Daily Bible Portion (Sunday)
Daily Bible Portion 1 of 7
"GENERATIONS"
(Weekly Reading>>Genesis 25:19-28:9-1, Samuel 20:18-42, Romans 9:6-16, Hebrews 11:20; 12:14-17)
Jacob’s Life: Part One
The Scriptures now focus on the life of Isaac and his wife Rebekah. For the first twenty years of their marriage Rebekah was childless. So Isaac prayed to Yahweh on behalf of his wife’s barrenness. Yahweh answered his prayer and Rebekah conceived, however the pregnancy was so unusual that Rebekah inquired after Yahweh and was told that she was carrying twins. Yahweh said,
“Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23).
At the birth of the twin sons, the first baby delivered was red and hairy like a garment, so they named him Esau. The second son came out grasping Esau’s heel, so they named him Jacob (Strong’s #H3290/TWOT 167f), which means hand on the heel (the action of a wrestler).
Isaac was sixty years old when his twins Esau and Jacob were born. The boys’ grandfather Abraham would have lived to see them grow well into their teen years. Noah’s son Shem and Eber the great-grandson of Shem were also still alive. Shem lived another fifty-two years and Eber for eighty-one years after the twins were born.
Esau and Jacob likely grew up hearing their grandfather Abraham share stories of their family history. Through Noah’s son Shem, they not only heard how he built the ark with his father and brothers and cared for all the animals during the flood but also learned of Shem’s grandfather Lamech who actually walked and talked with Adam! As a result of their long life spans, these men were all alive to pass on the eyewitness accounts of Yahweh’s glory personally to their family.
Son of Olam Hazeh versus the Son of Olam Haba
In the studies of Genesis up to this point, we have been learning about the Patriarchs of Israel. These stories are living parables foreshadowing future events. Isaac favored Esau the son who was a hunter, a man of the open field (Olam Hazeh). Rebekah had a love for the quiet son Jacob, who stayed among the tents (Olam Haba).
In Hebraic understanding the terms open field or wilderness country are a reference to being outside the Torah, Yahweh’s teaching and instruction and living in the present with no thought of the future. Staying among tents is a reference to being inside the Torah, walking in obedience to Yahweh’s Word through the Living gospel, Yeshua. It is Yeshua who brings illumination of the Word to Life and future prosperity.
The Birthright Genesis 25:29-34
(Jacob and Esau)
“Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary’” (Genesis 25:29-30).
Most people know the story of Esau coming in empty-handed and famished from a hunting expedition, and Jacob seizing the opportunity to request Esau’s birthright as payment for a meal he could provide. From this account we can glean that Esau’s food source (dependent on his own efforts to sustain himself outside of Torah) did not seem reliable or give him the physical and mental resilience that he needed, whereas Jacob’s food supply (Torah) strengthened and nourished him. It would seem Esau’s soul (his flesh) was weakened by what he was doing as it was generated by his own ability, while Jacob’s strength remained strong and constant, as his strength was from Yahweh.
There is no life-sustaining power outside of the Torah, but Torah on its own without Messiah cannot sustain life either. When we embrace the true Spirit of Torah – the gospel of Yeshua - we will experience the covering of His Kingdom, His power and authority in our lives (John 1:1, 14).
What we see here is one brother eating from the Tree of Life (Olam Haba) and the fruit of the Spirit (life) in the gospel/Torah, and the other brother eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Olam Hazeh), which is outside the gospel/Torah full of destruction and death.
continues tomorrow...
"GENERATIONS"
(Weekly Reading>>Genesis 25:19-28:9-1, Samuel 20:18-42, Romans 9:6-16, Hebrews 11:20; 12:14-17)
Jacob’s Life: Part One
The Scriptures now focus on the life of Isaac and his wife Rebekah. For the first twenty years of their marriage Rebekah was childless. So Isaac prayed to Yahweh on behalf of his wife’s barrenness. Yahweh answered his prayer and Rebekah conceived, however the pregnancy was so unusual that Rebekah inquired after Yahweh and was told that she was carrying twins. Yahweh said,
“Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23).
At the birth of the twin sons, the first baby delivered was red and hairy like a garment, so they named him Esau. The second son came out grasping Esau’s heel, so they named him Jacob (Strong’s #H3290/TWOT 167f), which means hand on the heel (the action of a wrestler).
Isaac was sixty years old when his twins Esau and Jacob were born. The boys’ grandfather Abraham would have lived to see them grow well into their teen years. Noah’s son Shem and Eber the great-grandson of Shem were also still alive. Shem lived another fifty-two years and Eber for eighty-one years after the twins were born.
Esau and Jacob likely grew up hearing their grandfather Abraham share stories of their family history. Through Noah’s son Shem, they not only heard how he built the ark with his father and brothers and cared for all the animals during the flood but also learned of Shem’s grandfather Lamech who actually walked and talked with Adam! As a result of their long life spans, these men were all alive to pass on the eyewitness accounts of Yahweh’s glory personally to their family.
Son of Olam Hazeh versus the Son of Olam Haba
“So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob” (Genesis 25:27-28).
In the studies of Genesis up to this point, we have been learning about the Patriarchs of Israel. These stories are living parables foreshadowing future events. Isaac favored Esau the son who was a hunter, a man of the open field (Olam Hazeh). Rebekah had a love for the quiet son Jacob, who stayed among the tents (Olam Haba).
In Hebraic understanding the terms open field or wilderness country are a reference to being outside the Torah, Yahweh’s teaching and instruction and living in the present with no thought of the future. Staying among tents is a reference to being inside the Torah, walking in obedience to Yahweh’s Word through the Living gospel, Yeshua. It is Yeshua who brings illumination of the Word to Life and future prosperity.
The Birthright Genesis 25:29-34
(Jacob and Esau)
“Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary’” (Genesis 25:29-30).
Most people know the story of Esau coming in empty-handed and famished from a hunting expedition, and Jacob seizing the opportunity to request Esau’s birthright as payment for a meal he could provide. From this account we can glean that Esau’s food source (dependent on his own efforts to sustain himself outside of Torah) did not seem reliable or give him the physical and mental resilience that he needed, whereas Jacob’s food supply (Torah) strengthened and nourished him. It would seem Esau’s soul (his flesh) was weakened by what he was doing as it was generated by his own ability, while Jacob’s strength remained strong and constant, as his strength was from Yahweh.
There is no life-sustaining power outside of the Torah, but Torah on its own without Messiah cannot sustain life either. When we embrace the true Spirit of Torah – the gospel of Yeshua - we will experience the covering of His Kingdom, His power and authority in our lives (John 1:1, 14).
What we see here is one brother eating from the Tree of Life (Olam Haba) and the fruit of the Spirit (life) in the gospel/Torah, and the other brother eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Olam Hazeh), which is outside the gospel/Torah full of destruction and death.
continues tomorrow...