Studies

Gen. 17:1-7, 16, 19 (SP/LXX)

And when Abram was ninety-nine years old, YHWH appeared to Abram and said to him: 

“I am the Mighty One of all, walk before Me, and be you wholehearted. And I will establish My Covenant between you and Me. And I will multiply you exceedingly. 

And Abram fell on his face. And the Mighty One talked with him saying: 

 “As for Me, behold, My Covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations. 

No longer will your name be called Abram, but Abraham will you be called, for the father of a multitude of nations have I made you. 

And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come out of you. 

And I will establish My Covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting Covenant, to be a Mighty One to you and to your offspring after you. 

And I will bless [Sarah], and I will give you a son by her. And I will bless him. And he will become nations, and kings of peoples will be of him. 

 …And I will establish My Covenant with him for an everlasting Covenant, and his descendants after him.” 

YHWH established a Covenant with Abraham and his descendants, through his son Isaac, that He would be their Mighty One. The word “covenant” appears 13 times in this chapter: in verses 2, 4, 7 (twice), 9, 10, 11, 13 (twice), 14, 19 (twice), and 21.  Moreover, this covenant is called an everlasting covenant three times: verses 7, 13, and 19. 

This Covenant begins with the promise that many nations will become part of the lineage of Abraham and his son Isaac. The following phrases solidify this fact:

I will multiply you exceedingly” (v2) 

“You will be the father of a multitude of nations” (v4) 

“I will make you the father of a multitude of nations” (v5) 

“I will make you exceedingly fruitful” (v6) 

“I will make nations of you/him” (LXX) (v6, v16) 

This Covenant was not simply meant to apply to one nation–Israel; But to many nations–that is, Israel and many others! Indeed, “all families/nations” (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18; 26:4) will be blessed in his Seed! 

So what is this Covenant? 

Chiefly, that YHWH would be our Mighty One!  (Gen. 17:7; 8b; 19) 

And I will establish My Covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting Covenant, to be a Mighty One to you and to your offspring after you.

And I will be their Mighty One.

I will establish my covenant with him, for an everlasting Covenant, to be a Mighty One to him and to his seed after him.

Secondly, the Land will be given to us as an everlasting possession. (Gen. 17:8a) 

And I will give you and your seed after you the Land wherein you sojourn, even all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.

And what does He ask of us in this relationship? 

1.  Walk with Him and make our hearts complete. Gen. 17:1
2.  Circumcise our male children in their flesh. Gen. 17:10-14

Put another way: 

1.  Do what He says to do with all of our ability.
2. Raise our children to follow Him, starting on the eighth day.

Gen. 12:1, 4a 

Now YHWH said to Abram: “Get out of your birthplace, of your family; and of your father’s house,
to a land that I will show you”… So, Abram departed as YHWH had spoken to him…

As the latter half of Gen.12:4 indicates, this conversation took place in Haran after he had left Ur, his hometown, with his father, wife, and nephew.  Gen. 11:31 

And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot…and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan, and they came to Haran and
dwelt there. 

Later we are told that YHWH had called Abram when he was still in his hometown of Ur. Gen 15:7 

Then He said to him, “I am YHWH who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”

From this, we can learn that the conversation recorded in Gen. 12:1-4 is not the beginning of Abraham’s relationship with YHWH.  

This relationship is later noted in Isaiah 41:8 and 2 Chronicles 20:7. In most modern English Bibles, Abraham was called YHWH’s friend. See also James 2:23. A better translation, however, would be that Abraham loved YHWH. He was the type of friend who “sticks closer than a brother”. This proverb (Pro. 18:24b) may have inspired the saying “The blood of a covenant is thicker than the water of the womb”. It is a loyalty that supersedes blood ties. Abraham would have ended his relationship with his beloved son. Why? Because his bond with YHWH was greater than that he had with his beloved son. This can be gleaned from reading the twenty-second chapter of Genesis.

The Hebrew word—translated as “friend” in Isa. 41:8, 2 Ch. 20:7, and Pro. 18:24—is ahav the Biblical word for love.  This gives Yeshua’s statement in John 15:13-14  more meaning. He taught that He laid down His life for those who love Him. 

