Jacob was sheckleless and alone when he arrived in Haran. As we saw last time, all he had was Yehovah’s Promise. It took twenty year, but Jacob receives the promise.
Jacob served Laban for seven years and then took the twins (28), first Leah and then Rachel a week later, he was 84. Over the next 7 years all his sons (except Benjamin) would be born to him. And during these same 14 years Laban also had been blessed in sons and daughters, riches.
Yasher 31:24 At that time, the other seven years which Jacob served Laban for Rachel were completed, and it was at the end of fourteen years that he had dwelt in Haran that Jacob said unto Laban, give me my women and send me away, that I may go to my land, for behold my mother did send unto me from the land at Canaan that I should return to my father’s house.
25 And Laban said unto him, Not so I pray thee; if I have found favor in thy sight do not leave me; appoint me thy wages and I will give them, and remain with me.
Give me my women and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.” And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that Yehovah has blessed me for your sake.” (Gen 30:26-27)
Jacob (77), after being robbed by Eliphaz the son of Esau in Shechem, turns back towards Haran once he received Yehovah’s promise; but he arrives in Haran as a beggar, instead of a prince.
Here is Yehovah’s promise
Yasher 30:1 … and he came as far as mount Moriah, and he tarried there all night near the city of Luz; and Yehovah appeared there unto Jacob on that night, and he said unto him, I am Yehovah Elohim (lawmaker and judge) of Abraham and the Elohim of Isaac thy father; the land upon which thou liest I will give unto thee and thy seed.
2 And behold I am with thee and will keep thee wherever thou goest, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of Heaven, and I will cause all thine enemies to fall before thee; and when they shall make war with thee they shall not prevail over thee, and I will bring thee again unto this land with joy, with sons, and with great riches.
3 And Jacob awoke from his sleep and he rejoiced greatly at the vision which he had seen; and he called the name of that place Bethel.
The first person of the house of Laban, his mother’s brother, who Jacob finds is his cousin Rachel (22); she and her older sister (Leah) are twins. When Jacob sees Rachel he kisses her and weeps.
Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. (Gen 29:11)
“Why is he weeping?” I always asked myself. Now, because of Yasher, I know the answer.
Yasher 30:8 And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, he ran and kissed her, and lifted up his voice and wept.
9 And Jacob told Rachel that he was the son of Rebecca, her father’s sister, and Rachel ran and told her father, and Jacob continued to cry because he had nothing with him to bring to the house of Laban.
10 And when Laban heard that his sister’s son Jacob had come, he ran and kissed him and embraced him and brought him into the house and gave him bread, and he ate.
11 And Jacob related to Laban what his brother Esau had done to him, and what his son Eliphaz had done to him in the road.
In today’s lesson, Yehovah has commanded His son (Israel) to take vengeance for Him on Midian for what they did to us in the incident of Peor. We were to kill all their males and their women who had been with a male and then bring back the Midianite virgins alive. But we are still a bit new at all of this.
And they warred against the Midianites, just as Yehovah commanded Moses, and they killed all the males. They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed–Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword. And Israel’s son took Midian’s women [na-shi, the possessive plural form of ish-shah] captive, with their children [ta-phim], and plundered all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts. And they took all their spoil and all their booty—in man and in beast. (Num 31:7-11)
It appears that the spoil is property (gold, silver and other possessions) which belonged to Midian’s seed, and the booty is their living and breathing property in man and in beast.
Moses was angry because we left all the women and children alive and brought them all back with us. He said,
Look [HELLO!], these women caused Israel’s seed, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against Yehovah in the incident of Peor, and there was a striking among the assembly of Yehovah. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. But keep alive for yourselves all the women who have not known a man intimately. (Num 31:16-18)
So, the Midianite virgins were set aside for the Israel’s seed along with the flocks (sheep and goats), cattle and donkeys. This chapter gives us a description of how all the booty, the living property, was divided among Israel’s seed. Each of two groups of men received 50%Â of the booty taken in the war and Yehovah also claimed a portion from each group.
This chart will help you understand more completely what I am reading and describing in my audio below.
Yehovah did not ask for any of the gold or the silver or any of the “stuff” which we recovered from Midian’s seed; it appears to me the things that have real value are the living and breathing property which can multiply itself in Yehovah’s kingdom. Continue reading Israel’s booty – Midianite Virgins And Livestock→
Esau hates Jacob, and he always will! The man who lives out his life in the flesh, will always hate the man who lives his life in the spirit. Esau was circumcised, he knew many of the commandments of Yehovah; BUT, he did not know Yehovah or serve Him.
An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked. (Pro 29:27)
The righteous perishes, and no man takes it to heart; merciful men are taken away, while no one considers that the righteous is taken away from evil. (Isa 57:1)
Esau hates Jacob and tries to thwart him at every opportunity. Today we will see that he tried to kill Jacob after he received the blessing, when he came back from hiding at the house of Eber and while on his way to Haran.
Relatively few people have ever heard that Esau killed Nimrod, and then despised his birthright. We are going to see today that Esau, like Nimrod, had a desire to rule the world; what would an extra portion over his brother matter to Esau in light of world domination?
Again, it is the book of Yasher that has provided “the rest of the story.”
