Monthly Archives: April 2019

ASV notes on Genesis 26:12-17and questions

April 19, 2019 By in Isaac reaped 100 times Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Isaac planted and reaped hundred times

Wealth and prominence

All the farmers had probably left their land for Egypt and the fields were there for Isaac to put seed in, and Isaac did; “Then Isaac planted in that land and reaped in the same year a hundred times and the Lord blessed and favored him”. In this time of famine people needed bread to survive, and Isaac had lots of grain and he could decide the price and became extremely wealthy and prominent.

Enmity

Isaac had enormous flocks and herds, which occupied the area around Gerar city and consumed lots of water and the philistines didn’t like it, they also had animals and needed water. Therefore, the king Abimelech asked Isaak to leave the area. In everything Isaac did you can sense that He was a man of peace, and when asked to leave he just left and moved down to the valley of Gerar and stayed there. Earlier Isaac’s father Abraham also dug many wells in the area; however, the philistines had filled them with dirt. The enmity with the philistines was there from the time of Abraham when Isaac came.   

Questions

  • Do we need advices when we decide what to choose?
  • Should we seek peace, when opposed or attacked?
  • How should we face injustice?

ASV notes on Genesis 26:7-11 and questions

April 18, 2019 By in Rebekah Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Abimelech, Isaac and Rebekah

Nobody did

Isaac stayed in Gerar and Rebekah was Isaac’s “sister” and by the moral in the area at that time she could be taken and made love to, but nobody did, they waited to see what the king Abimelech did, maybe he wanted her for his harem.

Fear

After a long time in Gerar Isaac caressed Rebekah, his wife in the open outside Abimelech’s house and the king saw it through his window and understood that Rebekah was Isaac’s wife. Abimelech and the philistines didn’t know the God of Abraham, but they feared Him and knew that He protected Abraham’s family.

Who was the guilty one?

The king called Isaac and in anger, he told him: “What is this that you have done to us? One of the men might easily have been intimate with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.” Abimelech didn’t care about Isaac, but he feared his God and told all his people; “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall without exception be put to death.” Isaac like his father made his wife lie, however, God was ready to punish Abimelech if he touched her.

Because of Jesus

The family of Abraham belonged to God as his precious property, and He polished and protected it. If you become the family of God through Jesus, you are His precious property; He will “polish” you and protect you, not because of you, but because of Jesus.

Questions

  1. Do you earn the blessings?
  2. From when, are you blessed?
  3. Why does God look after you?
  4. What is it to be a precious property?

ASV notes on Genesis 26:1-6 and questions

April 17, 2019 By in Rebekah Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Abimelech, Isaac and Rebekah in Gerar

Well of the living one who sees me

Isaac stayed in Negev at the well where an angel met with Hagar Sarah’s maid, showed her the well and revealed that she was going to give birth to a son, about his future and his descendants and to give him the name Ishmael. Hagar called this well “Well of the Living One Who Sees Me” and she was comforted, and went back to the camp of Abraham and served Sarah her mistress.

Land of Gerar

Isaac had his camp there by this well south east of Kiriath-arba, Hebron, when the famine struck this land and He moved his huge camp towards the west to the “land” of Gerar the land of the Philistines, may be they could find more food there for all their flocks and herds.

Who to die and who to live

In Gerar YaHaWaH appeared to Isaac and told him not to travel to Egypt as “all” people did to find food and water, God said stay in the land I am telling you, land here means a part of Canaan like Gerar where the king Abimelech ruled. At that, time the king decided everything, who to die who to live, and who he picked for his harem. Isaac and his huge camp stayed in Gerar, the land of the Philistines and Rebekah was a beautiful lady, and told people that she was the sister of Isaac, this to save his life, she lied.

For you too

YaHaWaH told Isaac about his descendants to be like the stars of heaven and that his descendant, who refers to that Jesus the Messiah, should bless all nations of the world. God protected Isaac, why did He do it, it was not because of what Isaac had done, but what his father had done, and then it must be of vital interest to understand the “work” of Abraham; “because Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”  The faith of Abraham reflects his obedience, is this valid only for Abraham, no it goes for you too!

