Bible Ministries International
NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY CHURCH
Good afternoon and welcome to BMI’s Sunday Online Fellowship. Thank you for joining us, and shall we ask God’s blessing upon our time together…This will be “Sticks” - Part 5, and today’s date is September 11, 2022. We are continuing our examination of the subject of sticks, which is TWOT 1670a, and corresponds to H6086. I mentioned in Part 1 that this specific “word-family” contains two identically spelled shoresh (or roots):
TWOT 1669 He shutteth [`atsaw:H6095] עָצָה
We discovered that the first one was only found in Proverbs 16:30, which speaks about the wicked:
He shutteth [TWOT 1669/`atsaw:H6095] his eyes to devise froward things: moving his lips he bringeth evil to pass.
The second shoresh is identically spelled to the first one with the exception of the vowel pointing. It has two derivatives, 1670a and 1670b. We started discussing the latter last Sunday because it only surfaces in Jeremiah 6:6, so we want to pick up where we left off last week:
For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees [TWOT 1670b/`etsah:G6097], and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this [is] the city to be visited; she [is] wholly oppression in the midst of her.
In our last study we focused on the term, hew ye down. Like so many words in the Bible it has a dual connotation that includes both salvation as well as judgment. Jeremiah 6:6 is concerned with God’s judgment that began at His own house first, as God reminds us in both 1 Peter 4:17 and its counterpart in Jeremiah 25:18 and 28-29 respectively:
For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? [i.e., the world]
[To wit], Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; as [it is] this day; ... {28} And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink. {29} For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Notice in both citations after God mentions that He will start His judgment at His own house first, but then that same judgment transitions to the world at large, which is what has taken place ever since the “Day” of judgment began on May 21, 2011. I’m going to skip the word trees, (TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086) since we have already visited numerous Scriptures that contain this expression in Parts 2 and 3, so let’s proceed to the next phrase …And cast a mount against Jerusalem…
And Cast [shaphak:H8210/TWOT* 2444] A Mount [col@lah:H5550/TWOT 1506b] Against [`al:H5921/TWOT 1624p] & Jerusalem [Y@rushalaim:H3389]
These three expressions only surface together again in verse 22 of Ezekiel 21:1-22, which is describing God’s usage of Babylon (the kingdom of Satan) as the means assault His own house first:
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, {2} Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop [thy word] toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, {3} And say to the land of Israel,
*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I [am] against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. {4} Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: {5} That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more. {6} Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of [thy] loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. {7} And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak [as] water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD. {8} Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, {9} Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: {10} It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, [as] every tree. {11} And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. {12} Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it [shall be] upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon [thy] thigh. {13} Because [it is] a trial, and what if [the sword] contemn even the rod? it shall be no [more], saith the Lord GOD. {14} Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite [thine] hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it [is] the sword of the great [men that are] slain, which entereth into their privy chambers. {15} I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that [their] heart may faint, and [their] ruins be multiplied: ah! [it is] made bright, [it is] wrapped up for the slaughter. {16} Go thee one way or other, [either] on the right hand, [or] on the left, whithersoever thy face [is] set. {17} I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said [it]. {18} The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, {19} Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose [it] at the head of the way to the city. {20} Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. {21} For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made [his] arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. {22} At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem [Y@rushalaim:H3389], to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint [battering] rams against [`al:H5921/TWOT 1624p] the gates, to cast a mount, [and] to build a fort.
This also comes to light in the New Testament, for instance in both Matthew 24:15-16 as well as in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 respectively:
When ye therefore shall see [spiritually] the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) {16} Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin [Satan] be revealed, the son of perdition; {4} Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Please note the four-fold reference to God that Satan assumes for himself, while constantly opposing everything contained in the Word of God, by perverting it to suit His own wicked desires, which is why the Savior’s assessment of him in John 8:44 pinpoints his true character:
Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
We have understood that the hallmark of the Great Tribulation (May 21, 1988 - May 21, 2011) was unparalleled spiritual deception worldwide. This not only applies to Satan, but also to his emissaries, who like their spiritual father, present as angels of light, contrary to the deceitful marketing image of a red devil with horns and a pitchfork. The Bible however gives us the true spiritual nature of Satan and his ambassadors in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15,
For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. {14} And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. {15} Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Paul, under divine inspiration records this affirmation in 2 Corinthians 2:11 and 17,
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. ... {17} For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
Devices [noema:G3540]
The Greek term devices in 2 Corinthians 2:11 is significant as it is only translated as such in this verse. In the other five places in which is appears, it is rendered as either mind or thoughts:
Verse 3 of 2 Corinthians 11:2-4 maintains: For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a chaste virgin to Christ. {3} But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds [noema:G3540] should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. {4} For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him].
Verse 14 of 2 Corinthians 3:12-16 expresses this word as minds: Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: {13} And not as Moses, [which] put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: {14} But their minds [noema:G3540] were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which [vail] is done away in Christ. {15} But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. {16} Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
Verse 5 of 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 renders this word as thought: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: {4} (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) {5} Casting down imaginations [logismos:G3053], and every high thing [hupsoma:G5313] that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought [noema:G3540] to the obedience of Christ;
Verse 4 of 2 Corinthians 4:17 refers to God blinding the minds of mankind through original sin, but then opening the minds of God’s elect in salvation:
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; {2} But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. {3} But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: {4} In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds [noema:G3540] of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. {5} For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. {6} For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. {7} But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Verse 7 of Philippians 4:6-8 is a wonderful encouragement and reminder that we all need to hear over and over again during this “day” of judgment, in which God’s elect face various trials and tests; once again, this term is included as minds. Please note what God’s sheep are to focus on, according to verse 8 which are not only the attributes of the Messiah, but of His blessed Word as well:
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.{7} And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds [noema:G3540] through Christ Jesus. {8} Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things [are] honest, whatsoever things [are] just, whatsoever things [are] pure, whatsoever things [are] lovely, whatsoever things [are] of good report; if [there be] any virtue, and if [there be] any praise, think on these things.
With that important admonition in mind, let’s continue our investigation of the second half of Jeremiah 6:6 which I will read again:
For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this [is] the city to be visited; she [is] wholly oppression in the midst of her.
The City [`iyr:H5892/TWOT 1587a, 1615] & To Be Visited [paqad:H6485/TWOT 1802]
The two expressions, the city and to be visited emerge together in these next five citations:
Verse 21 of Jeremiah 37:17-21 reveals how Jeremiah was treated for teaching that Judah and Jerusalem were to submit themselves to the kingdom of Babylon (Satan’s kingdom), or be destroyed. Because he obediently brought God’s message of impending judgment he was considered a traitor and was placed in jail. These two words are translated that they should commit and the city:
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there [any] word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. {18} Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? {19} Where [are] now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? {20} Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. {21} Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit [paqad:H6485/TWOT 1802] Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city [`iyr:H5892/TWOT 1587a, 1615] were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
Verse 5 of Jeremiah 40:1-5 records what happened to Jeremiah after the Babylonians had conquered Jerusalem and Judah: The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon. {2} And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said unto him, The LORD thy God hath pronounced this evil upon this place. {3} Now the LORD hath brought [it], and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. {4} And now, behold, I loose thee this day from the chains which [were] upon thine hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon, come; and I will look well unto thee: but if it seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear: behold, all the land [is] before thee: whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to go, thither go. {5} Now while he was not yet gone back, [he said], Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor [paqad:H6485/TWOT 1802] over the cities [`iyr:H5892/TWOT 1587a, 1615] of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go.
Judges 20:15 records the response of the children of Benjamin because they refused to relinquish the men of Gibeah who had been responsible for abusing the Levite’s concubine in Judges 19, which is a historical parable pertaining to God’s judgment commencing at His own house first. These terms appear as were numbered/which were numbered and out of the cities:
And the children of Benjamin were numbered [paqad:H6485/TWOT 1802] at that time out of the cities [`iyr:H5892/TWOT 1587a, 1615] twenty and six thousand men that drew sword, beside the inhabitants of Gibeah, which were numbered [paqad:H6485/TWOT 1802] seven hundred chosen men.
