Rachel – Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word https://www.iswasandwillbe.com Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty Mon, 19 Jan 2026 01:49:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cropped-headerlogo-32x32.png Rachel – Is, Was and Will Be – The Unknown Character of Christ and His Word https://www.iswasandwillbe.com 32 32 Generating Enthusiasm for being in the Spirit for Study https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/generating-enthusiasm-for-being-in-the-spirit-for-study/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=generating-enthusiasm-for-being-in-the-spirit-for-study Wed, 29 Jun 2022 18:01:09 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=25892 Generating Enthusiasm for being in the Spirit for Study
[Study Aired June 29, 2022]

The short answer is that nobody can generate enthusiasm for Christ’s truth without the Lord providing curiosity and longing.

There are always two key women in the scriptures – the Whore and the Bride of Christ.

Without understanding “The Keys to the Kingdom” and all in the “Essential Reading” segment on the IWWB website, we will remain firmly entrenched in Babylon.

Hopefully, this study will amplify a heightened desire through a detailed inspection of every word’s types, symbols and shadows as the Song of Solomon colourfully and secretly expresses, as does the entire Bible.

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

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.

Most certainly, Babylonian Christianity (the Whore outwardly) likewise has an intense curiosity; it ebbs and flows inconsistently and is driven by ignorant unrealistic fear and rulership by their Nicolaitan slave-masters. In addition, they breathlessly share and sell spiritual intimacies within the 46,000 splinter, Christian, harlot denominations; as we once did and now daily diligently seek to eradicate remnants of harlotry.

There is no escaping the fact that interest in the word of God has a deliberate and direct correlation with our physical marriages and sexual relationships. It is akin to the Babylonian Christians feeling obligated to attend church and is the same as us possibly feeling dispassionate for spiritual intimacies and skipping studies with the apathy of a harlot for her client (for us, it can be the dull eyes of Leah, the elder daughter, whom Jacob unwittingly married by Laban’s deceit). Likewise, if our physical marriages are sexually lack-lustre, they risk being a symbol of harlotry where indifference for physical or spiritual intimacy apathetically rules.

Traditionally, harlots have no intrigue and curiosity for authentic presence for spiritual unity with their customers. For her, time is of the essence; time is money or merely validation. Similarly, that detachment caused by ‘more important’ things can blight our delight in Christ.

The entire experience that the Body of Christ has been given is pure intimacy between the Bride and her fiancé, the Christ. She is already spiritually ravished by His word. Her God-given and increasing incontinence for His spiritual truths grows daily. Hence, He says, “I come quickly” since lovers waiting too long for physical marriage risk adultery by enthusiastically participating in the fullness of each other’s ardour. Likewise, Christ comes quickly to us since our intense spiritual intimacies quickly increase knowledge and understanding through spirit-discerning spirit. While dying daily, we are flushed with the glory and downpayment of His spirit of first love and the anticipation of marriage. Yet, we must wait patiently while the intensity of expectation increases seemingly to the breaking point.

Son 2:5 Sustain ye me with raisin-cakes, Refresh me with apples; For I am sick of love. (Darby)

Psa 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

Our former and dissipating whore within was equally passionate for a different Jesus. What an earthquake to discover that we had been amorously following another Jesus for all of our lives! It is like being at school for a final exam. With no time to spare, you were proud of your answer, only to review the question, and you had it utterly back-to-front. What a miserable and devastating flood of inward wailing and howling emotions!

Mic 1:7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
Mic 1:8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.

2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 

Mat 23:25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! [When we were whores and harlots] for you are cleansing the outside of the cup and the plate, yet inside they are brimming with rapacity and incontinence. [going over land and sea to make one proselyte a two-fold worse child of hell than themselves.] (CLV)

1Co 7:1 Now, concerning what you write to me: It is ideal for a man not to be touching a woman.”
1Co 7:2 Yet, because of prostitutions, let each man have a wife for himself and each woman have her own husband.” Spiritually speaking, we are to have ONE husband, the Christ and not the prostitutions with another Jesus.
1Co 7:3 Let the husband render to the wife her due, yet likewise the wife also to the husband.” [by the washing of the word of truth.]
1Co 7:4 The wife has not the jurisdiction of her own body, but the husband, yet likewise the husband also has not the jurisdiction of his own body, but the wife.”
1Co 7:5 Do not deprive one another, except sometime it should be by agreement for a period, that you should gave leisure for prayer, and you may be the same again, lest Satan may be trying you because of your incontinence.

Just as husbands and wives in a well-balanced marriage have curiosity and desire and specific incontinence for the mind and body of their mate, so, too, is the Body of Christ incontinent for His spiritual truth. Leisurely time through deep presence in the Word evokes profound ruminations that arouses a spouse to engage their mate.

Son 4:9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. 

Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 

Pro 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

I expect that everyone here knows what it is like to be “sick of [with/in] love”. To become sick with love for God’s word requires diligent study of different Bible versions and related dictionaries with cross-referencing of the many instances of scriptures where a particular word or phrase has an order of frequency of use for a meaning. To a Babylonian it sounds tedious, and it is unless the Lord has given us righteous lust for his word.

There are 35 internationally recognized descriptions of wine tasting. Within each class, the vintner looks intently into each classification in his attempt to express the subtle flavours that he more often overstates in the hope of sales. It is an act of being intently present for the more exquisite and delicate flavours. Those qualities are identified, sometimes in more flowery and inspirational terms than I express, as a hint of chocolate, mild pepper, oak, rose and so forth. Unless we were inspired by the vintner to seek those flavors, we would most likely miss them. By being utterly immersed emotionally in the art, we extract a peculiar delight in the subject.

Similarly, we, too, look intently into the word of God for its underlying flavors of all truths without adding to the word of God, or diminishing His word, just as Solomon immersed himself in the delight of his Bride. That is being “present” in a thing.

[For your interest to characterise fine wine, the following link is excellent: https://www.wine-tastings-guide.com/wine-descriptions.html]

Son 2:5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.

For the sake of the exercise, following is a simple breakdown of that verse that most in the Body take for granted.

Continuing…

For brevity’s sake, I haven’t included the full KJV+TVM rendition for each word in Song of Solomon 2:5. Below is a more extensive example of “for I am sick”H2470. However, a detailed study of words arouses “presence”. It is like studying the label of a presumed fine wine where the careful wording is designed to intrigue and promote lust for a sale. So is Solomon’s authentic love speech, but without a harlot’s flamboyant ‘sales’ pitch with lying eyes and dress.

The Bride has a single-mindedness of eye for her fiancé since he has given her a new and virgin mind for him alone. She is, before creation, “spoken for” where the pattern of the younger ruling the elder is permanent. She is promised and declared in advance for Christ.

Son 8:7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. [despised; condemned]  
Son 8:8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? 

What the Lord does for the cute “little sister”, to the unwitting Babylonian Christian’s sullen displeasure, is that the entire Bible is written primarily for her, His future Bride. It is a love letter to her alone. She is the little sister typified by Rachel, Jacob’s fiancée, and compared to her elder sister Leah’s “weak eyes”, Rachel was vibrant, eager, anticipatory, but most of all, devotedly being present in communications and submission, the apple of Jacob’s eye. How do we know that? For our benefit, the Lord deliberately portrayed Rachel as His spiritual Bride, and we know that the Lord will suffer nothing less than a perfect representation.

 Son 4:7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. 

Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. [We know that she does have “spots”, but they are gone and made as white as snow when his righteousness is attributed to her, as she, with the simplicity of acknowledging her sins, they are made as white as snow.]

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Every bride desires the perfect marriage, and vibrant marriage is built upon being equally yoked in the spirit of understanding the truth with vibrant communications in all things.
Jer 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 
Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Since we are here in our forums with each other in regular and intimate communication in Christ, it is the God-given primary key to increasing spiritual intrigue.

As did five of the sleepy and foolish virgins, we must challenge our fleshy proclivity to take our ease.

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 

Amo 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

Israel came from the wilderness and the mountains of Samaria, where she committed many whoredoms with her neighbors and is a shadow of us coming out of the many harlot churches of the same people where we took our ease in the foolish belief that we are already saved without chastisement.

We all experience the weariness of the flesh and turn over on our spiritual bed of slothfulness. World time zones, health, sleeplessness and many other tribulations of the flesh contribute to genuine absence from our daily studies and private communications. Nonetheless, the Lord knows our heart, and so we should first judge ourselves within for any slothfulness.

Pro 26:14 As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. 
Pro 26:15 The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth. 
Pro 26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. 

Jdg 18:9 And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land. 

Pro 12:24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. 

Tribute is forced labor. The entire world has been under tribute since Eden. Israel experienced the first forced labor in the wilderness under the law of Moses, where physical blessings and cursings ruled. The world will participate in a second tribute, in type, for their God-given slothfulness under the rod of iron in the One Thousand-Year reign where again, and without the Lord’s spirit, everyone will see their teachers and hear God’s laws but not be converted.

So, pray diligently for the habit of daily routine and probably rising early to feed your household within. Consistent study with a mindful presence in Christ is vital whatever your timeframe.

