Genesis
Gen 1:11a In cf. John 1:1-2
[ par. 1 2 3 4 ]
Gen 1:11 [1] The Bible, composed of two testaments, the Old Testament and the New Testament, is the complete written divine revelation of God to man. The major revelation in the entire Bible is the unique divine economy of the unique Triune God (Eph. 1:10; 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:4b). The centrality and universality of this divine economy is the all-inclusive and unsearchably rich Christ as the embodiment and expression of the Triune God (Col. 2:9; 1:15-19; John 1:18). The goal of the divine economy is the church as the Body, the fullness, the expression, of Christ (Eph. 1:22b-23; 3:8-11), which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the union, mingling, and incorporation of the processed and consummated Triune God and His redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite people. The accomplishing of the divine economy is revealed in the Bible progressively in many steps, beginning with God’s creation in Gen. 1—2 and consummating with the New Jerusalem in Rev. 21—22. In the Old Testament the contents of God’s economy are revealed mainly in types, figures, and shadows, whereas in the New Testament all the types, figures, and shadows are fulfilled and realized. Thus, the Old Testament is a figurative portrait of God’s eternal economy, and the New Testament is the practical fulfillment.
Gen 1:11 [2] Genesis, adopted by the Septuagint as the title of this book, is a Latin word meaning giving of birth, origin. As the first book in the Bible, Genesis gives birth to and is the origin of the divine truths in the holy Word. Thus, the seeds of the divine truths are sown in this book. These seeds grow and develop in the succeeding books, especially in the New Testament, and are finally harvested in the last book, the book of Revelation.
Gen 1:11 [3] The book of Genesis is a miniature of the complete revelation of the entire Bible. It begins with a man created in God’s image (1:26) and ends with a man called Israel (32:28; 48:2), a transformed person, a man not only outwardly in the image of God but a man in whom God has wrought Himself, making him His expression. The transformed Israel is a seed, a miniature, of the New Jerusalem.
Gen 1:11 [4] Apparently, chs. 1—2 of Genesis are merely a record of creation; actually, nearly every item in the record of these two chapters is a revelation of Christ, who is life to God’s people (John 1:1, 4; 11:25; 14:6) for the producing and building up of the church. Chapters 3—50 present biographies of eight great persons in two groups of four, representing two races of men: Adam, Abel, Enoch, and Noah, representing the created race, and Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, representing the called race. What is recorded is not primarily the works of these men but mainly their life, their living, and their way with God. In Genesis God uses both the record of creation and the biographies of eight persons to reveal the life that fulfills His purpose.
Gen 1:12 beginning
Referring to the beginning of time (cf. John 1:1). Time began at the creation of the universe and continues until the final judgment at the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15). Time is for the accomplishing of God’s eternal purpose, which God made in eternity past (Eph. 3:11) for eternity future.
Gen 1:13 God
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 1:13 [1] Heb. Elohim, meaning the Mighty One. The Hebrew name here is plural, but the verb created is singular. Furthermore, in v. 26 the plural pronouns Us and Our are used in reference to God, whereas in v. 27 the pronouns He and His are used. These are seeds of the Trinity. God is one (Isa. 45:5; 1 Cor. 8:4; 1 Tim. 2:5), but He is also three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Matt. 28:19). He is the Triune God. It was the Triune God who created. See note 141, par. 3, in 2 Cor. 13.
Gen 1:13 [2] Genesis is divided into three sections, each beginning with a name. The first section (1:1—2:25), beginning with the name God, concerns God’s creation; the second (3:1—11:32), beginning with the serpent, covers the serpent’s corrupting of mankind; and the third (12:1—50:26), beginning with the name Jehovah, concerns Jehovah’s calling of fallen man.
Gen 1:14b created Zech. 12:1; Psa. 33:6; Isa. 42:5; 45:18; Jer. 10:12; 51:15; John 1:3
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 1:14 [1] Created here, denoting to bring something into existence out of nothing, differs from made in 2:4 and formed in 2:7, the latter two denoting to take something that already exists and use it to produce something else.
Gen 1:14 [2] The motive of God’s creation was to fulfill God’s desire and to satisfy His good pleasure (Eph. 1:5, 9). The purpose of God’s creation is to glorify the Son of God (Col. 1:15-19) and to manifest God Himself (Psa. 19:1-2; Rom. 1:20 and notes 1 and 2), especially in man (1 Tim. 3:16) through His Son, Christ, who is the embodiment of God and the image, the expression, of God (Col. 2:9; 1:15). The basis of God’s creation is God’s will and plan (Eph. 1:10 and note 1; Rev. 4:11 and note 2). The means of God’s creation were the Son of God (Col. 1:15-16; Heb. 1:2b) and the Word of God (Heb. 11:3; John 1:1-3), both of whom are Christ (John 1:1, 18; Rev. 19:13).
Gen 1:15 heavens
In the process of God’s creation, the heavens and the angels therein were created first, and the earth, probably with some living creatures, was created second (Job 38:4-7 and note 71).
Gen 1:21 But
God created the earth in a good order (Job 38:4-7; Isa. 45:18). But here and became later in this verse indicate that something happened to cause God’s creation to become “waste and emptiness.” This cataclysmic event was God’s judgment on the preadamic universe following Satan’s rebellion. This judgment was executed on Satan, on the angels and the preadamic creatures living on the earth who joined Satan in his rebellion, and on the heavens and the earth themselves. See Isa. 14:12-15 and notes; Ezek. 28:12-19 and notes.
Gen 1:22a waste Jer. 4:23; Isa. 24:1
Whenever the words waste and emptiness are used together in the Old Testament, they denote a result of God’s judgment (cf. Jer. 4:23; Isa. 24:1; 34:11). The darkness on the surface of the deep also is a sign of God’s judgment (cf. Exo. 10:21-22; Rev. 16:10).
Gen 1:23 deep
I.e., the deep water. In the Bible water symbolizes either life (John 4:10, 14; 7:38; Rev. 22:1) or death (7:17-24; Exo. 14:21-30; John 3:5; Rom. 6:3). The water here signifies death. As a result of God’s judgment on the preadamic universe, the entire earth was covered with deep water, signifying that the earth was filled with death and was under death. See notes 231 in Mark 1, 16 in 1 Tim. 4, and 13 in Rev. 21.
Gen 1:24 and
Verse 1 is a record of God’s original creation. Verse 2a refers to God’s judgment on the preadamic universe. The entire section from 1:2b—2:3 refers not to God’s original creation but to God’s restoration of the damaged universe, plus His further creation, in six days.
Gen 1:25b Spirit Psa. 104:30
Heb. ruach, variously translated spirit, wind, breath. This is the first mentioning of the Spirit in the Bible. The Spirit of God, as the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2), came to brood over the waters of death in order to generate life, especially man (v. 26), for God’s purpose. In spiritual experience, the Spirit’s coming is the first requirement for generating life (John 6:63a).
Gen 1:31a said Gen. 1:6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26; Psa. 33:6, 9; Heb. 11:3
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 1:31 [1] After the Spirit’s brooding (v. 2b), the word of God came to bring in the light (cf. Psa. 119:105, 130). In spiritual experience, the coming of the word is the second requirement for generating life (John 5:24; 6:63b), and the coming of the light is the third requirement (Matt. 4:13-16; John 1:1-13).
Gen 1:31 [2] The Spirit, the word, and the light were the instruments used by God to generate life for the fulfillment of His purpose. The Spirit, the word, and the light are all of life (Rom. 8:2; Phil. 2:16; John 8:12b). Christ as the Spirit is the reality of God (Rom. 8:9-10; 2 Cor. 3:17; John 16:13-15); Christ as the Word is the speaking of God (John 1:1; Heb. 1:2); and Christ as the light is the shining of God (John 8:12a; 9:5).
Gen 1:31b light Isa. 45:7; 2 Cor. 4:6; cf. John 1:4-5
See note 31.
Gen 1:4a good Gen. 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31
Gen 1:41b separated cf. 2 Cor. 6:14
The separation of the light from the darkness for the purpose of discerning day from night (v. 5; cf. 2 Cor. 6:14b) is the fourth requirement for generating life.
Gen 1:5a Day Psa. 74:16; Jer. 33:20
Gen 1:5b there Gen. 1:8, 13, 19, 23, 31
Gen 1:61 expanse
The atmosphere, the air surrounding the earth.
Gen 1:62b separate Psa. 104:6-7
The separating of the waters by producing an expanse between them, signifying, spiritually, the dividing of the heavenly things from the earthly things through the work of the cross (Col. 3:1-3; Heb. 4:12), was the fifth requirement for generating life.
Gen 1:7a waters Psa. 148:4
Gen 1:81
At the end of the second day there is no record that God said that the expanse (the air) and the waters were good (cf. vv. 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). This is because in the air there are fallen angels (Eph. 2:2; 6:12), and the water is the dwelling place of the demons (Matt. 12:43 and note).
Gen 1:9b gathered Psa. 33:7; 104:7-9; Job 38:8-11
Gen 1:91c dry 2 Pet. 3:5; Job 38:4-6
The appearing of the dry land is the sixth requirement for generating life. This took place on the third day, corresponding to the day of resurrection (1 Cor. 15:4). In the Bible the sea represents death and the land represents Christ (see note 71 in Deut. 8) as the generating source of life. After the land appeared, every kind of life—the plant life, the animal life, and even the human life—was produced out of the land (vv. 11-12, 24-27; 2:7). This typifies that the divine life with all its riches comes out of Christ. On the third day Christ came out of death in resurrection to generate life (John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3) for the constituting of the church.
Gen 1:101 Earth
Dividing the land from the waters signifies separating life from death. From the second day (vv. 6-7) God began to work to confine and limit the waters of death that covered the earth (cf. Jer. 5:22). Eventually, when God’s work is completed, in the new heaven and new earth there will be no more sea (Rev. 21:1 and note 3). Furthermore, in the New Jerusalem there will be no more night (Rev. 21:25 and note 2). This means that both death and darkness will be eliminated.
Gen 1:11b sprout Gen. 2:9; Psa. 104:14
Gen 1:111 grass
The plant life is the lowest form of life, a life without consciousness, corresponding to the earliest stage of the divine life in a newly-regenerated believer (cf. 1 Cor. 3:6). The countless varieties of the plant life typify the rich expression of the unsearchable riches of the life of Christ in their beauty for man’s sight (Gen. 2:9), in their fragrance (S.S. 1:12-13), and in their nourishing man and animals (Gen. 1:29-30). The trees (Gen. 2:9; Exo. 15:23-25; S.S. 2:3; 5:15; Isa. 11:1; John 15:1; Rev. 22:2), the flowers (S.S. 1:14), and the grains as food for man (John 6:9, 13) and as offerings to God (Lev. 2:1-3, 14) are all types of Christ.
Gen 1:11c according Gen. 1:12, 21, 24, 25; cf. Gen. 1:26, 27
Gen 1:141b light-bearers Psa. 136:7; 104:19
According to the revelation of the whole Bible, light is for life; light and life always go together (Psa. 36:9; Matt. 4:16; John 1:4; 8:12; 1 John 1:1-7). The higher the light, the higher the life. The indefinite light of the first day (v. 3) was sufficient for generating the lowest forms of life; the more solid and more definite light from the light-bearers—the sun, the moon, and the stars (v. 16; Psa. 136:7-9)—on the fourth day was necessary for producing the higher forms of life, including the human life. This signifies that for our spiritual rebirth, the light of the “first day” is sufficient; but for the growth in the divine life unto maturity, more and stronger light, the light of the “fourth day,” is needed.
Gen 1:142c signs cf. Matt. 2:2, 9
All the signs, seasons, days, and years are shadows of Christ (Col. 2:16-17).
Gen 1:161a made Psa. 136:7-9
Although the sun, the moon, and the stars had been created earlier (cf. Job 38:7), God stopped their functions when He judged the heavens and the earth following Satan’s rebellion (see note 51 in Job 9). On the fourth day their functions were recovered for the producing of the higher forms of life.
Gen 1:162 greater
The sun (Psa. 136:8), signifying Christ (Mal. 4:2; Luke 1:78-79; Matt. 4:16; Eph. 5:14). The overcoming saints were also likened to the sun by the Lord Jesus (Matt. 13:43a).
Gen 1:163 lesser
The moon (Psa. 136:9). In Joseph’s dream his father was likened to the sun, his mother, to the moon, and his brothers, to the stars (37:9). The moon can be considered a figure of the church, the wife of Christ (cf. S.S. 6:10). The moon has no light of its own but shines in the night by reflecting the light of the sun. Likewise, the church shines in the dark night of the church age by reflecting the divine light of Christ (cf. Phil. 2:15).
Gen 1:164b stars Job 38:31-33
The stars first signify Christ (Num. 24:17; 2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 22:16b). Although Christ is the real sun, He does not appear as the sun during the present age of night. Rather, He shines as the bright morning star (Rev. 22:16 and note 4). The stars also signify the overcoming saints (Dan. 12:3; cf. Rev. 1:20). The light from the stars is needed particularly when the moon wanes; likewise, the shining of the overcoming saints as the heavenly stars is needed particularly in the time of the church’s degradation (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21).
Gen 1:17a set Jer. 31:35; Job 38:12-13
Gen 1:181 rule
The ruling of the fourth-day lights also strengthened the separating of the light from the darkness in v. 4. Both are requirements for the growth in life.
Gen 1:201b living Psa. 104:25
This is the animal life with the lowest consciousness, corresponding to the first step in the believers’ growth in life (cf. 1 John 2:13). The animal life in the sea typifies the riches of the life of Christ in the power that overcomes death (signified by the salt water) in His living. Just as fish can live in salt water without becoming salty, Christ and His believers, who have the divine life, can live in the satanic world without being “salted” by the world’s corruption (cf. John 14:30; 17:15-16). The animal life in the sea also shows the riches of Christ’s life in feeding man with His riches (John 6:9a; 21:9).
Gen 1:202 birds
The bird life is higher than the fish life. Fish can live in the death waters, but birds can transcend the death waters. By growing further in the divine life, the believers are able to transcend all the frustrations of the earth (cf. Isa. 40:31). The bird life typifies the riches of the life of Christ as seen in His being the eagle for carrying God’s redeemed to His destination (Exo. 19:4; Deut. 32:11-12; Rev. 12:14) and in His being the turtledoves or pigeons for offering to God for the sins of God’s people (Lev. 1:14; 5:7).
Gen 1:21a great Psa. 104:26; 74:14; Isa. 27:1
Gen 1:22a blessed Gen. 1:28; 5:2; 9:1
Gen 1:22b fruitful Gen. 1:28; 8:17; 9:1, 7; 28:3; 35:11 48:4; Lev. 26:9
Gen 1:24a living Gen. 2:19; Psa. 148:10
Gen 1:241 cattle
The cattle and the animals on the earth are a higher life with a higher consciousness than that of the fish and the birds, a life that can accomplish something on the earth. The animals and the cattle on the land typify the riches of the life of Christ as seen in Christ as the conquering lion (Rev. 5:5) to fight for God’s economy, as seen in Christ as the sheep and oxen for offering to God for the fulfillment of God’s full redemption (Lev. 1:2-3, 10; 3:1, 6, 12; 4:3; 5:6; John 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 5:6-9), and as seen in Christ as the ox to bear the responsibility and to labor faithfully for the accomplishing of God’s will (Matt. 20:28; John 6:38). Through further growth in the divine life the believers in Christ are able to live on the earth a life that is useful for the fulfilling of God’s will (cf. 1 Cor. 3:2; Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 15:58).
Gen 1:242 creeping
See note 266.
