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Awesome Hands – Part 16

“ The labor of my hands”

In the previous study, we have covered a lot of scripture starting with Jacob grabbing Esau’s heel and ending with arriving at Rebekah “putting skins…. of the kids …. of the goats, upon Jacob’s hands.”

If we closely examine God’s will in Abraham’s life prior to this to see if we can see ourselves in His grandson, we’ll see that his and our start is an “un- favored” [ for lack of a better word] one amongst all the people of the “earth.”

Isaac was unfavored next to his brother Ishmael who was of Abraham’s fleshly work with Sarah.

Jacob is unfavored compared to Esau who provides the very meat that Isaac loves.

Jacob comes to be a man who listens to his mother, and deceives his blind father. He does works with his hands which clone his twin brother’s flesh, though it is covered with red hair.

Isaac knew the “voice” of a deceitful Jacob wasn’t correct, but that shows us that the Lord works even Isaac’s “letting that go”, and settling with another confirmation of feeling the hair was to his destruction, in regards to the blessing.

All this led to Isaac giving the blessing away to Jacob instead of Esau and Esau “hates” His NOW BLESSED brother Jacob.

Jacob steals the blessing intended for Esau, and already abused Esau’s vulnerability in “being near to death” when he “traded’ Esau a bowl of pottage.

Praise the Lord, because Jacob is loved and is used…as the third in a type and shadow, which shows us that we are the Lord’s workmanship alone. Brackets are my comments.

Gen 27:41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: [ a coat of many colors stands out] and Esau said in his heart [ a heart of stone], The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

As we saw in the study last week, we have examples, types and shadows in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob which we can see in ourselves.

Gen 27:34 And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.

Gen 27:35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.

Gen 27:36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

Gen 27:41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.

In today’s study, we are going to dive into what we can see in the Lord doing when he causes Jacob to leave for Pananaram in Syria and how that eventually leads to us seeing the next mentioning of God’s hands working in Jacob’s life… and our spiritual life by extension.

It is in the laboring with our own hands that we believe we are serving our fathers house, but we will come to see that our “father the devil’s” house is what we really want to serve.

Gen 31:42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

Ecc 1:1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Ecc 1:2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
Ecc 1:3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

Ecc 2:11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

We want to serve our flesh which is seen in how we do things according to our carnal mind and the pulls of the flesh.

It is in going away to Padanaram which is towards the NORTH, that Jacob comes to find himself in a place of being afraid and finding this place dreadful.

Gen 28:11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
Gen 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Gen 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

As we climb each rung of Jacob’s proverbial ladder from the earth to heaven, we put on the mind of Christ because Christ sits at the right hand of the Father. Christ ascended to the Father to show us the Way to know the thoughts of the Father.

Jacob saw messengers of God traversing the ladder to heaven and they did so with the head- ship of the Lord “standing above them.”

In type and shadow, we are in the third part of the process with Jacob now living out the new man and His full dominion over the flesh. The foundation of Israel is key to us seeing that God works all things.

Gen 29:32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
Gen 29:33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.
Gen 29:34 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.
Gen 29:35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

In Jacob, we see that we are given a dream of heaven and now have access to the heavenly mind of Christ. It is here that we climb the ladder and we are judged now because we come closer to our head, Christ.

“Jacob vows a vow”

Before this happens however, we have a different mind which also happens with Abraham and Isaac.

In the last study, we saw that there is a reason we go south to Gerar just north of Egypt, and we see that it is to be a body who is UNDER a head.

We are sent to the “land of Simeon” which is south to the “land of Judah”.

It is in this step of the process of God working in our lives that we are being sent to learn of the Lord because we are being judged NOW.

We know this, because we go to the land of the brother who has been named Simeon due to the Lord hearing us in the time that “our brother hates us”.

We are sent south of Judah and we know a King who is of that tribe, but before Christ can come to our lives in the capacity of being our Head, we must go back north towards judgment.

Before we can be in the process of bearing fruit, bearing children just as Jacob and Leah do, we must see that we have another Jesus, another mind that we follow. Where is it that we can see this being true in scripture?

Gen 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

And a couple verses later …

Gen 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
Gen 28:17 And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

Remember, Jacob represents in this type and shadow going towards the place where we are going to our father’s house to get a wife.

