Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: truth

  • If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly

    If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly

    The Messiah at Festivals

    So what does the Messiah of Israel do at festivals and feasts? How does the Messiah lead followers to worship the Lord our God, our Father in heaven?

    It was the Feast of Hanukkah at Yerushalayim.

    John 10:22 Hebrew Names Version

    Yeshua mashiyach

    Just a reminder to Christians of this 21st century, Jesus was Jewish.

    Yeshua, from Ἰησοῦς in Greek, Iēsous from יְהוֹשׁוּעַ Hebrew meaning Yĕhowshuwa` (Joshua or Jehoshua = “Jehovah is salvation”) in English: Jesus. (The One born to a Jewish mother, a virgin betrothed to a faithful Jew, Joseph son of Jacob {Matthew 1:16}.)

    The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

    Gospel of Matthew 1:1 KJV

    Although we have been following Jesus through the Gospel of John, for our understanding of the Messiah and His jewish upbringing as the Son of Man, we have just left some predictions of the Prophet Amos.

    Amos - not immune from judgment pictures of 2020 gold coins
    1. Amos – Not immune from judgment
    2. For those who turn justice into wormwood
    3. Amos the Seer: “I told you so (5x) – GOD showed me

    Who better to ask about the Lord God in heaven than the one who came down from heaven, sent by God the Father?

    This is where we left off in the Good News from the Apostle John.

    above the cloudes of heaven a gate of the walled heavenly Jerusalem

    Jesus healed a man born blind, which has prompted much discussion and considerable controversy in Jerusalem.

    The Gatekeeper & the Shepherds – the Door

    John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

    Is this Man a Gate and the Door to heaven?

    44:1  וַיָּשֶׁב אֹתִי דֶּרֶךְ שַׁעַר הַמִּקְדָּשׁ הַֽחִיצֹון הַפֹּנֶה קָדִים וְהוּא סָגֽוּר׃
    44:2  וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי יְהוָה הַשַּׁעַר הַזֶּה סָגוּר יִהְיֶה לֹא יִפָּתֵחַ וְאִישׁ לֹא־יָבֹא בֹו כִּי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּא בֹו וְהָיָה סָגֽוּר׃
     {Masoretic TextShow Cantilliation Marks OffShow Vowel Points OnMasoretic Text} http://blb.sc/00AONj

    Then He brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut. The LORD said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.

    Ezekiel 44:1-2 NASB

    “The priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.

    Ezekiel 45:19 NASB

    John 10:

    2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

    7 Yeshua emphasized, “I can guarantee this truth: I am the gate for the sheep.

    John 10:7 NOG

    Later Jesus will tell the Apostles to also be wary of these religious hired hands determined to devour all opposition.

    John tells us how Jerusalem’s religious leaders opposed the Messiah after Jesus healed a man blind from birth. But Jesus tells the crowds a parable against them.

    12 A hired hand isn’t a shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep. When he sees a wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and quickly runs away.

    John 10:11 NKJV

    19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words…

    After this, a most popular Messiah Jesus enters Jerusalem for a festival.

    Jewish festivals

    22 Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem, and it was winter.

    A brief overview:

    The Hebrew Civil Year began with Tishri [October]. At the Exodus the Ecclesiastical Year was made to begin with Abib [April], which, after the Captivity, was called also Nisan.- Hitchcock’s Topical Commentary

    “Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.

    Deuteronomy 16:16 NASB

    But this minor feast (we now call the festival of lights) held importance to a Jerusalem which presumed to have purified and rededicated the Temple. In commemoration of the cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes. –H.

    The Story Behind the Feast of Dedication

    Prior to the year 165 BC, the Jewish people in Judea were living under the rule of the Greek kings of Damascus. During this time Seleucid King Antiochus Epiphanes, the Greco-Syrian king, took control of the Temple in Jerusalem and forced the Jewish people to abandon their worship of God, their holy customs, and reading of the Torah. He made them bow down to the Greek gods. According to ancient records, King Antiochus IV defiled the Temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar and spilling its blood on the holy scrolls of Scripture.

    Source:

    Jerusalem’s crowed festival

    23 Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews surrounded him and asked,

    “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

    25 “I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them.

    Do you believe His signs?

    Even in this day some will believe and come to faith through the Messiah, He IS the gate to salvation and the door to heaven. Others remain blind to truth.

    Jesus has already given several signs, proofs in various places of miracles only God could do. The most recent of these, of course, was giving a blind man sight right there in Jerusalem.

    “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep.

    Who do you follow?

    Some preacher, a rabbi or teacher?