Questions

  1. How perfect was Abraham?
  2. Did Isaac order Rebekah to lie?
  3. Did Rebekah know how to cheat?
  4. Do we depend on God?
  5. Are you a good person?
  6. Are children born good?

ASV notes on Genesis 25:27-34 and questions

April 16, 2019 By in Esau and Jacob Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Esau and Jacob, flesh and Spirit

The flesh

Esau was a hunter an outdoor man, he lived most of his life in the nature, on mountains, by rivers and lakes and of course he looked fresh and healthy and he steady brought meat for the family. Isaac his father loved what he saw and enjoyed tasting the meat from the wilderness. Isaak lived by his flesh and favored Esau before Jacob.

Stronger than the other

With Rebekah it was different, she remembered what YaHaWaH told her when she was pregnant; “two nations are in your womb; and the separation of two nations has begun in your body; The one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.” Rebekah had her faith in what her father in law had told her about becoming a nation and nations. She mixed Abraham’s word together with what God told her, and knew that through Jacob God would fulfill His promises and she loved Jacob.

The war

When Rebekah was pregnant it was a war in her womb, when the twins grew up it was a “war” between them in the sense that Jacob was struggling to gain the rights of Esau as the first born, because he knew from his mother that it belonged to him. In addition, later when the descendants of Esau and Jacob had formed nations, the war continued.

God saw and heard it

And one day Jacob saw his opportunity when he was making lentil stew and Esau came back from hunting completely exhausted and the fragrance of the lentil stew hit his nose and he asked Jacob for some of it. Esau was Jacobs only brother and normally a brother would help his hungry brother without any conditions. But Jacob and Esau was two different nations and there was a spiritual war between them, and Jacob grabbed this moment and had his brother swear that he had given over to Jacob his birthrights. May be Esau thought that it was only a word between his brother and him, no witnesses, but he forgot about God who heard and saw all that were going on when Esau served his flesh and Jacob served the word of God given to him by his mother. 

Questions

  1. Do spoken words matter?
  2. How do we recognize our flesh?
  3. Does God notice absolute everything?

ASV notes on Genesis 25:19-26 and questions

April 15, 2019 By in Rebekah Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Isaac and Rebekah, the faith and the Word

60 and 160

It seemed that Rebekah or Isaac was unable to have children, and I am sure that they discussed this with Abraham the father of Isaac and He most likely told them that God would fulfill his promises about Abraham becoming great nations in its due time. However, it took 20 years for Isaac to understand where to turn to for having children. Isaac prayed to YaHaWaH believing in God’s promises and Rebekah got pregnant, Isaac being 60 and Abraham 160.

What does, the faith comes of?

Why did Isaac believe in God’s promises, the only reason is because of all the words he constantly heard from the mouth of his mother and father, they told him day by day about all that YaHaWaH had done for them and why his name was laughter, Isaac. Now he prayed in faith and God answered immediately. 

Faith

Why do we have to pray to God about all the promises in his word? He has promised so why can’t He just do it. It is again, this word faith, is which everything pivots around whether we like it or not. In Hebrews, 11:1 we can dig for the treasures buried there. “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].”

Not blame, and the foundation

First, faith is assurance of things hoped for, “things hoped for” is all the promises in the Bible, however, before that you have to establish the foundation, namely that all the words in the Bible are from God, every single one of them. You cannot blame the translations, because you can always go to the Interlinear Bible and look at the Hebrew text in The Old Testament and Greek in The New Testament. First then, when you have decided in your heart that the words in the Bible are from God, then you can start digging for the true treasures buried in the Word.

That is not faith

Back to faith in Hebrews 11:1;  Assurance is what happens in your heart, not in your brain, it is influenced of what you daily are thinking about, but for the assurance to be established in your heart it takes time, the longest distance you ever “walk” in your life is from your brain down to your heart. “And evidence of things not seen” it doesn’t say things that are not, no those things not seen are in a perfect shape and in a perfect world, not like this imperfect world that we can see. Our problem is that we cannot sense them, not see them, not touch them and we don’t like that, we want to confirm it by our senses, but that is not faith.