This is the same place that Jacob and Esau’s mother came from. We are being told very clearly, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear it, that we have been sent north to be joined to our father’s house and be joined to our wife.

This represents our being united with our Husband Christ, and plays out in how we live this out practically in our day to day lives.

Like Jacob, we have lives we all live initially as we are dragged to God through Christ.

We go to serve the Lord, and to do many good works in His name except they aren’t good works.

They are in truth, labors of our own hands and we will see two witnesses to this as we see, Lord willing, ourselves living out our own wants and desires just as Jacob is about to do.

However, as Jacob goes to find his wife [ our Husband Christ in type and shadow] he has a dream.

In this dream he sees angels going up and down a ladder from heaven and as he awakes from this dream and proclaims in fear that this is none other than the HOUSE of God.

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Just how is this temple built and what does it have to do with the house of God?

Zec 6:9 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Zec 6:10 Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah;
Zec 6:11 Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest;
Zec 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Zec 6:13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
Zec 6:14 And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the LORD.

The branch builds the temple, and then we also see how the Lord is going to use the VINES, as the body of Christ … the Christàto build in the temple of the Lord.

Zec 6:15 And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.

After Jacob supplanted Esau twice, how is that we are to understand how the Lord loves Jacob and hates Esau and uses Jacob to establish His church… Israel in this type and shadow.

God is going to use Jacob to do this because Jacob represents those that are “far off”. Do you see yourself in that equation?

Do you see yourself having come to “meet your husband” by Christ coming in your life and shocking you to the point that you KNOW that you DIDN’T KNOW that “God was in this place?”

Gen 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.

The Lord is in the business of building the temple of the Lord of which temple you are. In this building, He also calls us to come to Him and “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”

It is in TRUSTING the Lord at His word and it is in OBEYING Him and His commandments that we come to see that our refuge is in Him but first we must “live out the things in this generation” and that includes us wanting to help God out a little bit.

This is now where we find Jacob and as we read about Jacob going about finding his wife, what does Jacob do?

Gen 28:18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
Gen 28:19 And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

Just as naturally as we want to do, Jacob recognizes God’s presence in his life and Jacob wants to do something to signify this.

So, he takes the stone that he used to rest his head on and made IT a pillar and poured oil on it. Not only this, but Jacob also vows a vow.

Gen 28:20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Gen 28:21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
Gen 28:22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

Does anyone else see themselves in Jacob thinking we can somehow do something for the Lord?

Jacob just had a fearful and dreadful dream of a ladder, going from the earth to heaven with the Lord standing watch on top, and He called this PLACE the place the Lord was in. He then says this is the “gate of heaven”.

Right after saying this, Jacob arises EARLY in the morning and starts to proclaim the name of the Lord, but this is the signification of His start of His walk with the mind of Christ.

Jacob, like all of us, put conditions on the Lord to tempt Him in order to ask Him to show us the Father. In other words, we tend to want the Lord to prove to us that it wasn’t all just a dream.

We want the Lord to tell us exactly how to proceed. We go so far as to name the things that we want to happen and say if they happen this way THEN I know that you are my god.

As if this isn’t enough, we do it so that we can “come again to the father’s house in peace.

This reminds me of another situation where a “coat of many colors” is given to a youngster named Joseph which goes on to reveal to his family the dream that he has.

How much peace was given to Joseph when the Lord revealed what he was going to do in Joseph’s life? How much peace will Jacob have with his brother Esau unless the Lord intervenes?

Indeed, it is BECAUSE the Lord intervenes that Esau even hates Jacob. After all, Jacob was loved from before they were even in the womb yet.

Isa 59:8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
Isa 59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

It is going towards the north to find a wife that Jacob travels, but he had not yet arrived when he received this dream.

We want to come to our father house in peace, so we ask that the Lord show us that this will happen just as Jacob did.

Jer 6:13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
Jer 6:14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Jacob is going to get to his “physical” father’s house to obtain his wife in the flesh, but as we are going to see, Lord willing, the path to the spiritual Father’s house is a narrow way indeed.

Right after boldly proclaiming that we know the Lord and where He dwells and what we are going to do for the Lord, we find that the Lord starts to work in our lives in a different way than we have planned.

Gen 28:22 And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

“A Great Stone upon the wells mouth”

Gen 29:1 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.

