Monthly Archives: April 2019

Jacob’s dream, the gateway to heaven, from Genesis 28:1-17 commented by ASV and questions

April 30, 2019 By in Jacob Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Mentally and spiritually, open

Jacob met God in a dream when he was on his own away from his love ones and all the security he had in the camp of his family. On his own, he was mentally and spiritually open and God gave Jacob all the words he needed to keep his faith alive, in spite of circumstances. He had the revelation that YHWH was there with him, the same God, who his grandfather and father had worshiped and believed in.

This worrier God

Jacob was in chock and fear, he knew this God as awesome, but also terrible, He killed all the people in the Jordan valley with fire and brimstone, He destroyed the four kings and their soldiers from the east, this worrier God was now her all around him, Jacob was attentive and remembered the dream in all its details.

Gateway

This strong and mighty God promised him the land he spent the night in, He promised to look after not only him and his family but also all of his descendants, and to bless the whole world through him. YHWH told him that he was the one to carry the “gateway” to the world, not Esau; God piqued him from his birth to fulfill all the promises given from this mighty and invincible God.

The gateway to heaven

Jacob in his fear said, may be he shouted; “how fearful and awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gateway to heaven.” Jacob talked about himself and his seed Jesus. Jacob did not see this awesome truth but understood the importance of God’s promises and called it the gateway to heaven.

Several gods

Jacob said, “Without any doubt the LORD is in this place, and I did not realize it.” It might be that Jacob believed there were several gods, however, the one that gave him this dream was the God of his father and his name was YaHaWaH, and Jacob was 100% sure of it.

“Walk on Water”

This is wat happens when we meat God by his words, there and then we can “walk on water” we cannot explain everything if someone asks, we just know that we know. Later our conviction might fade in the course of time, and then we need to find the will of God for our life, which will refill us with the Spirit.

Questions

  1. Did Jacob meet the same God that you know?
  2. Is God a soldier?
  3. Is God love?

Isaac blesses Jacob, Jacob leaves for Paddan Aram, Esau went to Ishmael, From Genesis 28:1-9 commented by ASV, and questions

April 29, 2019 By in Isaac blesses Jacob Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

A wakeup call

Now Isaac saw the big picture that Jacob was the one to carry the hope of his family to fulfill the promise God gave to his father. He called Jacob, blessed him, and told him to go to the house of Bethuel to find a wife there, one of the daughters of Laban, Rebekah’s brother.

The power of a blessing

Isaac was the only one of the sons of Abraham that could fulfill Gods promise of becoming a nation and nations, however, it seemed to be a long process, and now Jacob was only one to carry on the hope. However, the faith lived on and Isaac said, “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.” 

The Promised Land

Now Isaac was back on track, saw the fulfilling of the hope through the descendants of his son Jacob, and blessed him with God’s promise to inherit the land they had been sojourning in, the land promised to his grandfather Abraham.

The best environment

Jacob kissed his father and mother goodbye and left for Paddan-aram where the Bethuel family lived. It is easy and common to think that Jacob was a young man when he left, but he was actually 77. The blessing and all the words from his father Jacob kept in his heart, and he knew the name of God, but he had no personal relationship with Him. He now was on his own, and being on our own is very often the best environment to start a personal relationship with God.

Esau wanted to please his parents

Now Esau also wanted to please his parents and went to the Ishmael family to find more wives for himself. The difference between his way of doing it, was fulfilling the desire of his flesh, follow his own thinking contrary to seek the spirit of obedience. However Jacob listen to his mother who remembered the words given to her from God, she had first-hand information directly from God when she in her pain asked God why it is like this when you answered our prayer.

Patience and consistency

Rebekah had “a word” from God, she kept it in her heart and never forgot it and acted on it and Jacob obeyed her, the power of the word made it break through the obstacles of the devil. It is no difference today, if you have received a word from God, keep it, believe it and act on it, it is the most precious treasure you have, however, remember that patience and consistency makes it pay off. 

Questions

  • Do you see God’s plan for your life?
  • Do you have a daily relationship with God?
  • Do you feel an inner confirmation in your heart when seeking God?    

Esau came to his father for his blessing as the firstborn, from Genesis 27:30-46, commented by ASV

April 27, 2019 By in Esau Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The supplanter

Then Esau came with his food made of his pray and offered it to his father, however Isaac had eaten and said who are you? Moreover, when Esau answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”  Isaac understood it all in a twinkle of an eye; he remembered that when Jacob came out of his mother’s womb he held his hand around the heel of Esau. That was the reason why Isaac and Rebekah called him Jacob, the supplanter, someone who takes the place of another.

The firstborn

Isaac had been wrong all his life, now he saw it, Jacob was the firstborn and was on the line to the blessed seed. It was a war going on inside of Isaac between his spirit of God in him and his flesh, and the flesh lost the battle and then Isaac trembled violently, his flesh surrendered to the will of God and he told Esau the truth, “I ate all of it before you came, and I blessed him. Yes, and he shall be blessed.” 

