Leviticus chapter 18 comments: Hebrews warned against sexual improprieties

 

Leviticus 18:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. 3  After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. 4  Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. 5  Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.

 

Here God through Moses makes it clear that the Hebrews are to be different from the people where they came from and from the people where they are going. Not only the wicked religions of the heathen but their personal practices must be avoided. It is safe to say that anything listed as forbidden was something that was not uncommon among the heathen. For instance, eating animals killed by other animals or dying on their own as mentioned in the last chapter for we know of primitive tribes that until recently scavenged on carcasses of animals killed by large predators in Africa.

So, now, God is going to take this down to the level of the lewd behavior of the Egyptians and the residents of their former tributaries in Canaan. The way that God prescribes is the way of life so conversely to show contempt for God’s laws is the way of death.

Leviticus 18:6 ¶  None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD. 7  The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 8  The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness. 9  The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. 10  The nakedness of thy son’s daughter, or of thy daughter’s daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness. 11  The nakedness of thy father’s wife’s daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 12  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s sister: she is thy father’s near kinswoman. 13  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother’s sister: for she is thy mother’s near kinswoman. 14  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father’s brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt. 15  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son’s wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 16  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother’s wife: it is thy brother’s nakedness. 17  Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son’s daughter, or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. 18  Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.

 

Here we have the meaning of uncovering their nakedness in context. Just a reminder, please note;

Genesis 9:22  And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23  And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

 

By contrast and comparison the Holy Spirit has given us another scene to ponder.

 

1Corinthians 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

 

Verse 8 says  The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness.

 

Keep this in mind when interpreting the Bible by cross-referencing assuming the Holy Spirit gave the men who wrote it understanding and wisdom.

The implication here is not just about seeing someone without their clothes. Additionally, the prohibition against incest between a father and a daughter or step-daughter is covered in verse 17. These admonitions were necessary only because they were part and parcel of the land in which the Hebrews were headed much like the under culture in today’s America who regards their spontaneous sexual impulses as more important than God’s commandments. The, “I have a right to be wicked,” crowd could not care one whit about these standards. They are all around you in society and even in your neighborhood and perhaps your family in case you think no one could be so wicked.

Leviticus 18:19 ¶  Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness. 20  Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her. 21  And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. 22  Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. 23  Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. 24  Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: 25  And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants. 26  Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: 27  (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) 28  That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. 29  For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. 30  Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

 

These are pretty straightforward and don’t need a lot of interpretation. Verse 20 gives us some understanding of what uncovering someone’s nakedness means in the context of this entire passage.

Verse 21 refers to the heathen practice of sacrificing babies to the gods. Carthage in North Africa was a colony of Phoenicia. The Roman historian Plutarch wrote about their practices in his On Superstition;

…with full knowledge and understanding they themselves offered up their own children, and those who had no children would buy little ones from poor people and cut their throats as if they were so many lambs or young birds; Meanwhile the mother stood by without a tear or moan; but should she utter a single moan or let fall a single tear, she had to forfeit the money, and her child was sacrificed nevertheless; and the whole area before the statue was filled with a loud noise of flutes and drums took the cries of wailing should not reach the ears of the people.^[1] 

 

Mourning the child was supposed to nullify the effect of the sacrifice. Wikipedia quotes various sources;

Cleitarchus, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch all mention burning of children as an offering to Cronus or Saturn, that is to Bal Ammūn, the chief god of Carthage. According to Justin, the Carthaginians accepted the Persian Achaemenid Empire's instructions to stop sacrificing children (and eating dogs). Some of these sources suggest that babies were roasted to death on a heated bronze statue. According to Diodorus Siculus, "There was in their city a bronze image of Cronus extending its hands, palms up and sloping toward the ground, so that each of the children when placed thereon rolled down and fell into a sort of gaping pit filled with fire."They placed their children alive in the arms of a bronze statue of the lady Tanit:

The hands of the statue extended over a brazier into which the child fell once the flames had caused the limbs to contract and its mouth to open... . The child was alive and conscious when burned... Philo specified that the sacrificed child was best-loved.

