Genesis 23:1-25:18
1 Kings 1:1-31
Introduction
As Isaac walks in the field toward evening, he looks up and sees camels approaching. Rebecca asks of Eliezer who he is; he tells her it is Isaac, the son of his master Abraham. Some time after they are married Abraham’s noble life comes to an end at the age of one hundred and seventy- five years. Old and contented, he is gathered to his kin, and buried near his wife Sarah in the cave of Machpelah.
Genesis 24:62-67 62 Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. 64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel 65 and said to the servant, "Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took her veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. (ESV)
In many ways this passage brings to mind the fact that the Jewish people have been blinded to the truth of Messiah. Isaac is a type of Messiah particularly linked, as he is, to his father Abraham and the Akeidah, or Binding where the Holy One told Abraham to take his only son Isaac to a place to be sacrificed. In this passage Rebecca is on her way to become Isaac’s wife without ever having seen him, or Isaac her. As she and Abraham’s servant are coming closer, she sees Isaac in the distance and asks who he is. The servant tells her it is his master. She immediately veils herself in much the same way Yeshua is veiled from the Jewish people until the right time.
John 12:37 But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?" 39 For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM." (NAU)
2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Messiah is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. (ESV)
The Jewish people have been blinded to the truth of Yeshua as shown to them in the Tanach, or Hebrew Scriptures. Even as this is true, a much more important reality is the veil being slowly lifted, with more of Judah beginning to see the Messiah Yeshua. The flip side of the coin is to be found in the Church. They know Yeshua, but not Torah. Torah and Messiah are one and the same, because Yeshua is the Living Word of the Father, revealed in the flesh. He was spoken forth in the beginning of Genesis, and everything was created through Him. It is a truth stunning in its simplicity, yet so difficult for so many to grasp! The enemy would have both sides remain in ignorance and glimpse only the surface of what the Messiah means to mankind. Rebecca veiled herself as she approached her soon-to-be husband, Isaac because of the custom of the day. Yeshua remains veiled to so many in different ways. We must remove the veil in order to see the truth revealed, but we are also told we must trust through faith and not by what we see.
Yeshua remains hidden today, waiting at the right hand of the Father until His Father tells Him the time is at hand. Then He can return for His bride and to establish His kingdom here on earth.
Psalm 33:20 Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. (NKJ)
Hebrews 2:12 saying, "I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE." 13 And again, "I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM." And again, "BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME." (NAU)
Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9 And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." (ESV)
All of Scripture leads up to the wedding of the Lamb and His bride, but it does not reach its culmination there, as we know from prophecy shared in the Bible. Yet it is a time we should look forward to, as Believers in the Messiah Yeshua, because it is another paving stone in the road leading up to the return of the Messiah, the Messianic Age and the final judgment of Satan and those who serve him. As if for good measure the Lord has thrown in death and sin and cast them into the Lake of Fire. Then eternity begins and it is time beyond time, where we will live forever with the Father and the Son. To some this all sounds like a pipe-dream and story time, but to those of us who know Yeshua, we know this to be truth and a promise the Holy One of Israel has made to His people from the beginning. How do we know this? Because we are told Yeshua was crucified before the foundation of the world! How marvelous is it to know that before we were created the Holy One put His plan into motion for us?
Revelation 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (NKJ)
What greater love is this than to have the Son of God lay down His life for us when He did not have to? He could have refused His Father’s request, but He did not, because it was through the Living Torah we were created, and we were to be His from before the beginning. God wanted us to be in a relationship with Him. It was through Israel He shared His plan, and later through Judah, who shared it with the world. Yeshua would come through Judah, of the line of David, revealed in the writings of Moses, the Prophets, and the Book of Writings, all of which make up the Tanach. As we move to the Apostolic Scriptures (New Testament) we see a continuation of these promises and prophecies revealed even more clearly through the writings of these Jewish Believers. It would only be later, centuries later, that Gentiles, or non-Jews would become the predominant part of the assembly of Believers in Yeshua. He would become Jesus, with every ounce of His Jewishness stripped away. A new, deceptive reality would take the place of the old. It would not be a good reality, but one that would bring confusion. Instead of breaking it down, it would raise the middle wall of partition even higher. Jew and non-Jew would stake their claim on either side of the wall. They would be happy with the arrangement, as would the enemy. As that middle wall is being torn down the enemy is beginning to turn up the heat in an attempt to derail the plan of the Father. But try as he may, it will fail because the created cannot overturn the plan of the Creator. Satan was not the Creator, but he was one of the created by the word of the Lord.