Never saw her again

Esau now hated Jacob and planned to kill him when his father was dead, which he expected to be soon, then after the mourning, he would kill Jacob. Nevertheless, God kept Isaac alive another 43 years. Rebekah heard of Esau’s plans and told Jacob to leave for Haran where her brother Laban stayed with his family.

She advised Jacob to stay there until Esau had forgot about what Jacob did to him, and then she would call for Jacob to come back. However, the situation did not change and Jacob never saw his mother again.

Daughters of Heth

Now however, there was another problem, Rebekah could not send Jacob away without Isaac’s consent. Rebekah used her craftiness and she talked to her blind husband and said, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth, If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Two nations

Rebekah believed in God’s words given to her when she was pregnant, when the struggle between two people was going on in her womb. “The LORD said to her, 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.”  Then Rebekah told Isaac that she could as well die if Jacob took wives from the Hittites they were living among, she wanted Isaac to agree with her to send Jacob to Haran to find a wife there where her brother lived. 

Questions

  1. As a believer, how should you find a wife or a husband?
  2. How important is it to listen to God’s word and remember them?
  3. Are our flesh and spirit good friends?

Jacob cons his father, and Isaac blesses his younger son, from Genesis 27:1-29 commented by ASV

April 26, 2019 By in Isaac blesses Jacob Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Of the flesh

Isaac was now blind and he felt old and close to dying. It now was time to give Esau his blessing as the first borne. Isaac believed in his God, however he was very much a man of the flesh, of his five senses. He called Esau and told him to go hunting and make him a tasty meal so Isaac could feel good and then bless him.

The witness

Esau went hunting to get his blessing; he didn’t bother to mention that he had sold his birthright to Jacob, and that the blessing did not belong to him anymore. It was no problem to Esau, because this deal with Jacob had no witnesses, however, Esau forgot about God, God sees and hears everything that goes on.

Crafty

Rebekah heard it when Isaac talked to Esau, and she knew what to do because God had told her that the older should serve the younger. I believe that she had learned to be crafty when she grew up alongside of Laban her brother. Rebekah called Jacob and told him what to do to con his father to gain his blessing as the rightfully firstborn.

The Holy Spirit

Jacob went to his father disguised, and said he was Esau, but Isaac doubted, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And later he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” Isaac didn’t know what to believe, but The Holy Spirit must have been there too, and convinced Isaac that this son of his was the first borne, entitled to his blessing. 

Blessing and curse

Isaac blessed Jacob, not just for Jacob, but most important for his descendants, Jacob was the son of promise and his blind father said,

“Now may God give you of the dew of heaven
And of the fatness of the earth,
And an abundance of grain and new wine;

29 May peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you;
Be lord and master over your brothers,
And may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed,
And may those who bless you be blessed.”

Questions

  1. How would you describe Rebekah’s personality?
  2. Who in this small family had faith in God?
  3. Where does the blessing come from?

Isaac moves to Beer Sheba, Abimelech, Ahuzzath and Phicol visited him, Esau and his Hittite wives. Taken from Genesis 26:26-35, AMP and commented by ASV and questions

April 25, 2019 By in Isaac and Abimelech Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Just water and supply for the flocks and herds

All the philistine herdsmen were hostile to Isaac’s herdsmen; there was a constant quarreling about water resulting in that Isaac moved his huge camp to Beer Sheba. Isaac like his father had many well-trained soldiers in his camp and was a threat to the people in Gerar if they had made him their enemy. Isaac was a man of peace; his interest was mainly water for all his flocks and herds.

By His name

However, Abimelech saw Isaac as a possible threat, not only because of his soldiers but mainly they were afraid of his awesome God. Now they came to Isaac, Abimelech, his adviser, Ahuzzath and the leader of his army, Phicol. They said, “We see clearly that the LORD has been with you” God’s blessing of Isaac was so obvious that everyone could see it. In addition, what is notable here is that Abimelech called God by his name; YaHaWaH.

“Friends of Isaac”

People in Gerar as in the rest of Canaan had many gods and rites they believed in and one of the gods was the God of Abraham. What they had experienced with Isaac and his father was that YaHaWaH was more powerful than the other gods they knew and all knew the God of Abraham by His name. What they now came to do was to make a covenant, with not only Isaac but to show his powerful and great God, YaHaWaH that they were friendly to Isaac.

Shibah

Isaac treated his “enemies” with respect and they had food and drink in abundance and swore together not to harm each other, Then Abimelech and his men left in the morning and I think that as a result of Isaac’s good behavior, his herdsmen found water and Isaac called the well, Shibah, which became the name, Beer Sheba.

