The Two Covenants 5/5/2018

THE TWO COVENANTS

May 5, 2018

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

When Y’shua ended His last Passover supper (or Seder) with His disciples He told us of the symbols of Him that we now use as the elements of Communion, which, by His words, speak of the New Covenant He and the Father were making with us. 

Mark 14:22-26 “And when they ate, after He took bread and praised God, He broke it and He gave it to them, then said, ‘You must take this, this is My body.’ ²³And having taken a cup, after giving thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the covenant which is being poured out on behalf of many. ²⁵Truly I say to you that never again am I drinking from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.’ ²⁶And after they sang the Hallel they went to the Mount of Olives.”

The Hallel is Psalms 113-118 and is sung not only at every Passover Seder, but every Friday evening in [practicing] Jewish homes before the Shabbat (Sabbath) meal is eaten that welcomes the weekly Sabbath which is from sundown each Friday until sundown each Saturday; which is the weekly rest period that our gracious Father built in for us so we don’t feel we have to work every single day. 

Hallel means praise as you could probably tell by the meaning of hallelujah (the only universal word of every language since they were changed at the Tower of Babel), which means Praise the Lord. And in Hebrew is actually spelled HalleluYah, as in Yah Weh. 

We won’t go through the whole of these Psalms, but let’s just look at a few lines of each. You may well recognize the lines of some songs we still sing in church that came from them:

Psalm 113:1-3 “HalleluYah! Praise! O you servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD! ²Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. ³From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same the LORD’s name is to be praised.”

Psalm 114:1-2 “When Israel went out from Egypt, the House of Jacob from a people of strange language; ²Judah was His sanctuary, Israel His dominion. ²The sea saw it and fled: the Jordan was driven back.”

Psalm 115:1&12-16 “Not to us, LORD, not to us, but give glory to Your name, for Your loving kindness, for Your truth’s sake.”

“The LORD has been mindful of us: He will bless us; He will bless the House of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. ¹³He will bless those who revere the LORD, both small and great. ¹⁴The LORD will increase you more and more, you and your children. ¹⁵You are blessed of the LORD Who made heaven and earth. ¹⁶The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, but He has given the earth to the children of men.” 

Psalm 116:1-2 “I love the LORD because He has heard my voice and my supplications. ²Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.”

Psalm 117:1-2 “O praise the LORD, all you pagans! Praise Him, all you peoples! ²For His loving kindness is great toward us: and truth of the LORD is forever! HalleluYah!” (This, by the way is the whole psalm.)

Psalm 118:1, 6, 24, 26 (This one is full of one liners we know.)

Vs 1 “O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good: for His loving kindness endures forever.” (Repeated in verse 29)

Vs 6 “The LORD is on my side, I shall not be awed. What can man do to me?” (See Hebrews 13:6)

Vs 24 “This is the day that the LORD has made! We will rejoice enthusiastically and be glad in it!”

Vs 26 “Blessed is He Who come in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the House of the LORD.”

And although His disciples did not yet know to Whom they were totally praising, as in the Messiah, Who was physically in their presence, they did sing a verse that spelled it out for them: Psalm 118:22, which was not only taken from Isaiah 28:16, which they knew well, but was also repeated by Messiah Himself.

Psalm 118:22 “The Stone which the builders refused has become the Headstone of the corner.” And the very next verse explains why it was not only necessary but allowed and even looked forward to, “This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (vs 23, bold mine for emphasis) Marvelous in our eyes because of what the new covenant does for us and marvelous in His eyes for the same reason. 

Isaiah 28:16 “Therefore thus says Adonai, the LORD, ‘Behold, I lay for a foundation in Zion a stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation…’”

Now although this cornerstone precept is repeated in three of the four gospels (Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10-11 and Luke 20:17) after Y’shua shared His parable of the Vineyard and the Tenants, is it recorded by Matthew with the most detail. 

The parable is about a wine maker who leased his land to some farmers and then went abroad. When the harvest time came he sent some of his servants there 3-4 times to collect, but the leaseholders kept getting more and more violent toward them and never did give him the grapes he had growing on his own land.

So he finally sent his son thinking that although his farmers were disrespecting his servants, they will surely respect his son and he will finally be able to collect his harvest. After all, it was still his land. However, he miscalculated their evil hearts; because as soon as they recognized the owner’s son, they confabbed and decided to kill him so they could inherit by default, as the heir apparent would be gone.

