[Study Posted November 11, 2017]

As Christ’s firstfruits, we are still living in fleshly bodies with earthly honey and leaven, being humbled and shown our wretched earthly condition by God’s fiery words (Romans 7). Even in this state, while we are being set free from all earthly entanglements and attachments, we are indeed the good salt to those in whatever situation we are placed by God, even as we go through much tribulation daily to be an offering “unto the Lord”!

Lev 2:12 As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them [the honey or leaven] unto the LORD: but they [the honey or leaven] shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour.
Lev 2:13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.

Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Col 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

A few of the natural attributes of salt come to mind. We indeed understand and apply these spiritually (Rom 1:20):

Salt is not always visible in food, but what a difference it makes! It emphasizes the foundation and growth of the faith of Christ in us to affect everything and everyone in our lives. God’s spiritual salt (us) brings healing and salvation!

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Heb 11:2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Col 4:5 (NKJV) Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.
Col 4:6 (NKJV) Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

2Ki 2:19 And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren.
2Ki 2:20 And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him.
2Ki 2:21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
2Ki 2:22 So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake.

Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

Salt preserves freshness. The life of Christ in us is giving us a new and fresh Godly approach to everything we encounter, even when others see things totally differently:

Num 13:30 (NKJV) Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”
Num 13:31 (NKJV) But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”

Num 14:24 But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

Num 14:6 (NKJV) But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;
Num 14:7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
Num 14:8 If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’

Salt binds together in the sense that it spreads throughout the whole meal (the positive application of leaven also connects here = “one event for all”/the whole “lump” will be holy). The one spirit of the Father drags us into the Christ, and elevates us to the one mind of the Christ, being “seated in heaven” through grace and faith (Eph 2:6-10). We learn how to be very careful with the salt (Jas 2:13).

Jas 2:13  For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Num 18:19 All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.

2Ch 13:5 Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?

Mar 9:49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
Mar 9:50 Salt is good; but if the salt becomes saltless, with what will you season? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

Gal 5:14 For all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Gal 5:15 But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another.

(Key verses: Genesis 50:22-26)

We conclude our discussions on foundational themes in Genesis with the final section of this book where the death of Joseph is detailed. The theme of death is indeed the story of the first Adam, and here with the death of Joseph, certain aspects of this theme are again highlighted for us. Joseph lived in Egypt since he was seventeen years old until the time of his death at the age of a hundred and ten years – in total he lived ninety-three years in Egypt, which includes the eighty years as a ruler (Gen 37:2-36; Gen 41:46). The number eighty has the numbers eight and ten connected to it, which in spiritual terms refers respectively to the new man in Christ and the completeness of flesh. It is indeed the new man who reigns over the flesh, as Joseph also is a type of the elect and their time of rulership (Oba 1:21; 1Co 6:2-3; Rev 20:4-15):

Gen 50:22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.

During his time of rulership in Egypt, God also used Joseph to bring his own family down to Egypt. All of that was initiated when his ten brothers sold Joseph to traders, who in turn sold him as a slave in Egypt. However, the natural man cannot see that all man’s thoughts and acts are caused by God, and everyone is actually contributing to fulfill God’s purposes, whether through the good or the evil:

Pro 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Pro 20:24 Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

These truths are not accessible to the carnal mind of the natural man, and this is also what Joseph’s brothers could not grasp, even when Joseph repeatedly told them why all things happened, even the evil they committed:

Gen 50:20 But as for you [his ten brothers], ye thought evil against me; but God meant it [the evil] unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Joseph’s life, as with the lives of his family and all creation in every detail, is set up and being “worked” by God from start to finish (Eph 1:11):

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.

Joseph’s heart was fixed on God’s promises

Joseph’s fleshly offspring through his Egyptian wife, Asenath, were born and bred in Egypt as Joseph was also taken through a process of resisting the manifold temptations of Egypt:

Gen 50:23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.

Like Joseph, the elect are called by God to reckon themselves dead to the flesh with all its desires, even while living in this land of flesh:

Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Throughout his time in Egypt, amidst all the trials and tests, Joseph’s heart was always fixed on the promises of God to his fathers. Even now on his deathbed this was still Joseph’s focus which he also wanted his family to remember:

Gen 50:24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Through God’s words to his forefathers, Joseph knew that Egypt was not the permanent dwelling place for his family and their offspring. Egypt is the type of our flesh which God never intended to be the permanent dwelling for those in the first Adam:

Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity [Greek: mataiotēs = transientness/lasting only for a short time], not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

It is indeed God who subjected this whole creation to operate in the way it does – 100% according to His plan. All physical things were “made subject to vanity”, meaning they were created in a state of transience. All things that were created within this state also operate according to this “very good” plan which God instituted from the beginning – this “very good” plan includes darkness and death:

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good…

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

This is the initial spiritual state of the first Adam and all in spiritual Egypt. Those who can receive it at this time rejoice in the truth that Adam and all in him were not created “in vain” to continue in this spiritual state. God’s glory will eventually fill the whole earth – even all in Adam (1Co 15:22-28). This is the promise of God:

Isa 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

Num 14:21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.

Hab 2:14 For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

Is this creation malfunctioning?

Joseph knew Egypt was part of God’s plan and that one day his family will return to the land God has promised to them. In the same sense, this flesh and all our trials and pain are necessary to teach us important spiritual lessons which we will otherwise never learn. Here are Solomon’s wise words about this earthy experience:

Ecc 1:13 (CLV) I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.
Ecc 1:14 (CLV) I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun, And behold, the whole is vanity [Hebrew: hebel – emptiness or vanity; figuratively something transitory and unsatisfactory] and a grazing on wind.

For the natural mind and those who twist the Word of God, this creation appears as malfunctioning, as they also claim that God is not responsible for this so-called chaos. Those perspectives are grounded in spiritual blindness and are not the truth which considers the sum of God’s Word (Psa 119:160). Here are a few scriptural witnesses to show us that God is indeed sovereign and responsible for all things in this creation, and nothing can function outside God’s intended purpose:

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Jer 10:23 O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

Nothing in this creation malfunctions, because nothing is out of the control of God – that is what sovereignty means. Even Satan, “the waster”, was created for a specific purpose:

Isa 54:16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

This “waster” was a murderer and liar “from the beginning”, and God gave this adversary “power…and great authority” to deceive those in the first Adam (Gen 3:1-5; 2Sa 24:1; 1Ch 21:1; Job 1:6-12; Job 2:1-6; Rev 13:2). Jesus said these words to those Jews who actually believed in him, but followed him after the flesh:

Joh 8:44 Ye [those who reason according to their carnal mind] are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Every creature is doing exactly what God wants them to do – nothing more and nothing less. It is only those who believe in the false doctrine that creatures have a so-called “free” will who will deny this truth. God can do with His creation what He “pleasures” as His counsel will stand (Isa 46:10). He does not need anyone’s permission to mar or make a vain human “pot” (a vessel “unto dishonour” and “fitted to destruction”) at first before He makes it again in spirit – “a vessel unto honour” (Rom 9:20-22):

Jer 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Jer 18:3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

This is what the sons of Israel, and all at their appointed time are learning. There is no malfunctioning in God’s works. We are all clay in the Potter’s hand.

Redemption is a process in the Potter’s hands

The physical nation of Israel which was being formed in Egypt was promised their own land, and this is what Joseph also now reiterates before his death in Egypt:

Gen 50:24 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Gen 50:25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you…

This “visit” of God was, of course, first through hardships in which this physical nation was actually formed and bonded together. As the physical Israel was a type of the spiritual Israel of God, so is the physical land of promise a type of the spiritual inheritance which is fulfilled through the kingdom of God (Rom 2:28-29; 1Co 15:28). Joseph knew that Egypt and all its splendour and glamour was not where he must be, not even for his dead bones:

Gen 50:25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

The removal of Joseph’s bones from Egypt is again emphasising the total destruction of everything associated with this earthy life and “this death”:

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

The removal of Joseph’s bones is pointing to this truth that not even a speck of dust will remain of this creation when the new creation has come in its fullness, even the very substances or bodies associated with these two ages (Rev 21:1-6):

1Co 15:37 And that which thou sowest [in the earth], thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Even in this age this church knows that their redemption from this old heaven and old earth is experienced “from glory to glory” although it is still in downpayment now (Exo 23:30; Deu 7:22; 2Co 3:18; Eph 1:13-14). The whole creation is waiting for the deliverance from this restriction of flesh, but it is only the church of God in Christ who has this hope already manifesting through the faith of Jesus in them!

Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Rom 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
Rom 8:25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Joseph’s body was embalmed and placed in a coffin which again brings interesting insights to the fore.

Joseph’s death in Egypt

Gen 50:26 So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Embalming in its negative application points to our natural attachments to flesh and how the earthy things ensnare us so easily, even coming with a strong desire for a miraculous rapture out of our trials and tribulations. Nevertheless, it is by enduring the trials and going through death which indeed brings the victory over “this death” which qualify those in the first resurrection (Col 1:22; Heb 2:14). We can only rule over what we have endured and overcome – not escaping it, which the whole life of Joseph is such a powerful witness of:

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Embalming in its positive application therefore points to the elect of God who are being prepared for their own burial through trials and tribulations (Act 14:22; Gal 6:1-10; 1Pe 4:12; Rev 15:6-8):

1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

The church is the physical flesh and bones of the spiritual Head Jesus Christ, and if we say we love and serve the Head and ignore His body, we are deceived (Mal 3:16; Heb 10:19-25; 1Jn 5:2-3). Christ’s church is dying to this world and gathered together in that sense:

Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

After being embalmed, the corpse of Joseph was placed into a coffin. This is the first time in the scriptures a coffin is mentioned as being used to enclose a body. Here is Dr James Strong’s explanation of the Hebrew word which was translated as “coffin” in Genesis 50 verse 26:

H727
ארן ארון
‘ârôn ‘ârôn
aw-rone’, aw-rone’
From H717 (in the sense of gathering); a box: – ark, chest, coffin.
H717
ארה
‘ârâh
aw-raw’
A primitive root; to pluck: – gather, pluck.

This is also the first time the Hebrew word “ârôn” appears in the scriptures, and in this instance it is referring to a box in which a body is “gathered” in terms of preservation. The “coffin” in its positive application points to a separation from the world, even as Joseph reveals his faith in the promises of God in this regard:

Heb 11:22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

The coffin also therefore points to those who are gathered together by the death of Christ (Gal 2:20; Php 1:23). This is God’s elect who belong together and are taken to be seated with the Christ (Eph 2:6):

Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Death is a powerful witness of God’s life

God teaches us through opposites. This pattern was established right at the first day of this creation with which this book of Genesis opens – we first experience darkness before the Light comes:

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

When physical Israel suffered through slavery in Egypt, which lasted four hundred and thirty years, this coffin of Joseph was among the children of Israel during that whole period as a powerful testimony. The words of Joseph and the oath of the children of Israel were passed on through generations, as we also read how the bones were removed from Egypt and buried in Canaan (Gen 50:25):

Exo 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

Jos 24:32 And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

Throughout his life we see that Joseph displayed this silent and powerful witness when he was always a living example of obedience to God. Sometimes the vocal Word of God becomes silent to give us the opportunity to be the powerful display of the word and life of God through our works (2Co 3:2-3; Php 1:17; 1Pe 1:15; 1Pe 3:1-2; 1Pe 3:16):

Jas 3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.

This is Joseph in life and in death – he lived what he confessed and was either hated or loved for that. In the same way, the death of Christ and His resurrected life is working in a few in this age to bring forth a good conversation or lifestyle for those around to witness. As the godly wife wins her unbelieving husband to the truth which she lives out, so does the true church of Christ show His testimony also by the good conversation they have in the world “without the word” (Rev 1:1-3):

1Pe 3:1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation [conduct] of the wives;
1Pe 3:2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
1Pe 3:3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
1Pe 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

There is indeed a time to speak and a time to keep silence:

Ecc 3:7b ….a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.

————–

[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

Numbers in Scripture
Gathered Unto His People
Is The Flesh ‘Being Sown’ Our Physical Death?
Is Our Moment of Death Our Resurrection?
Who Is Taken, and Who Is Left?

[by Larry Groenewald – Aired November 26, 2015]

The theme of death concludes the book of Genesis which brings such important spiritual aspects to the fore. Through the time of mourning, the preparations for the funeral and the burying of the dead corpse, so much can be spiritually gleaned as to how we are to deal with our old man. The elect of God know that through the baptism into the death of Jesus, dominion over sin and freedom from the bondages of our old man are indeed achieved (Rom 6:9-17):

Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified [Greek aorist tense = an ongoing process] with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Through the death of Christ and our dying with Him, the resurrected life of Christ is working in us to yield our physical bodies to be “servants of righteousness unto holiness” (Gal 2:20):

Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
Rom 6:19 I [Paul] speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

In the process of dying to the old self, we become the instruments of God to bring healing to this broken world, even in establishing more secure relationships, which we see with Joseph and his family. It was with the death of Jacob in Egypt and his burial in Canaan that the rest of the family of Joseph, especially his ten brothers, finally had to come to terms with their guilt and sin:

Gen 50:14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

On their return to Egypt, these brothers of Joseph finally opened their hearts to him about the things which had haunted them for seventeen years while they lived in Egypt under his care:

Gen 50:15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.