From hearing

Our hopes are reality, but we cannot see them. Now you know what faith is, the problem is how to obtain it. To dig further we need more scriptures, Romans 10:16-17; “But they did not all pay attention to the good news [of salvation]; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?  ”So faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the message concerning Christ.”

A person

Again there are different steps to take, first we need to pay attention, when we read the Bible it is not like reading a newspaper, we have to look for all the buried secrets there, and paying attention also includes having a praying heart to The Holy Spirit for help and guidance; John 14:26. Then we have to listen to the Word, Jesus, they are spirit and they make you come alive on the inside; John 6:63. They also open up the hearing capacity of your heart; “and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the] message” It is easier to see it in The King James Version; “and hearing by the word of God.” There you can see more clearly that the hearing comes by hearing the Word of God. Let me remind you of that the Word is not a word, it is a person and it is plural and has a name, Jesus.

According to

Now when faith has established your prayer according to the Word, God will answer all the time because He is good.

Questions

  1. Does watching TV affect our faith?
  2. Do books you read affect your faith?
  3. Do people who you listen to affect your faith?
  4. Is the world on your side?
  5. Who is running this world?
  6. How many real friends do we have?

ASV notes on Genesis 25:12-18 and questions

April 12, 2019 By in ishmael Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Ishmael beeing blessed

Hostility

God blessed Ishmael being the son of Abraham, God promised both Abraham and Hagar that Ishmael their son should become a nation, and his descendants drifted east and populated the northern area of the Arabian Peninsula from Egypt to the Persian Gulf. They were in constant hostility towards his brethren, the Hebrews and the descendants of Abraham’s six sons with Keturah.

Credit card

The blessings come because of Jesus and his coming to earth, becoming man and dying for our sins. The effect of the sin in us is annulling the blessings. With Jesus the blessings is already there without you doing anything ells than receiving Him as your personal savior. This is what Abraham did by his Faith in God, giving him a credit card taking out the blessing of Jesus in advance, which also blessed Ishmael.  

Questions

  1. How do the blessings of God work?
  2. Does God bless our family?
  3. Do the blessings of God take us to heaven?

ASV notes on Genesis 25:1-11 and questions

April 11, 2019 By in Sarah dies, Ketura Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment


Sarah dies, Keturah

8 sons

Abraham was 137 years when Sarah died and he lived another 38 years and became 175. After Sarah he married Keturah and had 6 children with her, altogether Abraham had 8 children, Ishmael with Hagar the Egyptian maid, Isaac, the son of promise with Sarah, and Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah with Keturah. Some of the descendants of the sons of Keturah we will later hear about in the Bible.

Not best friends

Abraham knew that the promised people to inherit the land where he lived had to come through Isaac, so he blessed him with all that he had and his other sons he sent east with gifts, away from Isaac and all his flocks and herds. I don’t think Isaac and Ishmael were best friends, but when their father Abraham died at the age of 175 they met and buried him. Ishmael was then 89 and Isaak 75 and they probably found peace together in their grief.

Forgiveness

Today also, when someone dies very often the family members find peace with each other when they meet at the funerals. When the life is over there is nothing more you can do or say to the dead person, however you can focus on those who are still alive and it seems like the forgiveness is there when someone is buried, and makes families stronger.  

Promises

When his father died Isaac had been married to Rebekah for 35 years, but when Isaac was 60 after 20 years with his wife she gave birth to Esau and Jacob, and the twins were 15 years when Abraham their grandfather died.  Isaac and Rebekah lived at Beer-lahai-roi south east of Kiriath-arba, they had no children for 20 years but their hopes were in YaHaWaH, the God that always fulfills His promises.

Questions

  1. How many children did Abraham have?
  2. Can you name the children of Keturah?
  3. Does God always keep His promises?   

