Author Archives: Mark

Terah and His Granddaughters the Mothers of Israel

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Terah, the little-known figure in Genesis 11 is the grandfather of Israel.  His granddaughters are the “mothers of Israel” and his grandsons are the “fathers of Israel”.  To clear the air at the start of the post, families intermarried 4,000 years ago.  Genetically that would not work well now.  The gene pool seems to have been corrupted along with society as we have moved away from the Garden.  I am not trying to do genetics in this post because I am not qualified, but I will note some of the non-Terah additions.   

Terah, it seems, had several wives, none of them are named.  We know that Abram and Sarai were half-siblings, but Nahor, Terah’s second son, married the daughter (Milcah) of his third son – Haran.  I guess you lose sight of the fact that this is still tracing the family line back to Noah and then to Seth and Adam.  Flip that forward you have the family line of those who first “called on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26 NIV).  

Rebekah, Terah’s great-granddaughter, married her cousin Isaac, and his great, great, granddaughter’s Leah and Rachel married their cousin Jacob.  Milcah was Terah’s granddaughter, her son Bethuel fathered Laban and Rebekah.  Laban was with Bethuel when Abraham’s servant was handing out things to get Isaac a wife – Rebekah.  Besides Leah and Rachel Laban had sons (Genesis 31:1).  We have no idea who the mother of Laban was or who his wife was.  Haran had another son, Iscah, but nothing is said about him.

Names – Strong’s Concordance has no meaning associated with Terah.  Nahor is the name of Terah’s father and second son, it may mean snoring.  Bethuel, who is not mentioned in Genesis 29:5, may mean “destroyed of God”.  Laban may mean brick or white.  I like names and their meanings but you may have to do more than a quick search to form an opinion before you make it part of the story.

The Other Mothers of Israel

Leah and Rachel account for nine tribes in Israel. Laban gave his daughters maidservants – Leah was given Zilpah and Rachel received Bilhah.  The two servants had four sons for Jacob.  We know nothing of these two girls and a safe guess is they came from the Haran area.  This should complicate the family bloodline a bit but they are still “children” of Abraham.

The Wives of Jacob’s Sons  

Isaac and Jacob were both “encouraged” to go back to the family in Padan Haran to find brides.  The servant who was entrusted with the task was not to take Isaac back there.  Rebekah was “upset” with the women around them and not too happy that Esau had found his wives from the Canaanites. (I believe that Esau in Genesis 28:8+9 took a bride from Ishmael in an attempt to please his father. A wife from within the family.)  Jacob probably knew he would not be welcomed by Laban if he was looking for wives for his sons.  So, where did the girls come from?  Joseph’s wife was an Egyptian; they had Manasseh and Ephraim.  Judah married Shua and had children by Tamar (Jesus’ grandmother), they were both Canaanites. The easy answer to the wives is Canaanites, or “Jacob’s servants” he acquired in Haran, or women from Shechem.  If we are thinking genetics, the family line has spread out again and the line of Terah was not added in for the twelve sons to form their families.  Once the family population was greater they could go back to marrying cousins.

Part of the Law was not to intermarry with the people/nations around them.  Ruth is a worthy inclusion, she is a granddaughter of Lot through his son Moab.  All three of Terah’s sons added to the bloodline of the Hebrew nation and more specifically, Judah. 

Terah 

This is definitely a “what if”!  Terah in Genesis 11:31 seems to be the first one going to Canaan.  When he left Ur, he traveled northwest to skirt the desert.  He made it to Haran (the town with the name of his dead son) and stayed and died there.  Nahor and Milcah are not mentioned in Genesis 11:31, 32.  Were they already in Haran, which is why Terah never left?  Don’t know! They may have followed after Terah and Abram.  

The stated reason for leaving Ur was to go to Canaan.  Was Terah following the voice of God?  Did he just stop following the leading and stayed in Haran?  Was he just going with Abram who was really the one called?  Would the whole family (Terah, Nahor, Lot, and Abram) going and being in Canaan changed the major points of history?   

The Really BIG What If

Were these direct descendants of Seth going to Canaan to meet Melchizedek?  We are not told of any other meetings between Abraham and Melchizedek other than Genesis 14.  I just find it hard to believe they did not meet.  And the ten percent Abraham gave was a lot of possessions to someone you did not know.  Yes, the region of Moriah could have been the land controlled by the King of Salem, but that was after Abraham’s victory (Genesis 22).

Oh!

We can see what Canaan did to Lot.  Laban would have been really bad.  Well, Sodom would have been burned up by his time, but I don’t think Laban would have done well there.  Israel had enough problems with Moab, Ben-Ammi, Esau, and Ishmael, the family infighting would have gone to another level.

