹ And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

³² And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.

³³ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the Lord hath heard I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.

³⁴ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.

³⁵ And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing. (In offering her praise to God for these children, Leah was showing her character. Leah, the plain one, was honored with carrying and giving birth to the Israelite line of priests and servants to YHVH, the Levites, as well as the first deliverer in Moses; and bringing Judah into this world, from whom the line of promise would be fulfilled and the perfect deliverer in Yeshua.)

30 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

² And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

³ And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear (provide a child) upon my knees (to bless God as an act of adoration), that I may also have children by her. (Another repetitious behavior, like Sarah, of forcing YHVH’s promise of a great multitude.)

⁴ And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

⁵ And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.

⁶ And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.

⁷ And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.

⁸ And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.

¹⁰ And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son.

¹¹ And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

¹² And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son.

¹³ And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

¹⁴ And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.

¹⁵ And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes.

¹⁶ And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. (Bought for a price, such as, the same he had done to her in the 7 years)

¹⁷ And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.

¹⁸ And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

¹⁹ And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.

²⁰ And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.

²¹ And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

²² And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

²³ And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:

²⁴ And she called his name Joseph; and said, The Lord shall add to me another son. (The Hebrew word translated as taken away is asaf.  In the next verse, 24, Rachel goes on to say that she therefore would name him yosef, because the Lord ADDED another son to her. Yosef means, “to add”. Asaf, take away, yosef, add. This was a prophetic name for Joseph, because in a few years Joseph would be taken away from his father, and then many years after that added back in.)

²⁵ And it came to pass, when Rachel had born Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto mine own place, and to my country.

²⁶ Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service which I have done thee.

²⁷ And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. (Laban is a pagan spiritualist: that is, he believes in the spirit world. He believes there are MANY gods in the spirit world……and he believes that Jacob’s god is but ONE of these gods. “Learned by experience” is an idiom that is defined by H5172 נָחַשׁ nachash (naw-chash’) v.1. (properly) to hiss, i.e. whisper a (magic) spell. Same as Eve’s deception. )

²⁸ And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it.

²⁹ And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.

³⁰ For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine own house also?

³¹ And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock.

³² I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.

³³ So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.

³⁴ And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.

³⁵ And he removed that day the he goats that were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

³⁶ And he set three days’ journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.

³⁸ And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. (There are certain factors which can become prenatal influences, and which can determine to some degree, the physical characteristics of the progeny. Stripes, for whatever reason, create a sense of apprehension and/or fear in livestock animals creating stressors. For example cattle will not cross a roadway painted with white stripes. The acute stress causes an immediate spike in cortisol concentrations which in turn spike the LH/GnRH secretion and forces ovulation in the livestock. The Hebrew word for conceive used here is H3179 יָחַם yacham (yaw-cham’) v. 1. to be hot. 2. (figuratively) to conceive. Jacob places these “overheated” livestock at the front of the herd to get the attention of the studs. Jacob knew what geneticists finally figured out just a decades ago, that changing the hormonal levels of the adult livestock could genetically alter the offspring when combined with other epi-genetic influences. The additional influences include but are not limited to food sources, temperature, disease exposure, exercise, toxins, medicines or drugs, etc.)

³⁹ And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.

⁴⁰ And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban’s cattle.

⁴¹ And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

⁴² But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in: so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.

⁴³ And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses. (This is a foreshadow of the Exodus; the penniless Hebrews leave Egypt with much wealth after growing in number. The ‘lord-of-the-land’ will resist the freedom of the people because he sees them as a free labor.

31 And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory. (Laban’s sons are just like him: jealous, selfish, and greedy.)

² And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.

³ And the Lord said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.

⁴ And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,

⁵ And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.

⁶ And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

⁷ And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.

⁸ If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.

⁹ Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.

¹⁰ And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.

¹¹ And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.

¹² And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.

¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

¹⁴ And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

¹⁵ Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money. (Laban, in their eyes, had shown them the greatest disrespect by virtually selling them to Jacob instead of following the usual betrothal customs. The Holy Scriptures show that the first thing Jacob did after God told him it was time to leave, was to consult with his wives. There can be no doubt that Hebrew society was male dominated, however, Jacob greatly considered their feelings and thoughts on the matter. It’s not that Jacob didn’t lead; it’s that he included his wives in the decision that greatly affected them, in leaving their family forever.)

¹⁶ For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.

¹⁷ Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;

¹⁸ And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

¹⁹ And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s. (In Mesopotamia, it was the tradition that he who possessed the family gods was the owner of the family wealth and authority. By Rachel stealing these gods, it was her intent to assure a family inheritance for herself after her father died. Apparently, she planned on keeping them until Laban went to the grave, and then appearing before her family with what amounted to the will, the keys to the safety deposit box, and the right to be executor of the estate…..all rolled into one. This was a MOST serious matter that went WAY above petty theft. Laban and his family…..and likely Rachel as well……believed these idols were real. That they actually represented real gods. And, those who adhered to this system prayed to these idols for rain, for healing, for children, for protection, and so on. Without his gods, Laban was in a fix.)

²⁰ And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.

²¹ So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.

²² And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.

²³ And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.

²⁴ And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. (Something kind of interesting: God speaks to the unbelieving. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Yehoveh speaking to pagans, and it won’t be the last. Also do not think that because God has spoken to someone, that THAT is an indication that person is a Believer.)

²⁵ Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.

²⁶ And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

²⁷ Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?

²⁸ And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.

²⁹ It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

³⁰ And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

³¹ And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.

³² With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

³³ And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.

³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.

³⁵ And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. (she’s on her monthly cycle) And he searched but found not the images. (The concept of a woman being unclean and transmitting that ritual uncleanness while on her cycle is something that Moses will be instructed on 500 years into the future. But, it was also a law and tradition that was already in existence amongst almost all cultures long before Moses, even before Jacob. That Rachel would intentionally transmit her uncleanness to those gods she was sitting on was unthinkable to Laban, so it apparently didn’t even enter his mind that such was even a possibility.)

³⁶ And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?

³⁷ Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.

³⁸ This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

³⁹ That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.

⁴⁰ Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.

⁴¹ Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

⁴² Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

⁴³ And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?

⁴⁴ Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.

⁴⁵ And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.

⁴⁶ And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.

⁴⁷ And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.

⁴⁸ And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed; (Jegarsahudutha is a form of Chaldean, and Galeed is Hebrew. They both mean, “pile of witnesses”.)

⁴⁹ And Mizpah; for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.

⁵⁰ If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.

⁵¹ And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee:

⁵² This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.

⁵³ The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

⁵⁴ Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount. (Salt Covenant)

⁵⁵ And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place. (It was common terminology to refer to male grandchildren as sons in those days.)

32 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. (Jacob was anywhere from a little less than 90 to close to 100 years old. This is the same place where Jacob purchased the birthright.)

² And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. (two camps) (Revelation 3:9 “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.”)

³ And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. (Matthew 10:21-28 “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”)

⁴ And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:

⁵ And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;

⁸ And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

⁹ And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:

¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. (prophetic that the sons of Jacob will become the 2 camps of Judah and Ephraim) (Ezekiel 37:16-19 “Son of man, take a single stick and write on it: Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him. Then take another stick and write on it: Belonging to Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and all the house of Israel associated with him. Then join them together into a single stick so that they become one in your hand. When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these things?’— tell them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and put them together with the stick of Judah. I will make them into a single stick so that they become one in My hand.”)

¹¹ Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. (Psalm 118:4-9 “Let them now that fear the Lord say, that his mercy endureth forever. I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.”)

¹² And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

¹³ And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;

¹⁴ Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,

¹⁵ Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.

¹⁶ And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.

¹⁷ And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?

¹⁸ Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.

¹⁹ And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.

²⁰ And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. (Jacob sent several flocks ahead of him accompanied by his messengers, his emissaries that were to offer these flocks as a gift of repentance to Esau. The amount of the gift was enormous, as it consisted of 550 animals. It was truly a gift fit for paying tribute to a king. This is a larger restitution than what he would have gained from the blessing from the father.) (Leviticus 6:2-5 “When someone sins and offends the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit, a security,[a] or a robbery; or defrauds his neighbor; or finds something lost and lies about it; or swears falsely about any of the sinful things a person may do— once he has sinned and acknowledged his guilt—he must return what he stole or defrauded, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost item he found, or anything else about which he swore falsely. He must make full restitution for it and add a fifth of its value to it. He is to pay it to its owner on the day he acknowledges his guilt.”)

²¹ So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.

²² And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.(means to empty out/ symbolic of mikvah or baptism)

²³ And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

²⁴ And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. (reminder: Jacob is nearly 100 yrs old and he is in a throw down with____?)

²⁵ And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh (genitals) was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

²⁶ And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. (This is a scene that is both literal and symbolic; symbolic because all believers must go through a time when we must wrestle with God over control of our lives. And, if we are to truly apprehend that life which God has for us, a time must come when, by our own choice, through absolute surrender, we must leave our tattered history behind and start a new history with God as Lord of our lives. Jacob will walk with a limp for his remaining days; an inescapable testament to his having fought with God for almost a hundred years, until he finally submitted instead of attempting to achieve a balance of power.)

²⁷ And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

²⁸ And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob (supplanted), but Israel (straight/upright of El): for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

²⁹ And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. (Judges 13:17-18 “And Manoah said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? Names often refer to ones function – this would reveal the purpose of the angel in prophesy of the revelation.)

³⁰ And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel (region): for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

³¹ And as he passed over Penuel (river) the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. (Penuel or Peniel means: to face, to turn towards)

³² Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank. (No more “rocky mountain oysters”)

33 And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.

² And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.

³ And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

⁵ And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.

⁶ Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves.

⁷ And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

⁸ And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.

⁹ And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.

¹⁰ And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.

¹¹ Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee (This is the return of the blessing Jacob took previously.); because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.

¹² And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.

¹³ And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die.

¹⁴ Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir.

¹⁵ And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord.

¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. (Isaiah 34:6-8 “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.”)

¹⁷ And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

¹⁸ And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city. (Shalem, an early name of Jerusalem. H7926 שְׁכֶם shkem (shek-em’) n-m. 1. the neck (between the shoulders) as the place of burdens. 2. (figuratively) the spur of a hill.)

¹⁹ And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father (principle leader), for an hundred pieces of money.

²⁰ And he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel. (El-Elohi-Yisrael, the title given to a place declared holy by Jacob.)