    None are the Son of God, the Shepherd of the chosen ones of God our Father.

    The Way to heaven

    27 My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.

    28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.

    Why would you doubt the authoritative gentle voice of the Shepherd at the door?

    If you believe in God Almighty our God and Father, do you not see His power and compassion in the Only Son, Shepherd of the chosen to enter into His Glory?

    Is Jesus your Lord and Shepherd?

    For His love and anointing must be clear to those who are no longer blind.

    Would you humbly turn from your sin to hear His gentle voice?

    “Follow Me.” “I am the way the truth and the life.” *

    29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

    A decision of life or death

    How many times can you recall that the LORD strikes down the one who sins?

    More times in scripture than we can recall.

    The LORD GOD IS ALMIGHTY! Fear only him, the LORD, the Existing One.

    • John the Baptist had testified of the Holy Spirit of God descending upon Jesus.
    • The Lord Jesus raised the dead, healed the sick, gave sight to the blind. A Man of God thought to be from Nazareth asked men and women to follow Him.
    • Jesus, Son of Man as He referred to himself, showed signs and wonders to many.

    What is left for the Messiah to tell us?

    If we must follow Jesus, is He God in Person? – a “Son of Man” the very human Image of God (as a Son of His Father born to a woman)?

    For the LORD God is One and our decision to obey the LORD is a matter of eternal life or judgment and punishment of our soul in death.

    “I and My Father are one.”

    John 10:30 KJV

    Truth? or Blasphemy?

    31 Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him.

     32 Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?”

     33 “We aren’t stoning you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.”

     34 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, I said, you are gods? If he called those whom the word of God came to ‘gods’—and the Scripture cannot be broken— do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?

    Jesus, Son of Man filled with the Holy Spirit of Almighty God! Once again the Lord confronts the hired hands of Herod, wolves luring the faithful away from the Shepherd, with Scripture and Truth.

    How can they refute what everyone has seen with their own eyes?

    37 “If I am not doing my Father’s works, don’t believe me…”

    You too have seen many signs and miracles. Those in addition to Jesus’ compassion and love for the lost who have sinned.

    A few repent seeking return to the safety of the Shepherd.

    38 “… But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”

    Jesus and God the Father are One! Jesus and the Holy Spirit of God are One!

    What was it Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus?

    “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

    John 3:21 NASB

    Jesus IS Spirit; Jesus IS Flesh!

    But those who will not bow down to the LORD God accuse the Son of Man of blasphemy. (Let the casual 21st c. reader understand the significance of blasphemy – a sin against God requiring death of the offender.)

    39 Then they were trying again to seize him, but he eluded their grasp.

    A return to the wilderness

    40 He went back across the Jordan River and stayed in the place where John first baptized people.

    41 Many people went to Yeshua. They said, “John didn’t perform any miracles, but everything John said about this man is true.” 42 Many people there believed in Yeshua.

    Truth

    The Apostle John has already revealed the Good News of the Messiah proven by many signs in many places.

    • And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
    • For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
    • “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
    • “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
    • “You have sent to John [the baptist], and he has testified to the truth.
    • “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
    • “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?

    The One Truth & nothing but The Truth

    “I and the Father are One!”

    John 10:30 – Strong’s: b) metaphorically, “union” and “concord,” e.g., Jhn 10:30; 11:52; 17:11, 21, 22; Rom 12:4, 5; Phl 1:27

    The Apostle John concludes his Gospel as follows:

    21:24 Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ μαθητὴς ὁ μαρτυρῶν περὶ τούτων καὶ γράψας ταῦτα καὶ οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἀληθὴς ἐστίν ἡ μαρτυρία αὐτοῦ

    This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

    And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

    What other sign do you need to open your eyes to what Jesus plainly has said?

    I and the Father are One!

    NEXT: The Resurrection of Lazarus ... God-willing...
  • The Tongue is a Fire! – Religion

    The Tongue is a Fire! – Religion

    The Fire of the Tongue, the Rhetoric of Politics and Religion

    In our previous look at public controversy in the media we began with the clash of politics, mentioning the trial of Socrates in 399 B.C. Today we begin coverage of the clashes of religion and the church with everyday culture.

    For, “THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS,
    MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT.

    First Letter of Peter to the Church 3:10 NASB

    Without digging a hole into some serious divisions of the church in our brief look at this opening quote of the Apostle Peter to the church, let me just remind us:

    Political parties and the church are all gatherings of disagreeable people more or less united in one thing.

    Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com

    Can you think of an application for followers of Christ in current election rhetoric for the (U.S.) election year to come?

