The search engines tell me that if I had called this blog “Jacob stole the blessing” instead of “Jacob received the blessing” I would receive more hits, but only at the expense of the truth.
[Note: Jacob and Esau are 63 years old when Isaac, at 123 years of age, blesses Jacob. Isaac lived 180 years.]
Genesis 27 is the story of the Isaac’s spiritual blessing. Did you hear that? Issac’s blessing is spiritual and it had to go to the spiritual man, Jacob; it would have been an abomination to have Esau who Yasher calls “a designing and deceitful man, one who hunted after the hearts of men and inveigled them” had received this spiritual blessing. Augh, may it never be!
Genesis 27 begins this way.
Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, … (Gen 27:1)
I think it was more than Isaac’s eyes that were dim, it appears that Isaac may have become dim spiritually also; he wanted to give his spiritual blessing to the son who lived in the flesh. Was he blind as to what was going on in his own household? Consider these facts.
Rebekah received a prophecy from Shem, Eber and Abraham saying.” The greater shall serve the younger”
And Yehovah said to her: “Two peoples are in your womb, two nations shall be separated from your body; and a nation from a nation shall be stronger, and elder shall serve younger.” (Gen 25:23)
Yasher 26:10 And she said unto them, Why am I alone in this amongst all the women that were upon earth? And she went to the land of Moriah to seek Yehovah on account of this; and she went to Shem and Eber his son to make inquiries of them in this matter, and that they should seek Yehovah in this thing respecting her.
11 And she also asked Abraham to seek and inquire of Yehovah about all that had befallen her.
12 And they all inquired of Yehovah concerning this matter, and they brought her word from Yehovah and told her, “Two sons are in thy womb, and two nations shall rise from them; and one nation shall be stronger than the other, and the greater shall serve the younger.”
Esau was a man of the flesh, a man who was completely disinterested in spiritual matters like knowing Yehovah and His ways.
Yasher 28:18 At that time Isaac sent his younger son Jacob to the house of Shem and Eber, and he learned the instructions of Yehovah, and Jacob remained in the house of Shem and Eber for thirty-two years, and Esau his brother did not go, for he was not willing to go, and he remained in his father’s house in the land of Canaan.
Esau was a “designing and deceitful man” who “hunted” the hearts of men.
Yasher 26:17 And the boys grew up to their fifteenth year, and they came amongst the society of men. Esau was a designing and deceitful man, and an expert hunter in the field, and Jacob was a man perfect and wise, dwelling in tents, feeding flocks and learning the instructions of Yehovah and the commands of his father and mother.
Yasher 28:19 And Esau was continually hunting in the fields to bring home what he could get, so did Esau all the days.
20 And Esau was a designing and deceitful man, one who hunted after the hearts of men and inveigled them, …
Esau sold his birthright, which was an extra 1/3 of the wealth of his family, for one meal after he killed Nimrod.
If Esau despised his fleshly birthright, why on earth would Isaac give him the spiritual blessing? Jacob was the spiritual man who dwelt in heaven and always sought to know Yehovah and His ways.
The “blessing” is “Yehovah’s blessing” on those who will lead His people, and it did not always go to the eldest son.
Shem was Noah’s middle son and it is clear that Noah put Yehovah’s spiritual blessing on him; not Japheth (the elder) and certainly not on Ham!
And sons were born also to Shem, the father of all the sons of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. (Gen 10:21)
Jacob Received The Blessing
Jacob received the blessing; he had to! If Esau had received this blessing, Yehovah’s word would not have come to pass. The older HAD to serve the younger. What Yehovah says, MUST be done!
When I listen to these recorded teachings, even I am amazed by what I saw and how I presented it. You need to hear what I have to say; these videos will bless your life. Please listen to it now or download it to your mp3 player and listen to it as you go through your day. You will be glad you did.
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Journey Through Torah page.
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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.”
“Yehovah will see” is the synopsis of the entire story of Genesis 22; Isaac being taken by Abraham in order to make him an olah or “burnt offering,” a sweet aroma to Yehovah. Abraham is being tested. Will his love for Isaac supersede his love for THE Elohim and creator of all things? Yehovah will see!