34 And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. (To “see” or to “visit” some of the local girls; the Hebrew word here for “see” is ra-ah, meaning “to participate, or explore, or to learn something intellectually”. Josephus says she went to join in with one of the many pagan feasts celebrated by the Hivites. “Hivite” is related to the Aramaic word “Khiv’va” (HVVA), meaning “snake”, and related to the word ‘awwiah in Galilee, meaning serpent. Baal’s worshipers appeased him by offering sacrifices, usually animals such as sheep or bulls (1 Kings 18:23). Some scholars believe that the Canaanites also sacrificed pigs and that God prohibited his people from eating pork in part to prevent this horrible cult from being established among them. At times of crisis, Baal’s followers sacrificed their children, apparently the firstborn of the community, to gain personal prosperity. Asherah was worshiped in various ways, including through ritual sex. Although she was believed to be Baal’s mother, she was also his mistress. Pagans practiced “sympathetic magic”, that is, they believed they could influence the gods’ actions by performing the behavior they wished the gods to demonstrate. Believing the sexual union of Baal and Asherah produced fertility, their worshipers engaged in immoral sex to cause the gods to join together, ensuring good harvests. This practice became the basis for religious prostitution (1 Kings 14:23-24). The priest or a male member of the community represented Baal. The priestess or a female members of the community represented Asherah. In this way, God’s incredible gift of sexuality was perverted to the most obscene public prostitution. The New Testament era brings the Greco-Roman leaders of the gods, Zeus (Jupiter to the Romans), took on the role of Baal, the god of weather or storms. Artemis, the goddess of childbirth and fertility, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, continued the Asherah cults under a new name (Acts 19:35), but with worship practices that were as immoral as ever.)

² And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

³ And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly (subdue with words) unto the damsel.

⁴ And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife.

⁵ And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.

⁶ And Hamor the father of Shechem went out unto Jacob to commune with him.

⁷ And the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter: which thing ought not to be done.

⁸ And Hamor communed with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give her him to wife.

⁹ And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. (The effect of the joining of Jacob, Israel’s, family with that of the Hivites (King Hamor and his family) would have been to re-unite that which God had divided and separated; it would have united the blessed line of Shem (Jacob’s line) with the accursed line of Ham (King Hamor’s line). Satan would have liked nothing better. This is the relentless attempt of Satan to subversively mix the worship of YHVH with worship to himself, diverting then completely derailing, the people away from YHVH.)

¹⁰ And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.

¹¹ And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.

¹² Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife. (willing to BUY his bride)

¹³ And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:

¹⁴ And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:

¹⁵ But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;

¹⁶ Then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

¹⁷ But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.

¹⁸ And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor’s son.

¹⁹ And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter: and he was more honourable than all the house of his father.

²⁰ And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,

²¹ These men are peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, 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. (Deuteronomy 13:13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap forever; it shall not be built again.” Here the motivation for their actions did not follow YHVH instructions, they did it for vengeance and not for serving other gods. Deuteronomy 32:35 “To me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.”)

²³ Shall not their cattle and their substance and every beast of their’s be our’s? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us. (King Hamor makes it sound like it’s a good thing for the city, however, it’s really for the purpose of wealth accumulation for himself.)

²⁴ And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.

²⁶ And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.

²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.

²⁸ They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in the field,

²⁹ And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that was in the house. (It is interesting that Levi became priests and Temple tenders. The two primary jobs of Levi would be as butchers of sacrificial animals, and as armed guards of the Temple and its grounds…… bloody and violent jobs. The Levites would receive NO land in the allotment of territory in the Promised Land. Rather they would be scattered about each of the 12 tribal territories. Simeon would be given a small piece of territory surrounded by Judah, and was one of the first tribes to become absorbed by another Israelite tribe…….Judah.)

³⁰ And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

³¹ And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?

35 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

² Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: (Jacob is telling the people wanting to stay in his tribe that they must stop their evil ways and adhere to YHVHs instructions there-by being adopted into his family. The changing of clothes was a rather usual part of the purification procedures. Matthew 15:24 “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Romans 9:6-8 “Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” The law, righteousness, salvation and grace belong to the people that adhere to YHVH by faith. It is addressed by Paul in Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew (Israel) first and also to the Greek (Nations).” BUT it is not a transitional or dispensational reference, it has always been and will always be. The people that are now in his house are his blood family, his servants and now the women and children of Shechem.)

³ And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. (Jeremiah 30:1-11 “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. And these are the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” This explains the power struggle of the land of Israel. First controlled by YHVH righteous people, then taken by force by the rebellious people, only to be supernaturally returned to the righteous by YHVH himself. The distress comes to the House of Israel in the form of tribulations to get the people motivated to follow YHVH instructions. If one is already following these instructions then there is no reason for them to be afflicted with a trial or tribulation in the end days. Correction is about getting one to follow YHVH wishes and when a person has determined a way of life outside of those wishes it will oft times feel painful to change.)

⁴ And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. (The sacking of Shechem by Israel’s sons and their taking of many of Shechem’s people, had introduced many newcomers into Israel’s clan; and these newcomers, in particular, and worshipped other gods. Even more, Jacob’s sons would have stolen the god-idols of Shechem because this, by their way of thinking, would have stolen power away from Shechem. It was the norm for an invader or conqueror to steal his enemy’s gods, because it in a very tangible way weakened his enemy in addition to humiliating them. The Hebrew word ‘elah’ is sometimes translated as “oak”, the word is actually referring to the terebinth/Pistacia. The most well-known clear reference to a terebinth (elah) in the Hebrew Scriptures is that of the Valley of Elah or “Valley of the Terebinth” (עמק האלה), where David fought Goliath [1 Sam. 17:2].)

⁵ And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

⁶ So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him.

⁷ And he built there an altar, and called the place El-bethel (The House of God): because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

⁸ But Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was called Allonbachuth. (Oak of Weeping. The death of Deborah is almost a metaphor for the death of any family ties or relationship between Israel and the land of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers.)

⁹ And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.

¹⁰ And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.

¹¹ And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; (YHVH is saying there will be a particular nation, and in addition a group of nations, that will come from Jacob. Similarly “to the Jew (Israel) first and also to the Greek (Nations).”

¹² And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. (Jacob was the first person to produce only Hebrew children: the 12 tribes of Israel. Jacob’s father, Isaac, produced Hebrews (Jacob) and non-Hebrews (Esau). Isaac’s father, Abraham, also produced both Hebrews (Isaac) and non-Hebrews (Ishmael and several others). Jacob adopts his son Joseph’s two Egyptian children away from him, with one of them, Ephraim, taking over the authority that would have been Joseph’s. Even later, hundreds of years after that event, Ephraim, an Israelite tribe that had Egyptian blood mixed in, would be scattered by the conquering Assyrians, and the genes of the bulk of their population would become fused with the gentile world.  Then, in a prophetic event that has yet to occur, as recounted in Ezekiel, Ephraim will somehow be reunited with the remnants of the tribe of Judah, the modern-day Jews. Ezekiel 37:15-23 “The word of the Lord came again to me saying, “And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. When the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’ The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.”)

¹³ And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

¹⁴ And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.

¹⁵ And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

¹⁶ And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.

¹⁸ And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni (son of my sorrow): but his father called him Benjamin. (son of the right hand) (Luke 22:69 “Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.” Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”)

¹⁹ And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

²⁰ And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.

²¹ And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar. (Migdal-Eder which means “the watchtower of the flock”. 1800 years later, this will be the tower from which the Shepherds watching over the flocks in the field at night will see and hear angels announce and rejoice at the birth of the Savior of the World.)

²² And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: (Rueben was acutely aware of his mother’s status in the eyes of his father, Jacob: Rachel was first, and Leah a distant second. As far as Rueben and his mother Leah were concerned, Rachel’s death afforded them an opportunity; an opportunity for Leah to gain in status as Jacob’s one and only wife, and therefore, his most beloved. HOWEVER….. Rueben was worried that Jacob might decide to comfort himself with Rachel’s handmaiden, Bilhah, rather than with Leah. No way could Jacob now legally marry Bilhah, for by having sex with Rueben, she was made undesirable. It was customary that a leader who vanquished another leader…..or a son who took over leadership from his father (presumably because of the father’s death)…… also took possession of that leader’s concubines. The possession of the former leader’s concubines by the new leader was an affirmation and validation of that new leader’s status and authority. This entire episode between Rueben and Bilhah represented a clearly understood challenge to Jacob’s authority as leader of Israel. Rueben’s act was cunning and political…..having sex with Bilhah had nothing to do with a few moments of pleasure; it was a blatant coup attempt. Rueben wanted to be the leader of Israel. 1 Corinthians 5 “It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”)

²³ The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:

²⁴ The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:

²⁵ And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:

²⁶ And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid: Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram. (Revelation 7:1-12)

²⁷ And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. (Isaac died after Joseph had gone missing for 12 years. Jacob was 60 years younger than Isaac. So, when Isaac died at 180, Jacob had to have been 120 years old. The second thing to know is that Jacob died at 147 years old.)

²⁸ And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. (Hebrews 11 whole chapter)

²⁹ And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. (A rather ironic situation is developing: all of Esau’s sons were born inside the Promised Land, while Jacob’s sons were born outside the Promised Land. Esau’s sons were born in Canaan, Jacob’s born in Mesopotamia. Yet, in revealing his full character, Esau took his family and removed them from the blessing of the Promised Land, while Jacob took his family and brought them INTO the blessing of the Promised Land.)

 

36 Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom. (Esau and Edom are generally associated symbolically with unrighteousness and rebellion, and gets more so as we leave the Torah and move into the later books of the OT.)

² Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah (to advance, i.e. pass on or continue) the daughter of Elon (root meaning: to twist together, by implication, to be sturdy, strong) the Hittite, and Aholibamah (dwelling place of elevation) the daughter of Anah (to eye) the daughter of Zibeon (variegated) the Hivite; (variegated means exhibiting different colors, especially as irregular patches or streaks. The Hivites are descendants of Canaan, son of Ham. Genesis 9:25 “And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” The name “Hivite” is related to the Aramaic word “Khiv’va” (HVVA), meaning “snake”, and related to the word ‘awwiah in Galilee, meaning serpent.)

³ And Bashemath (root meaning to be fragrant, the balsam plant) Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebajoth. (Balm of Gilead was a rare perfume used medicinally, scholars have concluded that the actual source was a Terebinth tree. Some balsams, such as Balsam of Peru, may be associated with allergies. In particular, Euphorbia latex (“wolf’s milk”) is strongly irritant and cytotoxic. Cytotoxicity is the quality of being toxic to cells. Examples of toxic agents are an immune cell or some types of venom, e.g. from the puff adder. בֹּשֶׂם bosem (bo’-sem) can be interpreted as a combination of the Hebrew words baal (בַּעַל) “lord; master; the Phoenician god Baal” and shemen (שֶׁמֶן) “oil”, thus “Lord of Oils” or “Oil of Baal”)

⁴ And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz (god of gold, contemporary of Job) ; and Bashemath bare Reuel (means: friend of God);

⁵ And Aholibamah bare Jeush (hasty), and Jaalam (occult), and Korah (bald, naked or ice): these are the sons of Esau, which were born unto him in the land of Canaan.
(Deuteronomy 7:1-6 “When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.)

