May 23, 2025: Isaiah 49:23 (Part 4 of 7) - They Shall Bow Down to Thee

“And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” - Isaiah 49:23

Note to readers: Because of the length of this devotional, I have decided to split it up into 7 parts. This is part 4. I also have a link that contains the entire devotional.

Now, let us return to Jacob. Genesis 29:11 states, “And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.” Clearly, Jacob was happy to be there, having arrived at his uncle Laban’s house. Jacob told Rachel who he was, and she went and told her father, Laban. It was there that Jacob would realize that his uncle Laban was a lot like himself. Laban had two daughters, the oldest being Leah and the youngest was Rachel. Jacob liked Rachel, and she was the one whom Jacob had seen first when he arrived in Haran. After Jacob stayed at Laban’s house for a month:

“And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother [family], shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought [nothing]? tell me, what shall thy wages be? And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah was tender eyed [delicate or soft]; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured [of form and appearance]. And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter. And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.” (Genesis 29:14-19)

Thus, Laban and Jacob made an agreement that Jacob would serve Laban seven years and then Laban would give Rachel’s hand in marriage to Jacob. After the seven years had passed, Laban made a feast with Jacob and all the men there. However, in the evening when it was dark, Laban brought not his youngest daughter, Rachel to Jacob but his oldest daughter, Leah, without Jacob realizing it was Leah. They had sexual intercourse that night, and in the morning, Jacob realized that it wasn’t Rachel but Leah. Jacob then confronted Laban:

“…What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then has thou beguiled [deceived] me?” (Genesis 29:25)

Jacob must have felt like his father Isaac had felt when Jacob had deceived him into believing that he was Esau in order to receive his father’s blessing. Let us read Laban’s response to Jacob:

“And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country [place], to give the younger before the firstborn. Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years. And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to [as] wife also.” (Genesis 29:26-28)

When Laban had given Leah to Jacob, Laban had given one of his handmaids, Zilpah, to Leah. When Laban gave Rachel to Jacob, Laban also gave to Rachel his handmaid Bilhah. Finally, Jacob was with the wife he loved, Rachel, and they had sexual intercourse. Jacob stayed there another seven years. What followed was a sad story of how Leah loved her husband Jacob but he loved Rachel. At that time, Leah was the only daughter who conceived children with Jacob. She felt unloved, and God had opened her womb, but Rachel was not able to conceive. Rachel envied her sister because she was able to give her husband children but Rachel was not able to. Like his grandmother, Sarah had done with Abraham and her handmaiden, Rachel told Jacob to have sexual intercourse with her handmaiden, Bilhah. Then Leah also had Jacob have sexual intercourse with her handmaiden, Zilpah. Ultimately, Rachel was able to conceive and bore Jacob two sons. It was as though Leah and Rachel were in a competition as to who could have the most children between themselves and their handmaidens. All of this is detailed in Genesis 29:31-30:24. Ultimately, Jacob had twelve sons and one daughter. I have listed by their birth order their names and the Scripture references below. I have put in bold font the names of the twelve sons who were born to Jacob:

1-Reuben (Leah’s firstborn son; Genesis 29:32); 2-Simeon (Leah’s second son; Genesis 29:33); 3-Levi (Leah’s third son; Genesis 29:34); 4-Judah (Leah’s fourth son; Genesis 29:35); 5-Dan (Bilhah’s first son; Genesis 30:4-6); 6-Naphtali (Bilhah’s second son; Genesis 30:7-8); 7-Gad (Zilpah’s first son; Genesis 30:9-11); 8-Asher (Zilpah’s second son; Genesis 30:12-13); 9-Issachar (Leah’s fifth son; Genesis 30:17-18); 10-Zebulun (Leah’s sixth son; Genesis 30:19-20); 11-Dinah (Leah’s only daughter; Genesis 30:21); 12-Joseph (Rachel’s first son; Genesis 30:22-24); 13-Benjamin (Rachel’s second son; Rachel died after giving birth; Genesis 35:17-18)

When I first read this, it was surprising to me to know the details about how Jacob had twelve sons. I naively thought that everyone in the Bible must have been perfect in their ways in order for God to use them. However, we see time and time again that God knows that we are not perfect and yet, He still uses us to accomplish His plan for mankind and for His glory. I am thankful for the honesty in God’s word. Oftentimes in historical records, humans try to cover up the sordid details and make people look much better than they truly were, but God doesn’t do that. He shows us that even though we may not be perfect, if we are faithful to Him, He can still use us in many ways, just as He did with Jacob.

