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Genesis 26 – Isaac Settles in Gerar & He Deceives Abimelech!

07 Tuesday Jan 2014

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Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had  occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you.” Genesis 26:1-2

Because of the famine in Canaan, Isaac starts to journey south towards Egypt and stops over in Gerar in the territory of the Philistines.                   

The LORD appeared to Isaac as He did to his father Abraham. This appearance was not in a dream or a vision. This was a visible manifestation  of God that was tangible to his human senses. Most probably this appearance was a Christophany – a preincarnate appearance of Christ. The LORD appeared to Abraham on three different occasions:

1) On his arrival in the land, wherein God promised the land to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:7-9).

2) When God reaffirmed his promises of land and numerous descendants to Abraham when he was ninety-nine years old (Genesis 17:1).

3) And on the Plains of Mamre before He sent his two angels on their way to destroy Sodom (Genesis18:1).

Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. Genesis 12:10

Almost as quickly as Abram entered into the land of Canaan, he leaves. Abram trusted God for over 1,000 mile arduous trek from Ur to Canaan. He left behind his home and family, and by faith, traveled to a country where he had never been. He did so because he believed that God was going to make him into a great nation. But when Abram arrived in Canaan and a famine hit the land he does not think he will survive for more than a few weeks. He goes to Egypt and tries to solve his problems himself. The man who trusted God for the ultimate, his future and for the future of his descendants, was unwilling to trust God for the immediate – food for himself and his family. Abram trusted God for huge promises to extend through generations, but didn’t have faith when it came to immediate needs. Yet faith means trusting God for both His eternal promises as well as for our daily bread. This is where we often fail. We trust God with our eternal salvation, and then we worry about the daily struggles that we are going through and the decisions we have to make.

The LORD commands Isaac not to go down to Egypt to escape the famine as did Abraham his father. Instead, the LORD exhorts Isaac to remain in the territory of the Philistines for a while and not leave Canaan. By obeying the LORD, the covenant promises that were made to Abraham would be established through Isaac.

 Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.” Genesis 26:3-5

The nations that occupied Canaan and the territory promised to Abraham that were to passed on as an inheritance to Isaac and his descendants are described in Genesis 15:18-21. The land would span from the Nile, which was the southern boundary of the land of Canaan, to the river Euphrates. Israel at one time had dominion over this expanse during the reigns of David and Solomon. Isaac would inherit other the covenant promises as well. He would be fruitful and the nations of the earth would be blessed because the Messiah would continue through Isaac’s lineage.

Abraham received the blessings of God and they were passed down though Isaac because Abraham obeyed (literally, hearkened to) the voice of the LORD. If we and our children are to be blessed then we must not just be aware of God’s Word but obey it. Although it would more than 400 years after God cut a covenant with Abraham until the Torah was given on Mt. Sinai to Israel, the LORD declared that Abraham kept God’s commandments, statutes and laws.

So Isaac lived in Gerar. When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife,” thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” Genesis 26:6-7

Many years before, Abraham moved south from Hebron and also stayed a while in Gerar which is located in the western Negev.

Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur.  For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. Genesis 20:1-2

Abraham may have been so deeply disturbed by the destruction of Sodom, the stench of the smoldering sulfur, and not knowing what happened to his nephew Lot, that he left Hebron. There in Gerar in the land of the Philistines, Abraham hid the fact that he was married to Sarah as he did when he went down to Egypt. Abram had gone down to Egypt along with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot during a time of famine in Canaan. Since Sarai was very beautiful, Abram had deceived the Egyptians into believing that Sarai was only his sister when in fact, she was his wife. Sarai was the half-sister of Abram, but a half-truth is still an entire lie.

 It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’” Genesis 26:8-9

Frightened concerning his own safety, Isaac succumbs to the temptation to pass off his wife as his sister as twice did his father Abraham. In doing this he was willing to risk Rebekah’s purity as the price for his personal protection.

Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” Genesis 26:10-11

Although Isaac and Rebekah had been living in Gerar for a long time and Rebekah was beautiful, her virginity was preserved and she remained chaste because of God’s protection. The LORD is sovereign. He was not only going to fulfill His oath and establish the Abrahamic covenant through Isaac, but Rebeka was God’s chosen vessel as well. Abraham had declared to his servant that the LORD would send his angel with him and make his journey a success, so that his servant could get a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s own clan and from his father’s family (Genesis 24:7). Rebekah was chosen by the LORD to be Isaac’s wife. When she was asked if she was willing to leave with Abraham’s servant, Rebekah did not hesitate but was willing to immediately fulfill God’s calling for her life. She, like Abraham, was willing to leave her family and her country and dwell in a land far off.

The similarities between this sin of Isaac and that of his father Abraham are numerous. Both had their faith tested in times of famine. Both sinned in the presence of the ruler of the Philistines and were rebuked by that ruler. Although these were different men, both rulers were named Abimelech. Both Abraham and Isaac had a beautiful wife and feared for their own safety. They both believed that they might be killed so that someone could marry their wife. Both lied by saying that their wife was their sister. Yet, both Abraham and Isaac were blessed and protected by the LORD in spite of their fears and weaknesses because the LORD is a covenant keeping God who is abundant in mercy.

Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. Genesis 26:12-14

The natural elements and principles of Israel’s agricultural society were used by Jesus when He spoke in parables in order to reveal the supernatural elements and principles of the Kingdom of God. Isaac, who obeyed the LORD and did not go down to Egypt during a famine in Canaan, is blessed by God and reaps a hundredfold crop and he became rich. In Mark 4:1-9, Jesus uses the parable of a farmer who sowed seed on different types of soils to illustrate how the word of God in received in the hearts’ of men.

Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop–a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Matthew 13:8

From a single seed that is planted and takes root and entire fruit tree can grow and bear much fruit.  Seed must be planted in good soil means that the Word of God can only take root, grow and bear fruit in a softened heart and compliant heart. The hardness of the soil of the heart must be broken by humbling oneself, repenting of sins and forgiving others. The stones of bitterness and selfishness need to be removed. The heart must be watered by the Word of God and softened by the oil of the Spirit. When properly prepared and received, the word of God will bear much fruit. 

… a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Isaac was blessed and reaped a hundred times what was sown. Abraham was one hundred years old when Isaac, the son of the promise was born. Isaac was sixty years old when Jacob the father of the 12 tribes of Israel was born. Joseph, who received a double portion of his father Jacob’s inheritance, was thirty years old when entered the service of Pharaoh and became second in command of all of Egypt. These three numbers, a hundred, sixty and thirty were significant in the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph.

Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.” And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there. Genesis 26:15-17

The act of stopping up a person’s wells and cutting off their supply of water was often a strategy used in warfare. It would be impossible for flocks and herds to exist without access to water supplies. The Philistines were jealous of Isaac’s wealth and that was probably their motivation in committing these acts. Abimelech, both envious and fearful of Isaac, orders him to leave his city.

Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them.  But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah. Genesis 26:18-21

Isaac met with much opposition in digging wells. The first successful well Isaac’s servants had dug was a cause of contention between his herdsmen and the Philistines. It was named Esek, which means, “strife” or “contention.”Likewise, there was quarreling over the second well. This well was named Sitnah which is a feminine form of the Hebrew word for Satan (adversary) and means “enmity” or “hatred”.

 He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” Genesis 26:22

Rehoboth is the English form of a Hebrew word which means literally a “broad place” or “room to live.” Abimelech had told Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.” Yet, Isaac did not war against the Philistines when they claimed the first two wells that his father Abraham had originally dug. Instead, Isaac chose to move further and further from the Philistine territory until they ceased to make claim to his well.

 Then he went up from there to Beersheba. The Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well. Genesis 26:23-25

From Dan to Beersheba, a distance of about 144 miles became the usual way of designating the whole Promised Land with Beersheba being the southern border. The same night that Isaac arrives in Beersheba, the LORD appears to Isaac to comfort and reassure him. The LORD will keep His covenant promises that were made to Abraham and are now passed down to Isaac.

Although Isaac had be laid upon an altar as a potential sacrifice in Genesis 22, this is the first time mentioned in Scripture that Isaac himself had built an altar and called on the name of Yahweh.

Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army. Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’” Genesis 26:26-29

Isaac speaks the truth without hesitation or apology. He plainly states that Abimelech ordered him to leave the territory of the Philistines out of hatred that was motivated by Abimelech’s jealousy.

Abimelech clearly acknowledges that the LORD has been with Isaac and seeks to make a peace agreement with him. Although Abimelech acknowledges the blessings that the LORD was capable of bestowing on Isaac, Abimelech doesn’t seek the LORD but a promise from Isaac.

Abimelech is correct in stating to Isaac that we have not touched you. But considering that the Philistine shepherds contended over two wells that Isaac re-dug, Abimelech’s claim that the Philistines have done nothing but good  to Isaac is simple untrue.

Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they arose early and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace. Genesis 26: 30-31

According to the mid-eastern custom of hospitality, Isaac had a meal prepared for his guests. Since Isaac was entertaining a king, his advisor and the commander of his army, he had a feast prepared. Early in the morning Isaac’s guests arose, exchanged oaths and parted in peace.

When a man’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverbs 16:7

 Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. Genesis 26:32-33                                                                                    

Shibah means “oath” or “seven”. Beersheba means the “well of the oath,” or “well of seven.” Abraham had entered into a compact with Abimelech and said to him, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well” (Genesis 21:30). After re-opening it, Isaac gave it the same name.

When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah. Genesis 26:34-35

When Esau was forty years old, the same age that his father Isaac had married his mother Rebekah , Esau married two Canaanite women. Esau’s grandfather Abraham had been insistent that his servant not get a wife for Isaac from among the Canaanites but from his own relatives. Isaac’s favorite but wayward son brought no less than two idolatrous wives among them—an additional proof that Esau neither desired the blessing nor dreaded the curse of God. Esau, who despised his birthright, also intentionally dishonored his grandfather and father’s wishes not to intermarry with idolaters

Genesis 25 – Abraham Left Everything that He Owned to Isaac!

08 Sunday Dec 2013

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The details of Abraham’s death are recorded, as well as the accounts of the family lines of his sons Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac’s wife became pregnant with twins.

Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.

Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. Genesis 25:1-6

Keturah was the woman whom Abraham, the patriarch of the Israelites, married after the death of his wife, Sarah. Keturah bore Abraham six sons.Keturah is referred to at different times as either Abraham’s wife in Genesis 25:1 or Abraham’s concubine in 1 Chronicles 1:32. While Abraham left everything to Isaac, he made grants to his sons by his concubine during his lifetime, and sent them east away from Isaac.

One of the sons of Keturah was Midian, the father of the Midianites. Some of the descendants of Keturah went to Persia while others scattered into Assyria.

Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD. Isaiah 60:6

This prophecy from Isaiah speaks of the descendants of Abraham and Ketura. Midian was Keturah’s son and both Sheba and Ephah were her grandsons. Bearing gifts of gold and incense, those from Sheba would proclaim the praise of the LORD. It is interesting that the Magi, who are also known as the “Wise Men,” brought gifts of gold and frankincense to the newborn Messiah. According to Matthew 2:3, the presence of their great caravan caused a great disturbance in Jerusalem and like the sons of Ketura, they came from the east with many camels. The visit of the Magi may have been the fulfillment of Isaiah 60:6.

Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi. Genesis 25:7-11

Abraham lived 175 years. He lived seventy-five years after Isaac’s birth and thirty-eight years after Sarah’s death. There is no record of any of his sons through Keturah attending his burial.

This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Sarah’s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.

These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa,  Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them. Genesis 25:12-18

God is faithful to fulfill his promises and the prophetic word of the LORD is sure to come to pass. In Genesis 21:14 God made the following promise to Abraham: And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. The twelve sons of Ishmael became the twelve tribes that comprise the Arab nation. According to Genesis 16:12, Ishmael was prophesied to be, “… a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” Genesis 25:18 records that Ishmael’s descendants lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them. As a wild donkey is accustomed to live, and run, and range about the wilderness, so the Arabic peoples were nomadic and many Bedouins still exist today.

This is the account of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. Genesis 25:19-20

As recorded in the first four verses of Genesis 24, Abraham had his senior servant swear an oath that he would not get a wife for his son Isaac from the daughters of the Canaanites but would travel to the country of Abraham’s own relatives to get a wife for his son. This was to insure that the lineage that would produce the Messiah would descend from the blessed line of Shem and not the cursed line of Ham.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. Genesis 25:21

Although Rebekah had been barren for 20 years, Isaac did not do as Abraham his father did and take a second wife to have children by her. Instead, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife and the LORD answered his prayer.

The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” Genesis 25:22-23

Within Rebekah’s womb were two sons from whom two nations would descend. From Esau, the first born or older son, the Edomites would arise. From Jacob, the younger son, the Israelites would emerge. These nations would be comprised of two different types of people separate and distinct from one another. The Edomites and the Israelites would not only differ physically, but in their lifestyle, locale, and most importantly, in their religious practices.

The prophecy stating that one people will be stronger than the other people initially spoke of the Edomites, the posterity of Esau. They were a very powerful people and had a succession of princes and kings, while the Hebrews, the posterity of Jacob, were slaves in Egypt. But when the nation of Israel was birthed out of the furnace of affliction in Egypt and took possession of the Promised Land, the Israelites became the stronger of the two nations.

It is recorded in 2 Samuel 8:14 that the older (the descendants of Esau or the Edomites), did serve the younger (the descendants of Jacob or Israelites) during the time of King David’s reign:

He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The LORD gave David victory wherever he went.

There is a time spoken by the prophet Obadiah when the descendents of Esau will totally be destroyed by the offspring of Jacob:

But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance.Jacob will be a fire and Joseph a flame; Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” The LORD has spoken. Obadiah 1:17-18

The great and terrible “Day of the LORD” will be a great day of victory for Israel and a terrible day of calamity for the posterity of Esau.

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. Genesis 25:24-26

The first born son of Isaac and Rebekah was either ruddy in complexion and covered with hair, or covered with red hair. They named him Esau which means, “hairy.” His wild appearance may have been an indication of the coarseness of his character and roughness of his nature.

His fraternal twin brother Jacob emerged from his mother’s womb grasping the firstborn son’s heel. Jacob is the English translation of the Hebrew name, Yacob.  Jacob means “heel holder” or “supplanter.” Jacob’s name both denotes his character and was prophetic. Jacob was to be a usurper eventually not only taking the “right of the firstborn” but also Esau’s blessing by treachery.

 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. Genesis 25:27-28

Esau was a hunter, like two notorious hunters in the Bible who lived before him.

He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” Genesis 10:9

Nimrod is traditionally considered the leader of those who built the Tower of Babel in the land of Shinar. Nimrod is described as a “mighty hunter before the LORD.” This description implies ruthlessness and a lust for power. Nimrod is closely associated with the Hebrew word meaning “rebel.”

God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. Genesis 21:20

Ishmael became an archer. Ishmael became skilled in the use of the bow and arrow for hunting, for protection against wild beasts and in waging warfare. All Arabs, following Mohammed’s example, claim descent from Ishmael. Ishmael’s descendants are Muslims who seek the annihilation of the descendants of Jacob.

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. Psalm 91:3

Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me. Psalm 141:9

Hunters often use traps and snares to capture their prey as do evil men who look to ensnare godly men. Nimrod, Ishmael and Esau were hunters which symbolized their wild and ungodly natures. Their power and ability was in the arm of flesh and they opposed the things and people of God.

Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau because Esau was a hunter who loved the outdoors. Jacob, on the other hand, was content to stay at home among the tents and was loved by his mother Rebekah.

Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) Genesis 25:29-30

Esau was also called Edom which means red. Esau’s descendents were called the Edomites. Esau, who was an outdoorsman and walked in the flesh, was not merely hungry. He was famished – desperately hungry. Satisfying his fleshy desire was not to be postponed but immediately satisfied.

Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. Genesis 25:31-34

The right of the firstborn to a double portion of the inheritance and a leadership position in the family when the father passes was Esau’s by birth but Jacob’s by promise. It entailed more than material blessings. The birthright had an important spiritual significance as well. The Messiah would descend from Isaac’s son who held the birthright. Jacob who now had the birthright would also insure that the future possession of the land of Canaan would be by his children’s children.

There is another account of two sons and the division of their father’s inheritance that is found in the New Testament. It is the parable of the prodigal son. Why did the prodigal return? It was because he was hungry. But why was he hungry?  It was due to a famine in the land. The sovereign LORD caused the famine. Why was Esau famished? Although he was a skilled hunter, the LORD prevented him from finding any game.

The prodigal responded to his hunger in humility and repented.  While Esau cared more about filling his belly than fulfilling the responsibilities of the firstborn son. The LORD knew that Esau was carnally minded and unworthy to receive the birthright.

Although Jacob was manipulative and deceitful, he believed in God’s promises to Abraham. Jacob also was willing to also take on the responsibilities that the birthright entailed. These responsibilities included the patriarch to provide for and to protect the family as well as teach his children the ways of the LORD.  

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

Jacob would eventually have to endure many years of hardship and testing because of his manipulative actions and deceitfulness. Eventually the LORD would not only change Jacob’s name but his character.

Esau refused to take on the responsibilities of the first born and treated his birthright with disdain. That is why Paul writing to the church at Rome reminds that God proclaimed, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Romans 9:13 b

The Servant of Abraham Was Sent Back to Get a Wife for Isaac

02 Saturday Nov 2013

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Genesis 24 tells the account of the servant of Abraham who was sent back to Abraham’s relatives to get a wife for Isaac. Rebekah had a servant’s heart.

Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” Genesis 24:1-4

 The name of Abram’s chief servant and steward of his house was revealed in Genesis chapter 15.

But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” Genesis 15:2

Most commentators agree that the senior servant referred to in Genesis chapter 24 was most probably Eliezer whose name means, “God is help”. I believe the reason that Abraham’s senior servant is not named at this point, is the emphasis of this chapter of the Bible is on the nature of servanthood and obedience. A true servant is not serving for personal recognition but serves in humility and with a willing heart. 

The act of Abraham having his servant place his hand under his thigh was an acknowledgement that the promised Messiah would come from the seed of Abraham. The servant swore an oath that Isaac’s wife would be taken from the blessed line of Shem and not the cursed line of Ham.

The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”

“Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said.“The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.”So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter. Genesis 24:5-9

Yahweh, the God of heaven and earth, made a covenant with Abraham and promised the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants. Isaac was to remain in the Promised Land even if a woman from Abraham’s family would be unwilling to return with his servant. The angel of the LORD, the pre-incarnate Messiah, would assure that Abraham’s servant would complete his journey to the town of Nahor. This town was named after Abraham’s grandfather.

Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water. Genesis 24:10-11

The journey from the south of the land of Canaan to Haran, where Abraham’s family had settled, was a distance of approximately 700 miles. Camels can cover 25-30 miles per day carrying a load of up to 300 pounds. It probably took at least a month for the journey. Now, outside of town as the cool of the evening approached, the ten camels knelt by the well.

Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”  Genesis 24:12-14

Abraham’s servant had been with his master for many years and had witnessed the great blessings, favor and wealth the LORD had bestowed on Abraham. But far from being envious of his master, his servant entreats the LORD to be gracious to Abraham and grant him success in obtaining a wife for Isaac. To be sure that she would be the one that the LORD chose for Isaac, the servant asks for a sign from the LORD.

Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. Genesis 24:15-16

Rebekah was the daughter of Abraham’s nephew Bethuel and the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. Isaiah 65:24

Abraham sent his servant to get a wife for his son Isaac from his own relatives. Before his servant had finished praying, Abraham’s great niece Rebekah came out with her jar to draw water from the well. Not only was she from Shem’s line, she was pure and beautiful.

The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”

“Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.

After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.”So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. Genesis 24:17-21

Rebekah waters a camel

A camel can drink up to 20 gallons of water at one time. Since water weighs more than eight pounds per gallon, it was unlikely that Rebekah’s water jar held more than three gallons of water. She would have had to make at least six or more trips to the well and back for each camel. Watering ten camels would entail at least sixty round trips to the well. If it only took three minutes to fill the jar, walk to the trough, pour out the water and return to the well – it would have taken Rebekah at least three hours to water the camels. This indeed was a miraculous sign and a demonstration that indeed, Rebekah also had a servant’s heart.

When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”

Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.” Genesis 24:22-27

Rebekah was rewarded handsomely for her act of servitude. The gold nose ring weighed a beka which was ½ a shekel or equivalent to an ounce of gold. The two gold bracelets weighed a total of ten shekels or four ounces of gold. Then after enduring an arduous month’s trek of 700 miles by camel, Abraham’s servant praised the LORD for success in his journey that led to house of his master’s relatives.

The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring.“Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” Genesis 24:28-31

Laban was impressed by the expensive gifts given to Rebekah. Five ounces of gold in today’s market would be worth several thousands of dollars. Laban called this seemingly wealthy man traveling in a caravan of ten camels, “… blessed by the LORD.”

So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.” Genesis 24:32-33a

Being a diligent faithful servant, who had his master’s interest at heart, he preferred to deliver his message and explain the purpose of journey to his necessary food.

“Then tell us,” Laban said.

So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’

“Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’

“He replied, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’

“When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,”and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’

“Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

“She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.

“I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’

“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’

“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms,and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.” Genesis 24:33b-49

Abraham’s servant recounts the entire scenario to his audience. He begins with the charge his master had given him and the purpose of his venture. Then he continues by letting them know the divine favor he had received from the LORD. Now that they know the entire picture, he awaits their reply.

Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other.Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.” Genesis 24:50-51

Both Rebekah’s brother Laban and her father Bethuel acknowledged that it was the LORD’s will for her to marry Abraham’s son.

