Shalom. Good morning. Our teaching this morning will be from Genesis 29.31-35.
READ GENESIS 29.31-35
GENESIS 29.31 HATED In Hebrew is; SANNAY – HATED
But there is an interesting Jewish commentary on the word hated as used in this Scripture, “And when The LORD saw that Leah was HATED, He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” The commentary is this. Ramban, who was a well-known Jewish sage, one who possessed great wisdom, whose given name was Moses Nahmonides, and lived in the 13th century in Spain, was a Biblical exegete, a Bible interpretor, he was also a Kabbalist, and a Halakist, that is, he was an expert on Jewish law. He was also a poet and a physician. And Ramban quoted Radak whose given name was David Kimhi, who lived in the 13th century in France, and was a commentator of many of the books in the Tanakh, wrote these words about Leah being hated. He wrote that Jacob surely loved Leah. Let me interrupt Radak here with my words. Jacob loved Leah alot. She had 6 sons and a daughter by Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah. So, back to Radak’s commentary. Jacob surely loved Leah, he wrote, but his greater love for Rachel made Leah seem unloved, even hated in comparison to the love he had for Rachel. So, for the purpose of our study, we will read, “And when The LORD saw that Leah was UNLOVED, He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren”.
I thought just as a point of information I would give you a little background on these 2 prominent Jewish Bible commentators.
Which brings us to another Scripture with the word HATE in it spoken by Yeshua.
LUKE 14.25-26
Using the same thinking as Radak, the Jewish commentator, I would say this. Yes, of course Yeshua knows we love our father and mother, our wife and our children, our brothers and sisters, and yes, our own lives also. But I believe Yeshua is saying this. If you love them, and even your own life MORE than you love Me, you cannot be My disciple.
Yeshua never taught us to hate anyone, let alone our own family. On the contrary, He teaches us to love our enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who dispitefully use you and persecute you. So, our love for Messiah MUST BE GREATER THAN our love for anyone else. So that our GREATER LOVE for Messiah will make our love for others seem unloved, even hated in comparison to the love we have for Messiah.
Back to
GENESIS 29.31 LEAH LAYAH – weary, tired
RACHEL RAHKHALE – ewe, a female sheep
GENESIS 29.32 REUBEN ROOVAYNE comes from 2 Hebrew words, RAHAH and BAYNE.
RAHAH means see or look.
BAYNE – means son
So Reuben, ROOVAYNE means, look, a son!
Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn and the first of his 12 sons, the ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel. Reuben being the ancestor of the tribe of Reuben. The territory or region of the tribe of Reuben within Israel was in today’s Jordan, the country west of the Dead Sea, on the other side of the Jordan River.
Mt. Nebo was in the plains of Moab, later to become the region of Reuben in Israel where GOD called Moses up to the top of the mountain before his death to see the land of Israel. And The LORD said to Moses, “I have caused you to see the land with your own eyes, but you will not go over there”. Nebo is still the name of that mountain today in Jordan.
DEUTERONOMY 34.1-8 Pisgah (Deuteronomy 34.1) refers to a specific ridge
or peak associated with Mt. Nebo.
Here is GOD’s promise of the land to His Jewish people.
GENESIS 15.12-21
So in the territory that would be the land allocated to the tribe of Reuben in Israel, and at the top of the mountain, Moses looked Northward to the Sea of Galilee, to the Mediterranean Sea, south to the Negev desert, and along the Jordan valley as far south as Zoar, once located at the southern end of the Dead Sea. And The LORD says in Ezekiel 20.6, “I have searched out for them a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands”.
Also, the city of Heshbon was in the territory of Reuben. Heshbon was the capital city of Sihon, King of the Ammorites, who had captured the city from the Moabites, and later captured by Israel when King Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his land to enter Canaan.
NUMBERS 21.21-26
I believe according to today’s map of Jordan, the city of Heshbon is now named Hisbon and not too far from Mt. Nebo. Moses died and GOD buried him in a valley in the land of Moab before it became the territory of Reuben, but no man knows where the burial place is, even to this day.
Back to
GENESIS 29.33 Hated, or unloved, or not loved as much as Rachel. But Leah kept having children by Jacob, so she couldn’t be that unloved or hated by Jacob.
SIMEON sheemone – hearing with acceptance.
simeon sheemone comes from the Hebrew word SHEHMAH meaning hear and obey.
The tribe of Simeon was the southern-most territory in Israel. It overlapped the southern part of the territory of Judah: that is, it extended over into Judah covering a part of Judah’s territory.
JOSHUA 19.1-5, 9
Here are GOD’s instructions upon entering the land.
DEUTERONOMY 6.10-25
2 cities that stand out to me in the inheritance of Simeon are BEERSHEBA and ZIKLAG.
Beersheeba is where Hagar and her son Ishmael wandered after they were sent away by Sarah.
GENESIS 21.9-21
Abraham and his family lived in Beersheeba.
GENESIS 22.19
The LORD appeared to Isaac in Beersheba, later the region of Simeon in Israel.
GENESIS 26.23-25
Jacob lived in Beersheeba, and it was from there he fled from his brother Esau.
&
nbsp; GENESIS 28.10-15
GOD appeared to Jacob in Beersheeba with comforting words when he was bringing his family down to Egypt to join his son Joseph. This was the beginning of the 430 years in Egypt for the children of Israel where they grew into a great nation. The last 400 years were spent as slaves.
