“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel. (Matt. 28:19)
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)
God is going to plague Pharaoh's house to cause a release of those held in bondage. As you see these people going through difficult times, pray. But don't pity Pharaoh's house! These trials are a necessary part of the process, and God will bring salvation through Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ. Yeshua will shine unto the lost and storm tossed as a beacon in the storm! He is the "Light of the World." It's a generation, like some of the past, where there will be a tremendous spirit of self sacrifice shown. In a vision, I saw fathers putting their daughters in an ark of safety, to protect them, and saying goodbye, knowing that some of them will never see them again in this life. But because of their faith in Yeshua ha Mashiach/Jesus Christ as Saviour, there will be a joyful reunion in heaven.
(Acts 2:38-39, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:46-48, Acts 19:5)
AMRAM'S FAITH IN GOD & LOVE FOR FAMILY
It was a famine in the land which precipated the family of Jacob going down to Egypt in the first place. But they'd not gone without a word from the Lord, who said in Genesis 46:3, 4, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.”
The Hebrew colony in Egypt flourished for a time. In time, persecution arose and increased in it's severity. The Egyptian government began to control every aspect of daily life, from work to worship. The freedom to bear and rear children to the glory of God became dominated by the threat of infanticide. The Lord raised up Hebrew midwives that spared the lives of infants sentenced to death. When even the act of worship became dominated by governmental control, God raised up Moses and Aaron to say: "Let My people go that they may worship me.
God did not demand that His people remain in this foreign land under such extreme suffering. He willed to advance and to prosper His people through relocation. This move of the entire Hebrew nation would not be without conflict. But it would be with a renewed vision. When an evil empire raised it's hand against the people of God, even to destroy the very lineage of the holy priesthood itself, God's eyes were over the righteous and his ear attentive to their cry! To set apart a deliverer named Moses, God first raised up Amram and his wife Jochebed to save an infant boy. The name Amram may be seen as a compilation of two elements. The first part is the common Hebrew word (am 1640a) means a people. The second part comes from the Hebrew word (rum 2133) meaning to be high, rise up. Amram, son of Kohath, and grandson of Levi, married his aunt, Jochebed (Yah is glory) who was his father Kohath's sister; (a descendant of Levi, born among the Levites in the land of Egypt, she was Kohath's sister, and sister of Gershon, Kohath and Merari. (Exodus 6:16). The name Jochebed is a combination of two elements: The first part is , which is the commonly accepted abbreviated form of , which is YHWH, the Name of the Lord. This very short abbreviation of YHWH also occurs in the names Joab and Jonathan.
The second part comes from the word (kabed 943) meaning heavy, honorable, glorious. The basic meaning of kabed 943) is to be heavy, weighty. But the use as `weighty' in society, and thus honorable, finds its extreme in the translation `glorious'. Jochebed was born in Egypt (Num. xxvi. 59). Because her husband Amram is a son of Kohath, their children are both grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Levi.) She must have been born late in her own father's life, so was closer to Amram's age, which is believed to have been about 75 years at the time of Moses birth.
By faith, Amram authorized his wife to take serious measures to save their baby from being killed. This thing was so serious, that not only the infant's life was in danger, but if God didn't intervene, his wife and daughter could also be harmed by the injunction of the Egyptian pharoah. Amram and Jochebed already had a daughter, Miriam (about 14 years old), and a son, Aaron (3 years old). In spite of the fact that they lived in perilous times, this third child was no less precious to them. They wanted desperately to protect him. For three months they hid the baby boy but, after a time, Jochebed and Amram knew they had to do pray for God's guidance for a more permanent placement for their child. Amram died in Egypt at the age of 137 years (Ex. 6:20).
They wove a basket with a lid from papyrus reeds, and covered it with tar and a sticky substance called pitch to make it waterproof. Then they placed their tiny son in the basket and hid it amoung the tall reeds along the edge of the Nile River. Big sister Miriam had the job of standing at a distance to watch over the basket and try to make sure that nothing bad happened to her baby brother. There are girls and women today, whose very lives are imperiled. God sees these needs. He is a place of refuge, to those who place their trust in Him.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. You have multiplied the nation And increased its joy; They rejoice before You According to the joy of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. (Isaiah 9:2-3)
Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. (Isaiah 60:1-3)
It was prophesied by Joel (Joel 2:28-29) and Isaiah (Isaiah 28:11), foretold by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:11), purchased by the blood of Jesus, and promised by Him to His disciples (John 14:26; 15:16). The Holy Ghost was first poured out on the Day of Pentecost upon the Jews (Acts 2:1-4), then upon the Samaritans (Acts 8:17), and later upon the Gentiles (Acts 10:44-46; 19:6). "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. The promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39).