Gen 1:261 Let
Let Us… reveals that a council was held among the three of the Godhead regarding the creation of man. The decision to create man had been made by the Triune God in eternity past, indicating that the creation of man was for the eternal purpose of the Triune God (Eph. 3:9-11). God’s intention in creating man was to carry out His divine economy for the dispensing of Himself into man (1 Tim. 1:4 and note 3, par. 1). This is fully unveiled in the following books of the Bible.
Gen 1:26a Us Gen. 3:22; 11:7; Isa. 6:8
Gen 1:262b man Gen. 2:7; Psa. 8:4-5; Heb. 2:6-7; Eccl. 7:29; cf. Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10
Or, mankind; Heb. adam. So also in the next verse. The human life is the highest created life, the life that can express God in His image and likeness and can exercise dominion for God. Adam, the first man, typifies Christ (Rom. 5:14; 1 Cor. 15:45, 47; Psa. 8:4-8; Heb. 2:6-9) as the center of God’s creation (Col. 1:16-17), as the Head of all creation (Col. 1:15) and of all men (1 Cor. 11:3), as God’s expression in God’s image and likeness (Heb. 1:3; 2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15), and as God’s representative to rule over all things created by God (Psa. 8:6-8; Matt. 28:18).
Gen 1:263d image Gen. 1:27; 9:6; 1 Cor. 11:7; Col. 1:15; cf. 2 Cor. 3:18
[ par. 1 2 3 ]
Gen 1:263 [1] God’s image, referring to God’s inner being, is the expression of the inward essence of God’s attributes, the most prominent of which are love (1 John 4:8), light (1 John 1:5), holiness (Rev. 4:8), and righteousness (Jer. 23:6). God’s likeness, referring to God’s form (Phil. 2:6), is the expression of the essence and nature of God’s person. Thus, God’s image and God’s likeness should not be considered as two separate things. Man’s inward virtues, created in man’s spirit, are copies of God’s attributes and are the means for man to express God’s attributes. Man’s outward form, created as man’s body, is a copy of God’s form. Thus, God created man to be a duplication of Himself that man may have the capacity to contain God and express Him. All the other living things were created “according to their kind” (vv. 11-12, 21, 24-25), but man was created according to God’s kind (cf. Acts 17:28-29a). Since God and man are of the same kind, it is possible for man to be joined to God and to live together with Him in an organic union (John 15:5; Rom. 6:5; 11:17-24; 1 Cor. 6:17).
Gen 1:263 [2] Christ the Son, as God’s embodiment (Col. 2:9), is the image of the invisible God, the expression of the essence of God’s attributes (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4; Heb. 1:3). Man was created according to Christ with the intention that Christ would enter into man and be expressed through man (Col. 1:27; Phil. 1:20-21a). Created man is a living vessel, a container, to contain Christ (Rom. 9:21, 23; 2 Cor. 4:7). Eventually, in His incarnation Christ put on human nature and became in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:6-8) so that through His death and resurrection man may obtain God’s eternal, divine life (1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 5:11-12) and by that life be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ inwardly (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29) and transfigured into the likeness of Christ’s glorious body outwardly (Phil. 3:21) that he may be the same as Christ (1 John 3:2b) and may express God with Him to the universe (Eph. 3:21).
Gen 1:263 [3] Created man was a duplication of God in God’s image and likeness, but he did not have the reality of God or the life of God. Thus, he still needed to receive God as his life by eating of the tree of life so that he might have the reality of God to express Him (2:9 and note 2).
Gen 1:263e likeness Gen. 5:1; James 3:9
See note 263.
Gen 1:264 them
The pronouns them here and in vv. 27-28 and their in 5:2 indicate that Adam was a corporate man, a collective man, including all mankind. God did not create many men; He created mankind collectively in one person, Adam. God created such a corporate man in His image and according to His likeness so that mankind might express God corporately.
Gen 1:265f dominion Psa. 8:6-8; Heb. 2:7-8; Gen. 9:2; James 3:7
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 1:265 [1] God created a corporate man not only to express Himself with His image but also to represent Him by exercising His dominion over all things. God’s intention in giving man dominion is (1) to subdue God’s enemy, Satan, who rebelled against God; (2) to recover the earth, which was usurped by Satan; and (3) to exercise God’s authority over the earth in order that the kingdom of God may come to the earth, the will of God may be done on the earth, and the glory of God may be manifested on the earth (Matt. 6:10, 13b).
Gen 1:265 [2] God’s intention that man would express God in His image and represent God with His dominion is fulfilled not in Adam as the first man (1 Cor. 15:45a), the old man (Rom. 6:6), but in Christ as the second man (1 Cor. 15:47b and note 2), the new man (Eph. 2:15 and note 8), comprising Christ Himself as the Head and the church as His Body (Eph. 1:22-23; 1 Cor. 12:12 and note 2; Col. 3:10-11 and note 119). It is fully fulfilled in the overcoming believers, who live Christ for His corporate expression (Phil. 1:19-26) and will have authority over the nations and reign as co-kings with Christ in the millennium (Rev. 2:26-27; 20:4, 6). It will ultimately be fulfilled in the New Jerusalem, which will express God’s image, having His glory and bearing His appearance (Rev. 4:3a; 21:11, 18a), and also exercise God’s divine authority to maintain God’s dominion over the entire universe for eternity (Rev. 21:24; 22:5).
Gen 1:266 creeping
Typifying Satan, the serpent (3:1, 14; Rev. 12:9), and his angels (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 12:4a, 7b), as well as the demons who follow Satan (cf. Luke 10:19). See note 62, par. 1, in Rev. 4.
Gen 1:27b male Gen. 5:2; Matt. 19:4; Mark 10:6; cf. Gen. 2:18, 21-23
Gen 1:281 subdue
Subdue here implies that a war is raging on earth between God and His enemy, Satan. Whoever gains the earth will have the victory. Man was created by God to subdue, to conquer, the earth and recover it for God.
Gen 1:291 which
Lit., on which is the fruit of a tree seeding seed.
Gen 1:292a food Gen. 9:3; Psa. 104:14; 145:15-16
See note 31 in ch. 9.
Gen 1:311 very
Previously God had said “good” (vv. 4, 10, 12, 21, 25), but here He said “very good” because Adam had God’s image and had been given God’s dominion.
Gen 1:31a good 1 Tim. 4:4
Gen 2:2a seventh Exo. 20:8-11; 31:17; Deut. 5:12-14
Gen 2:21b rested Heb. 4:4, 10
[ par. 1 2 3 ]
Gen 2:21 [1] God rested because He had finished His work and was satisfied. God’s glory was manifested because man had His image, and His authority was about to be exercised for the subduing of His enemy, Satan. As long as man expresses God and deals with God’s enemy, God is satisfied and can rest.
Gen 2:21 [2] Later, the seventh day was commemorated as the Sabbath (Exo. 20:8-11). God’s seventh day was man’s first day. God had prepared everything for man’s enjoyment. After man was created, he did not join in God’s work; he entered into God’s rest. Man was created not to work but to be satisfied with God and rest with God (cf. Matt. 11:28-30). The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).
Gen 2:21 [3] The rest here is a seed that develops through the Bible and is harvested in Revelation. The development of this seed includes the rest of the Sabbath day (Exo. 20:8-11) and the rest of the good land (Deut. 12:9; Heb. 4:8) in the Old Testament, the rest of the Lord’s Day in the New Testament (Rev. 1:10; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2), and the rest of the millennial kingdom (Heb. 4:1, 3, 9, 11). The consummation of rest is the rest of the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem, in which all the redeemed saints will express God’s glory (Rev. 21:11, 23) and reign with God’s authority (Rev. 22:5b) for eternity. See note 91 in Heb. 4.
Gen 2:31 created
Lit., created to make.
Gen 2:41 These
God’s desire and purpose to have a corporate man to express Him in His image and to represent Him with His authority is unveiled in 1:1—2:3. The remainder of ch. 2 is an added record to reveal the way, the procedure, God takes to accomplish His purpose. This way is life. In order for man to express God and represent God, he must have God as his life, signified by the tree of life in v. 9.
Gen 2:42 created
See note 14, par. 1, in ch. 1. First, God created the heavens and the earth (1:1); then He made the earth and the heavens. In God’s creation, it was first the heavens and then the earth (1:1), whereas in God’s restoration and further creation, it was first the earth and then the heavens.
Gen 2:43 When
Lit., In the day.
Gen 2:44 Jehovah
Elohim (1:1) is the name of God in His relationship to creation, whereas Jehovah is God’s name in His relationship with man. Jehovah means I am who I am (Exo. 3:14; cf. John 8:24, 28, 58), indicating that Jehovah is the self-existing and ever-existing eternal One, the One who was in the past, who is in the present, and who will be in the future forever (Rev. 1:4).
Gen 2:5a plant cf. Gen. 1:11-12
Gen 2:51b work Gen. 2:15; 3:23
This signifies that there was no man to work with God by human labor in coordination with His divine labor (cf. John 5:17; 1 Cor. 3:9). When man labors in coordination with God’s labor, God has the basis to send the rain, signifying His Spirit of life (Joel 2:23, 28-29), to mingle with man, the dust of the earth (v. 7), to produce life.
Gen 2:71 formed
Or, shaped (as a potter would). See note 14, par. 1, in ch. 1.
Gen 2:72 man
Heb. adam. The first step of God’s procedure in fulfilling His purpose was to create man as a vessel to contain Himself as life (Rom. 9:21, 23; 2 Cor. 4:7; 2 Tim. 2:21).
Gen 2:73a dust Gen. 3:19, 23; Psa. 103:14; 1 Cor. 15:47; Isa. 64:8
Man’s body, formed from the dust of the ground, is man’s outward form and an organ for him to contact the material realm.
Gen 2:74 ground
Heb. adamah.
Gen 2:75b breath Gen. 7:22; Job 27:3; 33:4; Acts 17:25; cf. John 20:22
[ par. 1 2 3 ]
Gen 2:75 [1] Heb. neshamah, translated spirit in Prov. 20:27, indicating that the breath of life breathed into man’s body became the spirit of man, the human spirit (cf. Job 32:8). Man’s spirit is his inward organ for him to contact God, receive God, contain God, and assimilate God into his entire being as his life and his everything. It was specifically formed by God and is ranked in importance with the heavens and the earth in God’s holy Word (Zech. 12:1). The spirit of man is for man to worship God (John 4:24), to be regenerated by God (John 3:6b), and to be joined to God (1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Tim. 4:22) that man may walk and live in an organic union with God (Rom. 8:4b) to fulfill God’s purpose.
Gen 2:75 [2] The breath of life breathed into man’s nostrils was not the eternal life of God nor the Spirit of God. See note 382 in Luke 3. Man did not receive the Spirit of God until the Lord breathed the Holy Spirit into His disciples on the day of His resurrection (John 20:22). Nevertheless, because the human spirit came out of God’s breath of life, it is very close to the Spirit of God. Thus, there can be a transmission between God the Spirit and man’s spirit, and the human spirit is able to contact God and be one with God (Rom. 8:16 and note 2; 1 Cor. 6:17 and note 2).
Gen 2:75 [3] Within man’s spirit there are three functions: conscience, enabling man to know what God justifies and what He condemns (Rom. 9:1 and note 2); fellowship, that man may contact God, worship God, and commune with God (John 4:24; Eph. 6:18a; Rom. 1:9); and intuition, giving man a direct sense of God and a direct knowledge from God (Mark 2:8; 1 Cor. 2:11).
Gen 2:76c soul 1 Cor. 15:45
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 2:76 [1] Man’s soul, which is his person, his very self (Exo. 1:5; Acts 2:41), was not formed from a certain element but was produced by the combining of the human spirit and the human body. The soul, composed of man’s mind, emotion, and will, has the psychological consciousness to contact the psychological realm.
Gen 2:76 [2] God is triune—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Matt. 28:19)—and man is tripartite—spirit and soul and body (1 Thes. 5:23). The Triune God created such a tripartite man to be a living vessel that man may have the capacity to contain God and be joined to God organically (John 15:4-5; Rom. 11:17-24) to be His organism for His expression in humanity. See note 235 in 1 Thes. 5 and notes 122 and 123 in Heb. 4.
Gen 2:8a garden Gen. 2:15; 13:10; Isa. 51:3; Joel 2:3; cf. Ezek. 28:13; 31:8-9; Rev. 2:7
Gen 2:81 Eden
A Hebrew word meaning pleasure.
Gen 2:91 pleasant
Indicating that God wanted to please man and make him happy. God wants man to be pleased with Him and satisfied with Him (Psa. 100; Phil. 4:4).
Gen 2:92a tree Gen. 3:22, 24; Ezek. 47:12; Rev. 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19; cf. John 6:48; 15:1
The second step of God’s procedure in fulfilling His purpose was to place the created man in front of the tree of life, which signifies the Triune God embodied in Christ as life to man in the form of food. God’s placing man in front of the tree of life indicates that God wanted man to receive Him as man’s life by eating Him organically and assimilating Him metabolically, that God might become the very constituent of man’s being. According to John 1:1, 4, life is in the Word, who is God Himself. This life—the divine, eternal, uncreated life of God—is Christ (John 11:25; 14:6; Col. 3:4a), who is the embodiment of God (Col. 2:9). The tree of life grows along the two sides of the river of water of life (Rev. 22:1-2), indicating that it is a vine. Since Christ is a vine tree (John 15:1) and is also life, He is the tree of life. He was processed through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection that man might have life and live by eating Him (John 10:10b; 6:51, 57, 63).
Gen 2:93b tree Gen. 2:17
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 2:93 [1] The tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan as the source of death to man (Heb. 2:14). It also signifies all things apart from God, for anything that is not God Himself, including good things and even scriptural things and religious things, can be utilized by Satan, the subtle one, to bring death to man. Even the Scriptures inspired by God and the law given by God can be utilized by Satan as the tree of knowledge to bring in death (John 5:39-40; 2 Cor. 3:6b).
Gen 2:93 [2] The tree of life causes man to be dependent on God (John 15:5), whereas the tree of knowledge causes man to rebel against God and to be independent from Him (cf. 3:5). The two trees issue in two lines—the line of life and the line of death—that run through the entire Bible and end in the book of Revelation. Death begins with the tree of knowledge (v. 17) and ends with the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10, 14). Life begins with the tree of life and ends in the New Jerusalem, the city of the water of life (Rev. 22:1-2).
Gen 2:101a river cf. Psa. 46:4; Rev. 22:1
The river here signifies the river of water of life, along which the tree of life grows (Rev. 22:1-2 and notes 12, 13, and 21). This river quenched man’s thirst and watered the garden that life might grow. At the beginning and the end of the Bible there are the tree of life and the river flowing with living water.
Gen 2:102 forth
The river going forth from Eden signifies the river of water of life flowing forth from God (Rev. 22:1), indicating that God is the source of the living water for man to drink (cf. John 4:10; 7:37).
Gen 2:103 four
The number four signifies man, the creature (Ezek. 1:5). The one river becoming four branches signifies that the river flows out of the unique God (signified by the number one) as the source and center to reach man in every direction.
Gen 2:104 branches
Lit., heads.
Gen 2:11a Havilah Gen. 10:7, 29; 25:18; 1 Sam. 15:7
Gen 2:121 gold
[ par. 1 2 3 ]
Gen 2:121 [1] The flow of the river issued in three precious materials: gold, bdellium, and onyx. These materials typify the Triune God as the basic elements of the structure of God’s eternal building. Gold typifies God the Father with His divine nature, which man may partake of through God’s calling (2 Pet. 1:3-4), as the base of God’s eternal building; bdellium, a pearl-like material produced from the resin of a tree, typifies the produce of God the Son in His redeeming and life-releasing death (John 19:34) and His life-dispensing resurrection (John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3), as the entry into God’s eternal building (cf. Rev. 21:21 and note 1, par. 1); and onyx, a precious stone, typifies the produce of God the Spirit with His transforming work (2 Cor. 3:18) for the building up of God’s eternal building. The New Jerusalem is constructed of these three categories of materials—gold, pearl, and precious stones (Rev. 21:11, 18-21). See note 211, par. 2, in Rev. 21.
