Happy What??

The biblical festival of Purim has just ended.  I hope you had a happy Purim!

I recently asked several of my Christian friends if they knew what Purim was, and I received a universal no.  

Sigh.  Don't forget to study the first two-thirds of your Bible.  It is filled with treasures!

Before I elaborate on the celebration, I just want to point out something interesting from the scriptures.  

There are two books named after women in the Bible - Esther and Ruth.  Both are in the Hebrew scriptures.  One is a Jew who married a Gentile.  The other is a Gentile who married a Jew.  It's like God really intended for there to be One New Man together in Messiah!

So anyway, Purim is a biblical festival, and one of the minor (but fun!) holidays celebrated by the Jewish people today.  You can find it in the book of Esther.

Esther 3:7 tells us that Purim means "lots" in Hebrew.  Evil wicked Haman was irritated at Mordechai the Jew for not bowing down to him.  So in his rage, he threw some dice to determine when and how he should destroy all the Jews in the empire.  The lot finally fell to the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.  

So the following month, Haman went to the king (on the thirteenth of the first month) with his evil plan.  The king said, "well, ok, that sounds good to me."  (These ancient kings though... did they give much thought to what they made into laws??)  This nasty plot of Haman's was to be carried out eleven months later, in the twelfth month, on the thirteenth day.

Is this why the number 13 is unlucky?  Just wondering.

The story unfolds as Esther is called upon to go to the king her husband and intercede for her people.  I am not going to recount the entire story here.  You can go read it.

In the end, the Jews prevail.  They are not wiped out, and therefore the Messiah would still be born.  So you can see how the story of Esther affects you and me even today.

And just like Hanukkah, we have another They-Tried-To-Kill-Us-We-Won-Let's-Celebrate festival.  As followers of the Jewish Messiah, why shouldn't we celebrate it, too?  Are we not grafted in to the commonwealth of Israel and the household of faith?

Esther 9 summarizes the event and the future celebration of said event nicely:

But the Jews who were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day, as well as on the fourteenth; and on the fifteenth of the month they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore the Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and for sending presents to one another.

And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor. So the Jews accepted the custom which they had begun, as Mordecai had written to them, because Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to annihilate them, and had cast Pur (that is, the lot), to consume them and destroy them; but when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letter that this wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur. Therefore, because of all the words of this letter, what they had seen concerning this matter, and what had happened to them, the Jews established and imposed it upon themselves and their descendants and all who would join them, that without fail they should celebrate these two days every year, according to the written instructions and according to the prescribed time,  that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, that these days of Purim should not fail to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.

Today, Jews continue celebrating this event by sending gifts to the poor and to one another, and by dressing in fun costumes.  Oh, and drinking.  I am not sure why this came to be a thing, but in the Orthodox Jewish world, it is a time of sanctioned over-imbibing in alcohol.  Go figure.

Hamantaschen - meaning Haman's ears.  They are delicious!

Celebrations are filled with reading the Esther story, treats, wine, and noisemakers.

Purim is sometimes called the Jewish Halloween - but without the creepiness.

So next year, I want to have a costume party for Purim.  Who's in?

Jewish Roots Doctrines and the Two Sauls

I recently met with a friend of mine; a Jewish believer in Yeshua who runs a Messianic dance ministry.  She was telling me about the different groups within the Jewish Roots movement, and sadly she reported that they all hate each other.

Hate each other?  How is this possible when one of Yeshua's main commands was that we love one another?

And yet, we are still humans, running around in these human bodies in a world that still is corrupted.  And often we forget to die to self, as the word instructs us to do.

Anyway, my friend said that there are three main groups:  Messianic Jews, Hebraic Christians, and Hebrew Roots people.  (I knew there were differences within the Jewish Roots movement but did not know they were categorized like this).

Here is a website from a Hebraic Christian congregation that explains the difference between the first two groups:

https://www.myshalom.org/hebraic_christianity

The third group, Hebrew Roots people, can be a little harder to explain since there is such a wide range of doctrines within the group. 

One of the entities that falls into this third category is the Ephraimites.  These mostly Gentile Christians claim to be a part of the ten lost tribes of Israel, so therefore they actually ARE Israel.  This doctrine also shows up as British-Israelism, Two-House (or Whole-House) Theology, and Herbert Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God.  The doctrine is heavily based on Ezekiel's vision of the two sticks coming together in Ezekiel 37.