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. (Genesis 1:1-5)
Through the words of the song "Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai," I was given a revelation along with a vision. In meditating upon the words as I worshipped the Lord, God spoke to my heart and I immersed myself in Genesis 1:1 and the truth of it, pondering the fact that God's holy name was revealed first of all, before anything else. As I danced before the Lord, worshipping Him, He gave me a vision of the nations in chaos and distress, in wars, turmoil and great suffering.
Then I saw the revelation of Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) go forth. God's holy name went forth as wind and fire. The Earth lay waste and in desolation. Then the glorious light of God's voice--His word penetrated the very midst of the gross darkness which was upon the peoples. I was impacted by the truth of God's love shown in the Lord hovering over the troubled waters or afflictions even in His own covenant peoples lives, to bring forth that which His own will desires. He literally broods over the dark waters of the peoples, kindreds, tongues and nations. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."
God deals with people on an individual basis, as is clearly observed in scripture where He is seen as Creator in the covenants that He enters into with individuals, as well as the way in which He watches over His word to perform that which He has promised.
Before all else God gave the revelation of His holy name as Elohim! Genesis 1:1 reads: In the beginning (bereshith) GOD (Elohom-El-o-heem) created the heavens and the earth. The root of the first word Bereishit בראשית is ראש "head"—being the central core word (ראש can be pronounced as rosh which is the Hebrew for "head"). Furthermore, the first letter ב means "in" or "at", and the last letters ית imply "of". The use of the word "head" implies something "at the top", as in "head" of something. In this case it is the "head" or "start" of Creation, which is possibly where the idea to translate it as "in the beginning" originates.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Ruach haKodesh (The Holy Spirit of God) moved upon the face of the deep. (Genesis 1:2) The Hebrew word for God here is in a grammatical agreement with the singular verb "bara" meaning "created." Tohu wa bohu (#1433;#1433; #1428;) is a biblical Hebrew phrase found in Genesis 1:2. It is usually translated "formless and empty," or some variation of the same, and describes the condition of the earth before God said, "Let there be light." The Almighty spoke and created "light" in the very midst of the dark chaos. There had been an absence of light. Darkness dominated, but the Almighty was establishing a new dominion. The very command for "light to be" caused a dividing assunder of the darkness which had previously prevailed. God divided the light from the darkness. Precise translation of the phrase is difficult, as only the first word, "tohu," appears to have any independent meaning. "Tohu," is used 20 times in the hebrew bible, and is used to mean "vain" or "waste." "Bohu" appears only three times in the hebrew bible, always together with "tohu," and always quoting the Genesis verse. The phrase describing the way in which God moved upon the face of the deep," depicts a bird hovering over her young.
The term Elohim is used in plural when speaking of pagan deities or angels. But in identifying Himself as Creator, the name is used with the singular verb to make no mistake about the fact that God is one and that His holy name as Creator is set apart from every lesser created thing.
A COVERING FOR THE ENDANGERED PROPHET'S WIFE
Before even time began...
Genesis 20:1-18
The greatest love that a man can show for others, including his own wife and family members, is to be willing to lay down his own life for their sakes if need be, not to maintain a position of safety for himself at their expense. However, even men who love God very much and live their lives in devotion to Him, can at times make decisions which may imperil themselves or those that they love. When life necessitates an individual or family moving to a new location or staying in another place such as with relatives for a season, it is also crucial that they do so with great discernment. What will it cost them has far more to do with, than the rent money. There are influences that can negatively change a person or a family forever. And that they behave in such a manner as to be a credible witness. Take the necessarily time to know God's will for you.
THE HUMAN SHIELD MENTALITY
"After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." (Genesis 15:1)
People expect those in positions of leadership, who are sworn to protect those in their care to behave in a way that reflects honor and valor. So the following news article must have come as a bit of a surprise to the general public in the USSR: The Moscow Times carried the following report on March 11, 2010: The Investigative Committee's Moscow branch opened a criminal investigation Wednesday into allegations that traffic police stopped several cars to form a "human shield" across a road as they attempted to detain a petty thief.
God recognized this natural human tendency to desire to preserve ones own life, or to fall into the bondage of the fear of the unknown in the following narrative: The Lord God stated emphatically to Abraham "I AM" your shield! God alone would be his protector! However the scriptures record a misrepresentation made by Abraham concerning his relationship to his wife Sarah, in which Sarah was used as "the shield" to make Abraham feel safe. In Gen 12, through the misrepresentation of the Patriarch's true and full relationship to the future mother of "the Seed," Sarah was immediately taken into Pharaoh's harem.