After Rachel’s first son, Joseph was born, Jacob went to Laban and asked him to let him, his wives, and his children leave so that he could finally return to his father’s house. Once again, Laban resisted Jacob and asked him to stay longer because he knew that God had blessed him after Jacob came. He told Jacob to name his price to stay and he would pay it. Jacob responded by saying:

“Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock: I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle [sheep], and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire [these shall be my wages]. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire [about my wages] before thy face: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word.” (Genesis 30:31-34)

Thus, Laban agreed to give all the speckled, spotted, and brown sheep and goats to Jacob, which apparently were fewer in kind than the other colors of sheep, thus the deal would seemingly benefit Laban. Genesis 30:35-36 tells us that Laban took the speckled, spotted, and brown sheep and cattle and gave them to his sons. Laban then went a distance of three days’ journey away from Jacob, while Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks, meaning those that weren’t speckled, spotted, and brown. We read how Jacob did something with rods of green poplar, hazel, and chestnut trees and peeled the bark to create white streaks in them. Then he took the rods and put them in the gutters of the watering troughs, for he believed this would result in the solid color sheep and cattle breeding and producing speckled, spotted, and brown offspring, and that is exactly what happened. There is in fact a type of sheep called the “Jacob sheep.” (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_sheep) Jacob also used the rods for the stronger females and not for the weaker females. We are told in Genesis 30:43 that Jacob “increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses [donkeys].”

Jacob heard Laban’s sons complaining that Jacob had taken away all that belonged to Laban and had gotten all the wealth. Jacob also noticed that Laban did not look at him with favor as he previously did. Next, we are told:

“And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.” (Genesis 31:3)

Jacob then called Rachel and Leah to him and told them that he could see that their father was unhappy with him and that he had deceived Jacob but God prevented him from hurting Jacob. Jacob told them that God has been with him. He then told them of a dream he had dreamt:

“And it came to pass at the time that the cattle [flocks] conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle [flocks] were ringstraked [streaked], speckled, and grisled [gray-spotted]. And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out of this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.” (Genesis 31:10-13)

Rachel and Leah said there was no inheritance left for them at their father Laban’s house. They told Jacob “For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.” (Genesis 31:16) Jacob then took his wives, children, servants, and all his goods and flocks and left for the land of his father, Isaac, in the land of Canaan. Afterwards, Laban went to shear his sheep, not knowing that Jacob, Rachel, Leah, and his grandchildren had left. Without telling Jacob, Rachel had taken with her the idols/false gods of her father Laban. Three days later, Laban found out that Jacob and his family had left. Laban took men with him and pursued Jacob and his family. Seven days later they came upon Jacob and his family. “And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.” (Genesis 31:24) When Laban came to Jacob, he asked him why he had left secretly and had not allowed Laban to kiss his daughters and grandchildren and say goodbye to them. He told Jacob he could hurt him but God had told him in a dream the night before not to speak either good or bad to Jacob. He also asked Jacob why he had stolen his gods. Jacob told him that he had left secretly because he was afraid that Laban would take Rachel and Leah by force from him. Regarding the stolen gods, Jacob told Laban, “With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern [identify] thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.” (Genesis 31:32) Laban then went and searched Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and the two maidservant’s tents but did not find the gods. He then went into Rachel’s tent:

“Now Rachel had taken the images [household idols], and put them in the camel’s furniture [saddle], and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not. And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.” (Genesis 31:35)

By this time, Jacob was furious and confronted Laban and told him that he had served him twenty years, and yet it wasn’t enough for Laban. Jacob said if it wasn’t for God’s provision, he would have nothing:

“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.” (Genesis 31:42)

Laban responded by saying that Leah and Rachel, his grandchildren, and the flocks were all his, and everything that Jacob saw was also his but what could he do to his daughters and grandchildren. He then proposed to make a covenant with Jacob, and Jacob agreed. Laban told Jacob not to afflict his daughters or take any other wives besides them, and that God was a witness of their agreement. They set a pillar before them and each swore to God not to pass over the pillar. Jacob then offered a sacrifice and called his brethren to eat bread together. The next morning, Laban kissed his daughters and grandchildren goodbye and blessed them, and then went back to his home.

