She is my sister? Oh my – what has Abraham done? The woman who he took to himself 49 years ago; the same woman who Yehovah JUST said would give him the promised son/seed on the next “Time of Life” moed (in less a year), has just been given to Abimelech as his woman.
Abraham has lived in Hebron, which is next to Mamre, for 21 years. Now, right after the destruction of Sodom he goes (I think “flees”) south to Gerar. Why did he leave so suddenly? Is it possible that he was avoiding poisonous gasses from Sodom which were coming up from the valley?
“She Is My sister” Was Said Out Of Fear
This Genesis 20 story moves along quickly; and in verse 2 Abraham is already telling Abimelech, King of Gerar about Sarah saying, “she is my sister.”
Now Abraham said of Sarah his woman, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. (Gen 20:2)
Augh! Why would Abraham say “she is my sister” except out of fear? She is his woman (there is no word for wife in Torah) and his niece; NOT his sister. He fears the king and what he can do to him, and he has failed to understand the significance of what Yehovah had told Him, through His sent ones, just days before.
Is anything too hard for Yehovah? At the appointed time [the moed] I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” (Gen 18:14)
Abraham is about to receive the son which Yehovah promised him 25 years before. Nothing can happen to Abraham until Sarah conceives his son and still have Yehovah’s word fulfilled. But Abraham fears the people of the land more than he trusts in Yehovah who ALWAYS does what He says He will do. And now beautiful Sarah has been taken by Abimelech as his woman.
And what about Sarah? What a woman of worth she is! Practically every woman today, if faced with the situation that Sarah found herself in, would betray her husband’s confidence. But Sarah did what Abraham asked, even to her own potential hurt. I want a woman like that!
I love this story! It demonstrates Yehovah’s faithfulness to fulfill His words even when those who truly are in covenant/cutting with Him fail miserably by saying foolish and unnecessary things like “she is my sister.”
Here is yet another case where the book of Yasher gives “the rest of the story;” I know you will find it interesting.
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
Please Contact Michael to help support his work in building Yehovah’s kingdom on the earth.
Providence Ministries is NOT incorporated with any kingdom of this world. Providence Ministries is an affiliate of the Director of Ecclesiastical Enterprises, a Washington State acknowledged corporation sole of the ecclesia on file with the Secretary of the State. This charitable ministry is not for profit and maintains its nontaxable status consistent with 26 USC 508(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to 501 (c)(3) organizations special rules as a “mandatory exception.”
Abram, what an amazing man he was; he had the ability (after walking with the Creator for almost 100 years) to hear the voice of Yehovah and do what He requested. In Genesis 17 Yehovah speaks to Abram in a vision and gives him a new name (Abraham); and Sarai, bone of his bone and the flesh of his flesh, also gets a new name (Sarah).
The name Abram [אברהם] is spelled (right to left) aleph, bet, resh, mem and means “Exalted Father” or “High Father.” He is the father of the spiritual seed who dwell in heaven; men who have left their elohim (the lawmakers and judges of their birth) whom they previously served and now follow Abram as he follows THE Elohim and Creator of all things.
The addition of the “hey, [ה]” to Abram’s name made it Abraham [אברהם], and this “hey” added yet another dimension to his high or exalted fatherhood, it adds an eternal dimension.
Genesis 17 is the prelude to Genesis 18 which describes the birth of the spiritual man, Isaac, at the “Time of Life” which falls on the “appointed time” or the “moed.” The “Time of Life” is what Passover was called before it was called Passover. The “Time of Life” (the time that Isaac was born) and the Passover (the time which Israel’s seed was, and is, born) are tied together in the Torah in many ways. The 430 year time-line from Exodus 12, the 400 year prophecy from Genesis 15, the words “that very same day” in Genesis 17 and Exodus 12, the “appointed time” of Genesis 17, Genesis 18, Leviticus 23, Exodus 12 and others.