Gen 2:121 [2] The breastplate of the high priest, a symbol of Israel as God’s Old Testament people, was constructed of gold and precious stones (Exo. 28:6-21), and the church in the New Testament is built with gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Cor. 3:12—there silver, signifying Christ’s redemption, is listed instead of bdellium or pearl because of man’s need of redemption after the fall). This indicates that the New Jerusalem includes the totality of God’s chosen and redeemed people—Israel plus the church (see notes 124 and 142 in Rev. 21).
Gen 2:121 [3] The flowing of the divine life in man brings the divine nature into man (2 Pet. 1:4), regenerates man (1 Pet. 1:3), and transforms man into the glorious image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). Thus, man, who was created of dust (v. 7), becomes transformed precious materials for God’s building, which will consummate in the New Jerusalem.
Gen 2:121a bdellium Num. 11:7
See note 121.
Gen 2:121b onyx Exo. 28:20; 39:13; Job 28:16; Ezek. 28:13
See note 121.
Gen 2:151 put
Lit., caused him to rest.
Gen 2:152 work
Man’s working the ground was that life, especially the tree of life (v. 9), might grow for the fulfillment of the first aspect of God’s purpose, i.e., to express God in His image. The ground typifies the human heart, into which Christ as the seed of the tree of life is sown (Matt. 13:3-23). To work the ground signifies to loosen and break our hard heart, to open our heart to the heavens that the Spirit as the rain (see note 51) may descend for the growth of Christ as the tree of life within us.
Gen 2:153 keep
Or, guard. This is to protect the garden from God’s enemy that the second aspect of God’s purpose might be fulfilled, i.e., to deal with Satan by God’s authority. We need to work the ground that God as the tree of life might enter into us. We also need to keep the ground, leaving no opening for Satan as the tree of knowledge.
Gen 2:16a Of Deut. 30:15, 19; Jer. 21:8
Gen 2:171a not Gen. 3:11, 17; cf. Gen. 3:3
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 2:171 [1] God’s first commandment to man concerned man’s eating, not man’s conduct. Eating is critical to man, a matter of life or death. Man’s outcome and destiny before God depends altogether on what he eats. If man eats the tree of life, he will receive God as life and fulfill God’s purpose; if he eats the tree of knowledge, he will receive Satan as death and be usurped by him for his purpose.
Gen 2:171 [2] God’s forbidding commandment given as a warning to man indicates (1) God’s greatness in creating man with a free will that man may choose God willingly and not under coercion; (2) God’s love for man; and (3) God’s desire that man would eat the tree of life to receive God into him as life.
Gen 2:172b die Rom. 5:12; 6:23; James 1:15
Referring not to the death of man’s body but to the deadening of man’s spirit (Eph. 2:1), which leads ultimately to the death of man’s entire being—spirit, soul, and body (Heb. 9:27; Rev. 20:14). See note 12 in Eph. 2.
Gen 2:18a good cf. Prov. 18:22
Gen 2:181 man
The third step of God’s procedure in fulfilling His purpose was to work Himself into man to make man His complement. Adam here typifies God in Christ as the real, universal Husband, who is seeking a wife for Himself (Rom. 5:14; cf. Isa. 54:5; John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:31-32; Rev. 19:7; 21:9). Adam’s need for a wife typifies and portrays God’s need, in His economy, to have a wife as His complement.
Gen 2:18b helper Gen. 2:20; 1 Cor. 11:9
Gen 2:182 counterpart
Or, his complement; lit., his parallel. So also in v. 20.
Gen 2:201 not
The wife must be the same as the husband in life, nature, and expression. Among the cattle, the birds, and the animals Adam did not find a complement for himself, one that could match him.
Gen 2:211a deep Gen. 15:12; 1 Sam. 26:12
In order to produce a complement for Himself, God first became a man (John 1:14), as typified by God’s creation of Adam (Rom. 5:14). Here Adam’s deep sleep for the producing of Eve as his wife typifies Christ’s death on the cross for the producing of the church as His counterpart (Eph. 5:25-27). Through Christ’s death the divine life within Him was released, and through His resurrection His released divine life was imparted into His believers for the constituting of the church (see note 341 in John 19). Through such a process God in Christ has been wrought into man with His life and nature so that man can be the same as God in life and nature in order to match Him as His counterpart.
Gen 2:212 ribs
The rib taken from Adam’s opened side typifies the unbreakable, indestructible eternal life of Christ (Heb. 7:16), which flowed out of His pierced side (John 19:34) to impart life to His believers for the producing and building up of the church as His complement. See notes 362 in John 19 and 161 in Heb. 7.
Gen 2:221a built 1 Tim. 2:13
It does not say that Eve was created but that she was built. The building of Eve with the rib taken from Adam’s side typifies the building of the church with the resurrection life released from Christ through His death on the cross and imparted into His believers in His resurrection (John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3). The church as the real Eve is the totality of Christ in all His believers. Only that which comes out of Christ with His resurrection life can be His complement and counterpart, the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 5:28-30).
Gen 2:222 woman
At the end of the Bible is a city, New Jerusalem, the ultimate and eternal woman, the corporate bride, the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 21:9; 22:17), built with three precious materials (Rev. 21:18-21), fulfilling for eternity the type shown in this chapter. Thus, in type all the precious materials mentioned in vv. 11-12 are for the building of the woman (see note 121).
Gen 2:223 brought
As Eve was taken out of Adam and brought back to Adam to be one flesh with him (v. 24), so the church produced out of Christ will go back to Christ (Eph. 5:27; Rev. 19:7) to be one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). See note 321 in Eph. 5.
Gen 2:23a bone Gen. 29:14; Judg. 9:2; 2 Sam. 5:1; 19:13; cf. Eph. 5:28-30
Gen 2:231 Woman
Heb. Ishshah, as also in v. 22. Just as Eve was the increase of Adam, the church as the bride is the increase of Christ as the Bridegroom (John 3:29-30).
Gen 2:23b out 1 Cor. 11:8
Gen 2:232 Man
Heb. Ish. So also in v. 24. Different from the word adam, translated man elsewhere in the chapter.
Gen 2:24a man Matt. 19:5; Mark 10:7; Eph. 5:31; cf. 1 Cor. 7:10-11
Gen 2:24b they 1 Cor. 6:16
Gen 2:241 flesh
See note 223. Adam and Eve becoming one flesh, one complete unit, is a figure of God and man being joined as one. The coming New Jerusalem will be the eternal union of God and man, a universal couple as a complete unit composed of divinity and humanity.
Gen 2:251 And
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 2:251 [1] Adam and Eve, being one, lived a married life together as husband and wife. This portrays that in the New Jerusalem the processed and consummated redeeming Triune God as the universal Husband will live a married life with the redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified humanity as the wife, forever. See note 171, par. 2, in Rev. 22.
Gen 2:251 [2] The revelation concerning the garden of Eden, as the beginning of the divine revelation in the Holy Scriptures, and the revelation concerning the New Jerusalem, as the ending of the divine revelation in the Holy Scriptures, reflect each other. Both contain four things: (1) the tree of life as the center of God’s eternal economy (v. 9; Rev. 22:2), (2) the river flowing to reach the four directions of the earth (v. 10; Rev. 22:1), (3) three kinds of precious materials (vv. 11-12; Rev. 21:11-14, 18-21), and (4) a couple (vv. 18-25; Rev. 21:9-10; 22:17). What is revealed in these two parts of the Scriptures is the central line of the divine revelation of the entire Holy Scriptures and should be a controlling principle of the interpreting and understanding of the Holy Scriptures.
Gen 2:25a naked cf. Gen. 3:7, 10-11; 9:22; Exo. 20:26; Lev. 18:6-19
Gen 3:11a serpent 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9; 20:2
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 3:11 [1] Man’s first fall was initiated by Satan through the deceiving by the serpent (2 Cor. 11:3). The crafty serpent was the embodiment of Satan, the Devil, the enemy and adversary of God (Matt. 13:39a; Rev. 12:9 and notes 3 and 4) and the tempter of man (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thes. 3:5).
Gen 3:11 [2] Immediately after the first two chapters of Genesis, Satan came in, and immediately before the last two chapters of Revelation, he will be cast out (Rev. 20:10). Between the first two chapters and the last two chapters of the Bible, Satan, the serpent, is constantly working to corrupt and damage humanity and to thereby frustrate God from carrying out His eternal purpose. In every generation the goal of God’s divine work is to build up the Body of Christ to express His Son, Christ, and also to eliminate the serpent.
Gen 3:12 woman
The serpent contacted the woman, not the man, because the woman is the weaker vessel (1 Pet. 3:7).
Gen 3:13 Did
In tempting the woman, Satan first touched her mind by questioning God’s word, causing her to doubt God’s word. The serpent’s question stirred up Eve’s doubting mind and prevented her from using her spirit to contact God. Satan’s evil thought entered into Eve and contaminated her mind even before she ate of the tree of knowledge.
Gen 3:1b You cf. Gen. 2:16-17; 3:11
Gen 3:21 said
The outward cause of man’s first fall was the serpent’s temptation. The inward cause was the woman’s assuming the headship (vv. 2-3, 6). The woman represents man’s position in relation to God. God is man’s Husband (Isa. 54:5); man’s position is that of the wife. As the man should be under the headship of God, so the woman should be under the headship of man (1 Cor. 11:3). This is a safeguard against the subtlety of the enemy. Here Eve assumed the headship by speaking to the serpent directly, without the covering of her husband. Thus, she was ensnared by the serpent and was deceived (1 Tim. 2:14). Eve’s failure here typifies man’s failure in putting God aside and assuming the headship over God to act independently of Him, thus opening the way for Satan, the subtle one, to deceive man. See note 41 in Rom. 7.
Gen 3:4a You Gen. 3:13; 2 Cor. 11:3; cf. John 8:44
Gen 3:51 For
This slanderous word from the evil one caused Eve to misunderstand God’s love and to doubt God’s heart in His forbidding man to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:16-17). It poisoned Eve’s emotion, causing her to dislike God.
Gen 3:5a like Isa. 14:14; Ezek. 28:2, 9; cf. 1 John 3:2
Gen 3:52 God
Or, gods.
Gen 3:6a woman 1 Tim. 2:14
Gen 3:6b delight 1 John 2:16
Gen 3:61 took
In the process of man’s fall, man failed to use his spirit to contact God, thus bypassing God and putting God aside. Instead, he exercised his soul, reasoning with the serpent in the mind, desiring the tree of knowledge in the emotion, and deciding in the will to take the fruit and eat it.
Gen 3:71 And
The dreadful result of man’s first fall was manifold. First, man transgressed God’s commandment (2:17; Rom. 5:14) and thus fell under God’s condemnation (Rom. 5:16) and came under a curse (vv. 17-19). He also became estranged from God (v. 8) and alienated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18) in the tree of life (vv. 23-24). Not only so, in the fall Satan’s evil thought, feeling, and will were injected into man’s mind, emotion, and will, thus contaminating man’s soul (vv. 1, 4-6). Through man’s eating of the tree of knowledge, Satan entered man’s body and became the very sin within man (cf. Rom. 7:8, 11, 17, 20 and note 81). Thus the human body, which was created pure and sinless, was transmuted into the flesh of sin (Rom. 7:18a and note 2). As a consequence of the fall man’s spirit was deadened (cf. Eph. 2:1, 5 and note 12), becoming insulated from God and losing its function toward God. Hence, each of man’s three parts—his body, his soul, and his spirit—was damaged by the fall. Furthermore, fallen man was constituted a sinner (Rom. 5:19) and became a victim of death (Rom. 5:12b, 14a; 1 Cor. 15:22a). Consequently, man was spoiled from fulfilling God’s purpose, which is to express God in His image and represent God with His dominion (1:26). Finally, because of man’s fall all the creation is subjected to vanity and the slavery of corruption (Rom. 8:20-21).
Gen 3:72 knew
This is the beginning of the function of the human conscience. The conscience, being a function of man’s spirit (see note 75, par. 3, in ch. 2), came into being at the time man was created by God. However, it was not until after man partook of the tree of knowledge that the function of the conscience was manifested. After the fall Adam was ashamed of his nakedness (cf. 2:25) because the function of his conscience was activated. From that time the conscience in man began to bear the responsibility of refusing evil and accepting good. See note 12 in Rom. 9.
Gen 3:73 fig
Fig leaves are of the vegetable life, which has no blood for redemption (cf. Heb. 9:22). The coverings of fig leaves represent man’s own works in attempting to cover his sinfulness. Such works are inadequate to cover man’s nakedness that he might be justified, accepted, before God (cf. Rom. 3:20a). See notes 211 and 212.
Gen 3:81 sound
Or, voice.
Gen 3:82 cool
Lit., breeze; Heb. ruach.
Gen 3:8a hid Job 31:33; cf. Jer. 23:23-24; Heb. 4:13; Psa. 139:1-12
Gen 3:91 Jehovah
Although the man created by God had been spoiled by His adversary, the unchanging and everlasting God would never change by annulling His eternal economy, which He made in eternity past for eternity future (Eph. 3:9-11). Thus, He had to rescue the man whom He had created for His unchanging purpose, even at the cost of sacrificing His only begotten Son (John 3:16). It is for this reason that even in eternity past Christ as the second of the Divine Trinity was preparing to come into time (Micah 5:2) to die for fallen man according to the divine determination made in the council of the Divine Trinity in eternity past (Acts 2:23 and note 1; 1 Pet. 1:18-20 and note 201).
Gen 3:92 Where
Immediately after the fall, Adam and Eve knew that the result of their transgression was to be death (cf. Rom. 1:32a; 6:23a). Therefore, they hid themselves from the Lord’s presence, awaiting the sentence of death (v. 8). However, God came to seek them, not to declare the sentence of death but to preach the gospel to them and to save them from their fall (cf. John 3:17; Luke 19:10). The first word of the gospel preached by God was “Where are you?” This question was not the pronouncement of a judgment; it was the opening word of the glad tidings.
Gen 3:10a naked Gen. 2:25; 3:7
Gen 3:111 Who
God questioned Adam and Eve not because He intended to condemn them but because He wanted to lead them to confess their transgressions (cf. 1 John 1:9).
Gen 3:13a serpent 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14
Gen 3:141 cursed
God did not judge Adam and Eve, but He judged the serpent by cursing him.
Gen 3:142 stomach
This implies that God limited Satan’s activity and move to the earth. As long as we set our mind on the things that are above the earth, the serpent, the Devil, Satan, cannot touch us (Col. 3:1-3; 1 John 5:18; Rom. 16:20).
Gen 3:14a dust Isa. 65:25; Micah 7:17; cf. Gen. 3:19
Gen 3:151 woman
The woman here signifies first Eve and then the virgin Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus (Gal. 4:4). She also signifies all the people of God who take the position of a woman before God, trusting in Him (see note 21 in Gen. 3), as represented by the universal woman in Rev. 12:1 (see note there). Thus, the enmity between the serpent and the woman is the enmity between Satan and all God’s people (see note 42 in Rev. 12). The serpent’s hating and fighting against God’s people began when Satan instigated Cain to murder Abel (4:8; 1 John 3:12) and continues through all the generations until Satan is cast into the lake of fire for eternity (Rev. 20:7-10).