The next entry is in verse 6 of 1 Samuel 20:1-7 in which David asks Jonathan to inform his father King Saul (who typifies Satan) that he would not be at the dinner table as was required at the new moon because he had to go to Bethlehem for a yearly sacrifice, as David (representing the Messiah) was quite sure that Saul wanted to kill him; these words are rendered as at all miss and his city:
And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what [is] mine iniquity? and what [is] my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? {2} And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it [is] not [so]. {3} And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly [as] the LORD liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, [there is] but a step between me and death. {4} Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do [it] for thee. {5} And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow [is] the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third [day] at even. {6} If thy father at all [paqad:H6485/TWOT 1802] miss [paqad:H6485/TWOT 1802] me, then say, David earnestly asked [leave] of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city [`iyr:H5892/TWOT 1587a, 1615]: for [there is] a yearly sacrifice there for all the family. {7} If he say thus, [It is] well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, [then] be sure that evil is determined by him.
Verse 44 of Nehemiah 12:27-28, 31, and 43-47 employ the terms appointed and of the cities as the completion of the wall was dedicated to Jehovah:
And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, [with] cymbals, psalteries, and with harps. {28} And the sons of the singers gathered themselves together, both out of the plain country round about Jerusalem, and from the villages of Netophathi; ... {31} Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great [companies of them that gave] thanks, [whereof one] went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate: ... {43} Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. {44} And at that time were some appointed [paqad:H6485/TWOT 1802] over the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities [`iyr:H5892/TWOT 1587a, 1615] the portions of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited. {45} And both the singers and the porters kept the ward of their God, and the ward of the purification, according to the commandment of David, [and] of Solomon his son. {46} For in the days of David and Asaph of old [there were] chief of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God. {47} And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the porters, every day his portion: and they sanctified [holy things] unto the Levites; and the Levites sanctified [them] unto the children of Aaron.
The remaining words that we want to consider are wholly oppression and in the midst of her. We will have to consider these individually:
Oppression [`osheq:H6233/TWOT 1713a]
The term, oppression, is modified by the words wholly and in the midst underscoring that the totality of this sin is so rampant in God’s corporate body (Israel in the first place, and the end-time churches and denominations, secondly) that she is the very embodiment of it. Here are a few illustrations:
Psalm 119:134 teaches: Deliver me from the oppression [`osheq:H6233/TWOT 1713a] of man: so will I keep thy precepts.
In Isaiah 59:13 oppression is linked to speaking lies, and departing from Truth: In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression [`osheq:H6233/TWOT 1713a] and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
Ezekiel 22:29 declares the same in which both the noun form (oppression) as well as the verb form (yea they have oppressed) which the noun form stems from: The people of the land have used oppression [`osheq:H6233/TWOT 1713a], and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed [`ashaq:H6231/TWOT 1713] the stranger wrongfully.
Well, let’s stop here. Lord willing, in our next study we will turn our focus to Ezekiel 37:16-20. Please stay tuned for the remainder of our Hymn sing next.
Good afternoon and welcome to BMI’s Sunday Online Fellowship. Thank you for joining us, and shall we ask God’s blessing upon our time together…This will be “Sticks” - Part 6, and today’s date is September 18, 2022. We are continuing our examination of the subject of sticks, which is TWOT 1670a, and corresponds to H6086. Let’s read Ezekiel 37:15-20, in which this word sticks appears eight times in these five verses:
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, {16} Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions: {17} And join them one to another into one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086]; and they shall become one in thine hand. {18} And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou [meanest] by these? {19} Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and they shall be one in mine hand. {20} And the sticks [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
Le’s consider these two sticks, and what they might symbolize spiritually by themselves, and then once they are joined together, in light of how God employs this word as was discussed in Parts 2 and 3; please bear in mind that these passages by no means exhaustive, but help to give some of the nuances contains in this word:
Let’s take a closer look at verses 16-20 to see what God might reveal to us with regard to this historical parable, starting with the expression, son of man.
Son [ben:H1121/TWOT* 254] of Man [’adam:H120/TWOT 25a]
These two words literally mean son of Adam or ben adam, and are used 93 times in the book of Ezekiel - more than in any other Old Testament book. In fact, the New Testament equivalent expression, Son [huios:G5207] of man [anthopos:G544] surfaces 87 times. The Hebrew word ben is used in a variety of ways, not just to refer to a physical male descendants, but to children in general including grand-children, the male offspring of animals, and other types of classifications, such as sons of the prophets or son of eight days. For example, in Ezekiel 37:16 we discover the phrase …and for the children [ben:H1121/TWOT 254] of Israel…in which, …and for the children… is this word, ben.
The term for man or ’adam refers to mankind being created in the image of God, the apex of God’s creation, and ruler of this world, prior to the Fall. This cannot be said of any of the other marvelous creatures that God made and that populate our amazing world that God spoke into existence. Man’s descent into sin could only be rectified by a Redeemer - the second Adam - to atone for the transgressions of His chosen elect at …the foundation of the world, reconciling these hopelessly lost sinners to fellowship with the Triune Godhead forever and ever, and serve Him with a perfect soul and in time to come, with a glorified spiritual body. One of the places in which this is laid out, is in Romans 5:12-21,
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: {13} (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. {14} Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. {15} But not as the offence, so also [is] the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, [which is] by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)
{16} And not as [it was] by one that sinned, [so is] the gift: for the judgment [was] by one to condemnation, but the free gift [is] of many offences unto justification. {17} For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) {18} Therefore as by the offence of one [judgment came] upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [the free gift came] upon all men unto justification of life. {19} For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. {20} Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: {21} That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Take [laqach:H3947/TWOT 1124] Thee One [’echad:H259/TWOT 61] Stick [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a]
The command take thee one stick is given to Ezekiel by God, and consists of three words that only appear again in verse 19 of this chapter, and curiously in Genesis 3:22, regarding the Fall of mankind that was alluded to a minute ago:
Ezekiel 37:19 declares: Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take [laqach:H3947/TWOT 1124] the stick [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a]
of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a] of Judah, and make them one [’echad:H259/TWOT 61] stick [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a], and they shall be one [’echad:H259/TWOT 61] in mine hand.
Genesis 3:22 affirms: And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one [’echad:H259/TWOT 61] of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take [laqach:H3947/TWOT 1124] also of the tree [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a] of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Stick [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a] & And Write [kathab:H3789/TWOT 1053]
We next learn that Ezekiel is told to write upon one of the sticks. The two expressions, our word stick along with and write also emerge in verse 20, and in four other citations:
And the sticks [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a] whereon thou writest [kathab:H3789/TWOT 1053] shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
These are the other four references in which these two words appear together:
Nehemiah 8 is an important chapter as it takes place within the seventh month which celebrates the Jubile on the first day, which is the essence of the Gospel, (along with the Day of Atonement on the 10th which is not mentioned here) and the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) starting on the 15th for seven days, which is what verse 15 is focused on. What is also noteworthy is the tremendous emphasis on the Word of God in this chapter and how to study the Word of God (which is tantamount to worship) according to verses 7-8 that parallel the same principle of comparing spiritual with spiritual in 1 Corinthians 2:13. This is significant as it pertains to our day, as God’s elect have been spiritually celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles (or Feast of the Bible as Mr. Camping explained it) since the Jubilee year of 1994, as God continues to reveal more and more truth from the Bible, and God’s saints have a desire to be as faithful as possible to the Bible. These terms are rendered as (pine) branches, trees, and as written:
And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a], and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a], to make booths, as [it is] written. [kathab:H3789/TWOT 1053]
The next entry is in Nehemiah 10:34 in which these expressions are rendered the wood along with as written,
And we cast the lots among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a] offering, to bring [it] into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at times appointed year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as [it is] written [kathab:H3789/TWOT 1053] in the law:
This is part of a document that goes back to Chapter 9 in which Israel confesses their national sins and rehearses God’s gracious dealings with them, as verse 38 testifies, in which the same word for write
And because of all this we make a sure [covenant], and write [kathab:H3789/TWOT 1053] [it]; and our princes, Levites, [and] priests, seal [unto it].