⁶ And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.

⁷ For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle.

⁸ Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom. (Greek = Idumaea)

⁹ And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in mount Seir:

¹⁰ These are the names of Esau’s sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau.

¹¹ And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman (stronger side), Omar (talkative), Zepho (Observant), and Gatam (?) , and Kenaz (to hunt).

¹² And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau’s son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek (his posterity): these were the sons of Adah Esau’s wife.

¹³ And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath (quiet), and Zerah (shoot forth beams of light), Shammah (ruin), and Mizzah (to faint with fear): these were the sons of Bashemath Esau’s wife.

¹⁴ And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: and she bare to Esau Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah.

¹⁵ These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz, (Job 2:11 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place; Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. In Job 22:3 we see the heart of these men “Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect?” Job 42:7 “And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.”)

¹⁶ Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek: these are the dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.

¹⁷ And these are the sons of Reuel Esau’s son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these are the dukes that came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Bashemath Esau’s wife.

¹⁸ And these are the sons of Aholibamah Esau’s wife; duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, duke Korah: these were the dukes that came of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.

¹⁹ These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes. (Lamentations 4:21 “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter [H1323 בַּת bath: daughter or a fair town, fair village.] of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz [to consult]; the cup [lot or portion] also shall pass [alter] through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken [influenced], and shalt make thyself naked [left destitute].”

²⁰ These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal (overflowing), and Zibeon (variegated), and Anah, (Śēʻîr, “Rough, hairy”. It is sometimes used as an alternative term for a goat, as in Seir La’Azazel [שעיר לעזאזל – scapegoat]. Seir = “Prince” in Ancient Egyptian, a name used by the Egyptians to refer the god of the dead known to the Greeks as Osiris. The term “Seir” was also used by the Egyptians to refer to the constellation Orion, which was considered to be a representation of the god Osiris in the heavens. Seir is the “prince of Hell” in demonology.)

²¹ And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.

²² And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. (Lotan in Hebrew means ‘veil’ or ‘covering’. In Ugaritic (Ur) it means ‘coiled’. Lotan was a sea monster in Canaanite mythology, similar to as Leviathan in Hebrew mythology. Lotan seems to have been prefigured by Têmtum, the serpent killed by the benevolent storm god Hadad in Syrian seals of the 18th–16th century BC. In the Baal Cycle discovered in the ruins of Ugarit, Lotan is a servant of the sea god Yammu and is defeated by the benevolent storm god Baʿal. The Baal Cycle’s description of Lotan is directly paralleled by a passage in the later Apocalypse of Isaiah, in which Yahweh fights Leviathan. Possibly the account of Job 42:7)

²³ And the children of Shobal were these; Alvan (lofty: the root of this name is H5927 עָלָה `alah (aw-law’) v. to ascend. Or 2.moral perverseness), and Manahath (to dwell, stay or rest), and Ebal (to bare, naked), Shepho (bareness), and Onam (strong).

(We can see the pronunciation of ‘Alvan’ is the same as the Islamic word ‘Allah’. Grammarians of The Basra School claims the definite form of Allāh derives from the verbal root ‘lyh’ with the meaning of “lofty” or “hidden”. The second Hebrew definition of the name completes the idea that this is none other than Satan.

Isaiah 14:12-15 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.’ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

According to Marshall Hodgson, it seems that in the pre-Islamic times, some Arab Christians made pilgrimage to the Kaaba, a pagan temple at that time, honoring Allah there as God the Creator. Hodgson (April 11, 1922 – June 10, 1968), was an Islamic studies academic and a world historian at the University of Chicago. “The Kaaba” is a building at the center of Islam’s most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca, al-Hejaz, Saudi Arabia. It is the most sacred site in Islam. Hubal (Arabic: هبل‎‎) was a moon god worshipped in pre-Islamic Arabia, notably at the Kaaba in Mecca.)

²⁴ And these are the children of Zibeon; both Ajah (scream or hawk), and Anah (scream or hawk): this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.

²⁵ And the children of Anah were these; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.

²⁶ And these are the children of Dishon; Hemdan (pleasant), and Eshban (growth), and Ithran (excel), and Cheran (pronounced “ker-awn”).

²⁷ The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan (to terrify), and Zaavan (to agitate), and Akan (tortuous).

²⁸ The children of Dishan are these; Uz (consultation), and Aran (shout of triump). (Job 1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”)

²⁹ These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,

³⁰ Duke Dishon (leaper), duke Ezer (store up treasure), duke Dishan (leaper): these are the dukes that came of Hori (cavity, cave), among their dukes in the land of Seir.

³¹ And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel. (In “The Comprehensive Commentary on the Holy Bible” it is written: “Throughout almost the whole of Hebrew history Uz or Idumea was regarded by the Jews in the same light of elegance and accomplishment, as Greece by the Romans, and Teman, the native city of Eliphaz, as the Athens of Arabia Petrea”. The Temanites were famed for their wisdom. Jeremiah 49:20-22 “Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them. The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea. Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.” )

³² And Bela the son of Beor (Bela means “devouring, that which he hath swallowed up” and Beor means ‘light’ as in the sense of burning) reigned in Edom: and the name of his city was Dinhabah. (Dinhabah = “give thou judgement”)

³³ And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah [Jordan] reigned in his stead. (Jobab means to cry out or bawl. Zerah means ‘shoot forth beams of light’. Some have mentioned this person could actually be Job and the name Jobab is the Horite version of the name.)

³⁴ And Jobab died, and Husham (hasty, eager) of the land of Temani reigned in his stead.

³⁵ And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith. (Hadad was equated with the Indo-European Nasite, Hittite storm-god Teshub; the Egyptian god Set; the Rigvedic god Indra; the Greek god Zeus; the Roman god Jupiter, as Jupiter Dolichenus. Ba‘al/Hadad is the lord of the sky who governs the rain and thus the germination of plants with the power of his desire that they be fertile. He is the protector of life and growth to the agricultural people of the region.)

³⁶ And Hadad died, and Samlah (covering) of Masrekah reigned in his stead. (In Sanchuniathon’s account Hadad, often called the son of Anu, by a concubine who is then given to the god Dagon. The cognate Akkadian god Adad is also often called the son of Anu . The corresponding Hittite god Teshub is likewise son of Anu.)

³⁷ And Samlah died, and Saul (“asked for”) of Rehoboth (Wide Avenue) by the river reigned in his stead. (Matthew 7:13 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:”)

³⁸ And Saul died, and Ba’al-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead. (The name means “Baal is gracious”. Since time immortal, it has been the practice of tribes of the Middle East to adopt the name of the chief god they worship as part of their family name. Here the familiar name “Ba’al”, a Canaanite word for the now deified Nimrod, attached to one of Esau’s progeny; this son, and several others, were Baal worshippers and proud of it. It is presumed that that “son of Achbor” is a duplicate of “son of Beor”.)

³⁹ And Baalhanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. (Hadad [aka Adad] is the name of the Semitic storm god. Anu is often associated with Adad in invocations. The name Adad and various alternate forms and bynames (Dadu, Bir, Dadda) are often found in the names of the Assyrian kings. His association with the sun-god, Shamash, due to the natural combination of the two deities who alternate in the control of nature, leads to imbuing him with some of the traits belonging to a solar deity. Shamash and Adad became in combination the gods of oracles and of divination in general. Whether the will of the gods is determined through the inspection of the liver of the sacrificial animal, through observing the action of oil bubbles in a basin of water or through the observation of the movements of the heavenly bodies, it is Shamash and Adad who, in the ritual connected with divination, are invariably invoked. Similarly in the annals and votive inscriptions of the kings, when oracles are referred to, Shamash and Adad are always named as the gods addressed, and their ordinary designation in such instances is bele biri [“lords of divination”]. Deuteronomy 18:10 “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.” Ezekiel 12:24 “For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.” We can see this is the works of Satan to further the action instituted by Nimrod. {Genesis 10:8-128 And Cush begat Nimrod (we shall rebel): he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

9 He was a mighty hunter (eager to take prey and set snares) before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel (to confuse or mix), and Erech (to lengthen, prolong or live with), and Accad (to subtly strengthen), and Calneh (fortress of Anu), in the land of Shinar.

11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh (abode of Ninus, fish goddess), and the city Rehoboth (avenue or path), and Calah (completion and strength), (Asshur is simply the Assyrian name for Nimrod; Nimrod being a Babylonian name.)

12 And Resen (bridle control) between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.

(Where does it all begin? The fight between good and evil? Consider this: Anu, the Sumerian god known as “Lord of the Constellations, Spirits and Demons” [i.e. Satan] was said to have fathered more than 50 different gods and goddesses of the ancient world. These ancient names of Enlil, Naama, Ishtar and so on, would become the gods and goddesses of the Greeks and Romans. Zeus, Apollos, Diana are all the exact same demons. Nimrod and his wife Sameramis are known by each of the 70 different languages just by a different name. So reading this back, right to left as the Hebrews write, we can see it was Nimrods goal to: Bridle or control mankind completely with his path to the home and fortress of Anu by subtly strengthening a prolonged mixing or confusion of religion. We can see this in the influence that Constantine (Mithras- Roman name for Nimrod) introduced and still prevails today.})

⁴⁰ And these are the names of the dukes that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names; duke Timnah, duke Alvah ((lofty: the root of this name is H5927 עָלָה `alah (aw-law’) v. to ascend. Or 2.moral perverseness), duke Jetheth (he that excels),

⁴¹ Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah (strong tree, usually identified as Terebinth), duke Pinon (perplexity),

⁴² Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar (fortification, castle),

⁴³ Duke Magdiel (a distinguished thing to God), duke Iram (a place guarded): these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites.

37 And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan. (The first Governing Dynamic of YHVH is that of division, separation and election; and this is His device to achieve His goal of perfecting humanity and bringing mankind into unity with Himself.  A word that we hear often in the Church is “sanctification”. Sanctification is the act of YHVH dividing, separating, and electing people for His purposes. Sanctification is the setting apart of human beings for Himself. A set apart person of YHVH has been granted a holy status; a status that is above common. Common is the status of the world; holy is the status of those set apart for YHVH. At this point in the Torah, ISRAEL is now painted as a separate people, but certainly not yet attaining the status of a nation. The second Governing Dynamic of YHVH is Divine Providence. He works His will largely unseen and unknown to us, somehow, in the free exercise of our wills, YHVH guides mankind to the end He had decided back in eternity past. Often it seems as though He isn’t guiding at all, at times, that He has created His Creation, and left us on our own, allowing His Creation to take whatever route destiny has it.)