Gen 3:152 seed
The serpent’s seed are the people who follow Satan. Because Satan, the old serpent (Rev. 12:9; 20:2), has injected himself as sin into man’s flesh (see note 182 in Rom. 7), all men have become serpents in the eyes of God (Matt. 23:33). As Satan’s followers, they are his sons, his seed, not by adoption but by birth (Matt. 3:7; 13:38; John 8:44; 1 John 3:10). Thus, they have the serpentine nature and life. They are used by Satan to persecute and fight against the woman’s seed.
Gen 3:153 seed
The seed of the woman is the incarnated Jesus Christ, who as the very God was born of the virgin Mary to be a man, as prophesied in Isa. 7:14, fulfilled in Matt. 1:23, and confirmed in Gal. 4:4. Thus, the promise here indicates that God Himself would come to be a human seed to bruise the head of the damaging serpent. Ultimately, the seed of the woman is enlarged to include the overcoming believers, the stronger part of God’s people, signified by the man-child in Rev. 12:5 (see note 2 there). The man-child, the corporate seed of the woman, includes the Lord Jesus, the individual seed of the woman. Psalm 2:8-9, Rev. 2:26-27, and Rev. 12:5 indicate that the Lord Jesus as God’s Anointed, the overcomers in the churches, and the man-child will rule the nations with an iron rod, thus proving that the Lord Jesus, the overcomers, and the man-child are one. The Lord as the leading Overcomer (Rev. 3:21) is the Head, center, reality, life, and nature of the man-child, and the man-child as the following overcomers is the Lord’s Body.
Gen 3:154a bruise Heb. 2:14; cf. Rom. 16:20
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 3:154 [1] The bruising of the serpent’s head by the seed of the woman is the destroying of Satan, the one who has the might of death, by the Lord Jesus through His death on the cross (Heb. 2:14 and note; 1 John 3:8). While the Lord was destroying the serpent on the cross, the serpent bruised His heel, i.e., wounded Him by nailing His feet to the cross (Psa. 22:16).
Gen 3:154 [2] Through the Lord’s death on the cross, Satan, the old serpent, was judged, cast out (John 12:31; 16:11). That judgment will ultimately be carried out by the overcomers as the man-child, the corporate seed of the woman (Rev. 12:9 and note 1).
Gen 3:161a childbearing 1 Tim. 2:15; cf. John 16:21
Childbearing with suffering and pain (1 Tim. 2:14-15; 5:13-14) and the ruling of the husband (1 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:11-12) were ordained by God as a restriction and protection for the woman, who took the lead in man’s fall.
Gen 3:161b rule Eph. 5:22-24; Col. 3:18; 1 Pet. 3:1, 5-6; Titus 2:5; cf. 1 Cor. 11:3; 14:34-35; 1 Tim. 2:11-12
See note 161.
Gen 3:17a Cursed Gen. 5:29; cf. Gal. 3:13; Rev. 22:3
Gen 3:171b toil Eccl. 2:22
Or, pain. The ground’s growing thorns and thistles (v. 18), man’s enduring pain, toil, and sweat all the days of his life (vv. 17, 19a), and his returning to the ground, i.e., dying (v. 19b), were all ordained by God to restrict and protect fallen and sinful man.
Gen 3:18a thorns Heb. 6:8; cf. Matt. 27:29
Gen 3:19a dust Gen. 2:7; Psa. 103:14; 1 Cor. 15:47
Gen 3:19b to Job 34:15; Psa. 90:3; 104:29; Eccl. 3:20; 12:7
Gen 3:201 Eve
Meaning living. God’s announcing of the glad tidings in v. 15 concerning the seed of the woman destroying the serpent was the first instance of the proclaiming of the gospel in the entire Bible. After hearing the glad tidings, Adam believed that he and Eve would live and not die (cf. John 3:14-16); thus, he called his wife’s name Eve, living. Hence, God was the first preacher of the glad tidings of the gospel, and Adam was the first believer.
Gen 3:20a all Acts 17:26
Gen 3:211 skin
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 3:211 [1] Probably the skins of lambs sacrificed as substitutes for the sinful Adam and Eve, with the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins (Heb. 9:22). The killing of the lambs by God foreshadowed the substitutionary death of Christ as the Lamb of God, with the shedding of His precious blood for the accomplishing of redemption, based on which God justifies the believing sinners (John 1:29; Rev. 13:8b; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; 3:18a; Eph. 1:7; Rom. 3:24).
Gen 3:211 [2] God’s clothing Adam and his wife with the coats of skins means that God justified them through their faith (Rom. 3:28). The coats are a type of Christ as God’s righteousness to cover us that we might be justified by God (Jer. 23:6; 1 Cor. 1:30). They were made by God and replaced the coverings of fig leaves sown by Adam (v. 7). See note 225 in Luke 15.
Gen 3:212a clothed cf. 2 Chron. 6:41; Psa. 132:16; Isa. 61:10
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 3:212 [1] Genuine substitution is based on union. After being clothed by God with a coat of lamb skins, Adam became one with the lamb. Thus, the sinner became one with the substitute. This is union. Union brings in the effectiveness of substitution. When we believe in the gospel, Christ is put upon us as our covering righteousness (cf. Luke 15:22), and we are put into Christ (1 Cor. 1:30), making us one with Christ. Since we are one with Christ, whatever He has accomplished on the cross becomes ours. To believe in Jesus Christ is to be one with Him, to enter into a union with Him (see note 162 in John 3). In such a union, whatever Christ is, whatever He has, whatever He has done and will do, and whatever He has attained and obtained are ours. See notes 143, par. 2, in ch. 6; 181, par. 2, in ch. 8; 222 in Exo. 12; and 22 in 1 John 2.
Gen 3:212 [2] The main items of the gospel are seen in vv. 15 and 21, which indicate that God, the Creator of man, became man’s Savior after man’s fall by becoming a human seed to die in order to destroy Satan, to redeem fallen man, and to become man’s righteousness before God that he might be justified and be in God to be one with Him.
Gen 3:221 lest
Although Adam and Eve had the anticipated redemption, they did not yet have the actual redemption, which was accomplished by Christ on the cross. They were still sinful in nature. If they had eaten of the tree of life while in that condition, they would have lived forever with their sinful nature. God did not allow that. The tree of life, signifying God as life to man, must not be touched by sinful man. Thus, before the actual redemption was accomplished, God had to close the way to the tree of life. Once the actual redemption was completed to take away man’s sin (John 1:29) and terminate man’s sinful nature (John 3:14 and note; Rom. 8:3 and note 3), access to the tree of life would again be possible (Rev. 22:14).
Gen 3:22b tree Gen. 2:9; Rev. 22:2; 2:7
Gen 3:241a cherubim Exo. 25:18-22; Psa. 18:10; cf. Ezek. 28:14
God closed the way to the tree of life by means of three items: the cherubim, the flame, and the sword. Cherubim signify God’s glory (cf. Ezek. 9:3; 10:4; Heb. 9:5), the flame signifies God’s holiness (Deut. 4:24; 9:3; Heb. 12:29), and the sword for killing indicates God’s righteousness (cf. Lam. 3:42-43; Rom. 2:5). These attributes of God placed requirements on sinful man. Since sinful man was unable to meet these requirements (Rom. 3:10-18, 23), he was not permitted to contact God as the tree of life, until Christ fulfilled the requirements of God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness by His all-inclusive death on the cross to open a new and living way for us to enter the Holy of Holies and partake of the tree of life (Heb. 10:19-20 and note 202; Rev. 22:14 and note 4).
Gen 3:24b tree Gen. 2:9; cf. Rev. 22:14
Gen 4:11 Cain
Meaning acquired.
Gen 4:1a acquired cf. Gen. 3:15
Gen 4:12 Jehovah
Or, with the help of Jehovah.
Gen 4:21 Abel
Meaning breath or vanity. As a result of man’s first fall, everything in human life became vanity (Eccl. 1:2-3).
Gen 4:22a tender cf. Gen. 46:32; 47:3
Or, a shepherd, a feeder. Before the flood man was permitted to eat only fruits and vegetables (1:29; 3:18), not meat (cf. 9:3). Thus, Abel’s tending of sheep was not to produce food for his living but to provide offerings for God’s satisfaction. Abel not only believed the gospel (see note 41) but also practiced the gospel and lived for it.
Gen 4:23b tiller Gen. 3:23
Or, laborer. In his occupation Abel took care only of God’s satisfaction, whereas Cain cared only for his own living.
Gen 4:31 offering
Cain did not follow the way of God’s salvation through the anticipated redemption by the bleeding sacrifice (3:21; Heb. 9:22) but continued man’s fall by presumptuously offering the fruit of his own labor to God. Cain’s way of worshipping God was to invent a religion according to his human concept and opinion (Jude 11 and note 1), which were motivated by Satan, the subtle one (v. 7 and note; 1 John 3:12). Throughout the centuries and generations there have been countless followers of Cain, people in every place and time who have invented their own religion.
Gen 4:41 offering
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 4:41 [1] According to Heb. 11:4, Abel’s offering, a sacrifice, was offered to God by faith. Faith comes by hearing the word of the gospel (Rom. 10:17, 14). This indicates that Abel’s parents, Adam and Eve, must have proclaimed to their children the glad tidings that God had announced to them (3:15, 21). Like his father and mother, Abel believed the gospel and presented his offering to God according to God’s revelation in the word proclaimed by his parents. Thus, the first family on earth was a family of the gospel, a family of believers.
Gen 4:41 [2] Abel was the first priest of God, representing all the believers in Christ (1 Pet. 2:5, 9). In type, Abel offered Christ to God. According to Num. 18:17, the firstling of a cow or sheep or goat, a type of Christ, had to be offered to God. This offering included the sprinkling of the blood upon the altar for redemption and the burning of the fat as a satisfying fragrance to God. Hence, Abel’s offering, corresponding exactly with what was later revealed in the Mosaic law, proves that his way of worshipping God was according to God’s divine revelation, not according to his own concept.
Gen 4:4a firstlings Exo. 13:12; Num. 18:17; Prov. 3:9
Gen 4:5a Cain Heb. 11:4; Jude 11
Gen 4:51 no
Cain rejected God’s way of taking Christ as God’s righteousness to cover him (3:21; Phil. 3:9; 1 Cor. 1:30). Like the religious Jews, he sought to establish his own righteousness, ignoring God’s righteousness and not submitting to it (Rom. 10:3). Thus, his offering was an insult to God, and God rejected it.
Gen 4:71 sin
Sin and Satan are one (Rom. 7:8 and note). If we reject God’s way of salvation, Satan as sin is crouching at the door, waiting for the opportunity to seize and devour us (cf. Luke 22:31; 1 Pet. 5:8).
Gen 4:81 Let
This clause is present in many ancient versions but lacking in the Hebrew text.
Gen 4:82a slew 1 John 3:12; Matt. 23:35; cf. John 8:44
Cain murdered his brother because of his anger provoked by his religious jealousy (vv. 4-5). Throughout the generations those who worship God according to the flesh have opposed, persecuted, and even murdered those who worship according to the Spirit (Matt. 23:35; John 16:2; Rev. 17:6; cf. Gal. 4:29). In his offering to God and his murdering his brother, Cain was on the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In contrast, Abel was on the line of the tree of life. See note 93, par. 2, in ch. 2.
Gen 4:91 I
This lie showed Cain’s arrogance toward God. Cain’s murdering of Abel and his lying to God were alluded to by the Lord Jesus in John 8:44, indicating that in the acts of murdering and lying, Cain was one with the Devil, Satan, who was his source (1 John 3:12). Because Cain had rejected God’s way and God’s warning (v. 7), he was gained by Satan, the murderer and the liar, and became a murderer and a liar with Satan.
Gen 4:101a blood Heb. 11:4; cf. Rev. 6:10
Both the blood of Abel and the blood of Jesus speak (Heb. 12:24 and note 3). Abel’s blood spoke from the earth; Jesus’ blood speaks from heaven.
Gen 4:11a cursed cf. Gen. 3:17-18
Gen 4:11b blood cf. Num. 35:33
Gen 4:14a face Psa. 143:7; 51:11; 2 Kings 24:20; Jer. 52:3
Gen 4:14b kill Num. 35:19
Gen 4:161 Nod
Meaning wandering.
Gen 4:171 Enoch
Meaning initiated, dedicated, trained.
Gen 4:172a city cf. Gen. 11:4; Dan. 4:30
After leaving God’s presence (v. 16), Cain constructed a city for his protection and self-existence. Within this city he produced a culture without God. In the garden God was everything to man—his protection, maintenance, supply, and amusement. When man lost God, he lost everything. Man’s loss of God forced man to invent human culture, the main elements of which were cities for existence, cattle-raising for making a living, music for amusement, and weapons for defense (vv. 20-22). The godless culture invented in Gen. 4 will continue to develop until it climaxes in the great Babylon (Rev. 17—18).
Gen 4:251a Seth 1 Chron. 1:1; Luke 3:38
Meaning appointed. After the martyrdom of Abel, God appointed Seth to replace Abel in taking God’s way of salvation.
Gen 4:261a Enosh Gen. 5:6
Meaning frail, mortal man.
Gen 4:262b call Gen. 12:8; 13:4; 21:33; Psa. 116:13, 17; Joel 2:32; Zeph. 3:9; Zech. 13:9; Acts 2:21; Rom. 10:12
The Hebrew word means to call out to, to cry unto, i.e., to cry out audibly. Because men realized that their life was vanity (see note 21) and that they were frail and mortal (see note 261), they spontaneously began to call upon the name of Jehovah, the eternal One (see note 44 in ch. 2). Although they were vain and weak, by calling on the name of the Lord, they were made rich and strong, for they entered into the riches and strength of the One on whom they called (Rom. 10:12-13 and notes). See note 211 in Acts 2.
Gen 5:11a generations cf. Gen. 2:4; Matt. 1:1
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 5:11 [1] The genealogy recorded in this chapter includes the first ten generations of mankind, from Adam to Noah. According to Luke 3:23-38, human genealogy began with God and issued in Jesus Christ.
Gen 5:11 [2] The history in the entire Old Testament is the Triune God’s preparation for the carrying out of His eternal economy. This preparation was initiated in a man, Adam (1:1—11:26), and eventually issued in three persons, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Joseph (11:27—50:26), who resulted in one people, Israel (Exo.—Mal.). The thirty-nine books of the Old Testament reveal the preparation for bringing forth Christ, the God-man, the complete God mingled with the perfect man (Matt. 1), for the producing of the Body of Christ (Eph. 1—4), the organism of the processed and consummated Triune God (Eph. 4:4-6). The Body of Christ will consummate in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1-23) as the eternal enlargement of Christ (cf. John 3:30; 1 Cor. 12:12), the eternal mingling of the Triune God with the tripartite man and the mutual dwelling of God and man (Rev. 21:3, 22) for the expression of the processed and consummated Triune God in His nature and glory (Rev. 21:18b, 21b, 10-11, 23) in the redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite man for eternity.
Gen 5:12 When
Lit., In the day.
Gen 5:13 likeness
See note 263, par. 1, in ch. 1.
Gen 5:21 their
See note 264 in ch. 1.
Gen 5:31 lived
This genealogy does not record the deeds and activities of the people; it records only that they lived and begot. Man’s living and begetting were for man’s multiplication (1:28a) to fulfill God’s eternal purpose through mankind. Likewise, in the spiritual sense the believers today should live and beget (1 Cor. 4:15) for God’s multiplication (John 1:12-13) to fulfill God’s purpose through the church.
Gen 5:4a And vv. 3-32: 1 Chron. 1:1-4; Luke 3:36-38
Gen 5:51 died
See note 124 in Rom. 5.