By drafting this oath they were in essence pledging anew to obey the Word of God, as Nehemiah 10:29 acknowledges:
They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;
The next illustration in which these two words emerge as a tree along with and it was written in Esther 2:23, in which these two chamberlains rebelled against King Ahashuerus, and plotted to kill him. From what I recall these two men represent the rebellion of God’s corporate people and God’s judgment that fell upon them, because God’s retribution begins at His own house first, which again points to the time of the end. The number two can typify the “custodians of the Gospel” as Jesus sent out His apostles by two and two (according to Mark 6:7, And he called [unto him] the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;)
And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a]: and it was written [kathab:H3789/TWOT 1053] in the book of the chronicles before the king.
The last of these four references is in Isaiah 10:19, which also coincides with our present day, and highlights an important spiritual principle. In this chapter God is underscoring that He will use Assyria to come against the northern kingdom (or Samaria) for her spiritual adultery, which historically occurred in 709 BC, and is highlighted in this chapter. This was followed by Babylon coming against Judah precisely 100 years later in 609 BC. However, after God uses these heathen nations to execute His fierce judgment against His corporate people, He then focuses His attention on destroying them, as we see today in the world at large that has …fall[en] into the hands of the living God, as Hebrew 10:31 warns.
Verse 19 Isaiah 10:16-19 is speaking specifically of God’s judgment against Assyria, followed by the encouraging passage in verses 20-35 pertaining to the blessings of God’s chosen children in our day, and the division that God is orchestrating in the kingdom of Satan (this world) that has been subjected to God’s wrath:
Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire. {17} And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his briers in one day; {18} And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth. {19} And the rest of the trees [`ets:H6086/TWOT 1670a] of his forest shall be few, that a child may write [kathab:H3789/TWOT 1053] them. {20} And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. {21} The remnant shall return, [even] the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. {22} For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, [yet] a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. {23} For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land. {24} Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. {25} For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
In sum we see that that the foregoing Scriptures that include these two terms, stick and write, in Ezekiel 37:16 (and 19), identify with our day in the following ways:
We are not surprised that this has to do without day, as what preceded verses 16-20 is the parable of the valley of dry bones in verses 1-14 which eventually we want to investigate as well along with verse 21-28 that also have to do with Christ and His Body on earth.
Now we want to turn our attention to these two sticks that are represented by Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions and for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions. How are we to understand the spiritual significance of each of these epithets, as they can refer to various spiritual portraits. Let’s examine Judah first.
For Judah [J@huwdah:H3063/TWOT 850c]
In BMI’s Judges study we have been exploring the account of Judah and his adulterous affair with his daughter-in-law Tamar, as the theme of the Kinsman-Redeemer comes shining through, in spite of the sinfulness of even God’s elect. Here are some other notable passages that help us to define what God has hidden within the name and character of Judah:
The name Judah refers to Leah’s fourth son (after Reuben, Simeon, and Levi and before Issachar and Zebulun) whose names stems from the verb praise (yada:H3034/TWOT 847), which curiously also consists of the expression hand or yad (H3027/TWOT 844), even though it is from a different word-family; we read this in Genesis 29:35,
And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah [J@huwdah:H3063/TWOT 850c]; and left bearing.
In Genesis 49:8-12 as Jacob presents these prophetic utterances regarding his 12 sons, under divine inspiration, we learn this of Judah, and please note the identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
Of the sons of Jacob, what we read about Judah is the longest and equal in length to that of Joseph which is relevant to our study at hand:
Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. {9} Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? {10} The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. {11} Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: {12} His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
By comparison, consider that which is written of Joseph in verses 22-26 of this same chapter:
Joseph [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall: {23} The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated him: {24} But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) {25} [Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: {26} The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
The thought just occurred to me that perhaps we should stop here, and first investigate these two portions of Scripture first, before examining the other notices that revolve around either Judah or Joseph, as they undoubtedly, will contain much spiritual truth that will help us to spiritually unravel what God might have in view with these two sticks. Lord willing, we can start that process in our next study. Please stay tuned for the remainder of our Hymn Sing next.
Good afternoon and welcome to BMI’s Sunday Online Fellowship. Thank you for joining us, and shall we ask God’s blessing upon our time together…This will be “Sticks” - Part 7, and today’s date is September 25, 2022. We are continuing our examination of the subject of sticks, which is TWOT 1670a, and corresponds to H6086. Let’s read Ezekiel 37:15-20, in which this word sticks appears eight times in these five verses:
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, {16} Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions: {17} And join them one to another into one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086]; and they shall become one in thine hand. {18} And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou [meanest] by these? {19} Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and they shall be one in mine hand. {20} And the sticks [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
At the close of our last study I mentioned that today we would start to examine two key passages that speak about Judah as well as Joseph to gain a little more understanding of these two men and who they represent spiritually as an assist to see how God used them in Ezekiel 37:16-20.
In Genesis 49:8-12 as Jacob presents these prophetic utterances regarding his 12 sons, under divine inspiration, we learn this of Judah, and please note the identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
Of the sons of Jacob, what we read about Judah is the longest and equal in length to that of Joseph which is relevant to our study at hand:
Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. {9} Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? {10} The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. {11} Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: {12} His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
By comparison, consider that which is written of Joseph in verses 22-26 of this same chapter:
Joseph [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall: {23} The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated him: {24} But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) {25} [Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: {26} The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
Judah - Genesis 49:8-12 - A Closer Look
Judah [Y@huwdah:H3063/TWOT* 850c] & Shall Praise [yadah:H3034/TWOT 847]
*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)
The name Judah stems from the verb shall praise. These two words appear together in two other notices:
Genesis 29:35 speaks of Judah’s birth, who was Leah’s fourth child: And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise [yadah:H3034/TWOT 847] the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah [Y@huwdah:H3063/TWOT 850c]; and left bearing.
Coincidentally we are learning about Judah as the Kinsman-Redeemer in our Judges study, even as Samson is about to marry a Philistine woman, who typifies the unsaved elect, as he too spiritually fulfills that same role as the Kinsman-Redeemer. Incidentally we see this same principle of the Kinsman-Redeemer so beautifully fulfilled in the account of Boaz and Ruth as well.
The other reference is in Zechariah 1:21, Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These [are] the horns which have scattered Judah [Y@huwdah:H3063/TWOT 850c], so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out [yadah:H3034/TWOT 847] the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up [their] horn over the land of Judah [Y@huwdah:H3063/TWOT 850c] to scatter it.
The term for praise is rendered them to cast out in Zechariah 1:21. This passage has to do with God judging the heathen nations (Assyria and Babylon) that God utilized to come against the divided kingdom for their spiritual idolatry; Assyria against Samaria in 709 BC, and Babylon against Judah in 609 BC. However after doing that, God then turns his attention to punishing those nations for their pride in doing so, which spiritually ties in to what is taking place today as God is punishing the world (spiritual Babylon) and dividing Satan’s kingdom, which is the literal fulfillment of Matthew 12:24-29 of Satan’s house or kingdom be divided today, even though spiritually this was taking place as verse 29 declares during the very long “day” of salvation, whenever any of the elect became regenerated:
But when the Pharisees heard [it], they said, This [fellow] doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. {25} And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: {26} And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? {27} And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast [them] out? therefore they shall be your judges. {28} But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. {29} Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
After the 70-year Babylonian captivity (which is the second Great Tribulation in the Bible) Darius the Median conquered Babylon “without firing a shot,” fulfilling the handwriting on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace in Daniel 5:25-31,
And this [is] the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. {26} This [is] the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. {27} TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. {28} PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. {29} Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and [put] a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. {30} In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. {31} And Darius the Median took the kingdom, [being] about threescore and two years old.