When death occurs, it brings forward the need for healing. In this discussion we will see how Joseph is also the type of those who are chosen by God to heal the broken-hearted:

Psa 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Isa 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.

The natural law versus the spiritual law

When we listen cautiously to what people say and carefully observe their actions, we can detect the condition of the heart. It was Jesus who also declared that from the abundance of the heart “fruit” is brought forth through words and actions (Mat 7:17-20; Luk 6:43-44):

Luk 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

The natural man’s heart is filled with “evil treasures” from its creation by God’s design and purpose, even as the thorns and thistles were part of the six-day creation before their hearts were manifested through sin (Isa 45:7; Gen 1:11-13; Gen 3:17-19; Jas 1:14-15). Like Adam and Eve, we are ignorant of all the evil in our hearts, which is only revealed to us at the appointed time. The brothers of Joseph also needed to come to see themselves for what they were – marred vessels in the hand of the Potter (Jer 18:1-6). First we naturally want to do to others as they have done to us, which is just part of the natural law in our evil hearts:

Exo 21:23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
Exo 21:24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Exo 21:25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

The natural man is an unholy sinful man, and he follows the natural laws of his evil heart (1Ti 1:8-10). This “life-for-life” philosophy, of course, is not what the spiritual law of Christ propagates (Mat 5:38-42):

Pro 24:29 Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I [God] will render to the man according to his work.

These ten brothers of Joseph believed Joseph will act the way they would have done if he were in their shoes. However, Joseph was different from them even as the natural law is totally the opposite to the spiritual law of Christ. Joseph is a type of the new man in Christ whom God inspires to do “His good pleasure” according to the law of Christ. This is a strange thing for the world, as they cannot grasp, for example, how anyone can love the enemies who want to kill them. Those who are dead to self and alive in Christ, follow Christ, and they indeed do His commandments which are counterintuitive to the natural mind:

Rom 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
Rom 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

In Joseph’s time of rulership in Egypt, he actually gave shelter and food to these very brothers who hated and despised him so badly (Gen 37:4-36). Joseph’s journey from the pit in Canaan to the throne in Egypt is a type of the resurrection from the dead for those in the first resurrection. Joseph “kept his soul in well doing” all the time, and this is one of the attributes which they have whom God has chosen to be rulers during the thousand-year reign on earth – those who came up in the blessed and holy first resurrection (1Pe 4:19; Rev 20:1-6). These rulers in the first resurrection overcame the hatred and the despising of their enemies through the love of Christ in them (1Jn 5:1-4). Joseph ruled over those whom he overcame with love and obedience, and that applies to the elect of God. It is only the overcomers in Christ who can “keep His works unto the end” and who will rule the nations with a rod of iron:

Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Even as the hearts of those brothers of Joseph were still as evil and deceitful under his rule and provisions for seventeen years in Egypt, even so will be the hearts of those nations during the so-called millennium period. Joseph’s brothers were in need of correction – their hearts needed to be broken in shivers. Even during the time of the exodus from Egypt, these twelve tribes of Israel were constantly tempting God as they did not obey God’s instructions:

Num 14:22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice.

It needed a new generation to enter the promised land as the old generation, which typifies the flesh with all its unbelief, must fall in the desert:

Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Acknowledging the sin and evil of which we are guilty

Like Joseph, the elect of God is chosen to bring God’s spiritual health to people within their broken relationships. The first thing we see in Joseph’s brothers, which brings a positive step to the healing process, was that they could actually acknowledge the evil which they did to him:

Gen 50:15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.

“…all the evil which we did” is an important step in the salvation process – to give an honest account to God. Acknowledging the evil man of sin in us, and in the process experience shocking revelations about ourselves, is just the “beginning of sorrows”:

Mat 24:3 And as he [Jesus] sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Like all of us believed at one time, the ten brothers thought that by asking and receiving forgiveness for their sin that petition would cancel God’s righteous judgment:

Gen 50:16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
Gen 50:17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father.

These instructions of Jacob are not recorded in the scriptures, except here through the mouths of his sons, but we can see in this how the heart of man works concerning the process of God’s judgment. When the evil of our natural man is revealed to us, we are first obsessed with forgiveness and not with restitution and judgment, which is part and parcel of the process (Exo 22:1-14; Lev 6:2-5; Psa 37:21; Luk 19:1-10). Forgiveness is not a big problem with God as He actually has forgiven us in Christ. However, it is something for which we still need to be asking and also giving to others on a daily basis (Mat 6:12; Eph 4:32; 1Jn 1:8). The purpose for this is to teach us humility which only comes through the whole process of judgment. Humility is indeed an important aspect in the healing of broken relationships (Mat 8:5-10; Mat 9:20-22). This we also see in this approach of the brothers of Joseph after the death of the old man, so to speak. If we know that God is working all things after His will, and He alone is responsible for all things, including the sins we commit, we will know why we need to give an account of that sin when we also acknowledge His sovereignty in everything:

Rom 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Rom 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

It is only through much tribulation that we can enter into God’s kingdom to receive the new heart to walk in His righteousness – His “pure and white linen and having [our] breasts girded with golden girdles”:

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

“…Joseph wept…”

This sounds very familiar:

Joh 11:35 Jesus wept.

We weep indeed when we see the unbelief in them who are not yet given to see what we can see:

Luk 19:41 And when he [Jesus] was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Luk 19:42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

It is actually on the basis of other’s unbelief that we have found how God’s mercy for us works:

Rom 11:30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
Rom 11:31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Deep compassion drives the words and actions of God’s elect to be His instruments for healing. When we cannot see the loving character of God and cannot see His righteous purposes with all mankind, we will believe a false doctrine which paints God as very confused and puzzled as to why His creatures will not listen to Him or accept His Son. This false doctrine unashamedly propagates that a frustrated God who will burn all these evil creatures for all eternity to His delight and pleasure, but the scriptures are clear that this concept of an eternal hell never entered God’s mind:

Jer 7:31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.

God is in total control of everything and has a perfect plan, which is still working 100% since its inception. It is the “high places” in the pride-filled minds of evil men where this belief that God will burn His sons and daughters in a literal fire “for ever and ever” is promulgated. God in His love indeed recompenses and judges evil and disobedience with His “sore judgments”, which include His spiritual fire (Jer 5:14; Jer 23:29; Eze 14:21; 1Co 3:13-15; Heb 12:29; Rev 20:11-15). Although Joseph tormented his brothers when they came to Egypt to buy food and they could not recognise him, he still loved them and had compassion on them. Joseph could not be this person if he did not go through the very same process of humiliation and judgment ahead of his family – this is the “two-edged” principle of God’s Word (Psa 149:4-9):

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

What applies to others, indeed applies to us. God’s righteous torment in His judgment is first on our own old man before we are given the “honor” to execute judgments on others – when the beam is removed from our own eye (1Pe 4:17; Psa 149:9; Mat 7:5). It is the angels, who are the servants and messengers of God, who are carrying and bearing the plagues before they are given to all others to allow them to enter God’s holy temple (Gal 6:17; 1Pe 4:17):

Rev 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

We learn through this first-hand experience that His judgment is indeed merciful and loving toward every spiritual son He receives (Heb 12:6). It is not an eternal thing, as Joseph’s brothers also believed that Joseph was keeping the evil which they did to him in his heart all those years. This false doctrine that God’s vengeance and anger goes on forever and ever, as some translations have it, is such an evil accusation against a holy and forgiving God. God is purposeful in everything He does. Yes, even His torment has an aim in mind – it does not continue “for ever and ever” as that is not a good translation of the Greek word “aiōn” (age):

Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever [Greek: “eis aiōn aiōn” = the eons of the eons]: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

The words “here is the patience of the saints” give us an idea what this torment of God will achieve in us. When God’s purposes are fulfilled, the torment also will end – and for all eventually!

Gen 50:17 …..And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
Gen 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.

Every knee will bow before Jesus when they can see what the plan of God was all about – to receive the spirit of God and to be His children:

Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1Co 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

Vengeance indeed belongs to God

God will never leave sin to continue forever in His creation, or go unpunished. We can trust in His righteous, yet merciful, judgment. Joseph knew that vengeance is not his, but God’s prerogative:

Gen 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?

We should not fear man, but we do fear God, for vengeance belongs to Him alone:

Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

These words of Joseph did not give his brothers an escape route. It just confirmed here that judgment will be fulfilled in the second resurrection for all who are not part of God’s elect (Rev 20:11-15). Evil and sin is extremely the opposite of God’s holy character, and this is also what Joseph wanted to emphasize here in these words:

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me….

It is only God who can use evil for good, as He also warns us in these words:

Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

We fear God alone, and we do not see the hand of evil man as separate from the hand of God. This is how we know that even Satan is God’s hand, as God puts forth Satan to bring torment to Job:

Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Job 2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

Joseph knew how God worked through them, but his brothers had a limited and restricted view of what God was doing. Their evil thoughts and deeds against Joseph were indeed coming from their hearts, even as God controls the “preparation of the heart of man” and knows our thoughts “afar off” (Pro 16:1; Psa 139:2):

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me, God meant it [the evil] unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Joseph comforted his brothers

From the viewpoint of the natural man, things are out of control, and this brings panic to the carnal mind. From God’s point of view, His heavenly view which He shares with His elect, this is all 100% on track as He planned it before the beginning of this physical or carnal age:

1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Like Joseph, Christ will nourish everyone He created in Adam, and He will speak kindly to them:

Gen 50:21 Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

When we have come through the trials and tribulations of this life, we are comforted by God to know why it all happened. With that comfort we reach out to others in sincerity and truth:

2Co 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
2Co 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2Co 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
2Co 1:6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.
2Co 1:7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

Dealing With The Feelings of Guilt
God’s Purpose for The Millennium
The Hem of His Garment
Every Man’s Hand Against His Neighbor
A Manifest Token of The Righteous Judgment of God

(Key verses: Genesis 50:4-13)

The theme of death concludes the book of Genesis as we read about the deaths of two of its more prominent characters, namely Jacob and Joseph. First, we read about the death of Jacob after he lived for seventeen years in Egypt:

Gen 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

In our previous discussions on this theme of death, we touched on how we all are first “gathered unto [our] people” in spiritual death via the first Adam before we will be “gathered unto [God’s] people” in Jesus Christ by dying to that old man Adam in us (Gen 2:7; Jer 18:4; Rom 5:12; Rom 8:20; 1Co 15:22-31). It is indeed through death that God ordained that His children will eventually “find” spiritual life through Jesus Christ:

Mat 10:38 And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.

1Co 15:31 I [the apostle Paul and all “in Christ”] protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

In the process of dying with Christ to this earthy life, we are given the rulership “on the earth” and a spiritual seat in the heaven (1Co 6:2-3; Heb 2:8; Rev 1:17; Rev 20:4-6):

Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Eph 2:6 (GW) God has brought us back to life together with Christ Jesus and has given us a position in heaven with him.

Death has many facets, and one of these is mourning, which brings other aspects to the fore, as we read how Joseph and those in Egypt mourned the death of Jacob:

Gen 50:1 And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.
Gen 50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

We understand that mourning is a vital part of the healing process which God instituted, and few can understand why the “house of mourning” plays such an important part in God’s salvation plan:

Ecc 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

It is of great comfort to know why “the house of mourning” is better and why the beloved in Christ “lay [this] to [their] heart”:

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

The “much tribulation” is part and parcel of our qualification to enter and be seated with Jesus Christ:

Rev 15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Mourning links to the recognising and acknowledging of our spiritual poverty in flesh which the proud in heart cannot receive, even as these words of Jesus make no sense to those who seek the house of mirth:

Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

We can only mourn when we are aware that our old man hates Jesus Christ and how our old ways of thinking oppose the doctrine of Christ. We indeed murder Christ and those who come in His name as we naturally hate the truth and those who associate with truth:

1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Mat 23:35 That upon you [we as part of the evil and perverted generation of flesh] may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Mat 26:27 And he [Jesus] took the cup [symbolising His blood that was shed], and gave thanks, and gave it to them [His disciples], saying, Drink ye all of it.

The voice of mirth shall be taken from all at the appointed time and reveal flesh for what it really is:

Jer 25:10 Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle.