Sounds like what the devil has been trying to do to God’s property since the Garden, doesn’t it? 

Anyway, after He laid out this scenario, He asked them what they thought would happen. Their response is followed by His quote and their reaction in Matthew 21:40-46, “‘Then when the master of the vineyard would come, what will he do to those farmers?’ ⁴¹They said to Him, ‘He will destroy those badly, evil people and he will lease the vineyard to other farmers, who will pay to him the fruit in their time.’ ⁴²Y’shua said to them, ‘And then have you never read in the Scriptures, “A stone which the builders rejected, this became a cornerstone: this was done by the Lord and it is a wonder in our eyes.”’

“⁴³‘Because of this I say to you that the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and it will be given to a people making its fruits. ⁴⁴And the one who falls upon this stone will be dashed to pieces: and on whomever it would fall, it will crush him.’ ⁴⁵And when the high priests and the Pharisees heard His parables they knew that He was speaking about them: ⁴⁶then although they were seeking to arrest Him they were afraid of the crowds, since the crowds considered Him as a prophet.”

So basically He was telling them that they were right by asking them, in an indirect way (that they seemed to catch immediately), how they could foresee what would happen in the parable yet not know what was happening right before their very eyes?  

Then He turned back to the crowds and told the Parable of the Marriage Feast (see Matthew 22:1-14 or Luke 14:15-24), which was along the same lines. 

Now, my immediate thought about this (especially for those who stuck around, which we can assume most of them did if we keep reading through the rest of this chapter of Matthew) is, that if they knew He was talking about them, how could they not know Who was talking to them? 

Deception is more powerful than we know! Not only does it make you believe something that is not true, but it also blinds. It blinds you to the obvious, it blinds you to common sense, which I guess, when you get right down to it is discernment, so as head-shaking as that may be has to make sense in itself. But it’s like watching a magician – although you saw what happened, you also know that what you just saw couldn’t be real. BUT you saw it, didn’t you? So how could it not be real? Even though everything inside of us can tell us that something just can’t be, sometimes we give in and just think that somehow it just has to because it appears so real.

The popular passage of Psalm 118:22 is repeated two other places in the New Testament, or New Covenant writings also: Acts 4:11 and 1^st Peter 2:7, both times referred to by the Apostle Peter. 

First in Acts 4, when he and John were standing before the Council of the High Priests’ family after they were put in prison for preaching the Resurrection: “‘By what power or in what name did you do this?’ ⁸Then Peter, because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Leaders of the people and elders, ⁹if we are judged this day because of a good deed for an infirmed man by means of which good deed this one has been delivered, ¹⁰it must be known to you all and to all the people in Israel that in the name of Y’shua Messiah of Nazareth Whom you crucified, Whom God raised from the dead, by means of Him, this one stands before you whole. ¹¹This is “The stone, the one who has been rejected by” you “the builders, the one who became the cornerstone.” ¹²And deliverance is not in any other, for there is no other name under heaven which was given to mankind by which it is necessary for us to be saved.’” (vss 7-12)

Then in 1^st Peter when he was speaking of us being living stones and a holy nation. 

When Y’shua asked His disciples Who people thought He was and Simon (aka Peter) declared, “‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.’ ¹⁷Y’shua said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, because, not flesh and blood, but My Father, the One in the heavens, revealed this to you. And I am saying to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I shall build My congregation and gates of Hades will not prevail against the congregation.’” Matthew 16:15-18

So how apropos is it that he should be given that analogy us being living stones? We are His feet, His hands, His mouth. We are here to show others His heart, His compassion, His love. Because we are in His New Covenant, the Covenant of grace. The Covenant where He did everything and we did nothing but BELIEVE that He did everything. Isn’t that wonderful? “For you are saved by grace through faith. And it is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” “There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Messiah Y’shua.” Ephesians 2:8 and Romans 8:1.

Go out this week and shine the Light that lives within you!! Bring them in – time is short!

SHALOM

GENESIS 4/21/2018

GENESIS

April 21, 2018

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

We are getting a sneak peek of the future of the tribes of Israel, God’s ordained people today. It started last week when Jacob, under the Lord’s guidance, decided that Joseph’s inheritance would be divided between his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh actually giving the Tribe of Joseph a double portion (see Genesis 48:22). And Ephraim, although the younger of the two was to get the first portion, “And he blessed them that day saying, ‘God make: you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.’ And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.” Genesis 48:20. If this verse does nothing else, it makes us see that there is nothing too small to or too detailed to take notice of in God’s Word. Even the arrangement of names and places is vitally important!