² These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. (k’tonet passim – not a coat at all, but a tunic. This was a royal tunic and the form of the Hebrew used here says that, indeed, this was a royal robe. His father virtually anointed him as a prince, and had him prancing around amongst his brothers in that kingly garb. The jealousy and envy this was bound to cause was going to wind up nearly costing Joseph his life.)

⁴ And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

⁵ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. (Why is Joseph not considered a Patriarch as was his father? God had direct and 2-way communication with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob……He delivered His instructions to the Patriarchs by means of direct Divine Oracle……but He did NOT with Joseph. A word that we hear often in the Church is “sanctification”. Sanctification is the act of God’s dividing, separating, and electing people for His purposes. Sanctification is the setting apart of human beings for Himself. A set apart for God person has been granted a holy status; a status that is above common. Common is the status of the world; holy is the status of those set apart for God. Israel was set apart for God, so they were, are, holy. As a Believer, you have been sanctified; that is, you have been divided, separated, and elected to become God’s own children, to conform to His will, to serve Him. You have been declared holy. Joseph was to be set apart to the will of YHVH to preserve the set apart people of Israel.)

⁶ And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

⁷ For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance (to crouch or bow) to my sheaf. (It was understood in religious circles, both Hebrew and pagan in that era, the personality and ambitions of the dreamer also played a role in the dream; therefore, a dream was kind of a hybrid thing: it was an oracle or a prophecy that was part the god and part the aspirations of the person having the dream. Joseph’s brothers would have assumed, in their humanity, that Joseph was full of himself. The sheaf’s are representative of the reason they will seek out the benevolence of Josephs rule, that being the famine coming to the land.)

⁸ And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. (15:13 And God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. 14 “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward they will come out with many possessions.”)

⁹ And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. (“the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down” This was even more insulting because in that era, the sun represented the father figure, and the moon the mother, and the stars their offspring in pagan satanic worship.)

¹⁰ And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? (This passage lends credence that Bilhah and Zilpah had become wives for Jacob. Because, though Rachel was long dead before this incident, here we Jacob respond with “so you say I and your mother….should bow down to you”. Rachel was Joseph’s mother, but Bilhah had been her handmaiden. Bilhah would have had much to do with Joseph’s upbringing. If Jacob had elevated Bilhah’s status to a full wife, it would have been customary in that era to refer to her as “Joseph’s mother”.)

¹¹ And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
(Joseph’s desire for his family to prepare for the future was greater than his desire for their love and acceptance. The brothers did not understand him for they looked at their future through their present understanding and present situations, their lives in Canaan.  YHVH has given us many revelations for our future, the last days, and how we perceive them can be based on the truth found in scripture or the through the filter of what we choose to follow, ie. the traditions of men.)

¹² And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

¹³ And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.

¹⁴ And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. (This is the same place where these brothers slayed the men of the city and took possessions just years before.)

¹⁵ And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

¹⁶ And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.

¹⁷ And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

¹⁹ And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

²⁰ Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

²¹ And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.

²² And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again. (Rueben’s real intention was not to have Joseph die, but to come back later and retrieve him after the brothers had left the area. Let’s remember here that Rueben, Jacob’s firstborn, was the one who attempted a coup against his father by sleeping with Bilhah…..thereby claiming his father’s concubine as a prize. Although the coup failed…. and apparently after both Rachel and Leah died, Jacob ignored the fact that Bilhah was considered “ruined” by tradition, and married her anyway…..Reuben was obviously still considered the top-dog among the brothers. Rueben, who had the most to lose with his father’s special preference for Joseph, would be the one who tried to intervene and come to Joseph’s rescue. Besides, as the eldest brother, Rueben would have been held responsible for the actions of the group.)

²³ And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;

²⁴ And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. (Dry wells and cisterns were commonly used as prison cells, even hiding places, in that day. So, Rueben’s idea was hardly novel.)

²⁵ And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

²⁶ And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

²⁷ Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelite’s, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content. (The brothers sold Joseph to the traders for 20 shekels of silver, the going rate for a male slave.)

²⁸ Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelite’s for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹ And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

³⁰ And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?

³¹ And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;

³² And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.

³³ And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

³⁴ And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. (Sheol basically means the grave, or the place of the dead, the concept of dying and going to heaven did not exist yet.)

³⁶ And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard. (Potiphar is a rather common Egyptian name, and it is found on Egyptian monuments from several dynasties.  Written Pet-Pa-Ra, it simply means “dedicated to Ra” or “a gift to Ra”; Ra was the Egyptian sun god.)

38 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. (wax pale)

² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her. (This unnamed woman produced 3 sons for Judah, but none of these should have been suitable to carry on the line of the covenant promise, because they all were of Canaanite blood. Jacob had decided that Rueben (even though he was Jacob’s firstborn son) would not receive the firstborn blessing, because Rueben had slept with Jacob’s concubine, Bilhah.  And, Simeon and Levi, the next two in line, were also deemed unworthy to inherit the firstborn blessing Rueben forfeited, because they were the two who led the raid on the males of Shechem, killing them in revenge for the rape of their sister, Dinah. This would make Judah the next in line for the blessing. Judah had children with a Canaanite woman: a most definite no-no to God. When we want to do something that we know is both wrong and unacceptable to our families, we separate ourselves from them so that we don’t have to face them; this is what Judah did.)

³ And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.(awake or watchful)

⁴ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. (strong)

⁵ And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah (petition): and he was at Chezib (falsified, lie), when she bare him.

⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.(palm tree)

⁷ And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him.

⁸ And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. (What is key here is that Tamar was a childless widow; or more correctly, a son-less widow (she may well have produced some girl babies before her husband’s death). Onan, the second son of Judah was then instructed to go and take his brother’s widow, Tamar, as his wife. This was simply a custom of that day…and, generally speaking, this was NOT optional…..it was the law that the brother do this. The actual Hebrew word for this ordinance is yibbum.)

⁹ And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. (The brother who died (Er) was the firstborn. Onan was the 2nd born; but as the eldest surviving brother, he was now the firstborn. But…if he produced a child in the name of his deceased brother, that child would have been entitled to part of Judah’s estate. In other words, Onan would have received less if his deceased elder brother’s family line had continued. Now, it’s not that it was uncommon for family maneuvering to gain the most power and wealth when the father died; but to intentionally deny this widow a son did two things: it meant that her deceased husband’s family line would end (a disaster to the ancient mind), and she would have no son to care for her as she grew older. This was tantamount to living in extreme poverty.So, for Onan to knowingly do all this made him selfish and callous in a very high degree. And, Yehoveh took his life as a consequence.)

¹⁰ And the thing which he did displeased the Lord: wherefore he slew him also.

¹¹ Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow at thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house. (Judah was currently living a life utterly oblivious to God and His laws and commands. To Judah, Tamar was really bad luck. Judah was doing a terrible and shameful thing by not allowing Shelah to marry Tamar; Tamar was greatly disgraced by this. So, she developed a plan: she would find a way to sleep with her father-in-law, Judah, and directly from his seed perform the all-important task of carrying on the blood lines of her dead husband’s family. Knowing that Judah would never do this willingly, Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute, and sets herself at a place called ‘Einayim. This must have been a well-known spot for prostitutes to find clients, for ‘Einayim means, “eyes that look”.)

¹² And in process of time the daughter of Shuah Judah’s wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

¹³ And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.

¹⁴ And she put her widow’s garments off from her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face. (Is it at all odd that the Muslims would consider this exactly opposite of what God considers it? Note: that she was thought to be a “temple prostitute”. That is, the Canaanites had adopted prostitution as a “worship” practice (symbolizing fertility), and it was connected with the pagan temple to Baal. This was a duty, and in many ways an honor, for these woman to be prostitutes for Baal; and it was considered a legitimate practice by both customer and client, so Judah…. so far off the reservation in his current state of mind…… thought nothing of it. Most of the mystery Babylon based religions adopted “sacred sex” as part of their religious practices, and there is a movement within the fringes of the new Spiritualist and New Age movements around the world, and in this nation, to bring the practice back.  Their stated goal is to combine the erotic with the sacred…another fundamental of the Mystery Babylon religions. This is just a case in point of how easily we can adopt traditions within the Church that are not really in line with God’s word or will, usually taken from something out of the pagan world’s customs, and make them as though they’re a “good thing”. And, while we can attach sincerity to some of these long-held and comfortable traditions, often, as with Judah here, these things are an abomination to God.)

¹⁶ And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

¹⁷ And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?

¹⁸ And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹ And she arose, and went away, and laid by her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not.

²¹ Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.

²² And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.

²³ And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

²⁴ And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt. (The notion in that era was that Tamar was bringing dishonor to Judah and his household.)

²⁵ When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.

²⁶ And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more. (This is another of those statements in the Bible that while factually true and accurate, the person making the statement is just plain wrong. Tamar was NOT righteous in what she did, anymore than Judah was righteous in what he eventually did. God simply used them despite their sin and rebellion, to achieve His divine purposes.)

²⁷ And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.

²⁸ And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.

²⁹ And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez. (a break or breech)

³⁰ And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah. (a rising of light)

 

39 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelite’s, which had brought him down thither.

² And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. (Semite rulers controlled Egypt for around 2 centuries; that’s right, Semites, sons of Shem, cousins of Israel, sat as Pharaoh on the throne of Egypt…..not Egyptians. The Egyptians called these foreign rulers of Egypt the Hyksos. Hyk means “king” and “sos” means shepherd…so these foreigners were known as the “Shepherd Kings”. Scholars generally agree that during the time of Joseph, and for perhaps 100 years or a little more after Joseph’s death, it was the Semite Shepherd Kings that ruled Egypt. So, with Bedouins, Semites, in control at the time Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt, it explains why Moses thought it important to mention that Potiphar was NOT a Bedouin, he was an Egyptian. And, it also explains how, as we will soon discover, the Pharaoh seemed to have little trouble giving Joseph, a foreigner, a Hebrew, an Israelite, such an incredible amount of authority over Egyptians; for the best current evidence is that the Pharaoh was NOT an Egyptian; both he and Joseph were Semites. A short account as taken from the Egyptian historian Manetho: “We had a king called Tutimaeus. In his reign, it happened. I do not know why God was displeased with us. Unexpectedly from the regions of the East, came men of unknown race. Confident of victory they marched against our land. By force they took it, easily, without a single battle. Having overpowered our rulers they burned our cities without compassion, and destroyed the temples of the gods. All the natives were treated with great cruelty for they slew some and carried off the wives and children of others into slavery. Finally they appointed one of themselves as king. His name was Salitis and he lived in Memphis and made Upper and Lower Egypt pay tribute to him…and when he found a city in the province of Sais which suited his purpose (it lay east of the Bubasite branch of the Nile and was called Avaris) he rebuilt it and made it very strong by erecting walls and installing a force of 240,000 men to hold it. Salitis went there every summer partly to collect his corn and pay men their wages, and partly to train his armed troops and terrify foreigners.” This is the invasion of the Hyksos. In Exodus, we shall spend some time talking about this city Avaris. It is the large city that became home to the Hebrews, the Israelites, in the land of Goshen, Egypt.)