    The church (saints or people) of this day and the past are all like you, like me and just like every candidate of every party in every country on earth. We are ALL SINNERS.

    Therefore, regardless of our politics of the moment or religion of the past, we all speak and do evil.

    The Tongue of the ‘Christian’

    But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

    Caution of Christ – Matthew 5:22 NASB

    Jesus Christ asks the crowds to examine our own hearts. So before we get to the controversy of Christ, let’s work back from Peter’s last point in this one verse [1 Peter 3:10] instructing “Christians.”

    Peter asks or suggests to followers of Jesus:

    1. If you desire LIFE, what is life?
    2. Do you desire LOVE, what kind of love?
    3. So you want to SEE GOOD DAYS, what path do you seek?
    4. Do you KEEP YOUR TONGUE FROM EVIL?
    5. Would others find you guilty of SPEAKING DECEIT because you have fooled yourself?

    Do you speak foolishness in angry answers to others – your loved ones, those you work or worship with, a politician inciting opposition?

    How can you judge their speech when you do not even judge your own?

    The root meaning of deceit here is to decoy. In other words, deceive another by your words. Of course no politician would do that!

    But Jesus speaks to those who want to speak truth. When we do not, like the politicians and leaders of cultural religion we also become hypocrites, as are our accusers.

    Hypocrites

    Their audience is US.

    ὑποκριτής, ὑποκριτου, ὁ (ὑποκρίνομαι, which see);

    1. one who answers, an interpreter (Plato, Lucian).
    2. an actor, stage-player (Aristophanes, Xenophon, Plato, Aelian, Herodian).
    3. in Biblical Greek, a dissembler, pretender, hypocrite:

    Followers of Christ must look in the mirror first.

    If you catch yourself speaking deceit you had best shut your mouth and seal your lips. (Nevermind the hypocrisy of your opponent, just find the beam in your own eye and fire of your own tongue.)

    The tongue of Evil

    The tongue of evil could be our own!

    Paul writes to church of the Romans:

    as it is written,
    “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

    Romans 3:13

    He continues in speaking of Jews and Hellenistic culturists (Greeks):

    THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
    THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.

    “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE,
    WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,”
    “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

    “WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS”…

    “THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

    Could this be a political treatise against Christians, Jews, Muslims, and ANY claiming God without love on their lips even in this day?

    Like Peter, Paul also shows why politics and religion mix in a murky cloud of hypocrisy.

    How do you seek GOOD DAYS?

    What is the platform of your faith? Your religion? Traditions? Good deeds?

    Your works of goodness certainly can not sway the politics of a fallen world or misled nation.

    Do you seek an honest path to righteousness? It would be a religion of works and false morality, a religion of philanthropic leading in your own ideals.

    … and I’m NOT going to take it anymore!

    Do any recall our ‘must elect my candidate’ arguments of religion for the 2016 election?

    How will you, being evil, do good for anyone?

    My fellow Christians, is your witness for the Gospel of Christ?

    Or is your shout to the crowds that you’re mad as hell as if Christ would be swayed by the fire of your tongue?

    Perhaps your opponents think that you feign madness before the media.

    What good is your shouting into the whirlwind? For the fire of your words fails to witness the compassion of our Lord Christ Jesus.

    Mere religion and righteousness never equate.

    Love of words or love of the Word?

    Here’s a question for so-called ‘christians’ embroiled in the politics of the day: Do you have a love of words or love of the Word?

    Surely the politician loves the stage of the world. Certainly the media twists words meant to incite supporters into indictments of political opponents.

    Satan works no differently than the internet in spreading false accusation of the believer; for Christ is the only Word of love who can save the sinner.

    The Apostle John instructs the church:

    Do not love G25 the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves G25 the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

    1 John 2:15 NASB – Strong’s G25 ἀγαπάω agapaō

    Life – ζωή – zōē

    Life’s meaning described by Peter is:

    1. life
      1. the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate
      2. every living soul
    2. life
      1. of the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through him both to the hypostatic “logos” and to Christ in whom the “logos” put on human nature
      2. life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever.

    Peter points not only forward to Christ, but by scripture back to David, a man after God’s own heart.

    Religion questions God.

    May I add that the politics of the world deny God’s saving grace. By our knowledge of good and evil we lost the fruit of the tree of life in Eden. Mankind spoiled God’s paradise by disobedient sin.

    Psalm 34: A Psalm of David

    when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.

    David looks back at these dark days and praises the LORD.