So now let’s see how all the other tribes will fair, both at this time (Genesis 49:1-27) and in the future:

Reuben: “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellence of dignity, and the excellency of power: ⁴unstable as water, you will not excel because you went up to your father’s bed, then you defiled the one who ascended my couch.” (48:3-4)

Genesis 29:31 tells us that the Lord opened Leah’s womb before Rachel’s because He saw the she was loved less. So when she had Reuben, she named him literally: See! A son! However, his character and destiny was not at all that which a father could hope for.

This blessing isn’t the product of unforgiveness, but rather the inevitable consequences of faulty character that will be passed down throughout his generations. In Genesis 35:21-22 we see that “Israel journeyed and set up his tent beyond Migdal Eder, Tower of Eder.²²And it happened, while Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went in and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.” AND might I add, she was also the mother of his brothers Dan and Naphtali! Can you say EEUUU? I sure can! 

Reuben eventually settled next to Gad and became one of the 10 tribes that became part of the Northern Kingdom after Solomon died, which pretty much unraveled the nation as depicted in 1^st Kings chapters 12 & 13. It is therefore very possible that they could have assimilated into the heathen culture over the centuries to become one of the ancestors of the Samarians. And so as not to be totally repetitious, this would be the fate of all of the tribes save for Judah, Benjamin and a small remnant of others (see 1^st Kings 12:21-24).

Note that even though he was the firstborn, there is no note of greatness given to him from his lineage due to his questionable honor that was described as “unstable as water”.

The Reubenites are mentioned in Joshua 22:1-29 along with their brothers the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh were included when they were all released into their inheritance. 

Simeon and Levi: “Simeon and Levi are brothers, weapons of violence are their downfall. O my soul, do not come into their secret, to their assembly. Do not be united, for in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they lamed an ox. ⁷Cursed be their anger for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel. I shall divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.” (49:5-7) 

I find it a bit odd that Levis’ scattering was through his designation of being assigned to the Priesthood of the nation. But then that just goes to prove the validity of Isaiah 55:8-9, doesn’t it? “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My Ways’, says the LORD…” But then again, being Shepherds means protecting the sheep also, as well as ministering to them, and there are times when we must pick up the sword, as it were to defend and protect those assigned to us by God.

And this would make Levi the fully rounded picture of God: merciful and forgiving when needed, ie: when the sacrifices were brought in and repentance was made; and fierce in battle when necessary, like the Pastors were in the American Colonies during the Revolution. But again, we must realize that theirs were not described as weapons of defense, but weapons of violence and proclaimed to be their downfall.   

Y’shua told us Himself that “The thief does not come except that he would steal and he would kill and he would destroy.” (John 10:10) And as satan stole (via deception) the title deed to the earth in Genesis 3, Israel always needed to stay on their toes just as we do. Now I know that theoretically and legally we are fighting defeated foe, but a fight is still in place when that foe is too prideful and stupid to bow out gracefully, isn’t it (see Ephesians 6:13-20)? 

SO as Simeon and Levi led that attack against Shechem in Genesis 34, they went a bit overboard and gave themselves a nasty reputation, which was why the Lord saw fit to separate them. And although they were cursed in a manner of speaking, it was not they themselves that Jacob cursed but their temper. He was careful to separate the sinner from the sin.

And while history is unclear as to whatever became of the tribe of Simeon, we think that some of them at least were part of the remnant that stayed in Judah. They are however, mentioned in Joshua 19:1-9 according to their inheritance. 

And Levi was redeemed it seems through Phineas, Aaron’s grandson who, in Numbers 25:10-18, was “zealous” for the LORD at a time when He was not amused and therefore, because of Phineas,  gave “My Covenant of Peace to him, and he will have it and his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood…” And all the descendents of Levi breathed a sigh of relief!

And their cities in each of the territories as well as the Cities of Refuge are given to them by Joshua in chapters 20 & 21.