There is no greater love than this: for someone to lay down his life for his friends (those who love him).
You are My friends (those who love me) if you do whatever I command you.

This understanding of John 15:14 should come as no surprise to the diligent student of the Word who sees loving the Father as akin to obeying Him. Exo. 20:6/Deu. 5:10; Deu. 7:9/Neh. 1:5/Dan. 9:4; Deu. 11:1, 13, 22; 19:9; 30:16, 20; Jos. 22:5; Joh. 14:15, 21; 15:10; 1 Jo. 5:2, 3; 2 Jo. 1:6, ect.

Gen. 6:5, 6 

And YHWH saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil every day. 

And YHWH was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth. And He was grieved in His heart. 

Except for Noah and his family, every person on the planet had corrupted themselves. The earth was corrupt before the Mighty One and filled with violence. Gen. 6:11. 

Were we created this way?

Gen. 1:26, 27, 5:1 

The Mighty One said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” 

So, the Mighty One created man in His own image; in the image of the Mighty One He created him; male and female He created them. 

…in the day that the Mighty One created man, He made him in the likeness of the Mighty One. 

In the words of the wise preacher, recorded in Ecc. 7:29 

Look! I have only found that the Mighty One has made man upright, but they have searched for many inventions.” 

We were not created to be evil. We were designed to be like YHWH.  

The first man rebelled by disregarding YHWH’s only prohibition. Gen. 3. Ever since, as a human race, we have transgressed His Covenant. Isa. 43:27; Hos. 6:7.  

As David expressed, we were “born in iniquity”. Psa. 51:5. As the apostle Paul put it, “All have sinned”. Rom. 3:23. See also 1 Jo. 1:8-10. 

Adam’s actions when confronted, however, do not have to be ours. Instead of shifting the blame, we must acknowledge our mistakes.  

Like David did in Psalms 51, and like the people of Nineveh did in the book of Jonah, we must confess our sins and return to YHWH’s Covenant. 

The rest of humanity–those who remain unrepentant–will be “raptured” for destruction, as in “the days of Noah” (Luk. 17:26-37). See also Mat. 13:30, 41-43, 49-50 & Rev. 19:17-18, 21; cf. Isa 34; Jer. 12; Eze. 39; 2 Pe. 3:6-7. 

Gen. 1:3 

Then the Mighty One said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 

The full passage (Gen. 1:3-5) says that YHWH separated the light from the darkness and called the light ‘day’ and the darkness ‘night’.

However, there is a dual meaning here. One clue is that before creating light, there was darkness. 

Gen. 1:2-3 

…and darkness was on the face of the deep…Then the Mighty One said, “Let there be light”…

 Did YHWH create darkness before He created light? Did He create evil before He formed good? The phrase “it was good” appears six times in Genesis 1–corresponding to each day of creation. The chapter ends with the words “it was very good” to describe all that YHWH had created. 

We can understand, then, that everything YHWH created was created to be good. We can conclude that light and peace were created before darkness and evil. See Isa. 45:7.  

The Psalmist has this to say:  

Psa. 33:6, 9 

By the word of YHWH, the heavens were made,
And all the Host of them by the breath of His mouth. 

For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.”

YHWH spoke everything into existence, beginning with the Hosts of the heavens. The simple utterance “Let there be” created the worlds. 

The apostles inform us that YHWH’s initial utterance became a human being.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… (Joh. 1:14)

“He is the image of the invisible Mighty One, the firstborn of all creation. (Col. 1:15)

“These things says the Amen…the Beginning of the creation of the Mighty One: (Rev. 3:14)

They also inform us that YHWH created the worlds through the Spirit of His Messiah.  

All things were created through Him and for Him.” (Joh. 1:3) 

“All things were created through Him and for Him.” (Col. 1:16)

“there is one Mighty One, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Master Yeshua the Messiah, through whom are all things…” (1 Co. 8:6 ) 

See also Ephesians 3:9 and Hebrews 1:2. 

We can conclude that the phrase “Spirit of the Mighty One” (Gen. 1:2) speaks of the Messiah long before He came into the world as a human.  We can also understand the phrase “Let Us” (Gen. 1:26) as YHWH speaking to His Messiah. 