When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. Genesis 24:52-54a

The desire of Abraham’s servant was to fulfill his master’s wishes with the help and guidance of the LORD. After receiving the approval for Rebekah to become Isaac’s wife, the first thing he did was to worship the LORD in thanksgiving. Then he paid Rebekah’s family a lavish bridal price.

When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”

But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.”

But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”

Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”

“I will go,” she said. Genesis 24:54b-58

Rebekah did not hesitate but was willing to immediately fulfill God’s calling for her life. She, like Abraham, was willing to leave her family and her country and dwell in a land far off.

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.”

Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left. Genesis 24:59-61

The family’s blessing upon Rebekah was prophetic. It was literally fulfilled when the twelve tribes of Israel took possession of the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua.

Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. Genesis 24:62-67

Isaac went out to take the advantage of a silent evening, and a solitary place, for meditation and prayer. When he looked up, he saw Rebekah who was not only outwardly very beautiful but who had the willing and obedient heart of a servant. So she became his wife and he loved her.

In Genesis chapter 22 according to the command of the LORD, Abraham was willing to offer up his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham, who was well over 100 years old, could not have forced Isaac to be bound and laid upon the altar. Isaac willingly laid down his life. Even if it meant that he had to die, Isaac submitted his will to the will of his father. In this is prophetic picture of the coming Messiah, Father Abraham typified God the Father, while Isaac foreshadowed the sacrifice of God the Son.

Abraham’s servant sojourned from the Promised Land to the country of Abraham’s relatives to get a bride for Isaac. Rebekah was chosen because she willingly drew water from a well. This scene is reminiscent of the account of the woman at the well in John chapter 4.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”  (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans).

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:7-14

The Holy Spirit is the “living water” who regenerates those who have placed their trust in the finished work of Messiah on the cross. Abraham’s servant, who was sent by Father Abraham to get a bride for his son Isaac, typifies the Holy Spirit who came down from heaven to indwell and prepare the Bride of Christ. As Rebekah was chosen by the LORD to marry Isaac, the Bride of Christ is betrothed to God’s Son according to the Father’s will. Rebekah, the beautiful virgin who was obedient to the LORD’s calling for her life, pictures the spotless bride of Christ. Isaac loved his wife. So, in much greater measure, does Christ love His bride.

Sarah Dies so Abraham Purchases a Field & a Cave in Hebron

05 Saturday Oct 2013

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Genesis chapter 23 records the account of Sarah’s death and Abraham’s subsequent purchase of a field in Hebron which contained a cave for her burial.

Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her. Genesis 23:1-2

Sarah was hundred and twenty-seven years old when she died in Hebron in the land of Canaan. Kiriath Arba which means the “city of the four” was the earlier name of the city which was changed to Hebron after the conquest of the Promised Land.

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Genesis 12:4-5

Abram took his wife with him when he set out from Harran to settle in the land of Canaan.

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” Genesis 17:17

Sarai was ten years younger than Abram. When Abram left Harran and set out for the land of Canaan, he was seventy-five years old and Sarai was sixty-five years old. Sarai is the fourth woman mentioned by name in the Bible, and the first woman named who is in the line of Seth. She became the matriarch of the Hebrew nation. Sarai name had been changed by the LORD to Sarah. “Sarai” means “my princess”, but “Sarah” means simply “Princess”, indicating that she was to be exalted, not only by her husband but by all nations.

For sixty-two years, from the age of sixty-five to hundred and twenty-seven years old Sarah sojourned with Abraham before she died in Hebron.

Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.” Genesis 23:3-4

Since Abraham was not a native of Canaan but a foreigner, he did not own any property and desired to purchase some land to give Sarah a proper burial. Although pagans would often cremate the bodies of their dead, those who worshipped the LORD God would return the body to the ground from whence it came (Genesis 3:19). Today Orthodox Judaism requires strict adherence to sacred funeral and burial practice. Orthodox Jews believe that a person’s body will be resurrected and that there is a physical life after death. Jewish law stipulates that the body must be buried as quickly as possible following death. The body is laid to rest in a simple wood coffin and the body is never embalmed.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the Promised Land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. Hebrews 11:8-9

In Genesis 17:8, the LORD promised Abraham that the whole land of Canaan, where he was residing as a foreigner, would be given to him and his descendants after him as an everlasting possession. But at the time of Sarah’s death, he did not own even one foot of land to bury his wife.

The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.” Genesis 23:5-6

We know from the account in Genesis 14, at the time Abram had rescued his nephew Lot, he had 318 trained men at his command who were born in his own house. This number of men was an indication of Abram’s wealth and power. Including women and children, there were probably more than 1,000 persons under his authority and enough corresponding numbers of flocks and herds to feed, clothe and provide shelter for all of them.

Subsequently, the LORD cut a covenant with Abram (whose name means, “Exalted Father”) and renamed him Abraham (whose name means, “Father of Many Nations”). Abraham’s wealth increased further after he had stayed in Gerar. Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham along with a thousand pieces of silver. Abraham was considered to be a mighty prince by the Hittites and they offered him one of their tombs in which to lay the body of Sarah.

Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.” Genesis 23:7-9

The custom of employing an intermediary between a purchaser and a buyer still exists today in the middle and far eastern regions of the globe. Abraham didn’t want to offend Ephron by directly approaching him concerning the purchase his property, so Abraham asked the Hittites to speak to Ephron on his behalf.

Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.” Genesis 23:10-11

Abraham had expressed interest in purchasing the cave that belonged to Ephron. Ephron replied that he would give Abraham the cave as well as the field where the cave was located. This is an Oriental bartering technique. Ephron’s actual intention was to make it known to Abraham that he was willing to sell both the field and the cave to him or that he would give them to him but expected generous gifts in return.

Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.” Genesis 23:12-13

By bowing before them again, Abraham showed great respect and honor to both the people and to Ephron. His act of humility also got their attention and signified that he wanted them to pay attention to what he had to say. Abraham was not looking for a bargain but was willing to pay the full price for the field.

Ephron answered Abraham, “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” Genesis 23:14-15

Ephron understood that Abraham wanted to buy the field and not receive it as a gift. Therefore, he told Abraham the price of the land. A shekel is 2/5th of an ounce of silver. Four hundred shekels totals 160 ounces or 10 pounds of silver. Since Abraham and Ephron were both wealthy, Ephron declared that the price really wasn’t an issue between them and that the matter was settled.

Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants. So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. Genesis 23:16-18

After the terms were settled and witnessed by the people, Abraham immediately paid Ephron the full price for the land. In return, Ephron deeded the field, the cave and all the trees on the property to Abraham.

Genesis 23 - Sarah Dies, then Abraham Purchases a Field

Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site. Genesis 23:19-20

The death of Sarah and the transaction for her burial place must be very significant since an entire chapter of the Bible was devoted to preserving a written record of those proceedings. The importance is that there is an historical record that establishes the fact that Abraham and his descendants legally possessed property in Hebron.

In Genesis 14:13 Abram is referred to as “the Hebrew”. This is the first time that this descriptive term “Hebrew” is mentioned in the Bible. The term, Hebrew commonly refers to Abraham’s descendants. Abraham’s son Isaac never left the land promised to him. Isaac lived out his days in the areas of Beersheba and Hebron. Isaac’s son Jacob bought his older brother Esau’s birthright for a bowl of lentil stew. Jacob then deceived his father Isaac into giving him the blessing that was intended for Esau (Genesis 27:36). Jacob fled for his life to his Uncle Laban in Harran and lived there 20 years before returning home. Jacob stayed in the land promised him until God told him to leave. At the age of one hundred thirty Jacob began the journey to see his son Joseph in Egypt. The sons of Jacob and their families were called “Hebrews” as they dwelled in Egypt where their descendants were enslaved for 400 years.

During the Exodus, the Hebrews (the people who descended from the tribes of Jacob) were delivered from the furnace of affliction and emerged as the Nation of Israel. After the death of King Solomon, the Nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom consisted of ten tribes and was also known by the name of the largest tribe, Ephraim. The Southern Kingdom consisted of two tribes and was also referred to by the name of Judah. Eventually because of evil rulers and great apostasy, the Northern Kingdom was defeated and taken captive by the Assyrians and the northern tribes scattered. Approximately one hundred and twenty five years later, the Southern Kingdom went into captivity in Babylon. Those captives who returned to the land seventy years later were known as Jews. Today the term “Hebrews” commonly refers to the Jews.

The word for Hebrew used in the Bible is עברי (pronounced “Ivri”), meaning “of or pertaining to עבר Ever.”

In Jewish tradition there are three reasons as to why Abram is called the Hebrew:

1) The Hebrew word “ever” means “opposite side.” Abraham believed in one God, and the rest of the world worshipped man-made gods. Thus, “Abraham stood on one side, and the entire world stood on the other side.”

2) Ever (usually Anglicized as “Eber”), is the ancestor of Abraham. Eber was a great-grandson of Noah’s son Shem and the father of Peleg. According to Jewish tradition, Eber, refused to help with the building of the Tower of Babel, so his language was not confused when it was abandoned. He and his family alone retained the original human language, Hebrew, is a language named after Eber. Eber was one of the bearers of the monotheistic tradition which he had learned from his ancestors Shem and Noah and passed on to his grandson Abraham. Since Abraham was both a descendant and disciple of his, he is called an “Ivri” – a Hebrew.

3) The rabbis held that the word is a reference to the fact that Abraham came from the other side and crossed over the river and was not a native Canaanite. “Ivri” also refers to the fact that Abraham spoke the Hebrew language—thus named because of its ancient origins, preceding the development of the other languages current at that time.

So Hebrew means the one who has crossed over, but is opposed, on the other side, and different from all others. Abraham was a solitary believer in a sea of idolatry. The Hebrews are a people whose native tongue is the Hebrew language.

Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”

When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people. Genesis 49:29-33

Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah were all buried in Hebron.

Hebron is the site of the oldest Jewish community in the world.It was the chief city in the hill country of Judah (Joshua 15:54) and was both a Levitical city (Joshua 21:11) and a city of refuge (Joshua 20:7). Caleb captured the city for Israel (Joshua 15:13-14).

King David was anointed in Hebron, where he reigned for seven years. One thousand years later, during the first Jewish revolt against the Romans, the city was the scene of extensive fighting. Jews lived in Hebron almost continuously throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke, and Ottoman periods. It was only in 1929 — as a result of a murderous Arab pogrom in which 67 Jews were murdered and the remainders were forced to flee — that the city became temporarily “free” of Jews. After the 1967 Six-Day War, the Jewish community of Hebron was re-established. It has grown to include a range of religious and educational institutions.

Hebron contains many sites of Jewish religious and historical significance, in addition to the Tomb of the Patriarchs. These include the Tombs of Othniel Ben Kenaz (the first Judge of Israel) and Avner Ben Ner (general and confidante to Kings Saul and David), and Ruth and Jesse (great-grandmother and father, respectively, of King David).