According to Stager and Wolff, there is a consensus among scholars that Carthaginian children were sacrificed by their parents, who would make a vow to kill the next child if the gods would grant them a favor: for instance, their shipment of goods were to arrive safely in a foreign port.^[2]

 

Other behaviors forbidden to the Hebrew were homosexuality. This reference here is not specifically to the homosexual temple prostitutes which are mentioned elsewhere as sodomites which we will see referenced starting in Deuteronomy as explained earlier part of the heathen religious practices that marred Israel’s worship. This is a reference to personal practices. God also condemns bestiality here and as is reported in verse 24 by not practicing these things they will distinguish themselves from the people around them in the land of Canaan where such practices are apparently accepted and even, perhaps, common. The Hebrew who defied these proscriptions was to be killed.

It is important to note that Christians are not justified by the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ. We are given no warrant to harm anyone who commits a violation of these regulations although the civil law should rightly punish the abuse of children and animals. Our only recourse for someone whose life is characterized by their sin is to not have fellowship with them but to pray for them. Christians will often work and live in situations where people do things that rankle them. But, remember what Paul said about a brother or sister in Christ.

1Corinthians 5:9 ¶  I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10  Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

 

And remember Paul’s command when that person repents and wants to that fellowship restored lest Satan use discouragement to destroy a Christian.

 

2Corinthians 2:5 ¶  But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. 6  Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. 7  So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 8  Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. 9  For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 10  To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;

11  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

 

Here in Leviticus, chapter 18, God is telling them not to do like the people whose land they have been given do. These people have lost the land because of this wickedness which is not God’s standard and as Noah prophesied Canaan was and would be cursed.

Genesis 9:24 ¶  And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25  And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

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[1] Plutarch, On Superstition, Loeb Classical Library Edition, Vol. II, 1928, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/De_superstitione*.html (accessed 11.8.2019)

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Carthage (accessed 11.8.2019)

The Acts of the Apostles, the history of the early church, by Luke the physician - Acts 7:1-16 comments : Stephen's defense, part 1

 

Acts 7:1 ¶  Then said the high priest, Are these things so? 2  And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3  And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 4  Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 5  And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. 6  And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. 7  And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. 8  And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. 9  And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, 10  And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11  Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. 12  But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13  And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. 14  Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. 15  So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, 16  And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.

 

Stephen starts preaching with Abraham’s calling by God to leave Ur of the Chaldees.

Genesis 11:27 ¶  Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28  And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29  And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30  But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31  And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32  And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

12:1 ¶  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

4 ¶  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5  And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

Notice the difference betweens words translated from a Hebrew text and words translated from a Greek text. For instance, Elijah of Malachi 4:5,6 becomes the Elias of Luke 1:17. So here, the Haran of Genesis 12:4 becomes the Charran of verse 2.

We discussed the four-hundred-year timeframe when you and I were going over Genesis. In the comments on Genesis 15:12-16 I noted;

“God tells Abram that his seed will be servants in a foreign land, which we know to be Egypt. They will be afflicted for four hundred years and will serve the people of that land. This is an about, not an exact 400 years, ten months, 23 days, and two hours type of statement.

Exodus 12:40  Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.

And then, Luke recounting what Stephen said, alluding to what Moses had written from God’s words;

Acts 7:6  And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years.

If I wrote you a lesson that said, “in the thousand years since the Norman invasion of England,” and then, in the lesson later wrote, “in the nine hundred and fifty three years since 1066, when William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at Hastings,” would that be a contradiction or would you understand what I said as meaning the same thing?

Here is Paul referring to this bondage bracketed between the covenant and the giving of the Law.

Galatians 3:17  And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

Rabbis have written that the affliction begins when Ishmael, the offspring of Abram and Hagar, an Egyptian, begins to persecute Isaac, the son of the promise. They regarded the four hundred years to start from that point.