ASV notes on Genesis 24:62-67 and questions

April 10, 2019 By in Rebekah Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Isaac and Rebekah, when God is in it

Kiriath–arba and Beer-lahai-roi

Isaac was now in the huge camp of his father Abraham at Kiriath-arba, he had just returned from Beer-lahai-roi in Negev where he lived temporarily feeding his flocks and herds. It was evening the sun was setting and Isaac walked in the field to worship YaHaWaH, his God.

Expectation

Isaac of course knew of Eliezer traveling to his family in the east to fetch a wife for him. Moreover, I believe he had high expectation in his waiting for Eliezer to return with his bride. Now in the cool of the evening he saw camels coming, he must have been excited and started to walk towards them.  

Perfect setting

I believed that Rebekah knew that they now were approaching where Abraham had his camp and on her camel, she must have felt the excitement when gazing into the mountain land ahead. From the top of a camel, you have a good view of the terrain in front, and there a man came towards them. I think she jumped down from the camel, she probably didn’t wait for the camel to kneel, she just jumped in excitement onto the ground and said to Eliezer; “Who is that man there walking across the field to meet us?” God had picked the perfect setting for two people to meet; they both had high expectations, excitement, with some uncertainty.

A young girl and the man that longed for her

Except Eliezer and his men, Rebekah and Isaac were alone, a young girl, may be 14 or 15 as the custom was when marrying, and the man Isaac, 40 who probably had been longing for God to give him a wife for many years. Finally, she was there on the mountain area of Kiriath-Arba, in the evening under the stars, and I believe the moon did shine too. 

He loves you

My advice to young men and young girls is to be patient, wait for God to pick the place and time, He knows both of you, and He knows all that surrounds you, what you have been through, good or bad. He is the God who heals you, and prepares you, He has all the information to set it up with perfection, He is the master and He loves you.

 A gift from God

Then Isaac took Rebekah into his mother’s tent and he loved her. The Hebrew word for love here is aheb; it means to love emotionally, but also to be a friend. Isaak loved Rebekah as a wife, but he also became a good friend to her, treating her with respect because he knew she was a gift from his awesome God. 

Questions

  1. Was Isaac a rich man?
  2. Why did not Isaac pick a wife himself?
  3. What should people do today to find a mate to marry?   

ASV notes on Genesis 24:55-61 and questions

April 9, 2019 By in Rebekah Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Witnesses and blessings

Own ideas

Rebekah’s mother and her brother Laban had their own ideas and plans and said; “Let the girl stay with us a few days—at least ten; then she may go” why did they say that, we can only speculate, may be that they wanted Eliezer to give them more of the treasures they knew he had.

Power of Witnesses

However, some of the family or all the family were also present and Eliezer replied; “Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away, so that I may go back to my master”. Eliezer reminded them that this was the work of God, YAHAWAH, the God, which name they all, knew. In addition, all the family of Nahor and Milcah had witnessed that Bethuel and Laban had promised to send Rebekah with Eliezer to become the wife of Isaac the son of Abraham.

The power of the Spirit

Laban was crafty and smart and with his mother he played his last card, they said; “We will call the girl and ask her what she prefers.” So they called Rebekah and said, “Will you go with this man.”  However Eliezer, trusting in God made the Spirit of God again take over and the girl said; “I will go” the girl was given to Eliezer and they started loading the camels and gave Rebekah’s  maid to go with her. 

Blessing

Then the family blessed Rebekah and said; “May you, our sister,
Become thousands of ten thousands,
And may your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them.”

Children is a resource, they are a blessing and abortion is not only killing babies, it kills the blessing too

The blessings at that time meant having many children that also could have many children, children was the same as wealth, but also security for the old people in the family. The environment was hostile and you needed soldiers as defense, all male family members were being trained to defend themselves, their family and their territory. Blessings were also to grow into a strong army, “to possess the gate of their enemies.” The same goes for today, strong families means many children that keep together in teaching, helping and defending those who are in need, being there for each other.