GENESIS 46.1-7, 26-27
Today, Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev in southern Isael. It’s often referred to as the capital of the Negev. It’s the 7th largest city in Isreal, and has a population of 195,000. They even have a website, all in Hebrew. They’ve come a long way since the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Another city in the inheritance of Simeon was Ziklag. Ziklag was also in the region of Judah. And the men of Amlakites were introduced to David and his men because of what the Amlakites did in Ziklag.
1 SAMUEL 30.1ff
Back to
GENESIS 29.34 LEVI LEHVEE – attached
LEVI; LEHVEE comes from the Hebrew word LAHVAH means, to be closely joined
READ GENESIS 29.34
Levi, the 3rd son born to Jacob and Leah was the ancestor of the tribe of Levi whom GOD set apart for the Sanctuary, officiating at The Temple, carrying the ark and so much more. Moses and Aaron were from the family of Levi, and GOD assigned the priesthood to the tribe of Levi, and Aaron was the first High Priest.
DEUTERONOMY 18.1-2, NUMBERS 18.20-24
TENTH (Numbers 18.21) A tithe MAHAHSAYR
The Levites did not inherit any land in Israel as the other tribes did. Their inheritance was GOD and The Priesthood. And they were assigned to the other tribes throughout Israel to serve GOD and teach the people Torah, and all The Word of GOD. Their inheritance besides The Priesthood was GOD Himself. He provided their every need. And the tithes of the people were to the Levites, and the bulk of their food came from the daily sacrifices, and they were the best of all, without blemish.
EPHESIANS 1.11, ROMANS 8.17-18
Back to
GENESIS 29.35 JUDAH YEHOODAH Celebrate, praise
The name Judah in Hebrew, Yehhoodah, has the 4 letters of GOD in his name, YHVH
Judah was the 4th son of Jacob and Leah.
The territory of Judah, their inheritance, was the largest of all the tribes of Israel. It’s situated between The Mediterranean Sea and The Dead Sea, from central Israel to the Negev in southern Israel.
And a key prophecy in The T’nakh is that the Jewish Messiah of Israel must descend from Judah, and Messiah Yeshua fulfills every single prophecy, and without question, He is the Messiah. Not only must Messiah descend from Judah, He must be GOD also. Not a god, but THE GOD OF CREATION, THE GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, The Holy One of Israel. Let’s look at a couple of prophecies.
GENESIS 49.8-10
VERSE 8 Judah means praise, and at a time in the future, all Israel and all the world will praise the special descendant of Judah, Messiah The King. And all the children of Jacob, that is all Israel will bow down to Him, Yeshua The Messiah, King of Israel and King over all the earth, at His return.
(continue)
VERSE 8 Your hand shall be at the neck of your enemies.
PSALM 2.1-12
VERSE 12 KISS THE SON NAHSHKOO-VAR meaning, The Son, the heir apparent to the throne.
Back to
GENESIS 49.9 A lion’s whelp, a cub – can this mean the birth of Messiah, a Child, a Son?
A lion, an old lion, the Lion of Judah is old. He has no beginning or end. He is GOD.
Back to GENESIS 49.10
THE SCEPTRE is the rule of law, and the Romans ruled Israel at the time of Messiah. There’s was the sceptre. The sceptre, or Roman law will not be taken away. Rome was the law-giver in Israel, until Messiah comes. Their law was there when He came. It was there when He died and resurrected. But Roman law will certainly not be in Israel when Messiah returns.
SHILOH – another name or title for Messiah.
GATHERING – YEEKAHHAH – obedience, submission
PEOPLE – people of Israel and all the world.
Messiah Yeshua fulfills every word of that prophecy.
And the prophecy that Messiah must be born in Bethlehem, from the tribe of Judah, be King in Israel, and also be GOD is found in MICAH 5.2
MICAH 5.2
BETHLEHEM EPHRATH – GENESIS 35.19
Back to
MICAH 5.2 COME FORTH unto Me – GOD
RULER IN ISRAEL – moeshale beeyisrael
A ruler, one who reigns, a king
WHOSE GOINGS FORTH – OOMOESTAHYTAVE His origin
FROM OF OLD MEEKAHDEHM – from eternity, no beginning and no end – GOD.
FROM EVERLASTING meemay olam; from eternity, without beginning or end – GOD.
Only Messiah Yeshua and Him alone can fulfill this prophecy.A descendant of Judah, born in Bethlehem Who has no beginning or end, Who is GOD, The Messiah of Israel and to all the world, The Holy One of Israel, Yeshua The Messiah.
And finally, Judah is a word or name that the word Jew or Jewish comes from. Jew means one that praises GOD.
JEW YEHHOODI – Comes from Judah.
JUDAH YEHHOODAH means to praise GOD.
PRAISE YAHDAH Genesis 29.35 “Now will I PRAISE The LORD” therefore she called his name Judah,” praise also means to hold out the hand and praise GOD, worship and revere GOD, honor Him, esteem Him, give Him thanks and glory and thanksgiving.
Praise comes from hand YAHD, The raising of hands.
Thus Jew, the word Jew, or Jewish, the name given to GOD’s People by GOD, means one who praises GOD, one who worships GOD and honors Him, one who gives Him honor and glory.
So, what was taught in this message was a lot about the 1st 4 tribes of Israel. But also, Leah wasn’t so hated or unloved by Jacob. After all, she had 6 boys and a daughter by him. I think he loved her a lot, wouldn’t you say? But not as much as he loved Rachel…Jacob had a lot of love in him.