Abraham not wanting Isaac to go back to Haran could have been for two reasons. Frist, Haran was not a nice place.  Second, Abraham knew that Isaac’s blessings would only be found in Canaan, the place where there was a priest like Melchizedek.  Genesis 15: 7+8 confirms the calling and the possession of the land.

Kings and Prophets of Judah

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Kings and Prophets of Judah and Israel is a study help.  I believe the prophets are paired with the king(s) they served with, there may be some over-lapping that I did not catch. 

Logos – Truth

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Truth, the word, as part of the logos of John’s Gospel (KJV) is used by John, himself, questioned by Pilate, and given by Jesus.  In my Strong’s/Vines Concordance it is G #225 – Aletheia (truth) it signifies the reality lying at the basis of an appearance, the manifested, veritable essence of a matter. G #230 or “of a truth” (truly) is used by the disciples at the feeding of the five thousand when the leftovers were picked up (6:14), and the Jew’s at the Feast of Tabernacles (7:40).  

In the 2011 version of the NIV, John uses the word truth in forty-two verses, in his Gospel he used it in twenty-three verses, and in nineteen verses in 1,2, and 3 John.  The word truth is not used in Revelations.  This is in contrast to Matthew who uses it once in his Gospel. (Different translations will differ in the total number of uses.  These numbers are for the base word truth, so truthful, etc. is included.  True does come into play in some translations.) The New Testament uses truth 102 times, while the Old Testament has thirty-five uses of the word.

John using the word truth more than the other writers of the Bible makes sense because John is showing us that Jesus is the Christ and God’s Son.  There have been seven outstanding miracles highlighted in John.  This is a shame because more miracles are documented in the Gospel of John (See Plus One and +++).  The total number is not given because Jesus healed large numbers of people at various times in that Gospel. Truth is used a large number of times to highlight John’s purpose in declaring Jesus as the Son of God.

So, is truth a capstone, something to always be reaching for, or is it a foundation stone, something that you are built on and has always has held you up?  One will always have you looking and never finding your answer.  The other one you can rest on knowing it is there. If you go looking for it, it may still be hard to find, you may have to dig a bit, but you know it has always held you up.

Friday of Holy Week had Jesus being questioned by a man in John 18: 28-40.  These two men had very different views on what truth was.  Pilate’s question (vs 38), “What is truth” shows that he viewed it as a capstone, something that he was unable to reach or know.  Jesus’ statement in verse 37 has Him resting on His foundation so that He can testify to the truth even in His moment of trouble.

That precious “morning moment” when I woke up and those two choices played around in my mind made me realize I needed to choose one.  In fact, it has shown me that there are other foundation stones that I keep putting in the wrong place.  God’s love, grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit are a few things that I have put high into the air, to reach for, instead of realizing that they are what has always held me up as a Christian.

If truth has always been out of your reach, make the Logos of God your foundation by praying the pray in “Following Jesus” at the top of this post, or learn to rest on Jesus if you have prayed that prayer.

Lost Tribes of Israel??????????

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Are there ten tribes of Israel lost?  I guess it depends on how you look at it.  The Naked Archeologist did a movie and explored the topic, it was interesting.  Back to the question – are the ten tribes of Israel lost?  I don’t know where they are but Father God never lost them, He knows where they are.  2 Kings 17:7-23 tells the reasons why God put them out of His presence.  Verse 23 states that at the time of the writing of Kings they were still in exile.

This was an interesting way for Assyria (and Babylon) to control a conquered nation. The “winners” would just make the population pack up their stuff and move them far away.  2 Kings 17:24 tells the story of who was brought in to take Israel’s place.  They became known as the Samaritans in New Testament.  But was everyone taken?  Babylon in conquering Judah never seemed to take everyone (Jeremiah 52:28).  2 Kings 17:6, 18:11 tells us where they (Samaria) were taken and 1 Chronicles 5:26 adds that the east bank tribes were also taken to the same place – the Habor River.

Okay, the reason for this thought and post is what tribes were the Twelve disciples from?  It would make sense that the Twelve are from those who returned from Babylon and that should have been the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi.  We do not know and are not told; the topic is never brought up in the Gospels.  In the Gospels and Revelations, it seems like the Twelve will be judging the Tribes.  Ezekiel divided the land around the New Temple/Jerusalem for the twelve tribes. Now, let us look and see what tribes are talked about after 2 Kings 17:23.