Preparations for the burial of Jacob

Another aspect of death is that it requires a burial, and in this earthly ritual, we also learn so many spiritual lessons (Rom 1:20). The scriptures are silent on burials from the first death which happened on the earth, namely that of Abel, who was slain by his own brother, Cain (Gen 4:8). No mention is made how the bodies of dead humans were discarded early on in the book of Genesis. It was only when Sarah died that the first mention of burials is recorded in the scriptures (Gen 23:1-2):

Gen 23:19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
Gen 23:20 And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace by the sons of Heth.

Although many other burials are mentioned only briefly in the book of Genesis after this burial of Sarah, more details are given here relating to the preparations for the burial of Jacob (Gen 25:9; Gen 35:8; Gen 35:16-20; Gen 35:27-29). It is even in these that we also learn how to discern and follow the narrow way. There is indeed a difference in how the world handles death and mourning:

1Th 4:13 But I [Paul] would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

With the death of Jacob in Egypt, it is the first time we read about the embalming of a corpse in the scriptures – it actually took forty days within this extended time of mourning of seventy days!

Gen 50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

In its negative application, embalming typifies the preservation of the flesh, and this is how the world also wants to remain attached to their dead. The positive application of this embalming process and the preparation for burial is seen in how we treat the body of Christ, the church, in their own time of dying to self (Pro 19:17; Mat 25:35-40; Mat 26:6-13; Joh 12:3-8; Php 2:4; Heb 13:16; Jas 1:27; Jas 2:14-17):

Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

The physical body of Christ, His church, needs to always be prepared for burial as we indeed bear each other’s burdens fulfilling the spiritual law of Christ (Mat 27:57-59; Joh 19:39-40):

Mat 26:12 For in that she [Mary with her alabaster box with ointment] hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
Mat 26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Isa 58:7 Is it [the fast God has chosen] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Egyptian Excessiveness

Egypt is known in the scriptures for its extravagant excessiveness and worldly wisdom which supplies the “flesh pots” that our natural man always yearns for, which is then taken to its maturity in its negative application during our time in spiritual Babylon (Gen 12:10; Gen 41:57; Isa 31:1; Jer 46:20a; Act 7:22; Rev 18:9; Rev 18:11-13):

Exo 16:3 And the children of Israel said unto them [Moses and Aaron], Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

The world and its spirit are typified by Egypt – all “the doings of the land of Egypt” is what God warned Israel about:

Lev 18:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Lev 18:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.
Lev 18:3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do….

The narrow way is the life of moderation (Pro 30:8-9; Php 4:11-13):

Php 4:5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Egypt also points to the idolising of flesh:

Eze 20:7 Then said I [God] unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Eze 20:8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

We know that the flesh and the spirit of God are “contrary one to another”, and two cannot walk together except they agree (Amo 3:1-3; Rom 8:5-7; Gal 5:17). The mature in Christ make a clear difference between “the unclean and the clean”, which is why “the doings of the land of Egypt” must be taken from us:

Lev 11:45 For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
Lev 11:46 This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth:
Lev 11:47 To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.

The celebrations and the emphasizing of flesh is how the world stays focused on the old man, and this includes elaborate celebrations of earthy things. It all starts with the celebration of birthdays, and in a sense the celebration of birthdays embalms or memorialises the old man! It is therefore not strange that the first time the celebration of birthdays is mentioned in scripture, it is connected to the Pharaoh in Egypt:

Gen 40:20 And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
Gen 40:21 And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:
Gen 40:22 But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

Joseph is a type of the new man, and it is indeed in the celebration and memorialising of the old man that the new man is left out and even forgotten:

Gen 40:23 Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

It is with this background that the time of mourning and the preparations of the burial of Jacob should be understood. The preparation for Jacob’s funeral is also the first time in the scriptures where such a long period of preparation for a burial is seen. Although God’s elect indeed goes through intensive trials and tribulations, God always cares for them. God does not pay so much time and attention to flesh, which is a big stumbling block for many:

Psa 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
Psa 34:20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

Although Jesus’ death on the cross took a few hours, crucifixion was a very agonising experience and great in intensity, in terms of pain and suffering. His burial was also done without much ado:

Joh 19:38 And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
Joh 19:39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
Joh 19:40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Joh 19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.

Throughout the New Testament not much is written about preparations and the funeral itself. Besides the burial of Jesus, the burials of only Lazarus (Joh 11:44), Ananias (Act 5:6) and Dorcas (Act 9:37) are briefly mentioned. The way the world does things is indeed different from the way God’s children do things. The world cannot let go of this old man, and even in death it wants to preserve flesh as they believe God cannot even create a new body in the resurrection, which is 100% different from the one which was buried (1Co 15:35-50):

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

Permission to bury Jacob in Canaan

The apostle Paul gives us direction how to behave when we are guests in another’s company:

1Co 9:20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
1Co 9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
1Co 9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
1Co 9:23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

As children of God we are indeed strangers and pilgrims in this world, and we need to be respectful and in subjection to those God also appoints to be in rulership, unless they demand of us to disobey the doctrine of Christ:

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 13:5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Rom 13:6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Joseph and his family were living with the Pharaoh’s permission in Egypt, who helped them in the time of famine and even gave them a very fertile area in Egypt, namely Goshen. It is with all this in mind that we should understand why Joseph respected and subjected himself and his family to the traditions of Egypt. Although he was second in command in Egypt under the Pharaoh, Joseph humbled himself and did not even approach the Pharaoh directly for permission to bury his father in Canaan:

Gen 50:4 And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
Gen 50:5 My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again.
Gen 50:6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.

All the servants of Pharaoh and the elders of his house and that of Egypt accompanied Joseph and his family to the burial site in Canaan. It was indeed a funeral of note:

Gen 50:7 And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
Gen 50:8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
Gen 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.

It is also interesting to note that they entered Canaan from the east side via the river Jordan where Joseph again called a period of seven days for mourning:

Gen 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

The threshingfloor of flesh

The idea of a threshingfloor indeed helps us to see the dying daily process of the old man which includes the baptism in the fire of God to bring forth the new man in Christ:

Mat 3:11 I [John “the baptist”] indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Mat 3:12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

There are many references to threshing in the scriptures where the concept of separation is highlighted (Isa 28:23-28). It is within our time in spiritual Babylon that God’s judgment will start to bring us “out of her, my people” when the time of the harvest has come in our lives when the tares and wheat are separated (Mat 13:24-30; Rev 18:4):

Jer 51:33 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

The temple of the Lord in us is built on the basis of the sacrifice of a life on the altar, as also seen when King David bought the threshingfloor from Araunah:

2Sa 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
2Sa 24:25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

This altar or table of God is only reserved for the elect of God in this age, as they know it takes the removal of our old man for the new man to be established in God’s temple:

Heb 13:10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Heb 13:11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Heb 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

As Uzza was killed by God at the threshingfloor of Chidon for putting forth his hand to the ark, so we realize, like king David, that it is not our works or our ideas that will bring the ark of God into His temple, but the work of Christ in us:

1Ch 13:9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
1Ch 13:10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.

It is the Canaanites and the Egyptians in us that will indeed have grievous and excessive mourning as they mourn having no hope:

Gen 50:11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan.

Jacob’s own sons carried him into the land of Canaan to bury him there:

Gen 50:12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them:
Gen 50:13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

We As His Disciples
Ecc 6:1-6
Ecc 7:1-9
Keep Them in This World
Gathered Unto His People
Is The Flesh Being Sown Our Physical Death?

(Key verses: Genesis 50:1-3)

God is the only Creator of all things, including the evil and the darkness:

Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil [Hebrew: ra]: I the LORD do all these things.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil [Hebrew: ra].

Even the wicked were made by Him for Him:

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked [Hebrew: râshâ] for the day of evil.

The belief that evil and death are not God’s creations is given to satisfy the idols of the unbelieving carnal heart which holds on to false doctrines such as the so-called fall of man and that God’s creatures can come up with evil on their own through their fabled “free” will. The scriptures are clear that man was never a perfect sinless creature, and there is only one free will, which belongs to the Father, who works “all things” 100% after His counsel (Gen 1:2; Gen 2:7; Gen 2:25; Psa 51:5; Ecc 6:10; Isa 63:17; Jer 18:4; Rom 8:20):

Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.

Since the scriptures declare God to be the only Creator of all things, including the darkness and evil, it is hard for many to understand how these works of God can also be classified under the words “very good” and “perfect”:

Gen 1:31 And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Deu 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

God’s perfect plan for the first Adam is one of the best hidden mysteries in scripture, and few can see how darkness, evil, and even death, can be part of that “very good” plan. God is indeed not busy with a restoration plan, but with His original perfect plan. For those who are given the faith to grasp the truth in God’s word, it is clear that God is in the process of making the Adam in His spiritual image through Jesus Christ. God appointed Jesus Christ to be the Saviour (making whole/Completer/Finisher/ Perfector) of all who were made in the first Adam before the creation (Heb 12:2):

1Jn 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.

It was not an afterthought or an emergency rescue plan of God that Jesus would come in flesh to be the Saviour of the world. It was part of the perfect plan of the Father that the first Adam would first live an earthy life in bondage to darkness and death, and through this evil experience learn obedience to eventually receive perfection (Joh 1:1-14; 1Jn 2:16; 1Co 15:45-50):

Heb 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Heb 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Heb 2:11 For both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he [Christ] also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Heb 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.

God purposely established death to be an important part of our spiritual development to which most are still blinded:

Ecc 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

God is achieving this death and blindness through the spirit of the world in each person created in flesh, which is totally the opposite to the spirit of God:

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

The earthy man was created a “wretched man” who lives with death, and this acknowledgement is vital to our salvation and peace:

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25a I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…

In our last discussion we touched on this theme of death as it is used to conclude the book of beginnings, namely Genesis. God indeed declares the end from the beginning, and in this sense we know that death is part of God’s “very good” counsel:

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.

Death gathers us to our people

The Hebrew word for death is “mûth”, and of all the books of the Old Testament it is in the book of Genesis where this word appears second most – 78 times following behind the book of Numbers with 81 times. Genesis ends by detailing the deaths and burials of two of its most important characters, Jacob and Joseph. First we read that Jacob was “gathered unto his people” in death:

Gen 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

We also discussed how these details about Jacob’s death helps us to understand how we are all born spiritually dead within this marred physical existence and are gathered to the first Adam in that sense (Gen 2:7; Jer 18:4; Rom 5:12; Rom 8:20; 1Co 15:22a).

We also are gathered to Christ and His people through death, which makes death yet again such an important aspect in the salvation process. Dying daily (with Christ) to this physical Adam with all his attachments in us and putting the flesh under our feet is how God ordained that we can find Jesus Christ and also be gathered to Him and His people (Mat 16:24; Luk 12:50; Act 2:38; Act 8:16; Rom 6:1-4; Rom 13:11-14; Gal 3:27):

Mat 10:38 And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

We discussed that we, like Jacob, also “gather up [our] feet” to rule with Christ to “put all enemies under [our] feet” (Heb 2:8; Rev 1:17):

1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We also touched on the truth that all physically dead people “are perished” having no knowledge or remembrance of anything:

Psa 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee [God]: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Psa 115:17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.

Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecc 9:6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Even those believers who have died already are still “asleep in Christ” and “are perished”:

1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

It is only at the coming resurrection, the first resurrection, that God’s elect will also finally receive the fulfillment of being “gathered unto [God’s] people” when the fullness of God’s spirit and immortality is given (Rev 20:4-6):

1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Another aspect of death is seen after the death of Jacob in Egypt:

“Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.”

Gen 50:1 And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him.

Death is a devastating reality, but God in His mercy has devised means through which He works to give us victory over everything in this life, even death. One of the things God designed to help us handle the death of a loved one is the aspect of mourning. Throughout the scriptures we see how this is portrayed, and we also see different facets of mourning (Gen 23:1-2; Gen 37:34-35; Exo 33:4; Num 20:29; Deu 34:8; 2Sa 1:11-12; Job 1:20-21; Isa 22:12; Eze 27:30-32; Mat 2:18; Act 8:2). Mourning is a vital part of the healing process which God instituted after death or when other heart-breaking events occur in our lives. Just as the book of Genesis is full of death, it is also filled with mourning in various applications. For example, when Adam and Eve discovered their physical naked condition and that God’s sentence of death will be fulfilled in them, they initially thought they could hide from God and His judgments:

Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

It was King David who also confirmed this natural desire in us to hide or escape when our natural man is confronted with his earthy condition through pain and death:

Psa 55:4 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
Psa 55:5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
Psa 55:6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Psa 55:7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.
Psa 55:8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.

