Resurrection

This week's sabbath reading portion is titled Va-y'chi, which means "and he lived". The title is interesting because these readings deal with the deaths of two men, Jacob and David. Because we are in the Book of Genesis in the Greek language, which is B'reshiet in Hebrew, or "Beginning" in English, we know that we will find the beginning of something important occurring in this reading portion. In Genesis 47, the time of Jacob's death at the age of 147 was approaching. He made his son, Joseph, take a special oath, the placing of Joseph's hand under Jacob's thigh, promising that Joseph would bring Jacob's body back to Canaan to be buried in the same place as his fathers: Abraham, and Isaac, with Sarah and Rebekah, their wives. Joseph swore that he would do this for his father, Jacob, upon Jacob's death. (Gen. 47:29-31). Why was Jacob so insistent upon being buried in Canaan rather than Egypt? Hundreds of years later, when the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt, they would also carry Joseph's bones with them into Canaan. Both Jacob and Joseph understood that the promised land also held the promise of Messiah, and resurrection from the dead, which we will see later. Before he died, Jacob did two important and eternal things. He blessed Joseph's two sons, with the younger son, Ephraim, getting the right-hand blessing. This blessing was the blessing of pre-eminence that should have gone to the older brother. Jacob also claimed those two grandsons as his: "And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon (two of Jacob's sons), they shall be mine. Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance." (Gen. 48:5-6). Those two grandsons of Jacob were now to have the same inheritance rights as if they were sons of Jacob. Those inheritance rights include the covenant promise of God to Jacob of the land of Canaan: "Then Jacob said to Joseph: 'God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession." (Gen. 48:3-4). This land was called an "everlasting" (olam) possession, given to Jacob and his descendants, which means it is from the ancient, or antiquity to the futurity. It is perpetual from the "hidden time", as a secret concealed. This isn't just an ordinary piece of land. Joseph's two sons', and their descendants' inheritance would no longer be in Egypt, but in Canaan, the promised land, with the rest of Jacob's sons. In an interesting fact, someone who studies the Hebrew scriptures showed me that after Jacob's blessing of Joseph and his two sons in Gen. 48:15-16, the Hebrew letters "aleph-tav" ( את ) became included with them. The Aleph-Tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, is the name of Jesus, as He revealed when He referred to Himself as "The Alpha and The Omega", the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet used in the New Testament (see Rev. 1:8, 1:11, 21:6, 22:13). The descendants of these half-Gentile sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, (their mother was Egyptian) would become two half-tribes within the twelve tribes of Israel. Their identity would no longer be Egyptian, but they were now included in Israel, and the promise and people of Messiah. This is one of the two beginnings that would hold eternal importance. The second is in the prophecies that old Jacob said over each of his sons before he died: "...that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days." (Gen. 49:1). To his son, Judah, he prophesied kingship, and the rulership in the hands of the Messiah: "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp (see also Rev. 5:1, 5); from the prey (terep/tarap - prey, ravening, tear in pieces (see Ps. 22:1, 16, 20-21), my son, you have gone up (ala - offer(ing), raised, arose, rise, ascend, be exalted, to lift oneself, to be high and lifted up (see Isa. 6:1)....the scepter (sebet - rod, symbol of royal authority, shepherd's staff, branch (off), used for punishing) shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (meaning "that which belongs to him", tranquility, safety, prosperity, a name given to the Messiah) comes, and to Him shall be the gathering/obedience (yekaha - obedience, cleansing, purging, blamelessness) of the people. Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey's colt (see also Zech. 9:9, Mt, 21:1-9, Lk. 19:28-38) to the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes (see Rev. 19:13). His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk." (Gen. 49:8-12). Generations later, David, from the tribe of Judah, would become king of Israel, and his descendant, the Messiah or Christ, as promised by God, would reign on his throne forever (see 1 Chron. 17:11-14, 2 Sam. 7:16-18). Jesus was, and still is called by the Messianic name, "Son of David" (see Lk. 18:35-42). If you look up the references that I have provided within Jacob's prophecy regarding Judah, you will see the fulfillment by Jesus in scripture. David, in one of this week's sabbath readings, also referred to Jacob's prophecy before the gathering of the people of Israel: "...the LORD God of Israel chose me above all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for He has chosen Judah to be the ruler. And of the house of Judah, the house of my father, and among the sons of my father, He was pleased with me to make me king over all Israel." (1 Chron. 