Also within the Hebrew Roots category are people who hold to the teaching that the Messiah's death did not complete the Moses Covenant, but instead renewed it, expanded it, and wrote it on the hearts of His true followers.  For the most part, those involved advocate the need for every believer to walk what they call a "Torah-observant life."  This means that the ordinances of the Mosaic Covenant must be a central focus in the lifestyle of believers today as it was with the Ancient Jews. 

Hmm. About a third of those ordinances are centered around temple sacrifice - an impossibility to keep today since there is no physical temple.  Didn't James say something about breaking one part of the law breaks the whole thing?  But I digress.

There are a couple people I know who adhere to this third group, and their Facebook posts are rather militant.  In fact, it was a post from one of these people that is the reason for today's post.

This person was elaborating on what she called the false teaching of the Apostle Paul.  She went as far as saying his "conversion" was actually from the Antichrist, and that all of his teachings are false and that his writings should be thrown out of the Bible.

The following is a paraphrase of her example:

King Saul (who was from the tribe of Benjamin) persecuted David and his followers.  The Apostle Paul (whose Hebrew name is also Saul, and he was also from the tribe of Benjamin) persecuted the followers of Yeshua.  Since the Hebrew scriptures are a foreshadow of Messiah, therefore because King Saul was influenced by the devil and met a tragic end, therefore Paul too was influenced by the devil and met with a tragic end.

What a dangerous way to look at the Bible!  This person clearly does not understand how biblical foreshadowing works.  Biblical foreshadows are prophetic snapshots of what is to come, not an exact detail-by-detail fulfillment.

Let me use a different account to make my point.

The LORD stopped Abraham from sacrificing his beloved son, Isaac.  However, the LORD did not stop the sacrifice of His beloved son, Yeshua.  Therefore, since the fulfillment was not exactly like the foreshadow, Yeshua could not be the Messiah.

Can you see the logical fallacy?

However, there definitely is a prophetic connection between the two Sauls, but I never saw it until I read that Facebook post.  

Consider this:

If King Saul the Benjamite (and his ultimate demise) is a prophetic picture of the glorious Sinai Covenant, which is written on stone tablets and ends in death, how much more is Rabbi Saul the Benjamite (and his ultimate redemption) a prophetic picture of the New Covenant, written by the Spirit on our hearts?

Rabbi Saul puts it like this in 2 Corinthians 3:

Our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 

But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

A story of two hills.  Which is greater?

Well.  No wonder many Hebrew Roots people take issue with the Apostle Paul.  His focus is on the glorious New Covenant and not on Moses and the Mount Sinai Covenant.

So back to the conversation I was having with my believing Jewish friend.  I asked her which of the three groups she identified with, and she said “None.  I am simply teaching people how to worship Yeshua the Jewish Messiah through dance.”  She went on to tell me that one group actually fired her for associating with those from another group.

Agghhh!

I cannot imagine that this is what the Messiah had in mind when He commanded us to love one another or when He prayed that we would be unified.

I love studying the Jewish Roots of my faith because of the richness of understanding that it brings to my faith.  But I cannot say that I fully identify with any of these Jewish Roots groups.  The congregation I attend is part of a Christian denomination, and although I am a member, I do not profess any allegiance to the denomination.

My allegiance is to the crucified and risen Redeemer – Messiah Yeshua – and to His holy Word and to His Holy Spirit dwelling within me.  

And as far as Torah observance goes, the Hebrew word Torah simply means instruction.  I believe all scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, is our instruction - our Torah, and it must be understood as a whole, complete set of instructions.  So yes, this makes me Torah observant.

Genesis Post 70 - Summary of the Joseph Parallels to Yeshua

I have written several times about the different parallels between Joseph the suffering servant and Yeshua our Suffering Servant.  The purpose of this post is to simply summarize them so that I have them all in one place.  I have heard it said that there are about 100 parallels between the two, and I have only discovered about 40.  So if I discover more, I will come back to this post and add them.