God also tells Abram that four generations will come into being in Egypt before returning to the land that is promised, The Promised Land of Canaan. For instance, Levi, Jacob’s son, and his son, Kohath, and his son, Amram, and his son, Moses. These were four generations that sojourned in Egypt. It is then important to see that God is talking about two different things; four hundred years of affliction and four generations in a foreign land.”

In verse 14 we have the issue about how many people came to Egypt with Jacob. Here again are my comments from Genesis 46:5-27;

“Verse 15 tells us for that either Dinah wasn’t Jacob’s only daughter or, as said earlier, the daughters could logically include daughters-in-law. Arguing about the count becomes nonsensical when we know everyone wasn’t included in the count of those that mattered to God’s ministry of reconciliation. There are obviously servants to consider, as well, which are not mentioned.

We also come to differences in the count given for different reasons at different times.

Exodus 1:5  And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.

Deuteronomy 10:22  Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

Acts 7:14  Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

Some argue about these differences with fundamentalists trying to gloss over what they fear naggingly in the back of their minds is an error in the text. However, the problem is with the modern reader who is infected with a mental problem I call modernism. You read the Bible like you would read the owner’s manual for your car rather than as you would read a letter sent to you from afar, in this case a distant time, a personal account of something dear to the writer. The Holy Ghost, through the wisdom and understanding, the meaning of Biblical inspiration which is not word-for-word dictation, given to Moses, refers to events from the perspective of their importance to the point He is trying to get across (see Job 32:8; 2Peter 3:15). In one reference He may include wives who are not included in another or He may be referring to an event from another angle and only include specific others. The modern fundamentalist who claims to believe the Bible literally, which they don’t really, in their attempts to explain by juggling numbers what the Bible says, is really expressing their own disbelief and lack of faith by trying to explain a contradiction that isn’t there.

I went over this kind of thinking when I was discussing years, back in my comments on 15:12-16, regarding the length of years that the Hebrews were to be persecuted. The point is all of the number references are correct and any differences can be explained by the Holy Ghost counting people in one who are not counted in another. We will find this again in the numbers who will die in a plague later in another book. Verses 26 and 27 warn us that our calculations may not be based on God’s calculations which will keep the doubter or the skeptic spinning his or her wheels trying to find an equation that will make him or her feel better.”

Again we see translation differences as Emmor and Sychem transliterated from Greek were Hamor and Shechem from Hebrew in Genesis 33:19.

Leviticus 17:10-16 comments: the Hebrews forbidden to eat blood

 

Leviticus 17:10 ¶  And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. 12  Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. 13  And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. 14  For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. 15  And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean. 16  But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.

 

It is interesting to note that eating of blood is forbidden before the Law was given, here under the Law given to Moses, and after the Resurrection in the age of grace and the church.

Genesis 9:4  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

 

Acts 15:20  But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

 

Blood offerings and the consuming of blood was not uncommon in this ancient religious context as will be noted later. Besides the fact that a LiveScience article reports that blood drank in large doses is toxic the more fitting parallel for us should be in how Christ’s blood paid for our sins and purchased us to be appointed as heirs of eternal life of which there are many verses.^[1]

We are to be careful of blood as it is one of the most potent symbols of man’s tainted blood and his need for salvation and of God’s work in that salvation. Here in verse 11 is our link with Christ and this mention of blood.

11  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

 

Acts 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

 

Hebrews 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

 

Hebrews 13:12  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

 

Revelation 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

 

Paul made the point that sins are not remitted without the shedding of blood.

 

Hebrews 9:22  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

 

Also note here that it was unclean for the Hebrew to eat the flesh of an animal that died on its own or was killed by other animals. Blood is not drained out of animals killed by other animals and carrion tissue starts decomposing earlier than slaughtered animals from which the blood is drained. On top of that animals that have died of a disease can transmit that disease to humans.