Judah: HINT: this is powerful and full as you may imagine of Messianic prophecies. “Judah, you are he whom your brothers will praise: your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father’s children will bow before you. ⁹Judah is a lion’s whelp, from the prey, my son, you are gone up: he stooped down, he crouched like a lion and as an old lion. Who will rouse him up? ¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor a Torah scholar from between his feet, until Shiloh comes: and the gathering of the peoples will be to Him. ¹¹Binding His foal to the vine and His donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed Hs garments in wine and His clothes in the blood of grapes. ¹²His eyes will be red and His teeth white with milk.” (49:8-12) Let’s unpack:

Verse 9 describes Judah as a lion’s whelp and old lion. And as the Lord created the lion with a mane as the king of the beasts, Y’shua receives the title of the Lion of Judah in Revelation 5:5, “And one of the elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping! Look! He was victorious, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, so He can open the scroll and its seven seals.”  

Verse 10 the scepter, the Torah scholar and Shiloh. The scepter of course means that the royal leadership of Israel, and eventually all of Creation will always be in the hands of Judah’s descendent, Y’shua. 

The Torah scholar means the scholar of His Teachings, which have always come from Him through the Holy Spirit and the term of the scholar not coming from between his feet means that Judah will always stay faithful to the Lord. And although we know that eventually Judah fell into captivity too, the Lord ALWAYS has His remnant!  

And Shiloh is a composite of words that mean a gift to him, referring of course to the time when we and all the nations will bring gifts to the King of kings! 

Verse 11 the donkey and her foal or colt are symbols of peace and humility, which is why Y’shua rode on one when He entered Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday (see Matthew 21:1-11 and Zechariah 9:9). 

And the vine [and the choice vine] would be Y’shua and the Father as One – and the One WE need to stay attached to “I AM the true vine…⁴you must dwell in Me and I in you. Just as the branch is not able to bear fruit by itself unless it would remain in the vine, so you could not bear fruit unless you would dwell continuously in Me. ⁵I am the vine, you are the branches…” John 15:1-5

The reference to wine and the blood of grapes is one in the same and is fulfilled in Revelation 7:14 “These are those who came out of great affliction and they washed their robes and the made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Great affliction making them soaked with the blood of grapes, but being purified, healed and restored by the blood of the Lamb. 

And Revelation 19:12-13 “And His eyes are like a flame of fire, and upon His head many crowns. He has a name written which no one knows except Himself, ¹³and is clothed in a garment dyed in blood, and His name has been called the Word of God.”

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Verse 12 red eyes. Revelation 1:14 “And His head and hair were white as wool, white as snow, and His eyes as flames of fire.” As well as the verse just read above. 

Zebulun: “Zebulun will live at the haven of the sea, and he will be for a haven of ships, and his border will be to Zidon.” (49:13) Zidon is now called Sidon and is currently the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean coast and has always been known as a fishing town. However, it would also have been a great city of defense during times of [naval] war.  

Now I’m only assuming now, but I would think that Zebulun would have been an excellent source of sea food as well as protection for the nation of Israel throughout the years. His territory is given in Joshua 19:10-16.

Issachar: “Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between the sheepfolds: ¹⁵and he saw that rest was good. And the land that was pleasant and bowed his shoulder to bear and became a servant to tribute.” (49:14-15) This is the description of a people who are strong, industrious and hard working. Their borders are set forth in Joshua 19:17-23.

Dan: “Dan will judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁷Dan will be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path that bites the horses’ heels, so that his rider will fall backward. ¹⁸I have waited for Your salvation, LORD.” (49:16-18) Although this sounds like a left-handed compliment at first, it is indeed a very high rating! 

It seems that the Tribe of Dan and Gad, Judah of course and as we will see a little later, Benjamin were to be the main defenders of the faith. Dan is described here as subtle and dangerous. Every nation needs an army and these four tribes would make up the bulk of Israel’s. Dan’s territory is seen in Joshua 19:40-51, which ends with, “So they made an end of dividing the country.” 

Gad: “Gad, a troop will press upon him, but he will press upon their heel.” (49:19) Gad is also described as a war-like tribe fit for battle. “And of the Gadites, men of might, men of war fit for the battle separated themselves to David in the stronghold in the wilderness who could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions and were as swift as the does upon the mountains…¹⁵These were the sons of Gad, captains of the army, one of the least was over a hundred and the greatest over a thousand.” 1^st Chronicles 12:9-15

Asher: “Out of Asher his bread will be fat, and he will yield royal dainties.” (49:20) Asher was the exporters for the nation keeping Israel in the international trade route from the very beginning. Their territory is outlined in Joshua 19:24-31.