• Both are the beloved sons of their Fathers.
• Both are sent by their Fathers for a special purpose to their brethren.
• Both are given special robes, or mantles.
• Both were willing to be their father's servant.
• Both travel all over the country seeking their brothers.
• Both make bold, audacious claims that their brethren don't like.
• Both expose evil and wrongdoing.
• Both are sent to find their lost brothers.
• Both are shepherds of their Fathers’ sheep.
• Both are promised a remarkable future.
• Both suffer because they are hated and rejected by their brethren.
• Both are turned over to foreigners
• Both are betrayed for silver by a brother named Judah.
• Both have brothers who argue over what to do with him
• Both are stripped of their robes.
• Both are taken to Egypt.
• Both are subject to a plot to kill them.
• Both are left in the ground for three days
• Both are conspired against and falsely accused.
• Both remain silent in the face of their accusers.
• Both suffer although they are righteous.
• Both are tempted.
• Both wash the feet of their brethren.
• Both give warning of troubles to come
• Both bring bread of life to starving people.
• Both save the nations for 2(000) years while being unknown to their brethren.
• Substitutionary blood is shed in both cases.
• Both have stories made up about their deaths.
• Both have fathers who mourn in deep agony
• Both were buried in the land of Israel
• Both forgive those who wronged them.
• The wrongs that men do to both, God uses for good.
• Both are placed with two prisoners, one who was saved and the other who was not.
• Both are elevated to a place of high authority.
• Joseph is adorned with gold and fine linen, symbols of kingship and priesthood. Yeshua is our king and high priest.
• Both are placed in a terrible place but God did not leave them there (the dungeon, the grave)
• Both have every knee bowed to them
• Both claim they are there to save their brethren, not judge them.
• Both have Gentile brides
• Both have offspring who are adopted by their Fathers
• Both weep when highly moved.
• Both have brethren who vowed never to bow down to them. (Most Jewish people today want nothing to do with Yeshua)
• Both bless their brothers abundantly even though they don’t know who is doing it.
• Both appear as a foreigner so that their brethren would not recognize them.
• Both weep over their brethren who don't know them.
• Both bring salvation to their brethren, Israel.
• Both are moved by the repentant hearts of their brothers.
• Both reveal themselves to their brothers privately.
• Both have brothers who weep in sorrow and fear as they recognize them.

Genesis Post 69 - Jacob and Joseph Laid to Rest (Chapter 50)

The final chapter of Genesis finds Joseph weeping over his father who has just passed away. He arranges for a grand Egyptian brouhaha which includes an embalming process and 70 days of mourning.

This was a big honor, as Egyptian royalty were mourned for 72 days.

This is probably the most elaborate funeral depiction in all of Scripture. The first twelve verses are dedicated to its description. Jacob is the last of the patriarchs, the last link to the ancient world. His grandfather hung around with the sons of Noah. Scripture often reminds us that we serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

When the mourning is over, Joseph appeals to Pharaoh to request a trip to Hebron to bury his father, promising to return.  Did he think Pharaoh would doubt his return?

Of course you must go, says Pharaoh.

A huge number of people head to Jacob's burial in verses 7-9, including Joseph's entire household, the brothers, chariots, horsemen, and a huge list of who's who in Egyptian gentry.  The only ones left behind were the little ones and the flocks (and I assume servants or nursemaids to care for them).

Jacob's funeral

Now Joseph’s brothers are a little nervous. They think that now that Jacob is dead, Joseph will hate them and punish them for the evil that they did. They have no problem admitting that it was evil.They put it on their dead father, and they were probably telling a fib here. He told us to tell you this.

How does Joseph react? He cries. Guys, don’t you really believe that I actually have forgiven you??

One thing I have noticed about the whole story of Joseph is that he is never once portrayed as unrighteous. 

Here we have another prophetic picture of Yeshua, in that Yeshua had no sin. I’m not saying Joseph had no sin, but it is never portrayed in this account of his life. The closest he comes is when he brags to his brothers about his dreams. But even that is a picture of Yeshua… Making bold, audacious claims that irritated his brothers, even though the claims were true.

So Joseph reassures his brothers that they were safe, and he says to them, am I God? In this way he is telling his brothers he is in no place to judge. And in fact Jesus did not come to judge the world and his first coming but to save it. He will judge the world at his second coming. See John 3:17.

Joseph tells his brothers, yep, what you did was evil, but God meant it for good. He does not sugar coat the sin of his brothers; he tells one truth, but then he tells an even greater truth. 

In the case of Yeshua, the Jewish leaders meant his death for evil.  But of course, God meant it for good because it was the instrument that would save the whole world.

Joseph then speaks kindly to his brothers and assures them that he would take care of care of them and their little ones. And he does. He does not just tell them his love, he showed them his love by his actions. In the same way, our Messiah takes care of us.