28:4). David referred to Jacob's prophecy over his son, Judah, as a beginning point in the royal line of Israel, and David himself as king, as well as the eternal throne of David held by the Messiah (in Hebrew), or Christ (in Greek). As he promised, Joseph and family travelled back to Canaan to bury Jacob with Abraham, and centuries later, Joseph's bones were also carried out of Egypt and then buried elsewhere in the land of Canaan at Shechem, in the plot of land that Jacob had purchased hundreds of years before (Josh. 24:32). Later in scripture, Jeremiah would prophesy: "Behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'that I will raise to David a Branch (see "scepter" above) of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Jer. 23:5-6, 33:14-16). Israel was to be the land of promised resurrection, and the visitation of the Messiah (see Lk. 19:41-44), not Egypt. No wonder Jacob, and later Joseph, exacted promises to be returned to Israel after their deaths. In fact, scripture tells us that when Jesus was raised from the dead, many others were also, and were seen in the holy city (see Mt. 27:50-53). Jesus explained the resurrection power that was part of the faith and knowledge of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob this way: "But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'. For He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to Him." (Lk. 20:37-38, Mt. 22:31-32, Mk. 12:26-27). Jacob was considered one of "the living", even though he had physically died and was buried in Canaan long before God spoke to Moses from the burning bush! If you would like to know more about the beginning promise of resurrection, and its fulfillment through Jesus Christ, you can join in my prayer: "Heavenly Father, through the fathers of faith, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, You made beginning promises that carried through the ages, and will carry into "futurity". One of those beginning promises was Messiah the King, and the resurrection from the dead. You have fulfilled Your promise as You sent and gave Your Son as an offering for us, that whoever believed and received Him, to the same You would give everlasting life. Jacob and Joseph believed and received Your promise, and so do I. You are the God of the living. Fill me with the knowledge of Your Son, the Messiah, Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit, so that I can grow in resurrection life. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Tribes

This week's Sabbath reading from Numbers 32 titled Mattot, meaning "Tribes", deals with a strange event. Moses and the children of Israel were encamped on the east side of the Jordan River. Soon, under the leadership of Joshua, they would cross over the Jordan River, and secure their inheritance in the land promised by God which was located west of the River. However, the leaders of the tribes of Reuben and Gad approached Moses and Eleazar the high priest (Aaron had died earlier), and the other leaders of the congregation with a shocking request: "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan." (Num. 32:5). The tribes of Reuben and Gad, who had "a very great multitude of livestock", had seen how excellent the land on the eastern side of the Jordan was for grazing livestock, and wanted to remain there. This was shocking to Moses, who angrily told them that their request to remain behind, east of the Jordan, would discourage the rest of the Israelites from crossing over, just like the bad report of the ten spies had done previously. That previous failure to enter the land had caused the LORD to become angry, and the Israelites had had to wander the wilderness as a result for forty years! (v. 6-13). Moses said to the leaders of the two tribes: "And look! You have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel. For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people." (v. 14-15). These are strong words of condemnation for what Moses saw as an act that would bring destruction to all of the people of God. It might also have been shocking to Moses personally, because God had already told him that he would not enter the promised land himself. He would later beg God to let him go into the land, but be denied: "I pray, let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains and Lebanon." (Deut. 3:25). Moses might have wondered how these two tribes could refuse the land that God had apportioned for them, when Moses loved the promise of it so much, but could never enter it himself. We do not know how the LORD felt about the request of the two tribes to remain on the eastern side of the River, because we have no indication in scripture that Moses consulted the LORD on this issue. We will perhaps have a glimpse of the LORD's thoughts on it because later when six cities of refuge were commanded by God as a haven for those who kill accidently, He assigned three of the cities of refuge to be located on the eastern side of the Jordan, as well as the three cities of refuge that were to be located on the western side of the River. (Josh. 20:1-3, 7-9). Meanwhile back to our story: upon hearing how angry Moses was, the leaders of the two tribes of Reuben and Gad assured him that while they would leave their wives, children, and livestock settled on the eastern side of the Jordan, the men of the tribes would arm themselves and fight with the rest of the Israelites to subdue the promised land on the other side of the River, until Israel was securely inhabiting the land (v. 16-28). Moses agreed that if they kept this commitment to fight with the rest of Israel for the land, they could then return to the eastern side of