Genesis 17 – My Covenant / My Cutting
However, the tie between Genesis 17 (the “Time of Life”) and Exodus 12 (Passover), which I want you to see clearly today, is about what Yehovah calls “My cutting” [בריתי]. It is a compound word that is used 23 times in the Torah, 9 times in Genesis 17 alone. Be·ri·ti’ is translated in most bibles as “My Covenant,” but I believe this to be yet another religious word designed to mislead and distract men, who wish to seek and pursue righteous.
And I will make My cutting between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.” (Genesis 17:2)
As for Me, behold, My cutting is with thee, and thou shall be a father of many people. (Genesis 17:4)
Yehovah cutting and Abram’s “fatherhood” seem to be connected.
As I said, be·ri·ti’ [בריתי] is a compound word; the suffix “י” [yad], when added to a noun, says “my.” The Hebrew word that the yad is being added to, in this case, is be·rit’ [ברית], which means “a cutting.” Together they say, “My Cutting.”
Again, we get trapped by these religious words, and few people have seen what I am trying to show you today; even Jeff Benner in his Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible wants to call the Hebrew word be·rit’ a “covenant;” but read carefully how he defines the be·rit’.
[ברית]
“A covenant is instituted through a sacrifice of a choice, fatted, animal which is cut into two and the parties of the covenant pass through the pieces. If one party fails to meet the agreements of the covenant then the other may do the same to them. (see Genesis 15:10,17 and Jeremiah 34:18-20)”
Now read it again and substitute the word “cutting” for “covenant.”
Here are the verses he suggests that we read. We do not cut a covenant; the cutting IS the agreement; and passing through the pieces seals the agreement! Oh my – this is so cool!
Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. (Gen 15:10)
And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. (Gen 15:17)
And I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant [בריתי, be·ri·ti’], who have not performed the words of the covenant [ברית, be·rit’] which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts of it the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies shall be for meat for the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the earth. (Jer 34:18-20)
Genesis 17: 10 – His Cutting
And now look at what Yehovah says what His cutting actually is!
This is My cutting which you all [men] shall keep, between Me and you all and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. (Genesis 17:10)
The cutting that Abraham made, and the cutting that all the spiritual seed of our “high father” made, and will make, is circumcision! And all our seed will pass through the literal cutting when they are conceived.
Genesis 17 goes on to describe who is to be circumcised.
Genesis 17:11 Abraham
Genesis 17:10 Every male of Abraham’s house (We are talking about his gates, he has over 1000 men with him at this point.)
Genesis 17:12 The 8 day old male and every male bought with money (these are permanent servants)
Genesis 17:13 He who was born in Abram’s house
But understanding this cutting goes still deeper. As I said, Genesis 17 is a prelude to Genesis 18; and we will see that it is fundamental to our understanding what is happening in Exodus 12. Please take note of who is to be circumcised in Exodus BEFORE the Ger can draw near and eat the Passover and become as one born in the land; or what must happen before the Passover / the “Time of Life,” the moed, appointed time that Isaac was born AND the moed that all Israel’s seed is born.
But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. (Exo 12:44)
And when a stranger [Ger] dwells with thee and wants to keep the Passover to Yehovah, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land [Ezrach]. For no uncircumcised person [always men] shall eat it. (Exo 12:48)
Ishmael was not the promised and spiritually born seed.
Ishmael did not come from Abraham’s body; Hagar was “a woman” given to him by Sarah who was “bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.” Oh – and Hagar did not get a new name, only Sarah did.
The birth of Ishmael does not fit both the 400 year prophecy, or the 430 years to that “very same day” of Exodus 12.
Ishmael never passed through Abraham cutting; while Isaac, the spiritually born seed, did.
Genesis 17 is just preparation for the coming big event which is prophesied in Genesis 18, the “Time of Life.” Here is a much more in-depth teaching on Genesis 17. I hope you will enjoy it.
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
Please Contact Michael to help support his work in building Yehovah’s kingdom on the earth.
