by Hal Lindsey
Apparently Esau conveniently forgot about this transaction, because when it came time for Isaac to confer the rights and covenants of the firstborn, Esau expected them to be his.
But Rebekah, knowing about Esau’s sale of his birthright to Jacob, helped Jacob plot a little conspiracy to make sure that he got what Esau had sold him. Near the time of his death, Isaac had gone blind. So Rebekah put Esau’s clothes on Jacob to make him smell like Esau. She also tied goat hide on the back of his hands around his neck so that he would feel hairy like Esau. Then she made Isaac’s favorite savory stew and had Jacob take it in to Isaac.
When Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes on Jacob, hugged his hairy neck and held his hands, the father was convinced that Jacob was Esau. So Isaac swore this oath to Jacob:
See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed; Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine; May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.37
Even though Isaac and Esau discovered that same day that Jacob had tricked them, the oath was still binding. All the rights of the firstborn had been irrevocably conferred upon Jacob by Isaac’s oath to God. An oath made to God is binding, even though we might not think so.
Esau became enraged. So Rebekah thought up another scheme to get Jacob out of harm’s way. She went to Isaac and told him that her whole life would be ruined if Jacob married one of the local women who were idol worshippers. So Isaac called Jacob in and commanded him,
You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be an assembly of peoples; And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and to your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land in which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham. So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.38
Jacob worked for his uncle Laban for twenty years. During this time, he married Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel, along with their maids. God blessed everything Jacob did, despite his uncle’s constant efforts to cheat him. As a result, he acquired great wealth.
HOW ISRAEL GOT ITS NAME
Laban’s sons became jealous of Jacob because of God’s blessings to him. So they turned their father’s attitude against Jacob. But Jacob still feared his brother Esau and hesitated to return to Canaan. But the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”39
Something mysterious happened to Jacob along the way. He sent his family by two companies ahead of him and spent the night alone. Then a man appeared to him and wrestled with him all night. When the man did not prevail against Jacob, he dislocated his leg at the hip. Then the man said to Jacob, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But Jacob said to him, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
Then the man said to Jacob, “What is your name?” And he replied, “Jacob,” which means, “cheater.” At this point, an amazing thing is revealed. The man said to him, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel [Israel means ‘Prince with God’] because you have struggled with God [“Elohim”] and with men and have overcome.” Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But the man replied, “Why do you ask my name?” and then he blessed Jacob. So Jacob called the place Peniel [Peniel means “face of God”], saying, “I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”40
There are enormous theological implications to this account. But simply put, the Second Person of the Godhead assumed the form of a man and condescended to wrestle with Jacob. Whenever God expresses Himself visibly or audibly, it is through the Second Person. This is the same one who later permanently joined Himself to a true human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah.
When this incident was over, Jacob was caused to realize he had seen God face to face. He was awestruck that God had graciously condescended to be intimately close to him and had not killed him.
From this time onward, Jacob’s redeemed name was “Israel.” After this, God calls him Jacob when He desires to emphasize his fleshly condition. He calls him Israel to emphasize his spiritual position. The same idea is expressed when God refers to the nation as either “the children of Jacob” or “the children of Israel.”
The LORD reconfirms this new name when Jacob reached Bethel in Canaan. This is the place where God appeared to him long before Jacob first fled from Esau. Jacob built an altar there. As the following passage indicates, it is at this time that the LORD gave Jacob one of His most important revelations:
Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padan Aram, and He blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob [cheater]; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But Israel shall be your name.” Thus He called him Israel.
God also said to him, “I am God Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, And kings shall come forth from you. “And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will give the land to your descendants after you.”41
From that time onward, Israel became the name of the chosen people of God. The name Israel appears in 1,695 verses of the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments. This is very important because in their zeal to replace Israel, the Muslim’s most serious charge against the Jews is that they corrupted the revelation God gave them.
Divine providence again works mightily concerning this name nearly four thousand years later. On the evening of May 14, 1948, David Ben Gurion and the original founders of the modern Jewish state still could not decide what they should call it. It was at the last moment that Ben Gurion said its name shall be Israel. Thus unwittingly, prophecies concerning the nation in the later days were fulfilled—even to its name.