Pro 31:10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. [We know that Christ has found, and even made for Himself, such a woman.
Pro 31:11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil [Christ had already experienced a lack-lustre and indifferent woman, his first wife in the wilderness. He will not suffer to take her back in adultery as that would be dishonest spoil. So, too, we don’t go back to Babylonian doctrine].
Pro 31:12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life [Only because He first loved her by giving her increasing intimacy for him; she wanted him to wash her by his word].
Pro 31:13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands [She is spiritually clothed and diligent in study].
Pro 31:14 She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar [By searching the scriptural fare daily].
Pro 31:15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

To be sick with love, we need commonality in most likes and dislikes. We need a bright-eyed accord that makes us equally yoked in flesh and spirit with our lover.

At this point in the study, we have seen that:

  • We first must be dragged to the truth since our Babylonian brothers and sisters likewise proclaim their passion for ‘the truth’ unwittingly for a different Jesus. We must be pre-signed for the right course and in the relevant lecture room.
  • We must show up with disciplined, consistent and meditative study and do our homework. 

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not [The hard-working farmer reaps in due season].

The Third and Vital Ingredient is to have a Vibrant Presence in Christ to be “Sick of Love.”

Jacob’s fiancée, Rachel, is a classic example of a young woman trembling in anticipatory excitement for her man and him for her. Before meeting him, she knew the truth of what kind of man would magnetically snap her attention. She was a delightful girl who loved the beauty of the outdoors in nature and solitude while tending her father Laban’s sheep. As did Jacob, Rachel knew that being equally yoked in all things with her lover created a brighter path to more profound understanding of each other and for us, Christ.

Presence in each other creates vibrancy and makes us “sick of love” ~ meaning sick with love. (Song of Solomon 2:5)

Essentially, by being dragged to Christ and studying His word, we are automatically given the path to first love that makes us sick with love for its intoxicating joy of oneness of mind and burning spiritual bodily union with Christ.

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 15:45 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.

First comes the natural, and then proceeds the spiritual. Most newlyweds believe that they are equally yoked in mind and spirit, for that is what exhilarates their sensuality to more intense delight in the other. It is a beautiful thing that, without further reason, they immerse themselves wholeheartedly in a bodily union. The spiritual correlation is that immersion in Christ is first seen in the flesh with our physical love affairs.

We all crave the ‘happy hormones’ (Oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin) and remember the newness of their effects in our youth and long to return to those heady days and recapture the deep intimacy and presence of courtship and newly marrieds. Platonic friendships can have a far more focused presence on each other, especially Christ, since sexual intimacies don’t clutter the devotion for spirit of truth, and no doubt Paul experienced and was prompted to say that it is good not to touch a woman. However, if spouses can achieve presence in and for each other and Christ, it can be an exceedingly fruitful experience of spiritual discovery.

Ecc 4:9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their work. 
Ecc 4:10 And if one has a fall, the other will give him a hand; but unhappy is the man who is by himself, because he has no helper. 
Ecc 4:11 So again, if two are sleeping together they are warm, but how may one be warm by himself? 

What is not stated is that a single person can have a possibly equal or greater intensity of desire and presence alone with Christ since his ache to share his deep spiritual insights escalates in solitude with the Lord. Today, I lust for that presence! With emotions too deep to relate, I have experienced that deep intimacy with Christ, especially in my single days on my farm that can only be described as a shadow of sexual intimacy with a spouse transcended by spiritual intimacy in Christ. I like to think that is what Paul experienced.

Physical love ebbs and flows and can become static or face wintery growth. Ephesus within us, the first of the seven churches of Asia, is admonished right off the bat to regain its first love.

Rev 2:1 Unto the angel [the Body of Christ] of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 
Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 
Rev 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 
Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

Hopefully, new people in the Body of Christ are still in that state of first love when Spring is in the air. They intensely focus on every word of God for more profound spiritual meanings as the happy hormones brighten their spiritual eyes.

The fruit from our flush of first love steadily matures over many months and possibly years. Maturing members of Christ’s Body sometimes long for the heady days of ravenously devouring the word of God. Similar to youthful lust, they lust for a revitalised spirit righteously.

Ecc 7:10 Say not, Why were the days which have gone by better than these? Such a question comes not from wisdom. 

That first love is often based on the new and pure milk of the word, and it is not wise to say that the old days are better than the present. As I experienced on the farm with my profound delight in the Lord, people think the old days were better because they brightly recall the effects of the happy hormones and try to retrieve them rather than focus on the foundational truths of mature fruit which the happy hormones incite. I wanted the wine of my spiritual hit. That emotional buoyancy is as much as so-called charismatic church folk want to know with their understanding. They amplify their drunkenness by babbling in tongues and all sorts of mindless ravings for the emotional hit it evokes, and agitate deluded marvelling from peers.

There is nothing wrong with breathtaking truthful joy. As the saying goes, “Let’s have our cake and eat it too!” By eating the meat of His word, we attain a more mature buoyancy springing from detailed study. Focused study on types, symbols and shadows and the Greek and Hebrew meanings of words, bursts exponentially upwards in our minds for more exciting exploration. To the non-dragged mind, that is as boring as it sounds, but it is hidden manna to us. Almost every word in scripture has a spiritual meaning, and if we don’t seek its often multiple meanings, we will remain a mindless unconverted Babylonian.

Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

How do we recapture our first love? 

Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

To stir up love and good works of being one with Christ in everything, we need to review the physical that precedes the spiritual briefly. The classic example is a husband and wife’s love-making desires for each other. Of course, we don’t have to go into the intimate details to know what actions escalate all the happy hormones for righteous incontinence. Nevertheless, Solomon’s examples in the scriptures below have inspired playwrights and poets for centuries where one’s imagination is titillated. At the Lord’s hand for the discerning Saints, our minds are seasoned with self-mastery while reading such accounts; of which single Saints are increasingly adept.

It is understood that there are endless avenues of meaning in poetry. For this purpose, we have a glimpse of stirring up passion in each other, a shadow of the spiritual for Christ, our fiancé, who is pretty amorous yet restrained in verse 6. His nearness to marriage and his courting chastity is an act of “good works” and symbolizes our ardour for intense delight in what is to come in marriage.

Solomon, the Rose of Sharon, represents Christ, and the Body of Christ is the Lily of the valley among the harlot thorns.

Our deliberate restraint of haste in love-making is for the Lily’s (Christ’s) good pleasure, where the Rose and the Lily’s presence in every minute detail of each other is paramount to becoming “sick of love”. So, too, is our study for every word in scripture, our focus, that is, our presence which ravishes our hearts for Christ! Being “present” is precisely that ~ deliberate and absorbing focus on the details as with our delight in fine wine. The result is the physical and spiritual flow of happy hormones that cause us to crave more as should happen both physically and spiritually with equally yoked spouses.

Son 2:1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. 
Son 2:2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 
Son 2:3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 
Son 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. 
Son 2:5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. 
Son 2:6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me [That to me looks like highly restrained ardour, yet it can be taken both ways; for the unmarried and the married].
Son 2:7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please [Christ pleases Himself whom He chooses as members of His Bride whether they are called at the third hour or the eleventh hour].

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

Son 2:8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. 
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. 
Son 2:10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 
Son 2:11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 
Son 2:12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 
Son 2:13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. 
Son 2:14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. 
Son 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. 
Son 2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. 
Son 2:17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

We know all too well our aches and pains through trials and sufferings as we are chastised and die daily to our sins as walk, rest, sleep, and we resume the race against ourselves to win the prize of our high calling. Our spiritual ardour ebbs and flows in fits and starts. That is the habit of weak flesh subject to idols of the heart. The flush of first love matures into a more intense purity in Christ, and is especially experienced at the wedding supper of the Lamb where our spiritual winter is banished forever.

Amo 3:13 Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts, 
Amo 3:14 That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. 
Amo 3:15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD. 

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.

Amen.

]]> Study of the Book of Judges – Jdg 8:22 – 35 Gideon, Rule Thou Over us, Both you, and thy Sons https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/study-of-the-book-of-judges-jdg-822-35-gideon-rule-thou-over-us-both-you-and-thy-sons/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=study-of-the-book-of-judges-jdg-822-35-gideon-rule-thou-over-us-both-you-and-thy-sons Mon, 26 Apr 2021 17:45:33 +0000 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=23465

Jdg 8:22 – 35 Gideon, Rule Thou Over us, Both thou, and thy Son

[Study Aired April 26, 2021]

Jdg 8:22  Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian. 
Jdg 8:23  And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you. 
Jdg 8:24  And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 
Jdg 8:25  And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. 
Jdg 8:26  And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks. 
Jdg 8:27  And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house.
Jdg 8:28  Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon.
Jdg 8:29  And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.
Jdg 8:30  And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.
Jdg 8:31  And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech.
Jdg 8:32  And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Jdg 8:33  And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.
Jdg 8:34  And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:
Jdg 8:35  Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.

The first half of chapter 8 of Judges deals with the pursuing of the enemies who escaped in the war with the Midianites and how they were defeated together with the slaying of their leaders – Zebah and Zalmunna. This reflects the war in our heavens in the course of our walk with Christ to rid them of false doctrines which is a symbol of the Midianites. During the pursuit, Gideon and his men went by the way of those who dwell in tents. That is to suggest that in this conflict with our old man, we need to exercise faith that God who has started this journey with us will see to its completion.