Providence Ministries is NOT incorporated with any kingdom of this world. Providence Ministries is an affiliate of the Director of Ecclesiastical Enterprises, a Washington State acknowledged corporation sole of the ecclesia on file with the Secretary of the State. This charitable ministry is not for profit and maintains its nontaxable status consistent with 26 USC 508(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to 501 (c)(3) organizations special rules as a “mandatory exception.â€
Genesis 15 is all about Yehovah’s promise to Abram to give him “seed” [זרע, ze·rah]. This word often gets translated as “descendants;” but to be clear, when Yehovah talks about “seed,” He is always referring to men. It is the man who carries the seed of future generations and it is the man who produces after his own kind; ha·a·dam [the man] begat seed after his own image and kind after the fall, not Yehovah’s. But we will see, in this chapter, that the seed Yehovah is promising Abram, is spiritually born seed and this seed is Yehovah’s kind.
To really understand this portion of Yehovah’s word we must have a broad understanding of the Torah and Yasher in order to see how all the pieces fit together. Exodus 12 says that Israel, Yehovah’s spiritually born seed, came out of Egypt exactly 430 years to that very same day.
Now the sojourn of Israel’s seed who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years–on that very same day–it came to pass that all the armies of Yehovah went out from the land of Egypt. (Exo 12:40-41)
This number always bothered me because I knew that Israel could not have been under Pharaoh’s rule for 430 years; the numbers just do not work. When Jacob came with his family to Egypt, Levi and his sons, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, were already born and his daughter (their sister, Yochebed) was in uterus. She was counted among the 70 souls, but only 69 were enumerated in the role in Genesis 46.
Moses’ father was Amram, the son of Kohath, and his mother was Yochebed the daughter of Levi. So unless Yochebed had Moses at 350, something is wrong with this picture and I had to solve this mystery.
So how long were we in Egypt? Where does the count for the 430 years,
to the very same day, begin? How does the prophecy, which Abram received in his dream in Genesis 15, concerning the 400 years of Abram’s seed dwelling in “Egypt,” fit into this story? And how does a man become a spiritually born seed of Abram, a.k.a. “Israel’s seed”?
When I read Yasher for the first time (in 2008 or so) some of these answers started to emerge, but it was not until I was preparing this lesson for my Sabbath class this week that all the pieces fell together. Here is what I found then.
Jasher 81:4 And at the end of two hundred and ten years, Yehovah brought forth Israel’s seed from Egypt with a strong hand.
5 And Israel’s seed traveled from Egypt and from Goshen and from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth on the fifteenth day of the first month.
This is the day that we began by eating our Passover lambs and goats; it is the 1st day of the feast of Unleavened Bread. And because I know that Yehovah does not change and His word endures forever I had to find out what happened 430 years ago on that very same day.
Armed with this new number (210 years we were in “Egypt”) I began to work backwards. The 210 years had to start with Jacob arriving in Egypt. So how old was Jacob when he arrived?
Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” (Gen 47:8-9)
Now, that was progress; 210 + 130 = 340 years; so I kept looking.
Next, in my quest to understand the 430 years, I asked, “How old was Isaac when Jacob was born? And I found that also.
Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. (Gen 25:26)
I see it now, but I did not see it then. Probably because I was looking for 430 years to that very same day and not 400 years to that very same day; 340 + 60 = 400! But my quest to understand the 430 continued with a partial answer right before my eyes. 430 years minus 400 years left a deficit of 30 years. Abram was 100 when Isaac (as we now know is the spiritually born seed) was born on the moed called “the time of Life.” But in Genesis, the 1st time Yehovah makes his promise to Abram concerning the seed he is 75 years old. Augh! that left me a 5 year shortage; instead of 430 years I could only come up with 425 years. I shared my research with some friends but they also had no answers.
Finally the day came (about 5 years ago) that I discovered the missing 5 years. I was again reading Yasher (for about the 4th time) and this verse literally jumped out at me.
Jasher 13:17 And it was in the fifteenth year of Abram’s dwelling in the land of Canaan, which is the seventieth year of the life of Abram, and Yehovah appeared to Abram in that year and he said to him, I am Yehovah who brought thee out from Ur Casdim to give thee this land for an inheritance. 18 Now therefore walk before me and be perfect and keep my commands, for to thee and to thy seed I will give this land for an inheritance, from the river Mitzraim unto the great river Euphrates. 19 And thou shalt come to thy fathers in peace and in good age, and the fourth generation [this is referring to Moses, the only other man in Torah to call Yehovah “adoni” / “my master”] shall return here in this land and shall inherit it forever; and Abram built an altar, and he called upon the name of Yehovah who appeared to him, and he brought up sacrifices upon the altar to Yehovah.