Mourning expresses our natural inability to confront our old man and all the evil associated with it. It is through God’s judgment, His “terrors” to the flesh, that God actually brings His life, truth and righteousness to us (Job 31:23; Isa 10:33; Isa 26:9; Jer 32:21; 2Co 5:11):

Deu 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

For the natural man it is impossible to understand and to accept that God’s perfect works include His judgment. All things are from God, and our flesh wants to avoid God and His judgment because it cannot see the road to true happiness and joy. Flesh believes it deserves blissful pleasures, glamorous entertainment and constant thrills as if that is not also a gift from God which He gives freely to them who can give Him glory in all things (Ecc 6:2). Mourning and weeping is something the flesh wants to avoid at all cost. Jesus sounded the warning for all to hear:

Luk 6:25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

It is also the wisdom of God through Solomon who wrote these words when he also was in mourning over a wasted life:

Ecc 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

Jesus came to earth to show us the way to life, because even Jesus was not unknown with sorrow and grief when He walked in His earthy house of flesh:

Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Recognising and acknowledging our spiritual poverty in flesh

The words of Jesus concerning the blessedness of mourning confuse the natural mind:

Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Mourning associates with the initial shocking revelation that the flesh is a temporary creation and needs a spiritual conversion when our old man is replaced by the new man in Christ. This conversion is initiated when we are shocked, and we mourn when we find out that our spiritual Bridegroom is not in the bride chamber when we follow “Christ after the flesh” (Act 2:16-20; Act 9:1-9; 2Co 5:16):

Mat 9:14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?
Mat 9:15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

We mourn because we discover we are guilty of the blood of all the prophets and even the blood of Jesus:

Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Mat 26:27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it.

The revelation of Jesus through His spirit starts with this unveiling of our old man and the complete understanding of our flesh with its earthly connections and deadly convictions and beliefs (2Th 2:1-4). As we did not choose our physical condition, we also do not choose this conversion process, but the Father in His love drags us to see the Christ, and that road goes through much tribulation and groaning (Joh 6:44; Joh 15:16; Act 14:22; 1Pe 4:12; Rev 15:6-8):

Psa 31:9 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
Psa 31:10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.

Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

2Co 5:4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

“Godly sorrow” versus “the sorrow of the world”

There is a type of mourning that is not acceptable to God:

Deu 14:1 Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

When we have a lack of spiritual insight, we also have no idea of the estate of the sons of man or what death entails (Ecc 3:18; Rom 8:5-8). We will also not know how to mourn properly for one’s dead. Job, who suffered the death of his ten children together with all his physical riches, could not see the stumbling block of self-righteousness and death in his own heart. He did not know how to mourn properly as he was contending with God and wanted to disannul God’s judgment which actually, in the end, revealed this sad state of his heart to him (Job 40:1-8). Those who know the doctrine of Christ, also know that it takes a long time of contending with God to finally reach the point where we learn how to lay our hand upon our mouths. Then we learn that “the end of a thing [is better] than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit” (Ecc 7:8-9):

Job 40:3 Then Job answered the LORD, and said,
Job 40:4 Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.
Job 40:5 Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I will proceed no further.

Pro 14:16 A wise man feareth [God], and departeth from evil [his dead old man]: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

There is a difference between how the world mourns and how the child of God mourns as we also see in the way the Egyptians mourned the death of Jacob. First, we see the need for embalmment of a corpse:

Gen 50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.
Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

In its negative application, embalmment is a type of preservation of the flesh, and this is how the world also remains attached to their dead. Even some disciples of Jesus prepared Jesus’ body after His death for burial (Mat 27:57-59; Joh 19:39-40). Naturally we cannot let go of the fleshly shadows and the images of the world. Although the carnal mind also has limited spiritual insight, having a heaven or mind which can make abstractions, even making “fire [to] come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men”, the carnal mind cannot move to the level of applying the spiritual things in themselves (Luk 21:17-19; Rev 1:1-3; Rev 13:13-14):

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The time period for embalmment of Jacob’s corpse in Egypt lasted for forty days, which again shows our natural attachment to flesh – the number four, which indicates the whole, combines with the number ten which signifies the “perfection” of flesh or our faith in our own works (Eze 1:5; Mat 7:22-23; Rev 7:1; Deu 4:13). It is also said that the Egyptians mourned the death of Jacob for seventy days:

Gen 50:3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.

Joseph later called for a seven-day period of official mourning for Jacob’s families when they reached the borders of Canaan. This difference in the number of days is very insightful, as the world’s mourning shows so much more pain and affliction because of their blindness:

Gen 50:10 And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days.

The positive application of this embalming process and the preparation for burial is seen in how we treat the body of Christ, the church, in their time of dying to self (Mat 26:6-13; Joh 12:3-8):

Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

It is indeed the “meek in heart” which are “poor in spirit” that will mourn truthfully as they hunger after righteousness:

Mat 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

The sorrow of the world indeed “worketh death” but Godly sorrow brings about a change in our hearts and in our actions:

2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2Co 7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

—————-

[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:
Live While We Are Dying
Rev 14:13-20
Ecc 7:1-9 “The Day of Death”
Gathered Unto His People
Is The Flesh Being Sown Our Physical Death?
The Meaning of The Power of Death

(Key verses: Genesis 49:28-33)

[Updated June 5, 2023]

The book of Genesis opens with the record of the creation narrative, and in a sense, it reveals a birth process which took six days (Gen 1:1-31; Exo 20:11). The beginning of physical life is also seen in two individuals, namely Adam and Eve. Genesis, on the other hand, closes with the record of the end of two lives, that of Jacob and Joseph. For the natural mind, any book that concludes with death is indeed not a good ending for a book. However, the theme of death is one of the most powerful themes in the book of Genesis and the entire scriptures. If we have been given eyes to see the plan of God with the first Adam, we will also see that death is but a temporary creation of God through which He will bring forth a glorious new creation (Gen 2:7; Gen 3:19; Job 7:7; Psa 90:5-6; Psa 144:4; Jas 4:14; 1Co 15:22-28). For those who can receive this truth, it is clear that God has created death as a means by which the first Adam must live first, before God is bringing His splendid spiritual creation for all in Adam, for everyone in his own order:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down [Hebrew: katargeō – to render something entirely useless] all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed [Hebrew: katargeō] is death.

God is indeed in the process of “creating” humanity in His spiritual image:

Gen 1:27 (CLV) And creating is the Elohim humanity in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates it. Male and female He creates them.

For us to be ending our discussions on foundational themes in Genesis with this theme of death is therefore a very appropriate ending for the following reasons, as so eloquently expressed by the wisdom of God through Solomon:

Ecc 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.
Ecc 7:2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.

The “house of mourning” is another way of seeing what this fleshly life is, and how few can accept this truth when they follow the strong and convincing delusions of flesh. It is only through the wisdom of God that we can have true joy within this earthly house when we know why we are here and what the purposes of death and all its facets are:

Ecc 7:4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

All life in this creation is what death is about, although it is only visible at times for some when they experience the inevitable decay in themselves or when someone or something physically dies:

Psa 89:48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

The answer to this question is, “No. No one can deliver himself from the hand of death as death is part and parcel of this earthy life.” Not seeing this in its entire application is the reason why the old serpent could get his initial lie to Adam and Eve, which is still engraved in the natural mind:

Gen 3:4 (LITV) And the serpent said to the woman, Dying you shall not die.

Death is indeed devastation, and that is why flesh has no way to handle even the thought of the death, especially the death of self and that of a loved one. We learn throughout the scriptures that we cannot put our trust in temporary things as they are contaminated with death (Isa 2:22; Rom 12:2; 2Co 4:18; Tit 2:12; 1Jn 2:15-17):

Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Psa 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
Psa 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

We need to have our spiritual foundations firmly in place in our trust in God because it is only when we believe and do His Word that His spiritual power will give us the true life which enables us to overcome this flesh:

Joh 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

God wants us to have His truths settled in our heavens and not have our foundations in the folly of mankind (1Ch 29:15; Psa 103:15-18):

Job 4:17 Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
Job 4:18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
Job 4:19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Jacob’s times with death

Jacob has come to the final days of his life when he was living in Egypt, and he indeed experienced the death of those he loved a few times. One occasion where Jacob had to deal with death (or the idea of death) was when he deduced from the torn and blood stained coat of Joseph, which his deceitful sons brought to him, that Joseph was dead. Although Joseph was still alive, we see in the following verses of scripture how this affected Jacob in a very intense way, as he was convinced that Joseph was dead:

Gen 37:31 And they [the ten brothers] took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
Gen 37:32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.
Gen 37:33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
Gen 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Gen 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

Jacob also had to bury his two wives in his lifetime. First, it was Rachel, his favourite wife:

Gen 35:16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
Gen 35:17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
Gen 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul [her life] was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
Gen 35:19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.
Gen 35:20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.

Jacob also buried his other wife, Leah:

Gen 49:31 There [“in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre” – Gen 49:30] they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I [Jacob] buried Leah.

These all formed Jacob’s life and developed his concepts of death. It was the return of Joseph from the dead, so to speak, which enabled Jacob to live his last days in Egypt, at which time he could make provision for his own death as he also gave specific instructions to his twelve sons:

Gen 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
Gen 49:29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
Gen 49:30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
Gen 49:31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
Gen 49:32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.

Jacob wanted to be buried in Canaan (“the land of promise”), and in this request we see a continuation of this desire in these patriarchs, which the book of Hebrews beautifully expresses:

Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out into a place which he was afterward going to receive for an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he went.
Heb 11:9 By faith he lived in the land of promise as a stranger, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the same promise with him.
Heb 11:10 For he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Heb 11:16 But now they stretch forth to a better fatherland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

This is the desire of all mankind, knowingly or unknowingly – the desire for that spiritual city of God, and this is what we see in Jacob’s request to his sons. The physical “land of promise” was only a type of the true spiritual or “better fatherland” – the “heavenly one”, which is the spirit life of God in us. From his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham, Jacob also learned that God was able to raise people from the dead:

Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

The resurrection from the dead was already known to these patriarchs, and with this in mind, they also received faith, even as Jacob expressed in his request to his twelve sons. A few aspects about this request of Jacob need our attention. The first aspect we need to address here is found in the following words:

“I am to be gathered unto my people…”

These words of Jacob have been twisted into a false doctrine which declares that Jacob saw the dead as being alive, and in that sense he wanted to be united with his family. That is not to be found in those words of Jacob at all – one must add that according to the false idol of our heart which wants us to believe that dead people are actually alive (Eze 14:1-9). The scriptures are quite clear, and they agree from Genesis to Revelation, that all dead people have no breath or life in them, and they cannot even know anything or give thanks to God (Psa 119:160; Psa 13:3; Isa 38:18-19; Joh 11:11-14; Jas 2:26; Ecc 12:7):

Psa 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee [God]: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Psa 115:17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.

Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecc 9:6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Jacob is to be gathered to his people in death where everything perishes. Even those in Christ sleep in death and “are perished” as they are still ‘waiting’ for the resurrection from the dead:

1Co 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
1Co 15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

God knows us even while we are dead, although we do not know Him then, and we cannot even praise Him there. He will bring the dead back from death through a resurrection at a later stage:

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end [the rest of humanity in Adam]….

The “order” starts with Jesus who came to live this earthly life before He was crucified at the age of thirty three years. He was dead and in the grave until He was resurrected by the Father and was indeed “the firstfruit” from the dead in terms of being the first to be given immortality or deathlessness up until this point:

1Ti 6:15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;
1Ti 6:16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

Joh 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Besides Jesus, not one person ever ascended to heaven, and that includes Enoch, Moses, Elijah, etc. The two resurrections which follow in the “order” are reserved for all in Adam, and both those resurrections are yet future. It is also a false doctrine which declares that the first resurrection of believers “is past already” as all who died in Christ are still “asleep” and “are perished” (1Co 15:17-18):

2Ti 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

Another aspect in Jacob’s words concerns the specific place of his burial:

“….bury me with my fathers in the cave….”

The cave in “the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan” is where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are sleeping until today, and their souls did not ‘pass on’ as some believe happens to dead souls. Even king David was still dead and in his grave when the apostle Peter expressed these words on the day of Pentecost:

Act 2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

God is spirit and is not limited to physical time-space. God has full knowledge of all dead souls He created in Adam, and He will bring them to full salvation in Christ at the appointed time (1Ti 2:4-6). There is also a belief that God will use our old bones, or some dust particles of this old man, to recreate us again into a new creation. However, scriptures declare that a resurrected body is a spiritual body, which is 100% different from the earthy body. The new creation is indeed new!

1Co 15:35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what
body do they come?
1Co 15:36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:
1Co 15:37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be,
but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

“….that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be…” gives a clear direction how totally different the two bodies are. Unbelief in God’s resurrection powers cause people to believe in a false immortal soul doctrine which says the soul ‘passes on’ and will be reunited with their old earthy bodies:

1Co 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is
raised in incorruption:
1Co 15:43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is
raised in power:
1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural
body, and there is a spiritual body.