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Heb 11:9  By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
Heb 11:10  For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Gideon and his men grew weary as they pursued the enemies, and so they requested for food from the men of Succoth and Penuel.  In both cases, they were denied because these men were not convinced that Gideon and his men would completely overcome the enemies as long as they saw Zebah and Zalmunna free. What this tells us is that both the world (represented by men of Succoth) and the church system of this world (represented by Penuel) do not recognize us as God’s overcomers in this life. Rather, they classify us as spiritually dead in the streets of Jerusalem.

Rev 11:8  and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9  For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb,

Gideon therefore promised the men of Succoth and Penuel that when he returns in victory, he will use thorns and briars to hurt the flesh of the men of Succoth and break down the tower of Penuel. This speaks of our enthronement with Christ to judge all humanity by breaking down their false doctrines (tower) and also correcting them with their false doctrines (thorns and briars).

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Eventually, Gideon and his men won the battle with the Midianites just before the sunrise. This speaks of the certainty of victory for those who are in battle now in this life to remove all that offends from their heavens. This victory will come just before the sunrise, that is, when our Lord Jesus comes (the sun of righteousness) to make the kingdom of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christs. That is the beginning of our rulership which is part of the subject for today’s study as follows:

Jdg 8:22  Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.

After Gideon’s conquest of the Midianites and the putting to death of Zebah and Zalmunna, the men of Israel requested Gideon to rule over them. This victory over the old man or the flesh is what will qualify us as overcomers and to be manifested as sons of God during the first resurrection. That is what the world is looking for – the manifested sons of God!! Our victory will cause the world to voluntary hand over to us the governance of this world. This verse is therefore foretelling of the rulership of the elect after they are manifested as the sons of God during the next age when the kingdoms of this world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

The scriptures make us aware that what has been, is what will be.

Ecc 1:9  The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Ecc 1:10  Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

Let’s look at two instances in the scriptures where God caused the rulers of particular nations to hand over their power to God’s people, who were not even citizens of those nations. This is to assure us that when the time comes, God is able to cause the whole world to surrender their power to the elect seamlessly.

Gen 41:1  And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.
Gen 41:2  And, behold, there came up out of the river seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a meadow.
Gen 41:3  And, behold, seven other kine came up after them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by the other kine upon the brink of the river.
Gen 41:4  And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh awoke.
Gen 41:5  And he slept and dreamed the second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.
Gen 41:6  And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.
Gen 41:7  And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.
Gen 41:8  And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

Gen 41:16  And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
Gen 41:37  And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
Gen 41:38  And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?Gen 41:39  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Gen 41:40  Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:42  And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;

The second Witness

Est 6:1  On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 
Est 6:2  And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. 
Est 6:3  And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him. 

Est 6:10  Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. 
Est 6:11  Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.

Our God knows what He can do to cause the whole world to hand over the governance of the world to the elect, and He has given us two witnesses to make us aware that what he intends to do is well established and that He will shortly bring it to pass.

Gen 41:32  And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

Jdg 8:23  And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you. 

Gideon’s answer to the people is another way of saying that our rulership is not of this present world. Jesus made us aware of this as follows:

Joh 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 

As long as we are in this flesh, we cannot inherit the promise. “The Lord shall rule over you” is another way of saying that the Lord rules in the kingdom of men.

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. 

Jdg 8:24  And Gideon said unto them, I would desire a request of you, that ye would give me every man the earrings of his prey. (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 
Jdg 8:25  And they answered, We will willingly give them. And they spread a garment, and did cast therein every man the earrings of his prey. 
Jdg 8:26  And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was a thousand and seven hundred shekels of gold; beside ornaments, and collars, and purple raiment that was on the kings of Midian, and beside the chains that were about their camels’ necks. 

On a positive note, the giving of the gold ornaments by the Israelites to Gideon represents the fact that whatever knowledge of the word of God that the existing churches of the world know is being/has been taken away and given to God’s elect as spoken by Jesus.

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. 

On a negative note, Gideon did not adhere to the principle ‘freely we have received, freely we must give’ just as the Babylonian system refuses to heed to this admonition. From the previous review, we noted that Gideon removed the ornaments of gold from the necks of the camels of the enemies – Zebah and Zalmunna. That is to suggest that he craved for worldly mammon. In spite of his defeat of the Midianites, he coveted their possession.

Jdg 8:21  Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, Rise thou, and fall upon us: for as the man is, so is his strength. And Gideon arose, and slew Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the ornaments that were on their camels’ necks.

This propensity towards error is common to us all. That is why we must cry to the Lord to rid us of all that offends in our heart and minds for we cannot serve God and mammon. This craving for mammon is the stumbling block of iniquity which has derailed many potential God’s children from the reward. Examples of Old Testament types include Saul, Solomon and Gehazi, the servant of Elisha. The New Testament list includes Judas Iscariot and Demas.

Mat 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

2Ti 4:10  For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. 

At a certain stage of our walk with Christ, we were willing to give our money to our “men of God” in Babylon just as we see the willingness of the Israelites to give to Gideon. We share in the sins of these men of God who were/are fleecing God’s people. We therefore were as guilty as the ministers in Babylon, as we thought that gain is godliness. One of their own prophets prophesied the following about the fleecing of God’s children in Babylon:

“Enough is enough; no longer will I suffer or tolerate ministers and ministries who operate in My name and fleece, yes, fleece My people. You manipulate them and prey on their emotions to part with their hard-earned income. You say it is for My Kingdom and promise them blessings in My name, which I have not spoken to you. Furthermore, you twist and distort My Word to fit in with your own evil schemes”.

1Ti 6:5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. 
1Ti 6:6  But godliness with contentment is great gain. 
1Ti 6:7  For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 
1Ti 6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 
1Ti 6:9  But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 
1Ti 6:10  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 

What happened to Gideon is no different from what Saul did in the sense that both thought of worshiping the Lord with what they got from the enemies.

1Sa 15:1  Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. 

1Sa 15:3  Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 

1Sa 15:8  And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 
1Sa 15:9  But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. 

1Sa 15:20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 
1Sa 15:21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. 
1Sa 15:22  And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 
1Sa 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Jdg 8:27  And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house. 

According to Strong, an ephod can be a girdle or an image. In this particular instance, it represents an image. An image is not the real thing. So this ephod represents another Jesus that is worshipped in Babylon. This is confirmed by the fact that the ephod was placed at Ophrah, which means a young deer in its first year. So what this means is that when we were young in our walk with Christ, we were easily entrapped into worshiping another Jesus because of our carnal nature.  It is in Babylon that we learn to become a whore and so go after every wind of doctrine that sweeps us away from the true living God.

2Co 11:4  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear wiath him. 

Our Lord is always calling His children from Babylon. Thus, being in Babylon is a necessary part of our walk with Christ as demonstrated by the marrying of Leah and Rachel by Jacob.

Gen 29:16  And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 
Gen 29:17  Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. 
Gen 29:18  And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. 
Gen 29:19  And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me. 
Gen 29:20  And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her. 
Gen 29:21  And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her. 
Gen 29:22  And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. 
Gen 29:23  And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her. 
Gen 29:24  And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid. 
Gen 29:25  And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me? 
Gen 29:26  And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 
Gen 29:27  Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. 
Gen 29:28  And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also. 

When we start this walk with Christ, we end up in the churches thinking it is Rachel. All of this takes place in the night of our lives until the morning comes when the sun of righteousness begins to shine in our lives.  That is when we realize, like Jacob, that we have married the wrong woman – Leah (Babylon). As we can see in the above scriptures, Leah is said to be tender eyed, which means her eyes were weak. This is to tell us that God has not given the churches eyes to see or ears to hear. Through the grace of God, when the morning comes and we see who we have really married (Leah), that is when we start our journey out of Babylon and end up coming into the New Jerusalem (Rachel).

The fact that Leah had many children also demonstrates that Leah represents Jerusalem which now is. She thought that by giving Jacob many sons, she will be loved by her husband. That is exactly what the churches do – they think they can please God by the good works they do. However, the barren woman (Rachel) is blessed!

Gal 4:27  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 

Gen 29:34  And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi. 

At the end of the day, Gideon made serious mistakes in his relationship with Christ as a result of his covetous attitude which led him to build an ephod which became a stumbling block of iniquity even though he has seen the Lord face to face. Gideon’s errors were grave just like that of Hezekiah who showed off his spiritual wealth to the Babylonians and appropriated to himself the glory which belongs to God. In both cases, they were shown mercy, and the reason they were shown mercy was that God has determined before the world began that He would show them mercy. That was not the case with Esau and Saul.  What we see of Gideon’s, Hezekiah’s and David’s experiences are to make us aware that as God’s elect we are human and weak. We should therefore humble ourselves as we see ourselves as greatest sinners to whom God has shown mercy and is in the process of making us fit for a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him. These things are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.

2Ch 32:22  Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side. 
2Ch 32:23  And many brought gifts unto the LORD to Jerusalem, and presents to Hezekiah king of Judah: so that he was magnified in the sight of all nations from thenceforth. 

2Ch 32:25  But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. 

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 are come.