In recent years, Hebron has been the site of many violent incidents, two of which stand out. In May 1980, Palestinian terrorists murdered 6 Jewish yeshiva students and wounded 20 others, who were returning from prayers at the Tomb of the Patriarchs. In February 1994, Dr. Baruch Goldstein opened fire on Muslim worshippers at the Tomb, murdering 29 and wounding 125. Goldstein, a supporter of Meir Kahane’s Kach party, was subsequently killed by the survivors in the mosque, and is buried inside Kiryat Arba. A shrine was erected at his grave shortly after the mosque attack, but was demolished by the Israeli government in 2000.

After the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement (“Oslo II”), authority for most civil affairs regarding Hebron’s Arab residents was transferred from the Israeli Civil Administration to the Palestinian Authority and the (Arab) Municipality of Hebron. Those services which remained the responsibility of the Civil Administration will be transferred following the IDF redeployment from Hebron. The IDF retains sole responsibility for the security and well-being of Hebron’s Jewish community.

Hebron — located south of Jerusalem in the Judean hills — is home to approximately 130,000 Arabs, 530 Jews, and three Christians.

Today, Jews living in the oldest Jewish community in the world which contains the Tomb of the Patriarchs are outnumbered 245 to 1 by Arabs who are mostly followers of Islam.

On that day the LORD will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD going before them. On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem                                  Zechariah 12:8-9

In spite of overwhelming odds, there will be a “Great and Terrible Day” coming when the clans of Judah will defeat the armies of the nations.

 

Abraham is Told to Offer His Son Isaac as a Burnt Offering!

09 Monday Sep 2013

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The LORD tested Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. This event is a prophetic picture of the sacrifice of God’s Son.

GENESIS CHAPTER 22

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Genesis 22:1-2

How much time later is not clearly expressed in the Scriptures. In the previous chapter we are told that Isaac had been weaned. His mother Sarah gave birth to him when she was ninety years old. Isaac may have been 3-5 years old at that time. Genesis 21 also records that Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

Some paintings portray Isaac as being just a boy at the time Abraham was called by God to offer up his son as a sacrifice. But this is very unlikely to be true. In one trip, a mere boy would not be able to climb up a mountain carrying a load of wood sufficient to fuel a fire large enough to consume a burnt offering. Abram who had lived in Ur of the Chaldeans for 75 years is recorded to have stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time. If Abraham only dwelled in the land of the Philistines for 10 years, Isaac would have been at least 13-15 years old.

Sarah who gave birth at ninety, according to Genesis 23:2, was a hundred and twenty-seven years old when she died. Therefore it is possible that Isaac may have been a man in his thirties when he carried the wood for the burnt offering up the mountain. One thing we know for sure, Isaac was definitely not a child.

God told Abraham to take his “only son” Isaac to the region of Moriah. Yet we know that Abraham had another son Ishamael at that time. When Ishmael and Hagar were sent away it was clear that Ishmael was not to be the rightful heir, but it is also clear that Ishmael would remain Abraham’s son. God said, “Nevertheless, I will make the slave girl’s son into a nation, since he, too, is your offspring” (Genesis 21:13). Ishmael, though loved by Abraham and an offspring from his body, was not the promised heir. Isaac alone was the heir. He was the “only son” of the promise. Father Abraham was told to take his “only son” whom he loved and sacrifice him on a mountain in the region of Moriah.

Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. Genesis 22:3

Abraham lost no time in obeying God’s command. Early the very next morning he arose and made the necessary preparations for the trip. There would be little brush at the top of a mountain, so Abraham needed to bring the wood with him. Although he had servants, Abraham cut the wood himself because this was to be a personal act of sacrifice. He took two of his servants along with him and his son on the journey.

On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. Deuteronomy 17:6

Two is the number of witness and testimony. Abraham’s servants would serve as witnesses to his faithfulness to obey the LORD.

According to Torah, the burnt offering was an obligation but could also be a voluntary offering. The animal to be offered up was to be a male without defect. When offered by an individual, the person was to lay his hand on the head of the animal as an act of symbolically transferring his sins to the animal. The burnt offering was an offering for atonement.
With one swift cut across the throat, the animal was killed and the blood poured out into a basin. The carcass was flayed and the then the body cut into pieces. The offering was totally consumed by fire and regarded as ascending up to God. The burnt offering represented total submission and commitment to God.

On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Genesis 22:4-5

It took three days to reach the mountain of sacrifice. Abraham did not lift up his eyes until the third day. During the course of this journey Abraham grieved and was downcast in his spirit knowing that his beloved son was supposed to be sacrificed. Yet, Abraham told his servants that he after Isaac had worshipped and the sacrifice had been offered, that they both would return.

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Genesis 22:6-7

Abraham did not place the wood for the burnt offering in Isaac’s arms, but placed it on his son Isaac’s shoulders. As they he walked up the mountain Isaac asked his father, “Where is the lamb?” This is a prophetic picture of God’s only Son whom the he dearly loved bearing the cross for our sins.

Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. Genesis 22:8

Abraham declared that God himself will provide (future tense) the lamb that would serve as an atonement offering. Two thousand years later John identifies the promised lamb as God himself.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Genesis 22:9

Abraham who was well over 100 years old could not have forced Isaac to be bound and laid upon the altar. Isaac willingly laid down his life. Even if it meant that he had to die, Isaac submitted his will to the will of his father. This is another powerful prophetic picture of the coming Messiah.

Jesus said in Luke 22:42, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Jesus submitted to the Father’s will and humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8b).

Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Genesis 22:10-12

Abraham stopped

Although it was the angel of the LORD who called out to Abraham from heaven, he said that I know you fear God because you have not withheld your son from “me”. It was God who told Abraham to make the sacrifice, yet the angel of the LORD said that you have not withheld your son from me. This is another instance of the appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ as the angel of the LORD.

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” Genesis 22:13-14

The Book of Hebrews explains the reason that Abraham was able to declare to his two servants who were to wait for him, “We will worship and then we will come back to you”:

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. Hebrews 11:17-19

Figuratively speaking, Abraham received Isaac back from the dead. The testing of Abraham and the submission of Isaac is a prophetic picture of the future atoning death and resurrection of the Messiah.

Abraham declared that God himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice. But it was a ram, and not a lamb, that was sacrificed that day it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham called that place, “The LORD Will Provide.” There is archaeological evidence to support the notion that the place of the crucifixion of Jesus was at the summit of Mt. Moriah, probably near the present-day Damascus Gate and the Garden Tomb. The crucifixion of Christ on Mt. Moriah fulfilled the promise that “On the mountain of the LORD it (the final sacrifice for sin) will be provided.”

The LORD said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the LORD by fire.’” Leviticus 23:23-25

This holiday, The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah), is popularly known as Rosh Hashanah meaning the “Head of the Year” or Jewish New Year. According to the ceremonial calendar, it is the first day of the seventh month. Although the Jewish exiles returned from Babylon to the Promised Land on the first day of the fifth month (Ezra 7:9), they gathered together on Rosh Hashanah in Jerusalem on the first day of the seventh month (Nehemiah 7:73). At that time they heard the words of the Torah/Law translated and explained to them by Ezra and the Levites. After living for seventy years as an enslaved people, finally Jewish society was to again be governed by the commandments, regulations and ordinances of Mosaic Law. Therefore, the Jewish Civil Calendar commences on the first day the seventh month on the Hebrew Calendar. Much the same way in our culture, though January marks the first month of the year, some businesses and government agencies calculate the fiscal year beginning in April.

The liturgy in synagogues around the world not only includes the reading of the same biblical accounts on each Sabbath, but the same passages are read each year on each of the Festivals of the LORD. On Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks/Day of Firstfruits), the Book of Ruth is read because it concerns the harvest. On Rosh Hashanah, the Binding of Isaac is the Torah passage that is read in every synagogue throughout the world because it concerns a ram’s horn: Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns (Genesis 22:13a).

When the shofar sounds in the synagogue on Rosh Hashanah, it announces the raising of Isaac from the dead (figuratively speaking, Abraham did receive his son back from death). The Babylonian captivity lasted seventy years. The Jews that returned to the Promised Land had been dead as a nation for a lifetime (three score and ten years). When they returned on the Feast of Trumpets, the sound of the shofar blast announced the resurrection of a nation.

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At the New Moon festivals and appointed feasts, trumpets were sounded. According to God’s command (Numbers 10:2), two silver trumpets were to be fashioned. They were to be used for calling the community together and for announcing that the camps set out.

On the Feast of Trumpets, which occurs on the first day of the seventh month (a New Moon Festival), both silver trumpets are blown which announces that the whole camp gather together in the presence of the LORD and the shofar is blown which is a reminder of the resurrection of the dead.

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed– in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 1Corinthians 15:50-54

According to the Law of Moses, trumpets are sounded to gather God’s people into His presence. They were sounded to announce the setting out of the camps as each of the Israelite tribes followed the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night. Trumpets herald the approaching of a king. They are sounded when a battle is to take place.

According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 1Thessalonians 4:15-18

At the Feast of Trumpets, God’s elect will be translated in the blinking of an eye and gathered into His presence to be forever with the Lord.

The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba. Genesis 22:15-19

Abraham which means “Father of Many” would be the patriarch of numerous natural children through both Ishmael (the Arabic tribes), as well as through Isaac (the tribes of Israel). Abraham is not only the father of many natural children, but also the father of many spiritual children who by faith have undergone the circumcision of their hearts (Romans 4:11-12).

Matthew chapter one and verse one reveals how all nations on earth will be blessed through the offspring of Abraham: This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham. Jesus the Messiah who is the seed of Abraham blesses the elect of God from all nations under the heavens. Born-again believers in Messiah are blessed with forgiveness of sins and eternal life, with love, joy and peace, with grace and mercy, and every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.

Genesis Ch. 21 – Sarah Bore Isaac to Abraham in Her Old Age

02 Friday Aug 2013

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Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Genesis 21:1-2

Prior to the judgment by fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah, the LORD had appeared to Abraham and promised that Sarah would bear him a son. Sarah who was listening to the conversation at the entrance to their tent had laughed to herself in disbelief. In response, the LORD exclaimed: “Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” Genesis 18:14

Since God is omnipotent, He possesses unlimited power and authority. Since God is omniscient, He possesses total knowledge and wisdom.

“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” Job 12:13

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19

Nothing is too hard for the LORD. God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-wise and He watches over His word to perform it. His promises are yea and amen. The LORD did for Sarah what He promised to do. Although she was beyond child-bearing age, by God’s grace she miraculously became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age.

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23

The miraculous birth of a son born to Abraham by Sarah, who was past child-bearing age, foreshadowed the miraculous birth of Messiah who would be born to a virgin.

Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. Genesis 21:3-4

The significance of a name was particularly true in Bible times. In both Old and New Testaments names were used to reflect personal experience, express character and may be prophetic. Abraham gave his son the Hebrew name, “Yitzchak” which is translated as “Isaac” in English. Yitzchak means laughter. The miraculous son of the promise was circumcised on the eighth day in obedience to the covenant that the LORD made with Abraham.

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. Luke 2:21

The incarnate Son of God was named Yeshua which means salvation. Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day.