Naphtali: “Naphtali is a deer let loose. He gives beautiful sayings.” (49:21) Naphtali seemed to be filled with various societal virtues; perhaps the most artistic of the group. Their territory is given in Joshua 19:32-39.

Joseph: “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. ²³The archers have sorely grieved him and shot at him, and hated him. ²⁴But his bow abode in strength and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob; from there he became the shepherd, the stone of Israel: ²⁵even by the God of your father, Who will help you, the Almighty Who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep lying below, blessings of the bosom, and of the womb. ²⁶The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors to the endless boundaries of the everlasting hills. They will be on the head of Joseph and in the crown of his head that was from the exile of his brothers.” (49:22-26)

Joseph was of course blessed beyond compare, being Jacob’s favorite and living a life so obedient to the Lord. His reward was truly great and the geographical inheritance of his two sons are seen in Joshua 16 for Ephraim and Joshua 17:1-2 and 22:1-10 for Manasseh. 

Benjamin: “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf: in the morning he will devour the prey and at night he will divide the spoil.” (49:27) Benjamin is described as war-like yet generous. Their territory is listed in Joshua 18:11-28. And it may also be noted that Apostle Paul was a Benjaminite. “…For also I myself am an Israeli, from the seed of Abraham, tribe of Benjamin.” War-like in his fierce battle for the Truth and generous in God’s mercy and grace. 

So we now draw Jacob’s life to a close. He ends his speeches with one more plea to be buried with his family “and gathered up his feet into the bed and expired and was gathered to his people.” 49:33b. Jacob is now at peace, but it won’t be long before his family’s troubles will begin!  But we must always remember the God in Whom we place our trust. “Is My hand shortened at all, so that it cannot redeem?! Or have I no power to deliver?!” (Isaiah 50:2) The answer to both of those questions dear friends is an emphatic NO!!

SHALOM!!

GENESIS 4/14/2018

 accurately the Lord let us peek into their future and character. 

But for now let us leave with the understanding that the Lord HAS always and STILL always looked at the heart of each and every individual He knows to determine His promotion. As He told Samuel when He was about to anoint David, “Do not look at his countenance or at the height of his stature because I have refused him!” Referring to David’s brother Eliab, “For the LORD does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1^st Samuel 16:7)

Therefore:   Abel was chosen over Cain

Joshua and Caleb were chosen over the other 10 spies, no matter their rank, birthright or position 

                      Jacob was chosen over Esau

                        Ephraim was chosen over Manasseh

                        Moses was chosen over Aaron

Jeroboam was chosen over everyone else in the ten tribes that split, no matter their man-given rank and esteem

So as we go through this week, let’s remember that although man looks at the outward appearance,  the LORD looks at the heart. And truly knows everyone’s motive! And when we prayerfully tap into His wisdom, we can see that too and wouldn’t that make life easier and less critical, more compassionate and just entirely more Godly! Blessings everyone! 

SHALOM!

Genesis 4/7/2018

GENESIS

April 7, 2018

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

It is now time, humanly speaking that is, for God and man to meet: “And Joseph brought in Jacob his father and set him before Pharaoh and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸And Pharaoh said to Jacob, ‘How old are you?’ ⁹And Jacob said to Pharaoh, ‘The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred thirty years: few and bad have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.’ ¹⁰And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh.” Genesis 47:7-10

In these three verses, we see that Jacob, the man of God, blessed Pharaoh the man of the world not once but twice: when they first met and when they departed. 

The Pharaoh Jacob met was Rameses II who, according to historians, and he  reigned during the 19^th dynasty. His name means son of the sun, which would mean that he figured he was descended from the sun god Ra, one of their most powerful idols. He became Pharaoh at the age of 30 and reigned for 67 years. So hearing that Jacob was 130 at the time of their meeting must have been very impressive! And we do not know Pharaoh’s reaction to Jacobs’ blessings, but as Joseph was in so much favor, we can assume that he accepted and maybe even considered Jacob’s evangelism. However, we never hear about any revival going on – even after the Exodus, so we know that although the seed was planted, via Joseph and his father Jacob, it did not grow. [And that actually becomes more than clear during Moses’ exchanges with his Pharaoh!]