He would love it if we all would remain in darkness, never understanding the story of Rebecca and Isaac and all of prophecy. But the great thing about prophecy is it is not prophecy to the Almighty, but truth that has already come to pass in His domain – eternity.
1 Kings 1:22-30 22 While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. 23 And they told the king, "Here is Nathan the prophet." And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king, with his face to the ground. 24 And Nathan said, "My lord the king, have you said, 'Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne'? 25 For he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, 'Long live King Adonijah!' 26 But me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he has not invited. 27 Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king and you have not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?" 28 Then King David answered, "Call Bathsheba to me." So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king. 29 And the king swore, saying, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, 30 as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, 'Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,' even so will I do this day." (ESV)
Absalom, Adonijah and Solomon were sons of King David by three different wives. Absalom was the son of Maacah, Adonijah's mother was Haggith, and Solomon was the son of Bathsheba. Absalom rebelled against his father and tried to take the throne away from him by force. Instead of waiting for his father to die, he went out and declared himself king over Israel, going so far as getting a priest and a general to support him. In the end he died, but later it seemed his brother, Adonijah tried to do the same thing. After the death of Absalom, Adonijah was the next eldest, and he also allowed himself to be misled. Even though it was Solomon whom God had chosen to be David'’s successor to the throne of Israel, Adonijah attempted to block Solomon from ever sitting on the throne, and even wanted Solomon dead. We are told David never corrected Adonijah and perhaps it was because David did not exercise parental correction over his children that he created this problem. As one who loved the Torah, why did he fail to follow the Torah when it came to his children? We do not do our children any good when we allow them to do as they please. It is wrong when we fail to discipline them, even though the world tells us we are wrong to do so. This does not mean we are entitled to physically or mentally abuse our children, but that we are to apply God’s standards, which of course are not the world's.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (ESV)
I am sure many of us wish we had followed the wisdom found in this verse from the book of Proverbs. If man had followed God’s word from the beginning, perhaps things would not have followed the course they did. Then again, that is pure speculation on my part, because if that were true things would have turned out a lot differently. God knew the heart of man and He planned accordingly. Adonijah thought he had outsmarted his father and his brother in the same way Absalom thought he had beaten his father, to the point where he tried to kill him. Even so, when Absalom died, David mourned him in such a way that one would have believed Absalom was a loving and faithful son.
Now take the picture of Adonijah and place that opposite the picture we have of Yeshua, a Son who does not desire the throne of His Father. In fact, when all is said and done Yeshua will return the throne to His Father.
1 Corinthians 15:23 But each one in his own order: Messiah the firstfruits, afterward those who are Messiah’s at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. (NKJ)
Messiah is the fulfillment of the Festival of First Fruits, or the Wave Offering. It is one of the Spring Festivals which depicts Yeshua coming forth from the grave, resurrected from the dead by the power of His Father. At the end of the Fall Festivals, Yeshua will deliver the kingdom to His Father and take His rightful place at His right hand, the right hand believed to be the closest to the heart. If Yeshua did not love us He could have easily refused to offer Himself up as a sacrifice on our behalf.
Matthew 26:39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." (ESV)
Yeshua understood what He was about to go through, and even though He knew what His Father had promised, in His humanity there was a moment of hesitation. Who, in his right mind, would willingly submit to what Yeshua was about to go through? How many of us could do what He did? It wasn’t just the torture and the manner of death, but the realization He was about to take upon Himself the sins of all mankind, past, present, and future. Can you even begin to imagine what that must have been like, or do you even want to? On a much smaller level think about what David's children had done to him. In David you can catch a small picture of what Yeshua was going to have to endure. The magnitude of Messiah’s suffering was so much greater than that of David, but placing it within the human realm helps us better understand what Yeshua did for us.
Hebrews 2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (ESV)
Because He became like us He is able to show us the way. The Creator became the created and shows us we can overcome who we are. The promise is there, the promise given by the Holy One of Israel to all of us who will become a part of Israel through our faith in Yeshua and obedience to Torah. Torah teaches us about the nature of God, because the Torah is Yeshua. Who better to teach us about God than the Son of God – the Word made flesh? The Torah is a journey, a journey with Yeshua; all we have to do is keep our hearts open to seeing the truth and embracing it. This journey will take us to the end of all things and back to the beginning – the way it was meant to be.
Torah Man Says: “Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.”
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