“You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.” Hebrews 1:9

Isaac, who was the son of the promise made to Abraham, was conceived miraculously, circumcised on the eighth day and was named laughter. Isaac prefigured Jesus who was the promised Son of David, miraculously conceived, circumcised on the eighth day and anointed with the oil of joy.

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” Genesis 21:5-7

By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. Hebrews 11:11-12

Abraham’s faith was in God’s promise and in God’s provision. Abraham believed God when He promised him a son. Abraham’s faith was faith in God, in God’s promise, and in God’s ability to provide that which He promised.

The great cloud of witnesses of Hebrew’s chapter eleven were those, among other exploits, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Hebrews 11:33-34

Believers in Messiah Jesus are not only saved by grace through faith, but also receive God’s other gracious promises and spiritual empowerment through faith as well.

Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. Galatians 3:7

Abraham believed God’s word and promise and therefore was accepted of God as a righteous man. As Abraham was justified by his faith, so those who place their trust in the finished work of Christ on the cross are justified by faith and are the spiritual seed of Abraham.

The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” Genesis 21:8-10

Sarah had finished nursing Isaac. He may have been anywhere from two to five years old. In Eastern countries this is a festive occasion. The newly weaned child is formally brought before the assembled relatives and friends, to partake of their first whole foods. Instead of celebrating, Ishmael mocked Isaac. The birth of Isaac has made a great change in the position of Ishmael. Now at the age of at least fifteen years, he was no longer the center of attention. Ishmael may have been bitter and jealous of his half-brother. Sarah was so enraged by Ishmael’s behavior that she told Abraham to cast out both Ishmael and his mother. This act would formally disinherit Ishmael so that Ishmael would not share in the family’s inheritance.

The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” Genesis 21:11-13

Abraham loved Ishmael and was greatly distressed knowing that Ishmael would no longer be part of his household. God tells Abraham to heed what Sarah has demanded and reminds Abraham that Isaac is the son of the promise. The LORD comforts Abraham in his distress by reminding him of the blessing that was already promised to Abraham in Genesis 17:20:

And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. Genesis 21:14

Abraham gave Hagar some food and water for her and the boy. Abraham set these provisions on her shoulders. He did not give her a donkey, so she had to walk. Although they were to be wanderers in the desert, Abraham did not give Hagar and her son any sheep, goats or cattle to provide milk and meat for her and Ishmael. The flocks and herds were part of Isaac’s inheritance and Ishmael was not to share in his inheritance.

When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”                                Genesis 21:15-18                            

When Hagar was pregnant with Ishmael she began to despise her mistress and was mistreated by Sarai. At that time, Hagar fled into the desert and the angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert. The angel of the LORD commanded that Hagar return to her mistress and submit to her. Now a decade and a half later, Hagar is sobbing in the desert and the angel of God calls to her from heaven. The angel of God declares that God has heard her son crying. Then the angel of God commands that Hagar take her son by the hand and that he, the angel of God, will make Ishmael into a great nation. The angel of the LORD and the angel of God are synonymous titles of the pre-incarnate Jesus.

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. Genesis 21:19

Hagar and her son were in vital need of water and could have died of hydration in the scorching heat of the desert sun. But God intervened and opened her eyes to see the well of water that was already within her reach.

When Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman who came to draw water from a well in Sychar, he proclaimed: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

Just as Hagar was an outcast wandering in the burning desert wilderness, so is sinful man separated from a Holy God and on the downward path to hell. Just as the well of natural water was available to Hagar once her eyes were opened, so is the spiritual water that springs up to eternal life within the reach of anyone whose eyes are opened and calls on the name of the LORD.

God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. Genesis 21:20

Ishmael grew up under the protection of God and settled in the wilderness of Paran, which is present day northern Saudi Arabia. The LORD promised to make Ishmael the patriarch of 12 tribes and therefore watched over Ishmael as he grew into manhood. Ishmael became an archer. Ishmael became skilled in the use of the bow and arrow for hunting, for protection against wild beasts and in waging warfare.

According to Genesis 16:12, Ishmael was prophesied to be, “… a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”

Two other notable biblical characters were also known to be hunters:

He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” Genesis 10:9

In Hebrew and Christian tradition, Nimrod is traditionally considered the leader of those who built the Tower of Babel in the land of Shinar. Nimrod is described as a “mighty hunter before the LORD.” This description implies ruthlessness and a lust for power. Nimrod is closely associated with the Hebrew word meaning “rebel.”

So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. Genesis 25:27

Esau despised his birthright.Paul writing to the church at Rome reminds that God proclaimed, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” Romans 9:13 b

These hunters were prideful, self-centered and violent men whose offspring were enemies of God’s people.

While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt. Genesis 21:21

Nimrod’s wife was Semiramis who was noted for her beauty and gross immorality and licentiousness. Ishmael’s wife was from Egypt which was a land of many gods and full of idolatry. Esau, who was the firstborn son of Isaac and Rebecca, married two women at the same time who were Canaanites. These hunters relied on their own abilities and strength. In their pride, they rebelled against the Creator and all married pagan wives.

At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have shown to you.” Abraham said, “I swear it.” Genesis 21:22-24

Abraham and Sarah had settled in Gerar which was in Philistine territory for a while. Abraham had deceived Abimelech into believing that Sarah was unmarried, therefore Abimelech took Sarah as his wife. God had come to Abimelech in a dream and said that Abimelech was as good as dead because he took Sarah who was married as his wife. This Philistine king was so terrified that he not only returned Sarah to Abraham, but brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham. Out of the fear of God, Abimelech wanted to be assured that Abraham would never again deal falsely with him or his children.

Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized. But Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.” Genesis 21:25-26

Gerar was an ancient town near the Negev. Abraham had dug a well in the Negev. A ready water supply in a desert region is essential and of great value. Abraham wanted his well returned otherwise his flocks and herds would have little chance for survival.

So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a treaty. Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, and Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”

He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”

So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there. Genesis 21:27-31

The treaty site was literally called, “the well of the seven.” The word “Beer” signifies a well while the word “sheba” means seven. This location would be significant later on when Israel possessed the Promised Land. “From Dan to Beersheba” is a biblical phrase used nine times in the Hebrew Bible to refer to the settled areas of the Tribes of Israel between the city of Dan in the north and Beersheba in the south.

After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time. Genesis 21:32-34

The planting of a tamarisk tree by Abraham had a symbolic significance. This long-living hardwood tree represented the strength and faithfulness of Yahweh, the Eternal God who had made a covenant with Abraham. Abraham was in covenant relationship with God and called upon God by using God’s personal holy name. Believers in Messiah are also in covenant relationship with God. In a similar fashion, we are privileged to call upon God by using the personal holy name of God’s Son and our savior, Yeshua.

 

Genesis Chapter 20 – Abraham and Sarah Deceive Abimelech

06 Saturday Jul 2013

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Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur.  For a while he stayed in Gerar, Genesis 20:1

The LORD had visited Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre and assured Sarah that she would have a son. This region is a plain near Hebron. Abraham pleaded with the LORD to spare Sodom, but not even ten righteous men could be found in this wicked city. The LORD sent his two angels to rescue Lot and his family before they destroyed the cities of the plain of Jordan. Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

Abraham moved from where he had lived for fifteen or twenty years, into the more southern parts of the land of Canaan. He may have been so deeply disturbed by the destruction of Sodom, the stench of the smoldering sulfur, and not knowing what happened to his nephew Lot, that he left the area. Abraham went to dwell between Kadesh and Shur which were two wildernesses in the western Sinai. The name Kadesh comes from the Hebrew verb,“qadash”which meansto be consecrated, hallowed or sanctified. Shur means “wall.” Abraham lived between two wildernesses that walled him in so that he could be sanctified. But then he moved on to Gerar to stay there for a while.

Gerar was an ancient town in the Negev. It’s location in modern day Israel is roughly half-way between Beersheba and Gaza.Gerar was ruled by the Philistine king named Abimelech.

and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. Genesis 20:2

There in Gerar in the land of the Philistines, Abraham hid the fact that he was married to Sarah as he did when he went down to Egypt. Abram had gone down to Egypt along with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot during a time of famine in Canaan. Since Sarai was very beautiful, Abram had deceived the Egyptians into believing that Sarai was only his sister when in fact, she was his wife. Sarai was the half-sister of Abram, but a half-truth is still an entire lie.

There are four men named Abimelech in the Bible. The first mention of the name Abimelech is the king of Gerar who lived during the time of Abraham. The name Abimelech consists of two parts. The first is “abi” formed from the Hebrew word “ab” usually meaning the male parent, but can also mean a far removed ancestor, or the chief of a large household or town. The Hebrew letter “yod” added to “ab” to form the compound abi, means either “my father” or “father of.”

The Hebrew noun, “malak” is usually translated as king, but more specifically means magistrate. The name Abimelech means, “My father is king” or “Father of a king.” Abimelech may have had the name, “Father of a king” but Abram was renamed Abraham by the LORD which means, “Father of many nations.”

Sarai was about 66 when she and Abram went down to Egypt. Since she lived for 127 years, she may still have been in her prime and was very beautiful. Now in Gerar, Sarah was about ninety years of age, and probably pregnant with Isaac. Her beauty isn’t specifically mentioned as a motive for Abraham’s attempt to deceive Abimelech. Sarah may now have been chosen by Abimelech in an attempt for him to form an alliance with Abraham. Not only was Abraham wealthy, but a petty king such as Abimelech would naturally be glad to form an alliance with such a powerful chief as Abraham who had defeated the four kings of Mesopotamia.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” Genesis 20:3

When Abram had gone down to Egypt, he presented Sarai as his sister and not as his wife. They apparently saw themselves as fleeing from certain death in the Canaanite famine and assumed that Sarah’s unusual beauty meant that she was likely to be taken anyway. The only question was whether Abram himself could survive. As a husband he would not, but as a brother he might. Out of desperation, they lied. Afterwards, Pharaoh and his household became very ill. In his inquiry to understand why, Pharaoh discovered that he has taken Abram’s wife as his own and was being punished for it.

But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. Genesis 12:17

When Abraham and Sarah sojourned to Gerar, they also deceived Abimelech into believing Sarah was unmarried. Although Abimelech had taken Sarah, he wasn’t inflicted by disease but warned by God in a dream that he was facing a death sentence.

Even before the Ten Commandments were instituted, these accounts of Pharaoh and Abimelech are two biblical examples that adultery was understood to be a serious offense by the LORD.  

Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.” Genesis 20:4-5

Although Abimelech had not attempted to be physical with Sarah, the account in Genesis 12 does not say whether or not Pharaoh had approached Sarai physically. Perhaps, he and his household were inflicted with serious diseases because Pharaoh had attempted intimate physical relations with Sarai. Whereas, Abimelech had not as of yet gone near her.

Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Genesis 20:6

God made it clear to Abimelech that he was facing fatal consequences for taking a married woman as his own. Yet, God kept Abimelech from sinning unintentionally by warning him in a dream. By restraining Abimelech, Sarah was kept from being defiled. Sarah was either pregnant with Isaac, “the child of the promise” or soon would become pregnant by Abraham. Through a dream, God protected his chosen vessel Sarah who would birth the “miraculous son” of the covenant.

There are a number of instances in the Bible where God has sent a warning to a person through a dream.

On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” Genesis 31:22-24

Using a dream, God warned Laban, who was in hot pursuit of Jacob, not to harm Jacob or try to keep him from returning to the Promised Land through flattery. God protected the patriarch of the 12 tribes of Israel through a dream.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Matthew 2:11-12

After worshipping the newborn “King of the Jews” and presenting him with their gifts, the Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. Although King Herod told the Magi that he wanted to worship the child, Herod actually wanted to murder the newborn king. By means of a dream, God protected Jesus by keeping the Magi from reporting his whereabouts to Herod.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” Matthew 2:13

In a dream, Joseph was warned to flee to Egypt with his wife and the Christ Child in order to escape King Herod’s jurisdiction.

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream  to Joseph in Egypt and said,”Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee. Matthew 2:19-22

Joseph was commanded in a dream to return to Israel with his family after the death of King Herod. Then Joseph was warned in another dream not to live in Judea, but instead, he and his family went to live in the town of Nazareth.

God not only warned Abimelech in a dream that Sarah was another man’s wife; God commanded that Abimelech return Sarah to Abraham.

Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die.” Genesis 20:7

Psalm 105 and verse 15 reads, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” Abraham was designated by the LORD to serve Him as His prophet. Therefore Abraham was a spokesperson for God who had been anointed (empowered by the Holy Spirit) to fulfill this office. Abraham is not only the “Father of the Faith” but is also the first person in the Bible to have been called a prophet.  

Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. Genesis 20:8

Abimelech wasted no time making matters right before God. He arose early in the morning and reported the substance of his dream to all of his officials. It is obvious by the reaction of Abimelech’s officials that they believed that God can speak through dreams and that their lives were in danger.

Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.” And Abimelech asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?” Genesis 20:9-10

Abraham had been justified by his faith and entered into a covenantal relationship with the LORD. Yet, he now stands before a pagan king and is rightfully accused of acting in an unrighteous manner. This episode in Abraham’s life reminds the reader that all men, including the patriarchs have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’ Genesis 20:11-13

Twenty-five years before this, Abraham had committed a nearly identical sin down in Egypt. Both times he acted in fear and not from faith. By stating that there is surely no fear of God in this place, Abraham’s explanation is an attempt to place the blame on the victims of his deception. It was their fault that he had to lie, and therefore place their lives in jeopardy.

Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.” Genesis 20:14-15

It may have been the fear of Abraham’s God, rather than Abraham’s explanation that motivated Abimelech to be generous towards him.  Not only does Abimelech return Sarah to Abraham and offers him valuable gifts, Abimelech offers Abraham the right to dwell anywhere in his territory.

Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was rebuked.  Genesis 20:16

The purpose of the payment of silver, in addition to the flocks, herds and slaves, was to compensate Sarah for any wrong Abimelech may have done to her and to clear her reputation. Abimelech did not say to Sarah, “I am giving your husband a thousand shekels of silver,” but that he was giving the payment for the offense to her brother. Abimelech had originally taken Sarah because he believed that Abraham was her brother and not her husband. Abimelech said that he was giving the payment to her brother, to both admonish Abraham and to rebuke Sarah so that this would be the last time they lied about their married relationship.

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, for the Lord had closed up every womb in Abimelech’s household because of Abraham’s wife Sarah. Genesis 20:17-18

After Abraham interceded in prayer for them, God healed Abimelech and his wife and slave girls. The women had been afflicted by some disease that rendered it impossible for them to have children till it was removed. Abimelech had also been smitten by the LORD with an infirmity that kept him from going near Sarah and defiling her.

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. Deuteronomy 7:9

Abraham was declared righteous by his faith and was in covenant relationship with the LORD. Even when Abraham devised a plan of deception out of fear, God supernaturally intervened so that His purposes would stand. When Sarah was placed into circumstances that could have compromised God’s promise that Sarah would birth Isaac, the LORD prevented Abimelech from touching her.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty; but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:9-11

 

The Covenant of Circumcision between El Shaddai and Abraham

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

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The Covenant of Circumcision between El Shaddai and Abraham

In Genesis 17:1 the Bible first records God revealing Himself as El Shaddai to Abraham.

Almighty God who is “More Than Enough” confirmed His covenant.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” Genesis 17:1-2

The Septuagint and other early translations usually translate “El Shaddai”as “God Almighty.” Shaddai is connected to shadayim, the Hebrew word for “breasts.” El points to the power of God Himself. Shaddai signifies the One who nourishes, supplies, and satisfies. In several instances in the Torah the name El Shaddai is connected with fruitfulness. El Shaddai is a name that means God is “The All-Sufficient One” and that God is “More Than Enough.” Our God is capable of meeting all our needs.

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Genesis 15:9-10

The LORD had already cut a blood covenant with Abram promising that Abram would have a son coming from his own body and numerous descendents. But Sarai, who was barren, had grown impatient and gave her handmaid Hagar to her husband in an attempt to build a family through her servant. In confirming His covenant, God continues in the progressive revelation of His divine character and power as well as clarifies the terms of the agreement.

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.” Genesis 17:3-6

Abram prostrated himself before the LORD. This act is one of humility and reverence. The worshipper drops to his knees, falls forward onto his elbows, and bends his face forward until his forehead touches the ground.

Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” And he added, “These are the true words of God.” At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:9-10

John the Revelator after he fell at the feet of an angel was commanded not to worship anyone but God.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. Exodus 20:4-6

A slave can bow before his master, and a commoner can bow before his king. These are forms of respect and honor given by a person of lower estate to a person of higher authority. But bowing before a carved or graven image – a statue carved from wood or chiseled from stone – breaks the 2nd commandment. The act of bending your knees before a statute in reverence is idolatry and provokes God to jealousy.

God changed Abram’s name which means, “Exalted Father,” and gave him the name, Abraham which means “Father of Many.” He would be the patriarch of numerous natural children through both Ishmael (the Arabic tribes), as well as through Isaac (the tribes of Israel).

“I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” Genesis 17:7-8

The Hebrew word – ~’lw{[ (owlam) which is translated as, “everlasting” means that the covenant between the LORD and Abraham’s descendants is forever and always. This covenant’s existence is continuous and perpetual, having an unending future because it is eternal. The land of the promise – the whole land of Canaan – is to be an everlasting possession as well.

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” Genesis 17:9-14

The “brit milah” or “bris miloh” (covenant of circumcision) is performed on the eighth day. It is a blood covenant and the Hebrew word “brit” literally means “to cut.” A variety of modern-day studies suggest that circumcision is linked with decreased risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

But why did the LORD command that circumcision be performed on the eighth day? Vitamin K is responsible for the production (by the liver) of the element known as prothrombin. If vitamin K is deficient, there will be a prothrombin deficiency and hemorrhaging may occur. Oddly, it is only on the fifth through the seventh days of the newborn male’s life that vitamin K (produced by bacteria in the intestinal tract) is present in adequate quantities. Vitamin K, coupled with prothrombin, causes blood coagulation. On the eighth day, the amount of prothrombin present actually is elevated above one-hundred percent of normal—and is the only day in the male’s life in which this will be the case under normal conditions. If surgery is to be performed, day eight is the perfect day to do it. Vitamin K and prothrombin levels are at their peak.

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Romans 4:11-12

Abraham is not only the father of many natural children, but also the father of many spiritual children who by faith have undergone the circumcision of their hearts.

God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” Genesis 17:15-16

Sarai is the fourth woman mentioned by name in the Bible, and the first woman named who is in the line of Seth. The name Sarah comes from the Hebrew verb sarar meaning – to rule, reign, to be princely or govern. The feminine derivation, sara is identical to the name Sarah, and is used for royal ladies of the court. “Sarai” means “my princess”, but “Sarah” means simply “Princess”, indicating that she will be exalted, not only by her husband but by all nations.

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” Genesis 17:17-18

Abraham’s laughter was a reaction of his delight. Abraham believed that he and his wife Sarah would be blessed with a son in spite of their advanced ages. The covenant was to be established and passed on to the next generation through this miraculous conception. Abraham may have come to the realization that Ishmael was not the son of the promise. Concerned that Ishmael might be forsaken, Abraham petitions God seeking a blessing for Ishmael.

By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. Hebrews 11:10-12

Abraham believed that God was able and faithful to fulfill His promise. Abraham did not focus on his impossible circumstances but upon a God through whom all things are possible. Therefore Abraham was to be blessed with descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky (the spiritual seed of Abraham) and as countless as the sand on the seashore (the natural descendants of Abraham).

Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” Genesis 17:19

God told Abraham to give the son that Sarah will bear the name, “Isaac.” The name Isaac which originates from the Hebrew word, “Yitschaq” means, “He laughs.” The son that Abraham and Sarah will conceive was to be named Isaac. This name was chosen because Abraham laughed with joy that a son would be born to him when was hundred years old and his wife was ninety. To dispel any doubt in Abraham’s mind that the son of the promise will be Isaac and not Ishmael, God reiterates His statement to Abraham that Sarah will bear him a son. God confirms that it will be through Isaac and his descendants that the covenant will be established and not through Ishmael.

And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. Genesis 17:20

God response to the plea of Abraham on behalf of Ishmael is, “I have heard you.” The name Ishmael means, “God hears.” The opening phrase of Genesis 17:20 can be literally translated, “And as for God hears, I have heard you.”

Ishmael is given a physical blessing. He is promised to become the father of 12 tribes and the patriarch of a great nation. But Ishmael does not partake of the Abrahamic covenant which includes the “Promised Land,” nor is he in the line of the promised Messiah.

“But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. Genesis 17:21-22

In repeating His statement, the LORD emphasizes the fact that the covenant will be established with Isaac. The LORD clearly states that as for Ishmael, he will be fruitful – BUT my covenant I will establish with Isaac.

So why then is there any doubt that the Jews and not the Arabs have the right to the land of Israel? Why does the Quartet – The European Union, The United Nations, Russia and the United States insist that the Jews must give up so-called occupied territories for the promise of peace with their enemies who have vowed their annihilation?

The Koran (Qur’an) states:

“The Prophet Ishmael (Isma’il) “was a Messenger and a Prophet;” he was the son of Abraham and Hagar, Abraham’s second wife. When Abraham was young he received a “dream” from God in which he was “slaughtering” Ishmael. Although this was extremely difficult for Abraham to do, he proceeded anyway into the desert to sacrifice Ishmael. When Abraham told his son what God planned, Ishmael offered himself willingly saying, “Father, do what thou art commanded; thou wilt find me, if Allah please, steadfast.” But God made Abraham’s knife dull like wax and Abraham was unable to shed Ishmael’s blood. God saw both Abraham’s tears and his devotion and, therefore, God caused a ram to appear for Abraham to sacrifice instead of Ishmael.”