Jdg 8:28  Thus was Midian subdued before the children of Israel, so that they lifted up their heads no more. And the country was in quietness forty years in the days of Gideon. 

The fact that the Midianites were not able to lift their heads again during the time of Gideon is the same as saying that when we become enlightened and we makes mistakes, we do not end up going back to Egypt or Babylon.

This rest of forty years by the Israelites under Gideon is a period where the devil’s activities are constrained by the Lord just as at the beginning of the millennial rule Satan would be bound for a period of “thousand years”. As a result, the Israelites had a period of rest from war with the other nations in their land. It is therefore a physical rest, and as we journey with Christ, we also experience these periods of rest intermittently. However, this is not the spiritual rest for the elect which we must endeavor to enter. As indicated in Hebrews 4:9-11, this spiritual rest is to cease from our own works. We can enter into this rest when we believe that what the Lord has started in our lives, He is able to finish it on our behalf.

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 

Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 
Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 
Heb 4:7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 
Heb 4:8  For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 
Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 
Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 
Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 

Jdg 8:29  And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house.

Gideon going to live in his own house spiritually symbolizes that in sinning this way, Gideon did not regard his inheritance or reward as precious or something to die for, as demonstrated by the following scripture:

2Ch 10:16  And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and we have none inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel: and now, David, see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their tents. 

2Sa 20:1  And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel. 

Gideon’s attitude was the same as that of Esau who rejected his inheritance for one morsel of meat, and afterward he sought for his inheritance with tears but could not bring himself to repentance.

Heb 12:15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 
Heb 12:16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 
Heb 12:17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 

All this is to tell us of the failures of Gideon after being enlightened. Because God has selected Gideon before the world began with the purpose of showing His glory through him, he was shown mercy. The failures of Gideon even become clearer in the following verses:

Jdg 8:30  And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives. 
Jdg 8:31  And his concubine that was in Shechem, she also bare him a son, whose name he called Abimelech. 

Gideon having seventy children is to tell us that Gideon’s situation is just like being in Babylonian captivity. This means that when we sin, we are no different from the Babylonian system that we left.

Jer 25:11  And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Gideon’s deplorable situation is further confirmed by the fact that Gideon married many wives and even had concubines. Marrying many wives and having concubines is a spiritual way of saying that Gideon’s heart was not perfect with the Lord. As we get enlightened, we must seek the Lord to deal with all our weaknesses so that we can be able to offer ourselves as living sacrifice to Him.

1Ki 11:3  And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1Ki 11:4  For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

As Paul said, even though we speak this way, we are persuaded of better things concerning our salvation. As long as we are depending on the Lord to rid us of anything evil in our heart, testing the spirit, admitting our faults to one another, gladly receiving multitude of counsel and deferring to our leaders, we are sure that He who has started this great work in us will see to its completion!!

Heb 6:9  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 

Jdg 8:32  And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 

Dying in a good old age is a phrase used in the scriptures for the elect types in the Old Testament as follows:

Gen 25:8  Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

1Ch 29:28  And he (David) died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

This verse means that Gideon, in spite of all that he did – that is marrying many wives and concubines and building an ephod which became a snare to the people of Israel, received mercy from the Lord. He was therefore counted as one of those who demonstrated their faith in God in the Book of Hebrews chapter 11 where the heroes of faith were listed.

Heb 11:32  And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 
Heb 11:33  Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
Heb 11:34  Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 

Jdg 8:33  And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god. 
Jdg 8:34  And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:
Jdg 8:35  Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel. 

As indicated earlier, the forty years of rest under Gideon was only a physical rest where God restrained the enemies of Israel from attacking them. This rest therefore did not result in spiritual growth. It was a period during which what was in their hearts became evident. To understand the significance of the number forty years rest, let us look at what happened to the Israelites when they were in the wilderness for forty years.  During that period, it became clear that they were not cut out to please God because their hearts were always erring.  In that situation they were not able to discern God’s ways. That is what happens to us when we come under bondage to the flesh. We will always be erring, and we cannot please God during that period because we do not know His ways. However, forty years on a positive note also signifies the period of God’s provision and protection. The Israelites lacked nothing during the wilderness experience.  It is also the period in our lives that we begin the dying to the flesh process and get ourselves ready to drive out the giants of our land.

This period is also characterized by our raiment not waxing old as it happened to the Israelites in the wilderness. As we know, raiment stands for our righteousness. So what it means is that we do not change our righteousness to put on the righteousness of Christ. We bask in our own righteousness just like Job as we wear our own clothes and eat our own food and only desire to have the name of Christ as our husband. This is what happens to us when we come under bondage to the flesh for a symbolic forty years during our walk with Christ.

Psa 95:10  Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 
Psa 95:11  Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. 

Num 32:13  And the LORD’S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.

Deu 2:7  For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

Deu 8:4  Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

So the forty years rest under Gideon was a period during which the Israelites were found wanting. Therefore God comes in seeking an occasion to judge the Israelites by causing them to return to idol worship at the death of Gideon.  We also have been weighed in a balance and are found wanting. That is why we are all going through judgment. The good news is that the judgment we are going through now is working for our salvation by destroying every seed of rebellion in our lives. Praise be to God!!! In the next review of Judges Chapter 9, we will see how God judged the Israelites using one of His four sore judgements.

]]> Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 86 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/foundational-themes-in-genesis-study-86/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=foundational-themes-in-genesis-study-86 Thu, 12 Mar 2015 16:54:20 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=9197 Foundational themes in Genesis – Study 86

(Key verses: Gen 31:1-55)

The foundational theme of sanctification is helping us to see our own road from being created a marred vessel of clay with a deceitful heart to be conformed in the spiritual image of God having His mind (Gen 2:7; Jer 17:9; Jer 18:4; Rom 8:20; 1Co 15:22-28; 2Ti 2:21). Jacob is given to us as one of the types of this process of sanctification as he started off as a deceiver and manipulator to be taken through his time of service for his two wives and for his flock to become God’s trusted servant (Gen 2:19; Gen 25:29-34; Gen 27:6-29; Gen 27:42-45). Every aspect of our lives will go through this Jacob-like process as it will be repeated several times throughout our lives to get all aspects of the old Adam’s carnal heart in us exposed and supplanted by the new heart of Christ (Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26; 1Co 2:9-10). After Jacob worked fourteen years for the two daughters of Laban, Leah and Rachel, he also arranged to work another six years to build up his own flock (Gen 29:25-30; Gen 30:27-36). God ordained that Jacob supernaturally bred a huge flock through the unusual brown, ringstraked, speckled and spotted offspring from the flock of Laban, which Jacob received in a dream but only told this revelation from God to Rachel and Rebekah just before they left Haran:

Gen 31:7 And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me.
Gen 31:8 If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle ringstraked.
Gen 31:9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.
Gen 31:10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.
Gen 31:11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
Gen 31:12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.
Gen 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

Laban’s own fickle and manipulative nature caused him to believe he could determine the outcome of the offspring of the flock as he tried ten times to intervene in the birthing process, but he was always too late as God determines things long before we become aware of it (Mat 6: 10; Mat 18:18; Rom 11:33-36; Eph 1:11; Heb 11:3). Yet in all of these workings of God which was hidden from natural eyes, Jacob was perceived by Laban and his sons as an opportunist and cheater:

Gen 31:1 And he heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father’s; and of that which was our father’s hath he gotten all this glory.
Gen 31:2 And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.

While God indeed is directing every step of every creature He made, including all of Jacob’s life from start to finish, it was actually Jacob who was on the short end of the stick during the twenty years he worked for Laban (Pro 20:24; Jer 10:23). The world and carnality in our own natural hearts cannot accept the sovereignty of God in all things in this creation as it will also perceive the decisions and choices of God as unrighteous and unfair. In our own time of spiritual blindness we, too, think we ‘deserve’ what we achieved and possess, and we have a right to be unhappy when things are not going according to our understanding of things. Out of this carnal pride flows envy and comparisons which then give rise to all the human battles and wars we see on this earth (Psalm 2). This is also now the case in the families of Laban and Jacob. Divisions and mistrust have been established, and it was obvious that God’s favour was with Jacob. God indeed provides all things for all of His creation, but it is the elect of God who benefit first in terms of spiritual provision. God sanctifies His elect in this process to be in the right position for them to function in a righteous way after their darkness have been exposed and dealt with (Ecc 3:1-11; Lev 11:44; Mat 5:48; Mat 19:21; Joh 17:17-23; 2Ti 2:21; 1Pe 5:10; 1Pe 1:15-22). God will bring the obedience in the hearts of His people to do what He will persuade them to do:

Gen 31:3 And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.
Gen 31:4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field unto his flock,
Gen 31:5 And said unto them, I see your father’s countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.
Gen 31:6 And ye know that with all my power I have served your father.