Gen 5:18a Enoch Gen. 5:22-24; Jude 14
Gen 5:211a Methuselah Gen. 5:25-27
Meaning when he is dead, it will be sent. This name has a prophetic significance. By naming his son Methuselah, Enoch prophesied of the coming of the flood in the year that Methuselah died, which was Noah’s six hundredth year (7:6; 5:25-29a). Enoch had received the revelation from God that He would judge the entire ungodly generation of mankind (cf. Jude 14-15). This motivated Enoch not to follow the current of the age but to walk with God (vv. 22, 24) and thus live a godly and holy life (cf. 2 Pet. 3:10-12).
Gen 5:221a walked Gen. 5:24; 6:9; Micah 6:8; Mal. 2:6
To walk with God is to take Him as our center and everything, to do things not according to our own concept and desire but according to His revelation and leading, and to do everything with Him. This implies the denying of our self and everything that is of our self (Matt. 16:24-25) that we may be one with Him.
Gen 5:241a took cf. 2 Kings 2:11
Enoch was the first person to be raptured. By this he escaped death, the ultimate issue of man’s fall (Heb. 11:5). This first mentioning of the rapture establishes the principle of the rapture: our being raptured depends on our being mature in the divine life by our walking with God. Enoch walked with God day and night for three hundred years. According to Heb. 11:5-6, he did this by faith, believing that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. After three hundred years of seeking God and walking with Him, Enoch was taken by God, thus obtaining the reward of not seeing death.
Gen 5:291 Noah
Meaning rest or comfort.
Gen 5:292 give
Or, comfort us in our work.
Gen 5:29a cursed Gen. 3:17; 4:11
Gen 6:21 sons
The sons of God here are the fallen angels (cf. Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) who joined Satan in his rebellion against God (Rev. 12:4) and became the rulers and authorities in Satan’s dark kingdom (Matt. 12:26; Eph. 6:12).
Gen 6:22 took
At the time of man’s third fall, a number of the fallen angels in Satan’s principality came down to the earth, took human bodies, and used these bodies to form illegal marriages with the daughters of men, thus polluting the human race by mixing it with the fallen spirits. According to Jude 6-7 (see notes 61 and 71 there) the example set up by the fallen angels in committing fornication with different flesh was followed by Sodom and Gomorrah (19:4-9; Rom. 1:27).
Gen 6:31a Spirit Neh. 9:30; Isa. 63:10
This is the second mentioning of the Spirit in this book (cf. 1:2). Before this time God’s Spirit was graciously working and striving with man to counter man’s rebellion and fall. Nevertheless, here a point was reached when the Spirit of God would strive with man no longer, signifying God’s forsaking of man.
Gen 6:32b flesh Psa. 78:39
In man’s first fall man did not exercise his spirit (see note 61 in ch. 3); in the second fall he over-exercised his soul, inventing a new religion (see note 31 in ch. 4). In the third fall man abused the fallen body and became flesh, full of lusts, fornication, and violence (vv. 2, 5, 11). The fallen flesh is the strongest and most evil enemy of God (Rom. 7:5—8:13) and is thoroughly and absolutely hated by God. At the time of the third fall the entire human race became flesh. Thus, God stepped in and told His servant Noah that He would destroy that whole generation (vv. 7, 13). This is a prefigure of the age immediately preceding the Lord’s coming back (Matt. 24:37-39).
Gen 6:3c one cf. Psa. 90:10
Gen 6:41a Nephilim Num. 13:32-33; Deut. 2:20-21; 3:11
Or, giants. The word means the fallen ones. The illegal marriage between fallen angels and the human race produced Nephilim, giants, “the mighty men who were of old the men of renown” (cf. Num. 13:32-33). God sent the flood to exterminate Noah’s generation because that generation had become impure. For the sake of the fulfillment of His purpose, God could not allow such a human race to exist.
Gen 6:5a wickedness Matt. 24:38-39; Luke 17:26-27
Gen 6:51 imagination
Or, purpose, desire.
Gen 6:5b heart Gen. 8:21; Psa. 58:2; Jer. 17:9; Matt. 9:4; 15:19; Mark 7:21
Gen 6:6a repented 1 Sam. 15:11; 2 Sam. 24:16; Joel 2:13
Gen 6:6b grieved Isa. 63:10; Eph. 4:30
Gen 6:7a blot Gen. 6:17; 7:10-12, 21
Gen 6:81 But
Satan had corrupted man to the uttermost, and God had determined to destroy the man whom He had created for His purpose. Thus, it appeared that God was defeated. But Noah points to the sovereign factor that provided God a way to continue to carry out His original purpose with man. Through Noah’s life and work God gained the victory over His enemy and changed the age. Cf. notes 81 in Dan. 1 and 41 in Eph. 2.
Gen 6:8a found Gen. 19:19; Exo. 33:12-17
Gen 6:82 favor
Or, grace. Noah was able to walk with God (v. 9) in that crooked, perverted, and adulterous generation because he found grace (cf. Heb. 4:16). Grace is God coming to us to be our life supply, our strength, and our everything (see note 101 in 1 Cor. 15). Such grace enabled Noah to overcome the flesh and to live a righteous life (Ezek. 14:14; cf. Rom. 5:17-21 and notes).
Gen 6:9a righteous Gen. 7:1; 2 Pet. 2:5; Ezek. 14:14, 20
Gen 6:91b walked Gen. 5:22, 24
Like his great-grandfather Enoch (5:22-24), Noah walked with God by faith (Heb. 11:7), which was God’s divine element transfused and infused into him to be his believing ability (Rom. 3:22 and note). As a result, he became heir of God’s righteousness (cf. Rom. 4:3, 9) and a herald of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5) as a protest against the evil generation. Noah’s righteousness strengthened God’s standing to execute His judgment upon that ungodly generation.
Gen 6:141 ark
The ark is a type of Christ (1 Pet. 3:20-21), not only the individual Christ but also the corporate Christ, the church, which is the Body of Christ and the new man (1 Cor. 12:12; Eph. 2:15-16; Col. 3:10-11). The building of the ark typifies the building of the corporate Christ, with the element of Christ’s riches as the building material, by those who work together with God (1 Cor. 3:9-12a; 2 Cor. 6:1; Eph. 3:8-10; 4:12). By building the ark and entering into it, Noah was not only saved from God’s judgment on the evil generation through the flood, but was also separated from that generation and ushered into a new age (1 Pet. 3:20 and note 3). Likewise, by building the church and entering into the church life, we will be saved from God’s judgment on today’s evil generation through the great tribulation (Matt. 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27; 1 Thes. 5:3) and will be separated from that generation (Luke 21:36; Rev. 3:10) and ushered into a new age, the age of the millennium.
Gen 6:142 gopher
A kind of cypress, a resinous wood that can withstand the attack of water. It is a figure of the crucified Christ, who can withstand the waters of death (Acts 2:24).
Gen 6:143 pitch
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 6:143 [1] The root of the words pitch in this verse and expiation elsewhere in the Old Testament means primarily to cover. The pitch here is a type of the redeeming blood of Christ, which covers God’s building within and without (Lev. 4:5-7; 6:30; 16:14-19; Heb. 9:21). The pitch within the ark was for the peace of Noah and his family (cf. Heb. 9:14), whereas the pitch without was for God’s satisfaction (cf. Exo. 12:13). Noah and his family were saved from the judgment of the flood by the pitch on the ark, signifying that the believers in Christ are saved from God’s judgment by the redeeming blood of Christ (Rom. 5:9).
Gen 6:143 [2] In order for the pitch on the ark to be effective, Noah and his family had to be in the ark, i.e., in union with the ark. Likewise, in order to apply the redemption through Christ’s blood, we must be in Christ, i.e., in union with Him by believing into Him (John 3:16; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:7). See notes 212 in ch. 3, 222 in Exo. 12, and 22 in 1 John 2.
Gen 6:151 this
Noah built the ark not according to his own imagination but absolutely according to God’s revelation. Cf. Exo. 25:9; 1 Chron. 28:11-19; 1 Cor. 3:10-12; Eph. 2:20a and note 2.
Gen 6:152 three
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 6:152 [1] The numbers three and five, seen here as components of the ark’s dimensions, are basic numbers of God’s building (cf. Exo. 27). The number three signifies the Triune God in His dispensing of Himself into man (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; Eph. 3:16-19). The number five is composed of four, signifying man as one of God’s creatures (Rev. 4:6-7 and note 62), plus one, signifying the one unique God (Deut. 6:4; Isa. 45:5; 1 Cor. 8:4). The significance of the numbers three and five is the mingling of the Triune God with man. This is God’s building.
Gen 6:152 [2] The dimensions of the ark are composed of three and five multiplied by either ten or one hundred. The number ten signifies completeness (Dan. 1:12, 20) and the number one hundred signifies fullness (Matt. 13:23). This signifies that God’s building is the mingling of the Triune God with man in completeness and fullness.
Gen 6:153 cubits
A cubit is approximately eighteen inches.
Gen 6:161 opening
From the same root as the Hebrew word for noon. In the ark there was only one window, toward the heavens, signifying that in the church, God’s building, there is only one revelation and one vision (Acts 2:42a; 1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:3-4) through the one New Testament ministry (2 Cor. 3:6-9; 4:1). The light comes from above (Acts 26:13-19).
Gen 6:162 entrance
There is only one door, one entrance into the ark. This one door typifies Christ (John 10:9).
Gen 6:163 lower
The three stories of the ark signify the Triune God according to our experience of Him: the Spirit, signified by the lower story, reaches us first and brings us to the Son (1 Pet. 1:2; John 16:8, 13-15), and the Son brings us higher in our experience, to the Father (John 14:6; Eph. 2:18; see note 82 in 1 John 4).
Gen 6:17a flood Gen. 7:6; 2 Pet. 2:5
Gen 6:181a covenant Gen. 9:9-17; Isa. 54:9-10
See note 91 in ch. 9.
Gen 6:22a Noah Heb. 11:7; 1 Pet. 3:20
Gen 6:22b commanded cf. Exo. 40:16
Gen 7:2a clean Gen. 8:20; Lev. 11:2-47
Gen 7:31 preserve
The ark was not only for the salvation of man but also for the salvation of all living creatures. See Col. 1:20 and note 2; Heb. 2:9 and note 3; and Mark 16:15 and note 2.
Gen 7:41a forty Gen. 7:12, 17
Forty is the number for trials, temptations, and sufferings (Heb. 3:9; Matt. 4:2; 1 Kings 19:8).
Gen 7:61 six
See note 211 in ch. 5.
Gen 7:7a went Matt. 24:38; Luke 17:27; Heb. 11:7; 1 Pet. 3:20
Gen 7:11a springs Gen. 8:2; Prov. 8:28
Gen 7:11b windows Gen. 8:2; 2 Kings 7:19; Mal. 3:10; Isa. 24:18; cf. Psa. 78:23
Gen 7:161 shut
Noah’s entering into the ark (v. 13) is a type of our entering into Christ. God’s shutting Noah in indicates that, although we are free to enter into Christ, once we are in, we have no way to get out. Once we believe into the Lord Jesus, we are “shut in” by God with no way to get out of Him (John 10:28-29 and note 281).
Gen 7:17a forty Gen. 7:4, 12; cf. Exo. 34:28; 1 Kings 19:8; Matt. 4:2
Gen 7:171 waters
The water through which Noah passed was a figure of the water of baptism (1 Pet. 3:20-21 and note 211). The pitch on the ark saved Noah from the judgment of the flood (see note 143 in ch. 6), whereas the water of the flood not only judged the world but also separated Noah from the evil age (cf. Gal. 1:4; Acts 2:40-41). In the same manner, the water of the Red Sea judged the Egyptians and saved the children of Israel from the Egyptian age (Exo. 14:26-30). The water of baptism symbolizes the death of Christ, which judged Satan and the world (Rom. 6:3; John 12:31) and which also saves the believers from the condemned world and the satanic power of darkness (Gal. 6:14; Heb. 2:14).
Gen 7:19a covered 2 Pet. 3:6
Gen 7:22a breath Gen. 2:7; 6:17
Gen 7:23a Noah 2 Pet. 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:20
Gen 8:1a remembered cf. Gen. 19:29; Exo. 2:24
Gen 8:1b wind Exo. 14:21
Gen 8:41 rest
The ark’s passing through the water of death and coming to rest on the mountains of Ararat is a type of Christ’s passing through death and resurrecting out of death.
Gen 8:71 raven
The raven is an unclean bird (Lev. 11:15) because it feeds on carcasses, i.e., on death. The raven signifies the fleshly believers who love the world judged by God and return to it to feed on the things of death. The dove (v. 8) is a clean bird because it feeds on seeds, i.e., on life. The dove signifies the spiritual believers who remain in the church life and care for life in the Spirit.
Gen 8:8a dove S.S. 1:15; 6:9; Matt. 10:16; cf. Matt. 3:16
Gen 8:111a olive Exo. 27:20; 30:24; Zech. 4:11
The olive is a type of the Spirit, and the fresh olive leaf signifies the new life in the Spirit. Thus, the olive leaf was a sign of life.
Gen 8:181 went
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 8:181 [1] Eight people emerged from the ark. Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week, i.e., the eighth day of the old week (see note 11 in John 20); thus, the number eight signifies resurrection. Since all the believers, the components of the church, were included in Christ’s resurrection (Eph. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:3), they are the resurrected people. Hence, the living of Noah and his family after the flood signifies the living of the church in Christ’s resurrection. This is a seed of the church life.
Gen 8:181 [2] Eight persons were in the ark when it passed through the flood and when it came to rest on the mountain. Thus, whatever the ark experienced, they also experienced by being in the ark. This illustrates how the believers, by being in Christ (1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:4), were crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6; 2 Cor. 5:14; Gal. 2:20a) and also resurrected with Christ (Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:12; 3:1). Because we are in Christ, His experience has become ours.
Gen 8:201a altar Gen. 12:7-8; 13:18; 22:9; 26:25; 33:20; 35:7; Exo. 40:29; 2 Chron. 1:5-6; Rev. 6:9
The altar is a type of the cross of Christ, and the offerings are types of the different aspects of Christ (Lev. 1—7 and notes). The building of an altar and the offering of offerings on it signify the offering of Christ to God through the cross. In the church life, the first thing we must do is not to work for God but to go to the cross to be terminated; then we need to experience Christ and offer to God the Christ whom we have experienced in different aspects for God’s satisfaction. See note 381 in Exo. 29.
Gen 8:20b clean Gen. 7:2; Lev. 11:1-47
Gen 8:202 burnt
See note 31 in Lev. 1.
Gen 8:211a satisfying Exo. 29:18, 25, 41; Lev. 1:9, 13, 17; Ezek. 16:19; 20:41; Eph. 5:2; Phil. 4:18; 2 Cor. 2:15
Or, soothing.
Gen 8:212b curse Gen. 3:17; 5:29
Man’s fall brought in the curse (3:17); the offering of Christ to God through the cross in the church life keeps the curse away and brings in the blessing (v. 22; Gal. 3:13-14). The ultimate curse is death, and the greatest blessing is life (Psa. 133:3).
Gen 8:21d nor Gen. 9:11, 15; Isa. 54:9
Gen 8:221 Seed
Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings (typifying Christ) to God to please Him (vv. 20-21) so that the earth with its systems of nature could be preserved. The perpetual regularity of the different cycles in nature without end is God’s guarantee that the order of the universe will be maintained for the preservation of the earth and the growth of all kinds of living things, that man may multiply endlessly and replenish the earth to fulfill God’s eternal purpose (1:26-28).
Gen 8:22a day Jer. 33:20, 25-26
Gen 9:11 Be
This brought “resurrected” mankind back to God’s original purpose, which was that man express God and represent Him (see notes 263 through 265 in ch. 1). In the church life in Christ’s resurrection we have been brought back to the beginning for the expression and representation of God.