³ And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. (Even though Joseph was abandoned by his family, and placed into a strange land with strange gods, the God of Israel was still with him protecting, controlling, and guiding events.)

⁴ And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

⁵ And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

⁶ And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

⁷ And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

⁸ But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

⁹ There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

¹⁰ And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

¹¹ And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

¹² And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

¹³ And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,

¹⁴ That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: (This is another indication of the hatred the Egyptians had for any Semite, and this due to their current condition of being subjugated by Semite people…even though this particular group of Semites [the Hyksos] were not Hebrews. This also tells us why the tables get turned when a new Pharaoh comes to power.)

¹⁵ And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.

¹⁶ And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.

¹⁷ And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:

¹⁸ And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.

¹⁹ And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

²⁰ And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison. (Prisons were not common in this era, generally the person committing rape, or murder or any other malicious crime was executed swiftly. Joseph was bought for a price, most likely at a profit to the Ishmaelite’s which had paid the “going rate”. Potipher wanted either time to figure out what really went on, or he wanted time to separate the memory of the situation so he could return Joseph to service, or perhaps to sell Joseph to regain his money.)

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

²³ The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.

 

40 And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.

² And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers. (This mirrors the 2 thieves that were crucified with Yeshua ….one denying Messiah to his demise and the other accepting and being lifted to glory.)

³ And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

⁴ And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.

⁵ And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.

⁶ And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.

⁷ And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?

⁸ And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

⁹ And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;

¹⁰ And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:

¹¹ And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

¹² And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:

¹³ Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.

¹⁴ But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:

¹⁵ For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon. (This mirrors the false accusations against Yeshua.)

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head: (Egyptian hieroglyphs prove out many of the details of this story. For instance, the idea of the baskets on top of the baker’s head; this was exactly the way males carried items in Egypt; they balanced them on their heads. The stacked baskets of bread on the baker’s head were simply a normal means of conveying the bread from the ovens to the palace, which the baker would have done several times a day. You would never see an Egyptian woman put a load on her head; rather, Egyptian women toted things on their shoulders and back. And, this was exactly the opposite from the customary way the Oriental cultures toted loads.)

¹⁷ And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.

¹⁸ And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:

¹⁹ Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.

²⁰ And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. (This mirrors the actions of Pontius Pilot … setting Barabas free and hanging Yeshua on the cross.)

²¹ And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:

²² But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them. (Hanging was not a typical manner of execution in this era, but beheading was. And, often the headless corpse was impaled on a stake [or a tree] as a warning to others.)

²³ Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

41 And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.

² And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.

³ And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.

⁴ And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.

⁵ And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

⁶ And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.

⁷ And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.

⁸ And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

⁹ Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:

¹⁰ Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker:

¹¹ And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

¹² And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.

¹³ And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he hanged.

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
(Jasher 48:44-48 “And it was their custom throughout the land of Egypt, that every man who came to speak to the king, if he was a prince or one that was estimable in the sight of the king, he ascended to the king’s throne as far as the thirty-first step, and the king would descend to the thirty-sixth step, and speak with him. If he was one of the common people, he ascended to the third step, and the king would descend to the fourth and speak to him, and their custom was, moreover, that any man who understood to speak in all the seventy languages, he ascended the seventy steps, and went up and spoke till he reached the king. And any man who could not complete the seventy, he ascended as many steps as the languages which he knew to speak in. And it was customary in those days in Egypt that no one should reign over them, but who understood to speak in the seventy languages. And when Yoseph came before the king he bowed down to the ground before the king, and he ascended to the third step, and the king sat upon the fourth step and spoke with Yoseph.”)

¹⁵ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.

¹⁶ And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

¹⁷ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:

¹⁸ And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:

¹⁹ And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:

²⁰ And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:

²¹ And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

²² And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:

²³ And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:

²⁴ And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.

²⁵ And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. (How could the simple, wholly inadequate, employment of worldly knowledge and false, though sincere, religion possibly fathom their meaning? It can NEVER be so; but it forever will be that only the children of God, in spiritual union with the Father, can know the truth. Jasher 48:52 “And Yoseph was then clothed with the spirit of YAHWEH before the king, and he knew all the things that would befall the king from that day forward, and he knew the proper interpretation of the king’s dream, and he spoke before the king.”)

²⁶ The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.

²⁷ And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.

²⁸ This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.

²⁹ Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: (How difficult it is to believe God, instead of our eyes, especially when things are going well. Would we have the faith to hear from God that a time of terrible tribulation was nearing, and that we needed to prepare by putting aside some of our time, our riches, our labors, our interests, ourselves? Could we intentionally deprive ourselves when we were in the midst of abundance, when life was good? Could we do it on FAITH, and not by what we see with our eyes?  Could we do it when the best and brightest minds, and our most prestigious religious leaders, tell us that the future is unknowable…except as they can discern it from their positions of authority? It doesn’t matter that most of our religious leaders are blind to it. It doesn’t matter that our academic elite scoff at it. It doesn’t matter that our government sees everything in terms of geo-political realities, and our lawmakers see things in terms of attaining and maintaining personal power. For most of our secular and religious leaders are as oblivious to reality as were Pharaoh’s wise men and magicians. You see, God has not entrusted the truth to them: He has entrusted it to US…His true Church. Not the façade of Church institution, with its bureaucracies and man-made doctrines; rather His people, His followers, sanctified through the blood of Christ.)

³⁰ And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;

³¹ And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.

³² And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

³³ Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.

³⁵ And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.

³⁶ And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.

(Jasher 48:61-66 “This is the proper interpretation of your dream, and this is the counsel given to save your soul and the souls of all your subjects. And the king answered and said unto Yoseph, Who says and who knows that your words are correct? And he said unto the king, This shall be a sign for you respecting all my words, that they are true and that my advice is good for you. Behold your wife sits this day upon the stool of delivery, and she will bear you a son and you wilt rejoice with him; when your child shall have gone forth from his mother’s womb, your first born son that has been born these two years back shall die, and you wilt be comforted in the child that will be born unto you this day. And Yoseph finished speaking these words to the king, and he bowed down to the king and he went out, and when Yoseph had gone out from the king’s presence, those signs which Yoseph had spoken unto the king came to pass on that day. And the queen bare a son on that day and the king heard the glad tidings about his son, and he rejoiced, and when the reporter had gone forth from the king’s presence, the king’s servants found the first born son of the king fallen dead upon the ground. And there was great lamentation and noise in the king’s house, and the king heard it, and he said, What is the noise and lamentation that I have heard in the house? and they told the king that his first born son had died; then the king knew that all Yoseph’s words that he had spoken were correct, and the king was consoled for his son by the child that was born to him on that day as Yoseph had spoken.”)

³⁷ And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
(Jasher 49:8-19 “And the king said to all the officers: I have thought that since YAHWEH has made known to the Hebrew man all that he has spoken, there is none so discreet and wise in the whole land as he is; if it seem good in your sight I will place him over the land, for he will save the land with his wisdom. And all the officers answered the king and said, But surely it is written in the laws of Egypt, and it should not be violated, that no man shall reign over Egypt, nor be the second to the king, but one who has knowledge in all the languages of the sons of men. Now therefore our lord and king, behold this Hebrew man can only speak the Hebrew language, and how then can he be over us the second under government, a man who not even knows our language? Now we pray you send for him, and let him come before you, and prove him in all things, and do as you see fit. And the king said, It shall be done tomorrow, and the thing that you have spoken is good; and all the officers came on that day before the king. And on that night YAHWEH sent one of his ministering heavenly messengers, and he came into the land of Egypt unto Yoseph, and the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH stood over Yoseph, and behold Yoseph was lying in the bed at night in his master’s house in the dungeon, for his master had put him back into the dungeon on account of his wife. And the heavenly messenger roused him from his sleep, and Yoseph rose up and stood upon his legs, and behold the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH was standing opposite to him; and the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH spoke with Yoseph, and he taught him all the languages of man in that night, and he called his name Jehoseph. And the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH went from him, and Yoseph returned and lay upon his bed, and Yoseph was astonished at the vision which he saw. And it came to pass in the morning that the king sent for all his officers and servants, and they all came and sat before the king, and the king ordered Yoseph to be brought, and the king’s servants went and brought Yoseph before Pharaoh. And the king came forth and ascended the steps of the throne, and Yoseph spoke unto the king in all languages, and Yoseph went up to him and spoke unto the king until he arrived before the king in the seventieth step, and he sat before the king. And the king greatly rejoiced on account of Yoseph, and all the king’s officers rejoiced greatly with the king when they heard all the words of Yoseph. And the thing seemed good in the sight of the king and the officers, to appoint Yoseph to be second to the king over the whole land of Egypt”)

³⁸ And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

³⁹ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:

⁴⁰ Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

⁴¹ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

⁴² And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

⁴³ And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁴ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah (a hybrid Egyptian and Hebrew word. Scholars say it means either “God speaks, he lives”, or it means “the creator and sustainer of life”); and he gave him to wife Asenath (aw-se-nath’ = “gift of the sun-god”, an Egyptian name) the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. (The Temple of On was to honor the sun-god Re, later called Atum-Re; Re was the highest Egyptian deity. Later, the city of On, about 7 or 8 miles north of Cairo, would come to be known as Heliopolis, city of the sun. So, Joseph married the daughter of the priest of the Sun God, Re. There are two Rabbinic approaches to the issue of Asenath’s descent. One view presents her as an ethnic Egyptian who converted in order to be married to Joseph. She accepted the belief in the Lord before she was married and raised her children in accordance with the tenets of Judaism. The second approach argues that Asenath was not an Egyptian by descent, but was from the family of Jacob. God directed matters so that she would end up in Egypt, so that Joseph would find a suitable wife from among the members of his own family. Accordingly, Ephraim and Manasseh are worthy descendants, who continue the way of Jacob.)