The rest of chapter 47 tells us how the famine progressed and what it meant to the people of Egypt and Canaan.  At first the people bought their grain with money: “And the famine was over all the face of the earth and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain because the famine was severe in all lands.” Genesis 41:56-57. And in Genesis 43:27 we read that one of Joseph’s brothers, while returning back home from their first trip, “…saw his money, for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.”

But the famine lasted seven years and how can farmers and herdsmen keep making money during a famine which would directly affect their base source of income? What to do? Joseph took it step-by-step: “And when money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, ‘Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has been spent.’ ¹⁶And Joseph said, ‘Give me your cattle and I shall give you grain for your cattle, if money fails.’” Genesis 47:15-16

And after that…“‘We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent. My lord also has our herds of cattle, there is not anything left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies and our lands. ¹⁹Why will we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh, and give us seed so we may live and not die, so that the land will not desolate.’ ²⁰And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold each man’s field because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.” Genesis 47:18-20

And, although this passage comes after the arrival of Joseph’s family, it must have taken place beforehand else Pharaoh would not have been able to offer them the land of Goshen, as it would not have been his to offer. 

So Joseph drew up a contract between the citizens of Egypt and Pharaoh that lasted as long as the Pharaohs did: “Then Joseph said to the people. ‘Behold, I have purchased you and your land for Pharaoh this day, so here is seed for you and you will sow the land. ²⁴And it will be with the increase that you will give a fifth part to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for those of your households, and for your little ones.’ ²⁵And they said, ‘You have saved our lives. Let us find favor in the sight of my lord ad we will be Pharaoh’s servants.’ ²⁶And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.” Genesis 47:23-26 

Notice that Joseph did not order them to give a tenth. He surely was told throughout his childhood the stories of Abraham his great-grandfather (who died 76 years before he was born) who gave 10% of his spoils to Melchizedek which he understood to be the tithe. But interestingly enough Joseph doubled that tribute for Pharaoh. This, I believe was the wisdom of God also, considering Man is never as generous as God, especially one who thinks he is one! 

So we are wrapping up the seven year famine. Pharaoh now owns not only all the land but all the people, which totally propagates his god-like ego, and answers all the questions I have ever had. God’s people are saved and safe via His placement, “And God sent me before you to preserve you for a heritage in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. ⁸So now it was not you who sent me here, but God.” Genesis 45:7-8

AND simultaneously fulfilled a prophecy God personally gave to Abraham at the time of the first covenant He made with him in Genesis 15:13-14, “And He said to Abram, ‘Know of a surety that your seed will be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and will serve them and they will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴And also that I AM will judge that nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.’” 

But as for now, “Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen and they had obtained possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.” Genesis 47:27  

So now all the chess pieces of God’s plan have been put in place and there will be a season of peace and prosperity. It’s time to relax and enjoy life. They’re on their mountain top experience, which will be well deserved considering what is going to happen in a few years or so. We don’t know how long their actual slavery lasted although it probably happened fairly soon considering 15:13 that we just read. What we do know is that it was cruel and harsh and their entire lifespan in Egypt was four hundred years – to the day, by the way, and by that time something happened in their written records that wiped Joseph, or Zephanath-paneah the Semite off their historical records.

But what we need to remember is that no matter what happens in life, we belong to Him and He not only knew what was going to happen before it did, but He had a plan for it also: either a plan for escape, or a plan for our character improvement and always a plan for His glory if we would just continue to trust in Him. 

So, (and I quote this tongue-in-cheek, as it is my main struggle in life) “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when various trials light upon you, ³knowing that the proving of your faith produces endurance. ⁴And the endurance must attain its purpose, so that you would be mature and complete and not falling short in any way.” Jacob 1:2-5 (bold mine for much needed emphasis – at least for me).

But may this week, at least, be a mountain top week for you!! 

“‘The LORD will bless you and He will keep you. ²⁵The LORD will make His face to shine upon you and He will be gracious to you. ²⁶The LORD will lift His countenance to you and He will establish Shalom for you.’ ²⁷And they will put My name upon the children of Israel and I will bless them.” Numbers 6:24-27

And we are all His children adopted into Israel! BE BLESSED!!