God’s elect is prepared for service while being in Babylon where they also learn to serve “with all [their] power” as this is the work ethic or diligence we need to have in the doctrine of Christ when we serve God and His kingdom (Exo 15:26; Ezr 7:23; Luk 6:27-19; 2Ti 2:15; 2Pe 1:5-10; 2Jo 1:8-10). Servanthood is the calling of the elect as we are not called to lord over others and be served, but to be the least of all:

Mat 20:25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
Mat 20:26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
Mat 20:27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

The ministers in Babylon do lord over the flock and indeed fleece their own flock for their own benefit (Eze 34:1-10). Rachel and Leah were the two witnesses of the greed and unfairness of their father toward Jacob and themselves. They also were in agreement with Jacob to move with him out of the house of Laban:

Gen 31:14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?
Gen 31:15 Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.
Gen 31:16 For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
Gen 31:17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;
Gen 31:18 And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

When we physically move out of the false churches because of this abuse, we usually are unaware that we take the old spiritual family’s false doctrines with us. However, in Rachel’s case she deliberately stole the images or idols of her Father:

Gen 31:19 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen [Hebrew: “gânab” = thieve/deceive] the images [Hebrew: “terâphı̂ym” = idols/family idols] that were her father’s.

Our departure out of Babylon is never accompanied by them blessing us and wishing us well with “mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp” as Laban later claimed he would have done (Gen 31:27-28). No, the doctrine of Christ repeatedly commands us to flee from the things of the flesh and the voice of the strange shepherds (Mat 10:23; Mat 24:15-16; Joh 10:5; 1Co 6:18; 1Co 10:14; 1Ti 6:1-11; 2Ti 2:22). Jacob and his family indeed had to flee to get “over the river” of separation from Babylon, which was the river Euphrates which separated Canaan from Babylon (Mat 24:16; Gen 15:18; Deu 11:24):

Gen 31:20 And Jacob stole away [Hebrew: “gânab” = thieve / deceive] unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.
Gen 31:21 So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead.

When Jacob started the breeding of his own flock, Laban set a space of three days between his flock and Jacob’s flock. Now he only heard of Jacob’s sudden departure three days later, which means Jacob had a six day advantage on Laban who decided to pursue Jacob when he heard of Jacob’s departure. It is on the seventh day that Laban overtook Jacob and his family:

Gen 31:22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.
Gen 31:23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.

As long as we are in this body of flesh, Babylon will always have its tentacles enticing us to bring us back into carnal rule and dominion. God appeared to Laban to give specific instructions about Jacob as even our fleshly adversaries cannot go beyond the boundaries and instructions God gives them (Job 1:12; Job 2:6):

Gen 31:24 And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

Laban had two issues with Jacob that he wanted to be cleared, and it also connects with this Hebrew word “gânab” which appears eight times in this one chapter in Genesis. The elect of God is perceived to be thieves and deceivers by those who are the true liars and deceivers in the world:

Gen 31:25 Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.
Gen 31:26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away [Hebrew: “gânab” = thieve/deceive] unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?
Gen 31:27 Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away [Hebrew: “gânab” = thieve/ deceive] from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?
Gen 31:28 And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.

God’s elect is also seen as being foolish by Babylon when we do not want to abide with them in their delusion and deception. They actually believe they do possess power over us, even as Pilate shamelessly confessed his authority over Jesus to do with him as he pleased (Joh 19:10-11). This is also Laban’s belief in the delusional power of his gods over him and over his household:

Gen 31:29 It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.
Gen 31:30 And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen [Hebrew: “gânab” = thieve/deceive] my gods?

Jacob explained to Laban why he had to leave without notice. Jacob then unknowingly spoke a death sentence over Rachel, his beloved wife, because he had no idea that she was in possession of these gods of Laban:

Gen 31:31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me.
Gen 31:32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen [Hebrew: “gânab” = thieve/deceive] them.

Jacob will learn, as all of us and so many in the scripture also, that speaking and acting in haste is not the spirit of the wise (Num 20:10-12; 2Sa 12:5-7; Pro 18:13; Ecc 5:2; Ecc 7:8; Luk 9:54-55; Luk 21:19; Act 19:36; Jas 1:19-20):

Pro 13:3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.

Pro 21:23 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

When we usually open wide our lips and speak in haste, we do not know what hides within our own tents, even our own heart. When our mouth is not kept and focused on God’s Word, we are not even aware that we are clinging to worldly idols in our hearts, and we, like Rachel in this case, surely have a death sentence over our head. The spirit of the world (all the pride and lusts in our hearts) is the spirit of death, and it is in total opposition to the life-giving spirit of God (Rom 8:6-8; Gal 5:17):

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.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

These lusts and pride are housing the many idols which all in the first Adam ignorantly cling to at the appointed time. In her immature faith at this stage, Rachel cannot see that idols are nothing in and by themselves, but are given a life by man himself (Isa 2:8; Isa 31:7; Hab 2:18-19; 1Co 8:4; 1Co 10:19-20). Idols reside in a variety of forms in natural man’s heart and keep those enslaved who believe in its power (Eze 14:3-7). This was also the problem the apostle Paul had to address in the church in Corinth among those who publicly showed false maturity in the faith after they physically came out of Babylon, yet internally still adhered to hidden fleshly desires (1Co 3:1-3; 1Co 8:4-7). The mature know that there is only one God, the Father, of who are all things and all other concepts of prosperity and protection are delusional idols of the carnal heart:

Psa 127:1 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Psa 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

The maturing Jacob at this time had no need for these idols of Laban because he knew and was given the faith to believe these words of God above all else:

Gen 28:15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

Gen 31:3 And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.

If the Word of God is revealed to a person, God will also reveal His protection and all blessings as coming from Him (Psa 4:6-8; Psa 62:10-12; Mat 16:18; Joh 19:11; Php 4:13; 2Th 3:3). Laban first searched the tent of Leah and the tents of the two maidservants, before he went to Rachel’s tent:

Gen 31:33 And Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the two maidservants’ tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent.
Gen 31:34 Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel’s furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not.
Gen 31:35 And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.

The words of Rachel, “….the custom of women is upon me”, are also significant in terms of her spiritual understanding of God’s protection and provision at this stage, as this points to the time of uncleanness on a woman which was later codified under to the law of Moses:

Lev 15:19 And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.

Rachel was unclean more in terms of her false ideas and beliefs that these idols could actually protect them and bring prosperity. The very images that were supposed to bring prosperity and give protection are now the reason why she is unknowingly under a death sentence. It is also ironic that these idols were now in need of protection which again shows the tragedy of trusting in false gods, even in our own “strong holds”, our “imaginations”, and “every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of [the one true] God” (2Co 10:4-5). While Rachel was sitting on these idols within this time of uncleanness, her touching these idols also witnesses to the truth of these idols of her father:

Lev 15:20 And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.

Our twisted thoughts and self-righteous deeds are the seat of the beast in us as he blasphemes and opposes the clean and pure thoughts and ways of God (2Th 2:3-4; Rev 16:10-11):

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Now Jacob had the chance for the first time to also confront Laban on his dealings with him in the twenty years he worked for Laban:

Gen 31:36 And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
Gen 31:37 Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both.
Gen 31:38 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
Gen 31:39 That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen [Hebrew: “gânab” = thieve/deceive] by day, or stolen [Hebrew: “gânab” = thieve/deceive] by night.
Gen 31:40 Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.
Gen 31:41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

Jacob was fully committed now to separate from his old life as God worked in his heart to keep him safe from the subtle influences of Babylon. Our dedication in Babylon will indeed stand us in good stead as they cannot speak evil of our well doing while we live in their presence (Gal 6:9-10; 2Th 3:12-13; 1Pe 2:13-17). We need to correct the wrong perceptions when the opportunity arises to help those who have false ideas and wrong doctrines. We must also know that God brings delusions and shows Himself froward to those who should perceive Him like that (Psa 18:25-26; Pro 26:4-5). There is also a time we do not answer our accusers a word about their perceptions about us in order for our crucifixion to be concluded (Mat 27:11-14; 2Th 2:11). Now is the time for Jacob to openly confess his position and faith in God and His provision for Jacob. Although Laban worked against this truth, it was clear to him in the blessings he personally received because of Jacob, which were also confirmed in a dream Laban had in which God Himself testified of His servant Jacob. Although this truth is despised by the flesh, God is on the side of His elect in this age and will bring them through every humbling storm for His glory (Psa 124):

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

Laban had no choice but to agree with Jacob’s testimony, even while he was still deluded to see his ownership on things. Flesh cannot give God the honour in all things, but always wants to be affirmed and acknowledged when self needs praise, but point fingers to others when evil is detected:

Gen 31:43 And Laban answered and said unto Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have born?

The separation from our old life is a significant turn for all to witness. In this sense it was important for Laban to see a memorial which he wanted to be set up as a sign of a covenant between him and Jacob. The flesh wants to continue in its comfort and will always set up false peace agreements, when there will be no peace in this world or in their hearts (Jer 8:11). Laban called this memorial by a Babylonian name (in the Chaldean language), but Jacob named it in the Hebrew language. Although both these physical languages are carnal and human vehicles of expressions, they do point out the two types of languages we must encounter – that of the spirit in the world and the spirit of God. This is just to point out again how the spiritual language of Babylon is totally different from the language of the spirit of God:

Gen 31:44 Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.
Gen 31:45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
Gen 31:46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.
Gen 31:47 And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.
Gen 31:48 And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed;
Gen 31:49 And Mizpah [meaning “watchtower” in Hebrew]; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.
Gen 31:50 If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.
Gen 31:51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee;
Gen 31:52 This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.
Gen 31:53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

After spending the night with his family, Laban returned to his place the next morning:

Gen 31:54 Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.
Gen 31:55 And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

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

Make Your Calling and Election Sure – Part 1
Make Your Calling and Election Sure – Part 2
Ecc 5:11-20 The Futility of Wealth
Bearing Witness While Leaving Babylon
Coming Out of Babylon
How Do We Come Out of Babylon?