the Jordan "and be blameless before the LORD and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD." (v. 20-22). The half-tribe of Manasseh, who descended from Joseph, also split at this time, with half of the half-tribe wanting to remain on the eastern side of the Jordan, and half planning to cross over with the other tribes. Moses agreed (v. 33). We would read later that under the leadership of Joshua (Moses had died by that point), the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of the half-tribe of Manasseh did keep their commitment to fight on the western side of the River with Israel, and Joshua therefore released them to return to their homes on the eastern side. (Joshua 22:1-4). However, Joshua gave them this warning before the men returned to the east: "But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan...to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents." (Josh. 22:4-6). It must have been a heartbreaking moment for Israel to watch the men of those tribes who had fought with them, walking eastward, and leaving them. There came another issue concerning the tribes on the eastern side of the Jordan River. A "report" had gotten back to Joshua and the children of Israel that the eastern tribes had built a great, impressive altar on their land, and Israel prepared itself to go to war against those eastern tribes. They sent Phinehas and ten rulers from the western tribes to find out what was happening across the Jordan (Josh. 22:10-14). These leaders spoke sternly to the eastern tribes of Reuben, Gad, and part of Manasseh, calling the building of an altar, other than the altar of the LORD in the tabernacle, treachery and rebellion against the LORD that would cause the anger of the LORD to break out on the whole congregation of Israel (v. 15-19). The three eastern tribes explained that their altar was not in rebellion to God, but that they wanted it to stand as a witness (ed - witness, testimony, evidence, recorder; affirm solemnly, restore, give warning) to future generations that while they were physically separated by the River from the other tribes, they had not separated themselves from the service and worship of the LORD God (v. 21-29). Phinehas and the rulers of the western tribes found this to be acceptable. Where there had previously been a situation of impending war between the western tribes and the eastern tribes, Phinehas now said instead: "This day we perceive that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the LORD. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the LORD." (v. 30-31). Divisions as seen by the eyes of men, are not always seen as such in the eyes of the LORD. He knows who is with Him, and who is against Him. Many centuries later, Jesus had no problem preaching and healing on the eastern side of the Jordan River. The Gospel accounts (Mt. 8:28-34, Mk. 5:1-20, Lk. 8:26-37) tell of a miraculous delivery by Jesus of a maniacal man living among the tombs in Gadarene/Gergesenes who was possessed by many demons. Jesus freed him and restored his right mind. Gadarene/Gergesenes was on the eastern side of the Jordan River, and Jesus is recorded as having "crossed over" to get to that side. We see recorded in the Gospels that Jesus travelled and ministered in the Decapolis (Mk. 5:20, Mt. 4:25), which is a large territory of ten cities. Some of the cities of the Decapolis were on the eastern side of the Jordan River according to maps of the region. The title of this Sabbath's reading is Mattot in Hebrew, meaning "tribes". The singular is matte, meaning "tribe, staff, rod, branch (of a vine), company led by a chief with a staff, branch as extending, rod- whether for chastening, ruling (sceptre), throwing (lance) or walking (as support of life)". The Hebrew word for tribe seems to be more about the rod and staff, and who leads, corrects, guides and supports the walk with that rod and staff, and only then, includes the company that follows after that rod and staff. The believers in Christ follow Him as He leads us with His rod and His staff (Ps. 23, Rev. 2:26-27, Rev. 19:11-16) . According to the Hebrew meaning of the word, we can say that we are of the matte, or tribe of Christ. The believers in Christ unfortunately appear to have many divisions among them of geography, culture, customs, traditions, denominations, even doctrines. Although we may look at each other suspiciously, and sometimes even look to make war with each other, if we are following Christ and His rod and staff, we are united with each other as His tribe. Regardless of those things that divide us, what will continue to unite us is our common faith in the Lord, Who died for our sin, and raised us from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit to the glory of our Father in heaven. Paul described the believers in Christ as individual members, but joined and working together in one Body - the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-20, Eph. 4:15-16). This is our unity, and our common identity in our faith, and in our tribe. If you would like to know more about being part of the tribe of Jesus Christ, you can pray with me: "Lord Jesus, Your rod and staff guide me, correct me, support my walk, and comfort me. They identify me as being part of Your tribe. Your Words of Truth guide Your tribe, and not the words or ideas of men. By the presence of Your Holy Spirit, keep me under Your direction, and lead me into the unity of the faith of the Son of God. I ask this in Jesus' name. AMEN."

