Generations of Noah

This PDF lists the genealogies of the sons of Noah and connects them with the areas of the world that they are understood to have inhabited.

When Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau it was because he had just stolen Esau’s birthright and was afraid that Esau would come after him. Their mother told Jacob to go to her uncle Laban and marry someone from her family. This was very important—and one of Esau’s downfalls is clearly expressed as both his marriages to the Canaanite women early in his life and even moreso through his marriage to Ishmael’s daughter after this event. As Jacob is on his way to his mother’s homeland he strikes a deal with God. God meets with Jacob in a dream and promises him protection and many other things including that He will bring him back to the Land. “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear, and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.” (Gen. 28:20-21)

Jacob makes his way to Laban’s house and tells his uncle his story. His uncle replies that Jacob is clearly one of his kin—an acknowledgement that doesn’t speak highly of Jacob. And we then go into the part of Jacob’s story that usually gets the most attention. Jacob is promised Rachel’s hand in marriage in exchange for 7 years of working for Laban and then is surprised to find, after his wedding night, that he has been given Laban’s older daughter Leah as a wife. In exchange for another 7 years of working for Laban Jacob is allowed to marry Rachel. He doesn’t have to wait another 7 years; she becomes his wife as soon as his wedding week with Leah is completed. In a continuation of sibling rivalry into the marriage bed Leah and Rachel begin competing for Jacob’s love and for position in the home—a competition that grows to include Zilpah and Bilhah, the maidservants for Leah and Rachel.

The storyline continues and Jacob is blessed by God and prospers, despite his uncle’s attempts to take advantage of him. “Then the LORD said to Jacob, ‘Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.’” (Gen 31:3). Jacob heeds the call from God to return to the Land and presents his plans to his wives who agree that this is what they are to do. At this point it seems that God has fulfilled his earlier promises to Jacob—the promises that Jacob said would need to precede his own faith and relationship with the Lord. Yet even at this point he says to Laban, “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last night.” (Gen 31:42) At this point God has fulfilled His promises but Jacob has not fulfilled his vow. But he is obeying God and returning to the Land.

Jacob learns that his brother Esau is coming out to meet him as he gets closer to home, and he speaks this to the Lord:

Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’ I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’” (Gen 32:9-12)

Jacob then sets aside many gifts for his brother Esau to appease him. And then Jacob goes to sleep.

Gen. 32:24-32
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

After this encounter with God Jacob has his meeting with Esau who wants nothing from him and seems to have grown up during the 20 years that Jacob was gone. He even invites Jacob to dwell with him but Scripture makes a point of telling us that Jacob left this meeting with Esau and went instead to a place where he built a dwelling for himself and booths for his animals and because of this the place was named Succoth.

This is surely a challenging portion of Scripture. Most believers are comfortable with Jacob realizing that he has wrestled with God because we accept that Yeshua was God in the form of a man and, in fact, most believers will argue that this is Yeshua wrestling with Jacob. Not everyone is convinced of this, but I take no issue with this idea, mostly because I don’t believe that is ultimately the point of the text. Rather I believe the meaning of this text is best found in the placement of events in the greater context of the story of Jacob’s life.

At the beginning of the story we have Jacob proclaiming a vow that if the Lord would fulfill the promises to bless, prosper and restore Jacob to the Land of his father then Jacob would worship Him. After all of the time with Laban, during which the Lord has grown Jacob’s family and prospered him greatly, Jacob is still speaking of the Lord of his father Abraham and the Lord of his father Isaac. And this is where God calls Jacob to return to the Land—just as all Israel was to be called to return to the Land during the month of Elul before Rosh Hashanah. In obedience, Jacob returns.

As Jacob gets closer to his homeland he is confronted with the need to get right with his brother against whom he has sinned. Esau, he learns, is not only waiting for him, but is coming to see him. Jacob is afraid. He puts in motion the plan to make things right with his brother by sharing of his possessions, and then Jacob spends the night wrestling with someone in an encounter that changes his life.

One particularly challenging portion of this text involves the reality that at times Jacob appears to be winning this wrestling match. This is one reason many have been unwilling to accept that Jacob is in fact wrestling with God. Wrestling is a very physical and kinesthetic thing, but it can also be a very metaphysical thing. Many people have wrestled with the text of Scripture or even wrestled with God over the application of something or the meaning of something or even just how to respond in some situation. If the wrestling that Jacob did with God was more metaphysical than physical it would account for the ability of Jacob to be winning at any point—if Jacob was refusing to submit His will to God’s instruction then Jacob would be winning at the wrestling (even if he was losing at the eternal level).

Another particularly challenging part of the text is that “the man” tells Jacob to “let him go” because it is “almost daybreak.” It makes no sense that the Light of the World would be afraid to be caught in the sunlight of morning. What is helpful to this point is to understand that the ancient root of the Hebrew word for “daybreak” also means “understanding”. The darkness cannot comprehend the light but those who walked in darkness are told they will see a great light and when they accept that light they experience their own daybreak.