Yehovah Will See!
I always saw Isaac in my mind as a young child who was ignorant as to the plans that Yehovah and his father had for him.
The book of Yasher, once again, corrects some of the false images that we have been taught concerning this story.
Yehovah Will See Isaac
Listen to a short conversation between Ishmael (51) and Isaac (37) in Yasher 22.
Yasher 22:41 And when Isaac was thirty-seven years old, Ishmael his brother was going about with him in the tent. 42 And Ishmael boasted of himself to Isaac, saying, I was thirteen years old when Yehovah spoke to my father to circumcise us, and I did according to the word of Yehovah which he spoke to my father, and I gave my soul unto Yehovah , and I did not transgress his word which he commanded my father. 43 And Isaac answered Ishmael, saying, Why dost thou boast to me about this, about a little bit of thy flesh which thou didst take from thy body, concerning which Yehovah commanded thee? 44 As Yehovah lives, the Elohim of my father Abraham, if Yehovah should say unto my father, Take now thy son Isaac and bring him up as an offering before me, I would not refrain but I would joyfully accede to it. 45 And Yehovah heard the word that Isaac spoke to Ishmael, and it seemed good in the sight of Yehovah, and he thought to try Abraham in this matter.
Yehovah Will See Abraham
Yasher chapter 22 ends with a conversation between Yehovah and Satan. Here is the last part of that discussion.
Yasher 22:50 Hast thou [Yehovah] seen Abraham the son of Terah, who at first had no sons, and he served thee and erected altars to thee wherever he came, and he brought up offerings upon them, and he proclaimed thy name continually to all the earth’s seed. 51 And now that his son Isaac is born to him, he has forsaken thee, he has made a great feast for all the inhabitants of the land, and Yehovah he has forgotten. 52 For amidst all that he has done he brought thee no offering; neither olah [“burnt offering”] nor shelamim [“peace offering”], neither ox, lamb nor goat of all that he killed on the day that his son was weaned. 53 Even from the time of his son’s birth till now, being thirty-seven years, he built no altar before thee, nor brought any offering to thee, for he saw that thou didst give what he requested before thee, and he therefore forsook thee. 54 And Yehovah said to Satan, Hast thou thus considered my servant Abraham? For there is none like him upon earth, a complete and an upright man before me, one that fears Elohim and avoids evil. As I live, were I to say unto him, Bring up Isaac thy son before me, he would not withhold him from me, much more if I told him to bring up a olah [burnt offering] before me from his flock or herds. 55 And Satan answered Yehovah and said, Speak now unto Abraham as thou hast said, and Yehovah will see whether he will not this day transgress and cast aside thy words.
Yehovah Will See, And He Did See!
This is a beautiful story and there is so much to understand for those who have eyes that see. Yehovah spoke to Abraham in a vision; He did not even give all of His instructions until Abraham had acted on what he had already been told. Yehovah told Abraham to bring his promised son as a olah in the place that He would show him? Where was that place? Did Isaac understand what was going on? What day was it that Isaac was to die? Who were the men left waiting at the bottom of the hill that Abraham and Isaac ascended? How does what happened in chapter 22 (Isaac – an olah) relate to chapter 23 (Sarah dies in Hebron)? Does this story relate to Passover, the second birth and the “Time of Life? Inquiring minds want to know the answers to these questions and more.
Yehovah Ra’ah – Yehovah Will See!
Yehovah ra’ah is translated in by most as “The LORD will provide” and that translation comforts those who want to continue in the doctrines and traditions of men. BUT, Yehovah ra’ah is really “Yehovah will see.” Yehovah will see you and Yehovah will see me. The question is, “Will Yehovah see us acting according to his created purpose, or not?
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.”
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”.
It was just before the death of Isaac that two mortal enemies came to together to say goodbye to their father; Jacob, the man of the spirit and Esau, a total man of the flesh. All Torah has to say about the death of Isaac are these words.
Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. (Gen 35:28-29)
That is it! And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him. What a rip-off; Torah hardly gives a clue as to the vast differences between these to brothers. The book of Yasher, on the other hand, gives the rest of the story. Listen to the blessings which Isaac speaks to his two very different sons.