    I will bless the LORD at all times;
    His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

    Psalm 34:1

    9 O fear the LORD, you His saints;
    For to those who fear Him there is no want.

    13 Keep your tongue from evil
    And your lips from speaking deceit.

    14 Depart from evil and do good;
    Seek peace and pursue it.

    From advice for the saints of the Lord, David proceeds to the justice and redemption of the faithful.

    21 Evil shall slay the wicked,
    And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

    22 The LORD redeems the soul of His servants,
    And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

    The Fire of the Tongue, the Politics of Jesus

    Now it was Caiaphas who advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

    John 18:14 NKJV

    Jesus against religion

    John 2:

    14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

    John 8:

    42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!

    54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him.

    58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

    a Word of witness to followers of false religion

    Jesus answered him,

    “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret.

    John 18:20 NASB

    Jesus continues:

    “Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what I said.”

    Truth has witnesses; yet how do unrighteous leaders of religion react?

    When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, “Is that the way You answer the high priest?”

    Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?”

    So Annas sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

    Political reaction to Righteousness

    Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in Him.

    Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

    The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

    John 18:38; 19:15b NASB

    Righteous reaction to the Political

    Mark 12:

    Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we pay or shall we not pay?”

    coin head of Antiochus IV Epiphanes

    But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them,

    “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.”

    17 And Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 

    Is Politics your Religion OR Religion your Politics?

    Psalm 2:

    The Messiah’s Triumph and Kingdom

    Why do the nations rage,
    And the people plot a vain thing?
    2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
    And the rulers take counsel together,
    Against the Lord and against His Anointed saying,
    3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
    And cast away Their cords from us.”

    Christ Jesus, the Messiah of the Lord God, warned of our anger against God.

    7 אֲסַפְּרָ֗ה אֶֽ֫ל חֹ֥ק יְֽהוָ֗ה אָמַ֘ר אֵלַ֥י בְּנִ֥י אַ֑תָּה אֲ֝נִ֗י הַיּ֥וֹם יְלִדְתִּֽיךָ׃

    8 שְׁאַ֤ל מִמֶּ֗נִּי וְאֶתְּנָ֣ה ג֭וֹיִם נַחֲלָתֶ֑ךָ וַ֝אֲחֻזָּתְךָ֗ אַפְסֵי־אָֽרֶץ׃

    10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
    Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
    11 Serve the Lord with fear,
    And rejoice with trembling.
    12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
    And you perish in the way,
    When His wrath is kindled but a little.
    Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

    To be continued...

  • Disaster From Disobedience, A Savior From Before Eden – 8

    A Savior From Before Eden

    I introduced this series about a savior, Christ Jesus, who had confirmed to the religious authorities: “Before Abraham was, I AM!” Our evidence in Disaster From Disobedience, A Savior From Before Eden – 1  points back toward Jesus, our personal savior, who was here before the first adam. 

    We then examined Adam’s relationship with God both before and after original sin. Disobedience and consequence of sin follows. Brief glances at scripture will confirm man’s disobedience to the Lord God. Just from part 1 of our series scriptures about disobedience include: Exodus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and the Gospels of Luke and John.

    Scripture – Reading, Study & Application

    We have spent nearly a month [June 2018] just scratching the surface of man’s disobedience to God. Although I have touched on topics preceding the narrative of Genesis, we have much more to consider.

    Our most recent look at Noah brings us only to Genesis 9, on page 15 of 1804 in my HCSB. I could easily envision a ‘Disaster from Disobedience – 30,’ but this is neither a novel nor exhaustive commentary. Today our brief attention spans require both an end to this series and connection to the next. 

    I trust the Lord will lead you deeper into scripture, revealing personal application of good and evil. I encourage you to study books of the New and Old Testaments in depth. To remain obedient to the Lord, we must apply the truth of scripture to our daily lives. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

    These serial scriptural posts designed to incite specific study contain frequent links to Bible verses and study. Take a look as you read.

    Before Israel, Before Abraham and After Noah

    Moses’ five books do not and cannot explain everything. Yet in addition to creation, good and evil, sin, law and some subsequent history, parts of the Pentateuch  provide God-given foundation to scripture’s purposeful truth. I would point you to a handful of concepts not to be missed in these scriptures.

    Noah demonstrates one principle on dry land related to knowing good and evil, after the Lord’s cleansing and recreation of mankind. Although related to worship by Abel and Cain, this principle of good remains more important than any historical detail of the flood.

    The rainbow becomes symbol of the Lord’s agreement. Sacrifice by Noah to the Lord is man’s continuing evidence of faithfulness, gratitude and obedience. Worship of the Lord always requires sacrifice. And right relationship with the Lord becomes a most-personal committed relationship.

    The principle of this solemn agreement is known as covenant.

    Covenant, consequential promise to inviolable truth.