It has been noted that English peasants often ate animals that died of disease during the Middle Ages. This was a time when Christians were kept from a personal experience with the Bible and even priests were woefully ignorant of what it said.^[2]

Just remember that the context in verse 15 is one of blood. Scavenging on carrion or animals that died on their own was forbidden, understandably so.

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[1] Benjamin Radford, “Is it safe to drink blood?”, LiveScience, June 6, 2016, https://www.livescience.com/15899-drinking-blood-safe.html, (accessed 11.2.2019).

[2] Edward Young, Labor in Europe and America, (Philadelphia, S.A. George & Co.), 1975, 87. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2517479W/Labor_in_Europe_and_America.

Sunday School lesson taught at Lake Marburg Baptist Church this morning; Genesis, chapter 25

 

Genesis, chapter 25

Genesis 25:1 ¶  Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2  And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. 3  And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. 4  And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. 5  And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. 6  But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. 7  And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. 8  Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. 9  And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre; 10  The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

Abraham’s second wife, or third, if you count Hagar, (concubines are a type of lesser wife, a cultural phenomenon not ordered by God) is named Keturah and she gives him Midian, the father of a tribe who will later be a problem for the Israelites trying to get into Canaan and once they are in the Promised Land. But, a priest of this tribe will provide a wife for Moses and be his sanctuary in the wilderness after he flees from Egypt.

But, keep in mind that, like we do, people give names to their children that are often known and already existing, in use by others. For instance, Cush had grandsons named Sheba and Dedan in Genesis 10:7. There is a man named Sheba who rebelled against King David in 2Samuel 20. In modern times we have examples where a former Rock and Roll performer and wannabe politician named himself Jello Biafra after a secessionist Nigerian state, Biafra. On a soberer note there are many children named after famous places like London, Brooklyn, Paris, and even India. So, while naming customs were more based on religious reasons in the ancient world and for reasons of already having an ancestor with that name we must be careful about making genealogical links as a matter of fact between two people or a person and a tribe bearing the same name in the Bible.

Still, Keturah most likely was a Canaanite who had Sheba and Dedan as part of her own heritage and passed these respected names down through her son, with Abraham’s supposed blessing and involvement, of course.

It must be remembered, as stated in verse 5, that all of Abraham’s inheritance goes to Isaac so that it is the Jews, not the Arabs, who were given the land of Canaan. As stated before all of these promises are in Christ so that the fulfillment of that promise of land will not be complete until Christ physically returns. The political Israel of today is a puny representative of this enormous grant of land from the Nile to the Euphrates. See previous comments on this subject.

Abraham’s wives other than Sarah are called concubines. Abraham lived 175 years and gave up the ghost which is his spirit (see Luke 23:46) and was gathered to his people. Gave up the ghost is a reference to dying that is used later for Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, Ananias, and Herod.  Gathered to his people is referenced again for Ishmael and Jacob at their deaths.

Abraham is said to be eminent in Paradise, the garden of God, when it was in the heart of the earth, separated from Hell, and called Abraham’s bosom (see Luke 16.) Paradise comes from a Persian word meaning a walled garden or a hunting preserve. The garden of God, called Eden, was once on the earth but, after Adam’s fall, was hidden by cherubim (see Genesis chapters 2&3, Ezekiel 28:13, 14; 31:8,9). Jesus went to the heart of the earth, to Paradise, Abraham’s bosom, the garden of God, to preach after the Cross. (see Luke 23:43; Matthew 12:40; 1Peter 3:19; 4:6). Paradise was separated from Hell and is now taken up into Heaven because of Christ (Revelation 2:7) which we can see because Paul went “up” there as stated in 2Corinthians 12:4.

Why is Paradise called Abraham’s bosom? Because Abraham represents all of those who believe God. Salvation is predicated upon believing what God said. It is as clear as a bell.