Incidentally, the next word, thy hand, in Genesis 49:8 is the Hebrew expression yad (H3027/TWOT 844) and is actually part of the word yadah, or praise, that the name Judah stems from. We have also correctly understood that spiritually the hand is symbolic of the will of the one in view, and ultimately this would point to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself - the Lion of the tribe of Judah. In the immediate context of Genesis 49:8, the hand or will of Judah (with the Messiah in view spiritually) has to do with defeating his foes, as the next phrase, in the neck of thy enemies, highlights.
Spiritually this is alluding to Christ’s victory over Satan and his kingdom, and ultimately death and the grave (annihilation) itself, as Psalm 110:1-2 and 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 and 55-58 respectively testify:
[A Psalm of David.] The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. {2} The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. {25} For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. {26} The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death. ... {55} O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory? {56} The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law. {57} But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. {58} Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
It is vital for God’s elect to take to heart the exhortation found in verse 58 which is crucial in navigating the stormy waters of the “day” of judgment until their feet touch the shores of the New Heavens and New Earth, by God’s enabling and guidance.
In The Neck [`oreph:H6203/TWOT 1700a] Of Thy Enemies [’oyeb:H341/TWOT 78]
The two words that make up this phrase, in the neck of thy enemies, surface in these next six citations:
Along the same lines of what we just read in both Psalm 110 and 1 Corinthians 15, 2 Samuel 22:41 and Psalm 18:40 (which are identical) likewise affirm this same truth:
2 Samuel 22:41 declares: Thou hast also given me the necks [`oreph:H6203/TWOT 1700a] of mine enemies [’oyeb:H341/TWOT 78], that I might destroy them that hate me.
And Psalm 18:40 maintains: Thou hast also given me the necks [`oreph:H6203/TWOT 1700a] of mine enemies [’oyeb:H341/TWOT 78]; that I might destroy them that hate me.
Exodus 23:27 was God’s assurance to the Israelites that they would be victorious over their enemies as they made their way towards the Promised Land of Canaan (which typifies the Kingdom of God and pictures the Gospel expansion throughout the world during the “day” of salvation); these two words are rendered here as thine enemies and turn their backs:
I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies [’oyeb:H341/TWOT 78]
turn their backs [`oreph:H6203/TWOT 1700a] unto thee.
In stark contrast we witness the severe consequences when Israel rebelled against God’s commandments. In this case it was the sin of one man, Achan. These terms are translated backs and enemies once again in verses 8 and 12 of Joshua 7:8-12,
O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs [`oreph:H6203/TWOT 1700a] before their enemies! [’oyeb:H341/TWOT 78] {9} For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear [of it], and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? {10} And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? {11} Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put [it] even among their own stuff. {12} Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, [but] turned [their] backs [`oreph:H6203/TWOT 1700a] before their enemies [’oyeb:H341/TWOT 78], because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
The last reference is in verse 17 of Jeremiah 18:1-17 which also pinpoints God’s judgment against His own house first, and really exemplifies God’s sovereign will which is never thwarted by the evil intentions of sinful mankind, which we could say is indeed a “lesson from the Potter’s House,” as the potter’s house surfaces twice, and the potter four times. Notice also the word hand (or will) again in verses 4 and 6 which is this Hebrew word yad (H3027/TWOT 844) which is the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet and the letter-word yod that signifies hand which makes up part of the word for praise or yadah (H3034/TWOT 847). In verse 17 of Jeremiah 18 the two terms in the neck of thy enemies are expressed as them the back along with of their calamity:
A Lesson From The Potter’s House
The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, {2} Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. {3} Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. {4} And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand [yad:H3027/TWOT 844] of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make [it]. {5} Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, {6} O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay [is] in the potter's hand [yad:H3027/TWOT 844], so [are] ye in mine hand [yad:H3027/TWOT 844], O house of Israel. {7} [At what] instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy [it]; {8} If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. {9} And [at what] instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant [it]; {10} If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them. {11} Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. {12} And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart. {13} Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing. {14} Will [a man] leave the snow of Lebanon [which cometh] from the rock of the field? [or] shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? {15} Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways [from] the ancient paths, to walk in paths, [in] a way not cast up; {16} To make their land desolate, [and] a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head. {17} I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back [`oreph:H6203/TWOT 1700a], and not the face, in the day of their calamity. [’oyeb:H341/TWOT 78]
Let’s now consider the rest of Genesis 49:8 … thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
We know that Judah’s father is Jacob historically, and spiritually would illustrate God the Father, even as Judah exemplifies Christ as the Kinsman-Redeemer, as was discussed earlier in today’s study. We know that historically his brothers would bow down to Joseph when he was Prime Minister in Egypt. We also recognize that Judah was the one who volunteered to be a bondman to Joseph, in exchange for Benjamin to go back with the other brothers when they returned to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan according to Genesis 44:30-34 and 45:1 as he was willing to fulfill the part of a Substitute in order to save Benjamin - as another portrait of the Savior - even though as it turns out this was not necessary, as Joseph then revealed his identity to his brethren at that point:
Now therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad [Benjamin] [be] not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life; {31} It shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad [is] not [with us], that he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave. {32} For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever. {33} Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren. {34} For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad [be] not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father. {45:1} Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
The remaining phrase … thy father’s children shall bow down, consists of three words that only appear together again in the subsequent Scriptures, having to do with true worship, as the Master declared to the woman at the well in John 4:21-24, in which this topic surfaced during their conversation:
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. {22} Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. {23} But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. {24} God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
Thy Father’s [’ab:H1/TWOT 4a] Children [ben:H1121/TWOT 254] Shall Bow Down [shachah:H7812/H7360]
Exodus 20:5 declares what God demands of mankind in no uncertain terms as written in the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not bow down [shachah:H7812/H7360] thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers [’ab:H1/TWOT 4a] upon the children [ben:H1121/TWOT 254] unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
Deuteronomy 5:9 is the parallel passage and similarly asserts: Thou shalt not bow down [shachah:H7812/H7360] thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers [’ab:H1/TWOT 4a] upon the children [ben:H1121/TWOT 254] unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me,
The last entry is in verse 33 of 1 Kings 11:1-13 and 26-40, which records Solomon’s rebellion against Jehovah, and the consequences of his actions which caused the kingdom to be divided after Solomon’s death. However, before he died God raised up three different enemies that Solomon had to contend with. These words are expressed as me and have worshipped, of the children, and his father:
But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, [and] Hittites; {2} Of the nations [concerning] which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: [for] surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. {3} And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. {4} For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, [that] his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as [was] the heart of David his father. {5} For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. {6} And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as [did] David his father. {7} Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that [is] before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. {8} And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. {9} And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, {10} And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded. {11} Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. {12} Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: [but] I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. {13} Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; [but] will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen. ... {26} And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name [was] Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up [his] hand against the king. {27} And this [was] the cause that he lifted up [his] hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, [and] repaired the breaches of the city of David his father. {28} And the man Jeroboam [was] a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. {29} And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two [were] alone in the field: {30} And Ahijah caught the new garment that [was] on him, and rent it [in] twelve pieces: {31} And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: {32} (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:) {33} Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped [shachah:H7812/H7360] Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children [ben:H1121/TWOT 254] of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do [that which is] right in mine eyes, and [to keep] my statutes and my judgments, as [did] David his father. [’ab:H1/TWOT 4a] {34} Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes: {35} But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, [even] ten tribes. {36} And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there. {37} And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel. {38} And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do [that is] right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee. {39} And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. {40} Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
In our next lesson we will examine Genesis 49:9, Lord permitting. Please stay tuned for the remainder of our Hymn Sing.