More importantly, we can understand that YHWH, YHWH’s Messiah, and YHWH’s Words (what He has spoken and what became Written) are inseparable. Accepting One is accepting all Three.

Day 8: Words of Life

John 7:37-39 

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Yeshua stood and cried out, saying,  

            “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the
            Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”  

But this He spoke concerning the Spirit… 

Yeshua likened His Spirit to living waters. This analogy can also be seen in Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the renewed covenant (Isa. 43:19-20, 44:3). 

Behold, I will do a new thing… 

The beast of the field will honor Me… 

Because I give water in the wilderness, 

And rivers in the desert, 

To give drink to My people, My chosen. 

…For I will pour water on him who is thirsty… 

I will pour My Spirit on your descendants… 

This language can also be found in Psalm 84, a song thought to have been sung during the feast of Tabernacles:

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is on Your highway.

Passing through the valley of weeping,
They make it a fountain… 

 This “highway” that one sets their heart upon (Psa. 84:6) is the same “highway” that is proclaimed in the wilderness (Isa. 40:3), which is where the “waters” are poured (Isa. 43:20).  

The connection between the “highway of the heart” and the “waters in the wilderness” can also be found in Isaiah 35:7-8. 

A paraphrase of this Scripture (Psa. 84:5-6 & Isa. 43:20) can be as follows: 

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
…from their heart rivers of water will spring forth. 

 His tabernacle–which was where His name dwelt in the wilderness (Exo. 40:34-38; 2 Sa. 7:6; Exo. 25:22; 30:6, 36; Num. 17:4 cf. Jos. 18:1, 8, 10, 19:51; Jdg. 21:19; 1 Sa. 1:3; 4:4; Jer. 7:12)–is now in the hearts of His people (Isa. 57:14-15), those who fear His Word (Isa. 66:1-3).  

 As Yeshua stated in John 6:63, His Words are Spirit and life. And as Peter understood him, recorded in John 6:68, His Words are eternal life.  

As Yeshua stated in John 14:15-17 and 21-23, His and His Father’s home (tabernacle) will be with those who love Him and keep His Words.  

And as Yeshua stated in the following verse (14:24), His Words are His Father’s Words. 

 

Day 1: Jonah’s Prayer  

Jonah was a messenger sent to the people of Ninevah to deliver Yah’s message. The inhabitants of that great city understood this message to be the same Message delivered to Israel and everyone everywhere: repent; for YHWH is merciful and will forgive our sins! 

(Jon. 3:5-9. Cf. Exo. 20:6; 34:6-7; Num. 14:18; Deu. 5:10; 7:9; 2 Ch. 30:9; Neh. 1:5; 9:17; Psa. 51:1; 86:5; 103:8-10; Isa. 43:25; 55:7; Jer. 3:12; Lam. 3:22; Dan. 9:4, 9; Mic. 7:18-19; Eze. 18:32; 33:16; Act. 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 26:20; 1 Jo. 1:9; etc.) 

Like the rest of us, Jonah was human and was reluctant to obey his Master. Consequently, he was tossed overboard and swallowed alive by a massive fish. While in the beast’s belly, Jonah came to his senses. Recorded in Jonah chapter two, Jonah prayed to YHWH the following: 

I cried by reason of my distress to YHWH, and He heard me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried. And You heard my voice.

For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me. All Your breaking waves and Your waves passed over me.

Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight. Yet I will look again toward Your set apart Temple.’

The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head.

I went down to the extremities of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever. Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O YHWH, my Mighty One.

When my soul fainted within me, I remembered YHWH and my prayer went up to You—to Your set apart Temple.

Those who regard false vanities forsake their own Mercy.

But I will slaughter to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed.

Salvation is of YHWH.

One can only imagine the torturous state Jonah was in at this time. For three whole days, he must have felt like he was in hell. Many can only begin to understand affliction on Yom Kippur, or any other day of true fasting. Multiply this by three, then add the uncertainty of survival. He may as well have been buried alive for three days. 

Even in this state, Jonah never lost his faith. He knew that YHWH would resurrect him so that he could “look again toward Your set apart Temple” (v. 4).  

Jonah also understood that YHWH’s mercy only applies to those who trust Him. As he also confessed in this prayer (v. 8), those who pursue empty falsehood reject YHWH’s forgiveness. 

