Lesson 10: The Genesis Timeline – The Last Articles
by Watchman Ray on Friday, September 10, 2010 at 12:06pm
This is the last in the ‘Genesis Time-Line’ series; I send two short articles, not one, but please be careful in reading this first one – as 5 is the number of ‘Grace’ and, as Ephesians 2:8 says: “It is by grace you have been saved, not works!”
The second article is my personal favorite of these two!
God bless you!
The Ten Commandments.
The 10 Commandments given to Moses on Sinai, were given on two tablets of stone.
The Hebrews teach us that 5 of these Commandments were concerning our obligations to God, and that the other 5 were man’s obligations to man.
When one has love for another he meets his obligations. When the Messiah was asked which is the greatest Commandment in the Law, He responded “You shall love the L-RD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest Commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt.22:36-40)
The Messiah describes the same relationship with the 10 Commandments as to our brothers and sisters. For 5 concern our obligation to God – which we shall do if we love Him, and 5 describe what our obligations are to man – if we love him.
We discover that 5 is the number of grace, and grace comes from [an earnest desire for] obedience. This is written in the Scriptures.
“Because Abraham -
(1) obeyed my voice,
(2) and kept my charge,
(3) my commandments,
(4) my statutes,
(5) and my laws.”
(Genesis 26:5)
Here we clearly see that because Abraham did these 5 things, he found grace in the eyes of The L-RD, and was given the promise. It was because of Abraham’s obedience that we learn The HOLY ONE changed his name from Abram to Abraham.
Abram is spelled in Hebrew with only 4 letters. The HOLY ONE added a 5th letter to his name, and it was the very letter in the Hebrew alphabet that has the numerical value of 5, the letter ‘Hey’.
It was his faith that made him do these things; as our faith causes us to do today.
“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the Law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.” (Romans 4:16)
Israel is made up of two root words. The first ‘YaShaR’ which is the root of the word for honesty and straight-forwardness in relationships toward man. The second part of the name Israel is ‘El’, the word translated ‘God’.
Here again, we see these 5 letters divided to mean honesty towards our relationship with God and man. (Remembering that the Hebrews read from right to left!).
‘The Smallest to the Greatest’
The smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet is the ‘yod’. The largest letter is ‘lamed’. Yod, the smallest, is the first letter of the name Israel, and Lamed is the largest, and it is also the last letter in Israel.
We see that The Messiah denotes that He is the First and the Last. He came from a people that were to go from the smallest to the greatest people on earth. The Scriptures all bear this smallest to greatest theme!
“And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” (Matt.2:6)
So The Messiah had his origins among the tribe that was least in Israel, yet He would be the Greatest in the world. The Messiah Himself put forth this ideal in a parable.
“Another parable he told to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field.
Which indeed is the LEAST of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the GREATEST among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in it’s branches.” (Matt.13:31-32)
This thought of the least to the greatest is also carried over into the people of Israel themselves, for in the book of Deuteronomy 7:7, we read:
“The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people, for you were the FEWEST of all people”
Just as an aside, I find it interesting to note it is in chapter 7, verse 7 that this appears! We also take note of Genesis 32:12, where it says,
“And You said, I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.”
This denotes the greatness of the number of those who would be called Israel – so much so that it is a number that cannot be numbered.
“And I will make of you a GREAT nation, and I will bless you, and make your name GREAT; and you shalt be a blessing.” – Gen. 12:2.
In Jesus,
Raymond