The reason why it is written for us that the Old Testament patriarchs had so many specific directives on the burial of their bones has nothing to do with the false doctrine that these dead people are yet alive. Jesus spoke these words in reference to the resurrection:

Mat 22:31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
Mat 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

It is also clear from the scriptures that for anyone “to be present with the Lord” he or she has to wait for the resurrection first:

2Co 5:6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
2Co 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Some put an “is” in the place of the conjunction “and” to confuse the clear indication that two separate thoughts are under discussion. In the following verse, the same “and” is performing the same function to show two separate occasions:

Php 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

When we “depart” from this earthly life, we can only be “with Christ” through the coming resurrection. There is no instant transition, although it will seem like that from the point of view of those who died. The sleep in death is indeed a non-conscious time and will seem like a split second when indeed thousands of years may have passed for those still on the earth as these verses make it so abundantly clear:

Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
Ecc 9:6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

Death is an enemy, but even this enemy will be “put…under [our] feet”:

1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Putting all enemies under our feet

We know that nobody in this first Adam will leave this world with spiritual perfection already achieved in fullness, in the way Babylon is promoting themselves as already saved in this life through the falsities of the ‘fullness now’ doctrine. As we can see through the scriptures, death is not just the end of earthly life, but the whole experience of the earthy life and that which is “under the heavens” (Gen 1:9; Ecc 1:13; Ecc 2:3; Ecc 3:1):

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

“To be spiritually minded is life”, and this is what these words of Jesus mean:

Joh 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die…

When we have God’s spirit life through His word, spiritual death has left, although we still live in an earthy “body of this death” which will die and will perish (Joh 6:63; Rom 7:24-25; Rom 8:1-2)! Adam and Eve, and all in them, were made in flesh, and as such we all first experience evil and death “under the heavens”:

Ecc 1:13 (CLV) I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: it is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it.

To deny the reality of death in all physical things from their creation is to also deny God’s plan for all mankind. Death is the one event we all must endure first within this evil experience of flesh before we can ever think of life in the spirit:

Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.
Ecc 9:3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Through Christ we learn how to accept and understand this experience and how to bring all in subjection under our feet, even death on a daily basis (Rom 13:1; 1Co 9:27; 1Ti 3:4; Heb 2:8):

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

To follow Jesus requires us to die daily and bury our own dead, which is our old man of sin who rules in our lives for a limited time period until the glory of the Lord shines to destroy this darkness in us (2Th 2:3-8):

Luk 9:60 (ESV) And Jesus said to him [one of His own disciples], “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Mat 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

As in the case of Jacob, we must make specific arrangements within this time when we are brought to our “last days”:

Rom 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Rom 13:13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Like Jacob, this is how the elect is “gather[ing] up [their] feet into the bed” and give up the breath of our old man:

Gen 49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

Gathered Unto His People
Is The Flesh Being Sown Our Physical Death?
Is Our Moment of Death Our Resurrection?
The Meaning of The Power of Death
What Is The Fate of The Dead?
Ecc 7:1-9 “The Day of Death…”
Did Enoch and Elijah See Death?

(Key verse: Genesis 49:27)

Benjamin is the last son of Jacob whom he addressed before his death in Egypt:

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Gen 49:2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

The theme of the last days encompasses so many aspects in the lives of God’s elect, as these sons of Jacob and their offspring also enlighten some of these aspects for us:

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [Greek: aiōn = age] are come.

What these sons of Israel encountered after the death of Jacob typify the lives of God’s elect who are indeed caused by God to listen and hear His voice. The elect of God can see that these words of Jacob are all part of the whole prophecy and revelation of Jesus Christ and His works in them:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Benjamin: his birth and the meaning of his name

Benjamin was Jacob’s last born son and was born from his favorite wife, Rachel, and the only son who was born in Canaan – the rest were all born in Padanaram back in Mesopotamia (Gen 28:5-7; Gen 31:18). Benjamin was actually born while they were still journeying after Jacob, and his family left that area to live in Canaan:

Gen 35:16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
Gen 35:17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
Gen 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul [Hebrew: nephesh – life] was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni [meaning son of my sorrow]: but his father called him Benjamin [son at my right hand].
Gen 35:19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

These two sides of Benjamin, through the two names from his mother and father, also help us to see how this son of Jacob and his offspring, not only reveal the good in God’s creation (represented by those on His right hand), but also the evil or those things which bring sorrow, as appointed by God (Gen 48:13-20; Job 2:10; Psa 16:11; Isa 45:7; Mat 25:31-34; Mat 26:64). We also see this division within the symbols found in Jacob’s final words to his youngest son, Benjamin:

Gen 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin [Hebrew: ṭâraph = tear in pieces] as a wolf: in the morning [Hebrew: bôqer = dawn] he shall devour the prey, and at night [Hebrew: ereb = dusk] he shall divide [Hebrew: châlaq = to be smooth/bring division] the spoil.

Here we see the symbol of a wolf and its distinctive activities in the morning and in the evening, with specific references to a prey and a spoil.

Benjamin: the symbol of a wolf

A wolf is part of the beastly kingdom, even as that animal kingdom reflects or typifies our natural state:

Ecc 3:18 I [Solomon] said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Man was created on the sixth day with all the other “beasts of the earth”, and as such this is how God wants us to see the natural “estate of the sons of men”:

Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

All physical things reflect and typify the works of God in us, if we can “read” that and “hear” from the spirit of God how to then compare the spiritual with spiritual to apply or “keep” the words from God’s mouth (Mat 4:4; Rev 1:3):

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

The natural man cannot apply God’s Word within himself because he is obsessed with the outward appearance of things which God uses to blind him:

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This is one of the biggest miracles from God as He blinds the eyes of those He does not want to see where His spiritual kingdom is at this stage and how He is working all things according to His perfect plan for this creation (Ecc 1:13; Luk 17:20-21; Joh 9:39-41; Eph 1:11):

Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them [the multitudes] in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Just as the words of God are used to both close and open eyes and ears, so there are always a negative and positive application in all these symbols in the scriptures through which this perfect plan of God is beautifully put together (Exo 14:19-20). These two distinctive ways of applications, in the final analysis, also highlight this truth of the two Adams and how God uses them:

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Benjamin is compared to a wolf by Jacob, and the Hebrew word for wolf is “zeêb”, and this word also relates to the color yellow, according to Dr. James Strong:

H2061: zeêb – From an unused root meaning to be yellow; a wolf: – wolf.

The Hebrew word for “yellow” is tsâhôb, and here is where this word first appears in the scriptures:

Lev 13:30 Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it be in sight deeper than the skin; and there be in it a yellow [tsâhôb] thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.

This is the condition of the first Adam as the wolf negatively relates to our unclean land, referring to our flesh or our spiritual leprosy. This wolf preys on sheep, which is a type of God’s flock (Joh 10:1-16). This is where the activities of this evil wolf are focused, as God also revealed to the prophet Ezekiel:

Eze 22:23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 22:24 Son of man, say unto her [the physical city of Jerusalem – the type of the spiritual harlot (Isa 1:10-23; Gal 4:25; Rev 17:1-18)], Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
Eze 22:25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
Eze 22:26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Eze 22:27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Eze 22:28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
Eze 22:29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

Spiritual wolves are “in the midst [of God’s flock and] are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to receive dishonest gain” – they cause divisions and do not divide properly between the clean and unclean. (Rom 16:17; 1Co 3:1-4; Gal 5:19-21; Tit 3:10). These wolves use spiritual deceptions with a flattering tongue which cause God’s flock to follow them because “…at night [they] shall divide [Hebrew: châlaq]” and bring intensive pain (Psa 55:21; Pro 20:19; Isa 30:9-10):

Pro 29:5 A man that flattereth [Hebrew: châlaq = to be smooth/bring division] his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening [Greek: harpax = extortion] wolves.

However, Jesus, the good Shepherd, sees no problem sending His sheep among the wolves to get the necessary spiritual experience, and to see how He provides for us as we keep watching and applying His words through wisdom (Luk 16:8):

Mat 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

It indeed takes time and patience to see through the sheep facade of these Babylonian wolves as their true fruits will eventually appear (Luk 21:19):

Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

If these wolves are only out there, then our own eyes are still blinded to our own deceitful false prophet and his words in us. As the first Adam was made a corrupt creature from the Potter’s hand, so we are all first a ravening evening wolf driven by the spirit of the world in us (Jer 18:4; Hab 1:5-11; Rom 7:13-24; Rom 8:5-8; Rom 8:20):

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

This is the spirit of the Pharisee in us who is a hypocrite pointing also at the shortcomings and mistakes of other to satisfy our lust for recognition of our outward display of good works (Mat 7:21-23):

Luk 11:39 And the Lord said unto him [a certain Pharisee who was upset that Jesus did not wash before dinner], Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

It is this ravening spirit in us that drives us to believe we are spiritually mature long before the beam is removed from our own eye and the fruit of the spirit of God is produced (Mat 7:1-5; Gal 5:22-23):

1Co 4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
1Co 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
1Co 4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
1Co 4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
1Co 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

We should “take heed…unto [our]selves” and see the wolf in our own camp before we can be in a position to be our brother’s keeper and not his killer, of which Cain is such a tragic example (Gen 4:1-9):

Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Of all these warnings, we also take note of the violence in the life of the tribe of Benjamin.

The tribe of Benjamin: the violent and merciless arrogance of the flesh

When the tribes of Israel settled in Canaan, the Benjamites occupied territory in the south of the land. They also did that of which all the other tribes were guilty – they did not drive out the Canaanites, even the spiritual wolves, from among themselves:

Jdg 1:21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day.

The evil wolves within the hearts of the tribe of Benjamin caused them to even be an adversary to their own brothers in Israel. They indeed brought sorrow to Israel. For example, we read in the book of Judges how this tribe was not given to hospitality and was very arrogant and violent in nature. In one instance mentioned in Judges, we read one of the goriest and most horrific stories recorded in the Bible, for our admonition. This story played out in a certain Benjamite city, namely Gibeah, when a “certain Levite”, his concubine, their servant and two asses came to this city one evening:

Jdg 19:14 And they [this unnamed Levite and his family] passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin.
Jdg 19:15 And they turned aside thither, to go in and to lodge in Gibeah: and when he went in, he sat him down in a street of the city: for there was no man that took them into his house to lodging.

An old man, who was not a Benjamite, but from the tribe of Ephraim, who only sojourned in Gibeah, took this family to his dwelling there and gave them lodging and food for that evening (Jdg 19:16-21). However, this very showing of hospitality and decency brought this ravening wolf spirit into the hearts of certain men in the tribe of Benjamin to demand of this old man to hand over this Levite to them for sexual purposes:

Jdg 19:22 Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.

The Levite then eventually gave his concubine to them, and these Benjamites raped her, and in the process she died (Jdg 19:22-28). This Levite then divided the dead body of his concubine into twelve pieces and sent them to all the tribes of Israel with a note to explain what happened. The other tribes then united against the tribe of Benjamin and demanded that those men who were guilty be delivered to them. The Benjamites protected the guilty men and even went into battle against the other tribes. In the process, nearly all the males in the tribe of Benjamin were killed, except for six hundred men who fled and eventually found mercy:

Jdg 20:47 But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months.
Jdg 20:48 And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.

All the tribes of Israel promised not to give their daughters to these Benjamites because they witnessed the “wolf in the evening” character of all these Benjamite men (Jdg 21:7; Jer 5:6). Neverthless, one city did not join in the battles against the tribe of Benjamin, and from them women were taken to wife with these six hundred men of Benjamin:

Jdg 21:8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to Mizpeh to the LORD? And, behold, there came none to the camp from Jabeshgilead to the assembly.

This is how the tribe of Benjamin was saved to play important roles in the future life of the nation of Israel. One such role was that they produced the first king of Israel, namely Saul, who ruled Israel for forty years (Act 13:21):

1Sa 9:1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.
1Sa 9:2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

Very interestingly, Saul came from the very city where this concubine of the Levite was killed, namely Gibeah. Gibeah is actually also called “Gibeah of Saul” in the scriptures:

1Sa 15:34 ….and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.

With all his “goodly” physical attributes Saul eventually also displayed the same spirit of the earthy wolf as those men in the tribe of Benjamin. Saul’s rulership was meant to only be for a limited time period to also reveal to us the limited rulership of the fleshly Adam in us. Saul was set up by God to be a fierce and merciless adversary to the true King typified by David. David could only reign after the death of Saul, and it is only after we have been judged for our role in all evil that we can rule in the true temple of God:

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

The tribe of Benjamin: The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him

The wolf indeed also has a positive application, and we see it in the blessing of Jacob and Moses:

Gen 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Deu 33:12 And of Benjamin he [Moses] said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

The tribe of Benjamin produced a few leaders in Israel among whom was a judge called Ehud, whom God used to free Israel from the rule of the Moabites when Ehud, who was left-handed, used a dagger to kill the fat king of the Moabites, Eglon, who typifies the lusts and pride of our natural man from whom we are being released.