Our walk in the spirit with the Lord starts in the east and ends in the west, just the same as we are led by the rising and setting of our physical sun.

When we start this journey, we are going to “come to our brethren” to enquire of the “house of our father” and we are going to have this happen to us suddenly.

Gen 29:2 And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.
Gen 29:3 And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.
Gen 29:4 And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we.
Haran is quite a distance north of where Gerar is. It is easy to see why Jacob in his beginning would ask that the Lord to provide for him the way the Lord does to bring Jacob south from Gerar to meet the “brethren of the house of the Lord” in the north.

It is during this journey that we arrive to see a “well in the field”. In other words, we see Christ in those brethren. We know what the field is.

Mat 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

Of all those who are “in the world”, we have now come to “two mountains of brass” which witness to us because these are pillars in the TEMPLE OF GOD.

We have arrived to see the Lord come out of this field in the form of a well of which WATERS THE SHEEP. We see that out King is in control of it all and He sends His pillars to welcome those who are coming to His house.

Zec 6:1 And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains; and the mountains were mountains of brass.

1Ki 7:13 And king Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of Tyre.
1Ki 7:14 He was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass. And he came to king Solomon, and wrought all his work.
1Ki 7:15 For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.

1Ki 7:21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.

Rev 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

The right pillar is the Lord establishing the door, and the left pillar is representative of the welcoming in of the “body” that will soon be a part of the entire body … the wife of our Lord …, the church.

Jachin is “He will establish” and Boaz is “an unused root of unknown meaning” as defined by Strong’s Concordance.

However, when we look at the word of God and the life and actions Boaz represents toward Naomi and Ruth, we find the root of the seed of the Lord.

After all, it is in the “root of Jesse” that Boaz and Naomi are used to produce, that we see Christ come out from.

Rth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.
Rth 4:14 And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the LORD, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
Rth 4:15 And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
Rth 4:16 And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.
Rth 4:17 And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Rth 4:18 Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,
Rth 4:19 And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab,
Rth 4:20 And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,
Rth 4:21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed,
Rth 4:22 And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.

So, how does this all connect Jacob, Jacob’s “father’s house” and finding Rachel in a field?

Gen 29:5 And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him.
Gen 29:6 And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.

We “find the Lord” in the wife that “comes with the sheep”. We are found of our brethren and are presented with the Lord because those that are “tending to the sheep around the well” are spiritually pillars in the temple of the Lord.

Gen 29:9 And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them.
Gen 29:10 And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.
Gen 29:11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.
Gen 29:12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father.

It is the wife of the Lord that keeps the sheep. It is the “brethren of the Lord” who are used to show us this wife Rachel, who we receive with a kiss.

Conclusion

In part 16 of this “awesome hands” series, we have seen how the Lord orchestrates all things, both physical and spiritual, to bring those whom He is working with to the “pillars of the temple of God.”

This is so that these pillars can be used to introduce the “wife of the Lord’s house” to those whom are coming in to the fold.

Much like Jacob does as He travels towards this marriage, we find the Lord along the way when we least expect it.

Indeed, we are asleep when a “dream of Life” comes to us and we are shown that the “Lord is surely in this place”.

What we choose to do after the Lord comes to us initially, is to take of the works of our own hands, pour oil upon it, and call it the place where the Lord will live.

It is only through the work of the Lord, and Him working all things after the counsel of His own will, that we come to see that even in the physical, the Lord Himself has established the temple in which He will dwell.

God will ONLY dwell in His people, and His people are called upon as He wills.

In “Awesome Hands” part 17, we will continue to learn how the Lord is working in the “house of the Lord” with the foundation being created through the “seed of Jacob.”

Gen 29:12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father.
Gen 29:13 And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.

We are embraced by “our mother’s brother” Laban, but we will soon come to see that we indeed will be deceived by our flesh for even Laban tells us how he intends to deal with us.

Gen 29:14 And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.
Gen 29:15 And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?
Gen 29:16 And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Gen 29:17 Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.
Gen 29:18 And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.
Gen 29:19 And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.

The wages we shall receive will be rewarded according to what we sow to. When we sow to “Laban’s house”, we will soon find that we will have to work yet again to get what has been promised us.

We abide with our flesh long enough to be shown by the Lord that the flesh profits nothing, but in this we are shown the process that we must go through to be welcomed into the true House of the Lord.