Good afternoon and welcome to BMI’s Sunday Online Fellowship. Thank you for joining us, and shall we ask God’s blessing upon our time together…
This will be “Sticks” - Part 8, and today’s date is October 2, 2022. We are continuing our examination of the subject of sticks, which is TWOT 1670a, and corresponds to H6086. Let’s read Ezekiel 37:15-20, in which this word sticks appears eight times in these five verses:
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, {16} Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions: {17} And join them one to another into one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086]; and they shall become one in thine hand. {18} And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou [meanest] by these? {19} Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and they shall be one in mine hand. {20} And the sticks [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
Last Sunday we began examining verse 8 of Genesis 49:8-12, in which Jacob, under divine inspiration, speaks of the blessings of Judah, which I will now read again:
Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. {9} Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? {10} The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. {11} Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: {12} His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
Today, we will focus on verse 9, starting with the first phrase, Judah is a lion’s whelp…
Judah [Y@huwdah:H3063/TWOT* 850c] [Is] A Lion’s [’ariy:H738/TWOT 158a] Whelp [guwr:H1482/TWOT 331b]
Since we already spent some time on Judah in our previous study, let’s investigate the last two terms, a lion’s whelp.
A Lion’s [’ariy:H738/TWOT 158a] Whelp [guwr:H1482/TWOT 331b]
These two expressions, a lion’s whelp, emerge in three other citations:
In Deuteronomy 33:22, Dan who is synonymous with judgment is associated with a lion’s whelp: And of Dan he said, Dan [is] a lion's [’ariy:H738/TWOT 158a] whelp [guwr:H1482/TWOT 331b]: he shall leap from Bashan.
Verse 2 of Ezekiel 19:1-14 is a lament against Israel as the target of God’s judgment first (as she represents the churches and denominations that came under God’s
wrath, before it transitioned to the world at large, as in our current “day” of judgment):
*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)
Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, {2} And say, What [is] thy mother? A lioness [labiy:H3833/TWOT 1070b, c]: she lay down among lions [’ariy:H738/TWOT 158a], she nourished her whelps [guwr:H1482/TWOT 331b] among young lions. [k@phiyr:H3715/TWOT 1025a, d] {3} And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men. {4} The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt. {5} Now when she saw that she had waited, [and] her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, [and] made him a young lion. {6} And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, [and] devoured men. {7} And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring. {8} Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit. {9} And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel. {10} Thy mother [is] like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters. {11} And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches. {12} But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them. {13} And now she [is] planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground. {14} And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, [which] hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod [to be] a sceptre to rule. This [is] a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.
Notice in verse 2 there are actually four different words that are depicting various kinds of lions; apparently there are seven different terms for lions in the Old Testament. We have been learning much about a lion (exemplifying the Messiah) in our Judges study, as we have arrived at Judges 14 in which Samson kills a young lion with his bare hands, and later finds a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion. Curiously we discovered that the root word for the expression, young lions [k@phiyr:H3715/TWOT 1025a, d] (which, by the way, is the same word here in Ezekiel 19:2) is the word for atonement, found over 100 times in the Old Testament. As an example, it is rendered pitch in Genesis 6:14. In fact Genesis 6:14 includes both the verb form, shalt pitch, as well as the noun form, with pitch, which stems from the verb form:
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch [kaphar:H3722/TWOT 1023-1026] it within and without with pitch. [kopher:H3724/TWOT 1025b]
The third entry that we want to consider in which the two terms a lion’s whelp are found is in verse 11 of Nahum 2:1-13. Just as in Ezekiel 19:2, verse 11 (and 12) includes the two terms lionesses/old lions and young lions. This passage also underscores God’s judgment beginning at His own house first along with God’s retribution against Nineveh (Assyria) for daring to come against Israel:
He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make [thy] loins strong, fortify [thy] power mightily. {2} For the LORD hath turned away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel: for the emptiers have emptied them out, and marred their vine branches. {3} The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men [are] in scarlet: the chariots [shall be] with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken. {4} The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings. {5} He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared. {6} The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved. {7} And Huzzab shall be led away captive, she shall be brought up, and her maids shall lead [her] as with the voice of doves, tabering upon their breasts. {8} But Nineveh [is] of old like a pool of water: yet they shall flee away. Stand, stand, [shall they cry]; but none shall look back. {9} Take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold: for [there is] none end of the store [and] glory out of all the pleasant furniture. {10} She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain [is] in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.{11} Where [is] the dwelling of the lions [’ariy:H738/TWOT 158a], and the feedingplace of the young lions [k@phiyr:H3715/TWOT 1025a, d], where the lion [’ariy:H738/TWOT 158a],[even] the old lion [labiy:H3833/TWOT 1070b, c], walked, [and] the lion's [’ariy:H738/TWOT 158a] whelp [guwr:H1482/TWOT 331b], and none made [them] afraid? {12} The lion [’ariy:H738/TWOT 158a] did tear in pieces enough for his whelps [guwr:H1482/TWOT 331b], and strangled for his lionesses [labiy:H3833/TWOT 1070b, c], and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin. {13} Behold, I [am] against thee, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions [k@phiyr:H3715/TWOT 1025a, d]: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.
From The Prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b ] & Thou Art Gone Up [`alah:H5927/TWOT 1624]
The next two expressions in Genesis 49:9 are from the prey and thou art gone up. These only appear together again in Ezekiel 19:3, in which they are rendered as she brought up and the prey:
And she brought up [`alah:H5927/TWOT 1624] one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b ]; it devoured men.
It might be a good idea to take a closer look at each of these words, if God would be pleased to give us further insight into their spiritual connotations:
From The Prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b]
This term belongs to a word-family that includes three derivatives, as laid out in the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Its fundamental significance denotes seizing an animal, tearing it apart, and eating it.
The first derivative is only found in verse 11 of Genesis 8:6-12 as a Hebrew adjective in which the dove that Noah sent out, pluckt off an olive leaf which was in her mouth when she returned to the Ark:
And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: {7} And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. {8} Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; {9} But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters [were] on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. {10} And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; {11} And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth [was] an olive leaf pluckt off [taraph:H2965/ TWOT 827a]: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. {12} And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.
The second derivative is the Hebrew noun from the prey as in Genesis 49:9. This word appears in 21 other citations as the following verses illustrate:
Earlier in today’s study I mentioned Nahum 2:12 as it includes the words a lion’s whelp. This verse also contains this expression with prey:
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b], and his dens with ravin.
This is also seen in verse 21 of Psalm 104:19-25, in which this is rendered after their prey. In this beautiful Psalm we encounter the glory and majesty of God’s Person as well as well as the cycle that He set in motion of birth, death, and renewal as He cares for and sustains all of His Creation by His power and might:
He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. {20} Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep [forth]. {21} The young lions roar after their prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b], and seek their meat from God. {22} The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens. {23} Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening. {24} O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
Similarly, Job 24:5 includes this word as for a prey again: Behold, [as] wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b] the wilderness [yieldeth] food for them [and] for [their] children.
Proverbs 31:15 speaks of the elect (woman), who spiritually feed each other with Truth; this word is translated meat here: She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b] to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
This is also reiterated in Psalm 111:5, in which God feeds His children in the same way with the spiritual meat of the Word of God: He hath given meat [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b] unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.
Part of Balaam’s prophecy, under divine inspiration, refers to Israel (picturing God’s elect people) executing judgment in this way in Numbers 23:24,
Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat [of] the prey, [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b] and drink the blood of the slain.