From the time Abram was 55, he had dwelt in Canaan for 15 year and in Haran for 5, before he left for Canaan, for the 2nd time, at 75 as recorded in Genesis 12. Yehovah first spoke to Abram about his seed, the spiritually born men, inheriting their land when Abram was 70 (at the end of his 1st sojourn in Canaan); and this solved the riddle for me concerning the 430 years to that very same day. What is it that Yehovah is teaching us about that very same and special day?
What day (that very same day) was it that Yehovah spoke to Abram? I have found that Yehovah speaks to His men primarily on His moeds; Sabbaths, new moons and feast days. That day, that very same day, was what we now call the Passover; but back then it was called “the time of life.”That very same day that Abram’s spiritually born seed, Isaac, was birthed; and the very same day that Israel’s seed, Yehovah’s spiritually born men, were birthed as well. Here is my out-line for both the 430 and the 400 year prophecies which Yehovah gave to Abram when he was 70 and when he was 78, respectively. So much to learn, so little time.
Abram’s Spiritually Born Seed
0 Yehovah‘s promise to Abram
Jasher 13:17 And it was in the fifteenth year of Abram’s dwelling in the land of Canaan, which is the seventieth year of the life of Abram, and Yehovah appeared to Abram in that year and he said to him, I am Yehovah who brought thee out from Ur Casdim to give thee this land for an inheritance. 18 Now therefore walk before me and be perfect and keep my commands, for to thee and to thy seed I will give this land for an inheritance, from the river Mitzraim unto the great river Euphrates.
+5 years later Abram (75) departs from Haran
So Abram departed as Yehovah had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. (Gen 12:4)
+ 25 years after Abram leave Haran Isaac is born
Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. (Gen 21:5)
+ 60 years is Isaac’ age when Jacob is born
Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. (Gen 25:26)
+130 years is Jacob speaks to Pharaoh when he arrives in Egypt with his family
Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” (Gen 47:8-9)
+210 Years in which we actually did live in Egypt
Jasher 81:4 And at the end of two hundred and ten years, Yehovah brought forth the sons of Israel from Egypt with a strong hand. 5 And the sons of Israel traveled from Egypt and from Goshen and from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth on the fifteenth day of the first month.
___ 430 Years Total
This means that Abram received this prophecy, when he was 70 years old, on the 15th day of the first month!
Oh my, the ramifications of this new knowledge is mind-boggling for folks who will leave their doctrines and traditions of men behind and begin to learn only Yehovah’s words given through Moses.
WE are so blessed to have Yehovah’s word, in some ways more than Abram. He could not see what we can now see clearly if we will take the time and do the work to understand the message line upon line.
“Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” (Isa 28:9-10)
Abram was in spiritual Egypt his whole life.
Ishmael can not be the promised seed.
Isaac and Israel’s seed were both born on the same day.
The “smoking stove” and the “flaming torch” that passed through the pieces in Abram’s dream was the “pillar of smoke and fire” which appeared with Moses and led us out of our Egypt and into Yehovah’s kingdom and toward our land.
All this is going to happen again!
Please consider joining my Sabbath classes each week; but be warned, these classes are NOT for those who love the doctrines and traditions of men that we have all learned. This is strong meat, for those who have eyes that see and a heart that desires to understand more.
Here is what we went through in this week.
Abram’s Spiritually Born Seed
2G19 Genesis 14:19 – 15 – Abram’s Spiritually Born Seed
[Click here to download this audio mp3]
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
Please Contact Michael to help support his work in building Yehovah’s kingdom on the earth.
Providence Ministries is NOT incorporated with any kingdom of this world. Providence Ministries is an affiliate of the Director of Ecclesiastical Enterprises, a Washington State acknowledged corporation sole of the ecclesia on file with the Secretary of the State. This charitable ministry is not for profit and maintains its nontaxable status consistent with 26 USC 508(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to 501 (c)(3) organizations special rules as a “mandatory exception”.