Shalom, Ira Weinstein
Month: February 2011
GENESIS 29.15-30; THE PROPHECY OF THE 70 WEEKS
Shalom. Our teaching this morning is from Genesis 29.15-30.
Read GENESIS 29.15-30
Jacob loved Rachel and she is the one he wanted to marry. The Bible says she was beautiful and shapely. Leah was nice also but her eyesight wasn’t too hot. But Uncle Laban tricked his nephew Jacob and Jacob married Leah. And Jacob of course was angry with his deceitful uncle, but Laban said, that’s the way it’s done in our country here in Syria. The firstborn daughter must be married before the younger. After you’re married to Leah for 7 years, uncle Laban said to Jacob, you can marry Rachel also. And Jacob did as Laban said, and after 7 years of marriage to Leah, he married Rachel. And The Bible says, Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah.
This also is a love story; the same as we spoke of last week. But there’s also trickery and deceit, but again, all things work together for good to them that love GOD. And Jacob loved GOD. To them that are the called. And Jacob was called by GOD. According to GOD’s purpose. And GOD had an important purpose for Jacob. Jacob’s 2 wives, Leah and Rachel, and their 2 lady servants gave birth to Jacob’s 12 sons, who are the ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel, the entire Jewish people.
However, what interested me most in this reading is found in Verses 27 and 28.
GENESIS 29.27-28 WEEK SHEHVUAH – a week of years, or 7 years.
And this word SHEHVUAH, meaning a week of 7 years, made me think about the prophecy of the 70 weeks GOD gave to the angel Gabriel to give to the prophet Daniel. And that’s what our study will be about this morning. The 70 weeks prophecy that was given to Daniel some 2,500 years ago, and some 500 years before Messiah’s 1st coming.
Before we turn to The Scriptures, here’s a brief summary of the prophecy.
– 70 weeks, or 490 years are decreed upon the Jewish people and their holy city Jerusalem.
– sin and transgression will end at some time in the future.
– reconciliation and atonement for sin will be made
– everlasting righteousness will be brought in
– the Most Holy will be anointed.
– the exact time of Messiah’s 1st coming is revealed.
– and the time of His death is also told.
– the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and The Temple by the Romans in 70 A.D.
– the 7 year covenant of peace made by the anti-Christ is unveiled.
– and the Great Tribulation and the destruction of satan to come.
DANIEL 9.20-27
DANIEL 9.20
SUPPLICATION TEHHEENAH – to plead with GOD in prayer.
The holy mountain of my GOD is Jerusalem. Daniel was praying for his Jewish people and the land of Israel, their country, because of their sin. It was because of their sin, their disobedience to GOD’s Commandments and His Law of Moses that The LORD their GOD exiled them out of Israel to Babylon for 70 years. And it was in Babylon where Daniel was praying for his people and Israel.
2 CHRONICLES 36.19-21
Back to
DANIEL 9.21
The man Gabriel flying swiftly to him is the angel Gabriel. As a point of information, Gabriel in Hebrew is GAHVREEALE, means Man of GOD.
The vision in which Daniel first saw Gabriel is found in DANIEL 8.15-16.
The vision and prophecy was about a ram and a he goat. The ram was symbollicaly Media-Persia, the he goat was Greece. And the vision was a prophecy that Greece would defeat the great Persian empire which had defeated the Babylonian empire.
Back to
DANIEL 9.21
The evening oblation was the grain offering. The Jewish people were not in Israel, and there was no temple. The Babylonians had destroyed it in 586 B.C.E., thus no sacrifice was allowed according to GOD’s Law of Moses (Leviticus 17).
DANIEL 9.22
SKILL – SAYKHEL – Intelligence and wisdom
UNDERSTANDING – BEENAH – perfect understanding and perfect wisdom and knowledge.
DANIEL 9.23
Here, Gabriel is speaking to Daniel. At the beginning of your prayer, he said, the commandment, or the word, or even the message came to me from GOD.
QUESTION: Why was Daniel greatly beloved of GOD?
ANSWER: He was righteous. That is, he obeyed GOD and His Law of Moses.
EZEKIEL 14.12-14, DANIEL 1.8
(Daniel 1.8) The king’s meat included pork and ham and the like which are not allowed in GOD’s diet. (Deuteronomy 14).
Back to
DANIEL 9.23
MATTER – DAHVAHR – the word, decree, promise, message from GOD.
CONSIDER – BEEN – understand
VISION – KHAHZONE – a vision from GOD about future events, or a revelation from GOD of
future event or events.
The vision Daniel saw was the angel Gabriel speaking to him the words GOD gave him of future events, the prophecy of the 70 weeks.
DANIEL 9.24
70 weeks. One week is shehvuah, a week of 7 years.
weeks, as in 70 WEEKS, SHAHVUEEM, IS 70 x 7 years = 490 years.
DETERMINED – KHAHTAKH – it is decreed, it is law from GOD that cannot be altered or changed.
YOUR PEOPLE – Daniel’s people the Jewish people.
Your HOLY City – The Holy City of The Jewish People is Jerusalem.
ISAIAH 52.1
GOD did not make Jerusalem an international holy city as the United Nations has declared. Jerusalem is exclusively The Holy City of The Jewish People. However, in this prophecy, I believe Jerusalem includes all Israel, the country that belongs to the Jewish People that GOD gave to His People for an everlasting possession.