Abram's father moved the family from Ur in Babylonia to Harran in southern Turkey. It was here that God called Abraham and he responded in obedience. When God called Abram to give him a land which the Lord would give him, they left the prosperous city in which they lived, and Sarai became a nomad with Abram, living in tents, always an alien in strange cultures. She was an extremely beautiful woman, so beautiful that her husband seemed to feel insecure. Due to the fear stemming from Sarai's beauty, Abram entered into a self protective deception when occupants of the country in which they sojourned, showed an interest in this new woman visitor. Abram's description of his relationship to Sarai, put distance between he and his wife which endangered his wife's health and safety. In our day, there are forms of "distancing" that couples do in marriage which do not always stem from fear, but some do.
THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC & THE CODE OF HONOR
In Victorian times, men espoused the biblical injunction to view women as the "weaker Vessel," and tended to be protective toward women and children. "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [them] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered." (I Peter 3:7) To purposely neglect the health and or safety of another can even display the utmost comtempt for an individual. In James 1:27, we are shown the following concerning God's own care of woman, as the weaker vessel, and those endangered and in desperate need: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world." While honor toward the weaker vessel, is certainly a scriptural criteria, "righteousness and righteous behaviour" is high on God's list, as Captin of the Host, and Protector of His covenant people. In scripture, we see women taking on a protective role, where righteous men are concerned, such as in the case of Abigail toward David, even when she had to oppose her own selfish husband to show her future husband and king, hospitality at a time when he was in desperate need. (1 Samuel 25:1-3) "There was a man in Maon, whose property was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel. Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was clever and beautiful, but the man was surly and mean; he was a Calebite." But Nabal answered David's servants, 'Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are breaking away from their masters. Shall I take my bread and my water and the meat that I have butchered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where? In the judgment of Jezebel, we see that God opposed her "unrighteous" behaviour, and she died as the result of failing to honor God and his word in the mouthes of His holy prophets.
Yet the concept of "honor being shown" in the stronger protecting the weaker" is definately a notable characteristic demonstrated by the men in the legendary story of the sinking of the Titanic, which is replete with the testimonies of the brave men who insisted that the women and children have first access to the limited number of lifeboats which were available.
In 1912, "women and children first" was a rule men followed because doing this was a social imperitive. An heroic father perished on the Titanic while his wife and children sang songs to drown out the screams of drowning passengers, it has been revealed.
One of the wealthiest multimillionaire bankers on the ship, Benjamin Guggenheim, worked tirelessly to help the ladies onto the lifeboats, then sent a last message to his wife: "Tell my wife I've done my best in doing my duty." A woman survivor stated that she saw one woman clinging to her husbands neck and crying to the sailors to save him. Instead of doing this the sailor drew a revolver and pressing it to the man's head shot him to death. Several sailors then picked up the body, tossed in into the ocean and threw the woman into a lifeboat. Although the officer in charge of the lifeboat was willing to allow the elderly Isador Straus and wife to board the lifeboat, Straus refused to go so as long as there were women still remaining on the ship. Isidor Straus urged his wife toward the boat. She was insisting on remaining with him, as some wives chose to do. New archives reveal how brave Arthur West helped wife Ada and daughters Constance and Barbara onto a lifeboat before dashing back to their cabin to grab a flask of hot milk for them. When he returned the boat was being lowered into the sea so he shimmied down a rope and handed them the thermos flask before climbing back on board the doomed liner.
In doing so he passed up the chance to join them and instead watched as two foreign men sneaked on board and hid under the skirts of women passengers.
There were however, several men who allegedly survived the disaster, by disguising themselves as women. These were William William T Sloper, J Bruce Ismay, managing director of the White Star Line which owned and operated the Titanic, William Carter and Dickinson Bishop. The New York Times identified Sloper as "The man who got off in women's clothing." Some claim that Dickinson accidently fell into the lifeboat that his wife was in. Rumors involving William Carter's dressing as a woman, may have been fueled by an incident concerning his 10 year old son Billy Jr. This began when John Jacob Astor was denied permission to accompany his pregnant wife on boat 4 and then saw a 13 year old boy almost turned away as well. Ismay stepped into a lifeboat filled slightly under capacity, so he took no ones place.