⁴⁶ And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷ And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.

⁴⁸ And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.

⁴⁹ And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

⁵⁰ And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah (the son of Ahiram = “brother of height, lofty”) priest of On bare unto him.

⁵¹ And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh (to cause to forget): For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.

⁵² And the name of the second called he Ephraim (fruitfulness): For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

⁵³ And the seven years of plenteousness, that was in the land of Egypt, were ended.

⁵⁴ And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

⁵⁵ And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.

⁵⁶ And the famine was over all the face of the earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷ And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.

42 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon another? (“Why are you STARING at each other, are you waiting for SOMEBODY else to do something?” The very low rainfall occurred for several years in southern Egypt during the same time there was a drought for several years in Canaan was a God thing; that does not normally occur. One of the reasons that Egypt and the people of Canaan knew each other so well, established trade; usually when there was crop failure in Egypt due to low levels of the Nile, Egypt could count on going up to Canaan to buy extra food and vice-versa.)

² And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence; that we may live, and not die.

³ And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt. (We’re not told to stand with Israel because they’re a specially good or extraordinary or sympathetic race (which they’re not), we’re to stand with them because that’s what God has instructed all the people of this planet to do, with dire consequences for those who do not heed Him.)

⁴ But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.

⁵ And the sons of Israel came to buy corn among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶ And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. (This great Vizier of Egypt, who was not going by the name Joseph, but by the EGYPTIAN name the Pharaoh had given him, Zaphenath-Panea.)

⁷ And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food. (20 years had passed since they had last seen their little brother, and his boyish features had become manly; and he now looked Egyptian. He would have been clean shaven (Hebrews, by tradition, always wore beards); he wore his hair in Egyptian fashion and would have used certain cosmetics that Egyptian royalty typically applied to their faces,he also spoke Egyptian.

⁸ And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.

⁹ And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

¹⁰ And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but to buy food are thy servants come.

¹¹ We are all one man’s sons; we are true men, thy servants are no spies.

¹² And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

¹³ And they said, Thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.

¹⁴ And Joseph said unto them, That is it that I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:

¹⁵ Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

¹⁷ And he put them all together into ward three days.

¹⁸ And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:

¹⁹ If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:

²⁰ But bring your youngest brother unto me; so shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did so.

²¹ And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

²² And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.

²³ And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

²⁴ And he turned himself about from them, and wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

²⁵ Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.

²⁶ And they laded their asses with the corn, and departed thence.

²⁷ And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.

²⁸ And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us?

²⁹ And they came unto Jacob their father unto the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them; saying,

³⁰ The man, who is the lord of the land, spake roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.

³¹ And we said unto him, We are true men; we are no spies:

³² We be twelve brethren, sons of our father; one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

³³ And the man, the lord of the country, said unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your households, and be gone:

³⁴ And bring your youngest brother unto me: then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men: so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the land.

³⁵ And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks, that, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack: and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

³⁶ And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.

³⁷ And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. (More and more we see the wisdom in Rueben being denied his firstborn birthright. Rueben is a politician…a wind bag. He is always making these grandiose, unwise statements and promises that are worthless and designed to do little but elicit an emotional response. “Brilliant!” Only you would figure that after I had lost 3 sons, I should now kill my own grandchildren as retribution?! Are you insane?!”)

³⁸ And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

 

43 And the famine was sore in the land.

² And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.

³ And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

⁴ If thou wilt send our brother with us, we will go down and buy thee food:

⁵ But if thou wilt not send him, we will not go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except your brother be with you.

⁶ And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?

⁷ And they said, The man asked us straitly of our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive? have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your brother down?

⁸ And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.

⁹ I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:

¹⁰ For except we had lingered, surely now we had returned this second time.

¹¹ And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:

¹² And take double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:

¹³ Take also your brother, and arise, go again unto the man:

¹⁴ And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.

¹⁵ And the men took that present, and they took double money in their hand and Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.

¹⁷ And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ And the men were afraid, because they were brought into Joseph’s house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

¹⁹ And they came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they communed with him at the door of the house,

²⁰ And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the first time to buy food:

²¹ And it came to pass, when we came to the inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have brought it again in our hand.

²² And other money have we brought down in our hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.

²³ And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.

²⁴ And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender.

²⁵ And they made ready the present against Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶ And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves to him to the earth.

²⁷ And he asked them of their welfare, and said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet alive?

²⁸ And they answered, Thy servant our father is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their heads, and made obeisance.

²⁹ And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, Is this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.

³⁰ And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

³¹ And he washed his face, and went out, and refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.

³² And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

³³ And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men marvelled one at another.

³⁴ And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of their’s. And they drank, and were merry with him.
(Scholars have debated the meaning of this 5 fold blessing of food upon Benjamin, and the general consensus is that in Egypt, a prince or a ruler was given 5 times as much as everyone else as a sign of royalty. David, the very first King of Israel would be a descendant of Benjamin.)

44 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.

² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their asses.

⁴ And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?

⁵ Is not this it in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing. (The master of the house in Egypt in those days, if judged a sage, a seer, had a special bowl from which he and he alone drank. But, it was also used for the purpose of divining messages from the gods. One can only imagine how Joseph came by this “diviner’s bowl”…..likely it was a gift from the Pharaoh, because Joseph was undoubtedly, after accurately interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, determined the highest and best sage, diviner, in all the land. Typically, the bowl was filled with water, and then gold or silver objects, amulets, sometimes with magic inscriptions written on them, were put into the water, and from the reflections the seer would attempt to see the future.  It is unimaginable that Joseph actually used the bowl for anything except to drink from……but to keep up the appearance of being thoroughly Egyptian, he used the common knowledge of the bowl as an implement of divination to continue to test his brothers.)

⁶ And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.

⁷ And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing:

⁸ Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold?

⁹ With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen. (Seemingly every time it becomes necessary for one or all of these Israelite brothers to prove their intent or honesty on a matter, or need to resolve a difficult situation, death is the answer. It appears that up to this point in their lives, ten of the 12 tribes of Israel had very little respect for life, and had utterly no understanding of God’s moral principles!)

¹⁰ And he said, Now also let it be according unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and ye shall be blameless.

¹¹ Then they speedily took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.

¹² And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

¹³ Then they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

¹⁴ And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the ground.

¹⁵ And Joseph said unto them, What deed is this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?

¹⁶ And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my lord’s servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found.

¹⁷ And he said, God forbid that I should do so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.

¹⁸ Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh. (Knowing this important piece of history, we might understand the relationship between Yeshua and Yehoveh. Between Jesus the Son and God the Father. There is at once an equality….a oneness…..a unity….echad….. between Jesus and the Father, and yet a subservience of the Son to the Father. Joseph wielded the full power and authority of Pharaoh, but he was NOT Pharaoh. Yeshua wields the full power and authority of the Father, yet Yeshua is NOT the Father. Joseph was the ruler of Egypt, so was Pharaoh the ruler of Egypt, yet Joseph was NOT Pharaoh. Yeshua is God, but He is not God the Father…….He is God the Son. And, the Son is ultimately subservient to the Father, just as Joseph was subservient to the Pharaoh. Do you see this? The relationship between Joseph and the Pharaoh is the earthly demonstration of the heavenly, spiritual relationship between the Word who became flesh, Jesus, and the Father of all things, Yehoveh.)

¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?

²⁰ And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him.

²¹ And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.

²² And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.

²³ And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more.

²⁴ And it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

²⁵ And our father said, Go again, and buy us a little food.

²⁶ And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man’s face, except our youngest brother be with us.

²⁷ And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons:

²⁸ And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:

²⁹ And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

³⁰ Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad’s life;

³¹ It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave.

³² For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.

³³ Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.

³⁴ For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father. (Judah admits to Joseph that it is useless to plead innocence before him; because even though they did not commit the crime of which they had been accused (stealing the silver bowl), in fact they were guilty of other crimes; crimes they thought were well hidden and unknowable; crimes long past and nearly forgotten; crimes of the heart and soul. They were infested with sin and as a result lived sinful lives. And, despite their outward appearance of honesty and integrity, and their earnest pleading of innocence, all that they were, all they had done, has been exposed by God. Although you aren’t responsible for the sins of others, neither are others responsible for your sins, YOU must bear your own guilt. And, since the wages of sin before God is death….YOUR death…..your ETERNAL death…..what is to be done to escape this fate from which there seems to be no hope?)

45 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

² And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard.

³ And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence.

⁴ And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

⁵ Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

⁶ For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.

⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

⁸ So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁹ Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:

¹⁰ And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy children’s children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:

¹¹ And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.

¹² And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.

¹³ And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither.

¹⁴ And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.

¹⁵ Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him. (Joseph was weeping so violent, with his body heaving with the intensity and a range of emotions now pouring out of him like a dam bursting, his crying out could be clearly heard outside of his home. What he felt we can probably all, to some degree, identity. These were tears of deep pain finally released; of relief from an ordeal that had come to a poignant conclusion after so many years; of gratitude for a reuniting with his family; of sadness seeing his brothers eaten up with guilt, but at the same time, joy, having witnessed them embrace repentance; and, of course, this gave Joseph the opportunity to forgive. But, Joseph also wept for he knew the thing he longed for the most was at hand; he would be soon be back in the presence of his beloved father. What similar, but greater, spectrum of emotions that Jesus must have felt as He hung there on that cross, his life draining away. As He suddenly felt the full burden of the immeasurable, crushing weight placed upon Him for the sins of every human that had ever, or would ever, live. As He absorbed the Divine wrath of His Father, in righteous judgment, for the sins He bore, none of which were His. Yeshua knew, just as Joseph knew, that soon he would be back in the presence of his father. His mission was accomplished. God’s will was done. What his brothers had done to Him for evil, the Father has used for good. Joseph saved Israel’s physical life: Jesus saved Israel’s eternal life…. Israel’s, and all the families of the earth who would be joined to Israel’s covenants.)

¹⁶ And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.

¹⁷ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;

¹⁸ And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.

¹⁹ Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.

²⁰ Also regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is your’s.

²¹ And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.

²² To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

²³ And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the way.

²⁴ So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way. (Benjamin, once again, getting the royal portion of 5 times as much as the others. One can only imagine that this royal treatment by Joseph upon Benjamin likely continued all their lives. And, it could only have served to make Benjamin’s relationship with his brothers strained, at the least. Here the instruction of Joseph to his brothers of “do not quarrel on the journey”, at least in part was due to the highly favorable treatment Benjamin received, and what the brothers might think to do about it.)

²⁵ And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,

²⁶ And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.