Because this experience of wrestling with God takes place between being called to return to the Land and, at the end of the story, progressing to Succoth, it is not unreasonable to place this encounter with God during the Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. If that is in fact the time of this wrestling then what takes place at this time is very relevant to the story.

Tradition teaches that “the books” are opened on Rosh Hashanah. In Revelation 5 we learn that the One who is worthy to open the books is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. In Revelation 20 the books are opened. Tradition teaches that these books are the Book of the Righteous, the Book of the Wicked, and the Book of the Undecided. All of the books are opened on Rosh Hashanah, but the Book of the Righteous and the Book of the Wicked are also closed on Rosh Hashanah. The judgment of those within these books is already set. The Book of the Undecided remains open during the Days of Awe and those within have 10 days to move their name into one of the other two books.

If we place this encounter between Jacob and God into this context we find Jacob—whose father and grandfather are most assuredly written in the Book of the Righteous—having his name in the Book of the Undecided. He has returned to the Land and here the One who is worthy to open the Books confronts Him and they begin to wrestle. Physically? Quite probably. More importantly, they wrestle over what is Truth and what must Jacob do to fulfill his vow to the Lord. They wrestle over what Jacob will choose. Sometimes Jacob’s stubbornness has him firmly resisting the Lord. Ultimately, though, the One wrestling with Jacob tells him to stop fighting—he has understanding. It is time to choose. Jacob says he will stop wrestling and let him go but only if He blesses him. The blessing Jacob receives is a new name (Isaiah 62 and Revelation 2 speak of God giving a new name to those who believe) and a more humble walk (literally and figuratively). As Yom Kippur arrives, the day that the Book in which Jacob’s name has remained, he finally confesses faith and receives a new name and a humble walk. The wrestling is over. More importantly, Jacob is ready to move to Succoth. From this point forward Israel is dwelling with God.

I hear this question often and, from what I’ve seen, it’s an area of interest to be debated among current and even former members in the Messianic Movement. I’ve heard people argue for every position and I’ve found myself intrigued that there is even such an argument. I’d like to weigh in on the issue but, first, would like to make some general observations.

–Those who argue that Gentiles have to come “under the Law” don’t seem to understand Law the way I see it presented in Scripture

–Those who argue that Gentiles aren’t expected to obey the Law are arguing from a position that it’s “special and reserved for the Jews” and are being exclusive. (I admit, this position being linked to by Gentiles for why they don’t have to observe the Law is always something that catches me off guard–very few things will have people shouting, “I don’t have to do it–see, so and so says I’m not special enough. So there!”)

–Those who talk about *only* the Spirit of the Law being in effect seem to be missing the importance I see God applying to the actual acts He outlines

–Those who are focused *only* on the Letter of the Law are legalistic and oppressive

–And. . . most groups that have been around awhile have created their own hedges and infused their own culture and don’t seem to know the difference anymore

I’m just not satisfied with any of these positions.

First of all, God’s Torah and the Law it contains are a gift to man. They are God providing the “instruction manual” for His creation that I’ve heard so many Christians who come from the “Torah isn’t for you” camp bemoan not having when they have tough choices to face that they know are impacted by moral issues.

Second, God says that it is for the Israelite and the Sojourner among you (or the proselyte depending on your translation). Paul explains to the non-Jews in his letter to the Romans that they have been grafted into the trunk of Israel. Those more focused on the cultural aspect of things might argue that this makes non-Jews Jews, others seem to take this as some sort of doctrine of “replacement” despite the ending warnings to those grafted on, but Paul is definitely explaining that the believer who has been brought in–even without circumcision of the flesh–has been circumcised in the heart and is part of that great Tree of God’s Nation, Israel. It seems this would qualified as “the Israelite and the Sojourner among you”.

Third, Paul’s “warnings” about “going under the Law” seem to speak more to the attitude and less to the application–since he admonishes the believers in every place to put off the sin man and begin to live in a way that fully expresses God’s Law. And if we view God’s Law as something “to be gone under” then we aren’t approaching it the way that God lays it out and presents it. This is what I want to focus on.

God’s Law contains His instructions for His creation about how to love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself. I can say this with confidence because Yeshua stated, in his answer about the two greatest commands which He summed up with these words, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:20) What He is saying is if you want to follow the Law and the Prophets you will be doing these things and if you do these things you will be fulfilling all of the Law and the Prophets. To this I say, “Amen!”

There are different parts to the Law. There are the aspects of Priestly worship in the Temple that I see as teaching us how to love God. The way I would explain the purpose of the sacrificial system is that every sacrifice is part of the big picture of what Yeshua has done. No one sacrifice can give a full and complete picture, but as you put them together you start to see an amazing picture that I see Paul trying here and there to sort through. The author of Hebrews even takes a stab at some aspects of this. Ultimately, though, it wasn’t the shed blood of any animal that truly covered the Israelites sins or preserved them for another year. It was their obedience to participate in a very kinesthetic act of sacrifice that over time would give them a better understanding of what was ultimately needed to remove their sins. When the sacrificial system is relegated to “a temporary way that animal blood could ‘hold them over’ while they waited for Messiah” OR “the way that those Jews got cleansed, but not for non-Jews” there is a grave misunderstanding of the purpose and it is not what I see expressed in the writings of the ancient sages as they spoke about Messiah and what they were learning from the sacrificial system.