John Jacob Astor's first wife was Ava Lowle Willing. The couple had two children - William Vincent Astor, born in 1891 and Ava Alice Muriel Astor, born in 1902 - before their divorce in 1909. Ava Astor reportedly had an affair during their marriage which resulted in the birth of daughter Ava. At the age of 47, the divorced John Jacob Astor married an 18-year-old woman named Madeleine Talmage Force on September 9, 1911 in his mother's ballroom at Beechwood, the family's Newport, Rhode Island home. Madeleine was a year younger than Colonel Astor's son Vincent. The couple took an extended honeymoon in Europe and Egypt to wait for the scandalous gossip to calm down. Among the few Americans of the socialite class who did not spurn him at this time was Margaret Brown, later fictionalized as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". She accompanied the Astors to Egypt and France and, by coincidence, was called home to the U.S. at the same time the Astors also found it necessary to abbreviate their touring.
While traveling John Jacob Astor's wife Madeleine Astor became pregnant, and wanting the child born in the United States, the Astors boarded the RMS Titanic as first-class passengers in Cherbourg, France together with Colonel Astor's valet Victor Robbins, Madeleine's maid Rosalie Bidois and nurse Caroline Louise Endres. They also took their pet Airedale named Kitty. Astor was the wealthiest passenger on board the Titanic.
A short while after the initial crash, Colonel Astor remarked to his wife that the ship had hit an iceberg. He reassured her that the damage did not appear serious.
Later, the Astors sat on the mechanical horses in the gymnasium. They wore their lifebelts but Colonel Astor had found another and cut the lining with a pen knife to show his skeptical wife what it was made of (it was presumed Madeleine was wary of the fragile lifebelts). When Second Officer Charles Lightoller arrived on A deck to finish loading Lifeboat 4, Astor helped his wife with her maid and nurse to board lifeboat 4 and then asked if he might join her because she was in 'a delicate condition'. Lightoller told him that men are not allowed to enter until all the women had been loaded. Astor stood back and just asked Lightoller which boat it was. After boat 4 was lowered at 1:55, Colonel Astor stood alone while others tried to free the remaining collapsible boats.
Astor was seen on the starboard wing bridge. But his whereabouts after that are unknown. His body was later recovered by the steamer Mackay-Bennett on April 22 not far from the sinking. Reports persist that his body was recovered in a mangled state, but all who examined his body maintained that it was in perfect condition with no bruising.
A short while after the initial crash, Colonel Astor remarked to his wife that the ship had hit an iceberg. He reassured her that the damage did not appear serious.
Fifth Officer Harold Lowe testified that 21 year old Third Class passenger Daniel Buckley who had initially been blocked from reaching the boat deck, by a crew member who refused him access, sneaked into a life boat by tossing a shawl over his head after an officer brandished a revolver, when men clambered into the boats refusing to make way for female passengers.
IMPERILED THROUGH INTIMIDATION
Abraham imperiled the safety of his wife and family through his own intimidation. His wife was beautiful, and the men of the country in which they sojourned were lustful. Intimidation either real or imaginary, infiltrates sound judgment, relocating an individual with scripturally based faith in an oppressive pergatory of fear and torment. Dispite spiritual gifts, these can become mere trophies of the enemy armory, if they are set aside. "Distancing" from one's loved one for the sake of self preservation, in all it's most subtle as well as blatent misrepresentation of the marriage relationship, can seriously imperil the marriage, or give place to an adultery spirit attempting to gain a foothold in an individuals heart. It's epitomized in behaviour that suddenly seems to state personal autonomy with increased regularity, where once decisions were made on the basis of "us as a couple." The man may feel embarrassed or fearful concerning his wife's executive position and influence, or jealous. His insecurity may manifest as the desire to validate his manhood in some inappropriate way, such as the removing a wedding band that's normally worn when an attractive woman comes near. The fear may be vocalized in pain of a wife's inqiry: "You didn't tell her you were married?" The scriptures exhort us, admonishing with the following warning: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come (set in.) (2 Timothy 3:1) What can be any more threatening than an assault of this sort toward one's marriage? It needs to be taken seriously and not just scoffed at, due to the potential for more serious issues to erupt where this is not dealt with sensitively.
Serious laws have been established concerning "endangerment" in it's numerous forms, from elderly and child abuse, or domestic violence. Reckless endangerment is a crime consisting of acts that create a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person. The accused person isn't required to intend the resulting or potential harm, but must have acted in a way that showed a disregard for the foreseeable consequences of the actions. The charge may occur in various contexts, such as, among others, domestic cases, car accidents, construction site accidents, testing sites, domestic/child abuse situations, and hospital abuse. State laws and penalties vary, and local law enforcement consults these when they see the need.
This entails infants and children under the legal age to stay alone being left alone. Children being given duties or responsibilities which are not age appropriate, such as using cooking facilities, being left in a bathtub as infants or toddlers, children left alone in parks or yards in a neighborhood where sex offenders reside and so forth. If the parent of an infant or toddler left alone or tied in a crib were arrested, the individual fearing reprisal, may not tell the authorities of the child's whereabouts and an infant or small child could starve to death. Illegal firearms and weapons improperly stored, failure to provide adequate food and shelter or medical care, subjecting family members to those with criminal behaviour, and a host of other things can bring severe consequences. Genesis 18:1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day...