Next, we read that Jacob went on his way and that angels of God met him. “And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host [camp]: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim [Double Camp].” (Genesis 32:2). Jacob then decided that he wanted to reconcile with his brother Esau. He sent messengers to Esau, “…unto the land of Seir, the country [field] of Edom.” (Genesis 32:3) He told them to tell Esau that he had lived with Laban until now and that he now has livestock and servants and hopes that Esau will forgive him. The messengers went to Esau and returned to Jacob. They told him that they did meet with Esau, who came with 400 men to meet them. Upon hearing the number of men Esau had, Jacob was filled with fear. He then came up with a plan to protect himself and his family. He divided the people with him into two camps, in case Esau struck one of them, the other would escape. Jacob prayed to God to deliver him from the hand of his brother, for he feared Esau would come and kill him, his wives, and their children. He repeated to God the words He had said to Jacob in a dream after Jacob had obeyed his father Isaac and went to his uncle Laban’s house to take a wife there:

“O God of my father, Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite [attack] me, and the mother with the with children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.” (Genesis 32:9-12)

Jacob spent the night there and decide to give as a present much of his livestock to his brother Esau. Jacob gave the livestock to his servants and told them to go before him in multiple droves, or groups, leaving space between the droves. He told them that when Esau would see and come to them, they were to tell him that the livestock are a present to him from his brother Jacob. Then, still in fear of his brother and his possible retaliation against him, Jacob sent his wives and children away from him, until finally Jacob was left all alone:

“And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking [dawn] of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched [struck] the hollow [socket] of his thigh [hip]; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel [Prince with God]: for as a prince hast thou power with God [for you have struggled with God] and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [Face of God]: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel [Face of God] the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh [limped on his hip]. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew [muscle] which shrank, which is upon the hollow [socket] of the thigh [hip], unto this day: because he touched [struck] the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.” (Genesis 32:24-32)

How many of us have been in a situation like Jacob’s above, where we are wrestling with our fear, doing all that we can in our fallen human nature to protect ourselves, ending up all alone with only God by our side?Like Jacob, how many of us have wrestled with God, not wanting to surrender to Him? It literally came to the point in Jacob’s life that God had to wrestle with Jacob all night long, with God striking Jacob’s hip and making it come out of the socket. Still, Jacob did not let go of Him until God blessed him. God gave him a new name, the name of Israel, and then God blessed him. Jacob came to the realization that he wasn’t wrestling with a man but he had wrestled with God. Let us read again from the prior Scripture I included above and how Jacob had addressed God when he asked God to deliver him from the hand of his brother Esau: “O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac…” (Genesis 32:9) Notice that Jacob did not say “O my God,” no, Jacob at that point did not consider God to be his God. But after Jacob wrestled with God Himself and had met Him face to face, now, He was his God. Jacob acknowledged this by naming the place where he had wrestled as Peniel, also spelled Penuel, which meant “Face of God.” How many of us have had a moment like that where our lives were forever changed after God met with us in our own lives, when it was only Him and us, and we came out of it knowing Him as our God? I had a moment like that, and it changed me forever.

After Jacob wrestled with God and received His blessing, he opened his eyes and saw his brother, Esau, and the 400 men, coming with him. Jacob then took Leah and her children and his wife Rachel and her children, and the handmaids and their children and put them into groups, with the first group being the handmaidens, then Leah, and Rachel toward the back:

“And he [Jacob] passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.” (Genesis 33:3-4)

Though Jacob had feared that his brother Esau would want to kill him, that did not happen. Instead, Esau ran to meet him and embraced Jacob. Jacob’s wives and children and their maidservants and their children also came and met Esau and they all bowed to him. Then Esau asked Jacob:

“What meanest thou by all this drove [company] which I met? And he [Jacob] said, These are to find grace [favour] in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough [all]. And he urged him, and he took it. And he [Esau] said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.” (Genesis 33:8-12)