]]> Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 84 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/foundational-themes-in-genesis-study-84/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=foundational-themes-in-genesis-study-84 Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:56:26 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=9132 Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 84

(Key verses: Gen 29:31-35; Gen 30:1-24)

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God loves the world, pointing to all in the first Adam as they are all linked to the process of eventually being conformed to the spiritual image of the last Adam, Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate focus of this love of God (Joh 3:6; Rom 8:29; 1Co 15:22). God created the first Adam and all in him in a marred condition, and they will all receive spirit life through the gift of the faith of the last Adam, Jesus Christ, whom the Father appointed as the Saviour of all in the world of the first Adam (Jer 18:4; Eph 2:8-9; 1Ti 4:10; Tit 2:11-13; Tit 3:3-6; 1Jn 4:14). God does not love the natural man and all in this physical creation the way He loves the new man in Christ, and He advises His elect to have the same focus:

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.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

God’s love for this last Adam is therefore His focus as He also loves His elect more in this age as He is preparing them for their important task at hand to be rulers on this earth in the symbolic thousand-year reign and to be the judges in the lake of fire (Joh 3:16; 1Co 6:2-3; Rev 20). The flesh, however, wants to be accepted and loved apart from God’s eternal spiritual purposes. It is this selfish craving in each natural heart that is also the focus of the trouble in the new household of Jacob. The struggle for love and children is the struggle between Leah and Rachel. Jacob was in love with Rachel, and his uncle Laban promised him Rachel if Jacob will work for him for seven years. When the seven years of service were completed, Jacob wanted his wife, and Laban organised a feast to celebrate the occasion. However, Jacob could not discern properly who the veiled bride was as Laban also brought her to Jacob in the evening. When Jacob woke up the next morning, he saw that he slept with Leah, the elder sister of Rachel:

Gen 29:25 And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?

Jacob, the deceiver and manipulator, was deceived by Laban, and in his self-righteous heart he could not accept this. Seeing the evil around us is easy for our carnal mind, but to see the same evil inside is humiliating. The theme of sanctification is also highlighted in the life of Jacob who started off as a deceiver and manipulator but is taken through much purging in order to place him in the right position to be the servant for his master’s use. Jacob is set apart to serve God’s purposes and not his own:

2Ti 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these [selfish, deceitful heart and actions], he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

Leah is given to us as the type of the false bride or church who we all encounter on our spiritual journey when we are convinced, by our own deception, that we have found the true bride of Christ. Jacob will have to fulfill his duties to Leah, as the dominion of flesh and the influence of spiritual Babylon in our own lives must run its full course as determined by our heavenly Father:

Gen 29:26 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
Gen 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

It is therefore important to see how Jacob also treated Leah with respect and also submitted to the customs of that country. We must respect God for the time He ordained for us to be under tutors and governors of the flesh until the time that the faith of Christ is given to us which will bring us to spiritual maturity (Gal 3:22-25; Gal 4:1-5):

Gen 29:28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week [Hebrew: “shâbûa” linked with “shâba” which has more to do with a complete period of time, which links spiritually with the number seven]: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
Gen 29:29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

Rachel is the symbol of God’s true church when we receive the faith of Christ to serve God and His children (Rom 12:2; 1Jn 5:2-3):

Gen 29:30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him [Laban] yet seven other years.
Gen 29:31 And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

The word “hate” indicates to love to a lesser extent in this case also, as Jacob loved Leah and will have several children with her. His love for Rachel was more than his love for Leah, and this once again helps us to see the way we need to understand God’s love for the world versus His love for His elect. God’s love for His elect is witnessed in their love for Him as they seek and do His will by dying to self and denying the attachments of flesh (Mat 10:37-39; Luk 14:26):

Pro 8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

The favoured and much beloved wives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob shared the same problem. God chose to close the wombs of Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel, and they could not produce an offspring initially. The concubines and other wives of these patriarchs, however, brought forth children first, and this only emphasizes that flesh is prosperous and productive long before the spirit man is formed in us. The flesh is given a head-start by God to even have an appearance of maturity. Leah is shown to us with more experience in child bearing than Rachel as Leah conceived four sons initially. Leah first conceived the elder son for Jacob, which was a huge plus in her understanding of things:

Gen 29:32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben [Hebrew meaning: “behold a son!”/ “who sees the son”/“the vision of the son”] for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.

The Hebrew meaning of the name “Reuben” indeed relates to sonship which links him to the all-important inheritance and rights of the firstborn, and that is what Leah was so excited about. What Leah did not know was that the son of man is not the true heir of the more important spiritual inheritance (Job 25:6; Psa 146:3-4). The flesh has a way of convincing itself of its own delusions and beliefs. The rights of the firstborn are reserved exclusively for God’s spiritual elect in Christ, “the firstborn of every creature” (Col 1:15; Rev 3:14). Leah will get four sons in this first fertile period of her life to complete this whole delusion of godly prosperity and favour which she also wants Jacob to see:

Gen 29:33 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon [Hebrew meaning: “hearing”]

The second son of Leah is named Simeon, meaning “hearing”, as she believed the Lord heard her prayer, and this son is the proof of her answered prayer to be the beloved wife of Jacob. God’s elect knows that the trials of faith are of much deeper spiritual value when our prayers are not answered in the way and time our flesh wants things to happen (1Pe 1:7-9). It is indeed through patience and much tribulation that we take possession of our spiritual inheritance – not through quick fixes (Act 14:22; Rev 14:9-12). This is what Rachel is learning as she witnessed all of this:

Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

The third son of Leah was called “Levi” which means “joined to”:

Gen 29:34 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.

Levi will be the head of the tribe of priests at a later stage, serving in the earthly tabernacle and temple. Leah believed that she was joined to Jacob in a deeper spiritual sense after the birth of this third son. Flesh has the delusion that it can please God and be even joined to God in that same condition. Natural man’s faith convinces him that he will appear in the same body in the resurrection as some even described this resurrected body as ‘spiritual flesh’ when the scriptures are clear that the body that is raised is totally different from the one that is buried (1Co 15:36-50). No-one will be joined to the true Christ and His elect with carnal aspirations and high-mindedness:

Rom 12:16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

1Co 1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

Leah’s fourth son was called “Judah”, meaning “praise”:

Gen 29:35 And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise [Hebrew: “yâdâh” and “êth”] the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

Although the flesh indeed praises God, this praise is more about what flesh receives to consume it upon its lusts. That is why the self-centeredness of flesh is incapable of receiving the spiritual inheritance of God (Joh 7:18; Php 2:3-5):

Jas 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Leah “left bearing” after her fourth son for the time being, even while the flesh of Rachel also shows envy towards Leah as Rachel now vents her frustration towards Jacob:

Gen 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
Gen 30:2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

Jacob has been learning since he left Canaan that all things are from God, and he could not be held responsible for God’s actions, even through the dream he had at the place he named Bethel afterward (Gen 28:11-22). God is the only responsible Being, and no one can take this position if they know the truth of God’s sovereignty over all things (Rom 11:36; Eph 1:11). However, Rachel, not adhering to the words of Jacob, did exactly what Sarah did with Abraham (Gen 16:1-3). Jacob, like his grandfather Abraham, followed his wife’s counsel and slept with her handmaid Bilhah, who became Jacob’s concubine:

Gen 30:3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
Gen 30:4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

To bear upon another’s knees is to claim ownership to their offspring – “that I may also have children by her”. Rachel named the first son Bilhah bore for Jacob, “Dan”:

Gen 30:5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
Gen 30:6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.

“Dan” means judge or judgment, as this announces what Rachel and Jacob, as types of God’s elect, will first go through as they will be the first to learn about their own evil hearts and the true righteousness of God (Isa 26:9):

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?

Bilhah conceived another son for Rachel after she bore Dan:

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.

The name “Naphtali” carries the meaning of wrestling or fighting, which again emphasizes the battle between these two women in our own lives in the form of the flesh or fleshly church versus the spirit or spiritual assembly in the true Christ (Gal 5:17). Like the typical elect of God, Rachel now also must learn that nothing of eternal value will come the easy way. All God’s true spiritual inheritance will come through much resistance. The levels of persecution and hatred from those who are “after the flesh” will not subside, but rather increase (Gal 4:29). Although Leah had four sons of her own flesh against Rachel’s two sons through her handmaid Bilhah, this did not satisfy Leah. She could not bear children of her own at this stage, but then gave her handmaid, Zilpah, to sleep with Jacob to have more offspring through her:

Gen 30:9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
Gen 30:10 And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a son.
Gen 30:11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

The first son which Zilpah bore for Leah as Jacob’s seventh son, was called “Gad”, Gad means “a troop cometh” which connects with overcomers in warfare (Gen 49:19). Seeing that Gad is an offspring of the handmaid of Leah, the negative application applies first, as the flesh indeed overshadows our life from our birth, and we are under the dominion of its lusts and pride (1Jn 2:16). Gad and his offspring will also have a positive application in the overcoming Christ (1Ch 5:17-22). The second son which Zilpah bore for Leah from Jacob was Asher:

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

The meaning of Asher’s name connects with fleshly happiness through Leah’s emotional state of mind. Happiness is a temporary emotion which our old man is given by God to keep him going amidst his otherwise dreary life. Outward earthly happiness is the worldly counterfeit of true inward joy, which is part of the fruit of the spirit of God in His elect (Gal 5:22-23). The prosperity gospel is well loved in spiritual Babylon, as it overpowers those who are searching for “these things” of the earth which bring temporary happiness long before the kingdom of God is first established in their lives. The flesh always has things the wrong way around:

Mat 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Mat 6:32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Now the eldest son of Leah, Reuben, has grown big enough to start playing his role in this battle between Leah and Rachel, and also in the household of Jacob:

Gen 30:14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.