Then we see that Joseph lives for exactly 110 years, which is the Egyptian ideal. He was blessed to see three generations of his descendants live. The chapter wraps up with Joseph’s death.

The funeral of Joseph is very short and sweet, at least what is recorded of it in the final three verses of Genesis. It is nothing like Jacob’s.  Could this be another parallel to Yeshua, whose time in the grave was so short?

Genesis ends with the promise of the land. Joseph knows he does not want his bones left in a strange land, but desires to be buried in the land of is forefathers - the land that God promised Abraham as an everlasting promise.

Thus ends the magnificent and foundational book of Genesis.  Here is a quick recap:

The first eleven chapters give us details on the creation of the world, the nephilim, the flood, the Tower of Babel, and the early nations.

Beginning in verse 12 and for the remainder of the book, the focus narrows greatly to the formation of the nation of Israel, beginning with faithful Abraham.

Peppered throughout the book is God’s repeated promise of the land (Israel), the Seed (the Messiah), and the blessing (salvation to the whole world). Such a foundational truth that has great implications for us even today.

I will end this series with my favorite piece of artwork, painted by a messianic believer in the land of Israel.

             

Genesis Post 68 - The Sons are Blessed (Chapter 49)

Now that Jacob has blessed the sons of Joseph, we are going to see the covenant blessings passed on to the rest of his sons.  What we will see here are not so much blessings, but prophecies given to each tribe.

The chapter starts out with this:
And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
 “Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,
And listen to Israel your father.

Jacob refers to himself using both of his names, thus identifying his sons with both names as well.

Jacob blesses his sons

• First, Reuben.

“Reuben, you are my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled it—
He went up to my couch.

Jacob never said much back when Reuben took Bilhah back in chapter 35.  But he never forgot it.  Reuben probably already knew he had lost the coveted position of firstborn.  Usually the firstborn was the spiritual and social leader of the clan, but because Reuben was so unstable, prideful, and immoral, he forfeited the right.  

The tribe of Reuben never does excel.  No prophet, judge, or king will come from this tribe.  He is an example of how the first can be last.

• Next up are Simeon and Levi. They paired up in Shechem over the Dinah incident, and Jacob pairs them up now.

“Simeon and Levi are brothers;
Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
Let not my soul enter their council;
Let not my honor be united to their assembly;
For in their anger they slew a man,
And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
And their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
And scatter them in Israel.

Just as in the case of Reuben, Jacob didn't say much when the Shechem events took place.  But obviously he never forgot.

The anger of these two sons is cursed.  Their anger was sin because it was rooted in self-will.  Anger itself is not sin; there is such a thing as righteous anger.  Ephesians 4:26 tells us not to sin in our anger.  Perhaps the difference is self-will versus God's will.

It is interesting that both tribes are promised to be scattered and divided.  However, the scattering turns out to be a curse for the tribe of Simeon and a blessing for the tribe of Levi.  Simeon will start out from Egypt as the third-largest tribe, but will dwindle to become the smallest tribe during the time in the wilderness.  Levi, on the other hand, will become a blessing in their scattering when they are given the office of the priesthood and are placed throughout the land.

• Next, Judah. This one is a doozy - one of the longest of all the prophecies. 

“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
Judah is a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.

I wonder if Judah was nervous after hearing the oracles for his older brothers.  After all, he had the episode with Tamar, and he was the one who suggested selling his own brother.  His character certainly wasn't whiter than milk.

The blessing of Judah (which means praise) is an example o the richness of God's grace.  To his tribe is given the position of rulership.  From Judah would come the eventual kings of Israel and ultimately the Ultimate King - Messiah Yeshua.  In Revelation 5:5, Yeshua is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Lion of Judah

Regarding the term until shiloh comes - this is not the same spelling as the city of Shiloh where the tabernacle would stand.  This shiloh means He whose right it is, and is a title that the ancient sages understood to speak of the Messiah.  In other words, Judah just opened the candy bar with the golden ticket in it, as far as being the one from whom the Redeemer would come.

It is interesting to note that the scepter departed from Judah in about 7 AD, when Israel lost the  small remainder of their self-rule and the right to administer capital punishment.  It was right around the time that a young Bar Mitzvah-aged boy named Yeshua was teaching in the temple at Passover. 

If Israel had retained its right of captital punishment, Yeshua would have been stoned for blasphemy instead of by the Roman method of execution - crucifixion.