Innocents

There is a judgment that follows the shedding of innocent blood. The ground becomes defiled by the curse of the innocent blood. Let us look at the scriptures:
"...keep all these commands and do them...lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you...but you shall put away (to burn, remove, consume, be kindled-as in purge) the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you."  Deut. 19:10, 13
"They gather together against the life of the righteous, and condemn (be guilty, act wickedly, to do wrong) innocent blood."  Ps. 94:21
"They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters..and the land was polluted with blood." Ps. 106:37-38
"Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood...whoever takes that way shall not know peace."   Isa. 59:7, 8 (excerpt)
"Do no wrong and do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place...Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, and practicing oppression and violence."
                                                                                                            Jer. 22:3, 17
"...do not consent if they say, "Come with us, let us lie in wait to shed blood; let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; let us swallow them alive like Sheol..."  Pro. 1:10-12
"These...things the LORD hates...hands that shed innocent blood..."  Pro. 6:16-17

In this nation, and perhaps in your nation as well, there has been a long history of the shedding of innocent blood. Whole peoples were killed because their land was coveted. People were murdered for racial or cultural reasons. We have seen murders of people because of the faith they follow. During this present generation, millions of unborn children have been murdered, principally because of the inconvenience of their birth. Every day, the news is filled with individual and mass killings committed for no rational reason at all. Our land is awash in innocent blood. The land becomes defiled, polluted, cursed as a result.
There was a King of Judah, Manasseh, who flooded Judah and Jerusalem with the blood of children who had been sacrificed to idols and demons at his command. The LORD executed judgment and justice for the innocent killed:
"So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies...because they have done evil in My sight."... Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD...And the LORD sent...them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the prophets...this came upon Judah to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the LORD would not pardon."   2 Kings 21:14-16, 24:2-4
Innocent blood cries to the LORD until the LORD gives justice. We see this from the very first recorded murder, which was the murder of Abel by his brother, Cain:
"Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?...What have you done? The voice (call aloud, bleating, cry, lowing voice, thundering) of your brother's blood cries (call for help, clamor, to be summoned, cry aloud in grief) out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand..."    Gen. 4:9-11
Also, cries from those who have been killed for their faith in Christ sound before God:
"...And they cried with a loud voice saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"   Rev. 6:10
Imagine the cries that continually sound before God from the blood of the millions of innocents killed in our nation during its relatively short history? Like Jerusalem under King Manasseh, our land is filled with shed innocent blood "from one end to another". How long, do we suppose, the LORD can delay the judgment and justice that this blood demands? This has been very much on my mind recently, because I think that the time is drawing very near. The LORD said to Noah:
"Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man."   Gen. 9:5-6
I am praying for God's mercy. I am praying that He can change our hearts. Scripture says, "For with God nothing will be impossible." (Lk. 1:37).
King Manasseh, who was responsible for the murder of many innocents, and had drawn all of Judah into the same evil, was dragged away from his kingdom in Jerusalem to Babylon in nose hooks and chains by the invading Assyrian army. In great affliction, "...he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God." (2 Chron. 33:12-13). Upon his restoration, Manasseh also brought Judah back to the worship of God by command. Although Manasseh was restored and Judah returned to the worship of God, Judah was still later carried away into Babylonian captivity for 70 years. The only thing that would cleanse the land that had been cursed by the shedding of innocent blood was enforced years of Sabbath rest for the land.
The shed blood of the innocents is crying out to God for justice. How then can our land be cleansed from the curse? Scripture says that if the people of God will humble themselves, pray, recognize and turn from the wickedness in our own hearts, and seek God's face of mercy and truth, God promises us that He will hear, forgive, and heal our land (2 Chron. 7:14). Jesus redeemed us from the curse, having been made a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). Can you imagine Him carrying the crushing weight of this terrible curse upon Himself? We who believe must humbly apply this redeeming sacrifice of Christ to ourselves, and to our land.
If we truly understand the seriousness and the urgency of this issue, perhaps we will do it. I very much love the people and land that God has given to us for a nation. Because this has been very much on my mind recently, and in my prayers, I have written about this to you.

Our Father hears the cries of the blood of the innocents.