It seems that Jacob had become a changed man after his encounter with God. Jacob acknowledged that it was God who had dealt graciously to him and had allowed Esau to forgive him. Jacob wanted to give Esau the present of livestock, and Esau agreed to take them. Jacob didn’t need all of the livestock that he had and wanted to give a large portion of it to Esau. Finally, Jacob was content with what he had. There are two lessons we can learn from Jacob, and  the first is that after we ourselves meet God, we should begin to see a change in our lives. We will still make mistakes and sin, but we should begin to live our lives in a way that glorifies God. The second is that we should acknowledge that it is God who has given us grace and not anything we did or could ever do.

Esau volunteered to go with Jacob to where he was going. However, perhaps because Jacob was still a little leery of his brother and not sure if he would yet still retaliate against him, Jacob told him to go on without him because his young children and young livestock would need to take it slow. Esau went on his way to Seir. However, instead of meeting Esau in Seir, Jacob took his family and they went "“to Shalem, a city of Shechem, in the land of Canaan,” (Genesis 33:18) where he bought a piece of land from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father. Jacob erected an altar and called it El-elohe-Israel, which means God, the God of Israel (Genesis 33:20).

Jacob’s only daughter, Dinah, whose mother was Leah, went out to see the women of the land, and she was raped by Shechem, Hamor’s son. Genesis 34:3 tells us that he was attracted to her, loved her and spoke kindly to her afterwards, and told his father to get her so he could marry her. Jacob found out that Shechem had raped her but didn’t say or do anything about it until his sons came back from the field. Hamor then came to talk with Jacob. In the meantime, Jacob’s sons found out what had happened to their sister and were grieved and very angry. Hamor then talked with them and told them how his son longed for Dinah and that he prayed they would give her to be his wife. He also said to Jacob’s sons:

“And make ye marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you [acquire] possessions therein. And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace [favour] in your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask me never [ever] so much dowry [bride-price] and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel to wife [as a wife].” (Genesis 34:9-12)

We are told in Genesis 34:13 that Jacob’s sons “answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully because he had defiled Dinah their sister.” They told Shechem and his father Hamor that they could not give their sister to one who is uncircumcised. Jacob’s sons then told them that if they and every male would circumcise themselves, then they would give their daughters to them and receive their daughters and would become one people. Otherwise, they would take Dinah and leave. Hamor and Shechem then went and told all of the men of their people what Jacob’s sons had proposed and said it would be good for them because of all the livestock and goods that Jacob and his family had. The men agreed, and all of them were circumcised. On the third day after they had been circumcised and were in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, killed all the men with a sword, and then went and killed Hamor and Shechem and took their sister Dinah from Shechem’s house. They then plundered the city and took all their livestock. They also took the women and the children captive. Next we read what Jacob said when he found out what had happened:

“And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink [obnoxious] among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. And they said, Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?” (Genesis 34:30-31)

Next we are told that God then spoke to Jacob and told him to go to Beth-el, where Jacob had gone to when he had fled from his brother Esau. Jacob did as God told him to do, and Jacob told his family:

“…Put away the strange [foreign] gods that are among you, and be clean [purify yourselves], and change your garments; and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.” (Genesis 35:2-4)

Regarding the foreign gods that are mentioned above, I don’t know if these belonged to the women and children of Shechem that were taken into captivity and/or if they belonged to some of Jacob’s own family members or servants. However, we do know that when Rachel had left her father Laban’s house with Jacob and her sister Leah, Rachel had taken some of her father’s images or idols, false gods, (Genesis 31:19) and had hidden them under the camel’s saddle. The Bible does not tell us that Jacob knew about these idols of Rachel’s. However, he is aware now of these false gods, and he told all who were with them to leave them behind.