The remainder of Judah's prophecy includes references to a donkey's colt, a vine, wine, blood, and milky whiteness.  It is easy to see Messianic foreshadows in these terms... He who will ride on a donkey's colt, whose blood will cleanse us and make us pure and white.

• Next up:  Zebulun.  Jacob now moves around in the birth order, but keeps his focus on Leah's boys.  

“Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea;
He shall become a haven for ships,
And his border shall adjoin Sidon.

Zebulun becomes a faithful tribe, supplying the largest number of soldiers to David's army of any tribe.  The tribe eventually settles on the piece of land between the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee.  Zebulun actually faced two seas.

• Issachar, the older brother of Zebulun and son of Leah, is next.

“Issachar is a strong donkey,
Lying down between two burdens;
He saw that rest was good,
And that the land was pleasant;
He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden,
And became a band of slaves.

Issachar becomes a large tribe, and because of their size, abundance, and possibly laziness, they will often be targets of oppressive foreign armies.  They do eventually become a band of slaves when the northern kingdom falls.

• Dan is next in line, the first son of Rachel's maid Bilhah.

“Dan shall judge his people
As one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent by the way,
A viper by the path,
That bites the horse’s heels
So that its rider shall fall backward.
I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!

Dan means judge, and his prophecy is that he shall judge his people.  From the tribe of Dan will come one of the most prominent judges:  Samson.  

Dan becomes a troublesome tribe, a serpent by the way, introducing idolatry into Israel.  Jeroboam sets up one of his golden calves in the land of Dan.  The tribe eventually moves to the very north of Israel, where they will become a center of idol worship.

Dan is left out of the listing of tribes in the book of Revelation, but is the first tribe listed in Ezekiel's millenial roll call of the tribes in Eekiel 48.  What a remarkable sign of God's grace and mercy.

Jacob wraps up the prophecy to Dan by calling out for the LORD's salvation - Yeshua!  Is this part of the prophecy, or does Jacob simply feel the need to call upon the LORD at this moment?  Is he calling out for the Messiah? 

• Gad is next.  He is the firstborn of Zilpah, Leah's maid.  

“Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him,
But he shall triumph at last.

His prophecy is short and sweet.  His prophecy is a play on words, as Gad means troop. His tribe will supply many fine troops for David.  And in the days of Jeremiah, Gad would be oppressed by foreign armies.  Indeed, Gad's very birth was a result of war between Leah and Rachel.

• Now, Asher.  He is Gad's little brother by Zilpah.

“Bread from Asher shall be rich,
And he shall yield royal dainties.

Asher's tribe would eventually settle in land that was rich, providing both necessities and luxuries.  Moses took up this prophecy of Asher in Deuteronomy 33:24, when he said Asher is most blessed of sons; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil.  A famous woman of the tribe of Asher is Anna (Hannah) the Prophetess, who will get to see baby Yeshua at the temple at his dedication.

• The next prophecy goes to Naphtali, the son of Rachel's maid Zilpah and baby brother to Dan.  Again, short and sweet.

Naphtali is a deer let loose;
He uses beautiful words.

Naphtali's land, along with Zebulun, was in a key area near the Sea of Galilee, the region where Yeshua did much of his teaching and ministry.  Matthew 4:13-16 mentions this and quotes from Isaiah 9...
And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles: 

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death
Light has dawned.”

Beautiful words indeed.

• Now Joseph.   His blessing is even longer than Judah's.  And why not?  Dad always liked him best.

“Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
The archers have bitterly grieved him,
Shot at him and hated him.
But his bow remained in strength,
And the arms of his hands were made strong
By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob
(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the Almighty who will bless you
With blessings of heaven above,
Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,
Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
The blessings of your father
Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors,
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

This begins with a description of Joseph's life and a personal blessing concerning his descendants.  Though he was "shot at" and hated, he remains a fruitful bough, because the hands of God were upon him.  Joseph's tribes were some of the most populous.  Remember, his boys had already been blessed in chapter 48.  In the blessing of Joseph, Jacob mentions five great titles of God:  Mighty God of Jacob, The Shepherd, The Stone of Israel, The God of your Father, and the Almighty.  Jacob knows his God!

• Finally, baby Benjamin, Rachel's second son and the one to whom she gave birth as she died.

“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
In the morning he shall devour the prey,
And at night he shall divide the spoil.”