Questions

  1. Do you know what the Bible says about abortion?
  2. What made Rebekah go with Eliezer?
  3. Do many children lead to poverty?
  4. Who should pick your partner in life?  

ASV notes on Genesis 24:28-54 and questions

April 8, 2019 By in Rebekah Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Eliezer, Rebekah and her family

Laban

Looks like Laban Rebekah’s brother was the leading person in the family, and when he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister and heard the story about Eliezer seeking a bride for Isaak. Laban understood this was the finger of the LORD and on the camels, there were also material things of high value, quickly he prepared the house for the visitors and the stall for the camels and then he run to meet this person with all the treasures.

Things of value

Laban found Eliezer, his men and the camels at the spring; they didn’t follow Rebekah they waited in faith for “the LORD to invite them” and Laban came and did and they followed him and entered his house and met the family of Bethuel the son of Nahor and Milcah. Laban wanted to impress the visitors, he gave all the men water to wash their feet and when they recovered from the journey Laban unloaded all the ten camels, and I am sure he tried to discover all the things of value there.

First things first

When Eliezer had washed his feet and recovered, food was set in front of him. I am sure that Eliezer was hungry, but he was a faithful servant and his heart forced him to put his duty before the desire of his flesh, he said “I will not eat until I have stated my business” and Laban the “leader” said “Speak on”. Bethuel was present, but it seems, as Laban was the man in the house and together with his mother decided there. Then Eliezer told them who he was “I am Abraham’s servant”. Eliezer was proud of being the servant of Abraham, not because of Abraham but because of Abraham’s great God YaHaWaH; “The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great; He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.” According to Eliezer, everything that Abraham had “The LORD” had given him.

YHWH

“The LORD” here has been translated from the Hebrew word YHWH which is the name of God, “The LORD” is a title not a name, this translation in many Bibles is not bad, it is wrong. God wants a personal relationship with you, He is using your name when speaking to you, and you can use His name when speaking to Him.

Can lift you up

Then Eliezer told them the about Abraham, Sarah and Isaac and about his meeting with Rebekah. Eliezer had his faith in the God of Abraham, and told everything exactly as it was and happened. When you have your faith in God and not in people, you feel free to speak the truth, you don’t have to change stories, you don’t have to glorify yourself, you don’t have to talk people down, you don’t have to impress with lies, and God can lift you up when your faith is in Him.

Witnesses

Then after that, Eliezer had told the family of Nahor and Milcah that he wanted to take Rebekah with him as a wife for Isaac. He said; “So now if you are going to show kindness and truth to my master tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left” Eliezer in his story had emphasized God as the source to all that had happened and that God had picked Rebekah as wife for Isaac. Moreover, those who heard the story from the mouth of Eliezer also knew God by the name YHWH, and when Bethuel and Laban agreed to Rebekah going with Eliezer the huge family of Nahor and Milcah were all witnesses.

The worship belongs to God

Bethuel and Laban, his son said; “The matter has come from the LORD; so we dare not speak bad or good. Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken.” The spirit of God was in the air and affected all in the house, and the family promised Rebekah to be the wife of Isaac and all the family were present and heard it. Eliezer could have showed appreciation for Bethuel and Laban, hugged them, and praised them, but again Eliezer bowed himself to the ground and worshipped YaHaWaH, the great God of Abraham.

Gifts

Then it was time to show thankfulness to Rebekah and her family; “Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and articles of clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and her mother” Again it seems that Laban and his mother was the leading persons there.

The Spirit had left

Then finally it was time for food and rest: “Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. In the morning when they got up, Eliezer said, “Now send me back to my master” After a good night’s sleep Eliezer got up in the morning and the only thing on his mind was to fulfill the mission that Abraham gave him. He reminded Laban and his mother of their promise and asked them to send him back to his master. However, the power of the Spirit of God was not there like the day before.  

Questions

  1. How would you describe the faith of Eliezer?
  2. What does your heart look like?