I believe in these verses, Jerusalem means all Israel also.
PSALM 122.6, ZECHARIAH 8.6-8
Back to
DANIEL 9.24
GOD will make an end to transgression and sin when He returns and establishes The Millennium in the Kingdom of GOD in Israel. However, there will still remain sin outside Israel.
REVELATION 20.7-10 Sin outside the Millennial Kingdom in Israel.
EZEKIEL 36.26-28 Transgression and sin will end in The Millennial Kingdom.
Back to
DANIEL 9.24
GOD will make reconciliation and atonement for sin.
RECONCILIATION – KAHFAR – Atonement, forgiveness and reconciliation.
ZECHARIAH 12.10
The Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Grace and of Supplication, is only given to those who believe in Messiah Yeshua, and obey Torah (Jeremiah 31.31-34). At the start of the Millennium,
our GOD and Messiah will forgive many Jewish people of their sins and reconcile them to Him. Their bitterness is because they rejected Messiah for so many years.
Back to
DANIEL 9.24
And GOD will bring in everlasting righteousness. That is, everybody in The Millennium, The Kingdom of GOD on earth in Israel, will obey GOD forever. And His Laws and Commandments never change or cease.
iSAIAH 60.21, 1 JOHN 3.6-10 (1 JOHN 3.4)
Back to
DANIEL 9.24
Seal the vision and prophecy.
SEAL – KHAHTAM – A seal, here it is GOD’s seal of ownership.
Daniel is told to set GOD’s seal on the prophecy and the vision. Meaning, the prophecy belongs to GOD, and it will be fulfilled at the time appointed.
ISAIAH 8.16
TESTIMONY – TEHOODAH – A precept, The Law of Moses.
BIND – TSAHRAR – Tie it up, i.e., The Law is bound up in the heart of the true Believer.
SEAL – KHAHTAM – Seal The Law among My Disciples. Lock it up. Lock up The Law inside the person so it will never get out. GOD’s seal is His proof of ownership, that that person belongs to Him, just as the 70 weeks prophecy belongs to GOD and will be fulfilled when He says it will be fulfilled, at His return when He sets up The Millennium. So to seal up the prophecy and the vision means the prophecy is from GOD, it has His ownership and He will fulfill it at the appointed time.
Back to
DANIEL 9.24
And anoint The Most Holy.
THE MOST HOLY – KODESH – The Temple in The Millennium.
ANOINT – MAHSHAKH – dedicate it, set it apart for the worship of our GOD and Messiah.
To summarize Verse 24:
– 70 weeks or 490 years are determined and decreed upon the Jewish People, and their Holy City Jerusalem.
– GOD will put an end to transgression and sin at His return.
– He will then make reconciliation and atonement for sin when He sets up His Millennial Kingdom in Israel.
– He will bring in everlasting righteousness.
– Daniel is to seal up the vision and prophecy. It is the exclusive property of GOD for His people.
– And anoint The Most Holy, The Millennial Temple.
DANIEL 9.25
Now, the prophecy tells us when Messiah will come the 1st time, 2,000 years ago.
MESSIAH – MAHSHEEAKH Anointed, Holy, pure, Holy as GOD, because He is GOD. Lawabiding, dedicated and devoted to GOD, Messiah is King and Priest and of course, Messiah.
(DANIEL 9.24)
The commandment or word to restore and build Jerusalem came from King Artaxerxes, King of Persia. Remember, the Jewish people were still in captivity in Babylon and Persia.
NEHEMIAH 2.1-8
NEHEMAIH 2.1 The 20th year of King Artaxerxes’ reign was 444 B.C.E.
– He reigned as king in Persia from 464-424 B.C.E.
– Thus the word allowing the Jewish people to return to Israel to restore and to build Jerusalem was in the year 444 B.C.E. (Verses 5-8)
Back to
DANIEL 9.25 7 weeks and 62 weeks or 483 years.
From the time of Artaxerxes’ approval for the Jewish people to return to Israel and restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of Messiah The Prince, His 1st coming, would be 7 weeks and 62 weeks, 69 weeks or 483 years to Messiah Yeshua’s 1st coming.
From 444 B.C.E., the 20th year of Artaxerxes reign, to let’s say 33 A.D. when Messiah entered Jerusalem fulfilling prophecy that He is The Messiah, was 483 years, or 69 weeks of years. Thus, from the time of Artaxerxes’ approval to Messiah’s 1st coming was 483 years. The calculation is based on a Biblical year of 360 days rather than our calendar of 365 or 366 days.
ZECHARIAH 9.9, MATTHEW 21.1-11, DEUTERONOMY 18.18-19,
REVELATION 12.6 360 day year.
Back to
DANIEL 9.25
The street will be built again in troublous times. The Jews had to fight their adversaries continually during the rebuilding. It’s all recorded in The Book of Nehmiah.
This 70 weeks prophecy was given some 500 years before the 1st coming of Messiah, about the same time Artaxerxes gave the approval to the Jewish people to return to Israel and rebuild Jerusalem.
DANIEL 9.26
After 62 weeks of years, Messiah will be cut off, killed. LOOK AT DANIEL 9.25, “Unto Messiah The Prince shall be 7 weeks and 62 weeks”. That 7 weeks of years or 49 years was the time it took to restore and build Jerusalem.