This also parallels what one reads in Revelation 19:17-18 (and elsewhere) regarding the supper of the great God, in which judgment is once again clearly in view:
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; {18} That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [men, both] free and bond, both small and great.
By contrast, verses 25 and 27 of Ezekiel 22:23-31 pinpoint those who bring a false gospel which only leads to death and destruction, in which the prey emerges again:
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, {24} Son of man, say unto her, Thou [art] the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. {25} [There is] a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. {26} Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed [difference] between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. {27} Her princes in the midst thereof [are] like wolves ravening the prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b], to shed blood, [and] to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. {28} And her prophets have daubed them with untempered [morter], seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. {29} The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. {30} And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. {31} Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
In Job 29:17 this word is expressed as the spoil: And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b] out of his teeth.
Here again what is in view is God rescuing His elect from the prison house of Satan as these next references acknowledge:
Mark 3:27 testifies: No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
In similar fashion, Isaiah 42:5-13 presents this glorious affirmation of God’s sovereignty and salvation power: Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: {6} I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; {7} To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, [and] them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. {8} I [am] the LORD: that [is] my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. {9} Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. {10} Sing unto the LORD a new song, [and] his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. {11} Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up [their voice], the villages [that] Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. {12} Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands. {13} The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
The last entry that we want to consider in which this second derivative is found in Malachi 3:10 in which the meat in view is related to the tithes which also typify God’s redeemed saints:
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b] in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it].
The third derivative in this word-family is always translates as a form of the Hebrew noun torn, with the exception of Nahum 2:12, in which it is rendered with ravin, which was discussed earlier as it also contains the terms the lion, for his whelps, as well as the second derivative, with prey:
The lion [’ariy:H738/TWOT 158a] did tear in pieces enough for his whelps [guwr:H1482/TWOT 331b], and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b], and his dens with ravin. [t@repha:H2966/TWOT 827c]
In verse 39 of Genesis 31:36-42 Jacob is rebuking Laban, and this word emerges in verse 39 as that which was torn. This passage illustrates that the reality of tending sheep is far from being an idyllic glamorous undertaking as one might assume:
And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What [is] my trespass? what [is] my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? {37} Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set [it] here before my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us both. {38} This twenty years [have] I [been] with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. {39} That which was torn [t@repha:H2966/TWOT 827c]
[of beasts] I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, [whether] stolen by day, or stolen by night. {40} [Thus] I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes. {41} Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times. {42} Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked [thee] yesternight.
Why don’t we stop here. Lord willing, we will continue our investigation of Genesis 49:9 in our next study. Please stay tuned for the remainder of our Hymn Sing next.
Good afternoon and welcome to BMI’s Sunday Online Fellowship. Thank you for joining us, and shall we ask God’s blessing upon our time together…
[ANNOUNCEMENT]
This will be “Sticks” - Part 9, and today’s date is October 9, 2022. We are continuing our examination of the subject of sticks, which is TWOT 1670a, and corresponds to H6086. Let’s read Ezekiel 37:15-20, in which this word sticks appears eight times in these five verses:
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, {16} Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions: {17} And join them one to another into one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086]; and they shall become one in thine hand. {18} And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou [meanest] by these? {19} Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and they shall be one in mine hand. {20} And the sticks [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
We have been investigating Genesis 49:8-12, in which Jacob, under divine inspiration, speaks of the blessings of Judah, which I will now read again:
Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. {9} Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? {10} The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. {11} Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: {12} His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
In our last study we left off at verse 9 commencing with…thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
So today we want to begin by considering the rest of these phrases, and we have already seen how these verses highlight the Work and Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
In Part 8 we discovered that from the prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT* 827b]
include both a positive and a negative connotation, as we have seen with so many words in the Bible:
Proverbs 31:15 speaks of the elect (woman), who spiritually feed each other with Truth; this word is translated meat here: She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b] to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
This is also reiterated in Psalm 111:5, in which God feeds His children in the same way with the spiritual meat of the Word of God: He hath given meat [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b] unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.
*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)
Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat [of] the prey, [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b] and drink the blood of the slain.
Judgment is also in view in verses 25 and 27 of Ezekiel 22:23-31 that pinpoint those who bring a false gospel which only leads to death and destruction, in which the prey emerges again:
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, {24} Son of man, say unto her, Thou [art] the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. {25} [There is] a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b]; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. {26} Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed [difference] between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. {27} Her princes in the midst thereof [are] like wolves ravening the prey [tereph:H2964/TWOT 827b], to shed blood, [and] to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. {28} And her prophets have daubed them with untempered [morter], seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. {29} The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. {30} And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. {31} Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.
Thou Art Gone Up [`alah:H5927/TWOT 1624]
Let’s consider the English phrase, thou art gone up, which is the Hebrew word, `alah. It is part of a very large “word-family” that contains 16 derivatives. It is primarily translated as go up, come up, and ascend, and immediately we think of an offering as well as resurrection, as the subsequent passages testify:
For example in Genesis 22:2 and 13 we see both the verb form, and offer him, as well as the noun form, for a burnt offering: And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him [`alah:H5927/TWOT 1624] there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. ... {13} And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind [him] a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up [H5927] for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
In Jonah 2:6 the verb form is rendered yet hast thou brought up with regards to Christ’s resurrection from death and annihilation at… the foundation of the world, which is typified by Jonah is the belly (or womb) of hell (or the grave), according to verse 2:
I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars [was] about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up [`alah:H5927/TWOT 1624] my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
The next word that we want to examine in Genesis 49:9 is expressed by the English phrase he stooped down.
He Stooped Down [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044]
This word is translated in a number of different ways, and conveys the idea of kneeling in worship or in servitude as the following citations illustrate:
It surfaces again in Balaam’s parable in Numbers 24:9 as He couched, which is very similar to the middle section of Genesis 49:9, He couched, [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044] he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed [is] he that blesseth thee, and cursed [is] he that curseth thee.
We ran across this term in BMI’s ongoing Judges series according to these next references:
Judges 5:27 uses this word three times (dramatically pointing to the purpose of God) as he bowed in describing the death of Sisera (who exemplifies Satan’s demise) at the hands of Jael (who represents God’s elect):
At her feet he bowed [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044], he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044], he fell: where he bowed [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044], there he fell down dead.
Judges 7 likewise includes this expression twice in connection with those that did not bow down upon their knees, which stresses the posture that this word is emphasizing. These remaining 9700 men were not part of Gideon’s three hundred man army (who picture the elect). We also wonder why the 300 men are being linked to dogs, which are unclean animals. The answer is that God uses dogs as a figure of judgment (incidentally this is also the case with regards to the meaning of Caleb’s name) as in Jeremiah 15:3, And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.
Judges 7:5-6 maintain: So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044] upon his knees to drink. {6} And the number of them that lapped, [putting] their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044] upon their knees to drink water.
Judges 11:35 uses this term twice with regards to Jephthah’s anguish when he realized that he had to sacrifice his only daughter in keeping with his vow; these three words are expressed as thou hast brought me very low:
And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044] [H0] me very [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044] low [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044] and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
1 Kings 8:54 also stresses the posture that this term embodies as Solomon offered his prayer to Jehovah at the dedication of the Temple, in which this term is rendered from kneeling:
And it was [so], that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044] on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
1 Kings 19:18 contains this expression in the negative by referring to the elect (typified by the 7000): Yet I have left [me] seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044] unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
By contrast 2 Kings 1:13 incorporates this term in the posture of the third captain of fifty and his fifty who supplicated for mercy before Elijah: And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044] on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.
2 Chronicles 7:3 reveals this same position once again as God’s people worship Jehovah as they witnessed the glory of God revealed in the Temple - another portrait of God the Son, Who is The Temple as He declared in John 2:19,
And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044]
themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, [saying], For [he is] good; for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
Along these same lines, Job 4:4 maintains the importance of …the patience and comfort of the Scriptures… (Romans 15:4), in which this expression is expressed as the feeble: Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble [kara`:H3766/TWOT 1044] knees.