Jdg 3:14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.
Jdg 3:15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab.

The tribe of Benjamin in general is known as the tribe who had skillful left-handed warriors who could sling stones without missing their target (Jdg 20:16). Here the left hand is also used as a positive application for God’s use as all things, even the evil, are God’s instruments to bring forth His desires. God uses all for His purpose and will bring all the wicked in the first Adam to be righteous in Christ (Gen 50:20; Pro 16:4; 1Co 15:22-28):

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

When the kingdom of Israel was divided after the death of Solomon, it was this tribe of Benjamin who remained faithful to the tribe of Judah in the south of Canaan, and to the city and temple to which God chose to put His Name. This all typifies spiritual Zion, the city of God who is “Jerusalem which is above” – Christ and His elect (Psa 46:4-5; Mat 5:14; Gal 4:26; Rev 21:1-7):

Deu 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come.

Psa 78:68 But [God] chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
Psa 78:69 And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.

Two other Benjamites, Mordecai and Esther, were used by God to save the whole Jewish nation and bring freedom from the Babylonian and Persian rule:

Est 2:5 Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;
Est 2:6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.
Est 2:7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

In the New Testament scriptures, we see another example of how God used this tribe of Benjamin. The apostle Paul also declares that he was in physical terms from this tribe which he counted as a loss for his spiritual connection in Christ (Rom 11:1). This spiritual conversion to deem flesh as nothing is also seen in the name change from the old Benjamite name of “Saul” to “Paul” (meaning “little”):

Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:
Php 3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;
Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

Spiritually this tribe of Benjamin indeed typifies those who are sealed to be the spiritual Israel of God, knowing that they are the wolves who shall completely devour and destroy the prey of flesh in the evening to eat His bread in the morning – the resurrection from death (Exo 12:10; Exo 16:12; Psa 50:22; Hos 6:1). Because the elect are the witnesses of all the works of Christ in them, they are also the wolves who shall divide the spiritual “spoil” among all in Adam. In the process, they will be used by God to eventually bring spiritual harmony to all humanity through their Head, Jesus Christ (Isa 65:23-25; Oba 1:21; Eph 1:10; 1Co 15:28):

Rev 7:8…..Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

Isa 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together…

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[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

What Exactly is A Soul?
The Spiritual Significance of Being Right or Left Handed
Animals in Scripture – Wolves
Colors in Scripture – Yellow
Animals in Scripture – The Four Beasts in The Middle and Around The Throne

(Key verses: Genesis 49:22-26)

God declares the end from the beginning, and as such, He also works all things in between according to a perfect plan and purpose which nothing and no creature can alter. Everything works 100% according to His counsel and pleasure:

Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

The theme of the last days brings these truths to light, even as it is in our last days when God’s work from the beginning is unveiled to us through His judgment (Ecc 3:1-11). This is when the revelation of Jesus is given to us through the process of spiritual conversion (Joe 2:28-31; Mat 13:30; Mat 24:1-51; Act 2:14-21; Rom 2:5; 1Pe 1:13; Rev 1:1-18):

Joe 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
Joe 2:29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

It is indeed fitting that it is also in the final section of the book of Genesis that we see how this theme of the last days is brought to us through the words of Jacob before he died, after living in Egypt for the last seventeen years of his life. It was the time to tell his sons “which shall befall [them] in the last days”:

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Gen 49:2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

These sons of Jacob are all spiritual types of “the Israel of God”, His elected few, who are being judged in this age (Gal 6:16):

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [Greek: aiōn = age] are come.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

In previous discussions we already touched on Jacob’s words to Reuben (meaning “behold a son”), Simeon (“to hear”), Levi (“joined”), Judah (“praise”), Zebulun (“habitation”), Issachar (“reward”), Dan (“judge”), Gad (“a troop”), Asher (“blessed”) and Naphtali (“wrestlings”). In this discussion we want to look at a few aspects in the lives of Joseph and his offspring. Of all Jacob’s sons, Joseph’s story is the best known as he was the firstborn son from Jacob’s favourite wife, Rachel. Rachel had to endure the pain and humiliation of seeing how the other women in Jacob’s life bore him ten sons altogether. Joseph and his brother Benjamin were the last two sons born to Jacob via Rachel. What a lesson it is for us to be like the husbandman to wait for the precious fruit of the earth:

Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

This is also what the meaning in the name of Joseph wants to emphasize. Joseph’s name means “the Lord will add” or “increase”. Here are the final words of Jacob to Joseph:

Gen 49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
Gen 49:23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
Gen 49:24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
Gen 49:25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
Gen 49:26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Joseph’s life presents one of the clearest pictures in the scriptures of what the elect of God are enduring in this life to learn how we indeed will possess our souls through longsuffering and patience (Luk 21:19). Let us take each of these verses which contain these words of Jacob and briefly discuss how they apply to us.

“Joseph is a fruitful bough [Hebrew: “bên” = son], even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches [Hebrew: “bath” = daughter] run over the wall…”

The Hebrew word “bên” (translated “bough” in that verse) means “son”, and the Hebrew word “bath” (translated “branches”) means “daughter”. These two words have the same root in the Hebrew, namely “bânâh” which relates to the building of an offspring – whether sons or daughters:

Psa 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Psa 127:4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Psa 127:5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

We know that Joseph is a type of Christ, as his whole life pictures the favour and work of God in Jesus Christ whom God established as His Son and through whom a huge spiritual offspring will be brought forth (Psa 2:7; Mic 5:2; Mat 3:17; Joh 1:14; Joh 5:26; Joh 14:13; Act 13:33; 1Co 15:22-28; Col 1:15; Heb 1:5). In this sense, Jesus was also given the role which the wife plays into a relationship. The reference to this female role through the Hebrew word “bath” also relates to the few whom Father has ordained to be set apart in this age to bear much fruit for Him through Jesus (Joh 6:44):

Joh 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

The apostle Paul also gives this spiritual relationship between the Father and the Son, which reflects in the relationships between Christ and the church, and the husband and wife in earthly terms, for our understanding (Rom 1:20):

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

It is the church, the branches of the vine, who “run[s] over the wall” to be used by God to bring in the rest of humanity through His judgment in the lake of fire (Neh 9:27; Oba 1:21; Luk 22:29; Col 1:28; Rev 20:14-15):

Act 1:7 And he [Jesus] said unto them [His disciples], It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

Of all the sons of Jacob, Joseph was indeed the most fruitful and blessed, although he was taken through the most difficult journey of all Jacob’s sons. This confirms such an important spiritual lesson in the lives of God’s elect that it is indeed through much tribulation that God’s elect will be qualified to be in the blessed and holy first resurrection and to be the saviours of the world (Rev 20:4-15):

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

The fruits of the spirit cannot be achieved by a wishy-washy name-it-and-claim-it attitude which so many are caused to believe. To find the fiery trials of God something to complain and murmur about is indeed strange to those who are called to suffer with Christ, as they know that is how God’s elect will be brought to rulership (Php 1:29):

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

2Ti 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

This is what Joseph’s life teaches us. It is Christ in us who supplies everything we need to be fruitful to the glory of the Father (Php 4:13; Col 1:24-29):

Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

“…The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him…”

These words spoken by Jacob to Joseph indeed were fulfilled throughout His life. As it happened to Joseph, we ourselves can testify how the calling of God can be seen from a very early age in our lives. Joseph did not ask for the coat of many colours, but his father gave it to him, which caused Joseph to be the target for his envious brothers:

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.

We know that all things we have were given to us by God, and as such, He is the One who sets us up to experience the things which will form us. It is within our “last days” that we are enabled to “read”, “hear” and see how we live and “keep” the testimony of Jesus in our lives (Mat 4:4; Rev 1:1-3). It is indeed through words and actions that the condition of one’s heart is expressed and revealed (Psa 11:2):

Psa 64:3 Who [the wicked/the enemy] whet [Hebrew: “shânan” – point/pierce/teach] their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words.

Jer 9:3 And they [treacherous men] bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

Arrows, in this sense, equal words, and in spiritual terms, this is what archers do – we speak and act according to what the heart determines, whether for good or evil. The elect of God knows the words of truth through the Archer, Jesus Christ (Isa 49:1-3; Joh 1:1-5):

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him [Thomas], I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Joh 14:10 Believest thou [Philip] not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The elect also know that they indeed “in times past” were the target of the arrows of evil, including the false teachings and deceptive words coming from the mouth of false prophets (1Jn 4:1-6; 2Pe 2:1-3):

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

When we say we know the truth, as Jesus said His true church would know, we are indeed wearing our coat with many colours, and we become the target of the hatred and vileness from those who deny the true Jesus. Because Caleb and Joshua were given a different spirit to see the heavenly perspective of the promised land, their report was rejected by the moaning and complaining majority who rather accepted the reports of the other ten spies who only saw the difficulties in the promised land. These ten spies are representatives of our flesh who only focus on the perspectives of the natural mind (1Co 2:14):

Num 14:6 And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
Num 14:7 And they spoke to all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land.
Num 14:8 If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which flows with milk and honey.
Num 14:9 Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not.

The fear of the Lord negates the fear for men. Caleb and Joshua feared God and spoke the words of truth, and they became the target of hatred and belittling. In our time of being belittled and being cast down by men, God’s glory appears:

Num 14:10 But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.

As it happened in the hearts of Caleb and Joshua, we know that God sees the intent of the heart where the archers shoot their arrows (1Sa 16:7; Jer 17:10; 2Co 10:7). This also needs patience as our intentions will only become clear at the appointed time:

1Ti 5:24 Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.
1Ti 5:25 Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

This is also revealed for us in the life of king Amaziah of Judah. Amaziah did the right things initially, even “that which is right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart” which was only revealed much later in his reign of 29 years in Judah (2Ki 14:1-4):

2Ch 25:1 Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.
2Ch 25:2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

After Amaziah and the army of Judah conquered the Edomites, he fell in love with the idols in Edom’s temples and built his own sanctuaries filled with these idols. This caused him not to be able to listen to wise counsel, and he followed his own understanding of things which led to his death. Naturally we do not know the depths of the deceit of our own hearts, and therefore the truth of God’s multitude of counsellors is such a vital aspect to help us being faithful until the end (Mat 18:15-17; Rev 17:14):

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Pro 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

The life of Joseph also proves that the motives of our hearts will be challenged until the end. After living with Joseph in Egypt for seventeen years with their father, the brothers of Joseph could still not accept that Joseph’s heart and his motives were totally different from theirs. This came out after Jacob’s death:

Gen 50:15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
Gen 50:16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
Gen 50:17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
Gen 50:18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
Gen 50:19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

“…[Joseph’s] bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel)…”

Nevertheless, through all of Joseph’s trials and the false accusations from his family and those who opposed him in Egypt, Joseph always kept strong and committed to the truth. Joseph’s heart was taught to serve and do good to them who hated him, and God’s hands strengthened his hands in all of this. It is when we are emptied of our strongholds and high thoughts of self, that God’s mind becomes our strong tower and powerful mountain:

Psa 61:3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

Pro 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

When we are given the servant’s heart to understand it is more blessed to give than to receive, we shoot powerful arrows of truth and love, and we do not miss the mark of being a true shepherd in God’s flock (Jdg 20:16; Mat 20:25-28; Joh 10:1-18). It is then when we witness how the Lord fights for us we can then see how our enemies, even the spiritual wolves, turn on themselves, and the fear of God will come on them (Mat 7:15-20):

Psa 64:7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
Psa 64:8 So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.
Psa 64:9 And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.
Psa 64:10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.

God’s arrows are His words which are the “demonstration of the spirit and of power” of God (1Co 2:4). It is His word which destroys all arguments against the truth as we progressively learn how to use His powerful arrows within our spiritual warfare (Isa 5:28):

Psa 120:1 A Song of degrees. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
Psa 120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.
Psa 120:3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
Psa 120:4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

“…Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb…”

Joseph was given “one portion above [his] brethren” by Jacob when Joseph brought his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh to Jacob for his blessing:

Gen 48:21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
Gen 48:22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

In physical terms Joseph was given this double portion of the firstborn through his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, as both of them became independent tribes with a full inheritance according to all the sons of Jacob:

Gen 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

1Ch 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

“…The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.”