Even today when there is no sacrificial system, because there is no standing Temple, I believe there is a lot to learn about what Yeshua has done for us by studying this–and by participating in the Feasts and Festivals. And there is still plenty of room for free will offerings as well as love offerings and the portions that we are told are to be set aside for the poor and needy, the widow and the orphan. I’ve always been intrigued by traditions that argue for the Priesthood of all believers but wants to learn nothing about the expectations of the Priesthood. This is how to love God. And this is why John can say that we love Him because He first loved us! (1 John 4:19)

Then there is the aspect of loving your neighbor. This is, by far, the largest portion of the Law (outside of the Priestly duties). Over and over God states through Moses that the rules and commands being given are so that they can be a holy community and will live at peace with one another. I cannot understand any argument that suggests ancient Israel needed instruction in how to be good neighbors but we modern believers don’t need to rely on those rules. Do we have some intuitive ability provided by the Holy Spirit to just *be* good neighbors with no instruction at all? Is this why churches have split and people have left the fold because of having been wronged and injured by either their fellow believer or, in many cases, those who hold the position and title of clergy?

Among the “good neighbor” portions of Torah you will find such “offensive” and “unnecessary” instructions as “if your bull is known to get out, build a better fence–you will be held accountable if they gore,” (the precursor to our modern day dog bite laws); “If you have an oozing wound do not spit on anyone,” (honestly, you can tell me all day long I’m not “under the Law” but if you spit on me while you have an oozing wound you are not convincing me I’m still clean and don’t need to bathe and wash my clothes!); “If you are entrusted with something by your neighbor and it goes lost or stolen on your watch, you’re responsible for it,” ; and such wretched and outdated regulations as, “If you are caught with stolen property you have to repay 3 times what you stole.” Who would argue we haven’t evolved above needing such instruction? ME–that’s who!

One of the things I do when someone is trying to explore whether living out God’s Law applies to us today is present to them an outline of all of the “rules” they have been told don’t apply. Even setting aside the Priesthood of all Believers and the sacrificial system as it relates to Yeshua, I suggest going through the Laws and marking only those that apply to them. For everyone living today without a standing Temple that would leave off the laws for the Levite and the Priest in the Temple. For most people it would leave off those covering animal husbandry and farming. Everyone is either a male or a female so they can ignore those intended for each group specifically that they are not a part of. In the end it always comes down to . . . taste buds.

Which brings me to the third category I see present in the two greatest commands–love yourself. This is how I look at the kosher laws presented in Scripture, and at the sexual laws (though it is true that this is also about loving your neighbor–and what love really is and isn’t), and a few others. When I feed my body what God says is food I am loving myself. When I care for myself the way God teaches I am loving myself. If God says that certain things are not food for me then I accept that. He loves me so much and has proven how trustworthy He is over and over and over again. If He says X isn’t food for me, I don’t need a ton of science to convince me (even though it’s out there). I trust Him and love myself enough to not eat what He says to not eat.

And, ultimately, this is what I think is missing from the greater argument going on. If the Law is a burden to you then you are misunderstanding it. Yeshua explained that His yoke is light and easy to carry (Matthew 11:30). He was not saying this because He was removing things from needing to be done! He was explaining this as part of being The Prophet sent to be like Moses–the one who would teach everyone how to understand God’s Law even more clearly than Moses was able. In Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses tells the people, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” And Peter explains to the crowds in Acts 3 that this is what God has done with Yeshua.

If you read the Law and see it as anything other than a light and easy burden then you are misunderstanding what is being asked–or, rather, you are not reading it as the Spirit Man you have become because of Yeshua. The flesh does not want to be restrained. The flesh is where we focus when our taste buds are the stopping point in our willingness to embrace all of the other amazing instructions in Torah. And if your taste buds are where you cannot comply then set even that aside for a moment and embrace what you can see is good. Your taste buds might just be brought into agreement in time.

So my answer to the question, “Do Gentiles have to obey the Law?” is this . . . NO ONE has to obey the Law. Yet ALL are called to obey it. When you see it as loving instruction from a loving God to the creation that He loved so much He sent Yeshua to teach and redeem us you begin to see the value in following His instructions. I do not ever want to be “free” from doing the things God says are good. I do not ever want to argue that Lawlessness is the best way to show my faith in Messiah–the one who came as promised in the Law. I do not ever want to present to the world a faith that I argue was taught by the one who had to do nothing to violate God’s Torah in order for Him to be the true Messiah. If the One that I follow did away with the Torah then I am lost–and so is the world with me. That is not good news.