²⁷ And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived:

²⁸ And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.

46 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

² And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

³ And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

⁴ I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. (It was an unquestioned belief that gods observed national borders, and for whatever reason, Jacob and his family still generally thought the same way all the other world cultures did, and Yehoveh had apparently not tried (terribly hard) to enlighten him and explain the reality of that error. So, naturally, one of Jacob’s fears was that once he crossed the boundary of Canaan and entered Egypt, he would leave behind the influence and protection of his own God, Yehoveh, and now be subject to Egypt’s gods. God says, therefore, “I Myself will go down with you to Egypt and I Myself will bring you back”. In other words, Jacob’s God would take the unusual step of crossing the territorial boundaries and accompanying Israel on his migration. This was not the usual operating method for a god, but it must have been a welcome surprise for Jacob, even if he did not understand how Yehoveh could just change all the god etiquette that had been established over the centuries.)

⁵ And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

⁶ And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:

⁷ His sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt. (Genesis 15:12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 And God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. 14 “But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15 “And as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 “Then in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”)

⁸ And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

⁹ And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.

¹⁰ And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman.

¹¹ And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹² And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.

¹³ And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.

¹⁴ And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.

¹⁵ These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.

¹⁶ And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷ And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.

¹⁸ These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even sixteen souls.

¹⁹ The sons of Rachel Jacob’s wife; Joseph, and Benjamin.

²⁰ And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.

²¹ And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.

²² These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.

²³ And the sons of Dan; Hushim.

²⁴ And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.

²⁵ These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all the souls were seven.

²⁶ All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six;

²⁷ And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten. (The number 70 is symbolic rather than an exact census. 70 is symbolic of the totality of a cycle; it also represents a universality of an event and that something has been divinely ordained. It is very likely that there were WELL more than 70 individuals that went to Egypt because genealogies and censuses generally ONLY count the males of the population.)

²⁸ And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.

²⁹ And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

³⁰ And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.

³¹ And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto his father’s house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto him, My brethren, and my father’s house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me;

³² And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.

³³ And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?

³⁴ That ye shall say, Thy servants’ trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. (As is common for heads of state like Pharaoh, he has been prepared in advance for the greetings and blessings that he will give to his honored guests….Israel….the family of the Vizier of Egypt, Joseph. But, in proper protocol, it is necessary for the Pharaoh himself to pronounce his rulings, face to face with representatives of Israel. So, Joseph also prepares some of his brothers as to what the procedure will be, and tells them exactly what they’re to say, so as to accommodate Pharaoh’s already decided plan for Israel.)

47 Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

² And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.

³ And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.

⁴ They said morever unto Pharaoh, For to sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen.

⁵ And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee:

⁶ The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

⁷ And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

⁸ And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou?

⁹ And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.

¹⁰ And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
(Jacob, a refugee, would have NO business or place blessing such a great man as Pharaoh. But, what this amounted to was the respect that existed in that day for the aged. And, Jacob was probably the most aged man in all Egypt, perhaps the oldest man Pharaoh had ever met. Egyptian records simply don’t show Egyptians living nearly as long as the Hebrews. In fact, Jacob’s elderliness so intrigued Pharaoh that he says to Jacob in V8 “How old ARE you?!”  And, Jacob responds that he’s 130 years old, and most of those years have NOT been pleasant. But, then he also tells Pharaoh that 130 years old is nothin’. His ancestors lived to much older ages than he.)

¹¹ And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

¹² And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.

¹³ And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

¹⁴ And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

¹⁵ And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.

¹⁶ And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.

¹⁷ And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.

¹⁸ When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

¹⁹ Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.

²⁰ And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.

²¹ And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.

²² Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

²³ Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

²⁴ And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.

²⁵ And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants. (This arrangement, which is commonly called serfdom, was closer to enslavement than a business deal.)

²⁶ And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly. (This is in stark contrast to the Egyptian people who were losing their lands and herds.)

²⁸ And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.

²⁹ And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:

³⁰ But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. (The issue at hand for Jacob involved the all-important matter of ancestor worship. How was he to be buried and gathered to his kin, if his kin (Abraham and Isaac) was in Canaan, but he was in Egypt? The spirits of the dead didn’t travel. How was his essence to continue on, after his death, by means of his spirit being tended and honored by his sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, and so on, if those sons were in Canaan, but his spirit was still in Egypt? If a spirit weren’t tended, it would come to an end; that person’s essence would evaporate for all time. And, besides, it was the gods of each territory who had rule over their own kingdoms of the dead. So, for Jacob, he wanted to ensure that he indeed would be taken back to Canaan so he could live with his ancestors and his spirit would be properly looked after by his descendants.)

³¹ And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

48 And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

² And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.

³ And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, (El Shaddai likely means “God of the Mountain”. This, of course, fits hand in glove with both the general mindset of men in that ancient era, by which gods generally lived high up in mountains; and with the understanding of the early Hebrews that God did indeed live on a mountain top…..Mt. Sinai to be precise.)

⁴ And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. (The Abrahamic Covenant)

⁵ And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. (He made these two children not adopted GRANDchildren; he made them as his own children. The “church” has done its level best to ignore, even disavow, God’s plainly stated plan that in order for the gentile world, to be saved, we must be grafted into the spiritual heritage of Israel. The Church has forgotten that “the family of God” is Israel; and that is certainly NOT the inference that is intended by most traditional church leaders. We gentile Believers have been grafted into the covenants of Israel…..not INSTEAD of Israel….not as replacement for Israel…but alongside Israel. As Jeremiah 31:31 states: “….when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah….”.  There is utterly no mention of this being some universal covenant or of this covenant being made between God and gentiles. And, NOWHERE in Holy Scripture will you find such a suggestion. Are you with me? Gentiles…of which I am one……we have no part of this New Covenant, UNLESS we are somehow seen by God…..declared by Yehoveh….. as part of either the House of Israel or the House of Judah. Replacement theology is error of the worst sort; because it is not a mistake, it is intentional deceit. Replacement theology……whereby the Church has replaced Israel as God’s people, and it is the Church that has received the New Covenant, is not the result of innocent error or ignorance. Rather, it was a premeditated attempt to dishonor God’s chosen, the combined House of Israel, to steal from them their inheritance, the covenants God made with them. From the time of Abraham forward, God made provision that any gentile (usually called a foreigner or stranger) that wished to give up their allegiance to their pagan gods and become joined to Israel, was not only allowed to do so…….they were welcomed to do so. And, they were to be considered first class citizens of Israel. No distinction was to be made between those natural born as Israelites, Hebrews, versus those who were born outside of Israel (gentiles) but had chosen to become part of Israel. Those who joined Israel had just as much right to partake in the inheritance of the covenants of God as a natural born Israelite. Romans 2:26-29 “So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” Paul is using the word Jew in place of Israel. Why? Because, as far as anyone knew in Paul’s era, the Jews were all that remained of Israel; in their minds, they represented Israel. So to Paul, as with most Jews, Jew and Israel were one in the same. Romans 3:1-3 “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?” Ephesians 2:11-13 “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Romans 9:6-9 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” Galatians 3:26-29 “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”)

⁶ And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

⁷ And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.

⁸ And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?

⁹ And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.

¹⁰ Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.

¹¹ And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.

¹² And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

¹³ And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him.

¹⁴ And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,

¹⁶ The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

¹⁷ And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.

¹⁸ And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

¹⁹ And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

²⁰ And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹ And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.

²² Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
(There are 12 tribes of Israel, plus the set apart priest tribe of Levi, Israel will eventually be divided into two distinct groups that the Scriptures call houses. Each of the 12 tribes will eventually belong to one or the other of the Two Houses of Israel.  The Bible speaks often of the “Two Houses of Israel”, and of the “Whole House of Israel”. Well, the Two Houses, when combined, make-up the whole house of Israel. It’s important for us to not only see the difference between the two houses versus the whole house, but also which tribes belong to which house. Ezekiel 37:15-22 “The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.”  The catalyst and source of that coming unity will be Jesus the Christ. In the book of Hosea, God has decided to judge Ephraim because their behavior has become such an abomination to Him. At this point in history, the tribe of Ephraim has brought every tribe of Israel under its control, EXCEPT for Judah, Benjamin, and most of the Levites. The tribes had been split; the tribes of Judah and Benjamin essentially formed the Kingdom of Judah, and all the other tribes essentially formed the Kingdom of Ephraim……or as our Bibles often call it, Israel. In Hosea 7:8, we’re told “Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples”. What peoples does Ephraim mix himself with? The only other people there are on planet Earth apart from Hebrews….. the gentiles. Around 725 BC Assyria (also identified at times in the Bible as Ashur) conquered the northern kingdom of Ephraim-Israel, and scattered the Israelites of the 10 tribes who lived there like so much chaff in a strong wind. This didn’t happen overnight. It took about 10 years or so of military battles between Assyria and Ephraim, each time Ephraim losing more land and more people to the Assyrian Empire. The Ephraim-Israelites were eventually spread all over the 120 conquered nations that made up the vast Assyrian Empire. And, we even see Egypt mentioned prominently in Hosea. That’s because Assyria also conquered Egypt for a time, and so many of the Ephraim-Israelites were exiled southward, to Egypt. For the sake of clarity, it is also fair to say that for the most part the members of the various tribes forming the kingdom of Ephraim-Israel simply became part of the gentile world, and no one knows who or where these people are……except for God himself. a little before 605 BC, after the northern kingdom of Ephraim-Israel ceased to exist, Babylon became the new world power, and led by Nebuchadnezzar they attacked and conquered Judah. Unlike what Assyria did to Ephraim-Israel, the Babylonians did NOT scatter the inhabitants of Judah. They did deport a large group of Jews up to Babylon, but they were NOT assimilated nor separated. They were generally allowed to stay together as a group and (this is key) maintain a separate culture. Not only were the people of Judah allowed to stay separate, most WANTED to stay separate…..another significant difference between them and Ephraim-Israel. Ephraim Israel was turned over to the gentiles because they WANTED to be like the gentiles, so God granted it. Judah did NOT desire to be like their gentile neighbors. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of Jews taken off to Babylon, thousands more were left in Judah as caretakers of the land (these were peasants primarily), and simply because they had so little value to the Babylonians, it wasn’t worth the trouble to deport them to Babylon. Romans 11:11-26 “So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root[b] of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

The Mystery of Israel’s Salvation

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,“The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”[House of Israel])

49 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. (acharit ha’yamim. In its MOST literal sense, it means “in the end of the days”.)

² Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

³ Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

⁴ Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. (1Chronicles 5:1-2 “The sons of Rueben the firstborn of Israel……he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, though not in such a way as for him to be regarded in the genealogy as the firstborn. For Judah became greater than his brothers, inasmuch as the ruler came from him; nevertheless, the birthright went to Joseph.” this is strange action that Jacob took, in splitting the firstborn blessing.  But, also keep in mind a very important element that the writer of Chronicles explains: genealogically speaking, Judah’s family was the one who would carry forth authority. So, in matters of Israel where genealogy was the deciding factor…. such as who would be the first legitimate King of Israel (David), and who would be the King forever (Jesus) Rueben did not produce one single military leader, king, prophet, nor judge…….not one of Rueben’s descendants are mentioned in the Bible as having attained a position of particular value or honor, nor accomplishing anything of significance.  We also find that after the 12 tribes, led by Moses, approached the promised land of Canaan, the tribe of Rueben decided NOT to enter the Promised Land, but rather to settle for “good enough”. They took some territory as their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan River, outside the land of Canaan. We even find that Rueben’s tribe began a steady decline in their population. Moses was apparently so concerned about the condition of the tribe of Rueben that he prayed (Deut.33:6) “Let Rueben live, and not die; and let not his men be few”.)

⁵ Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.

⁶ O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
(Simeon, who would become the smallest tribe by the time of the census of Numbers 26; and, like Rueben, struggled simply to stay in existence and to maintain a separate tribal identity. In a census reported in the early part of the book of Numbers, Simeon is said to have had a population of 59,300. Within a mere 40 years, however, the census of Numbers 26 shows their population has shrunk by over 50% to 22,200. Simeon was probably the first tribe to be completely absorbed by the other tribes, with some of them joining with Judah, and others joining what would eventually come to be known as the 10 northern tribes of Ephraim. Levi suffered a similar, though not destructive, fate as concerns land and territory. Levi, as with Simeon, was not given its own territory…. rather, it too was given cities…..48 cities…..but within the tribal boundaries of EVERY tribe. However, Levi was divided and separated out to become God’s own priests….in Hebrew, God’s cohanim. It was the Levites who would officiate all matters at the Wilderness Tabernacle, and then the Temple.  So, while Simeon was destined to the loss of it’s tribal identity and near extinction, Levi’s separation from Israel became a matter of holy service.)

⁸ Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.

⁹ Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

¹⁰ The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (Messiah) come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

¹¹ Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

¹² His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
(Many excellent commentaries now tell us that Judah here receives the firstborn blessing. Well, that’s only partially so. As I mentioned earlier, what Judah actually receives is only part of the blessing that goes to the firstborn. Since there are two primary elements to the firstborn blessing, 1) receiving double the amount of tribal wealth as any other inheritor, and 2) the official assumption of the leadership and authority over the tribe, we see that what Judah inherited was only the 2nd part: tribal authority and leadership. There is a town in Canaan called Shiloh, and it’s there that the Tabernacle of the Wilderness will rest for many years. Interestingly, Shiloh will be in the territory of Ephraim. This is actually the first Holy City of the Holy Land. Right here in Genesis 49, we have it prophesied that the Messiah will come from the Hebrews, the nation of Israel, the tribe of Judah, the family of David.)

¹³ Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon. (What we see here is that it is said that Zebulun’s destiny is to be in commercial ventures: he’d be a merchant and a trader. Even more, his ancestors would have much to do with shipping and other maritime industry. And, hundreds of years into the future, we find that Zebulun’s territorial allotment will put them as a land bridge between the Sea of Galilee, and the Mediterranean. The greatest trading routes of their era or any other: Via Maris, the Way of the Sea.  It began in Damascus, and wound its way all the way to Egypt, and was an enormous economic boon for the tribe of Zebulun. Just as Zebulun’s blessing is short and sweet, so is the tribe’s Biblical history. Very little is said about them. No person of significance is mentioned as coming from the tribe of Zebulun.)

¹⁴ Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:

¹⁵ And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. (Even less is known about Issachar than his brother Zebulun. In fact, so little is known about Issachar, that the ancient Israelite scholars went out of their way to invent good things to say about his descendants. Issachar being called an “ass” or a “donkey” sounds pretty demeaning to us; it could get you kicked out of class or even smacked around a little bit for saying that to somebody. But, it was not so to the ear of people in Jacob’s day. This was not a derogatory remark; donkeys were valued creatures that were a combination of taxicabs and the trucking industry of that era.)

¹⁶ Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷ Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

¹⁸ I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. (While obvious to us that all 12 sons were legitimately of Israel, because Dan was one of these 4 sons of his concubines and not his 2 wives, Jacob wanted to make it clear that they were all 12 part of Israel…..one as much as the other. Probably the most famous descendant of Dan was the super-naturally strong Samson. And, Samson was one of the 12 judges (in Hebrew, shofet) mentioned in the Bible, that were raised up by God over a 250 year period called the time of the Judges. Dan was given the unenviable territorial allotment that had them sharing a border with the fierce, and seemingly unconquerable, Philistines. It is interesting to note that there is mention of a “serpent” in describing Dan’s future characteristics. And, while every tribe of Israel struggled with idolatry, giving in to Satan, perhaps none were as vexed by this problem as the tribe of Dan.  Even the great Judge Sampson had a terrible time resisting the pagan influences of the Philistines, as we see in scripture how he imbibed himself with prostitutes, loved to party with these pagans, had a fling with Delilah, and even married a Philistine girl. Dan’s tribe diminished, over time, in size and importance and are omitted in the N.T. listing of tribes that will make up the 144,000 sealed Israelite witnesses told about in Revelation 7.In the Millennial Kingdom, the 1000-year reign of Christ as described in Ezekiel 48, Dan DOES receive an inheritance. We need to remember that the timing of the 144,000 sealed Israelites takes place during what Christians call the Tribulation period (what the Jews call the Time of Jacob’s Troubles) and the Millennial Kingdom comes after that. So, Dan is around during the Tribulation, but possibly he’s up to his old tricks and there’s not a single Danite worthy to be part of the 144,000 sealed witnesses.)

¹⁹ Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. (Gad is going to be constantly oppressed and under attack, but in the end, Gad will overcome. Gad will be one of the tribes that, like Rueben, decided NOT to enter into the Promised Land. His borders were very exposed to several longtime enemies, including the Moabites and the Ammonites (descendants of Lot), and much like Dan, the tribe of Gad found themselves constantly at war. On the other hand, this constant warfare led to Gad becoming regarded as the fiercest of warriors. Gilead and Gad are generally used interchangeably to describe where the tribe of Gad settled.)

²⁰ Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. (Ashur means “happy”, and certainly the blessing Jacob gave to Ashur and his descendants was one of wellbeing, if not downright good fortune. Ashur’s portion of land was some of the most fertile in the Holy Lands. Stretching between the land of Tyre on to Mount Carmel, their corn and olive oil was famous for its quality and quantity. Apparently Ashur shunned military conflicts, and chose a very peaceful life of agriculture.)

²¹ Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. (We’re told in this single verse that Naphtali is destined to be of graceful beauty…. Swift, and quick to react. Most significant is an unprecedented honor the tribe of Naphtali received; for it was in Naphtali’s territory, now part of the Galilee, that Jesus recruited the most of His disciples and then began His ministry.  Interestingly, the prophet Isaiah, in Chapter 9 verse 1, prophesied that the insignificant territory of Naphtali would be seen as a receiving a great light. And, of course, Isaiah 9 is one of the greatest prophecies concerning the coming of Christ in the entire Bible. So, Naphtali was greatly blessed, even if not one other thing of importance could be said about this tribe.)

²² Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:

²³ The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:

²⁴ But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

²⁵ Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:

²⁶ The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. (Perhaps the overriding theme of this blessing upon Joseph, which is to be carried forward primarily under the banner of Ephraim, is FRUITFULNESS. This fruitfulness is not only told of Joseph’s personal life, it tells of his descendants’ destiny. Yet, this fruitfulness came with a high cost; Joseph endured much in his life. His fruitfulness was not a result of cleverness, or good fortune, or having things just handed over to him. His fruitfulness was a result of his faithfulness. And, His faithfulness a result of His absolute, unwavering trust in God. What we need to take away from this is that ALL Believers in Yeshua are destined to identify with Israel. And, Ephraim [Josephs blessing] sits smack in the middle of making this identity real, and not merely philosophical or a wonderful ideal. Ephraim is like a magnificent bridge that organically and spiritually connects the world of the Jews, with the world of the gentiles.)

²⁷ Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. (For, Jacob’s second favorite, and youngest, son was given a blessing that was anything but flattering even though we have been shown in Scripture that Jacob carefully protected and fawned over Benjamin. Benjamin was characterized as a predator… a wolf… viscous and merciless. And, this would prove to be true. Benjamin had a rather schizophrenic future. Though it would have contact with, and even play a part in, the royalty of Israel, Benjamin was also ferocious and stiff-necked. Much of the outcome of the descendants of Benjamin had to do with their between-a-rock-and-a-hard spot territorial tribal allotment: for they were place in the unenviable position as a buffer state between Ephraim and Judah. Further, the rather narrow strip of land they occupied that both the major north-south, and east-west, trade route highways passed through the territory of Benjamin. Those trade routes that crossed through Benjamin also likely produced a valuable source of income for Benjamin; in the form of Benjamin attacking and plundering those merchant caravans. As might surprise you, the Holiest City in all of the land was in THEIR territory; yes, Jerusalem was originally in the territory of Benjamin, not Judah, as many assume. Many other important Israelite cities were also within the boundaries of Benjamin: Mizpah, Ramah, Gibeon, Bethel, and even Jericho. The armies of Benjamin had a group of deadly accurate stone slingers who killed 40,000 people in the ensuing battle. By the way, all of these particular soldiers were left-handed, a trait that was common among members of the tribe of Benjamin. One of the most famous O.T. men of Benjamin was Saul; He was never really accepted by all of Israel as a King, and his reign was absolute, never-ending turmoil. The Apostle Paul was from the tribe of Benjamin, which was gone and assimilated by Paul’s day, assimilated by the tribe of Judah, and therefore these former Benjamites were called Jews.)

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

²⁹ And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

³⁰ In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.

³¹ There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.

³² The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.

³³ And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

50 And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

² And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.

³ And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

⁴ And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,

⁵ My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.

⁶ And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.

⁷ And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

⁸ And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.

⁹ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

¹⁰ And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

¹¹ And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan.

¹² And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:

¹³ For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

¹⁴ And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

¹⁵ And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.

¹⁶ And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,

¹⁷ So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

¹⁸ And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.

¹⁹ And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

²⁰ But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

²¹ Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

²² And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.

²³ And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.

²⁴ And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

²⁵ And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

²⁶ So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.