This is what Moses had to say about the offspring of Joseph through the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh also indicating the fulfillment of the double portion of rulership over the earth and the heaven for God’s elect:

Deu 33:13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
Deu 33:14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,
Deu 33:15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
Deu 33:16 And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
Deu 33:17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

We know Manasseh was the firstborn of Joseph, which represents the fleshly man, while Ephraim was the second born, representing the spirit man, Jesus Christ (1Co 15:45-49). Ephraim was blessed above Manasseh by Jacob, as also confirmed in Moses’ blessing (Gen 48:5-21). Ephraim’s name means “God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction” (Gen 41:52). The sons of Ephraim indeed were “mighty men of valor, famous throughout the house of their fathers” (1Ch 12:30). However, one of the prominent judges of Israel, namely Gideon, came from the tribe of Manasseh. This double portion indeed relates to the “blessings of the deep that lies under” and the “blessings of heaven above” respectively. This blessing of Joseph is the type of the blessing of God’s elect in rulership over the physical eon (even during the so-called “thousand-year reign” on earth) and their ultimate rulership in the spiritual eon, even the lake of fire (Rev 20:4-15):

1Co 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
1Co 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

Till The Seven Plagues Are Fulfilled
The Scapegoat
The Teaching of Rain and Archers
Who Knows The Truth?
Rev 17:12-18

(Key verse: Genesis 49:21)

In the final section of the book of Genesis, we see Jacob living in Goshen in Egypt for seventeen years before his death (Gen 41:54-57). It was in the final days of his life here in Egypt that Jacob called his twelve sons to him to “tell [them] that which shall befall [them] in the last days”:

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Gen 49:2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

We also know that it is from the physical things that were created, even the things which were written down for us and transpired in the lives of the sons of Israel, that we understand the spiritual things of God (Rom 1:20; 1Co 10:1-11; Rev 22:18-19). These physical or outward parables reveal the kingdom of God for those who are given to “know” the purpose of all parables:

Mar 4:13 And he [Jesus] said unto them [His disciples], Know ye not this parable [of the sower]? and how then will ye know all parables?

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Very few are given in this age to see the work of God from beginning to end within themselves (Mat 22:14). If you cannot see the kingdom and work of God in you, you look outside. We indeed learn from moving from the outside to the inside – first from the natural to the spiritual (1Co 15:46). That is why these sons of Jacob are all types of the spiritual Israel of God, His elected few, on whom the “last days” or the end of this physical age has come:

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them [physical Israel] for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [Greek: aiōn = age] are come.

What Jacob said to each son and what happened in their lives all contribute to this theme of “the last days”. In previous discussions we already touched on Jacob’s words to Reuben (meaning “behold a son”), Simeon (“to hear”), Levi (“joined”), Judah (“praise”), Zebulun (“habitation”), Issachar (“reward”), Dan (“judge”), Gad (“a troop”), and Asher (“blessed”). In this discussion, we want to look at a few aspects in the lives of Naphtali and his tribe and see how this all is applied within our own lives.

Naphtali: his birth and the meaning in his name

Naphtali was Jacob’s sixth son born from the handmaid of Rachel, namely Bilhah, who also bore him Dan before she birthed Naphtali:

Gen 30:7 And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
Gen 30:8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

Naphtali means “wrestlings” as he was a symbol of the struggle for Jacob’s favour between Rachel and Leah. Rachel was, of course, Jacob’s first choice for a wife, but he was deceived by Laban (the father of Leah and Rachel) into marrying Leah first before he could marry Rachel (Gen 29:16-28). Again it is an example of how the natural comes first and then the spiritual, but also this situation in Jacob’s life explains how we first get attached to the false church being under the impression that it is the true church of God, all by God’s design. As it happened to Jacob, who discovered “in the morning” that it was not Rachel but Leah he slept with, we also find out that we were actually spiritually in bed with the mystery whore, Babylon, when God’s true light is brought to us. When we can see the lies and false teachings of this spiritual whore, Babylon, then we know we “have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication” and that these words written in the book of Revelation are fulfilled in us:

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

These insights do not come through a quick route as the many years of trials and tribulations in the lives of Jacob, his wives and his sons also testify. It does take a lot of wrestling within to discern how to separate the good from the evil within the kingdom of God in us “at the end of the world” (Exo 23:30; Deu 7:22; Eph 3:9-10):

Mat 13:47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
Mat 13:48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
Mat 13:49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.

The separation between what is good and what is evil, and this wrestling between the flesh and the spirit is designed by God to bring spiritual maturity in us (Dan 7:2; Eph 6:12; Heb 12:3; Rev 12:7):

Heb 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age [Greek: teleios = brought to its end/consummation], even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

This spiritual wrestling is in our heaven or our mind – between the mind of the flesh, with all its rulers of darkness, and the mind of Christ which is the light of God that will eventually defeat all darkness and deceit:

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 [heaven].

The names of Naphtali’s four sons also witness to this process of wrestling and judgment in our lives.

Gen 46:24 And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel [meaning “God divides” and “whom God allots”], and Guni [“my defender” and “my covering”], and Jezer [“moulding”/ “forming”/ “shaping”], and Shillem [“requital”/“retribution”].

Naphtali’s portion in Israel

Under the banner of the tribe of Dan (whose name means judgment), the tribe of Naphtali with the tribe of Asher camped on the north side of the tabernacle in the wilderness (Num 2:25-29). These three tribes journeyed “hindmost” of all the tribes of Israel during their time in the wilderness, even as the harvest or judgment is at the latter end of the physical age or the last days of our lives (Mat 13:39-43). These tribes help to remind us that it is actually in our last days when we can hear “behind” us or understand what actually transpired in our lives when are given to “readeth…hear the words [of Christ]…and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand” (Rev 1:1-3):

Rev 1:10 I [John] was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…

Rev 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks….

This tribe of Naphtali was also given settlement in the northern regions in Canaan and thereby also formed part of the northern kingdom of Israel (1Ki 11:30-31). We know that the north indeed relates to judgment, and this area was also first taken into captivity, even as the land of Naphtali was among those who first tasted the wrath of God in this sense (1Ki 15:20):

2Ki 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.

Isa 9:1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.

It is actually to this area and the “land of Nephthali” where Jesus first came to bring His words of light right after His baptism in the Jordan river as He also spent a big part of his earthly ministry in this region (first in judgment…first to see the light – 1Pe 4:17; Isa 26:9). This is how Matthew describes this territory in spiritual terms, referring to the words of the prophet Isaiah (Isa 9:1-2):

Mat 4:13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
Mat 4:14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
Mat 4:15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

“Galilee of the Gentiles” is a very important description of what we are when Christ comes to us. We are these Naphtalites when we can see that we are the ones who have been born in darkness, spiritually blind from our creation and in need of God’s light through His righteous judgment (Gen 1:1-2; Joh 9:1-5; Joh 9:39-41). The “region of…death” is our natural state, even as Adam was created “after the flesh” and could not resist to “mind[ing] the things of the flesh” which is what spiritual death and darkness is defined as in the scriptures (Gen 2:7; Jer 18:4; Rom 8:20):

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Everyone born in flesh has this same condition as king David describes:

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Jesus came into this same state and was “made…sin” being made “after the flesh” and He also walked “by the way of the sea”:

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Heb 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

However, Jesus never committed any sin while within His “body of sin” and this is the essence why He came to earth, died for our sins, and was raised from the dead to instill in us His life to become overcomers, even now while we are in this body of sin (1Co 15:3-4; Rom 6:6; Rom 8:37; Php 4:13; Heb 2:18; 1Jn 5:4). He indeed was the pure and true Light that God called out of darkness:

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Only those who are the true church of God in this age can testify that Christ is the true “light that shineth in darkness” who “is come in the flesh” as they are the “members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Eph 5:30):

1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

With this background in mind, let us look at Jacob’s final words to Naphtali:

Gen 49:21 Naphtali is a hind [Hebrew: ayâlâh = female of ayâl = male deer] let loose [Hebrew: shâlach = send away/put away]: he giveth goodly words.

“Naphtali is a hind let loose…”

A hind is a female deer (doe), and as such this tribe also typifies the church that is the body or the female part of the Christ, with Jesus as the Head or male part:

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

But like all symbols in the scriptures, “a hind let loose” has both a negative and positive application (Exo 14:20; Isa 45:7; Heb 4:12). When it applies in the negative, it is of course referring to a divorced spouse as the Hebrew word “shâlach” in the words of Jacob to Naphtali also mean “to put away”. The false church is “let loose” or divorced from God because of her spiritual adultery in her doctrines. This was typified in physical Israel and Judah:

Jer 3:1 They say, If a man put away [Hebrew: shâlach = send away/put away] his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.

Jer 3:8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away [Hebrew: shâlach = send away/put away], and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
Jer 3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

When we lose our first love, we become entangled in the spiritual deceptions of the harlot church, the spiritual church in the wilderness who “sit[s] upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” (Isa 1:21; Gal 4:25; Rev 17:3). This is the spiritual hind who does not give goodly words at this stage as she cannot accept the truths in the Word of God. When we are involved with this church we are deceived to think we are Christ’s, having “two horns like a lamb”, and we cannot see or hear that we still are an earthly beast whose words are that of the dragon, as this dragon (Satan) gives this beast his “power, and his seat, and great authority” (2Co 11:13-15; Isa 30:9-11; Rev 13:3):

Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

At this stage we appear as the church of God, and we say “we are Christ…and…deceive many” because our hearts and words are earthy and from the spirit of the world filled with pride and lusts (Mat 24:4-5; 1Jn 2:16). This is what the tribe of Naphtali also did as a type of our time of not removing these fleshly connections in our lives but rather receive “tributaries” as we are beguiled by our flesh:

Jdg 1:33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Bethshemesh and of Bethanath became tributaries unto them.

In our time as the spiritual hinds of spiritual Babylon, we give birth to a spiritual offspring who is attached to this world (“the field” and its tares). We forsake those who are in our care not even supplying the true milk of the doctrine of Christ (Mat 13:38; Rom 14:1-2; Heb 5:12-13; 1Pe 2:2):

Jer 14:5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.

In the positive application we are certainly “let loose” from the dominion of these fleshly tribes in our lives to be dead to this world but alive to Christ:

Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

This spiritual hind in Christ is set upon high places, even being seated in heaven to know the doctrine and mind of Christ and apply it in wisdom (1Co 2:16; 2Co 10:2-5):

Psa 18:33 He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places.

This is when we use the wisdom that is “from above”, longing for the pure waters in His Word as we also do these words of Christ without partiality and hypocrisy (Jas 3:17-18):

Pro 5:19 Let her [godly wisdom] be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

This is the time when we can hear the voice of God which strengthens us and causes us to bring forth fruits of righteousness – His goodly words!

Psa 29:9 (Brenton) The voice of the Lord strengthens the hinds, and will uncover the thickets: and in his temple every one speaks of his glory.

As we fear God and do His commandments we are fearless in confronting this world, inside and out, as our beloved is with us in every aspect of life (Mat 28:20; Joh 14:18; Act 18:9-10; 2Ti 4:14-18):

Son 2:9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice [an opening].

“[Naphtali] giveth goodly words”

Our words connect with our works as God’s words also produce His works in us – that is how we “see” Jesus and the Father:

Joh 14:8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Joh 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Joh 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

Works are an outward proof that God’s Word is active and alive in us, also through the faith those words produce (Rom 10:17; Heb 4:11):

Jas 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

The faith of Christ comes via His Word which produces the works when others will indeed see Christ and His Father in us. This is how we glorify the Father (Rom 10:17):

Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

These are the spiritual works of the Word of God (John 6:63):

Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

We see this also in type through the tribe of Naphtali in the fruits they brought forth through their actions in times of trouble. We see this tribe acting with bravery in the battle with Jabin and Sisera, as Deborah also sang their praises afterwards:

Jdg 5:18 Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.

Men from Naphtali also joined Gideon to fight and conquer the Midianites:

Jdg 7:23 And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.

The Naphtalites also joined with David in his fight against Saul fighting and supplying in the needs of those on David’s side. This again typifies yet again this struggle between the old man of flesh (Saul) and the new man, Christ (David) in us:

1Ch 12:34 And of Naphtali a thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand.

1Ch 12:40 Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.

It was also through Hiram, who was a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, who God filled with wisdom in the building of the temple:

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.

Through the wisdom of Christ in us this tribe of Naphtali is spiritually included in type within the twelve tribes of spiritual Israel, the true temple of God in heaven:

Rev 7:6b Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand.

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[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

The Keys to The Kingdom of Heaven – Part 8
Revelation 17:1-6
What is The Christ
Christ Was Made A Sin Offering
Revelation 13:10-13

(Key verse: Genesis 49:20)

God’s Word has a primary spiritual meaning which is the inward application for those who read, hear and keep these words because “the time is at hand” (Mat 4:4):

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

“Flesh profiteth nothing” and the fleshly interpretation of God’s word is indeed also of no profit, but that does not mean that there is no physical or outward application included in God’s Word. Everything written in the scriptures has therefore both a physical and spiritual application, even the final words of Jacob (also called Israel) to his sons when he told them that “which shall befall [them] in the last days” (Exo 14:20; Heb 4:12):

Gen 49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
Gen 49:2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.