As Jacob and all who were with him journeyed, “…the terror of God was upon the cities that were found about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.” (Genesis 35:5) They arrived at Beth-el, in Canaan, and Jacob built an altar there and called it El-beth-el, which means God of the House of God. Next we are told:

“And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padan-aram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him.” (Genesis 35:9-13)

God confirmed what He had previously told Jacob, that his name would no longer be called Jacob but “Israel.” God also confirmed His promise to Abraham and Isaac and now to Jacob that He would make of him a great nation and many nations. I don’t know why God confirmed it to Jacob, but perhaps it was because Jacob had doubt in his mind, just as he had doubted whether his brother Esau had forgiven him. I know in my own life that when God has called me to do something and I begin to do it, I oftentimes wonder if I am doing what God called me to do. When God has confirmed to me that it is what He wants me to do, then it helps me to remove the doubt that I had and to trust in Him.

God also told Jacob that kings would be his descendants. God reconfirmed that He was giving to him the land that he had given to his father, Isaac, and to his grandfather, Abraham. Though many people in the world today want us to believe that God did not give the land to Israel, the Bible clearly tells us otherwise. After God spoke to him, Jacob set a pillar of stone where God had talked to him and poured a drink offering and oil upon it.

After leaving Beth-el, they were nearing a place Ephrath, which we are told in Genesis 35:19, “which is Beth-lehem,” that Rachel was in hard labor with her second son. Rachel’s midwife told Rachel, “Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.” (Genesis 35:17) Rachel did have her son, but because Rachel was dying, she named him Ben-oni, which means Son of My Sorrow. However, Jacob called him Benjamin, which means Son of the Right Hand. Rachel passed away, and Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which the Bible tells us is still standing to this day (Genesis 35:20). There are a couple of things I want to mention before continuing in Genesis 35. The first is that the Beth-lehem Ephrath that is mentioned in Genesis 35:16 and 19 is the same town of Bethlehem Ephratah that was prophesied by the prophet Micah as the town from which Messiah would come. Micah prophesied that Messiah would be great upon the earth. This prophesy will be fulfilled after the coming 7-year time of Jacob’s trouble, when Jesus, Messiah, will bring back the remnant of Israel, whom He will save during their time of trouble, into their land. It will be at that time that Jesus will finally be great upon all the earth:

“But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed [shepherd his flock] in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God: and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.” (Micah 5:2-4)

The second thing I want to mention is that this is not the last time we read of Rachel. The prophet Jeremiah wrote of her when he prophesied that the captives of Israel, who were conquered and taken to Babylon for a period of seventy years, would return to their land and that Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt. They would have again have hope:

“Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel [Rachel] weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end [thy future], saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.” (Jeremiah 31:15-17)

Jeremiah’s prophecy above was a dual prophecy, with the first fulfillment being when Israel returned from Babylon to Israel after 70 years. We are told in Matthew how this prophecy was also fulfilled a second time. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the puppet king of Israel, King Herod, had wise men of the east come to him and ask him, “Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2). Herod told them to go and search for this child so that he could worship Him. However, that is not what Herod wanted to do. The wise men did go to Jesus but were warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, and they obeyed God. Joseph, Jesus’ step-father, was warned by an angel in a dream that he must take his family to Egypt because Herod wanted to destroy the child, and Joseph did as he was told. King Herod feared that his power as king was threatened by this child, and Herod sought to kill him:

“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked [deceived] of the wise men, was exceeding wroth [angry], and sent forth, and slew all the children [male children] that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts [districts] thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy [Jeremiah] the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.” (Matthew 2:16-18)

I can’t even imagine the sorrow and anguish of all of the mothers of those male babies that had been killed, all because Herod felt his power and authority were threatened by Jesus. He had all of those poor children killed, and by the power of Almighty God, Jesus was saved. Time and time again, mankind has tried to stop the plan of God from being carried out, and the source of these attempts is Satan. Satan did not want Jesus Christ to come to earth the first time, and he certainly does not want Jesus to return to earth at His second coming. Satan is doing everything in his power to stop that. Time and time again, Satan’s wrath has come against the Jews and also against Christians. However, as the Bible tells us in the book of Revelation, Satan will not prevail.