BIRTH OF THE TRIBAL STATES OF ISRAEL
A very essential part of this history is that Jacob had twelve sons to whom the covenants were confirmed. These sons were born to him through his wives Leah and Rachel, and their two maids, Bilhah and Zilpah. As previously mentioned, the custom of the culture of that day was that if a man’s wife was either barren or became barren; she could produce legal heirs by using her maid as a surrogate mother. In this case, Jacob married them all.
It is interesting to note that when Abraham followed this custom, it was not acceptable to God. But in Jacob’s case, God did accept it. Why? This can only be understood in the light of God’s purpose and sovereign grace. It is clear that in Abraham’s case, the motive for using the maid to produce an heir was unbelief in God’s promise.
Leah gave birth to Reuben, the first-born; then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah.
Rachel’s maid, Bilhah, gave birth to Dan and Naphtali.
Leah’s maid, Zilpah, gave birth to Gad and Asher.
Rachel, who had been barren, finally gave birth to Joseph and the youngest son, Benjamin.
Altogether, Jacob had twelve sons who were accepted by God as the foundation of the tribal states of His chosen nation, which He would name Israel.
There was just one more addition to these tribal states. By an act of divine providence, the two sons of Joseph who were born while he was in Egypt were given an inheritance and land among this original number. Their names are Ephraim and Manasseh. And because Levi committed a particularly heinous sin in God’s eyes, his tribe was not given any land. But God graciously turned this curse into blessing when He made the Levites the priests of Israel. As it is written, “Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him.”42
PROVIDENCE SAVES THE NATION
Joseph soon became the favorite son of his father, Jacob. As a result, Joseph’s brothers became very jealous. So when all the brothers were out hunting and came across a caravan, they sold Joseph to Egyptians as a slave. Then they told their father that Joseph became lost and was killed by a wild animal. This was a terrible, calloused sin the brothers committed. But what they meant for evil, God turned into good. By the amazing work of the LORD’s providence, Joseph rose from being a slave to become second in power to the mighty pharaoh of Egypt—just in time to save all of Joseph’s family from famine.
After Joseph became vice-regent of Egypt, a famine gripped the entire region of the Mediterranean Sea. God warned Joseph that this was coming, so the vice-regent prepared Egypt ahead of time for the coming calamity. When the famine hit, Jacob and his family were about to starve, so he sent ten of his sons to Egypt to buy grain, keeping only Benjamin, the youngest at home with him.
By God’s providence, these brothers had to bargain for their lives with the very one they had maliciously sold into slavery. They did not recognize Joseph at first, but he knew them immediately. As I said, he was now the mighty lord and co-regent of Egypt. When Joseph finally revealed to them who he was, they were utterly terrified. They thought they were dead men.
But Joseph was inspired by God’s Spirit and was full of grace toward his brothers. He viewed the whole episode from the divine viewpoint. He graciously forgave them and said:
I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.
Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, “Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.
“And you shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, lest you and your household and all that you have be impoverished.”43
When the sons returned with a new invention of Egypt called “wagons,” and lavish provisions of food, Jacob could hardly believe it. And then when he was told that Joseph was alive and now the lord of Egypt, he was overwhelmed. When Jacob finally believed their report, God appeared to him and explained His purpose in it all:
And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up (to the Promised Land) again; and Joseph will close your eyes.”44
This began the fulfillment of the prophecy to Abraham, which I mentioned earlier, concerning the period of four hundred years in which his descendents would grow into a nation in a land that was not their own.45 And even though they would later be made slaves, God promised He would judge that nation and cause Israel to come out with great wealth.
As for Joseph, he later made a statement that perfectly illustrates the power of a promise made in the New Testament, where we read in Romans 8: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”46 Assessing his whole experience from the divine viewpoint, Joseph told his brothers, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place? And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.’”47
You see, all things are not good. But when we trust the LORD with our problems, He works even the bad things together for good, and in the process gives us peace of mind and rest in the midst of trouble. This is the secret to a long life.