In your mind’s eye, how old was Isaac when Yehovah told Abraham to bring him to Mount Moriah, kill him and make him a burnt offering (an olah)? In the olah offering it is the smoke that comes from the altar which is the sweet aroma to Yehovah. Most people see a boy being led by his father up the hill.
But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt [olah]offering?” And Abraham said, “My son, Elohim (his lawmaker and judge) will provide for Himself the lamb for a olah.” So the two of them went together. (Gen 22:7-8)
In our last meeting (Abraham walked with Yehovah) we saw that Isaac was 37 and his brother (Ishmael) was 51 (when Yehovah, after talking with Satan, decided to test Abraham; that would make Abraham 137 and and Sarah (Isaac’s mother) 127. Is it a coincidence that Sarah died that same year that Isaac was taken by Abraham from Beersheva up to mount Moriah? The book of Yasher provides much background information that brings new life to this story.
Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. (Gen 23:1)
Abraham is now 99 years old. The messengers of Yehovah came to him on the moed (the Time of Life / the Passover) to tell him that Sarah is going to bear a son at the Time of Life the following year. Abraham has been told by Yehovah several times that he is going to be the father of many nations. Twelve months and counting until the spiritual son (who is a shadow picture of all Yehovah’s spiritual sons, His ezrach who are born a second time at the Passover each year) is born.
But Abraham has this spring gone to Gerar, to the kingdom of the Philistines and their king, Abimelech. When he gets there he begins to fear for his life and commands Sarah to say that she is his sister, instead of his wife. She really is his niece, the daughter of Haran who is Abraham’s brother. Yes – he lied!
THIS, is the climax of the story, the time that Sarah must be impregnated by Abraham to bear the spiritual son and she has just been given to Abimelech as HIS wife. Augh!
What Yehovah does to deliver Sarah and restore her to Abraham is an amazing story, especially in Yasher; and in Genesis 20 the discerning eye will see that much is missed in the English translations of the Hebrew scriptures.
What Yehovah says, Yehovah does! And in the 4th month Yehovah visited Sarah and she bore the spiritual son, Isaac, at the set time, the moed, as Elohim (Abraham’s lawmaker and judge) had spoken.
And Yehovah visited Sarah as He had said, and Yehovah did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which Elohim had spoken to him. (Gen 21:1-2)
Yasher 21:1 And in the fourth month of Abraham’s dwelling in the land of the Philistines in Gerar, that Elohim visited Sarah, and Yehovah remembered her, and she conceived and bare a son to Abraham.
Genesis 21 tells the story of the great feast which Abraham gave when Isaac was weaned but we have no clue in Torah as to how great a feast this was. Yasher fills in these details marvelously!
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
Please Contact Michael to help support his work in building Yehovah’s kingdom on the earth.
Providence Ministries is NOT incorporated with any kingdom of this world. Providence Ministries is an affiliate of the Director of Ecclesiastical Enterprises, a Washington State acknowledged corporation sole of the ecclesia on file with the Secretary of the State. This charitable ministry is not for profit and maintains its nontaxable status consistent with 26 USC 508(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code with respect to 501 (c)(3) organizations special rules as a “mandatory exception.â€
The story about the 3 messengers of Yehovah who came to Abraham in the appointed time, the moed which is called the “Time of Life” in Genesis 19 and Yasher 18 is in both cases followed immediately by the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Is this just a coincidence or is Yehovah trying to tie these two events together? The Time of Life is what Passover was called before it was called Passover; this is what I discussed in our last lesson. The spiritual son (Isaac) was born in the Time of Life.
Sodom and Gomorrah Will Be Judged
Genesis 19 tells the story of the two messengers going down into the city of Sodom with a plan to stay in the town square, but Lot would not let them. He brought them into his house and served them unleavened bread. It appears to me that this is Passover, the Time of Life: and this night seems to have fallen on a spring equinox as well.
And he [Lot] said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.†And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.†But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. [Why? The righteous are indoors on the night of the Passover!] Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. (Gen 19:2-3)