Esau and his wives

Isaac and Rebekah’s sons were now 40 years of age and Esau took two wives for himself, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. I think he married them against the will of his parents, they were against it, mainly because of all the false gods, and their rituals they brought with them, and they were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Questions

  1. How should we treat our enemies?
  2. Why does God love you?
  3. How old was Isaac when his sons were 40? 

Isaac gives the wells of Abraham the same names as Abraham did. Taken from Genesis 26:18-22, commented by ASV and questions

April 24, 2019 By in Isaac reaped 100 times Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Conquering the land

Isaac with his enormous flocks and herds needed many wells to water his animals, and dug open them that his father Abraham had dug, and gave them the same names as Abraham had given them. This was a way of conquering the land by naming the wells. The philistines didn’t like it and came and quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying that the wells belonged to them.

Peace before trouble

They had earlier filled the wells with dirt so the water wasn’t that important to them, they just didn’t want Hebrews and their names in their land. Isaac was a man of peace and kept on digging wells until the philistine herdsmen didn’t quarrel any more.

In peace and quiet

The reason for the peace Isaac had in his heart was his faith in God as we can see here; “so he named it Rehoboth (broad places), saying, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be prosperous in the land.”” Why did Isaac name the well Rehoboth, broad places? It was because the other wells he dug he had to share with the Philistines with all the hostilities and delays, but now he could water all his animals in peace and quiet.

Hebrew text is the original

Isaac said “for the LORD had made room for us”. Isaac waited for the LORD to sort out the problems, Isaac had as his father a personal relationship with his God and he used his name YaHaWaH. The LORD, is not God’s name, the Hebrew word used in the Hebrew text is YHWH and with the vowel a, the name becomes YaHaWaH.

Fit all the pieces together

The only way to keep your calm in every situation in your life is having built up a strong personal faith in God, and then you can leave it to Him, He knows all the details and how to fit them together.

Questions

  1. Is your life too complicated for God?
  2. Do you get angry often?
  3. Are people the reason for your difficulties?
  4. How can we study the word with patience and care?

Isaac moved from Gerar to Beer Sheba, taken from Genesis 26:23-25, AMP, commented by ASV, and questions

April 23, 2019 By in Isaac reaped 100 times Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

God wanted all to know his goodness and ability

Isaac went west to Gerar and God told him to stay there and not follow the crowd down to Egypt. Why did God advise Isaac to stay in the land of Gerar, it is not difficult to understand, it is because God is good and wanted to bless Isaac with all the fields that the philistines left for Isaac to saw in. In addition, He wanted to show His goodness and ability to Isaac and the rest of the world.

Do we understand?

When people came back, from Egypt, they needed bread, Isaac had corn, and he could set the price, God made Isaac extremely rich. Isaac and his family understood that YaHaWaH is a God of abundance, but the surrounding world also saw it. However, do we understand that God is the same today, that He has not changed and never will?

The world is evil, but God is good

In the world, lots of bad things are happening, pure evilness, terror, and one catastrophe after another, the world is floating in the ever-increasing river of immoral, selfishness, unfairness with few having much and many having nothing. The world is set on fire and it will not stop before the Messiah comes. God is not in this evil fire, this is not His work. The world is burning, however God gave you an escape route, and it is heavenly magic. You can save yourself by it, wherever you are and when you want, the recipe is in the Book, for instance in Romans 10:9-13. The world is evil, however God is good.      

Moved away from trouble

Now the famine was over and Isaac moved to Beer Sheba a fertile place further east and south, a place with lots water. Isaac in Gerar was in the middle of hostility, he didn’t feel safe there, he knew that the philistines envied Him however, being a man of peace he moved away.

For the sake of My servant Abraham

God knew how Isaac felt and now was the time to comfort him. On the first night in Beer Sheba YaHaWaH appeared to Isaac;

“I am the God of Abraham your father;
Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bless and favor you, and multiply your descendants,
For the sake of My servant Abraham.”  

It is up to you

God told Isaac that He was the God of his father, by that He assured Isaac that how God had helped Abraham He would continue to help Isaac and his descendants, multiply them and bless them. Then he said that He would bless and favor Isaac. God is a fair God, but He favors His people. Through Jesus, all can become God’s people, and if you are among them, He treats you differently from the World around you.

Good and mighty

Isaac understood and was comforted and felt secure and good, there he loved God and built and alter to worship and testify that his God is good and mighty. Where God met him he wanted to stay, he also found water there.

The city of chess

Today Beer Sheba is a beautiful multicultural city with about 200,000 inhabitants; the place is called the city of chess because of all its grandmasters there. God in the disobedience of the Hebrews spread them all over the world, but now the fugitives are a blessing to Israel when they return. For instance, the Russian Jews brought the chess to Israel, and most of them settled in Beer Sheba.

Questions

  1. Do you understand God’s goodness?
  2. Did Abraham or Isaac earn God’s goodness?
  3. Is God with you?

In times of drought, Isaac planted and reaped hundred times, Taken from Genesis 26:12-17 and commented by ASV, also questions

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

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?