The Greeks, flowering as an intellectual culture much later around the 5^th century BC, had great contact with the Ancient Near East as mercenaries, traders, and settlers before that and derived their concept of Hades from the Hebrews. Greek philosophers stated that they did not know the origin of their mythology but the first mention of Hades is in Homer, writing perhaps in the 9^th century BC, nearly a thousand years after Abraham’s life and three hundred to four hundred after Moses’ put the account in writing. The 9^th century BC is also the time when most scholars believe that the Greeks derived their alphabet from the Phoenicians who we will see derived it from the Hebrews who got it from God at Mount Sinai. Before then, picture writing was used by the cultures of the world, from the Sumerians on the plain of Shinar, called Cuneiform, to the Egyptians, called Hieroglyphics, to China, and even down to the civilizations of South and Central America over two thousand years later.

As an example of Greek involvement in the Near East, when Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh Necho’s armies fought at Carchemish (Jeremiah 46) both sides used Greek mercenaries extensively.  In addition, a prophet lamented how Hebrew children had been taken as slaves to Greece. (Joel 3:6). There were Greek cultural influences in the Near East and Greek language influences as well. However, the Greeks who wrote about Hades wrote after this period of time and were influenced by what they learned from the Hebrews as they were by what they learned about other cultures’ practices and beliefs. The Greeks themselves even admitted they learned a great deal in Egypt and the Near East. In the later Greek myth, Hades was a place for not only the wicked but the good persons’ souls to abide after death while Tartarus was where their supreme god, Zeus, cast the Titans, giants, and there were different places for enjoyment and punishment based on a person’s behavior in life as well as their relationship to the gods. In the Ancient world, then, it was understood that the abode of the dead, good or bad, was in one location.

Isaac and Ishmael bury Abraham with Sarah. It is probably the last time the Jew and the Arab will cooperate in much of anything.

God’s ministry of reconciliation, of reconciling mankind to Himself, was carried on in a dramatic way through Abraham. Abraham remains an important figure in human history. Abraham believed what God said. Do we?

James 2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

Genesis 25:11 ¶  And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi. 12  Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham: 13  And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14  And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa, 15  Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: 16  These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations. 17  And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people. 18  And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the presence of all his brethren.

Genesis 25:19 ¶  And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: 20  And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. 21  And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22  And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. 23  And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. 24  And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25  And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 26  And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. 27  And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. 28  And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

This passage of Scripture starts off with an account of Ishmael’s death and of his progeny who grew to great numbers and occupied what has come to be known as Arabia. Then, an account is given of the birth of Esau and Jacob. Esau was his father’s favorite while Jacob was his mother’s favorite. Esau was an outdoors kind of guy who liked to hunt and Jacob hung around the house or tent. He was probably a big help to his mother and a “momma’s boy.” As we will see though, he was not a wimp or a “simpering milquetoast.” The elder shall serve the younger is a prophecy of Esau playing second fiddle to Jacob. He will be willing to give up his birthright for a bowl of stew and Isaac will be tricked into giving his blessing to Jacob.

Esau will lend his name to Edom which eventually will be known as Idumea.

Genesis 36:1  Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom…8  Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.

Ezekiel 35:15  As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

The kingdom of Edom no longer exists but its geography lies within the southern reaches of the country known as Jordan. Some commentators believe that it is the location of the wilderness where the survivors of the Beast of Revelation’s final fight against the Jews will flee in Revelation 12. There lies the famous rock city of Petra. Esau’s legacy then runs throughout history and Jacob and Esau will be united in a manner of speaking in the end, if this is correct.

Why is Jacob favored over Esau? Esau was a carnal man who was willing to give up his birthright to appease his appetite and lost his blessing. Jacob was clever and crafty, which we think of as not being very good character traits especially since he used them to obtain a blessing from his father by deceit and treachery. Why did God choose Jacob over Esau? The history of the carnal man of uncontrolled appetites is a history of war and rebellion. It is a history of corruption and injustice. Esau represents what is wrong with charismatic leaders who cause young women to think things they should not and cause young men to deliver up their common sense to follow blindly. He is a man of the earth, a natural man.