Back to
VERSE 26 After 62 weeks shall Messiah be cut off. Now add the 7 weeks or 49 years it took to rebuild Jerusalem to the 62 weeks of years and we are back to the 69 weeks or 483 years. So AFTER 483 years from Artaxerxes’ okay, Messiah will be killed. And He was, exactly according to the prophecy of GOD.
VERSE 26 And AFTER HIS DEATH, the people of the prince who would be the Roman armies under their and emperor Titus, came into Israel, and after 4 years of war with the Jews, killed some 1,000,000 Jewish people, destroyed the City of Jerusalem, and The Temple, the Temple Yeshua walked in and taught in. It’s all recorded in history.
And the end of it shall be with a flood, etc.
1. Until the end, i.e., the destruction of Jerusalem and The Temple, there will be a flood of Roman armies doing what they did best, destroy Jerusalem, Israel and The Temple and plunder it.
2. And until the end, I believe up unto Messiah’s return, wars are determined and decreed upon Israel, as Israel has experienced over the years.
ZECHARIAH 14.1-4
DANIEL 9.27
Here is the 70th week of the prophecy, the last 7 years. It’s in the future and has not yet happened.
HE – the anti-Christ
CONFIRM – GAHVAHR – strong
THE COVENANT – BEHREET – an agreement, perhaps a 7 year peace treaty with Israel and the Palestinians. The peace treaty, I think, will consist of Israel dividing The Land, including part of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Arabs. The Arabs will be happy, and so will all the world be happy, including the U.S.A. In return, the Jewish people get to build their Temple in Jerusalem.
DANIEL 11.39
The covenant or peace treaty will be with many Jewish people, but not all. Many will reject it but it will be done and set in motion.
For 1 week or 7 years. In the midst or middle of the 7 year peace, or after 3 1/2 years, anti-Christ will cause the sacrifice and oblation to stop. There will be sacrifices because there will be a Temple.
The overspreading of abominations – idols will be in The Temple and so will the anti-Christ. They are an abomination, disgusting, filthy and detestable to GOD. And GOD will destroy it, The Temple.
Until the consumation and that determined – anti-Christ will be consumed and destroyed by GOD. And that determined (decreed) shall be poured upon the desolation, anti-Christ, and lay him waste, toast.
DANIEL 12.1-2, REVELATION 20.1- 3
Then Verse 24 will be fulfilled when Messiah immediately returns after the Great and final Tribulation to set up and establish His Millennial Kingdom of GOD where peace will reign forever.
DANIEL 9.24
So right now we are between the 69th week and the 70th week. Between Messiah’s death and the future 7 year covenant and His soon coming.
Shalom, Ira Weinstein
GENESIS 29.1-13 GOD’S VERY SPECIAL LOVE FOR YOU AND ME.
Shalom. Our message this morning is from Genesis 29.1-13
READ GENESIS 29.1-13
Certainly this is a beautiful love story that was made in Heaven by The LORD our GOD. Jacob has to run from his brother Esau who hates him and wants to kill him. His Father, that is Jacob’s Father Isaac tells him not to take a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites because of the abominable ways they lead their lives, but rather, he said, Go to Padan-Aram in Syria to your Uncle Laban’s house, your Mother’s Brother, and take a wife from there. And the journey from Canaan to Padan-Aram was very long, and after arriving, and while Jacob was speaking to some herdsmen by a well of water, Rachel came with her Father’s sheep. And when Jacob saw Rachel, he went and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock which Rachel led, and then he kissed her and broke into tears. The rest of course is history fulfilling GOD’s plan to establish the Jewish People. Rachel was one of Jacob’s wives who gave birth to 12 sons, that is Jacob’s wives gave birth to 12 sons the forefathers of the 12 tribes of Israel.
This event is similar to the love story when Abraham sent his servant to his family’s home to find a wife for Isaac. Abraham said to his servant, “I will make you swear by The LORD, The GOD of Heaven and The GOD of the earth that you will not take a wife for my sons from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell. But you shall go to my country and to my place of birth and take a wife for my son Isaac”. The place of Abraham’s birth was Ur of the Chaldees which today would be in southern Iraq. And a beautiful love story followed. Abraham’s servant, along with others travelling with him, and an additional 10 camels carrying gifts for Isaac’s yet unknown wife and her family, and after many days being led by The LORD to Abraham’s brother’s house, and also by a well of water, the servant prayed to The LORD when the women of the village came to draw water. And he prayed, “O LORD GOD of my master Abraham, grant me good fortune this day and deal graciously with my master Abraham. Here I stand by the well as the daughters of the men of the city come to draw water. Let the maiden to whom I say, please lower your jar that I may drink, and she replies, drink and I will water your camels. Let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. Then I will know you have dealt graciously with my master.”
And he had scarcely finished praying when Rebekah the Granddaughter of Abraham’s brother Nahor came out with her jar on her shoulder. And The Bible says, Rebekah was very beautiful, a virgin whom no man had known. So Rebekah went to the well, filled her jar, and came up. The servant then ran toward her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar”. “Drink, my lord,” she said, and she quickly lowered her jar upon her hand, and let him drink. And when he was through drinking, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels”. And quickly emptying her jar in the water trough, she ran back to the well to draw water for the camels doing exactly as the servant of Abraham had prayed. And the man stood gazing at her silently, wondering whether The LORD had made his journey successful or not. And when the camels finished drinking, the man took of the gifts he carried with him on the camels and blessed her with much jewelry. And Abraham’s servant said to her, “Pray tell me, whose daughter are you?” and she said, “I am Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel,” who was the youngest son of Abraham’s brother Nahor. And Rebekah became Isaac’s wife, and he loved her.