Gen 9:31a food Lev. 11:2; Deut. 12:15; 1 Tim. 4:3-4
Before the fall God ordained that man should eat only the plant life, the nourishing, generating life (1:29). After the fall man needs to eat not only the plant life but also the animal life, which involves the shedding of blood and implies the need for redemption (Heb. 9:22). See notes 512 in John 6 and 81 in Exo. 12.
Gen 9:4a blood Lev. 17:10-11, 14; Deut. 12:16, 23; 1 Sam. 14:33; Acts 15:20, 29
Gen 9:5a animal cf. Exo. 21:28
Gen 9:5b require Gen. 42:22; Exo. 21:12, 14; Lev. 24:17; Num. 35:33; Deut. 19:10; 1 Kings 2:32; Psa. 9:12; Luke 11:50-51; cf. Matt. 26:52; Rev. 13:10
Gen 9:61 Whoever
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 9:61 [1] This was the beginning of human government. In the garden, before the fall, man was directly under the rule of God. After the fall, man was under the rule of his own conscience (3:7-10). However, the rule of human conscience did not work well, and man fell further into wickedness (6:5, 11). Thus, after the flood, God authorized man to rule over other men, and human government began (Rom. 13:1 and notes 3 and 4).
Gen 9:61 [2] At that time Noah was the deputy authority under God. This was a shadow of the kingdom of God, the reality of which is the church life in God’s New Testament economy, and the manifestation of which will be the kingdom in the millennium (see notes 34 in Matt. 5 and 281 in Heb. 12).
Gen 9:62a image Gen. 1:26-27
See note 263 in ch. 1.
Gen 9:91a covenant Gen. 6:18; 9:11-17; Isa. 54:9-10; cf. Hosea 2:18
In order to assure mankind that there would never again be a flood to destroy them and the earth, God made a covenant with Noah, with his seed, and with every living animal (vv. 9-17). See notes 221 in ch. 8 and 61 in Rev. 4.
Gen 9:12a sign Gen. 9:13; 17; cf. Gen. 17:11; Exo. 24:8; 31:16-17; Matt. 26:27-28
Gen 9:131a bow Ezek. 1:28; Rev. 4:3; 10:1
The rainbow signifies God’s faithfulness in keeping His covenant. God Himself is faithfulness (1 Cor. 1:9; 1 John 1:9). He is faithful to His word, and His word is His covenant. The rainbow is seen again at the end of the Bible (Rev. 4:3), indicating that God’s faithfulness will remain forever. See note 33 in Rev. 4, note 191, par. 2, in Rev. 21, and note 281 in Ezek. 1.
Gen 9:15a remember Lev. 26:42, 45; Ezek. 16:60; Luke 1:72
Gen 9:15b waters Gen. 9:11; Isa. 54:9
Gen 9:16a everlasting Gen. 17:7, 13, 19
Gen 9:211 uncovered
This was Noah’s failure, coming after the success in his work, which He experienced under God’s blessing (v. 1). Noah became drunk with the wine from his vineyards, and he was careless, becoming naked without realizing it. In spiritual experience, because of our fallen nature we must be covered whenever we come into God’s presence (3:7, 21; Exo. 20:25-26; 28:40-43). Spiritually, our covering is Christ (Luke 15:22; Gal. 3:27; Psa. 45:13). To be naked spiritually is to lose Christ as our covering in the presence of God (cf. Rom. 13:14).
Gen 9:251 Cursed
As the father of his family and the leader of mankind, Noah was God’s deputy authority on earth. Although Noah had failed, Ham’s descendants were cursed because Ham exposed the failure of God’s deputy authority (v. 22) and thus touched God’s government in a wrong way. Shem and Japheth were blessed because they respected God’s government, covering the failure of the deputy authority and not looking at it (v. 23). The failure of a leader in God’s government is always a test to us. To expose a leader’s failure causes us to be negatively involved with God’s government and thus to lose God’s blessing—see Deut. 27:16 (cf. Eph. 6:2-3); Num. 12:1-10 and notes; 2 Sam. 15:10; 18:14-15. If we remain in a right position under God’s government, a leader’s failure will become our blessing.
Gen 9:261 Shem
Shem, Noah’s first son, was the forefather of the Hebrews, the Jews (Abraham was a descendant of Shem—11:10-26). In Noah’s prophetic word concerning his three sons in vv. 25-27, Shem was blessed to have God as his God.
Gen 9:271 tents
A tent is a place where people may dwell, rest, and have peace and enjoyment. Japheth’s dwelling in the tents of Shem indicates that if Japheth and his descendants would be blessed and enjoy God as their rest, peace, enjoyment, and salvation, they must believe in the God of the Jews (cf. John 4:22). When the Lord Jesus came as a seed of Abraham and a descendant of Shem, He became the tent, the tabernacle (John 1:14), which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the ultimate tent of Shem, the tabernacle of God with men for eternity, in which numerous Old Testament and New Testament saints from all the nations will dwell to participate in the eternal blessing of the eternal life (Rev. 21:3 and note).
Gen 10:2a Japheth vv. 2-5: 1 Chron. 1:5-7
Gen 10:41 Rodanim
Some MSS read, Dodanim; cf. 1 Chron. 1:7.
Gen 10:6a Ham vv. 6-8: 1 Chron. 1:8-16
Gen 10:61 Mizraim
I.e., Egypt.
Gen 10:81 Nimrod
Nimrod, the first type of Antichrist, was the first to oppose God. According to history, Nimrod brought in many idolatrous things (Jer. 7:18 and note). Human government formed in opposition to God began with Nimrod and will end with Antichrist (Jer. 50:1 and note; Dan. 2:32-35 and notes). The cities of Babel and Nineveh, built by Nimrod (vv. 10-11), became the capitals of the nations of Babylon and Assyria, two strong figures of mankind in their opposing of God.
Gen 10:10a Babel Gen. 11:9
Gen 10:10b Shinar Gen. 11:2; Dan. 1:1-2
Gen 10:22a Shem vv. 22-29: 1 Chron. 1:17-27
Gen 10:25a Eber 1 Chron. 1:19
Gen 10:251 Peleg
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 10:251 [1] Meaning division. The seed of division among mankind is sown here. After the flood God gave man authority to rule others that there might be peace among men (see note 61, par. 1, in ch. 9), but Satan caused man to abuse his God-given authority to form nations that man may have his own dominion, thus denying God’s right and authority over man.
Gen 10:251 [2] The forming of the nations in this chapter, which issued in Babel (ch. 11), prefigures the forming of the divisions and denominations in Christianity, which will eventually consummate in Babylon the Great with her daughters (Rev. 17).
Gen 11:21a Shinar Gen. 10:10
I.e., Babylon.
Gen 11:3a make Exo. 1:14; 5:7-16
Gen 11:31 bricks
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 11:31 [1] God’s building is of stones (1 Kings 6:7; Matt. 16:18; John 1:42; 1 Cor. 3:12a; 1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 21:18-20), which are produced by God’s divine work through creation and transformation, whereas the building of the city and tower of Babel was of bricks (cf. Exo. 1:11, 14a), which are the result of human labor through the burning of the God-created earth.
Gen 11:31 [2] The earth is for growing life (1:11). To make bricks is to kill, to burn, the element of the earth that grows life. In figure, the earth signifies humanity (2:7; 3:19; Matt. 13:3-8 and notes; 1 Cor. 15:47a). Thus, the rebellion instigated by Satan kills the element within man that grows the divine life, by burning it out, and it misuses man to build up a man-made and godless life.
Gen 11:41a city cf. Gen. 4:17
The city built by man’s labor signifies that man had forsaken God and replaced Him with a man-made and godless culture (see note 172 in ch. 4).
Gen 11:42 tower
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 11:42 [1] The tower was built for the purpose of making a name for the people and for declaring their rebellion and opposition against God. Abraham’s building an altar and calling on the name of Jehovah in 12:7-8 are in contrast to what was done here.
Gen 11:42 [2] According to historical records and archeological evidence, the city and tower of Babel were full of the names of idols. Thus, at Babel man followed Satan, exalted himself to oppose God, rejected God’s name, denied God’s right and authority over man, and fell into idolatry. This was man’s fourth fall, a fall from human government under God’s authority to a collective rebellion of the whole human race against God under Satan’s instigation (see note 32 in ch. 6).
Gen 11:4b heavens Deut. 1:28; 9:1; cf. Dan. 4:11, 22
Gen 11:4c scattered Gen. 11:8-9
Gen 11:71a Us Gen. 1:26; 3:22; Isa. 6:8
The pronoun Us here indicates that at Babel the Triune God came down personally and judged that rebellion directly. See note 13 in ch. 1.
Gen 11:72 confound
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 11:72 [1] So that mankind might not be able to form an alliance against Him, God judged rebellious mankind with division and confusion: mankind was scattered, divided, in living, no longer able to live together in one place (vv. 8-9), and confounded, confused, in language, no longer able to have the same speaking, i.e., the same understanding, opinion, and concept (vv. 7, 9). In contrast, in the proper church life there is oneness and harmony: all the believers have one mind with one opinion, and one mouth with one speaking (1 Cor. 1:10; Rom. 15:5-6; Phil. 2:2; 4:2). Cf. Acts 2:5-11.
Gen 11:72 [2] In the rebellion of mankind at Babel, man fell to the uttermost, causing God to eventually forsake the created race of Adam and to call one man, Abraham, out of that race that He might still have a way to fulfill His original purpose in creating man (1:26-28).
Gen 11:8a scattered Gen. 11:4, 9; Deut. 32:8; cf. Gen. 10:25, 32
Gen 11:91a Babel Gen. 10:10
Meaning confusion.
Gen 11:10a generations vv. 10-27: Gen. 10:21-22; 1 Chron. 1:17-27; Luke 3:34-36
Gen 11:26a Terah Josh. 24:2
Gen 11:27a Lot Gen. 11:31; 12:5; 13:1, 5; 14:12; 19:1-36; Luke 17:28-29; 2 Pet. 2:7
Gen 11:281a Ur Acts 7:2-3
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 11:281 [1] Meaning light. According to Acts 7:2, the God of glory appeared to Abraham first in Ur of the Chaldeans, while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran (cf. v. 31). Before God’s initial appearing to Abraham, he and his family served other gods (Josh. 24:2). It was out of such a dark background of idol worship, the background of Babel (vv. 3-4), that God called Abraham, the father of faith (Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:7). God’s coming to Abraham and appearing to him brought light to Abraham (cf. Matt. 4:16; Acts 9:1-3; 2 Cor. 4:6) and motivated him to come out of the country of satanic idolatry. See note 22 in Acts 7 and note 22 in Heb. 12.
Gen 11:281 [2] God came in to call Abraham that He might have a new beginning with fallen man. God’s calling of Abraham was a transfer of race, a transfer from the created Adamic race to the called Abrahamic race (see note 161 in Rom. 4). The transfer of race in God’s calling is actually the transfer of life, from the life of Adam to the life of Christ (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:21a), from the fallen life of the old creation to the stronger and better life of the new creation—the uncreated life of God. The process of this transfer of life is portrayed in the succeeding chapters of Genesis and is seen in the collective experiences of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Gen 11:282 Chaldeans
Chaldea was a demonic place, a land of idolatry, in Mesopotamia, a region bounded by two great rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris. Thus, in order to leave Chaldea, the land of idolatry, and travel to the good land, the land of Canaan, Abraham, the first Hebrew (14:13 and note), had to cross the Euphrates. See note 12, par. 2, in Heb. 1 and note 132 in Heb. 11.
Gen 11:291a Sarai cf. Gen. 17:15
Meaning my princess.
Gen 11:30a barren Gen. 16:1; 15:2-3; cf. Isa. 54:1; Gal. 4:27
Gen 11:311 Terah
According to Acts 7:2-3, God appeared to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldeans and called him to “come out from your land and from your relatives, and come into the land which I will show you.” This was God’s first appearing and calling to him. However, Abraham did not accept God’s calling immediately but remained in Ur for some time. After the death of Haran, Abraham’s brother (v. 28), God sovereignly caused his father, Terah, to bring the family from Ur to Haran. Thus, it was not Abraham but his father who took the initiative to leave Ur. See Acts 7:4 and note.
Gen 11:31a Lot Gen. 11:27
Gen 11:31b Ur Gen. 15:7; Neh. 9:7; Acts 7:4; Josh. 24:3
Gen 11:312 Haran
Abraham came out of Chaldea, but instead of going into Canaan as God had called him (Acts 7:3), he settled in Haran. This shows Abraham’s unwillingness to respond to God’s calling absolutely.
Gen 12:11 Now
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 12:11 [1] After the death of Abraham’s father (11:32), God appeared to Abraham and called him the second time (see note 311 in ch. 11). God’s repeated appearing to Abraham was a strong attraction to him, motivating and strengthening him to accept God’s calling. It is the same with the New Testament believers (see notes 201 and 221 in Matt. 4, 93 in Matt. 9, 22 in Heb. 12, and 38 in 2 Pet. 1).
Gen 12:11 [2] The records of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (with Joseph—see note 21 in ch. 37) overlap. Genesis does not portray them as three separate individuals but as constituents of one corporate person. The experiences of these three men portray different aspects of one complete person’s experience of the Triune God. “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” is Jehovah, the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Exo. 3:15; Matt. 28:19). The experience of Abraham signifies the experience of God the Father in His calling man, justifying man, and equipping man to live by faith and to live in fellowship with Him (12:1; 15:6; chs. 17—18; 19:29; 21:1-13; 22:1-18). The experience of Isaac signifies the experience of God the Son in His redeeming man (22:1-14) and His blessing man with the inheritance of all His riches, with a life of the enjoyment of His abundance, and with a life in peace (25:5; 26:3-4, 12-33). The experience of Jacob (with Joseph) signifies the experience of God the Father in His loving man and choosing man (Mal. 1:2; Rom. 9:10-13) and of God the Spirit in His working all things for the good of His lovers, in His transforming man, and in His making man mature in the divine life that man may be able to bless all the people, to rule over all the earth, and to satisfy all the people with God the Son as the life supply (27:41; 28:1—35:10; chs. 37, 39—49; Rom. 8:28-29).
Gen 12:12 said
When God appeared to Abraham, He also called him. God’s speaking to Abraham was also a factor that motivated and strengthened him to accept God’s calling (cf. Rom. 1:6; 8:30; 1 Cor. 1:9). Cf. note 11, par. 1.
Gen 12:13 father’s
In His second appearing to Abraham, God called Abraham to come out not only from his country and his relatives but also from his father’s house (cf. Acts 7:3; see note 311 in ch. 11). This means that God called only Abraham and his wife, Sarai. However, when Abraham left Haran, he took his nephew Lot with him (vv. 4-5). This again shows Abraham’s lack of absoluteness in accepting God’s calling.
Gen 12:21 And
God’s promise to Abraham in vv. 2-3 was the preaching of the gospel (Gal. 3:8 and note). God not only appeared to Abraham and called him, but He also gave him the promise of the gospel as an incentive to encourage Abraham to answer His calling.
Gen 12:22a great Gen. 17:6; 18:18; Deut. 26:5
In His preaching of the gospel to Abraham, God promised to make of him a great nation. This great nation is the kingdom of God, composed of the nation of Israel as God’s kingdom in the Old Testament (Matt. 21:43), the church as God’s kingdom in the New Testament (Matt. 16:18-19a; Rom. 14:17), the millennial kingdom in the coming age (Rev. 11:15; 20:4, 6), and the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem in eternity (Rev. 22:3, 5).
Gen 12:3a bless Gen. 27:29; Num. 24:9
Gen 12:31 curses
From the time that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city of Jerusalem until now, every nation, people, race, or individual who has cursed the Jewish people has received a curse, and whoever has blessed the Jews has received a blessing.
