Genesis 32, Jacob prepares to meet with Esau, struggles with God.
The angels of God are everywhere for those whose eyes are opened.
Jacob is trying to pacify Esau with gifts.
The Ford of Jabbok.
Jacob had his plans, but God….
The sign of Jonah, the great eclipse of 2017 and the tearing down of statues.
Jonah was prophet during the reign of the second King Jeroboam (c.786–746 BC)
2 Kings 14:25 He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea, in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.
Gath Hepher is only a few miles north of Nazareth, in Galilee. Jonah was a prophet coming out of Galilee. Yet the Pharisees said to Nicodemus in John 7:52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
Jonah offered himself willingly, and in so doing became a type of Christ
This is the sign of Jonah. He was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah in a way was dead, buried and resurrected, a type of Christ.
Something had happened to prepare Nineveh, a Solar eclipse.
The path of totality of the Bur-Sagale Eclipse, which is one of the most famous solar eclipses in ancient history, occurred just north of Nineveh on 15th June, 763BC during the reign of King Ashur-Dan III of Assyria, and was recorded for posterity in the Assyrian Eponym Canon – a series of cuneiform tablets discovered in the 19th century.
Even though Jonah obeyed God and did His will, he was still full of hate towards the Ninevehites, remembering all the evil they had done to the Israelites during the ages.
God still provides a lesson for Jonah.
So God has compassion on children and animals. The Ninevehites repented after the sign of total eclipse, and then Jonah came after God had made the people receptive.
On Monday is the first day of Elul, the last secular month in th Jewish calendar. Elul is the month of last harvest, final gathering and repentance as preparation for the new year. The eclipse of April 8, 2024 is on the first day of Nisan, the beginning of the sacred new year in the Jewish calendar.
One cannot help but notice the two total eclipses form a cross right where the three mighty rivers Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio rivers combine into the lower Mississippi. They combine right over the New Madrid earthquake area.
Is this a sign from God mentioned in Isaiah 18:7 “At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned,
from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech,
whose land is divided by rivers— the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the Lord Almighty.” ?
The Mississippi rever divides the United States into “West of the Mississippi” and “East of the Missisippi” We normally think of the Mason-Dixon line as the division between the North and the South, but another division would be the Ohio River and the Missouri river.
Right now there is much hate in the world. Monuments that have been standing for thousands of years are being destroyed.
The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Persian: بت های باميان – bott-hâye Bāmiyān) were 4th- and 5th-century[2] monumental statues of standing buddha carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan
Not to be outdone the Islamic State blows up tomb of prophet Jonah in Iraq Nineveh,July-25-2014.jpg
The tomb was the Muslims tomb of Jonah, not the Jews tomb of Jonah.
Yes, Jonah is mentioned in the Quran, Sura 37: 139 – 148 And Jonah was one of the messengers. When he fled to the laden boat. He gambled and lost. Then the fish swallowed him, and he was to blame. Had he not been one of those who praised. He would have stayed in its belly until the Day they are raised.5. Then We threw him into the wilderness, and he was sick. And We made a gourd tree grow over him. Then We sent him to a hundred thousand, or more. And they believed, so We gave them enjoyment for a while.
ISIS wants to change history and have it begin with them.
When Israel ceded the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority one of the first things the Palestinians did was to destroy Joseph’s tomb.
Jihad: Joseph’s tomb was destroyed.
Old history now null and void.
In the p;ace where he laid
a new Mosque is displayed.
The fruits of Jihad: I’m annoyed.
This week confederate statues are being destroyed.
Have we not learned anything from history?
Genesis 31, Jacob flees from Laban, Rachel’s theft of idols, the Mizpah.
This was a foolish statement, but Jacob did not vow before the LORD, so he did not have to make good on his promise.
Rachel is deceitful and lies, still depends on the idols.
Genesis 30, Jacob’s children, mandrakes, Jacob’s breeding method.
Mandrakes are both narcotic and hallucinogenic, and were used for sorcery and divination, but were also believed to cure sterility. Rachel kept trying anything.
Hitler practised mysticism, and possessed mandrakes. Nowadays mandrakes are used in some Wiccan rituals. And then there was the early 20th century cartoon “Mandrake the Magician”.
So Laban used divination. Many believe that the best way to find water is using a divining rod. If bent the right way it will point down to where water can be found.
The Statue of Robert E. Lee, revered in history, now history?
The Statue of Robert E. Lee,
A symbol of South history:
FDR praised his name.
All the Democrats fame;
They try to erase memory.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is considered an enduring hero of the left, particularly for the New Deal. Few would say he was an avatar of white supremacy. Yet, he spoke at the dedication of the Robert E. Lee statue in Dallas back in 1936 — and what he said about the general then is something that liberals everywhere would like to erase.
“I am very happy to take part in this unveiling of the statue of General Robert E. Lee,” FDR said at the dedication ceremony, according to the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“All over the United States, we recognize him as a great leader of men, as a great general. But, also, all over the United States I believe that we recognize him as something much more important than that. We recognize Robert E. Lee as one of our greatest American Christians and one of our greatest American gentlemen.”
Things change. What once was the proud symbol of the Democratic South is now considered repugnant by people wanting to erase history, and in so doing repeat it.
Genesis 29, Jacob works seven years for Rachel, marries Leah (and Rachel), Leah’s four children.
Two weddings in one week! Then he worked another seven years for Laban.
Reaching the North Pole in a sailboat? Pen Hadow got to be kidding!
British explorer Pen Hadow and his crew have set sail from Alaska, in an attempt to become the first people ever to sail to the North Pole.
“With Arctic ice melting at an unprecedented rate, previously inaccessible waters are opening up, creating the potential for their planned 5,500 km (3,500 mile) journey for the first time in human history.”
How is the Arctic ice melting? Let us count the ways
- Arctic ice minimum volume will be reached in a couple of weeks at more than 6000 km3, which is 1000 km3 more than 2015 and 1500 km3 more than 2016.
It was very warm in the Arctic above the 80th latitude last winter. Late summer two hurricane strength storms broke up a lot of ice up and transported it south to areas where it was bound to melt. The ice area reached a new low, except for the year 2012, but the ice volume hit a new all time low on Sep 9 2016.
2. Northern Greenland ice has already started growing
3 The ice mass on Greenland has grown more than 150 km3 above normal this season.
4. The average Arctic temperature above 80 degree latitude has already dipped below freezing.
5. The Arctic ice area will still decrease for another month or so since sea ice does not start forming until temperatures are -4 degree C, but the ice volume is near its minimum since snow season in the Arctic has already started, and new snow on ice stays, and fresh snow has a higher albedo than old, tired ice.
The North East Passage choke point Cape Chelyuskin is still blocked. That is one week later than last year and three weeks later than 2015
Pen Hadow and crew set sail out of Nome 0300 GMT Aug 15. My prediction: They will reach the 80 th latitude, a full 600 nautical miles short of their goal.
Genesis28, Jacob’s ladder and God’s promise at Bethel.
Esau’s wives so far were Hittites. That explains why Rebekah in chapter 27:46 “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.” It was not prejudice, it was the friction between mother-in-law and daughters-in-law.
Jesus repeats this phrase when he first met Nathaniel
And who has ever sung this Sunday School song?
Genesis 27, Jacob gets Isaac’s blessing, Jacob flees to Laban.
Rebekah: Let the curse fall on me. She didn’t have it easy after that.
Rebekah was the original inventor of the plot for Isaac to give Jacob the blessing rather than Esau after Jacob had extorted Esau’s birthright. By deceit they fulfilled God’s will. The Bible shows how sinful man can still fulfill God’s purpose.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 