Both are love stories produced by The LORD GOD. And I thought for this morning we would speak of another love story, GOD’s special love for us. GOD’s special love for you and me. And His love for us starts in Genesis 1, Verse 1.
GENESIS 1.1-3
– First GOD created the Heaven and the earth.
– And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
– And GOD said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
– Then GOD created the sky.
– Then the dry land appeared after He removed the waters from the land. And He called the
dry land earth, and the waters He called seas.
– Then GOD created vegetation, plants and trees of every kind that bear fruit.
– Then GOD created the sun and the moon and stars to separate the day from the night.
– Then GOD created birds and fish, large and small.
– Then He created cattle and animals of every kind.
– And on the 6th day, GOD created man in His own image after His likeness, after He
prepared everything for the human race.
GENESIS 2.7
GOD loves us so much, He created us to look like Him, like GOD.
And GOD rested on the 7th day, Saturday. And He created the Sabbath as a day of rest for all humanity, on the 7th day. That’s another sign of His love for us.
GENESIS 2.1-3
So, why did GOD create Heaven and earth, you and me and all humanity? The answer, because He loves us. Let’s look at a very popular and well-known verse of Scripture, just to prove that GOD created the Heaven and earth, you and me, and all that’s in them, because He loves us.
JOHN 3.16
WORLD – KOSMOS – the world in which we live in.
Webster’s – The earth with its inhabitants and all things upon it.
However, shortly after the Creation, GOD placed another one of His creation on the earth, satan, in the form of a snake to test the first 2 human beings, Adam and Eve. Will they obey GOD or not? We all know they disobeyed GOD and did according to the words of satan rather than the Commandment of GOD. And years later, perhaps about 1,600 years later, the world being filled with an unknown number of people, GOD sent His flood on all life in the world because as Psalm 45.7 reads, “GOD loves righteousness and hates wickedness”.
GENESIS 6.5-9
WICKEDNESS – RAH – not pleasing to GOD, wrong x great. Their wrong was great.
EVIL – RAH – same word. Not pleasing to GOD, they were WRONG because they did nothing GOD said, like today, they disobeyed GOD.
JUST (Noah was a just man) means righteous, he obeyed GOD.
And yet, GOD is a GOD of love. The Bible says, GOD is love, For GOD so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Paul wrote in Romans 5.5, “The love of GOD is poured out in our hearts through The Holy Spirit, Who is given to us”. But The Bible teaches that GOD does not love everybody. I can say that with assurance because GOD said, I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau. You can read those words in Malachi 1.2-3 and Romans 9.13. Thus, GOD’s love is not for everybody, but for a very special group of people. As He said in Genesis 6.9, “Noah was a just man, a righteous man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with GOD”.
We know well that GOD gets angry, mighty angry. Thus we have wars and terrorism, floods, landslides, hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones, pestilence, recessions, depressions, earthquakes and so on because of GOD’
s great anger which is brought on by universal or worldwide disobedience to GOD. But this message is about GOD’s love to those special people He loves, whom He, God as a human being gave His life for, as an atonement for our sins, and for us to lead a righteous and just life in Him, walking with GOD Again, this message is not about GOD’s anger He directs to those who refuse to obey Him.
Thus GOD chose a people, the children of Israel, who today are the Jewish People, to be a Holy People unto The LORD their GOD, a special people to Himself, above all the people that are upon the face of the earth. AND HE SET HIS LOVE UPON THEM TO WITNESS TO THE WORLD everything GOD has made known to us, AND ESPECIALLY HIS VERY SPECIAL LOVE FOR US, for you and me and all mankind. And He revealed to us how we can obtain His love. It’s all taught in GOD’s Book, The Bible for a witness to everyone, Jewish and non-Jewish. Yes, GOD has great love, even more than we can imagine. It’s a supernatural love, tender and gentle, caring and helpful, but we must know what is necessary for GOD to love us. And that He told His Chosen People what is imperative to be loved of The Father, and Messiah.
DEUTERONOMY 7.6-9
VERSE 8 THE OATH: a legal promise GOD had sworn to your Fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
THE OATH
GENESIS 17.7 GOD promised to be their GOD and GOD to their descendants, The Jewish People.
GENESIS 17.8 To give the Land of Israel to them, and to their descendants for an everlasting possession.
GENESIS 22.16-18 To bless them, and multiply their descendants as the stars of Heaven, and as the sand on the seashore. Their descendants will possess the gate of their enemies, and in their seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
GENESIS 12.1-3 GOD promises to bless them that bless you, and them that curse you, GOD will curse. And make of them a great nation. That nation is Israel.
VERSE 9 What’s necessary to be loved by GOD and Messiah? It’s all explained in this verse. GOD keeps Covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His Commandments to 1 thousand generations, i.e., forever.
GOD KEEPING HIS COVENANT INCLUDES LOVING US, with those who love Him and keep His Commandments.
And His mercy is love, lovingkindness, with them that love Him and keep His Commandments.
So, what is necessary for us to be loved by GOD and Messiah, since Messiah is GOD? It’s this. We must obey Him. We must obey His Commandments which collectively are The Law of Moses, and that includes belief in Yeshua The Messiah. That instruction is eternal, forever, and never ends.