    We cannot study it in any detail here, but covenant always connects a sacrifice to an action with a sealed approval. 

    There is no good without God and no disobedience without disbelief.

    Therefore, inviolable truth always relates both to the Lord and our relationship to others of mankind.

    Truth has no foundation without God and human life no purpose without relationship to both our loving Creator and our fellow man.

    Israel, Abraham, Joseph and other Jews

    One concept important to our understanding of the Lord and promise involves the who, what, where and why of God’s chosen. It is a promised land, you  are a chosen people. Again, concepts too important to slight, yet this series’ focus is on broken promises, followed by inclusion of others in the Lord’s redemptive plan.

    (You can learn much more about God’s redemptive plan by study of adoption;  an inclusive personal demonstration of God’s love we will not explore here.)

    Moses explains nations and outlines their genealogies. Israel had been redeemed by the Lord from Egypt, where Joseph became powerful in the land. Understand that Joseph’s father Jacob holds promise of the Lord’s inheritance for his twelve sons. 

    Genesis 28:

    Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him: “Don’t take a wife from the Canaanite women… 

    3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you become an assembly of peoples. 4 May God give you and your offspring the blessing of Abraham so that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

    Doesn’t this blessing sound somewhat familiar, like the Lord’s command to Adam and also to Noah?

    ‘Be fruitful and multiply…”

    But Jacob is a liar and a deceiver. For he has purchased the blessing of the firstborn, Esau, who had no regard for the Lord. Now Jacob fears the fate of Abel, murdered at the hands of his brother.

    Although the Lord will drive his descendants into Egypt from the promised land, Jacob will receive an inheritance. 

    10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place…

    “I am Yahweh, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on. 14 Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

    There it is: God’s promise, as Jacob flees this ‘promised land,‘ an oft-repeated scenario in Israel’s history.

    Does it seem a familiar story, a middle-east refugee fleeing danger in one land and living as an alien in another?

    Israel’s Serial Soap Opera

    So Jacob’s story gains in complexity (once again, not examined here) and the drama continues. He has four wives (not recommended) and twelve sons. (Daughters receive no inheritance and seldom receive mentions in these genealogies).

    Many years pass and a married Jacob with children hears of and fears Esau’s approach. Once again Jacob hears from the Lord. In fact, he wrestles with the Lord (a most personal encounter).

    Genesis 32:

    Here is first mention of “Israel,” because the LORD makes Israel Jacob’s new name.

    27 “What is your name?” the man asked.

    “Jacob,” he replied.

    32:28 וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא יַעֲקֹב יֵאָמֵר עֹוד שִׁמְךָ כִּי אִם־יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּֽי־שָׂרִיתָ עִם־אֱלֹהִים וְעִם־אֲנָשִׁים וַתּוּכָֽל׃

    28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” He said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.”

    29 Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me Your name.”

    But He answered, “Why do you ask My name?” And He blessed him there.

    Before Israel, God Prevails

    Jesus the Messiah proclaimed, “before Abraham was, I AM!” His reference means more than genealogy, place, Law, leadership or religion, per se. 

    Israel’s father was Isaac,  יִצְחָק Yitschaq (laughter), given by the Lord when a childless old couple doubted any possibility of fulfillment of a promise in their old age.  In fact, controversy yet remains about the first born of Abraham and Hagar, the Egyptian. 

    The continuing drama of Genesis 17 could warrant much more study; but let us concede the meaning of Israel’s name. God prevails. Yes, God prevails even when life drives us in a direction away from God’s promises.

    The Lord’s covenant though Abraham is confirmed:

    18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to You!”

    19 But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his future offspring.

    Before Abraham, many descendants of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth chose between good and evil as they populated God’s creation. And we will see in our next series a continuing theme of disobedience to God by Israel’s descendants as well.

    Why would the Lord choose Israel as a people led by Him? Remember Jacob’s new name means, God prevails.

    Joseph and Israel’s Eleven Other Sons

    We have not yet spoken of the Law of Moses and its defining choices of good and evil. The sojourn of Israel into Egypt and back is yet another story and illustration that God prevails. 

    If you have never noticed a connection between Genesis and Exodus, you may want to focus on Joseph. We tend to see Israel (Jacob) and then Moses and later David as most important to Israel’s history. Yet we often overlook the role and connection of Israel’s preeminent son, Joseph.

    A continuing theme of man since Adam has been disobedience, a theme which we will continue. Moses will give us God’s Law and Joseph will demonstrate God’s goodness. 

    May the Lord walk with you in the wilderness of your heart.

    To be continued in our next series, God willing…