                                                                     SHALOM

Genesis 1/20/2018

GENESIS

January 20, 2018

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

The rest of Genesis, chapters 39-50, are dedicated to Joseph in Egypt and show us crystal clear examples of Romans 8:28 “And we know that, for those who love God, He works all things for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”, and Hebrews 13:5 “…For He said, ‘I will not abandon you and I will not ever forsake you,’⁶so that we are confident to say, ‘The Lord is my helper, and I shall not be afraid, what will man do to me?’” Yes I added verse 6 – it is so apropos and Paul was quoting Psalm 118:7 which again show us the timelessness of God’s Truth!

“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hands of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there. ²And the LORD was with Joseph and he was a successful man and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to succeed in his hand.⁴And Joseph found favor in his sight, and he served him and made him an overseer over his house, and he put everything he had into his hand. ⁵And it was from the time that he had made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake, and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶And he left all the he had in Joseph’s hand and he did not know anything he had, except the bread which he ate. And Joseph was good looking and well favored.” Genesis 39:1-6

In this introductory passage in to what we eventually see is the remainder of Joseph’s life (spent in Egypt from age 17 to 110), we see both Hebrews 13:5-6 and Romans 8:28 come to fruition. And those of us who have sent a lot of time in church have heard that one of Y’shua’s names is the Son of Joseph: Son of God, Son of David, Son of Man and Son of Joseph. But where did this title of His come from? Was it just because he, Joseph, was a classic Old Testament symbol of Y’shua due to his constant favor, unjust punishment, final triumph and forgiveness?

Well, I have found an incredible teaching on this that I am going to share from pages 1785-1786 of the Glossary in my One New Man Bible:

“Jewish teachings tell us the there is a Son of Joseph as a Messianic figure. The Son of Joseph is representative of the farmer because of Joseph’s dream of the sheaves in Genesis 37:6-7.” (And yes, that is where the infamous Salvation Army evangelical street song Bringing in the Sheavescomes from that we see in old movies.) “The seven years of plenty (that we will read about when we get to chapter 40) are also representative of the farmer. The rabbis say that the enmity toward him by his brothers is from the brother’s call to shepherding contrasted with Joseph’s call as a farmer. The two careers speak of two different ways of life, as we know from the many tales of the ranchers and the framers in the old west of U.S.

“While the shepherd maintains the status quo, the farmer is out to transform the land, from grasslands, woods, and swamps into land that produces crops, returning up to one hundred fold on his labor and seed. The labor is intense and includes eleven tasks forbidden on the Sabbath. These are sowing, plowing, reaping, gathering, threshing, winnowing, sorting, grinding, sifting, kneading, and baking. Of the shepherd’s duties only shearing and the processing of wool or milk are forbidden for the Sabbath.

“With his transformation of the land, the Son of Joseph brings material blessings, while the Son of David, also known as Judah, guards the past. In Ezekiel 37:15-17 we have two sticks, one representing Judah and the other Ephraim, being joined together. Since David is a son of Judah and Ephraim a son of Joseph, the elements are there forthe merger of all believers, both Jewish and (Gentile) Christian, all segments of Judaism and Christianity coming together in a Messianic celebration.”

Ezekiel 37:15-17 “The word of the LORD came to me again saying, ¹⁶‘Moreover, you son of man, take one stick for yourself and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel and his companions, then take another stick and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for the entire House of Israel, his companions. ¹⁷And join them one to another into one stick and they will become one in your hand.’”

God’s Word in so incredible, isn’t it? It truly is a tapestry of mankind’s origin, life story as a whole and eternal future. Let’s look at how Ezekiel 37:15-17, written about 600 years before Y’shua ties into not only the Lord’s Prophet Isaiah, who came about one hundred years earlier, but also John and Paul,  contemporaries of Y’shua. So we are now going to read several Scripture passages that will tie flawlessly together that span 700-800 years!

Isaiah 44:5 “One will say, I am the LORD’s, and another will call himself by the name of Jacob, and another will subscribe with his hand to the LORD and surname himself by the name of Israel.”

“One will say, I am the LORD’s,” – These are followers of Y’shua; either believing that He would come or that He has come already and will come again.

“…another will call himself by the name of Jacob,” – These are the secular Hebrews who do not follow their religious heritage but know and proudly claim their biological heritage to Abraham.