Abraham and Sarah had been living for fourteen years by the Oaks of Mamre in the area of Hebron (14:13; 16:16; 17:25; 18:1). Abraham left Mamre where he received an incredible revelation of God. Following the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham and Sarah moved into the region of the Negev, living between Kadesh and Shur with his wife Sarah, remaining for a season in Gerar, where he made the statement to the strangers there that his wife Sarah was actually his sister." Gerar was an ancient city near the coast, to the south of Gaza. Abraham's nephew Lot had resided in a region where the Sodomites thought nothing of "home invasion." After the angel of the Lord blinded these men, they wearied themselves to find the door to get at Lot's visitors. Now here in Gerear, the heathen king Abimelech of Philistia was always on the look out for beautiful women for his harem! In Genesis 12:10-20, Abraham in fear that they would kill him to obtain his wife and dishonor her, deceived the king regarding he and Sarah's marital status. (At this point in the Bible, Abraham and Sarah are still called Abram and Sarai.)
Genesis 20:1-18 occasions another dangerous event stemming from Abraham's fear of death. Once again Abraham lied, stating that Sarah was his sister. Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. Did this endanger Sarah? The lie concerning Sarah's relationship to Abraham was substanciated in the mouth of "two witnesses," that of Abraham and Sarah's own lips. She was taken into the harem. What would occur if Abimelek summoned Sarah and she refused his advances? Her death most likely. The word Abimelek means "My father is king" or "Melech is father."
But God came to Abimelech in a dream "chalom," at night and rebuked him saying, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman." This guilty deed of Abimelech is that he has taken a woman who is already a man's wife. Be'ulath ba'al ="lorded over by a lord" i.e. governed by a husband."
Abimelech, who had not gone near her, defended himself valiently by saying: "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." 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. The king's defence on his own behalf is that Abraham and Sarah both substanciated the lie as to their relationship. Secondarily the Abimelech had not approached her. God was there in the very midst of this primordial swamp of fear that motivated Abraham to misrepresent his true relationship to his wife Sarah in the first place, and was working to deliver then from the terrifying consequences which accrued as the result of this deception! The heathen king himself was not without a limited understanding of the Hebrew God. He appears to trust that God's judgment is fair. That the Lord is a God of mercy. Gen. 20:8 Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid.
God had smitten the women of the King's entire household with barrenness. God demands of the king: 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." Abraham is a prophet. A nabhi. In Psalm 105:15, God said: "Touch not mine anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm." Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid.
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?"
Abraham responded, "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."
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." To Sarah he said, "I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated." The gift is to serve as a "kesuth,"a covering of the eyes." When men were injured or when they had to judge a cause their eyes might be covered by a gift, blinding them to the wrong. But reverence forbade such a mode of thought toward God. "The Lord your God, He is the God of gods and the Lord of lords which regardeth not persons nor takes a bribe. (Deut 10:17) The Strong's Hebrew Dictionary defines "kesuth" as "a covering." It derives from "kacah;" a cover (garment); figuratively, a veiling -- covering, raiment, vesture.
The Hebrew word "kopher" is translated "covering or atonement." Jacob says in regard to Esau: I will atone" (cover, "akapperah" or appease his face) In I Samuel 12:3, Samuel asks in regard to his conduct, "of whose hand have I taken a ransom (kopher) to blind my eyes therewith? Deut 16:19 "A gift blindeth them that have sight." This "covering ritual" as seen in king Abimelek giving Abraham, whom he refers to in talking to Sarah as "your "brother," a thousand shekels of silver. This was to appease the wrong done and provide a "clean slate." This concept is seen in Exodus 21:30, Numbers 16:47-48, Numbers 17:12-13, Numbers 35:31-32, Exodus 32:30-32. God has provided Yeshua haMashiach as His Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Messiah's atonement, is the covering for every sin, with opportunity to know Him through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua haMashiach. The atonement encompasses healing for the whole man, salvation from sin, healing for disease and deliverance from evil spirits and mental oppression. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26) On the Day of Pentecost, we see the fulfillment preached in Peter's sermon from the prophetic promises of the Prophet Joel:
16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
...Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38, Acts 8:16, Acts 10:46-48, Acts 19:5)
39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call. (Acts 2:38-39)
...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.