Benjamin's tribe will prove to be a fierce tribe.  Several important Benjamites come to mind:  Ehud, who killed fat king Eglon of Moab in Judges 3, King Saul who persecuted David, and the Apostle Paul who persecuted believers before he became one himself.  There is also a wild and crazy story about the tribe of Benjamin in Judges 19 and 20.  You can read it when you have a chance.

This completes the blessings of Jacob over his sons.  Verse 28 says,
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.

The chapter ends with the death of Jacob, but not before he reminds his sons to bury him in the cave of Machpelah in Hebron, the place that his grandfather had purchased from Ephron the Hittite - the place where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah are buried.  This is where we actually find out that Leah and Rebekah have died, as their deaths were not mentioned before this.  Jacob is quite specific with this last wish - the only thing missing is the zip code.

The chapter ends with this:
And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people (an alliteration for he died, as his ancestors also died.) He is 147 years old at the time of his death.

Click here to continue to the next post.

Genesis Post 67 - Joseph's Boys Blessed (Chapter 48)

Chapter 48 opens with Joseph receiving a report that Jacob is ill.  This is the first place in scripture where illness is mentioned.  Joseph hurries to see Jacob, bringing with him his two Egyptian-born sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

When Jacob sees them coming, he, Israel, strengthens himself and sits up in bed.  The first thing he does is repeats the Abrahamic Covenant to Joseph and his sons in verses 3 and 4:

Then Jacob said to Joseph: “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’ 

God Almighty - El Shaddai - shows up once again in the context of fruitfulness and multiplication.

Next Jacob does something astounding.  Look at verse 5:
And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

Jacob is adopting Joseph's boys as his own.  He is giving them the rights of full sonship. In this way, Jacob is giving the firstborn's double portion to Joseph.

Jacob's adoption of Joseph's sons explains why scripture lists the 12 tribes of Jacob in different combinations.  Because of this adoption, there are actually 13 sons of Israel - a baker's dozen, so to speak - when Joseph was split into two tribes.  Thus the tribes can be arranged in different ways and still remain 12 tribes.

In fact, Revelation 7 includes Joseph and Manasseh, but does not mention Dan and Ephraim. Both of those tribes eventually have a major problem with idolatry, which could be why they don't get a shout-out in Revelation.  But did God wipe the earth clean of those tribes?  I think not.  I believe they are included in God's ultimate promise of every tribe, tongue, language, and nation worshiping before the throne.

The number 12 is often associated with government or administration in God's eyes.  There are 12 tribes, 12 apostles, 12 princes of Ishmael, 12 stones on the high priest's breastplate, 12 loaves of showbread, 12 each of silver platters, silver bowls, and gold pans for service at the tabernacle, 12 spies to search out the land, 12 heavenly gates, 12 months in a year, 12 numbers on a clock, 12 fruits on the tree of life ... and many more.  I think you get the picture.  Twelve is a special number to God.

In the next section, Jacob blesses the two sons that he has just adopted.  And in keeping with a biblical theme that we have seen time and time again, Jacob places his favored right hand on the second-born, despite Joseph's efforts to correct him.  Ephraim, meaning fruitfulness, gets the blessing usually reserved for the elder.

With Jacob's hands in place, he utters the following blessing in verses 15 and 16:
“God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil,
Bless the lads;
Let my name be named upon them,
And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

When Joseph tries to correct Jacob, Jacob refuses the correction, knowing full well what he is doing:
But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”

Is Jacob thinking of his own life so many years before, when he as the younger received the firstborn blessing from Isaac?

This blessing was fulfilled in Israel's history.  Both tribes were blessed, but Ephraim was greater as a tribe, even to the point where the name Ephraim was used to refer to the whole northern nation of Israel.  

There is a movement today among Gentiles who call themselves Ephraimites, believing that today's believers are literally the lost tribes of Ephraim.  I don't subscribe to this view, as I see it as just another version of Replacement Theology.  Again, there is God's promise of every tribe, tongue, nation, and language, and not just Israel's lost tribes... see Revelation 5:9 and 7:9.

Jacob is demonstrating the sovereignty of God through his adoption of and subsequent blessing of Manasseh and Ephraim.

