Awesome Hands – part 25: “The generations of Jacob”

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Awesome Hands – Part 25

“The generations of Jacob”

Gen 35:20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.

When I read something like “unto this day” I don’t think of a pillar that is consisting of the stones that Jacob used to build the pillar with; rather, what is it about the pillar of Rachels grave that remains unto this day?

What I think of is Christ being is, was and will be. This pattern that we see Jacob living out is the same pattern we all live out Lord willing.

We see that Rachel in her death was hard in labor because spiritually speaking, counting the cost to walk with the Lord is not going to be cheap. It is not going to cost us a tenth as Jacob promised God, but when God gets done with us it is going to cost us EVERYTHING.

The old man will not go down without a fight, and that is why we are told that we are in constant struggle due to the wars going on in our heavens.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

It is going to take every ouch of Faith that the Lord gives us to quench the fiery darts of the wicked. Satan is very good at his job and His number one duty is to make you DOUBT that the Lord is working with and in YOU.

This whole admonition that Jacob lived out for us is to show us what is happening in us “unto this day”.

With Faith, we can hear what the Lord is speaking through the scriptures.

It is NOW at this point that the Son of the right hand is born in and to us. It is NOW that Christ takes His rightful spot at the right hand of the Father because God now sits on the throne of your hearts and minds.

With this de- throning of the beast, we see Benjamin born in us! The Father, typified by Jacob renames Benoni to Benjamin.

Jacob Himself was renamed to Israel and just because we can see in this type and shadow that Benjamin represents the Son of the right hand doesn’t mean that we can’t also see that we are Christ’s Christ and later will be given 5 times more than our brothers who are caused to persecute Joseph.

Of course, that is for another study coming up so you’ll have to stay tuned to the “Awesome Hands” studies J

It is now finally that we live by our new name in Christ. It is also now, that as we live out our “new name” that we will see that the “first born” [ that which comes first] will lay with the “seed of the bondwoman” and be open about it.

It is in this that we can JUDGE now the house of God.

Gen 35:21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.
Gen 35:22 And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

Israel is now dwelling in the land which is to say to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear that Christ is working in us to conquer these giants.

As will all processes, we will see a third part of the process come to the death of the “old man” in us as we see Isaac give up the ghost.

With this, the house of Israel will be established as the new generation of the “seed of Abraham” who will live out the next part of the plan that God has to reveal to us.

Gen 35:23 The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:
Gen 35:24 The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin:
Gen 35:25 And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali:
Gen 35:26 And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.
Gen 35:27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
Gen 35:28 And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.
Gen 35:29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

We have seen many things happen in the “awesome hands” part 24 study that show us the process that God is using to work in us all the plan He has for “those that love Him.”

We all know that we cannot love God without keeping His commandments, but we also equally know and understand fully that God is control of even our ability to listen and obey Him.

However, we can know with certainty that God does love us because it is when the Lord drags us to Him, through all that He does in our lives and even after “losing our first love,” that He reveals to us that He alone is ALMIGHTY.

Gen 35:11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

The fruit that God tells us to be fruitful with will come as He ordains, and we know that this happens with us as the Lord has already revealed that He loves us and is building up His Holy Godhead in us via the Head and the body.

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Just as Jacob pours oil out at the beginning of his walk with the Lord and vows a vow to serve the Lord, we know that we too will lose our first love and turn our backs to the ways of the Lord.

However, the Lord is faithful in using us and all we do to bring us to the point of pouring out oil and drink so that we will know that we are anointing with the Holy Spirit to be able to keep His commandments.

Gen 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.
Gen 35:15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel.

Eze 39:29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

Rejoice, for you are the temple of God and the house of Israel!

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

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.

“His father was a stranger”

In today’s study, we are going to transition from Jacob’s walk with the Lord to what the Lord is doing with the “seed of Abraham” which comes forth via Jacob.

There are articles on IWWB which cover many aspects of this story, but I want to point out a few that don’t readily come to mind if you simply are reading the text and move quickly through the verses as to you are reading.

Gen 36:1 Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.

Gen 36:31 And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.

There is a lot of genealogy in chapter 36, but verse 36:31 is contrasted with what we are going to be told in Gen 37 which is the focus of todays’s study.

Here is how Gen 37 starts out.

Gen 37:1 And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

Gen 37:2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

Upon recapping which son Joseph is, we see the the Lord inspires the scripture to be written so as to show us that all of his 10 brothers of Bilhah and Zilpah were present during this story unfolding.

Notice, Jacob [ and all this house by extension] dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger.

It is easy to conclude, and we know it is true, that Jacob indeed dwelt in Canaan. However, we know that there is a spiritual message hidden within the words that were inspired.

Jacob, the seed of Abraham is dwelling now in a land wherein his Father is a stranger. In Gen 36:31 we just read that there were kings who ruled over Jacob’s twin brother’s land BEFORE there were kings that ruled over Israel.

Taken all together, we can conclude that we can see that we are being told that in this state of mind Jacob has, in type and shadow the mind of Christ, we are strangers and pilgrims in this land.

The land we are talking about in the spirit is our flesh. Father Abraham is the father of the faithful and that is Christ Himself and Christ is indeed a stranger in the land we came to conquer.

So, when we are being told that we are going to be told about the seed that comes forth from this arrangement, we can know that we are being told about Christ and the church, the firstfruit and the kinds of firstfruits which follow.

Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Jas 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Jas 1:19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jas 1:20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

When we receive the fruit of the Spirit called Faith, we know that it is because it is the Word of Truth, Christ, who is being used to bring about His kind of firstfruits.

With Jacob and his sons which we are going to read about here, we are going to see Lord willing, that in order for us to not only dwell but OVERCOME the land we are in, we must have the Truth as our mind.

Joseph, the fruit of Jacob who is also now Israel, is going to typify those who are going to be used to bring the evil report of their brethren to the Father.

Christ first brings our evil report to His Father and for some, we are molded into a vessel of honor of which the Potter can now use in His house for honor and glory to Himself.

“A dreamer of dreams”

Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Gen 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Since we know that the kinds of first fruits are begat with the Word of Truth, we can see that we are like Joseph in type and shadow.

Like Joseph, we are given Truth which can easily be seen to be different from the truth that our brothers “who are ruled with kings”, kings which are not the “King of Kings”, have.

As we are told plainly that this is Truth and having this name will cause us to be “hated of all men”.

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Rev 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

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.
Rev 3:13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Isa 66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

Joseph’s brothers cannot stand this favoritism of their father towards their brother. Joseph is now 17 years old and time has already elapsed where now this event can take place.

As such, we now see that the Lord takes us while we are very young and promises us that He is going to work with us, deliver us, and make us rulers.

We are going to be made kings and priests who are going to be bowed down to in His kingdom, but in order for this to happen, there is going to be much trial and tribulation, but first we must REPENT!

Mar 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

When we are given to repent, we too will be shown by the Lord that He has a purpose for us in His kingdom and He gives us a dream.

However, just because we are told what will happen and just because the Lord speaks as though it were already so, doesn’t mean we won’t first live out the trials and tribulations that are going to get us there.

In other words, we are going to be chastened and scourged by our loving Father in order to shape us into His Sons of the Kingdom.

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

Like Joseph, we are given a dream of rulership which is going to cause us in our youth to be very happy and almost brag about it, but when it comes to nourishing us, it is going to be very bitter indeed!

With our mouth we go to everyone and tell them the dream we have been given, but what happens after that is going to indeed be bitter in our belly.

Gen 37:5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Gen 37:6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
Gen 37:8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

Rev 10:9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
Rev 10:10 And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
Rev 10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

We are no different from Joseph who comes to his brethren after being seen with this coat of many colors, representing the “more love” that our Father loves us with, in which we also will come with a dream telling our brethren just what it is we are being promised.

We literally are telling our brothers that we are going to stand UPRIGHT and when we stand upright because of the love of our Father towards us, THEY will bow to us and that love.

This will indeed make the old man in them and in us HATE the new name and the WORDS that we speak in this regard. This happens because we have our Father’s name and we SPEAK His Words…. the Word of God.

Psa 119:102 I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
Psa 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Pro 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

Pro 7:24 Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

Pro 8:8 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.

Isa 51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.

Isa 59:20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
Isa 59:21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

Jer 1:8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Jer 1:9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

Jer 5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Speaking of the dreams we have been given and speaking the Word that the Lord has given us will cause us to be hated of all men for His name’s sake.

But, this will not be the only dream. We are given even more dreams of how our calling will play out as the Lord works all things after the counsel of His own will.

Gen 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
Gen 37:11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

“They saw him afar off”

For us, those who are chosen of the Lord, dreams are not all we are given. Not only are we given the Word of the Lord to speak, but we are also going to be put into a position to be sent to our brethren AND to THEIR FLOCKS to see “if it be well with them.”

Gen 37:12 And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
Gen 37:13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.
Gen 37:14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

We have covered these locations in the past studies but as a short recap lets see what we are being told spiritually.

Jacob is sending Joseph north to Shechem. We know that north is spiritually representative of judgment. Jacob is being sent to “try the spirits” in his brothers.

Also remember that Shechem is where the false gods were buried under and oak tree.

Continuing, we are going to see a very interesting lesson be told to us. Where else do we find interesting stories that start with, “and a certain man”?

Gen 37:15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

Does anyone know what the field is? What are we being told?

Mat 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
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;
Mat 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.

Didn’t Joseph just tell his family that his sheaf stood upright but theirs bowed down? This doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me.

Gen 37:16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
Gen 37:17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
Gen 37:18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
Gen 37:19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
Gen 37:20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

Just as Christ was sent to “his brethren” who aren’t really brethren in spirit, we too, are sent to our brethren. Christ was told that his family “stood without” calling Him, we too are sent among those who “stand without” so that we may find those who are “lost”, the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Indeed, Joseph’s brothers will “see what becomes of his dreams” even though they believed they were going to bring those dreams to naught. However, God has others plans He is working with His “awesome hands”.

Mar 3:31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
Mar 3:32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
Mar 3:33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
Mar 3:34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Mar 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Whosoever shall do the will of God, is the brother, sister and mother of Christ. Isn’t that amazing!

If we believe this, then let’s finish this study to see how Joseph shows us how we live this out in type and shadow and in the Spirit.

Gen 37:21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
Gen 37:22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
Gen 37:23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
Gen 37:24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

We start out in our youth in the wilderness being trained up to be kings and priests, but like most things, we must “pay our dues and count the cost”.

Next week, Lord willing, we will continue to see how the Lord works His “awesome hands” in our lives and the lives of those He uses, to bring about the trial, sufferings and tribulations that are absolutely necessary to our spiritual growth into the sons of God.

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

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