1Corinthians 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The natural man is lusty and everything he sees exists to serve him; either his appetites, his sexual lust, or his need to dominate others for fear of being dominated himself. He is praised in our literature and media and millions will follow him. The trouble is that he would trade God’s inheritance for another meal, approval and validation from others, and a chance to have what he wants at the moment. He despises what he calls, “pie-in-the-sky religion,” and concerns himself only with satisfying his immediate needs in the here and now. He could not envision eternity for all he was worth. He cannot even perceive of the idea of God usually. He is too busy putting food in his belly, perhaps a beer, glass of wine, or liquor to his lips, or pursuing the latest tech gadget or get rich scheme to even consider the fate of his soul. The question you should ask yourself, young man, is, are you an Esau?

Hebrews 12:14  Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15  Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16  Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17  For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

On the other hand, Jacob, though clever and resourceful, deceitful even, who will wrestle with God Himself, can be molded into God’s man. Full of flaws himself, character flaws, fearful and uncertain at times but obedient as often as he can be, in the end, God’s choice of him to further God’s work of reconciliation, of bringing mankind to God, bears fruit in Joseph and his brethren, the forebears of the Hebrew “race” from whence the Redeemer of mankind comes and from whom God’s ministry of reconciliation flows.

Genesis 25:29 ¶  And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 30  And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. 31  And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. 32  And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 33  And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

The narrative of Jacob and Esau is provided as an introduction before Moses returns to the story of Isaac. These passages are a foundation that will explain why Jacob and Rebekah felt justified to deceive Isaac and rob Esau of his legal due. The point here is that Esau did not regard his birthright and sold it to Jacob. In the ancient heathen world and even up to today in some countries the oldest son was to inherit his father’s property and religious duties within the family. Esau was willing to sell his sacred right and privilege to his brother.

The question will become, now that Esau swore to give up his birthright and sold it for a bowl of stew, how to get Isaac to bless Jacob first and grant him the birthright.

Sod, we can figure out from the context is made or cooked. Notice how sod is used again in 2Chronicles 35:13. Sodden used to be the past participle of to seethe or boil. Sod is short for that.

Exodus 16:23  And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

Exodus 23:19  The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

Pottage is soup or stew.

2Kings 4:38  And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

Esau will sell his birthright for a bowl of red stew and Edom comes from that. Edom, according to Strong’s dictionary, means red.

This is why the Red Sea is called the Red Sea.

1Kings 9:26  And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.

What is the birthright that Esau surrendered to Jacob for a meal? As the oldest Esau was, by custom, to inherit his father’s wealth and be head of the family, and his father’s standing before God. It was also of religious significance among the heathen, as the eldest son would inherit the family, the wealth, and the religious responsibilities to maintain the family gods and the family fire as De Coulanges tells us in his book The Ancient City. Later, Jacob’s son, Reuben, will forfeit his birthright by a grievous sin against his father. Esau surrendered his birthright to be the head of the family for a meal. Of course, we know that God chose Jacob but in retrospect Esau gave up the privilege of having the Messiah come through his lineage, of having God come to earth to live as a man, the Son of God and the Son of man in one person, through his descendants, for a bowl of soup.

Notice it says that Esau despised his birthright. Despise is a synonym of hate in the Bible. It simply means to hold in contempt or to disregard or to view someone lower in your eyes than they should be naturally.

Proverbs 5:12  And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

Amos 5:21  I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

Matthew 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Despise is the opposite of honoring someone or something, meaning to hold them in low esteem.

 1Samuel 2:30  Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Understanding this will help you understand difficult verses such as this where in comparison to Christ it is said;

Luke 14:26  If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

We can find examples in this in Americans who despise their right to vote and don’t do it, not out of protest, but just because they don’t think it’s a big deal. It’s not worth the trouble to them. We find examples of this in Christians who despise uniting with other Christians in worship as the Church, not because they have moved to a new place and don’t know any Christians or believe that that institutional churches are not Biblical, but, because it’s too much trouble and they’d rather sleep in.