Gen 12:32b all Gen. 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14; Acts 3:25; Gal. 3:8
In His calling God turned from Adam to Abraham, but in His promise He made another turn, from Abraham back to all the families of the Adamic race through Christ, the seed of Abraham.
Gen 12:33 blessed
The blessing here consists of the blessings of God’s creation and redemption, including all that God wants to give man—God Himself and all that He has in this age and in the age to come. According to Gal. 3:14 (see notes there), the promised blessing is actually God Himself as the Spirit. Thus, in His preaching of the gospel to Abraham (Gal. 3:8), God promised that He would give Himself to the called ones as a blessing. According to 22:18, this blessing would come to all the nations through Abraham’s seed, who is Christ (Matt. 1:1; Gal. 3:16). God’s blessing to Abraham, which made him a blessing to others, implies the tents of Shem (see note 271 in ch. 9).
Gen 12:4a went Heb. 11:8; Acts 7:4
Gen 12:5a Lot Gen. 11:27
Gen 12:51 went
According to Heb. 11:8, Abraham went out by faith, not knowing where he was going. See note there.
Gen 12:52 came
See note 41 in Acts 7.
Gen 12:53 Canaan
God’s goal with Abraham was not merely to save him out of his environment and his background but to bring him into the land of Canaan for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Likewise, God’s goal with the New Testament believers is not merely to save them from their fallen condition but to bring them into the reality of the good land, which is the all-inclusive Christ as the portion allotted by God to all the called ones (Deut. 8:7-10 and note 71; Col. 1:12 and note 2). See note 31 in ch. 15.
Gen 12:6a Shechem Gen. 33:18; 37:12
Gen 12:71 appeared
This was the third time God appeared to Abraham. Here God’s reappearing confirmed to Abraham that he had answered God’s calling and had arrived at the place where God intended him to be. God’s reappearing also strengthened Abraham to live by faith (Heb. 11:8-10) as an anti-testimony to the godless living developed by mankind at Babel.
Gen 12:72a seed Gen. 13:15; 15:18; 17:8; 24:7; 26:3-4; 28:4, 13; 35:12; 48:4; Exo. 33:1; Deut. 34:4; 2 Chron. 20:7; Neh. 9:8; Acts 7:5
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 12:72 [1] Both the seed and the land typify Christ, who is the centrality and universality of God’s eternal economy. See note 31 in ch. 15.
Gen 12:72 [2] Christ, the incarnated God, is the threefold seed: the seed of woman (3:15; Isa. 7:14; Gal. 4:4), the seed of Abraham (12:7; Matt. 1:1; Gal. 3:16), and the seed of David (2 Sam. 7:12-14; Matt. 1:1; 22:42-45; Rom. 1:3; Rev. 22:16). As the seed of woman, the seed of Mary (Matt. 1:16), Christ accomplished redemption to destroy Satan, the serpent, and to save the believers in Christ from sin and death (Heb. 2:14; Matt. 1:20-21; 1 Cor. 15:53-57). As the seed of Abraham, Christ became the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:17) that the believers in Christ, who are Abraham’s seed (Gal. 3:29), may inherit the consummated Spirit, the consummation of the processed Triune God, as their divine inheritance, their spiritual blessing for eternity (Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:14a; Gal. 3:14). As the seed of David, Christ brings His believers into the kingdom and causes them to share in His kingship in His resurrection in the eternal kingdom of God (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:4, 6; 22:5b). The revelation of Christ as the threefold seed is the contents of the full gospel.
Gen 12:73b altar Gen. 8:20
This was the first altar that Abraham built. An altar is for worshipping God by offering all that we are and have to God for His purpose. Abraham’s building of an altar was motivated by God’s reappearing and can be considered an anti-testimony to the building of the tower of Babel.
Gen 12:81a Bethel Gen. 13:3; 28:19
Bethel means house of God and Ai means a heap of ruins. Bethel and Ai stand in contrast to each other, signifying that in the eyes of God’s called ones only God’s house is worthwhile; everything else is a heap of ruins.
Gen 12:82b tent Gen. 13:3, 18; 18:1; 24:67; 25:27; 26:17, 25; 31:25; 33:19; 35:21; Heb. 11:9
Abraham first built an altar for the worship of God; then he pitched a tent for his living. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob each lived in a tent (12:8; 26:25; 35:21). Their dwelling in tents was a declaration that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth who were seeking a better country and eagerly waiting for “the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God” (Heb. 11:9-10, 13-16). Both the better country and the city which has the foundations are the New Jerusalem (see notes 101 and 132 in Heb. 11).
Gen 12:83d called Gen. 4:26
See note 262 in ch. 4.
Gen 12:91 Negev
I.e., the dry southern desert of Canaan.
Gen 12:101a famine Gen. 26:1; 41:54; 43:1
The famine, prepared by God in His sovereignty, was a test to see whether or not Abraham would live by faith, trusting in God for his daily necessities (cf. 1 Pet. 1:6-7). Instead of trusting in God, Abraham went down to Egypt, which signifies the world under Satan’s rule.
Gen 12:13a sister Gen. 20:2; 26:7
Gen 12:131 I
Lit., my soul.
Gen 12:17a Pharaoh cf. 1 Chron. 16:21; Psa. 105:14
Gen 12:201 with
While Abraham was in Egypt, he experienced God’s keeping grace. Although Abraham had failed to trust in Him, God blessed Abraham, making him rich (v. 16; 13:2), and preserved Sarai, his wife. By this experience in Egypt Abraham learned that the God who called Him also took care of him and that everything was in His sovereign hand.
Gen 13:1a Lot Gen. 11:27
Gen 13:31a Bethel Gen. 12:8; 28:19
In His sovereign care for His called one, God not only blessed Abraham and spared his wife in Egypt, but He also brought Abraham back to the beginning, to the place of the tent and the altar, and recovered his calling on the name of the Lord (v. 4).
Gen 13:5a Lot Gen. 11:27
Gen 13:6a possessions cf. Gen. 36:6-7
Gen 13:71 strife
This was another test arranged for Abraham under God’s sovereignty. Through his experience in Egypt Abraham had learned the lesson of not striving for himself and of having no choice for himself but of trusting in God’s care (see note 201 in ch. 12). Thus, he allowed Lot to take his choice of the land (v. 11).
Gen 13:10a garden Gen. 2:8
Gen 13:12a as cf. Gen. 14:12
Gen 13:13a Sodom Gen. 18:20; Ezek. 16:46-50; 2 Pet. 2:6-8; Jude 7
Gen 13:141 Jehovah
Because Abraham had prevailed in his trial with Lot, God appeared to him again and confirmed the promise in 12:7 concerning the good land (vv. 14-15, 17) and the promise in 12:2 concerning the increase of his seed (v. 16). This ushered Abraham to the peak of his experience of God, for he moved his tent to dwell in Hebron, where he lived most of the remainder of his life in fellowship with God (see notes 181 and 183).
Gen 13:15a seed Gen. 12:7
Gen 13:161a dust Gen. 28:14; cf. Gen. 22:17; 32:12; Heb. 11:12
See note 171 in ch. 22.
Gen 13:181a tent Gen. 12:8; Heb. 11:9
Abraham first pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai and built an altar there (12:8). His tent there was a testimony of God to the world (see note 82 in ch. 12). At Hebron Abraham’s tent became a place where he had fellowship with God. By Abraham’s pitching a tent at Hebron, God had a place on earth where He could communicate and fellowship with man (cf. ch. 18). Abraham’s tent with the altar built by him was a prefigure of the tabernacle with the altar built by the children of Israel after the exodus from Egypt (Exo. 40). That tabernacle was God’s testimony (Exo. 38:21) and the place where God and His people could dwell and fellowship together. The ultimate consummation of the tabernacle will be the New Jerusalem, the testimony, the expression, of God in eternity and the eternal dwelling place of God and all His called ones (Rev. 21:2-3 and note 31; 21:22 and note 2).
Gen 13:182 Mamre
Meaning strength.
Gen 13:183b Hebron Gen. 23:2, 19; 35:27; 37:14; Num. 13:22; Josh. 14:13; 21:13; 2 Sam. 2:11
Meaning fellowship, communion, or friendship.
Gen 13:18c altar Gen. 8:20
Gen 14:31 Salt
I.e., the Dead Sea.
Gen 14:5a Rephaim Deut. 2:10-11, 20-21
Gen 14:10a hill Gen. 19:17, 30
Gen 14:12a Lot Gen. 11:27
Gen 14:12b Sodom cf. Gen. 13:12
Gen 14:131a Hebrew Gen. 39:14; 40:15; Exo. 2:6; 3:18; Jonah 1:9
The first mention of the term in the Bible. The word comes from the verb in Hebrew meaning pass over, cross over. See note 12, par. 2, in Heb. 1.
Gen 14:14a brother Gen. 11:27; 13:8
Gen 14:14b born Gen. 15:3; 17:12-13, 23, 27; Eccl. 2:7
Gen 14:181a Melchizedek Heb. 7:1
Meaning king of righteousness. Melchizedek is a type of Christ as the kingly High Priest (Heb. 7:1-3 and notes 12 and 31). After Abraham gained the victory, Melchizedek appeared. Before his appearing, Melchizedek, a priest of God, must have been interceding for Abraham. It must have been through his intercession that Abraham was able to slaughter the four kings and gain the victory (cf. Exo. 17:8-13). Today Christ, our High Priest, is interceding for us in a hidden way (Rom. 8:34b; Heb. 7:25b) that we may be His overcomers to defeat God’s enemies, so that through our victory Christ can be manifested openly in His second coming.
Gen 14:182b Salem Psa. 76:2
Meaning peace; an early designation for Jerusalem (cf. Psa. 76:2).
Gen 14:183c priest Psa. 110:4; Heb. 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1, 3, 10-22
Here the priesthood of Melchizedek is mentioned in the Scriptures before the priesthood of Aaron (Exo. 28:1). The priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek is higher than the Aaronic priesthood (Heb. 7). In His earthly ministry Christ was a High Priest according to the order of Aaron for the putting away of sin (Heb. 9:14, 26). Then, in His heavenly ministry Christ was designated a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:6, 10), not to offer sacrifices for sin but to minister to us the very God who was processed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, signified by the bread and the wine (Matt. 26:26-28), as our life supply that we may be saved to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25a). See notes 111 in Zech. 6, 62 in Heb. 5, and 11 and 111 in Heb. 7.
Gen 14:18d God Psa. 57:2; Acts 16:17
Gen 14:191a blessed Gen. 47:7; 49:28; Num. 6:23-27; Deut. 33:1; Heb. 7:1, 6-7; cf. 2 Cor. 13:14
See note 231 in Num. 6.
Gen 14:192b Possessor Gen. 14:22; Matt. 11:25
Because Abraham, an overcomer, had gained the victory over God’s enemies and was standing with God on the earth, God could be referred to not only as the God of heaven (2 Chron. 36:23; Neh. 1:5; 2:4, 20) but also as the Possessor of heaven and earth (vv. 19, 22). See note 253 in Matt. 11.
Gen 14:201 Abram
Lit., he. See note 41 in Heb. 7.
Gen 14:20a tenth Gen. 28:22; Heb. 7:2, 4-6
Gen 14:22a lifted Exo. 6:8; Num. 14:30; Deut. 32:40; Dan. 12:7; Rev. 10:5-6
Gen 14:22b Possessor Gen. 14:19
Gen 14:231 not
Here Abraham overcame the temptation of earthly substance, displaying his purity in this matter. Cf. 2 Kings 5:15-27; 3 John 7 and note 2.
Gen 15:11 After
Prior to this chapter Abraham had experienced God as the One who protected him and blessed him in material things (12:16) to maintain his existence outwardly. Beginning with this chapter God came in to show Abraham that he needed God’s grace inwardly for the fulfillment of God’s purpose, which is to have a people to express God with His image, represent Him with His dominion, and possess the earth for His kingdom (1:26-28).
Gen 15:12a shield Deut. 33:29; Psa. 3:3; 18:2; 84:11; 119:114; Prov. 30:5
After defeating the four kings (14:13-17), Abraham might have feared their revenge. Thus, God came in to tell Abraham that He would be a shield to protect him. He would also be Abraham’s reward for his rescue of Lot.
Gen 15:2a childless Gen. 11:30; Acts 7:5
Gen 15:31a seed cf. Gen. 13:16
For the fulfillment of God’s purpose two things are required: the seed (vv. 1-6) and the land (vv. 7-21). The seed is first the individual Christ (Gal. 3:16 and note) and then the corporate Christ (1 Cor. 12:12), composed of Christ as the Head and all His believers (Gal. 3:29 and note 1, par. 1) as the Body. The land is Christ as the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit, in whom the believers live (Deut. 8:7-10 and note 71); it is also the church as the enlargement, the expansion, of Christ. In order to fulfill God’s purpose, we need to receive God’s grace so that Christ can be wrought into us as the seed and lived out of us as the land to be our church life, that we may enjoy God’s rest, defeat God’s enemies, and establish God’s kingdom with His habitation for His expression and representation.
Gen 15:32 servant
Lit., a son of my house.
Gen 15:41 body
Lit., inward parts. The seed needed for the fulfillment of God’s purpose could not be anything Abraham already possessed (Eliezer—v. 2) or could produce out of himself (Ishmael—16:15). Only that which God worked into Abraham could bring forth from Abraham the required seed. Likewise, only what God works into us through His grace can bring forth Christ as the seed to fulfill God’s purpose.
Gen 15:51a stars Gen. 22:17; 26:4; Exo. 32:13; Deut. 1:10; 10:22; 1 Chron. 27:23; Jer. 33:22; Heb. 11:12
See note 171 in ch. 22.
Gen 15:61a believed Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23
See note 31 in Rom. 4. Here Abraham did not believe God to obtain outward blessings for his own existence; he believed that God was able to work something into him to bring forth a seed out of his own being for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. This kind of faith is precious to God and is accounted by Him as righteousness. Abraham was justified by such a faith (Rom. 4:1-5 and note 11).
Gen 15:81 how
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 15:81 [1] Abraham believed God for His promise concerning the seed (v. 6), but he lacked faith to believe God for the promise concerning the land. In order to strengthen Abraham’s faith, God was compelled to confirm His promise to Abraham concerning the land by making a covenant with him (vv. 9-21). The extraordinary way in which God enacted this covenant implies the way in which Abraham could fulfill God’s eternal purpose.
Gen 15:81 [2] The covenant God made with Abraham was a covenant of promise that would be fulfilled through God’s power in His grace, not through Abraham’s effort in his flesh. The new testament is a continuation of this covenant (Gal. 3:17 and note 1; Gal. 4:22-26 and note 242).
Gen 15:91 heifer
[ par. 1 2 3 4 ]
Gen 15:91 [1] God made His covenant with Abraham through the crucified and resurrected Christ. The three kinds of slain cattle here signify Christ in His humanity being crucified for us, and the two living birds signify Christ in His divinity being the living, resurrected One (John 11:25; Rev. 1:18). Christ was killed in His humanity, but He lives in His divinity (John 14:19; 1 Pet. 3:18 and note 3).
Gen 15:91 [2] The heifer was for a peace offering (Lev. 3:1), the female goat was for a sin offering (Lev. 4:28; 5:6), and the ram was for a burnt offering (Lev. 1:10). That they were all three years old signifies that Christ was offered to God and was crucified in resurrection (John 2:19; 11:25; Heb. 9:14).
Gen 15:91 [3] In typology, the turtledove signifies a suffering life, and the young pigeon signifies a believing life, a life of faith. These are two characteristics of the Lord’s life on the earth. Since two is the number of testimony (Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1), the two living birds bear testimony of Christ as the resurrected One living in us and for us (John 14:19-20; Gal. 2:20).