Much has been speculated about these mandrakes which Reuben brought his mother Leah, but this happened in the time of the wheat harvest or the feast of weeks (Pentecost) which was later established in the calendar of the physical nation of Israel. This harvest was one of the three major harvests in Israel:

Deu 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty:

Exo 34:22 And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.

This wheat harvest is all about the resurrection of the “kind of firstfruits” which is reserved for God’s elected church which is represented by Rachel and not Leah (Jas 1:18; 1Co 15:23). Mandrakes are also described in the scriptures as giving off a sweet or pleasant fragrance which also is connected to the elect of God:

Son 7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
Son 7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

This pleasant fragrance of the true doctrine of Christ is earmarked for God’s elect because the world and its churches cannot appreciate the “sum of” God’s true doctrine, combining the old and the new, which fulfills the true savour of the knowledge of God’s Word (Psa 119:160 ASV; Isa 28:9-10; Mat 13:52; Joh 17:3; 1Co 2:13). The churches of this world, which Leah and her more children symbolize (the “many”), can only corrupt the word of God with their false doctrines as they also add and take away from all the words man must live by (Mat 4:4; Rev 22:18-19):

2Co 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
2Co 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:
2Co 2:16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?
2Co 2:17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

Leah actually accused Rachel of taking her husband which was not the case at all:

Gen 30:15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes.

The Word of Christ, like the mandrakes in the wrong hands, will be twisted and abused to serve the interest of the flesh. Leah could not let go of her carnal aspirations and fleshly lusts to be the true wife of Jacob. She seduced Jacob again to sleep with her as he came from the field in the evening indicating that although we are the elect of God, we can never assume we have arrived. We are in the process of being saved and should always be on guard (2Sa 11:1-27; Pro 4:23; 1Co 10:12; 1Pe 5:8). This time Leah was able to conceive a fifth son for Jacob called Issachar:

Gen 30:16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired hire [Hebrew: śâkar = temporary purchase] thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
Gen 30:17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
Gen 30:18 And Leah said, God hath given me my hire [Hebrew: śâkâr = payment/ wages/ compensation], because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

Issachar means “there is recompense” as even the flesh demands its wages for work done. Leah saw this son as her reward for giving her maiden, Zilpah, to Jacob. The number five has to do with grace through faith, and this is how the natural mind sees grace as his reward for his own faith. It is all about physical rewards which God must give when the flesh believes it has done good deeds. However, all the good deeds of flesh are but a filthy cloth of self-righteousness (Isa 64:6):

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The sixth and last son that Leah personally conceived for Jacob was Zebulun:

Gen 30:19 And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob the sixth son.
Gen 30:20 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.

Zebulun was the tenth son of Jacob (six sons from Leah), and this all complements the number of fleshly man (the number ten combining with the number six). The name “Zebulun” means “habitation” which is the temporary dwelling which flesh is. Zebulun’s habitation was indeed “at the haven of the sea” which is spiritually the symbol for flesh and all its activities as expressed by Jacob at his death (Isa 60:5; Rev 13:1; Rev 17:1,15,18):

Gen 49:13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

Leah also bore Jacob one daughter after this last son:

Gen 30:21 And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

God will not change His mind on anything, as He had it all worked out before this physical age began. God never forgets His plan for mankind and is constantly working everything for His purposes and for the benefit of His elect. The time has come for Rachel to bring forth her firstborn:

Gen 30:22 And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
Gen 30:23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:
Gen 30:24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.

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

God So Love The World
Why God Hates All Flesh
The Meaning of ‘Hated of All Men’
The Three Barren Wives of The Patriarchs
Once In Grace Always in Grace
Numbers in Scripture

]]> Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 83 https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/foundational-themes-in-genesis-study-83/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=foundational-themes-in-genesis-study-83 Thu, 19 Feb 2015 18:25:36 +0000 http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/?p=8927 Foundational themes in Genesis – Study 83 (Key verses: Gen 29:14-30)

We are discussing the foundational theme of sanctification through servanthood for God’s elect as typified in the life of Jacob. Jacob had to leave his family in Canaan because of the threats on his life from his twin brother, Esau, because Jacob robbed Esau from the rights of the firstborn, and also with the help of his mother, Rebekah, received the blessing of the inheritance of the firstborn (Gen 25:29-34; Gen 27:6-29; Gen 27:42-45). Rebekah however gave another reason to Isaac when she asked him to send Jacob to her brother Laban to be protected from the women of Canaan, to which Isaac agreed (Gen 27:46; Gen 28:1-5). Jacob will learn that taking possession of the inheritance will only come through a painful process of sanctification through which God sets His elect apart for service to Him and His people (Exo 28:41; Exo 29:44; Joh 17:17; Eph 5:27; Col 3:24; Rom 12:1; 1Th 1:3-5). Jacob’s selfish and deceitful nature needed purging:

2Ti 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these [selfish deceitful nature and all the “profane and vain babblings” (false beliefs)– 2Ti 2:16-20], he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

Jacob met Rachel at a well in the field outside Haran, from where she introduced Jacob to her father, Laban, and the family. Laban then presented Jacob with an opportunity to work for him in order to provide for his own needs and thereby also laying foundations for Jacob’s future household:

Gen 29:14 And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.
Gen 29:15 And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?

Laban had two daughters of which Leah was the elder of Rachel. Both these daughters will play an important role in the purging process of Jacob to fulfill his role in God’s plan which typifies the road of God’s true servants:

Gen 29:16 And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

The number two plays an important role throughout the scriptures. One of these is to show us the unity and the relationship in the Godhead between the Father, as the giver of spirit life, and the Son, as the receiver of this same spirit life:

Gen 1:27 So God [Hebrew: “ĕlôhı̂ym” – plural form of “ĕlôahh” = supreme deity] created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

The invisible things of the Godhead (the “ĕlôhı̂ym”) and this relationship between the Father and the Son, Jesus, are understood by the physical creation and union between a male and a female in marriage (Rom 1:20; 1Co 11:3):

Gen 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

This relationship between the giver (in the case of Adam of a rib) and the receiver is also the reflection of the relationship between the Father and the Son and how this one spirit and one mind is shared – Jesus “came out from” the Father (Joh 16:27; Joh 17:8). This relationship also witnesses in spiritual terms between Jesus and the church. These beautiful attributes are now being established in Jacob as the future head and provider for his bride to be, Rachel.

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 5:22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

But the number two also indicates the two opposing domains with which God works from the beginning:

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

These opposing realms have many levels of spiritual applications. On one level this all relates to what the earth represents in our physical flesh and its natural heaven, which is the natural or carnal mind. On another application, this flesh with its carnal mind is contrasted with the true spiritual things of God in Christ – the new earth with its new heaven, the mind of Christ (2Pe 3:13; Rev 21:1). These two opposing domains are seen in the two Adams in scripture:

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 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

The first nature which all humans receive from God is what the natural or earthy Adam with all his deception and darkness fulfils in our lives, before all in this Adam will receive the spirit life in Christ (Jer 18:4):

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.

We must live through both these Adams as the last Adam, Christ, will eventually subdue and subject all in the first Adam, in order to present those in the first Adam holy and blameless to the Father (Joh 3:5; 1Co 15:22):

1Co 15:28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Jacob’s whole life beautifully exposes this process and also the inward struggle of two natures within all of us. Jacob, like all in Adam, first encountered self-centeredness to get his way in everything, and in the process he, like all of us, is given skillful abilities of deceit and manipulation. We are actually made to believe we are getting away with it, but God in His great mercy will bring His righteous judgment on each one in Adam, and through that judgment we learn true righteousness:

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.