Now, let us return to Genesis chapter 35. It is there that for the first time, we read of Jacob being referred to in the Bible by his new name of “Israel.” Though God had previously told Jacob that he was giving him a new name of “Israel” in Genesis 32:28, this was the first time that He had referred to Jacob as “Israel”:

“And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar [or Eder]. And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it.” (Genesis 35:21-22)

Reuben, who was Jacob’s firstborn son, had committed a horrible deed against his father by having sexual intercourse with his father’s concubine. We don’t read about any action or reprimand Jacob took against Reuben until when Jacob was dying and prophesied to his twelve sons of what would happen to them in the last days, he had this to say to his oldest son:

“Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to the father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.” (Genesis 49:3-4)

As we have read, Jacob and his family traveled a lot during his many journeys. I was interested in seeing where he went, and found this link that shows possible routes of Jacob’s many travels: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/40/49/24/404924225d1be52de535d3a76ebb46cd.jpg

In Genesis 35:27-29, Jacob, along with his family and all that he had, finally returned to his father, Isaac, in Hebron, “where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.” Isaac died at the age of 180 years, and Jacob and Esau buried him. Long ago, after Jacob had left his father’s house, fleeing from Esau, to go to his uncle Laban’s house, the vow that Jacob had made with God had come to pass. Let us read it again:

“And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace; the shall the LORD be my God…” (Genesis 28:20-21)

God was with Jacob the entire time during all of his travels and fed and protected him, and God had brought Jacob back to his father’s house in peace.

Before we read about what happened next to Jacob, let us read what God’s word says about his brother, Esau:

“And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts [animals], and all his substance [goods], which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of [away from the presence of] his brother Jacob. For their riches were more than that they might [possessions were too great for them to] dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear [support] them because of their cattle. Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.” (Genesis 36:6-8)

Though Jacob and Esau had made amends with one another, Esau’s descendants would be the peoples known as the Edomites, and they would constantly be at war with the Israelites. The prophets Jeremiah and Obadiah prophesied destruction for the Edomites, which later became the Idumaeans. Let us read Obadiah’s prophecy:

“And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining [survivor] of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.” (Obadiah 18)

Gotquestions.org has an article that describes what eventually happened to the Edomites. (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/Edomites.html)

There is much more to write about how the nation of Israel was created by God, and before returning the focus to today’s Scripture from Isaiah 49:23, I wanted to write about Jacob and his twelve sons and how they became the twelve tribes of Israel. I am absolutely fascinated by God’s word, and it is critical to understand how the nation of Israel came about and the reason why in order to understand what is happening in our world today, because it all centers around Israel.

After returning to his father, Isaac’s land in Canaan and after Isaac died, Jacob and his family lived there. Genesis 37:2 tells us that one day, Joseph, Jacob’s oldest son from his beloved wife Rachel, who was 17-years old at that time, was feeding the flock with brothers when he gave a bad report of them to his father. Afterwards we are told:

“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat [tunic] of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance [bowed down] to my sheaf. And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance [bowed down] to me. And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying [kept the matter in mind].” (Genesis 37:3-11)

Having a sibling of my own, I am sure it must have hurt Joseph’s brothers that they could clearly see that their father Jacob, now called Israel, loved Joseph more than he loved them, especially when Jacob made a special coat for Joseph. Because of this, they hated Joseph, and things only worsened after Joseph dreamt the two dreams and then told his family about the dreams, which were not well-received, even by Jacob.

Joseph’s brothers left to go feed their father’s flock in Shechem. Israel told Joseph to go and check on his brothers and the sheep. Joseph did as Israel told him to do, and Joseph came across a man and asked him if he had seen his brothers. He told Joseph they had gone to Dothan, and Joseph went there. Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, and called him a “dreamer” to themselves. They plotted to kill him and throw him into a pit:

“And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid [deliver] him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.” (Genesis 37:21-22)

Hoping they would agree with him and throw Joseph in the pit, Reuben intended to go back later and save Joseph and take him back to their father. When Joseph came to them, they took of his coat of many colors and threw into the pit, which had no water in it. They then ate a meal together and saw a group of Ishmeelites coming with their camels to sell their goods in Egypt. Judah asked his brothers what would it profit them if they killed their brother and hid his blood, and said they should sell him to the Ishmeelites. Like his brother Reuben, he didn’t want to kill Joseph and said, “…let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh.” (Genesis 37:27) His brothers agreed, and they sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmeelites then took Joseph to Egypt. Upon returning to the pit, Reuben, who had not been with his brothers when they sold Joseph, saw the empty pit and he tore his clothes in grief. The brothers then killed a goat and dipped Joseph’s coat in the blood. They returned home to their father and showed him the coat and asked if he knew if it was Joseph’s coat. Israel recognized it as his son’s and said that a wild animal had surely killed Joseph and torn him into pieces. Israel tore his clothes in grief and mourned many days for his son. All of his other children tried to comfort him, but he refused and said, “For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. (Genesis 37:35). Next, we are told that the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, who was an officer and captain of the guard of the Pharaoh of Egypt. Before we read more about that, the Bible tells us about Israel’s son Judah.