This claim in the Koran that it was Ishmael that was to be sacrificed is totally contradictory to the account in Genesis 22 where Isaac pre-figures Messiah and was bound on an altar. According to the account in Hebrews 11:19: “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” Note that the New Testament is in agreement with the account in Genesis that it was Isaac and not Ishmael offered up by Abraham.

The Koran was written in the late 7th century, while most of the Torah was written 3,000 years ago. The Books of Moses pre-date the Koran by 17 centuries. Muslims claim that the Bible has been corrupted. But the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were written 900 years before the Koran, confirms that the Hebrew Scriptures have remained virtually intact.

The Koran also claims that:

“When Ishmael grew older God called on Abraham and his son to go to Mecca and rebuild the mosque (Ka’ba) there. The original shrine, built by Adam, was displaced during the flood. Upon its completion, Ishmael “settled in [the] barren valley near Thy Sacred House” of Mecca with his mother; there he married. Ishmael’s progeny became known as the Quraysh, the direct ancestors of Muhammad. Ishmael was the first Prophet to write and preach of the one true God – to “perform Prayer with due observance”– in Arabic; he is the “father of all the Arabs.”

Muhammad is the father of all Arabs. The Muslims deny the divine right of the covenant people of God – the children of Israel – to live in the Promised Land, because they replaced the true son of the promise – Isaac – with Ishmael.

Today’s world leaders, spiritually blind and desiring Arab oil, are more than willing to appease the Muslim world by demonizing Jews as occupiers and oppressors rather than the rightful heirs to the land of Israel. The Quartet is pressuring Israel to, “Give up land for peace.” After Israel gave the Gaza Strip over to the Palestinians, instead of peace, Israel received periodic rocket attacks. Land for peace also means that the Golan Heights will go back to Syria. The hostility, the ongoing bombardments, the shooting and the terror the entire Jordan Valley lived under for 19 years will start all over again. In return for piece of paper that has no meaning to the Arabs (they have not honored on one clause of the Oslo Accords and the Road Map to Peace), the nation of Israel is to go back to the pre-1967 borders. The true purpose of a “land for peace” agreement is to render the land of Israel as virtually indefensible.

On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, and his son Ishmael was thirteen; Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him. Genesis 17:23-27

Jews are circumcised on the eighth day according to the Abrahamic Covenant. Isaac was circumcised on the 8th day. This commandment is reiterated in Leviticus 12:1-3:

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised.

Of all of the Torah’s 613 commandments, the “brit milah” (the Covenant of Circumcision) is probably the one most universally observed. Even the most secular of Jews, who observe no other part of Torah, are almost always circumcised. The commandment is binding upon both the father of the child and the child himself. Jews are circumcised on the 8th day as a sign of the covenant between the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants.

On the other hand, Ishmael was circumcised when he was thirteen.

According to the Qur’an, there is not an obligation on parents to circumcise their children. Unlike the Jewish tradition, in Islam circumcision is not a symbol of Allah’s covenant with humans. But the prophet Mohammed is reported to have stated that “Circumcision is a sunnah (customary or traditional) for the men.”

Islamic sources do not fix a particular time for circumcision. It depends on family, region and country. A majority of Ulema (Muslim legal scholars) however take the view that parents should get their child circumcised before the age of ten. The preferred age is usually seven although some Muslims are circumcised as early as on the seventh day after birth and as late as at the commencement of puberty.

By their own admission and according to the Qur’an, circumcision is not a symbol of a covenant for Muslims. They are not in covenant relationship with the Almighty – the Creator of heaven and earth. The descendants of Ishmael covet was rightfully belongs to the descendants of Isaac and are willing to rob, kill and destroy to get it. But one day, the prophetic name Isaac – He laughs – will find its ultimate fulfillment as recorded in Psalm 2 and verses 1-6:

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

Hagar Will Bear Abram a Son and the LORD Named Him Ishmael

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Hagar Will Bear Abram a Son and the LORD Named Him Ishmael

Sarai bore Abram no children, so she gave Hagar to him. When Hagar was pregnant, she despised her mistress & was mistreated. Hagar fled to the desert.

Genesis Chapter 16

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Genesis 16:1-2a

Children are a blessing from God. It is apparent that Sarai is displeased with the LORD because He has caused her to be barren. She tells her husband Abram that he should sleep with her handmaid Hagar. Probably Hagar was one of the servants that they had acquired when they went down to Egypt during the time of the famine in Canaan. The child of a female slave would then become the property of the slave’s mistress. Sarai reasoned that she could build a family though her maidservant.

Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. Genesis 16:2b-4a

Abram had left the Ur of the Chaldeans when he was 75 years old. His wife Sarai was ten years his junior. The trip along with the stop at Haran to replenish the livestock was approximately a year long. After living in Canaan ten years Sarai was about 76 years old. Both Abram and his wife probably believed that Sarai was beyond child bearing age.

Abram had already demonstrated that he was a great man of faith. The account of Genesis chapter 12 informs us that Abram did not question the LORD when asked to leave his home and country. Abram faithfully obeyed and embarked on a 1,000 mile journey to an unknown land. In Genesis chapter 15, the LORD reassured Abram that he would indeed have a son coming from his own body and that Abram’s offspring would be as innumerable as the stars in the sky. Abram had believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. Yet when Sarai desired to give her handmaiden to him, he did not inquire of the LORD but slept with Hagar to please his wife. The phrase “to be his wife” is merely a euphemism for sexual intercourse. Abram did not take Hagar as his wife but Sarai gave her maidservant to him for the purpose of bearing a child for her.

When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me.” Genesis 16:4b-5

Hagar, who was Sarai’s handmaiden, treated her mistress as her inferior and with contempt by reproaching her for her barrenness, as Peninnah did Hannah before the birth of Samuel. Hagar’s actions were not only prideful but ungrateful, since it was because of her mistress that Hagar was given to Abram so that she may conceive. Although the plan to build Sarai’s family though Hagar was her own idea, Sarai shifts the blame to her husband for the mistreatment that she is suffering. Perhaps Sarai thought that it was Abram’s duty to make sure Hagar knew her rightful place in the household. In any case, Sarai believed that her cause is so just that she declared, “May the LORD judge between you and me.”

“Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. Genesis 16:6

Abram did not attempt to mediate between Sarai and Hagar as if they held equal positions in his household; instead he told his wife Sarai to do whatever she thought was best in dealing with her contemptuous slave. Sarai mistreated Hagar. In the original language of Hebrew the intent is that Sarai afflicted Hagar to humble her. Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that Hagar fled from her mistress.

The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Genesis 16:7-8

It is important to note that the text does not say that an angel found Hagar but records that “The angel of the LORD” found Hagar near a desert spring. The account in Genesis 16:7 is the first time that the Bible records the appearance of “The angel of the LORD.” There is a phenomenon in the Bible which theologians refer to as “The Law of First Mention.” The very first time any significant word or symbol is mentioned in the Bible, Scripture gives that word its most complete and accurate meaning. This not only serves as a “key” in understanding the word’s Biblical concept, but to also provide a foundation for its fuller development in later parts of the Bible. The encounter between Hagar and the angel of the LORD will enable us to identify this unique being.

Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.” Genesis 16:9-10

After Hagar answered the angel of the LORD’s questions, he commanded Hagar to go back to her mistress Sarai and submit to her. Then the angel of the LORD said that he would increase Hagar’s descendants. No created being could fulfill that promise. It is also interesting that the language used and the promise made is strikingly similar to the promise of numerous descendants made by the LORD to Abram earlier.

The definition of the “Angel of the LORD” by Louis Goldberg is cited in Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology:

“(Hebrew – mal’ak yehwah). Supernatural being who bears a message on behalf of God. In many passages in the Old Testament, the angel of the Lord is identified with God, while in other instances a distinction is made between the Lord and the angel. In general, however, the terms “the angel of the LORD, “ “the LORD,” and “God” are interchangeable.The angel of the Lord is the messenger of both good and evil. He comes to Hagar after she has fled from the abusive Sarai (Genesis 16:7-14) to assure her that God has heard about her misery and that her descendants will be too numerous to count. She names him “You are the God who sees me” (verse 13).”

In chapter 18 of the book of 2 Kings is the record the of Sennacherib king of Assyria whose army attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. In response, Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace.

Although Hezekiah had paid tribute to Sennacherib, the king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. In 2 Kings 18:31-35, the field commander spoke to Hezekiah’s officials and said:

“Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death!

“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

The supreme commander of the Assyrian army purposed to dishearten Hezekiah’s officials. The commander intended to make them fearful, so that they would abandon their king and surrender their fortified city.

In the first verse of chapter 19 of 2 Kings we read: When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord.

We also read in verses 14-19:

Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.

“It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.”

Then Isaiah the prophet sent an encouraging message to Hezekiah saying that the LORD, the God of Israel had heard his prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria. Isaiah also prophesied that the LORD would defend Jerusalem and save it, for His sake and for the sake of David His servant.

That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. 2 Kings 19:35-36

Although Yahweh declared that He would defend the city, the angel of the LORD executed judgment on behalf of the LORD. He put to death 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in their camp, thereby saving Jerusalem from decimation.

Continuing with Louis Goldberg’s entry on the “Angel of the LORD”:

“The angel of the LORD both commissions and commends God’s servants. The commander of the LORD’s army commissions Joshua to undertake the LORD’s battles for Canaan, just as Moses had been commissioned to confront Pharaoh (Joshua 5:13-15; cf. Exodus 3:5). The angel of the LORD appears to Abraham. He stops Abraham from sacrificing Isaac and commends him because he has not withheld his only son from God (Genesis 22:11-18). Abraham identifies the angel as God, calling the place The LORD Will Provide.

The angel of the LORD carries out a ministry of reconciliation. He asks how long God will withhold mercy from Jerusalem and Judah (Zechariah 1:12). The connection between the angel of the LORD and the preincarnate appearance of the Messiah cannot be denied. Manoah meets the angel of the LORD, and declares that he has seen God. The angel accepts worship from Manoah and his wife as no mere angel, and refers to himself as “Wonderful, “ the same term applied to the coming deliverer in Isaiah 9:6 (Judges 13:9-22). The functions of the angel of the LORD in the Old Testament prefigure the reconciling ministry of Jesus. In the New Testament, there is no mention of the angel of the LORD; the Messiah himself is this person.”

The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” Genesis 16:11-12

Ishmael means God will hear. The son Abram’s concubine will bear will be named Ishmael for the LORD heard Hagar’s misery. The 12 sons of Ishmael, and his Egyptian wife, became princes and progenitors of as many tribes. The region occupied by these Ishmaelites included most of central and northern Arabia.

The wild donkey lived a solitary existence in the desert away from society. Ishmael’s descendents would be free-roaming or nomadic. Bedouins are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arabian ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes, or clans. The Arabic term badawi derives from the word badiyah which means semiarid desert. The term “Bedouin” therefore means, “Those in badiyah” or “Those in the desert.”