Jacob also had an incessant hunger in him to be in rulership, which is actually what all the elect of God gets from the heart and mind of Christ in them. Christ was appointed as the God and ruler of this creation, and all with His mind aspire to this position by having dominion over their own sinful lives (Isa 9:6; Col 1:15-17; Mat 28:18; Rom 6:8-14). God’s elect will eventually fulfill this desire for rulership in the symbolic thousand-year reign on earth, and also being the judges in the lake of fire (Revelation 20). Jacob’s second stage of his life now focuses on his time in Haran, in the east, representing our own time in spiritual Babylon. In our initial stage of immature spiritual blindness, we deceive others, but we can never deceive or mock God as Jacob also is going to learn what it means to reap what you sow. At our appointed time we will all reap our own bitter harvest of all the bad seed we sowed in this life (Mat 13:24-30):

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

This all will start for Jacob with getting a wife. In scripture all natural things are used as spiritual parables, a woman is generally also referring to the church. The symbol of these two daughters of Laban are given to indicate the two churches we all have to go through – first, the earthy and afterward, the heavenly – that is the sequence which all will follow. Leah, the elder sister of the two, was the representative of the first earthy church, as she represents the false bride of Christ. All of this is noted in the way the two are described:

Gen 29:17 Leah was tender [Hebrew: “rak”] eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.

This is how Dr Strong explains this Hebrew word “rak”:
Rak: From H7401; tender (literally or figuratively); by implication weak: – faint [-hearted], soft, tender ([-hearted], one), weak.

This Hebrew word “rak” is also translated as “fainthearted” in this verse:

Deu 20:8 And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? [Hebrew: “rak”] Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.

Fear and faintheartedness are not good things to have in one’s heart when there is a war being waged, as any army will do well to get rid of soldiers with such hearts, as is also indicated by God’s commandments in the time of physical Israel. Fear and faintheartedness affect our vision and actions, and are connected with being weak in faith (Rom 14:1-2). Faintheartedness is when the mature faith of Christ is absent from us, and we are not in a position to endure the trials coming our way (Luk 18:1; 2Co 4:1; 2Co 4:16; Heb 12:2-4; Rev 2:3). Leah is therefore described as “tender eyed”, meaning she did not have the right spiritual vision. Rachel, on the other hand, is described in more positive terms as being beautiful and well favoured – representing the true church of God with the right vision and mind-set. It is only through the faith of Christ in us that we are given strength and patience to endure the long wait to see the fruits of our womb, which will also manifest in the life of Rachel. Through patience and endurance, we learn to be bold and confident in Christ’s abilities in us and not look at our abilities or inabilities (Php 4:13; Luk 21:19; Rev 14:11-13; Heb 12:5):

Eph 3:12 In whom [Christ] we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Eph 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

This is not the spiritual position and vision by which Leah is described. This concept of “tender eyed” is therefore significant to show our time of being without the mature faith of Christ, in spiritual darkness. This spiritual darkness and blindness already played a big part in the life of the immature Jacob. This is first seen in the problem with Isaac’s eyes as Jacob and his mother used this to their advantage to deceive Isaac into blessing Jacob instead of Esau:

Gen 27:1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see…

Even when Jacob first laid eyes on Rachel, what he saw with his eyes influenced his reaction:

Gen 29:10 And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.
Gen 29:11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

Gen 29:17 (ESV)….Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

Jacob’s heart was controlled by what his eyes saw about Rachel, and he agreed with Laban to work seven years for him for Rachel’s hand. A dowry for a woman is paid to the father of that woman as the law of Moses also later stipulated. This is not aimed to regard a woman as a property of a man, but it all spiritually is pointing to overall ownership by our heavenly Father and how we are to honour Him in all things. The value of and access to the bride of Christ is determined by the Father, and we will have to live through each and every aspect of His ordinances to enter into His temple which is His elect – we will pay our dowry in that respect (Mat 4:4; Joh 6:44; Act 14:22; Rev 15:8). As with Jacob, our love for God and His children are measured by the obedience in service when we are enabled by God do His will (Mat 7:24-25; 1Jn 5:2-3). This makes the service in His kingdom seem “but a few days” as our eyes are fixed on the high calling of the Head Christ Jesus (Php 3:14; Heb 12:1-2):

Gen 29:18 And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.
Gen 29:19 And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.
Gen 29:20 And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.

When the seven years of service were completed for Jacob, he wanted his wife, and Laban organised a feast for the occasion. Intoxicated by his love for Rachel and what transpired at the feast, Jacob’s great expectancy and his emotions for his first night with Rachel blinded him, and he could not discern properly who the veiled bride was as it was also evening. Again the darkness and limited vision played a role in this respect:

Gen 29:21 And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.
Gen 29:22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.
Gen 29:23 And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.

God uses evil and all darkness for His specific purposes – nothing God created is without purpose (Gen 50:20; Pro 16:4; Isa 45:7; Rom 11:7-9). The lack of proper perception in the case of Jacob sleeping with Leah was from the Lord, as it brings so many meaningful spiritual applications to the fore in our lives. The spiritual blindness He brings on us in our appointed times are used for the purpose “that the works of God should be made manifest”. We are all like this man who was born blind as this also relates to our natural spiritual vision:

Joh 9:1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

The works of God are to show us our spiritual blindness in the first Adam. Adam and all in him are naturally made blind to spiritual things:

Exo 4:11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s [Hebrew: “âdâm”] mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

If we think we can see spiritual things via the spirit of the world in us, we cannot see that we are deceived and “made blind” by God:

Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

The spirit of God teaches only by comparing spiritual with spiritual which the natural Adam could not do until today:

1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
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.

When we think we are connected to the true bride or church of Jesus when we follow our own perceptions and false doctrines, we are deluded and cannot see that we are in bed with the false bride, the spiritual whore, Babylon. When physical senses convince us that we have arrived in the heavenly Jerusalem, we cannot as yet see our own flesh and all physical things as indeed wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked:

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man [Greek: anthrōpos = old Adam] that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

When we, like Jacob, think that we have worked patiently to fulfill our time of service and deserve our reward, we are totally blinded to the truth that we deserve nothing as even the concept of “deserve” is foreign to the mind of Christ. This is the time when we think we are alive in spirit when we are actually still dead in sin and trespass. We are intimate with the false bride who controls us like “that woman Jezebel” controlled King Ahab and led Israel in spiritual fornication (1Ki 16:31-33). In this time of sleep with the false wife, we sacrifice to the idols of our own deceitful heart and do not as yet know the true depths of Satan as we are entangled into more and more of his deceit:

Rev 2:19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

It is in this time of intimacy with our Babylonian wife we place stumbling blocks in the path of others’ faith as we do not add to their joy, but rather through the Nicolaitan spirit in us exercise dominion over the faith of others (2Co 1:24; Rev 2:14-15):

Mat 20:25 But Jesus called them [His disciples] unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

While Jacob was sleeping with Leah, and also her concubine Zilpah, at regular times from this first night onwards, this reflects the times when we indeed leave our first love in the true Christ and His church, typified by Rachel:

Gen 29:24 And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid [Hebrew: “shiphchâh” = bondwoman].

Rev 2:4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left [Greek – Aorist tense] thy first love.

Spiritual Babylon, the great whore, is a bondwoman who focuses on our earthly senses, and she is indeed a mystery as she traps the saints of God in their appointed time as they also marvel at her with great admiration (Pro 5:3-6; Gal 4:25; Rev 17:1-5). God will always send his angels to wake and warn His elect in this life:

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.
Rev 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.

Thank God after the darkness will always be a morning! Darkness and death were never intended to be a permanent creation of God. Just as in the case of corrupt flesh, so darkness and death are temporary tools in God’s plan, and they will be overruled and eventually totally destroyed by the eternal Light! (1Co 15:54-57). The morning light in Christ brings the right spiritual vision when we can see what transpired during our time of blindness and delusion. Jacob is progressing toward that light when he also woke up the following morning after his night with Leah:

Gen 29:25 And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?

It is only in the morning when God’s light and insight are given to us that we can first see the works of darkness and unrighteousness we have committed. This is when we put on the armour of light and reprove the unfruitful works of darkness – in us first and foremost:

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.

Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

Like Jacob, we are all furious when we are being deceived as if we are innocent of that very sin. In our delusional state of self-righteousness, like Job, we contend with God and those who deliberately beguiled us, but in the process of contending, we miss the whole point of the exercise (Job 40:2). Evil around us is just reflecting our own evil heart, if we can see and know that (Jer 17:9). What others do to us is what we will also do if we were in their shoes or what we have done to others. If we can see that all of this is part of God’s perfect plan to reveal our own heart, we will stop “putting forth the finger” (Isa 58:9):

Gen 29:26 And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

When we know this all is for our benefit, we will humble ourselves in the sight of God and His wonderful works, and abide by what is given and clarified to us (Psalm 107). Jacob is now also learning so much more of his own heart and how to submit to the ways of God through Laban (Isa 55:8-9):

Gen 29:27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
Gen 29:28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week [that is Leah’s week….we will fulfill our times in Babylon …7 days…70 days….70 years…and God will bring us out…and we will forgive those who have sinned against us…70 times 7…for our health and salvation…Matthew 18] and Laban gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.

This new insight and humility also gave Jacob the courage to start the time for serving Laban for his second wife Rachel, which signifies our own time in serving the true Christ and His church:

Gen 29:29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
Gen 29:30 And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

Jacob, like all of God’s servants, will learn through much falling and humiliation that we all do blaspheme the name of God as we also, God willing, repent of these practices to not recompense evil for evil:

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.

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

Male and Female Spiritually
What Are The Biblical Instructions for Finding A Wife?
Studies on Marriage in Scripture
The Bride and The Son of The Bondwoman
Numbers in Scripture
The Purpose For Babylon in Our Lives

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