“…another will subscribe with his hand to the LORD and surname himself by the name of Israel.” – These are the religious Hebrews who have not named Y’shua as their Savior, but hold to the Laws/Teachings and Traditions of Moses.

This is how the Holy Spirit broke it down for me, and it does cover all factions of Judaism – past, present and future.

Ezekiel 34:23, “And I will set up one Shepherd over them and He will feed them, My Servant David. He will feed them, and He will be their Shepherd.” A reference to Y’shua, Who will be from the line of David, as David had been dead for about 300 years.

John 10:16 “But I also have sheep that are not of this sheepfold: and it is necessary for Me to lead those and they will hear My voice, and they will become one flock, one Shepherd.” Sound familiar?

Ezekiel 37:17 “And join them one to another into one stick and they will become one in your hand.’” AND…

Ephesians 2:14-18 “For He is our peace, the One Who has made both things into one and Who has loosed the dividing wall of the fence, cause of enmity to His flesh, ¹⁵by His nullifying the tradition of the commandments by decrees, so the He could create the two, Jewish and non-Jewish, into One New Man, establishing peace ¹⁶so He could reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, as God killed their enmity by means of Y’shua. ¹⁷And when He came He proclaimed the Good News of peace to you, to those far away, and peace to those near: ¹⁸because through Him we both have the introduction to the Father by means of one Spirit.”

Romans 11 – I am not going to write out the entire 11^th chapter of Romans, but the subtitles I have are:

                                    Verses 1-10;   The Remnant of Israel

                                    Verses 11-24; The Salvation of the Heathens

                                    Verses 25-36; The Restoration of Israel

“It is interesting that Jewish scholars say that neither Judah nor Joseph can prevail alone. The two brothers need each other because a world of Josephs would lose sight if the old in its pursuit of the new, and a world of only Judahs could trap Judaism in a web of irrelevances.”

Speaking of irrelevances, I have yet to discover how non-believing Hebrews justify the centuries long lack of animal sacrifices or the shedding of blood with the annual covering if their sins. It is explained away as not being able to use the Temple in Jerusalem since 70AD, and, as that was God’s House and He wanted no other, I get that. However, that is still, according to the Old Covenant, only part of the problem. The other and might I had major part would be that the entire Book of Leviticus gives the intricate details of the specific sacrifices needed for specific sins, so if they do not believe that the Ultimate Sacrifice has (already) been made for them, how are they holding on to YHWH’s salvation?

“Another expression of two Messiahs is with the term ‘suffering Messiah’ and ‘reigning Messiah.’ Y’shua suffered in His first coming, but will reign on His next appearance.” This again, is lost on the non-believing Hebrew, as they did not nor do not believe in the concept of the suffering Messiah since He came already and was rejected by so many of His family throughout the ages. And it is actually forbidden to read Isaiah 53, which specifically refers to His suffering and rejection. One of the strongest ploys that devil has ever succeeded in!

We can see both Judah and Joseph in His ministry, with many references to shepherding and any to being transformed. Examples if being transformed include the parables of the sower (see Matthew 13:1-9 & 18-23) and statements such as ‘You will know them by their fruit.’ (Matthew 7:16) Paul also referred to our transformation in Romans 12:2 …by the renewing of your mind.  When Y’shua reigns it seems that His reign will be like Joseph’s as the Prime Minister under the King of the Universe. Another similarity to Joseph is His physical absence from us for a season. The current Church is more under David than Joseph, being maintained more than transformed. Satanic forces still have power, much of it conceded by the Church, since very few teach and minister deliverance. Messiah’s reign will be without Satan while he is bound for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:2) Only then, without Satanic influences, will people be totally transformed and be able to be all that they can be. In that sense the current status is more like the Davidic reign and the Messianic reign will be more like the reign of Joseph. By that we can readily see that Y’shua is both Son of David and Son of Joseph, whether 2000 years ago or in His reign.”

So starts our study of Joseph, whose name means let him add. When Genesis Joseph kept the famine at bay, he kept not only the nation of Egypt alive, adding generations to them, but he also kept his own family alive and we know what that explosion led to! The Joseph of the New Testament was Y’shua’s step-father, and look at the increase he helped with through the raising of his step-son Y’shua!

Next week the trial really begins! Because “…Joseph was good looking and well favored.” Genesis 39:6b (which was not necessarily a good thing).

Shalom!