In thanksgiving for YHWH’s mercy in his life, he made vows to bring offerings to the Temple Altar. In this act, Jonah would acknowledge Yah’s salvation! Jon. 2:9-10. See also Psa. 107; 116; & Jer. 33:11. 

In this, we can sing:

       “YHWH is my strength and my song. And He has become my salvation!”
                                                                                (Exo. 15:2; Isa. 12:2; Psa. 118:14) 

 

Day 2: A Song of Praise 

Ezra 3:1, 2, 4 

And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. 

Then Yeshua the son of Yotzadik and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the Mighty One of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of the Almighty. 

They also kept the Feast of Sukkot, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. 

Seventy years into the Babylonian captivity, the word of YHWH, spoken through the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 25:11; 29:10; Dan. 9:2), became a reality. Cyrus, the king of Persia, gave a decree throughout his kingdom that the Temple be rebuilt in Jerusalem. 2 Ch. 36:21-23; Ezr. 1:1-3. 

In the seventh month, 42,360 Israelites scattered throughout Babylon came with Yeshua and Zerubavel. They assembled “as one man” in Jerusalem. Yeshua, of the priestly line, and Zerubavel of the royal line, built an altar and offered burnt offerings. When the fifteenth day came, the people celebrated Sukkot. 

Seven months later, the foundation of the Temple was laid.  

Ezr. 3:8, 10, 11 

Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of the Almighty in Jerusalem… 

When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of YHWH, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise YHWH, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. 

And they sang together, praising and giving thanks to YHWH: 

       “For He is good; for His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” 

Then all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised YHWH because the foundation of the house of YHWH was laid. 

Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jer. 33:11) finds its fulfillment in Ezra 3:11.  

The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: 

       “Praise YHWH of hosts; for YHWH is good.
       For His mercy endures forever” 

and of those who will bring the slaughtering of praise into the house of YHWH. ‘For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says YHWH. 

King Cyrus was merely a glimpse of the Messiah (Isa. 45:1), whom YHWH used to bring about the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.  When Jeremiah’s prophecy finds its ultimate fulfillment, the Shoot of the tribe of David will reign over the earth with justice and righteousness. Jer. 33:11-16. 

Yeshua, the high priest, and Zerubavel, the ruler from the tribe of David, also served as precursors to this Shoot (Zec. 3:8; 4:9; 6:11-13).  

And so, as we approach the end of the final captivity of Zion, we can look forward to the promise of a final gathering. A gathering “as one man” to Jerusalem in the seventh month. We can sing Psalm 118:1! 

The Third Day

1 Ki. 8:54, 65 

And it came to be, as Solomon finished praying all this prayer and supplication to YHWH, that he arose from before the altar of YHWH from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven. 

Now Solomon observed the Feast at that time and all Israel with him, a great assemblage from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt, before YHWH our Mighty One, seven days and seven days—fourteen days. 

Solomon had begun construction of the Temple in the second month of the fourth year of his reign and finished seven and a half years later, in the eighth month. 1 Ki. 6:1, 38.  

Just prior to completion, in the seventh month, all the Israelite men assembled before the Temple Altar. 1 Ki. 8:2, 5. Solomon addressed the people after the priests transported the Ark of the Covenant to its new Home. 

1 Ki. 8:12 /2 Ch. 6:1 

Then said Solomon, “YHWH has said He would dwell in thick darkness.” 

[If we recall, less than five hundred years earlier, YHWH led the people through the desert in a cloud. Exo. 13:21; 40:36-38; 1 Ki. 6:1. He also appeared to Moses in a thick cloud at Mt. Sinai. Exo. 20:21; Deu. 4:11, 5:22. His glory, appearing as a cloud, filled the Tent of Meeting Moses had set up outside the camp (Exo. 33:9) and later the Mishkan within it. Exo. 40:34, 45. After the death of Aaron’s two eldest sons, YHWH told Moses that He would appear in a cloud above the Ark cover. Lev. 16:2.] 

After addressing the people, Solomon spread his hands heavenward and prayed to YHWH—praising Him for His mercy and faithfulness, thanking Him for His promises, and asking Him for His forgiveness to anyone who would pray in or toward this Temple. 1 Ki. 8:22-53; 2 Ch. 6:12-42.  