Yeshua Himself, a Witness, and part of GOD’s Chosen People, teaches all humanity what GOD’s requirement is to be blessed with His love.
JOHN 14.15-16 SEE VERSE 9 Yeshua is GOD The Father.
JOHN 14.15-24
VERSE 20 We are all one in GOD and Messiah when we believe in Yeshua and obey The Commandments and Law of Moses.
VERSE 21 He, she that loves Me, proves that love by obeying GOD’s Commandments and Laws. Then you will be LOVED BY MY FATHER, and YESHUA WILL LOVE YOU ALSO.
VERSE 23 The very same teaching. Obey GOD and He will love you. That is, obey His Commandments and His Law of Moses, and He will love you, and they will come into you and make their home with you. That is, The Holy Spirit will come into you. It’s that simple. It never changes.
So, let’s look at some Scriptures that express GOD’s great and special love for us.
JOHN 17.23, MATTHEW 11.28-30
(Matthew 11.28-30)
VERSE 28 LABOR – fatigue
HEAVY LADEN – burdened with anxiety
REST – refreshing
VERSE 29 MY YOKE – GOD’s Commandments and The Law of Moses.
VERSE 30 MY BURDEN IS LIGHT – That which we are obligated to do is easy. Obey GOD.
1 SAMUEL 12.22, PSALM 37.3-5, JEREMIAH 31.3
HEBREWS 6.15 The promise is his son Isaac. And to those whom GOD loves, after enduring patiently, we will also obtain the promises GOD has promised us.
ENDURED – fortitude, the mental strength that enables us to put up with adversity. Plus longsuffering, patience.
ISAIAH 43.25, ISAIAH 54.10
ISAIAH 63.9 GOD is also afflicted and troubled when we are troubled and distressed, and He will carry us and help us all our days.
DEUTERONOMY 23.5,
DEUTERONOMY 33.1-4 To those GOD loves, He causes us to obey His Law.
PSALM 41.11, PSALM 91.14-16, PROVERBS 8.16
ROMANS 8.35-39, EPHESIANS 3.19-20
And finally, GOD’s great love for us is throughout eternity, forever and ever, even in Heaven.
In the Millennial Kingdom in Israel. Zephaniah 3.14-17
And in Heaven throughout eternity. REVELATION 21.1-4, REVELATION 22.3-5
In conclusion:
GOD teaches us how to obtain His very special love. And His love is poured out to us by loving GOD and Messiah and obeying His Commandments. That is loving GOD and keeping His Commandments and His Law of Moses. And GOD will do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think because GOD loves you with an everlasting love, and with His lovingkindness has drawn you to Him.
Shalom, Ira Weinstein
GOD DIRECTS OUR LIVES; GENESIS 28.10-22
Shalom and good morning. Our teaching this morning is from GENESIS 28.10-22.
READ GENESIS 28.10-22
For our teaching this morning, I have tried to show beyond a doubt that The LORD our GOD guides and directs our lives, protects us and sustains us from the moment we are born even unto death. And since the servant of GOD who lives and believes in Messiah Yeshua never dies, He guides our lives even throughout eternity.
I’ve attempted to show that The LORD GOD in effect takes us up in His arms and carries us, and supports us, and watches out for us, and blesses us, and makes us a blessing, even giving us the blessing of Abraham, all the time directing our lives in the way we should go. That He guides our lives even though at times we walk through the valley of shadow of death, we don’t have to fear evil because The LORD our GOD is with us. And He teaches us and comforts us, and encourages us though we may not hear His Voice. The LORD says in Jeremiah 1.5, “Before He formed us in our mother’s belly He knew us, and before we came forth out of her womb, He sanctified us and ordained us.” And GOD never changes. He directs our life and sustains us. He leads us by the way we should go because He loves us, and has a purpose for all His chosen ones. Thus He leads us in the way of righteousness and instructs us in His truth by His Word.
Jacob is an excellent example of GOD directing and guiding our lives. The LORD ordained him before he was born to be the father of the 12 tribes of Israel, and a forefather or ancestor of the Jewish people, and to be in the genealogy of Messiah Yeshua in His human nature; for GOD said to Abraham, and we can read these words in Genesis 21.12, “For in Isaac shall your seed be called.” Meaning, GOD’s chosen people, The Jewish People would descend from Isaac, and from Isaac would come Jacob who would be the father of the 12 tribes of Israel, the entire Jewish nation.
And because of the hatred Esau had toward his brother Jacob, was this part of GOD’s plan also for Jacob, and the Jewish People, and all the world? GOD led Jacob out of his homeland in Canaan to his Uncle’s house in Syria where he married and had 12 sons and a daughter. The 12 tribes of Israel descend from Jacob, and the name Israel was given to Jacob by GOD, and given to all Jacob’s descendants, the children of Israel, and the country of the Jewish People which GOD named Israel.
Not only does GOD direct our lives, He has also preordained us for His purpose, and that for our good. So, let’s look at some wonderful Scriptures to confirm this teaching that GOD directs our steps and guides our lives, and sustains us, and blesses us. That’s why Paul writes in Romans 8.28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love GOD; to them who are the called according to His purpose.”