We are told that after the brothers sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites, who took him to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, that one of the brothers, Judah, went away from his brothers and apparently remained there and made a friend named Hirah, who was an Adullamite. Judah married a daughter of a Canaanite man whose name was Shuah, and they had three sons named Er, Onan, and Shelah. Time passed, and Judah found a wife named Tamar for his oldest son, Er. The Bible tells us that Er “was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew [killed] him.” (Genesis 38:7) As was tradition during that time, Judah told his middle son to take his brother’s wife and marry her so that she could have a child. However, Onan did not obey God, which displeased God and He killed Onan as well. Judah then told Tamar to go to her father’s house until his youngest son Shelah grew up and could marry her. Tamar did go to her father’s house, and in the meantime, Judah’s wife died and he mourned. He decided to go visit his friend Hirah who lived in Timnath. Tamar heard what happened to Judah, and she decided to go to Timnath and disguise herself as a prostitute, “for she saw that Selah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.” (Genesis 38:14) Judah saw her but did not know she was his daughter-in-law because she had hid her face with a veil. Judah went to her and asked her to let him have sex with her. She asked him what would he give her, and he said he would send her one of his goats. She asked him to give her his signet, bracelets (cord), and staff as a pledge for the goat, and he agreed. They had sexual relations, and Judah left, still not knowing it was Tamar. Judah returned to his friend, Hirah, who then took the goat and went and looked for Tamar to give it to her. He asked some men if they had seen a harlot, and they said there was not one in that place. Hirah returned and told Judah that he could not find the harlot. Three months later, Judah heard it said, “Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom [harlotry]. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.” (Genesis 38:24) Let us read what happened next:

“When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff. And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.” (Genesis 38:26)

I must admit that when I first read this, I thought to myself, how could this possibly be the son of Israel, from whom Messiah would come, the lion of the tribe of Judah? It was only when I read it again that I realized a couple of things. The first is that when God came down to earth as a human being, Jesus, He would be formed in the womb of His mother by God, where God provided the seed through the Holy Spirit and the woman, Mary, conceived by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit upon her. Both Jesus’ step-father Joseph and His mother Mary have the lineage of Judah in their bloodlines. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, sin has been passed down to mankind, and that includes sin in the man Judah. However, God chose Judah to be the son out of Jacob’s twelve sons, from whom Jesus would come. Secondly, we see here how Judah could have denied that the items that Tamar had as proof of the man who impregnated her were his, but instead of denying them, he acknowledge them as his own. We also have his admittance of his guilt in not giving his youngest son, Shelah to Tamar to be her husband, as Judah had previously told her he would do. We also read that Judah even said that she was more righteous than he was. We are also told that after all of this happened, Judah did not know her again, meaning he did not have sexual relations with her anymore. I love the fact that instead of leaving out these not-so-favorable accounts of history, the Bible includes them, and it shows the sin of humanity but how God can still show grace to those who admit their mistakes, as Judah did.

The Bible goes on to tell us that Tamar was pregnant with twin boys. When Tamar was in labor, one of the twins put out his hand and Tamar’s midwife put a scarlet thread on his hand to denote which son would be delivered first, which one would have the birthright. However, the baby went back inside the womb and the other baby came out first:

“…and she [the midwife] said, How hast thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez [Breach or breakthrough]. And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zarah [Zerah].” (Genesis 38:29-30)

It is from the lineage of Pharez (Phares in the Greek) that Jesus Christ would come, as documented in Matthew 1:3 and Luke 3:33. The account of the twins of Tamar reminds me of the twin boys that Rebekah had, where Jacob, the younger son, would be the one to be blessed by his father Jacob instead of Esau.