Finishing his heart-felt prayer, Solomon arose and blessed the people. 1 Ki. 8:54-61. They then slaughtered 144,000 peace offerings and burnt offerings, along with grain offerings, on the Altar. Musical instruments, singing, and dancing were also present during this time of dedicating the Temple. 1 Ki. 8:62-64; 2 Ch. 7:4-7. 

[According to 2 Ch. 7:6, they praised Him because His mercy endures forever!] 

Another beautiful, yet often overlooked, component to this passage is that 2 Chronicles 7:9-10 clarifies that the celebration ended on the twenty-second day of the seventh month.

[The twenty-third day of the month was the day after the eighth day of Sukkot. 2 Ch. 7:9. While Solomon first sent the people to their booths on the eighth day (1 Ki. 8:66), they camped one more night and then departed to their homes the next day.] 

This means that the celebration began on the eighth day of the seventh month. Seven days of dedicating the Temple, seven days for Sukkot, and then assembling on the next day. 2 Ch. 7:9 cf. Lev. 23:36; Neh. 8:18. 

This would make Yom Kippur the third day of this feast. This is significant because it ties Hoshua’s prophecy (that YHWH will raise us up on the third day –Hos. 6:2) with the Scriptures indicating that He will judge the earth for three and a half years beginning on Yom Kippur. 

 

Day 5: Beginning to End 

Gen. 1:1 

In the beginning, the Mighty One created the heavens and the earth. 

In six days, YHWH made everything in both worlds: the heavenly and the earthly. In the spiritual realm, He created the Son of Man and all the angelic hosts. In the reality that we can experience, he created:  

1. Light                                    4. Sun, Moon, and stars
2. Waters and sky                  5. Sea creatures and birds
3. Land and vegetation        6. Land animals and humans  

It can be observed that what He created on day one aligns with what He created on day four. The luminaries of the heavens provide light on the earth.  

Likewise, what He created on day two pairs with that of day five. The sea creatures dwell in the waters and the birds fly in the sky. 

Finally, the land animals from day six inhabit the land He created on day three, and the humans from day six eat the vegetation from day three. 

On the seventh day, YHWH rested from His work. He did this to teach His children to follow His example. In doing so, He left His signature for those eager talmidim to find. 

Following the pattern of the menorah, we can see two groups of three. On the menorah, the two groups of three are three branches on one side and three branches on the other side. Moreover, each of the three branches on either side pairs with the branch on the opposite side. 

Exo. 25:32, 35 

And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: 

And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. 

We can see that the six branches of the menorah correspond to the six days of creation. Like on the menorah, there are three days on one side—day one, two, and three. And on the other side, there are three days—day four, five, and six. 

What divides the two groups of three in the menorah is the middle Branch. What divides the two groups of three in the creation week is true Light. 

[It must be noted that in Biblical Hebrew, there are two words that can be translated as ‘branch’ or ‘shoot’: netzer (Isa. 11:1) and tzemach (Jer. 23:5; 33:15; Zec. 3:8; 6:12). In these passages, both are Messianic titles. Moreover, the Biblical word for ‘Sun’ (which was created in the middle of the creation week) is Shemesh. The word used in Dan. 7:10 and throughout the Peshitta for ‘servant’ is a related word: shemash. ‘Servant’ is also a term used for the Messiah. Zec. 3:8; Isa. 42:1; 49:5; 52:13; 53:11. See also Mat. 20:28; Mar. 10:45; Luk. 22:27; & Phl. 2:7. Finally, the Aramaic reading of Zec. 3:8 & 6:12 has ‘Sunrise’ instead of ‘Branch.’ See also Mal. 4:2.] 

The six days of creation and the six branches of the menorah also show the end from the beginning. The Messiah came to earth on the fourth ‘day’ and will come again on the seventh ‘day’, two days later. 

Day 1 = year 1 to year 1000. Day 2 = year 1001 to year 2000. Day 3 = year 2001 to year 3000.
Day 4 = year 3001 to year 4000. Day 5 = year 4001 to year 5000. Day 6 = year 5001 to year 6000.