THE SOJOURN OF THE PATRIARCH ISAAC'S WIFE IN THE HAREM OF ABIMELEK
Isaac's life contains not only his incredible testimony of the way in which he overcame his intimidation toward the sexuality of other men and his own wife's beauty, but the intimidation of envy and strife, which later arose due to God's prospering of him in the land. (Genesis 26:13-14)
When Isaac was 40 years old, his father Abraham sent Eliezer, his steward, into Mesopotamia to find a wife for him, from Bethuel, his brother-in-law's family. (Gen. 24:1-67) Scripture tells us "So the servant took ten of his masters camels and set out, and all sorts of his master's valuables were in his possession; and he arose and set out for Aram Naharaim, for the city of Nahor. And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time, at the time when the women came forth to draw water." Ten camels are still regarded as the proper number for such as caravan. There the servant of Abraham prayed that his journey would be crowned with success: O Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, let it befalme this day and show kindness to my master Abraham. See I have taken my stand by the fountain of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming forth to draw water; so let it come to pass that the girl, to whom I shall say, Let down, I pray thee thy pitcher that I may drink, and she will say, Drink and I will water thy camels also, her thou hast adjudged for thy servant, for Isaac, and by this I shall discover that thou hast showed kindness to my master. (v 12-14)
It was crucial to the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham, that the wife of Isaac be carefully selected. The Patriarch Abraham knew the divine import of Isaac as the promised seed, not taking a wife from among the Canaanites. There was a curse on Canaan from Genesis 9:25-27: Cursed be Canaan, but blessed be Yahweh the God of Shem. The Canaanites were under a curse because of their iniquity. (Gen 15:16) and the lineage of Abraham through whom Messiah would come, must remain separated unto God for His will and purpose. Moreover, the promised seed of Abraham was not to return to the land of Abraham's father. The Promised Land is the inheritance and Abraham recognized the danger of his heir being enticed to remain in the north (a condition that would be experienced by Isaac's son Jacob in Gen 28-31).
God has a covenant people today. It is every bit as important that they be discerning regarding what they join themselves to and do not. Those who would not dream of their son or daughter intermarrying with the heathen, may park children in front of television shows or other things which tend to compromise or defile them.
It was not until after the death of Sarah that Abraham found a wife for Isaac. And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. (Genesis 25:20) When, following the marriage, Isaac and Rebekah had a problem conceiving which existed for some 20 years, "Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because of her barreness: and the LORD was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived." This means that they were forced to wait 20 years for the birth of these twin sons, and Isaac was 60 years old when they were born. (Gen. 25:21) The entire book of Genesis emphasizes the sovereignty of God and the wisdom of His “delays.”
Rebekah sought the Lord in prayer in the days of her pregnancy, as the children within struggled for their own space, and was rewarded with a propetic word and a revelation of God concerning the destiny of her family. She would need this understanding of God's willingness to answer her earnest questions, and this revelation of the Lord Himself and her children's special destiny even in the midst of life's discomforts, trials and tribulations.
And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD. (Gen. 25:22) And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. (Gen. 25:23) They named the infant twins Jacob and Esau. God had brought to pass the Lord's promised word that these children would indeed be born and the future yet held that their descendants would indeed become a great nation.
The narrative of Genesis 26:1 concerning Isaac's fear for his own safety, following the twins birth has a familiar ring to it. As the story goes, when the twins were still quite young, a famine in the land necessitated a move, so they sojourned in the land of Philistia. The decision to move there had not been made without explicit instructions from God who stated that he could go here but not there. The Lord appeared to Isaac, instructing him: “Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you. Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. (Gen 26:5) All this will come to pass because Abraham obeyed me and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. So Isaac settled in Gerar. It was wise of Isaac to seek God's will for the family during economic hardship. God blessed him with longevity. Isaac was the longest-lived of the patriarchs, and the only biblical patriarch whose name was not changed.
The stay there though was not without it's conflicts, and immediately, Abraham's son of the promise, Isaac, found himself in trouble among strangers in a strange land. (When Esau was grown, he married two Hittite women, Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon. But Esau's wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.
When they arrived in Gerar, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
When the men of that place questioned Isaac about his wife, (i.e. Is she available?) he replie;She is my sister.; He was afraid to say, She is my wife; for he thought to himself, The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very beautiful. Were the little twins with Rebekah during her stay in the harem of King Abimelech? The scriptures simply state that the children were definately born by this time. Since they were probably not weaned yet, it's possible that they were there with her.