2 Chronicles 30 is the story of Hezekiah’s Passover, in verses 10, 11, and 18 other tribes are sent the message and invited to come to celebrate in Jerusalem.  Actually, the proclamation went from “Dan to Beersheba”, or from the top to the bottom, or from north to the south of the country.  That phrase is a code for all of Israel.  Beersheba is at the bottom (south) of Judah near the land of Edom and Dan is in the north (See Judges).  (To add to the drama 2 Kings 23:8 and Amos 8:14 talk about “a god” that was worshiped in Beersheba.) People from Ephraim, Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Issachar responded to the call and came to the Passover. Not all of the people were sent to the Habor River by the Assyrians, or some came back!

The one tribe that really makes me think is Simeon. Genesis 49:7 states that Levi and Simeon will be scattered in Israel.  Levi is easy to see, they were given towns in Israel because of their work with the Tabernacle and Temple.  The land Simeon received was inside Judah to the south of Jerusalem.  But Jeroboam got ten of the twelve tribes in 1 Kings 11:31. Did Simeon move out? 

The New Testament has Anna from the tribe of Asher talking to Mary and Joseph at the Temple.  Paul is very proud to be from the tribe of Benjamin in Romans 11.  And Jesus was from the tribe of Judah and there were priests in the Temple from Levi.  So, several tribes are mentioned after the exile of the northern tribes.

I will still go with the idea that the tribes of Israel are not lost, the Father knows exactly where they are.  As children of Abraham, they will come to Him when the time is right.

My take away. God’s people are everywhere some just still need to be found.

Rachel – The Loved

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Rachel-The Loved is a spin-off of Leah The Overlooked.  Rachel is a type of grace, she did nothing to get the love of Jacob.  Since Rachel had her faults it needs to be mentioned that to be a “type and shadow” every characteristic and action does not have to be perfect.  Leah and Rachel are many of the pairs of people that are used to teach us lessons in the Bible.  (Examples – Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, David and Jonathan, Paul and Peter.  The pair does not need to be in conflict but their actions teach us something.)   

Rachel is a picture of grace because she did nothing to inspire Jacob’s love for her.  Rachel means ewe or female sheep (#7354 Strong’s).  Like David, her grandson, she was probably taking care of the sheep because she was the youngest.  Genesis 29:17 (NIV) says she was “lovely in form and beautiful” but I can imagine her as a tough and harden individual.  Taking care of sheep was not easy work. 

As a “mother of Israel” she bore Jacob Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) and Benjamin.  Benjamin was the last child born to Jacob and was the “other tribe” that stayed with Jerusalem when the kingdom split under Rehoboam. (Judah and Levi are the tribes who stayed.)

Rachel had her share of struggles and problems, but she was loved.  I can imagine Jacob’s anger when Laban’s household gods came out of the camel’s saddle as they went to Bethel (Genesis 35).  In spite of her issues Jacob still loved her, that is grace.  

Leah – All that is said about her was that she was older and had “delicate or weak eyes”.  I have heard many negative things said about Leah over the years.  Considering that she had seven children by Jacob I cannot imagine that she was ugly or some of the other things I have heard.  Leah according to Strong’s (#3812) means “to be or make weary”.  I read this as speaking to her life and the pain she endured from Rachel, Jacob, and her father.  Laban used his daughters to snare Jacob and then used up everything that came from the bridal cost – fourteen years of work.  She also had to watch her first three sons not receive a blessing from their father – Ruben committed adultery and Levi and Simeon slaughtered the men of Shechem bring trouble to Jacob/Israel.

It would be very easy to cast Leah as “natural Israel” and all of the weariness they have endured over the millennia.  I just don’t think it is that easy!  Leah is still a “mother of Israel” and the grandmother of Jesus.  So, my type is going to be edgier than that – she is a picture of those who are working for their place at the feast and not those who understand and walk in grace.  That can cover the people who sit in Christian churches every week and still struggle with their walk with Jesus. Compare this to Rachel you enjoyed the love of Jacob even when she did some pretty outrageous things.

Laban’s Daughters – These two girls are probably behind the command in Leviticus 18:18 not to marry your wife’s sister.  Siblings will disagree, unfortunately, it may be very heated.  In reading Genesis 29 through 31 it is obvious these ladies have issues.  I will not attempt to excuse them but please do not discount the example they were raised by – Laban.  But you got to love the Bible, it does not pull punches.  Problems and praises can be on the same page.  Sometimes you wish more was written as that would help frame the issues better.  On somethings, they are not so, just study (thoroughly) and don’t take things out of context.  

The last post in this series (hopefully) will be on the family that produces the players from Abram to the Exodus.  It is important to remember that even though Leah was chosen and placed with Jacob, and Rachel was loved by him both played a part in the Father’s plan.