Esau is an example of a great many people in the world throughout history. And so, it is said that God held him in contempt, as well;

Malachi 1:2 I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,3  And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

Romans 9:13  As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

The Acts of the Apostles, the history of the early church, by Luke the physician - Acts 6:8-15 comments : Stephen runs afoul of the council

 

Acts 6:8 ¶  And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 9  Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. 10  And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. 11  Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. 12  And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, 13  And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: 14  For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. 15  And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

 

Stephen is going to stand out as the first Christian martyr after Christ. He was an exemplary person of great faith whom God had imbued with significant power to perform miracles.

 

According to Strong the Libertines were Jews who had been enslaved but were set free and formed their own synagogue. Cyrene was in what is today northern Libya. Simon, a Cyrene, was forced to carry Jesus’ cross part of the way for Him.

 

Matthew 27:32  And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

 

He was the father of two who may have become notable Christians.

 

Mark 15:21  And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

 

Alexandria was a city in Egypt that will become known for its Christians and their allegorical method of Bible interpretation while Antioch, where Christians were first called by that name, was known for the literal.

 

Cilicia was in southern Asia Minor, the territory of the Roman province of Asia, which today is the modern country of Turkey.

 

These Jews debated with Stephen and their lack of success in their arguments prompted them to turn him in to the council, accusing him of blasphemy. Notice how this tactic was used against Jesus.

 

Matthew 26:60  But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, 61  And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.

 

Christians in the pagan Roman Empire, before the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion in the early fourth century AD, were accused of wishing for the end of Rome and praying for the destruction of the world at that time.

 

The Holy Ghost has given Stephen calmness and reserve in the face of his accusers.

Leviticus 17:1-9 comments: preventing the private offering of sacrifices

Leviticus 17:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  Speak unto Aaron, and unto his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them; This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, saying, 3  What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, 4  And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: 5  To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the LORD. 6  And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and burn the fat for a sweet savour unto the LORD. 7  And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations. 8  And thou shalt say unto them, Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers which sojourn among you, that offereth a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9  And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer it unto the LORD; even that man shall be cut off from among his people.

 

Deuteronomy 32:17  They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

 

These rules prevent the private offering of heathen, pagan sacrifices to familial spirits and devils or foreign gods. Of course, this is in the context of sacrifices and not ordinary food. Like Abraham men would erect an altar for sacrifices but this often led to idolatry in the worship of false gods and spirits. Individual families among the heathen would have their own singular worship and gods which represented their lars familiaris or familiar spirits (see Leviticus 20:27), the guiding divinities of ancestors dead.^[1] God demanded these sacrifices be brought to the tabernacle to be offered to Him under the watchcare of His priests to dampen this impulse of man to find gods to worship in almost every place and in every thing, as the ancient Romans did. There was a god in the threshold of the door going out, the fireplace hearth, the nursery, etc. etc. and it was nothing for a common Greek or Roman to not go but a few feet outside of his dwelling before making signs and offering tokens of worship to prevent harm from coming to him.

One way of bringing this into our dispensation is to point out the danger of worshipping alone and saying that you don’t need to come to church. When we are accountable to each other and hear how the Holy Spirit has guided others in understanding we are less likely to go off on a tear about some arcane doctrine we think we have found. Of course, this requires, to be successful, everyone acting like the Bereans of Acts 17 who searched the scriptures daily to see if a thing was true or not rather than just following a man’s opinion.

To be cut off was not merely to be exiled, kicked out of the camp. See the cross-references for being cut off. This was serious stuff.

Genesis 9:11  And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

 

Zechariah 13:8  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

 

2Kings 9:8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:

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[1] Numa Denis Fustel De Coulanges, The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1864, repr. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2006), 134.