After Isaac had been in Gerar for a considerable length time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out his window one day and observed Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah, whom he loved. Literally, "after considerable length of time is translated "the days had grown long for him." The window was one of the small latticed openings looking beyond the court. Abimelek may have gazed out the window to catch a glimpse of this maiden in his own harem in his own private garden, feeling it was time for an intimate encounter of his own! Whatever the case, for Abimelek to be able to view Isaac and Rebekah engaging in an intimate encounter, this may have been a courtyard within the palace, or the king's own outdoor garden, from which he could enjoy the flowers and trees. Latticed windows were made of a cross-hatch of wooden lathe strips, with small holes between them to both afford privacy for the viewer, and to prevent others from seeing in. Abimelech immediately summoned Isaac and said;She is really your wife! Whatever the king observed, was not the behaviour one engages in with their sister, and he immediately recognized the fact that Rebekah was this man's wife! It appears that Isaac was there watching over his wife, like Uncle Mordecai watched over his own niece Esther, when she entered the king's palace! If Rebekah weren't Isaac's wife, his own life would have been in danger still.
In what way are the female family members of your own household "in a heathen kingom? Or endangered in any way? In our cities sex offenders move into neighborhoods, some of which are voyeurs, looking into windows of family homes. How can you "watch over" them? Can you work in the same office? Or pick up the women in your household from work, or show up occasionally to take your wife to dinner, to let males in the office, know that she is your own property? Do you keep a photo of your husband, or of your wife and children on the desk at your workplace?
Isaac's misrepresentation of his marriage relationship with Rebekah, came to light, and it was critical that this should occur. King Abimelek enquired of Isaac: "Why did you say, She is my sister; Isaac replied, Because I thought someone might kill me to get her. The name Abimelech seems to have been the royal title of the kings of Gerar in southwestern Canaan. This finds support in Psalm 34, where Abimelek is used as a title for the man who I Sam. 21:10-15 appears as Achish. The Abimelech of Gerar in the time of Isaac is called king of the Philistines. He is not the same Abimelek who ruled Philistia some eighty years earlier. Gerar appears identical with Umm-Jerar, about 10 miles south of Gaza.
Then Abimelech exclaimed; What in the world have you done to us? One of the men might easily have had sexual relations with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” So Abimelech commanded all the people;Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death; Death was the punishment for adultery among the Canaanites, Philistines, and Hebrews. See chap. xxxviii. 24.
When the possible rape of the wife of Rebekah was no longer a very real threat, due to Isaac's intimidation concerning his wife's beauty, and subsequent action taken out of fear to misrepresent the truth, then he was free to remain in the land and work, which he did. Abimelek said: When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, because the Lord blessed him. The man became wealthy. His influence continued to grow until he became very prominent. He had so many sheep and cattle and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. So the Philistines took dirt and filled up all the wells that his father's servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.
THE REVELATION OF GOD THAT SAVED JACOB'S ENDANGERED FAMILY
Rebekah was a woman who did not hesitate to involve herself in the lives of her grown children. She assisted in their decision making and concerned herself vitally with their safety. She learned what to share with her husband Isaac and when to keep her mouth shut.
As the firstborn of Isaac and Rebekah, Esau would have succeeded Isaac as head of the family, inheriting a double share of the estate. When he sold his birthright he would forfeit all title to the inheritance and to the blessing that goes with it. The New Testament censures Esau's attitude, calling it "worldly minded." He sold his birthright for a single meal, showing how little value he placed upon it. Also drawing a comparison with sexual sin and warning about it. In the Patriarch Jacob's life, he placed the utmost value upon it. However, it was his dealings with his own brother Esau which ultimately endangered the health and safety of his wives and children and all that he had. There are cases too numerous to mention of wives and children today, what find themselves endangered because of their husband's business dealings, or other issues in their lives that place family members at risk.
Jacob used trickery and deceit in order to obtain the birthright belonging to his brother Esau. Disrespect, scheming and deceit go hand and hand, when individuals resort to scheming in order to gain what they want by their own self-designed strategies.
Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob." (Gen 27:41)
It is apparent that Esau here, does not believe that his father will live very much longer, and this is what is reflected in the words: "The days of mourning for my father are not far off." Ebhel abhi is "mourning for my father" and not "mourning of my father" in the Hebrew text. In verse 42, Rebekah heard the report," and immediately began to set in motion a plan through which the life of her son Jacob would be preserved. So Esau must have vocalized his intent more than to himself, but "within his own circle."