The twelve sons of Israel are indeed earthly shadows or spiritual parables of what the true Israel of God receives (Gal 6:16). It is the spiritual Israelites or spiritual Jews who truly were given much spiritual advantage and profit by God:

Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Rom 3:1 What advantage then hath the [spiritual] Jew? or what profit is there of [spiritual] circumcision?
Rom 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

Gal 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature [the spiritual circumcision – the cutting off or losing of the physical].
Gal 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

What happened in the lives of these sons of Jacob was all written for our admonition – for those who know that “the ends of the world” or physical age has come on them:

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [Greek: aiōn = age] are come.

The theme of “the last days” helps us to see the unveiling of God’s work through Jesus Christ in us from beginning to end (Isa 2:2-5; Joe 2:28-32; Act 2:17-18):

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.

We already touched on Jacob’s words to Reuben (meaning “behold a son”), Simeon (“to hear”), Levi (“joined”), Judah (“praise”), Zebulun (“habitation”), Issachar (“reward”), Dan (“judge”) and Gad (“a troop”) in previous discussions – in that order, which is, of course, not the order of their births. In this discussion we want to look at a few aspects in the lives of Asher and his tribe.

Asher: the meaning in his name

The ninth son Jacob spoke to just before his death in Egypt was Asher, the second son born to him from Zilpah, the handmaid of Leah after she bore him Gad (Zilpah’s firstborn):

Gen 30:12 And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son.
Gen 30:13 And Leah said, Happy [Hebrew: ôsher] am I, for the daughters will call me blessed [Hebrew: âshar = happy]: and she called his name Asher [Hebrew: âshêr]

The words of Leah have a very familiar ring to them as we also hear this from Mary when she was expecting with Jesus:

Luk 1:46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
Luk 1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Luk 1:48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed [Greek: makarios].

Asher’s name means “happiness”, which connects with being blessed, typifying Jesus, who is the true “Son of the Blessed”:

Mar 14:61 But he [Jesus] held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
Mar 14:62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Like Mary, Leah saw the physical application of being blessed with the births of these sons of theirs. We all pray for physical blessings, health and prosperity at the birth of a baby. As this baby matures into an adult, we all progressively realise that this earthly life has much tribulation and trials and that death is the condition and sentence of being in corrupt, sinful flesh, by God’s design and creation (Isa 45:7; Jer 18:4; Rom 6:23; Rom 7:24; Rom 8:6-8; Rom 8:20). Asher is Jacob’s eighth son, and this number eight spiritually links with this truth that it is only through this death process and ultimate destruction of this earthly seven-headed fleshly beast that the new spirit-man in Christ is brought forth (Gen 17:12; Gal 6:15; 2Co 5:17; Rev 13:1; Rev 17:3):

Rev 17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

For the new man to be established, there needs to be an old man first, even as the first Adam “is the figure of [the last Adam] that was to come” – Jesus Christ (Rom 5:14):

1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.
1Co 15:48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

Asher and his tribe first connects with the “blessing” of the physical man in us, as that is the order God established through which the true spiritual blessing, Jesus Christ, can be understood:

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

In the process of maturing, we indeed learn how to discern between the blessings of the flesh and the blessings of the spirit (Heb 5:14). These blessings are indeed totally opposite of each other:

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Jacob’s final words to Asher bring forth important aspects of how God’s blessings on both the old man and the new man are to be seen:

Gen 49:20 Out of Asher his bread shall be fat [Hebrew: shâmên], and he shall yield royal dainties.

In the blessing Moses gave to the tribe of Asher, we also see the concept of fat or oil included among other spiritual symbols, which all help us to see our own blessed position in God’s creation, whether in the physical or in the ultimate spiritual inheritance:

Deu 33:24 And of Asher he [Moses] said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil [Hebrew: shemen].
Deu 33:25 Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

The two Hebrew words shaw-mane’ and sheh’-men have the same root in the Hebrew namely shaw-man’ which relates to having plenty or the best:

Isa 30:23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous [Hebrew: shâmên]: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.

Fat or oil also links to the best part of an animal offering which belongs to God – all pointing to the spirit life of Christ in us in which God is interested:

Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat [Hebrew: cheleb] thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Num 18:12 All the best [Hebrew: cheleb] of the oil, and all the best [Hebrew: cheleb] of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.

Lev 3:16 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat [Hebrew: cheleb] is the LORD’S.

It is only in our last days that we can see the work of Christ in our lives, and through Him we “yield royal dainties”, which is His true doctrine and the fruit of the spirit which is brought forth to the glory of the Father (Gal 5:22-23):

Psa 92:14  They shall still bring forth fruit in old age [the “latter days”]; they shall be fat and flourishing.

Let us see how Moses’ words to this tribe link to Jacob’s final words to Asher.

“Let Asher be blessed with children…”

Asher, like all the other sons of Jacob, indeed was blessed with a big physical offspring through his five children (1Ch 7:30-40). Asher and his tribe again highlight this desire of our heavenly Father for a family, and this desire drives His plan for this creation. Right from the beginning God made this desire known through all creation, especially to Adam and Eve (Gen 1:22):

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

God saved one whole family during the global flood with whom He also established His covenant with all people to whom He will be faithful to fulfill His promises (Gen 6:18):

Gen 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Gen 9:9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you.

God called Abraham and his family to the promised land, and through the three patriarchs of Israel, this desire for a family is confirmed time after time, as in this case with Jacob:

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;

Through this we can also see that God is firstly focusing on a few elected ones through whom He will indeed fulfill His covenant with all mankind to be His spiritual children via Jesus Christ “in due time”:

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

This is the will of God which shall “be done in earth, as it is in heaven”, and no human or evil will can defy God’s will (Rom 9:16):

Mat 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

When we can see that we have no “free” will and God is sovereign and faithful to His promises, then we fear God and walk in His way. This is how we are truly blessed and happy when the Asherites in us shall “yield royal dainties” according to the words of Jacob:

Psa 128:1 A Song of degrees. Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.
Psa 128:2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

Only as part of God’s church will we bear the fruit of righteousness and even “be blessed with children”:

Psa 128:3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
Psa 128:4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
Psa 128:5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
Psa 128:6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.

“….let [Asher] be acceptable to his brethren…”

One of the biggest longings in a person’s heart is to be accepted, and we all are struggling with that since our creation!

Gen 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Man was made to “dwell together in unity” because it is “good and pleasant” (Psa 133:1). God ordained this creation to “groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” being in this period of waiting for the revelation of this family of God (Rom 8:20-22). This is what everyone in Adam is waiting for, knowingly or unknowingly. This groaning and travailing is manifested in diverse ways, because everyone wants to be settled in the new creation, which is only going to be fulfilled in Christ. It is only the Lord that makes us “to increase and abound in love one toward another” and that comes only through being set free from our pride and serving our own needs (Pro 3:3-4; Pro 18:24; Mat 6:33; Rom 12:1; Gal 1:10):

1Th 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.

“….let [Asher] dip his foot in oil [Hebrew: shemen]. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass…”

Our foot is the part of our body which relates to standing and walking. Spiritually, this indicates our viewpoint and our walk, either according to our earthly standards or our keeping or abiding in the doctrine of Christ (2Jn 1:9-11). Shoes also link to this spiritual meaning both in the positive and the negative (Mat 3:11; Luk 15:22; Act 7:33; Eph 6:15). The word “shemen” also connects in the scriptures with being anointed. Here are a few verses:

Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil [Hebrew: “shemen”]; my cup runneth over.

Isa 10:27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing [Hebrew: shemen].

Like all spiritual symbols in the scriptures, the anointing by God also has both a positive and negative application, as God is the Father of all spirits – good and evil (Gen 1:2-5; Gen 2:9; Heb 12:9; Isa 45:7; Exo 14:20; Heb 4:12; Rev 1:16; Rev 2:12). Iron and brass are both base metals connected to flesh, but as we mature in Christ, we see how God uses even these base metals to bring us to His spiritual treasures when we can receive and understand the purpose of this physical creation and His fiery trials (Gen 4:22; Deu 8:9; Jos 6:19; Jos 6:24; Ecc 10:11; Pet 4:12). King Saul is a beautiful example of the anointed of God who are called by God to set snares and bring tribulation to the elect:

Jer 5:26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
Jer 5:27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
Jer 5:28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

King Saul was anointed by Samuel (with a manmade vial or flask of oil) as commanded by God, but afterward, he was the rejected king because Saul reveals to us our own flesh with its rebellious nature and stubborn disobedience (1Sa 10:1; 1Sa 15:23). This anointing of Saul typifies our initial time under the kingship of flesh when the oil and glory of the flesh serves as an obstacle to spiritual insight and understanding:

Isa 6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Isa 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat [Hebrew: shâmên], and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Saul became David’s opposition or adversary as David became the true anointed king of Israel (he was anointed with a horn). David typifies the blessing of the spirit of Christ in us, bringing to us His words which enable us to serve God and His church with a new heart and mind (Pro 27:9; 1Co 2:16):

Son 1:3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

Psa 133:1 A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Psa 133:2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
Psa 133:3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

“…as thy days, so shall thy strength be.”

Through Moses’ words to this tribe of Asher we can see that God supplies what we need to endure for each situation (Php 4:17):

Isa 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isa 40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

God wrote all our days in His book long before there were even days (Psa 139:16; Rev 20:12). This brings so much comfort because God is not caught out by anyone’s actions. Neither does He need to be informed of our individual situation – He knows all and works all things (Eph 1:11). Spiritually the tribe of Asher (also known as Aser) is a type of the few blessed elect in the first resurrection because they are those in Christ who are not offended by Christ’s words and commandments. The elected ones of God are indeed the blessed in Christ and sealed with the true blessing of God’s spiritual things to be faithful until the end (Mat 5:3-11; Mat 11:6; Rom 4:7-8; Jas 1:25; Rev 1:3; Rev 16:15; Rev 19:9; Rev 22:7):

Rev 7:6a Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand.

Rev 20:6 Blessed [Greek: makarios] and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Rev 22:14 Blessed [Greek: makarios] are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Our blessed heavenly position within the spiritual Israel of God

The tribe of Asher was made to camp on the north side of the tabernacle in the wilderness with the tribes of Dan and Naphtali (Num 2:25-29). In the time of settlement in Canaan this tribe was given a territory in the north of the land close to the sea (Jos 17:10; Jos 19:24-31). The Asherites were also part of the ten tribes who formed the northern kingdom of Israel. We know that the north relates to God’s judgment, and through this tribe of Asher, we see how our earthly beast (our old life) is killed on the north side of the altar (Lev 1:11; Job 37:22; Isa 14:31; Isa 41:25; Jer 1:14; Jer 4:6; Jer 6:1; Jer 10:22; Jer 25:9; Eze 1:4; Eze 48:1). It is only through God’s judgment that we are given the spiritual ability to discern the true blessings and to know that real happiness comes to those who endure until the end (Act 14:22; Jas 1:12):

Jas 5:11 Behold, we count them happy [Greek: makarios] which endure…

1Pe 3:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy [Greek: makarios] are ye….

1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy [Greek: makarios]are ye…

During the reign of king Hezekiah of the southern kingdom, we read that he invited all those in this northern kingdom of Israel who were not taken captive by the king of Assyria to join him and the tribes in the southern kingdom of Judah in Jerusalem to keep a special passover:

2Ch 30:1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel.

Hezekiah’s plea to them was to humble themselves as God will not turn His face away from them if they come with a repentant heart:

2Ch 30:7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, which trespassed against the LORD God of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.
2Ch 30:8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.
2Ch 30:9 For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.

While most mocked and scorned this suggestion of Hezekiah, a few from the northern kingdom did indeed respond, among them also some of the tribe of Asher who humbled themselves:

2Ch 30:11 Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem.

It is also significant to read that hundreds of years after the Babylonian captivity and judgment on both Israel and Judah, a prophetess from the tribe of Asher with the name of Anna was living in Jerusalem and was active in the new rebuilt temple during the time of Jesus birth:

Luk 2:36 And there was one Anna [her name means “favour” or “grace” in Hebrew], a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel [his name means “the face of God” or “facing God” in Hebrew], of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
Luk 2:37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years [eighty four years old], which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
Luk 2:38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

Anna “spake of [Jesus] to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem” and this is what scriptural prophecy actually is concerned with. It is the testimony of Jesus in and through us:

Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Through this tribe of Asher, we also see that God’s judgment brings forth a humbled heart, even our own Anna, which is highly favoured by God because it is only then that we can be spiritually elevated to prophesy and serve in the new temple, His church, with words of edification, exhortation, and comfort:

1Co 14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

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[The author may be reached for questions or comments at glgroenewald@gmail.com]

Detailed studies and emails relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the iswasandwillbe.com website, including these topics and links:

Numbers in Scripture
Metals in Scripture
Do We Hate His Words While in Babylon?