Nimrod’s Dream
After Terah’s son [Abram] was born, Nimrod had a dream. Here is the interpretation.
Yasher 12:50 And the king was grieved at the sight, and he awoke out of his sleep and his spirit was agitated; and he felt a great terror.
51 And in the morning the king rose from his couch in fear, and he ordered all the wise men and magicians to come before him, when the king related his dream to them.
52 And a wise servant of the king, whose name was Anuki, answered the king, saying, This is nothing else but the evil of Abram and his seed which will spring up against my master and king in the latter days.
Esau Killed Nimrod!
And in fact one of Abram’s seed, a wicked seed, did spring up in Nimrod’s latter days and kill him.
Yasher 27:4 And on a certain day Esau went in the field to hunt, and he found Nimrod walking in the wilderness with his two men.
5 And all his mighty men and his people were with him in the wilderness, but they removed at a distance from him, and they went from him in different directions to hunt, and Esau concealed himself from Nimrod, and he lurked for him in the wilderness.
6 And Nimrod and his men that were with him did not know, and Nimrod and his men frequently walked about in the field at the cool of the day, and to know where his men were hunting in the field.
7 And Nimrod and two of his men that were with him came to the place where they were, when Esau started suddenly from his lurking place, and drew his sword, and hastened and ran to Nimrod and cut off his head.
8 And Esau fought a desperate fight with the two men that were with Nimrod, and when they called out to him, Esau turned to them and smote them to death with his sword.
Nimrod Ruled With The Garments Which Elohim Made For Adam And His Woman
Nimrod had the garments that Yehovah made for Adam and his woman; they had been handed down to him through Ham and made him strong. It was these garments that were coveted by Esau.
Yasher 7:24 And the garments of skin which God made for Adam and his woman, when they went out of the garden, were given to Cush.
25 For after the death of Adam and his woman, the garments were given to Enoch, the son of Jared, and when Enoch was taken up to God, he gave them to Methuselah, his son.
26 And at the death of Methuselah, Noah took them and brought them to the ark, and they were with him until he went out of the ark.
27 And in their going out, Ham stole those garments from Noah his father, and he took them and hid them from his brothers.
28 And when Ham begat his first-born Cush, he gave him the garments in secret, and they were with Cush many days.
29 And Cush also concealed them from his sons and brothers, and when Cush had begotten Nimrod, he gave him those garments through his love for him, and Nimrod grew up, and when he was twenty years old he put on those garments.
30 And Nimrod became strong when he put on the garments, …
Esau Stole The Garments
Yasher 27:10 And when Esau saw the mighty men of Nimrod coming at a distance, he fled, and thereby escaped; and Esau took the valuable garments of Nimrod, which Nimrod’s father had bequeathed to Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole land, and he ran and concealed them in his house.
And Then Esau Despised His birthright
Now we know why Esau was so weary when he came from the field and met Jacob and was so nonchalant about his birthright.
Yasher 27:11 And Esau took those garments and ran into the city on account of Nimrod’s men, and he came unto his father’s house wearied and exhausted from fight, and he was ready to die through grief when he approached his brother Jacob and sat before him.
12 And he said unto his brother Jacob, Behold I shall die this day, and wherefore then do I want the birthright? And Jacob acted wisely with Esau in this matter, and Esau sold his birthright to Jacob, for it was so brought about by Yehovah.
13 And Esau’s portion in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought from the sons of Heth for the possession of a burial ground, Esau also sold to Jacob, and Jacob bought all this from his brother Esau for value given.
Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom. But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way, thus Esau despised his birthright. (Gen 25:29-34)
I wonder who currently has those garments. If it is the very fleshly descendants of Esau that rule the earth now, we (Israel’s seed) will fight with them again. I talk a lot about that in this portion. Please watch the video, listen to this audio or download it for your mp3 player and listen to it later.
Here are some other articles you might be interested in.
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
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I was taught in my Christian doctrines and traditions of men, not to swear at all; but Numbers 30 makes it very clear that when we swear we use Yehovah’s name for the surety of the words we have sworn to; and, like Him, we must do what we say.
I will put My spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, Yehovah, have spoken it and performed it,” says Yehovah.’ ” (Eze 37:14)
He will swallow up death forever, And my Master, Yehovah, will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for Yehovah has spoken. (Isa 25:8)
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Num_23:19)
For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. (Psa 33:9)
I, Yehovah, have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ” (Num 14:35)
And all his men, when they make a vow to Yehovah, are sure to fulfill all that they have spoken or they will have taken His name in vain. And we know that we can not take His name in vain.
“You shall not take the name of Yehovah your Elohim (lawmaker and judge) in vain, for Yehovah will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. (Exo 20:7)
Jacob was sheckleless and alone when he arrived in Haran. As we saw last time, all he had was Yehovah’s Promise. It took twenty year, but Jacob receives the promise.
In today’s lesson, Yehovah has commanded His son (Israel) to take vengeance for Him on Midian for what they did to us in the incident of Peor. We were to kill all their males and their women who had been with a male and then bring back the Midianite virgins alive. But we are still a bit new at all of this.
Esau hates Jacob, and he always will! The man who lives out his life in the flesh, will always hate 