And our God demonstrates His sovereignty by adopting and blessing us.  In Ephesians 1, Paul's greeting includes this:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,  having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

Even the choosing of Israel as a people is due to the sovereignty of God.  Ezekiel 16 tells us that the LORD says to Jerusalem, “Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 

Ezekiel 16 goes on to describe the harlotry of Jerusalem (it isn't pretty) but then her ultimate redemption because of God's everlasting covenant.

God is completely and totally sovereign.  He is in charge.  Call me a Calvinist if you must.  I also believe in the free will of man, so call me an Arminian. I believe that both are valid; it is a matter of viewpoint - ours versus God's.  We are free to choose, but God knows the entire story.

The chapter ends with this promise:
Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.

Always the land.  It is inseparable from the covenant.  It matters even today, and perhaps especially today.

The Promised Land

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Genesis Post 66 - Taxation, Stewardship, and Jacob's Last Request (Chapter 47)

Chapter 47 opens with Joseph speaking to Pharaoh, telling him that his family members are here now and are hanging out down in Goshen.

Joseph then chooses five of his brothers to go up to Pharaoh.  Why five?  And which five?  I wish I could tell you!  It is interesting to note that in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16, the rich man mentions his five brothers.  I wonder if there is a connection somehow.

Just like Joseph had reckoned, Pharaoh's first question to these five guys is, what is your occupation?  In verse 4, the brothers answer Pharaoh just as Joseph had coached them:

And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for all their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

The Hebrews were shepherds by trade

What does Pharaoh do?  Check it out:

Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”

Pharaoh didn't just give the best land to the Israelites, he also made them into rulers, putting them in charge of his own royal livestock.

Now Jacob gets to go before Pharaoh, and what does he do?  He blesses Pharaoh!  (It is good and biblical to bless our leaders!) 

Jacob blesses Pharaoh

Pharaoh then asks a politically incorrect question:  how old are you?  What? Good thing Jacob isn't a woman!

Here is Jacob's response to Pharaoh:
And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” 

Interesting:  Jacob sees his life as a pilgrimage.  Just passing through.  We would do well to grasp this.  Our testing ground here on earth is brief before we stand before our creator and give an account of our lives.  Whether we are given 10 years or 90 years, our lives are a breath in the scope of eternity.

To the Egyptians, the ideal age to attain in life was 110 years.  Perhaps Jacob knows this and is giving a subtle jibe to Pharaoh - the leader of a people who are obsessed with gods, death, and the pagan afterworld - when he gives his age as a brief 130 years; not nearly the ages allotted to his father and grandfather (who served the LORD of life, not death).

As the chapter continues, the Israelites settle down in the land they had been given, Goshen, and Joseph provides all of their daily bread.

Beginning in verse 13 however, Joseph deals very differently with the Egyptians.  While the Israelites are given land and bread for sustenance, the Egyptians purchase grain from their government until their money runs out.  Once the money runs out, Joseph allows them to exchange their livestock for grain.  And when the livestock is depleted, Joseph then allows the Egyptians to exchange their land for grain, except for the priests who get to keep their land and are still given bread.

Joseph makes Pharaoh the owner of literally everything... except for the land of the priests. We have sort of a reverse separation of church and state here - the clergy is taken care of in Egypt.  Perhaps Reformation Europe got its ideas of state-supported religion here.  Today, the countries of Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Austria and Iceland still collect taxes and pay state-recognized churches.

Joseph then demonstrates his shrewd business acumen and sets up a system of taxation for the people starting in verse 23:

Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.  And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”
 

So they said, “You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”

Notice, Joseph first gives grain to the Egyptians.  Then he asks for twenty percent of it back, which is actually a pretty modest rate of taxation.  The Egyptians become stewards of Pharaoh's property, and they are grateful that Pharaoh has saved their lives.  Because of this, they commit their lives to him as servants.

The regular people of Egypt go from equity owners to tenant farmers under Joseph.  Is this a picture of our God who owns everything, but allows us to work for Him as stewards?   Of dedicating our lives to the God who rescues and saves us?

Chapter 47 ends with this:
So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.   

(See how they thrived?)

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

Jacob's final request is that he not be buried in Egypt.  Why?

Jacob places his hope on the covenant promise of God, which includes the promise of the land.  His desire to be buried with his ancestors demonstrates Jacob's belief in a future resurrection.

The oath that Jacob requests from his son is sealed with Joseph's hand under his thigh, which really means the loins, or the seat of procreative power - the proximity in which that covenant sign of circumcision takes place. 

After Joseph confirms this oath to his father, Jacob prepares to die. 

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