Genesis 27:42-45
42 When Rebekah was informed of what her older son Esau boasted of, she was extremely upset. Concerned for the safety of Jacob and the threats of violence from Esau, she was faced with some difficult decisions. She acted not only wisely and prudently when she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. She took action rapidly and this took faith on her part. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I'll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"
Esau's vow to kill Jacob in return for his loss of the birthright blessing was treated with extreme urgency by these parents, and was not ignored by Rebekah who had a full knowledge and Isaac who cooperates wholeheartedly with her cause, due primarily to the wisdom with which she executes it, and God's blessing on it. Frequently, people fail to see the seriousness of such threats within a family. The wives of the patriarchs were great listeners, and they paid attention to things which they heard said. They eavesdropped on conversations at times, but what they were not was "in the dark" about what was going on in their own households...Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent. (Gen 18:10) When you are filled with the Holy Spirit as Goc commands (Acts 2:38) you can "listen by the power of God's Holy Spirit." The Lord will teach you "how" to hear" correctly, and that is to judge as it states in Isaiah 11. Secondly, the fact that Rebekah assisted her son Jacob in the obtaining of the birthright, did not mean that her total focus was on the family money. In the context of her son Esau's threat to kill his brother Jacob, Isaac and Rebekah moved with godly fear, to send Jacob to stay with a relative in a distant city. But how Rebekah brought all this about was very clever, for she did not disclose to Isaac all that she knew about it.
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I'm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living. 1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: "Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother's father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham." 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, "Do not marry a Canaanite woman," 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the two pagan wives he already had. Esau here, appears to be awakening to the fact that intermarriage with the heathen seems to be an important factor in the destiny of his brother Jacob, so he sets about positioning himself for the position of future influence of the parents by obtaining yet another wife whom his parents may find more appropriate than the current ones. "
Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He instructed them: "This is what you are to say to my master Esau: 'Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. 5 I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, menservants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes."
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, "We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him."
7 In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8 He thought, "If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape." 9 Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,' 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups. 11 Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12 But you have said, 'I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.' "
13 He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, "Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds."
17 He instructed the one in the lead: "When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?' 18 then you are to say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.' "
19 He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: "You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And be sure to say, 'Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.' " For he thought, "I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me." 21 So Jacob's gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp. 22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27 The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered.
28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.
When Jacob camped at Mahanaim on his way to meet Esau, he was encouraged by the angels of God who protected him (Genesis 32:1).
Jacob learned that his brother Esau was on his way, accompanied by 400 men and it appeared to Jacob that Esau was bringing these warriors to destroy them. Fearing Esau, Jacob sent him very rich presents, but also made plans to escape his brother's fury if his gifts were rejected. Jacob made the decision to divide his family in two putting Leah and her children and servants in one group and Rachel and her children and servants in another. In this manner he could cut his losses in case one group were destroyed. Sending his family and all his possessions over the brook Jabbok, he remain alone on the other side. God appeared to Jacob in the form of an angel wrestling with him all night till the breaking of the day. While wrestling, the angel touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh, causing him to limp; but Jacob, would not let him go until blessed by him. The hollow of his thigh seems to have been the ball and socket joint. This joint became dislocated in his struggle with the angel. Teqa from yaqa meaning "To fall or slip out." The struggle continued throughout the night into the early hours or morning. Jacob was deeply in need of a serious revelation of God.
Hosea 12:4, states "Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept and made supplication unto Him." The narrative shows that this was a theophany, or manifestation of God in the form of an angel, and that Jacob discerns that there is a blessing to be obtained and that he must hang on! The angel tests him saying: Let me go for dawn is arising! But Jacob said: I will not let you go except you bless me! What did God do to Jacob in His desire to change and to bless Jacob's life? Jacob prayed: Reveal thy name I pray"...And the angel said: "Why dost thou ask for my name? And he blessed him there." He revealed Himself to him. God revealed Himself to Jacob on 7 occasions. The angel then changed Jacob's name from Jacob meaning "deceiver" to "Israel," Prince or prevailer with God. Through this divine encounter, God gave Jacob a new nature. God gave Jacob the power of get wealth too, as He has Abraham and Isaac. He did not have to defraud anyone in order to have his needs met, for through faith, and the revelation of Himself God gave, Jacob was in a new place in God. Jacob gave to the place at which this event occurred the name "Peniel" ("for I have seen Elohim face to face" and my life is preserved." The Hebrew natsal means "delivered or preserved." As a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there ... (Genesis 32-Hosea 12:3-4).
It was a frightened Jacob made the first prayer in the Bible in which a human being asks God for personal protection (Genesis 32:9-12). In the days of Hosea, the sons of Jacob had fallen away from Jacob's faith. Instead of seeking strength and blessing from God – as Jacob had done – they sought their security in a peace treaty with Assyria (Hosea 12:1). This was a deceitful foreign policy, for at the same time Israel was pledging support to Assyria, it was trying to buy the friendship of the Egyptians through bribes and gifts. Israel needed the faith of the Patriarch Jacob as seen in his refusal to go with out the revelation of God that he obtained.