JOSEPH’S EXPERIENCES PREVIEW THE MESSIAH’S
For centuries, both Jews and Christians have recognized the parallel between Joseph’s experiences and those of the Messiah.
Of course the Israelites have not fully recognized the identity of the one this symbolizes, but some rabbis who lived before Jesus was born did theorize that their must be two Messiahs that are to come. They recognized that there are two different portraits of the Messiah painted in Bible prophecy. One is a conquering king who will come in great power and glory to deliver Israel from a great holocaust and set them up in the kingdom promised to their fathers. This Messiah they called the Son of David.
The other portrait predicts the Messiah will come as a lowly servant who will suffer for the transgressions of His people. This Messiah they call the Son ofJoseph because of the obvious parallels.
What is not yet recognized by Israel is that there is only one Messiah who comes at two different times. The first time He comes as the suffering servant. The second time as the conquering king of David’s seed.
Just look at the parallels between Joseph and Jesus:
Joseph was rejected by his brothers and sent to die at the hands of the Gentiles.
Jesus was also rejected and turned over to the Gentiles for crucifixion.
Joseph was received and given great honor and glory among the Gentiles.
Jesus also has been received and honored among the Gentiles.
While among the Gentiles, Joseph had children who were later included in the covenant blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph.
Jesus has also been given children among the Gentiles who have been adopted into the covenants of Israel.
When great calamity came upon the world, the only salvation for Joseph’s brothers was through the very one they had rejected. He who was thought to be dead “came back to life” and saved them.
In the same way, Bible prophecy predicts that a tribulation will sweep the whole world and only Jesus will save Israel when they turn to Him. As it is predicted, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”48
When Joseph’s brothers came seeking help and later acknowledged their sin, Joseph forgave and saved them and settled them in his kingdom.
When Jesus’ brothers, the Israelites, acknowledge their sin and seek Him in the last days, He is going to save them and settle them in the kingdom He promised them.
GENESIS FINALIZES WHO GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE ARE
The Book of Genesis gives the complete record as to just who God’s chosen people are through Abraham. Now stop and think about this for a moment. The Bible teaches as much by the amount of space given to a subject as it does by what it says.
God took only eleven chapters to record the account of mankind from his creation until the call of Abraham. This covers perhaps thousands of years. But God took from chapter twelve to chapter fifty—a period of about three hundred years—to cover the creation and establishment of His chosen people. To those who believe the Bible, this should speak volumes about the importance God places upon these people.
Genesis ends with a careful accounting of the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jacob’s sons, and all their families as they go into Egypt.
The many genealogies that the Bible records usually bore most readers. There are many genealogies. Almost all of these genealogies are records of the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The important question is, why are there so many? Why such a careful record of these people—particularly if they are ultimately to be rejected and abandoned, as a Christian
sect known as Preterists teach today.
More importantly on this issue, Muslims believe that the Israelites never were God’s chosen people. They believe Allah sent the Prophet Mohammad to correct this falsification created by Jews and Christians. Muslims say Ishmael and his Arab descendants were cheated out of their proper inheritance, since he was Abraham’s firstborn son. As we will see, the Koran teaches that “the people of the Book”49 falsified the original revelation and made themselves the heirs of God’s covenants.
THE BIBLICAL RECORD
The verse I quoted from Exodus 3 at the beginning of this chapter sets the record straight. God spoke to Moses from out of the burning bush when calling him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt:
Say to the Israelites, “The LORD, the God of your fathers— the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God ofJacob— has sent me to you.”
This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.50
This name is confirmed throughout the rest of the Bible. But most importantly, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself confirms it:
But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, “I AM the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?”
He is not the God of the dead but of the living.51 (emphasis added)
When Jesus corrected the Jewish Sadducee sect’s denial of the resurrection, He quoted God’s statement to Moses. Notice, He emphasizes that the written account is what God said to them. His whole argument to prove the resurrection is based on the Hebrew verbal construction for “continuous being.” This emphasizes that God continuously is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore, they must be living, since God doesn’t have a living relationship with the dead. There is also inherent in this statement that God will always be in a covenant relationship with them and their descendants.