All Arabs, following Mohammed’s example, claim descent from Ishmael. … his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him. In an effort by the Muslims to destabilize and take control of more and more territory, everywhere in the civilized world there are Islamic insurgencies and senseless acts of terror. There is no where on earth where Islam has ever brought peace, unless you define peace as the slaughter of all dissenters. Islam cannot bring peace because the god of Islam is Satan himself disguised as the moon god, Allah.

… and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers. When the Ummah (the worldwide Muslim community) is not busy slaughtering infidels, it reverts to slaughtering itself. The prophesied hostilities of brother against brother are evidenced by conflicts between different sects of Muslims such as Sunni against Shia, and Sunni and Shia against Sufi.

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. Genesis 16:13-14

The angel of the LORD had spoken to Hagar, yet Hagar gave this name to Yahweh who spoke to her, El Roi “You are the God that sees me.” Again the angel of the LORD speaks but is identified as God himself. Hagar’s son will be named “Ishmael” which means “God will hear.” Hagar testifies that not only will God hear our cries and petitions, but He is a God that sees our difficult and troubling circumstances. Hagar had fled to a spring in the desert. After she encountered the angel of the LORD, she and named that well, “Beer Lahai Roi” which means “Well of the Living One who sees me.”

So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. Genesis 16:15-16

Hagar returned at the command of the angel of the LORD, believing the promise that God had made to her. Abram named his son Ishmael according to the command given to Hagar. Since it was the LORD who chose the name, Abram may have believed that Ishmael was the fulfillment of the promise of an heir from his own loins. It would be 13 more years until it would be revealed to Abram that he would father the son of the promise through his wife and not her hand maiden.

Genesis 14 – Abram Rescues Lot & Pays a Tithe to Melchizedek

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Genesis 14 – Abram Rescues Lot & Pays a Tithe to Melchizedek

Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions were taken captive by four kings. Abram and his 318 trained men rescue Lot. He then pays a tithe to Melchizedek.

At this time Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim went to war against Bear king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea). For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. Genesis 14:1-4

Four kings from Mesopotamia went to war against five Canaanite kings who rebelled after having been subjugated to them for 12 years.

Kings of Mesopotamia

Kings of Southern Canaan

Amraphel king of Shinar (Iraq)

Bear king of Sodom

Arioch king of Ellasar

(City-state on Syrian-Turkish border)

Birsha king of Gomorrah

Kedorlaomer king of Elam (Iran)

Shinab king of Admah

Tidal king of the Goiim (Turkey)

Shemeber king of Zeboiim

The king of Bela (that is Zoar)

Kingdoms of Mesopotamia

1. Shinar: In central Mesopotamia (Iraq), Shinar was the land where Nimrod built his cities including Babylon, which are listed in the table of nations in Genesis 10:8-10.

2. Ellasar: Possibly a city-state on Syrian-Turkish border

3. Elam: Ancient territory to the E and NE of the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates in the Zagros Mountains (modern Iran).

4. Goiim (Goyim): Literally meaning “nations” in Hebrew. The “king of Goiim” means “king of nations.” This is probably a reference to tribal people like the Hittites who lived on the fringes of the Mesopotamian cultures, in Asia Minor (Turkey) or along the Black and Caspian Seas.

City-states of the kings of the Siddim Valley in southern Canaan

The valley occupied the depression that is now filled by the Dead Sea. The names of the kings from these cities were also listed in alphabetical order in Genesis 14:2

· Sodom

· Gomorrah

· Admah

· Zeboiim

· Zoar: Name means “trifling.” The city is so small that its king isn’t named.

In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar. Genesis 14:5-7

This list may be from a historical document (a royal record of military campaigns) describing the defeat of the “cities of the plain” and their local allies. The defeated cities included the dwelling places of the Rephaites who are described as giants. The armies of Kedorlaomer and the other three kings conquered as far south as El Paran, which means “the southern wilderness.” Then they turned back after this initial campaign and headed for their original target – the rebellious five cities of southern Canaan.

Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom. Genesis 14:8-12

Abram’s nephew Lot was taken captive and his possessions were taken as plunder by the four kings. Lot exposed himself and his family to danger by preferring to live in a fertile area, even though the people who lived in the region were workers of iniquity. Not only did Lot suffer being taken captive, but so was his entire family. Ironically Lot, who sought to enrich himself by living in the plain of the Jordan, ended up losing of all his property.

When the armies of the four kings of Mesopotamia routed the forces of the five kings of southern Canaan, some of the men who were fleeing fell into tar pits.

I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Matthew 5:18

The New International Version speaks of the smallest letter and least stroke of a pen. The King James Version states, “… one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.” The “jot” refers to the smallest Hebrew letter (the letter yod). The “tittle” was the smallest stroke of a pen (the horn) – a tiny flourish, like a serif in English typeface. This small stroke is the only mark to distinguish between the following similar Hebrew letters:

Not only is every word in the original Hebrew language of the Books of Moses significant, but so are the letters. With that understanding, we should seek out why the tar pits in the Valley of Siddim are mentioned because they must be significant.

Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. Genesis 19:24

The region of the Dead Sea is known, now and in ancient history, for its natural petroleum deposits. In the past the Romans called the sea “Lake Asphaltitus” because of the natural bitumen that would come up from deposits in the fault line beneath the lake. Bitumen is a heavy viscous oil mixture combined with sulfur and other metals, minerals and toxic chemicals. At the time of the Genesis 19 account there were “slime pits” or bitumen pits in the valley.

The Jordan Rift is an unstable area with a great deal of thermal energy as demonstrated by the hot springs on both sides of the sea. While the Dead Sea no longer shows evidence of vast bitumen deposits there are still oil slicks that rise to the surface from time to time. A great deal of evidence confirming this can be found in historical accounts.

Geologist Fredrick Clapp formulated the theory that pressure from an earthquake could have caused bitumen deposits to be forced out of the earth through the fault line that exist precisely at this site. If natural deposits of sulfur were forced into the air, the dust would have been extremely flammable. If natural heat ignited existing sulfur deposits at the time of an earthquake the results would result in localized cataclysmic rain of fire, tar and burning sulfur.

In the Genesis account, Abraham looked out towards the cities and saw smoke like a great furnace. This would be consistent with a large petroleum fire. Sulfur balls are commonly found today in the area. Moreover their condition shows that they self-extinguished in the ash and dirt.

God would later pour out his judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah but may have used natural means. The area around the south end of the Dead Sea is still a barren plain of salt, sulfur, and bitumen (asphalt) deposits.

One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. Genesis 14:13

In this passage, Abram is called the Hebrew. This is the first time the designation Hebrew is found in the Bible. The term, Hebrew commonly refers to Abraham’s descendants who are known today as the Jewish people. The word for Hebrew used in the Bible is “Ivri”, meaning “of or pertaining to Ever.”

In Jewish tradition there are three reasons as to why Abram is called the Hebrew:

1) The Hebrew word “ever” means “opposite side.” Abraham believed in one God, and the rest of the world worshipped man-made gods. Thus, “Abraham stood on one side, and the entire world stood on the other side.”

2) Ever (usually Anglicized as “Eber”), is the ancestor of Abraham. Eber was a great-grandson of Noah’s son Shem and the father of Peleg. According to Jewish tradition, Eber, refused to help with the building of the Tower of Babel, so his language was not confused when it was abandoned. He and his family alone retained the original human language, Hebrew, is a language named after Eber. Eber was one of the bearers of the monotheistic tradition which he had learned from his ancestors Shem and Noah and passed on to his grandson Abraham. Since Abraham was both a descendant and disciple of his, he is called an “Ivri” – a Hebrew.

3) The rabbis held that the word is a reference to the fact that Abraham came from the other side and crossed over the river and was not a native Canaanite. “Ivri” also refers to the fact that Abraham spoke the Hebrew language—thus named because of its ancient origins, preceding the development of the other languages current at that time.

So Hebrew means the one who has crossed over, but is opposed, on the other side, and different from all others. Abraham was a solitary believer in a sea of idolatry.

When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. Genesis 14:14-16

Abram had now a company of three hundred and eighteen trained men, born in his own house. This number of men is an indication of Abram’s wealth and power. Including women and children, there were probably more than 1,000 persons under his authority and enough corresponding numbers of flocks and herds to feed, clothe and provide shelter for all of them.

Although the armies of the five ungodly kings of the cities of the Valley of Siddim had fled in defeat, Abram was victorious. Gideon with a mere 300 men routed a great multitude of Midianites and Amalekites. In a similar fashion, because the LORD was with him, Abram not only defeated the armies of four kings with only 318 men but all the stolen goods and kidnapped people were recovered.

After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Genesis 14:17-20a

This is the first recorded appearance of the priest of the Most High God (Hebrew – Kohen El Elyon). The name Melchizedek is the compilation of three Hebrew words, melek, iy and tsedeq. Melek means “king.” Meleky or melchi means “king of. Tsedeq” means “righteousness.” The meaning of the name Melchizedek is “King of Righteousness.” Salem (shalom) means peace. The King of Righteousness was also the King of Peace.

Melchizedek brought out bread and wine which are the emblems of the communion table and blessed Abram.

The term “chazal” refers to the rabbinic sages who served as commentators on the Hebrew Scriptures. According to the Chazalic literature, specifically Targum Jonathan, Targum Yerushalmi, and the Babylonian Talmud, the name Melchizedek served as a title for Shem, the son of Noah.

He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave.” Genesis 9:26-27

Noah declared that Yahweh – the Great I AM – was the God of Shem. Through Shem, the middle son, the “promised seed of the woman” (Messiah) would be transmitted. Shem not only was still alive during the days of Abraham, but actually outlived Abraham.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19-20

Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 110:4 which declared: The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Genesis 14:20b

Abram gave a tithe of the recovered goods to Melchizedek.

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. Hebrews 7:1-3

Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever…

Jesus being 100% human has a genealogy that proves He is the promised descendant of David who is the promised seed of Eve. Jesus had both a natural mother and a father. But also being in very nature, 100% God the Son, Jesus is eternal. The phrase translated as “like the Son of God” in the NIV is translated as “resembling the Son of God” in the English standard Version and “but made like unto the Son of God” in the King James. The inspired author was trying to communicate the idea that God intentionally presented Melchizedek as a type of Christ, who foreshadowed the Son of God who was to come. The purpose of the phrase was to emphasize the unique nature of Melchizedek’s priesthood; that it did not pass from one person to another as did that of the Aaronic priesthood.

And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:6

The Scripture states that Jesus is our eternal High Priest “in the order” of Melchizedek, not that Jesus was Melchizedek.

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”

But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share.” Genesis 14:21-24

Abram knew that his success and victory over the kings of Mesopotamia were from the LORD and not by his own hand. He refused to take the least thing from the king of Sodom. He wanted all the glory to go to the God of the Hebrews. Abram made a declaration to the king of Sodom that it was the LORD God who was the source of his wealth and success and not any man.

But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. Deuteronomy 8:18