I think you get a pretty good idea of how God utilizes this word, so let’s move on to the the next term, in Genesis 49:9, he couched, which pinpoints the stance of both the lion and the old lion which normally refers to resting or to a resting place as the subsequent Scriptures affirm. Please note both the negative and positive aspects that are embedded in this expression, underscoring both salvation as well as judgment:
He Couched [rabats:H7257/TWOT 2109]
In Numbers 22:27 this is evident in the posture of Balaam’s donkey, in which this term is translated she fell down: And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down [rabats:H7257/TWOT 2109] under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.
Verse 20 Deuteronomy 29:16-28 pinpoints God’s judgment against all those who worship other gods; this word is rendered shall lie:
(For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by; {17} And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which [were] among them:) {18} Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go [and] serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; {19} And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: {20} The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie [rabats:H7257/TWOT 2109] upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven. {21} And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law: {22} So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it; {23} [And that] the whole land thereof [is] brimstone, and salt, [and] burning, [that] it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: {24} Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what [meaneth] the heat of this great anger? {25} Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: {26} For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and [whom] he had not given unto them: {27} And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: {28} And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as [it is] this day.
Lord willing, when we are finished working on Genesis 49:8-12 with regard to Judah, we will search out Genesis 49:22-26 with respect to Joseph and in verse 25 this same word emerges as that lieth:
Genesis 49:25, [Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth [rabats:H7257/TWOT 2109] under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
These next references illustrate God’s the eternal security, tranquility, and comfort that God’s saints enjoy in their Savior for His Work of redemption on their behalf:
Psalm 23:2 reminds us of the tender love and concern that the Good Shepherd has for His beloved sheep in John 10:7-11,
Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. {8} All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. {9} I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. {10} The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly. {11} I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
This of course is a great encouragement to God’s saints today to emulate that same love for Christ and love for His elect by feeding them with Truth.
Psalm 23:2 states: He maketh me to lie down [rabats:H7257/TWOT 2109] in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
This also arises in the New Heavens and the New Earth as Isaiah 11:6-7 so wonderfully depicts, in which this word is rendered shall lie down twice:
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down [rabats:H7257/TWOT 2109] with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. {7} And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down [rabats:H7257/TWOT 2109] together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
Lastly, Ezekiel 34:14-15 provides an excellent distinction between God as the great Shepherd of the sheep (as He is titled in Hebrews 13:20) in comparison to the unfaithful shepherds in the churches and denominations that came under the wrath of God throughout the Great Tribulation, which this chapter discusses in detail. These words are translated as shall they lie and will cause them to lie down:
I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and [in] a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. {15} I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.
Since we have already discussed the expressions …as a lion, and as an old lion… in one of our earlier studies, I won’t go over that material again. Instead we can advance to the last two terms in the question at the end of verse 9, …who shall rouse him up?
Shall Rouse Him Up [quwm:H6965/TWOT 1999]
This expression, shall rouse him up, is also part of an extensive “word-family” that includes eight derivatives. We will consider just a few of the places in which it is found. Predominantly it is used as “rising up” as in our verse:
In the context of salvation, and reminding us of part of Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:8 this is translated as He raiseth up in Psalm 113:7,
He raiseth up [quwm:H6965/TWOT 1999] the poor out of the dust, [and] lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
In Isaiah 33:10 this surfaces as will I rise [quwm:H6965/TWOT 1999], and please note how it is linked to will I be exalted and will I lift up: Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.
Isaiah 14:24 includes this as stand: The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, [so] shall it stand: [quwm:H6965/TWOT 1999]
In a chapter that speaks of our present “day” of judgment, Isaiah 24:20 also expresses this as rise: The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise [quwm:H6965/TWOT 1999] again.
Isaiah 40:8 is a magnificent affirmation to bring today’s study to a close, in which this word is translated shall stand: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand [quwm:H6965/TWOT 1999] for ever.
Lord willing, in our next study, we will consider verse 10. Please stay tuned for the remainder of our Hymn Sing next.
Good afternoon and welcome to BMI’s Sunday Online Fellowship. Thank you for joining us, and shall we ask God’s blessing upon our time together… This will be “Sticks” - Part 10, and today’s date is October 16, 2022. We are continuing our examination of the subject of sticks, which is TWOT 1670a, and corresponds to H6086. Let’s read Ezekiel 37:15-20, in which this word sticks appears eight times in these five verses:
The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, {16} Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions: {17} And join them one to another into one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086]; and they shall become one in thine hand. {18} And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou [meanest] by these? {19} Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086], and they shall be one in mine hand. {20} And the sticks [TWOT 1670a/`ets:H6086] whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
We have been investigating Genesis 49:8-12, in which Jacob, under divine inspiration, speaks of the blessings of Judah, which I will now read again:
Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. {9} Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? {10} The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. {11} Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: {12} His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
We have arrived at verse 10 in this magnificent spiritual portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ - the Lion of the tribe of Judah - which we now want to address to see the spiritual gems that God has hidden in this verse. We can’t help but truly rejoice in the fact that God has not only given us His Word, but He opens the understanding of His people to behold such precious spiritual treasures as stated, for instance, in
Matthew 13:52,
Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe [which is] instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man [that is] an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure [things] new and old.
This is also so beautifully expressed in Luke 24:27-32 and 44-45 as Christ encountered the two disciples as they journeyed to Emmaus, and then later as He appeared to the others, and reiterated the principle of opening their spiritual eyesight and hearing, and that He is the focus of every word, verse, and even the letters and shapes of the letters:
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. {28} And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. {29} But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. {30} And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed [it], and brake, and gave to them. {31} And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. {32} And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? ... {44} And he said unto them, These [are] the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and [in] the prophets, and [in] the psalms, concerning me.
{45} Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
Well, keeping that in mind, let’s proceed to see what God has in store for His people spiritually in Genesis 49:10, beginning with the term, The sceptre. We will be looking at these terms in verse 10 individually, as they do not appear together in other passages, as far as I could tell.
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be].
This expression, The Sceptre, also points to the Word of God itself, as it is also expressed as rod and a few times as staff, although not as frequently as the word, tribes. Let’s take a closer look at this term to try to understand why …the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, although we suspect that this has something to do with authority of the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the sceptre which kings held symbolized their sovereign authority over their subjects. We recognize that The Messiah is also KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS - the Eternal Potentate - as He is described in these next citations in the book of Revelation:
Revelation 1:4 and 8 maintain: John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; ... {8} I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
And Revelation 4:8 affirms this as well: And the four beasts living creatures had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
The Sceptre [shebet:H7626/TWOT* 2314a]
*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)
This word surfaces in Numbers 24:17 which is part of Balaam’s prophecy concerning God the Son: I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre [shebet:H7626/TWOT 2314a] shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
This is also the case in the majestic language of verse 6 of Psalm 45:1-8, in which Christ is being exalted as the One True, Living King above all others, Who rules in absolute Truth, because He is the very embodiment of Absolute Truth, Perfection, Righteousness and Holiness; the expression sceptre occurs twice in verse 6:
[To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves.] My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue [is] the pen of a ready writer. {2} Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.{3} Gird thy sword upon [thy] thigh, O [most] mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. {4} And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness [and] righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. {5} Thine arrows [are] sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; [whereby] the people fall under thee. {6} Thy throne, O God, [is] for ever and ever: the sceptre [shebet:H7626/TWOT 2314a] of thy kingdom [is] a right sceptre. [shebet:H7626/TWOT 2314a] {7} Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. {8} All thy garments [smell] of myrrh, and aloes, [and] cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
Let’s also turn to verse 5 of Isaiah 14:5 which is set against the backdrop of Satan’s demise: The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, [and] the sceptre [shebet:H7626/TWOT 2314a] of the rulers.