Yasher 47:5 And Isaac placed his hands upon all Jacob’s sons, and he took hold of them and embraced them, and kissed them one by one, and Isaac blessed them on that day, and he said unto them, May the Elohim of your fathers bless you and increase your seed like the stars of heaven for number.
6 And Isaac also blessed Esau’s sons, saying, May Elohim cause you to be a dread and a terror to all that will behold you, and to all your enemies.
At The Death Of Isaac
The last words that Isaac spoke were words that he received from Yehovah for Jacob and His sons, not Esau. Continue reading Death Of Isaac→
This is the first time that Torah says “the life of Sarah” and did not say “and she lived so many years, and died.” Sarah was Abraham’s woman for 87 years; and she bore Isaac for him when she was 90 years of age. Sarah was a woman of worth who taught other women to do the same!
Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. (Gen 23:1)
So many folks treat the people in Torah like they are different from us; like the lives they lived have no application for our own. I fear this is a grievous mistake and this portion of scripture (Genesis 23 and 24) really drives that fact home for me. Abraham and his camp did things that every one of us does; birthed children, fought enemies, married, bought land, buried their loved ones and so much more.
That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new?” It has already been in ancient times before us. (Ecc 1:9-10)
Nothing has changed!
Now that Sarah has passed Abraham wants to bury her in a very special place so he buys a field that has a machpelah (or double roomed) cave.
Machpelah means double portion; Abraham seems to have bought a cave with two rooms in it. One part for initial decay and the other part had boxes, or ossuaries, stacked with the bones of their ancestors. Abraham paid a premium price for the land and this special cave. The transfer of this land was completed with 4 witnesses to guarantee that Abraham’s descendants would have it perpetually. Here is the portion from Yasher that describes the “escrow” process that was used in the transfer of this land from Heth’s sons to Abraham and his seed forever.
Yasher 24:6 And Ephron answered and said, Behold the field and the cave are before thee, give whatever thou desires; and Abraham said, Only at full value will I buy it from thy hand, and from the hands of those that go in at the gate of thy city, and from the hand of thy seed for ever.
7 And Ephron and all his brethren heard this, and Abraham weighed to Ephron four hundred shekels of silver in the hands of Ephron and in the hands of all his brethren; and Abraham wrote this transaction, and he wrote it and testified it with four witnesses.
8 And these are the names of the witnesses, Amigal son of Abishna the Hittite, Adichorom son of Ashunach the Hivite, Abdon son of Achiram the Gomerite, Bakdil the son of Abudish the Zidonite.
9 And Abraham took the book of the purchase, and placed it in his treasures, and these are the words that Abraham wrote in the book, namely:
10 That the cave and the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite, and from his seed, and from those that go out of his city, and from their seed for ever, are to be a purchase to Abraham and to his seed and to those that go forth from his loins, for a possession of a burial-place for ever; and he put a signet to it and testified it with witnesses.
11 And the field and the cave that was in it and all that place were made sure unto Abraham and unto his seed after him, from Heth’s sons; behold it is before Mamre in Hebron, which is in the land of Canaan.
Abraham bought the property from the Gentiles (Heth’s sons) using the currency of the land in which he dwelt. He used their sons as witnesses to this transaction so there could be no dispute.
Abraham was loved and greatly respected by his neighbors; even Abimelech and the eldest and most respected leaders of the land came to Sarah’s funeral.
Yasher 24:13 And Abraham buried Sarah with pomp as observed as the interment of kings, and she was buried in very fine and beautiful garments.
14 And at her bier was Shem, his son Eber and Abimelech: together with Anar, Ashcol and Mamre, and all the grandees of the land followed her bier.
A Bride for Isaac
After Sarah died Abraham sent Isaac to live with Shem and Eber for 3 years and then sent Eliezer to Haran to find a bride for Isaac. In this teaching I cover the Genesis record of this event; a very touching story.
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)
[Note: Jacob and Esau are 63 years old when Isaac, at 123 years of age, blesses Jacob. Isaac lived 180 years.]