ISAIAH 48.16-18
VERSE 16 In this passage, GOD teaches the plurality of GOD, that GOD is The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, meaning that Yeshua is The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And The One speaking is Yeshua, The One sent by The LORD GOD and His Spirit. JOHN 4.34
BACK TO ISAIAH 48
VERSE 17 The One speaking is Yeshua, The LORD your Redeemer. The LORD our Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel, Yeshua Who is GOD and Messiah, Who buys us back from sin through Messiah’s atoning death, and delivers us from sin by forgiving our sins and remembering them no more. He saves us, even marries us, and delivers us from all our troubles. That is The LORD our Redeemer, and He is Yeshua The Messiah.
VERSE 17
TEACHES US TO PROFIT – in our work, and we benefit from GOD and His teaching and instruction.
WHICH LEADS us by the way we should go.
How does one explain that? We’ll let GOD do the explaining:
PROVERBS 8.20-21, PROVERBS 16.9, PROVERBS 20.24, JEREMIAH 10.23
BACK TO
ISAIAH 48.18 GOD’s most important teaching is to obey Him, His Commandments, His Law of Moses.
COMMANDMENTS – MEETSVOTE – GOD’s Commandments, collectively The Law of Moses.
Listen to this. GOD has also appointed those not to obey Him, and many of them are Bible teachers.
1 PETER 2.8
A STONE OF STUMBLING – Messiah is a cause for many to fall into sin because they reject Him, and countless disobey Him, His Commandments, HIs Law. Yeshua is GOD.
A ROCK OF OFFENCE – for the same reason, Messiah is a cause of many to fall into sin because they reject Him and disobey The Word of GOD.
They were
APPOINTED TO DISOBEDIENCE. Appointed also means ordained. Many are appointed by GOD to disobey Him, His Laws and Commandments, as satan is appointed to be the teacher of lies.
GOD’s elect, however, are taught and led in the way we should go, and the way we should go is to obey His mitzvote, His Commandments and Law of Moses, along with our belief in Messiah.
ISAIAH 46.3-4
VERSE 3 Borne by Me from the belly and carried from the womb – from birth, GOD carries us, supports and sustains us, provides our every need, takes care of us, looks after us, and comforts us and encourages us.
VERSE 4 And even to your old age, and gray hairs, I AM HE, I never change, I will carry you and deliver you.
DELIVER YOU – GOD will fiind a way for us to escape every problem, quickly and surely.
MADE US – AHSAH – GOD made us, appointed us, provides for us.
PSALM 32.8, PSALM 73.24, PROVERBS 4.10-11
COUNSEL (Psalm 75.24) – AYSTAH – advise, purpose, GOD is our Wonderful Counsellor
GLORY – Heaven
A good example is Moses whose life GOD led and directed. The LORD GOD ordained him to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage to the Promised Land. And to teach them how to live according to GOD’s Laws and Commandments.
GENESIS 15.13-14
A great nation, Israel would grow in Egypt but in bondage over 400 years, and GOD would lead them out by the hand of Moses.
EXODUS 2.11-15
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love GOD, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
Here is GOD’s purpose for Moses – EXODUS 3.1-22
Did Moses know that when he fled Egypt and lived in the desert all those years, GOD had a great responsibility for him? I don’t think so.
Joseph, Jacob’s son was also led of GOD for GOD’s purpose to bring the children of Israel into Egypt. And GOD guided him and was with him all the way.
GENESIS 15.13-14
Egypt does not belong to the Jewish People. It is not theirs. But GOD directed Joseph to bring the children of Israel into Egypt where GOD would grow them into a mighty nation. And also for GOD to make Himself an everlasting Name, and a Glorious Name, that His Name is to declared throughout all the earth, and His great power revealed.
GENESIS 37.18-28, ISAIAH 63.11-14, ROMANS 9.17
ISAIAH 58.11, LUKE 1.78-79 GOD guides us into peace with GOD.
JOHN 16.13 GOD leads us into all truth by His Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Truth.
Pharoah in time made Joseph Governor of Egypt under Pharao, and after some dramatic meetings with his brothers in Egypt because of a great famine in the region, Joseph received permission from Pharoah to bring the children of Israel to Egypt, which then totalled 70 people, where GOD made them a great nation. And many years later, GOD appointed Moses to lead them out.
GENESIS 46.1-7
EXODUS 13.20-22, EXODUS 15.11-13, 17, PSALM 78.52-55
We can always be sure that GOD will direct our steps and care for us, because we are His People, and because He loves us.
DEUTERONOMY 32.8-14, PSALM 139.7-10, ISAIAH 40.8-11
One awesome reason GOD has chosen y
ou and me, is to be His witness to know the truth and to reveal the truth to others.
ISAIAH 43.1-4, 10-12, 21 AND 25
And finally, it is The LORD GOD Himself Who leads His chosen people to the land of Israel to enter into The Millennium whether by resurrection, or those who are alive at His coming, will be caught up together with them to meet The LORD in the air, where Messiah will take us to the Promised Land, The Messianic Kingdom in Israel and eternity with Him forever.
JEREMIAH 23.5-8, EZEKIEL 39.23-29, REVELATION 7.13-17
(REVELATION 7.17) Living fountains of water; spiritual happiness and eternal life in Heaven.
In conclusion, The LORD GOD guides our lives, He directs our steps and leads us in the way we should go. All the time protecting you, sustaining you, watching over you, and caring for you. As David wrote in Psalm 23, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.”
From birth, even to our old age, GOD will carry you, and deliver you, and do great things through you, to be His witness and to be HIs servant, because GOD has chosen you, and sanctified you, and ordained you to be His.