Here are a few more examples of how God employs this expression:
Psalm 23:4 also renders this as me thy rod, underscoring …the patience and comfort of the Scriptures… (Romans 15:4), Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod [shebet:H7626/TWOT 2314a] and thy staff they comfort me.
Psalm 78 is a historical parable that chronicles God’s dealings with Israel and this term emerges in verses 55, and 67-68. I’ll read the context of verses 54-72, as verse 67 pertains to Ephraim and Judah which ties right into our study in Ezekiel 37:15-20, and underscores the importance of feeding sheep in our present “day” of judgment:
And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, [even to] this mountain, [which] his right hand had purchased. {55} He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes [shebet:H7626/TWOT 2314a] of Israel to dwell in their tents. {56} Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: {57} But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. {58} For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. {59} When God heard [this], he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: {60} So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent [which] he placed among men; {61} And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand. {62} He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance. {63} The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. {64} Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation. {65} Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, [and] like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. {66} And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach. {67} Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe [shebet:H7626/TWOT 2314a] of Ephraim: {68} But chose the tribe [shebet:H7626/TWOT 2314a] of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. {69} And he built his sanctuary like high [palaces], like the earth which he hath established for ever. {70} He chose David [typifying the Good Shepherd] also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: {71} From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. {72} So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
In fact, Ezekiel 37:19 includes this word, and the tribes: Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes [shebet:H7626/TWOT 2314a] of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
There is an Aramaic equivalent to this Hebrew word, sceptre, which is identically spelled to the Hebrew (except for the vowel pointings), and has an additional letter yod (the 10th and smallest Hebrew letter, and signifies the hand). Aramaic is an offshoot of Hebrew, and generally only differs in pronunciation). This Aramaic expression surfaces in only three passages in the book of Esther:
Sceptre [sharbiyt:H8275/TWOT 2314b]
Esther 4:11 records: All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, [there is] one law of his to put [him] to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre [sharbiyt:H8275/TWOT 2314b], that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
Esther 5:2 likewise adds: And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, [that] she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre [sharbiyt:H8275/TWOT 2314b] that [was] in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. [sharbiyt:H8275/TWOT 2314b]
Similarly, Esther 8:4 states: Then the king held out the golden sceptre [sharbiyt:H8275/TWOT 2314b] toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,
Depart [cuwr:H5493/TWOT 1480]
Let’s think about the next term in verse 10, that of the sceptre not departing from Judah, which we can understand to mean that God’s authority over mankind will never cease. After all, he is both our Creator and Sustainer, and if one is not saved our Judge, but if one has been redeemed, our Savior. This expression conveys the nuances of putting or taking away, departing, removing, and turning aside, etc. as these next Scriptures indicate:
Joshua 1:7 records God’s command to Joshua as he had been appointed to succeed Moses, in which this word is translated turn: Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn [cuwr:H5493/TWOT 1480] not from it [to] the right hand or [to] the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
Judges 16:20, however, renders this as was departed: And she said, The Philistines [be] upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed [cuwr:H5493/TWOT 1480] from him.
2 Chronicles 34:33 chronicles good king Josiah’s obedience in ridding the country of anything that was contrary to God’s Word; this word is expressed as took away and departed:
And Josiah took away [cuwr:H5493/TWOT 1480] all the abominations out of all the countries that [pertained] to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, [even] to serve the LORD their God. [And] all his days they departed [cuwr:H5493/TWOT 1480] not from following the LORD, the God of their fathers.
Just as the elect are commanded to not depart from following Jehovah, the emphasis in Job 28:28 is to depart from evil, which is defined as understanding:
And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom; and to depart [cuwr:H5493/TWOT 1480] from evil [is] understanding.
Job 19:9 speaks of Christ spiritually when he left His throne of glory to be the Savior of His elect sheep in the atonement at…the foundation of the world: He hath stripped me of my glory, and taken [cuwr:H5493/TWOT 1480] the crown [from] my head.
Nor A Lawgiver [chaqaq:H2710/TWOT 728]
We recognize that the Bible is the Supreme Law book for mankind. In fact we are told in Romans 7:1 and 10-12, that unsaved mankind is married to that Divine Law, and because all it takes is one sin to violate that Holy Writ, mankind stands absolutely guilty before its Holy pages:
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? ... {10} And the commandment, which [was ordained] to life, I found [to be] unto death. {11} For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew [me]. {12} Wherefore the law [is] holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Now the One that gave the Law is the Lawgiver. The following notices are a sampling of how God employs this expression:
Isaiah 33:22 affirms: For the LORD [is] our judge, the LORD [is] our lawgiver [chaqaq:H2710/TWOT 728], the LORD [is] our king; he will save us.
Job 19:23 renders this as printed: Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed [chaqaq:H2710/TWOT 728] in a book!
However in Isaiah 30:8, it is translate and note: Now go, write it before them in a table, and note [chaqaq:H2710/TWOT 728] it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
Verse 16 of Isaiah 49:15-16 tenderly expresses this as I have graven in this comforting Scripture: Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. {16} Behold, I have graven [chaqaq:H2710/TWOT 728] thee upon the palms of [my] hands; thy walls [are] continually before me.
His Feet [regel:H7272/TWOT 2113a]
Now we can proceed to the next word in Genesis 49:10 which is His feet. The feet like the hands spiritually denote the will of who is in view, and the direction the feet take (whether good or evil) which in this verse refers to the Messiah. In this sense it is similar to the word depart that we considered earlier. These next notices reveal some of the ways God employs this term:
Nahum 1:3 and 15 decree: The LORD [is] slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit [the wicked]: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds [are] the dust of his feet. [regel:H7272/TWOT 2113a] ... {15} Behold upon the mountains the feet [regel:H7272/TWOT 2113a] of him [pointing to Christ] that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.
Verse 15 is also quoted in Romans 10:15, And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them [the elect are in view] that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
And this word appears in Habakkuk’s prayer in verse 5 of Habakkuk 3:1-6, as at his feet: A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. {2} O LORD, I have heard thy speech, [and] was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy. {3} God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. {4} And [his] brightness was as the light; he had horns [coming] out of his hand: and there [was] the hiding of his power. {5} Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet. [regel:H7272/TWOT 2113a]
Shiloh [Shiyloh:H7886] from Prosper [shalah:H7951/TWOT 2392]
The word Shiloh only surfaces in this verse, but it is derived from a word that is primarily rendered as prosper, and once as safety and happy. The location of the Tabernacle was set up in the city of Shiloh [Shiyloh:H7887/TWOT 2376] by Joshua; it also came under the judgment of God during the time of Eli the priest, and his two wicked sons. Here are some examples of the root shalah (H7951/TWOT 2392)
Job 3:26 states: I was not in safety [shalah:H7951/TWOT 2392], neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
And Psalm 122:6 maintains: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper [shalah:H7951/TWOT 2392] that love thee.
Jeremiah 12:1 poses this rhetorical question, in which this word is expressed as happy: Righteous [art] thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of [thy] judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? [wherefore] are all they happy [shalah:H7951/TWOT 2392] that deal very treacherously?
And Unto Him Shall The Gathering [yiqqahah:H3349/TWOT 902a]
The expression, and until him shall the gathering be is only found in Proverbs 30:17, which is curious, but we can understand that the gathering involves the elect, who by God’s grace were made obedient by His enabling. By contrast those who do obey (all the non-elect) their “father” (typifying God the Father) and “mother” (representing the Word of God, by which one is born again) will experience death and annihilation:
The eye [that] mocketh at [his] father, and despiseth to obey [yiqqahah:H3349/TWOT 902a] [his] mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
In our next lesson, we will consider verse 11, Lord permitting. Please stay tuned for the remainder of our Hymn Sing next.