Gen 15:91 [4] Five is the number of responsibility (see note 21 in Matt. 25). Hence, the fact that there were three cattle and two birds, making a total of five items, signifies that Christ as the crucified and living One is now bearing all the responsibility for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.
Gen 15:101 brought
God’s asking Abraham to offer the cattle and the birds to Him implies that Abraham had to identify himself with and be one with all the things that he offered (see notes 212 in ch. 3 and 41 in Lev. 1). This indicates that in order to fulfill God’s eternal purpose, we must be crucified in Christ’s crucifixion and resurrected in Christ’s resurrection (Rom. 6:5, 8; Gal. 2:20). Only in this way can we practice the church life in Christ as the promised land.
Gen 15:10a cut Jer. 34:18-19
Gen 15:10b birds cf. Lev. 1:17
Gen 15:111a birds cf. Matt. 13:4, 19
The birds of prey coming to devour the sacrifices signify Satan and his angels coming to make Christ of none effect for the church life (Gal. 5:2, 4).
Gen 15:13a sojourners Exo. 22:21; 23:9; Lev. 19:34; Deut. 10:19
Gen 15:131b afflict Exo. 1:11-12; 3:7; Neh. 9:9
God’s foretelling the sojourning, slavery, and affliction of Abraham’s seed in Egypt was a confirmation that Abraham would surely have a son, an heir (v. 4), and that God in His faithfulness would keep His promise, given in 12:7 and 13:14-17, to give to his seed the land from the Nile to the Euphrates (v. 18 and note).
Gen 15:132c four Acts 7:6; cf. Exo. 12:40-41; Gal. 3:17
See note 173 in Gal. 3.
Gen 15:14a judge Exo. 6:6; Acts 7:7
Gen 15:14b possessions Exo. 3:21-22; 12:35-36
Gen 15:15a old Gen. 25:8
Gen 15:16a Amorites 1 Kings 21:26; Amos 2:9
Gen 15:171 furnace
A furnace is for refining, and a torch is for enlightening. To enact His covenant with Abraham, God passed through the sacrifices as a smoking furnace and a flaming torch in the dark night. This signifies that when God’s called ones are suffering affliction, He will come in to refine and enlighten them that they may fulfill His purpose by the seed and by the land.
Gen 15:18a covenant Gen. 17:2, 4-14; 22:16-18; Lev. 26:42; 2 Kings 13:23; 1 Chron. 16:15-18; Psa. 105:8-11; Acts 7:8; Luke 1:72
Gen 15:18b seed Gen. 12:7
Gen 15:181 river
In His covenant with Abraham God set the boundaries of the good land, the land of Immanuel (Isa. 8:8), the territory of Israel, from the Nile to the Euphrates (cf. Exo. 23:31; Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:3-4). This is the land that Christ, the unique seed of Abraham (12:7a; Gal. 3:16), will inherit for the establishing of His millennial kingdom. See notes 241 in Deut. 11 and 341 in Matt. 25.
Gen 15:18c river Exo. 23:31; Deut. 1:7; Josh. 1:4; Isa. 27:12
Gen 15:201 Rephaim
A race of giants (Deut. 3:11).
Gen 16:11 Sarai
Sarah and Hagar are an allegory symbolizing two covenants (Gal. 4:22-28 and notes 242 and 245).
Gen 16:1a bore cf. Gen. 15:2-3
Gen 16:11b Hagar Gal. 4:24
See note 11.
Gen 16:2a Jehovah Gen. 20:18; 30:2-3; cf. Gen. 17:16; 18:10; 25:21; 30:22; Psa. 127:3
Gen 16:21 have
Lit., be built up.
Gen 16:71a Angel Gen. 21:17; Exo. 3:2
The Angel of Jehovah is Jehovah Himself (v. 13; 22:11-12, 15-16; 31:11, 13). See notes 21 in Exo. 3, 212 and 221 in Exo. 23, and 82 in Zech. 2.
Gen 16:10a multiply Gen. 17:20; 21:13; cf. Gen. 25:12-18
Gen 16:111 Ishmael
Meaning God hears.
Gen 16:131 You
Or, You are El-roi.
Gen 16:132 God
Lit., God of seeing.
Gen 16:133 Do
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Gen 16:141 Beer-lahai-roi
Meaning well of the living One who sees me, or well of the One who reveals Himself.
Gen 16:15a Hagar Gal. 4:22-24
Gen 16:151 Ishmael
Abraham’s producing of Ishmael through Hagar symbolizes man’s attempt to fulfill God’s purpose by the effort of the flesh in coordination with the law (see notes 162 in Gal. 2 and 231 in Gal. 4).
Gen 17:11 ninety-nine
Abraham’s producing of Ishmael by the exercise of his natural strength was a serious offense against God and His economy. Because of this, after the birth of Ishmael, Abraham’s fellowship with God was broken; God waited for thirteen years (cf. 16:16), until Abraham’s natural strength was terminated, before He came to contact Abraham again (Rom. 4:19 and note). See note 41 in ch. 15.
Gen 17:12a All-sufficient Gen. 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:25; Exo. 6:3; Job 33:4; Ezek. 10:5
Heb. El Shaddai. El means the Mighty One, and Shaddai comes from the Hebrew word meaning breast or udder. This divine title reveals God as the Mighty One with an udder, that is, the all-sufficient Mighty One. He is the source of grace to supply His called ones with the riches of His divine being that they may bring forth Christ as the seed for the fulfillment of His purpose.
Gen 17:13 Walk
Here, to walk before God is to walk in His presence, constantly enjoying Him and His all-sufficient supply. To be perfect is to have God added to us as the element and factor of perfection. Practically, it means that we do not rely on the strength of the flesh but trust in God as the all-sufficient Mighty One for our life and our work.
Gen 17:2a covenant Gen. 15:18
Gen 17:2b multiply Gen. 17:6; 22:17
Gen 17:4a covenant Gen. 15:18
Gen 17:4b father Rom. 4:11-12, 17, 18
Gen 17:41 nations
The mentioning of nations and kings in vv. 4-6 and in 35:11 implies that the result of our being multiplied must be the proper church life as the kingdom of God on earth (Rom. 14:17 and note 1). See note 22 in ch. 12.
Gen 17:51 Abram
Meaning exalted father.
Gen 17:52a Abraham Neh. 9:7
Meaning father of a multitude. In order to fulfill His eternal purpose, God needs not one exalted person but the father of a great multitude (cf. 1:28; 9:1). Hence, the changing of Abraham’s name, signifying the changing of his person, was for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. In spiritual experience, the real changing of a name is the change from “I” to Christ (Gal. 2:20) and from “I” to the grace of God (1 Cor. 15:10). Only Christ as God’s grace, not “I,” can bring forth the multitude needed to fulfill God’s purpose (see note 41 in ch. 15). Cf. 32:27-28; John 1:42.
Gen 17:6a nations Gen. 17:16
Gen 17:7b God Exo. 6:7; Lev. 26:12; Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10
Gen 17:8b sojournings Gen. 23:4; 28:4; 35:27; 37:1; 47:9; 1 Chron. 29:15; Psa. 39:12; 105:11-12; Heb. 11:9
Gen 17:8c their Heb. 11:16
Gen 17:101a circumcised Gen. 21:4; Acts 7:8; Rom. 4:11
The spiritual meaning of circumcision is to put off the flesh, to put off the self and the old man, through the crucifixion of Christ (Col. 2:11, 13a; Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4a; Acts 7:51; Gal. 5:24; Rom. 6:6; Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9). In ch. 16 Abraham exercised his flesh to produce Ishmael. Here God asked him to cut off his flesh, to terminate his natural strength, so that God could come in and bring forth Isaac by His grace for the fulfillment of His purpose. The circumcision in the Old Testament is the equivalent of baptism in the New Testament (Col. 2:11-12 and notes). The real circumcision is not outward in the flesh but inward “of the heart, in spirit, not in letter” (Rom. 2:28-29). See note 21 in Josh. 5.
Gen 17:111a sign cf. Gen. 9:12
Although God’s promise concerning the inheriting of the good land by His elect (12:1-2, 7; 13:15-17) had been made a covenant (15:4-5, 18-21), there was still the need to confirm the covenant of God’s promise with the covenant of circumcision. Circumcision was the procedure that God’s elect had to pass through in order to inherit God’s promise. It signifies that God’s chosen ones in the New Testament must be terminated through the cross so that they may inherit all the riches in Christ promised by God (cf. Gal. 2:20). See Rom. 4:11 and note 1.
Gen 17:121 eight
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 17:121 [1] In figure the eighth day, the first day of a new week, refers to Christ’s resurrection (Matt. 28:1; John 20:1). Circumcision must be in resurrection, and it always ushers us into resurrection (Col. 2:12; cf. Rom. 6:3-5), making us a new person, a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15), for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
Gen 17:121 [2] Circumcision corresponds to the changing of human names (v. 5). Both signify the terminating of our old being and our being brought into resurrection so that we may be no longer a natural person but a resurrected person.
Gen 17:12a foreigner Exo. 12:48-49
Gen 17:13a covenant Gen. 17:11
Gen 17:13b everlasting cf. Gen. 9:16
Gen 17:141 cut
If God’s called ones do not live a crucified life by terminating their self and their natural being, in their subjective experience they will be cut off from Christ, from the church life, and from the supply of God’s grace and will have nothing to do with God’s covenant for the fulfillment of God’s purpose (John 15:6; Gal. 5:4).
Gen 17:151 Sarai
Meaning my princess.
Gen 17:152 Sarah
Meaning princess. The word my before princess (see note 151) indicates narrowness and particularity. Here, the changing of Sarah’s name signifies generality and suggests the enlarging and broadening of her person to make her a mother of nations (v. 16). As seen with both Abraham (v. 5) and Sarah, such a change requires the termination of our old and natural man so that we may be transformed into a new person who can produce seed and care for others for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
Gen 17:16a son Gen. 17:19; 18:10-14; 21:2; Rom. 9:9; Gal. 4:23
Gen 17:161 by
I.e., by God’s grace in God’s covenant of promise, symbolized here by Sarah, the free woman, Abraham’s wife (Gal. 4:22-26). The birth of Isaac by Sarah signifies the begetting of the believers in Christ by God’s grace in the resurrection of Christ (1 Pet. 1:3) to be the legal seed of Abraham (Gal. 4:28, 31; 3:29). God’s covenant of circumcision in this chapter corresponds to the new covenant, in which Christ’s death cuts off our old man in the flesh and Christ’s resurrection germinates our new man, signified by Isaac, to make us the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
Gen 17:16b nations Gen. 17:6; 35:11
Gen 17:17a laughed Gen. 18:12; 21:6
Gen 17:17b hundred Rom. 4:19
Gen 17:19a son Gen. 17:16
Gen 17:191b Isaac Gen. 21:3; Gal. 4:28
Meaning he laughs.
Gen 17:192 establish
Ishmael, the seed produced by the flesh, was rejected by God (21:10). Only Isaac, the seed brought forth by God’s grace, was established for the fulfillment of God’s purpose (v. 21; 21:12; Rom. 9:7-9).
Gen 17:20a multiply Gen. 16:10
Gen 17:20b Twelve cf. Gen. 25:12-16
Gen 17:20c great Gen. 21:18
Gen 17:21a establish Gen. 26:3-5
Gen 17:211b appointed Gen. 18:10, 14; 21:2; Rom. 9:9
See note 141 in ch. 18.
Gen 17:23a circumcised Rom. 4:11
Gen 18:1a tent Heb. 11:9; Gen. 12:8
Gen 18:21 men
Or, mortal men. One of these three men was Jehovah God (vv. 13-14, 22) as Christ; the other two were angels (v. 22; 19:1). After he was circumcised and his natural strength was terminated, Abraham lived in intimate fellowship with God and became God’s friend (James 2:23; 2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8). Even before the incarnation (John 1:14) Jehovah as Christ appeared to Abraham in human form, with a human body, and communed with him on a human level.
Gen 18:2a meet Gen. 19:1; cf. Heb. 13:2
Gen 18:4a wash Gen. 19:2; 24:32; 43:24; cf. Luke 7:44; John 13:14; 1 Tim. 5:10
Gen 18:5a fetch Judg. 6:18; 13:15; 19:5; Psa. 104:15
Gen 18:6a three Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:21
Gen 18:61 measures
Heb. seahs. Three seahs are equivalent to one ephah, the normal portion for a meal (cf. 1 Sam. 1:24; Judg. 6:19). The three measures of fine flour signify the resurrected Christ in His humanity. Cf. Matt. 13:33.
Gen 18:62 cakes
The cakes, the calf (v. 7; cf. Luke 15:23), and the curds and milk (v. 8; cf. 1 Pet. 2:2) all signify the riches of the all-inclusive Christ as food for the satisfaction of both God and man. While Abraham was enjoying fellowship with God, in type he offered Christ to God as God’s food.
Gen 18:7a calf Judg. 13:15; Luke 15:23
Gen 18:10a time Gen. 18:14; 2 Kings 4:16
Gen 18:10b son Gen. 17:16
Gen 18:11a old Rom. 4:19; Heb. 11:11-12
Gen 18:12a laughed Gen. 17:17
Gen 18:12b lord 1 Pet. 3:6
Gen 18:14a Is Job 42:2; Jer. 32:17; Zech. 8:6; Matt. 19:26; cf. Rom. 4:21
Gen 18:141b appointed Gen. 17:21; 21:2
The time of life (v. 10), the appointed time for the birth of Isaac (17:21), was the time of God’s visitation (21:1). The birth of Isaac was the coming of Jehovah, which was the coming of grace (cf. John 1:17). Isaac was born by the strength of God’s grace, not by the strength of man’s natural life. This took place after Abraham had been circumcised and he and his wife, Sarah, had become completely deadened (v. 11; Rom. 4:18-19), signifying that the time of life, the time when Christ will be life to us, will come after our natural strength has been terminated.
Gen 18:14c time Gen. 18:10
Gen 18:171 Shall
God revealed to Abraham His intention to destroy Sodom, because He was seeking an intercessor. While God intended to destroy Sodom, His heart was concerned for Lot, who was dwelling in Sodom (13:12; 14:12; 19:1). He wanted to save Lot in order to protect Christ’s genealogy through Ruth, a Moabitess and a descendant of Lot (19:37; Ruth 1:4; Matt. 1:5), but He could not do so without an intercessor. Thus, in His intimate fellowship with Abraham, in a mysterious way, without mentioning Lot’s name, God revealed His heart’s desire. The proper intercession is not initiated by man but by God’s revelation. Thus, it expresses God’s desire and paves the way for the accomplishing of His will.
Gen 18:17a hide cf. Amos 3:7; Psa. 25:14; 103:7
Gen 18:18a all Gen. 12:3
Gen 18:20a Sodom Matt. 10:15; Jude 7; Rev. 11:8
Gen 18:221 remained
Abraham’s purpose in standing before Jehovah was to intercede for Lot. The glorious intercession that Abraham made before God was not a prayer from man on earth to God in heaven; it was a human conversation between two friends, an intimate talk according to the unveiling of God’s heart’s desire.
Gen 18:22a standing Jer. 18:20
Gen 18:231 righteous
Here Abraham referred to Lot by implication (2 Pet. 2:7-9). Apparently, Abraham was interceding for Sodom; actually, he was interceding for Lot (19:27-29).
Gen 18:251 Far
In Abraham’s intercession for Lot, He did not beg God according to His love and grace; he challenged God according to His righteous way. God’s righteousness binds Him much more than His love and grace do (see note 171 in Rom. 1).
Gen 18:25a Judge Psa. 58:11; 94:2; 98:9; Rom. 3:6; Heb. 12:23
Gen 18:331 speaking
Abraham’s intercession did not terminate with Abraham’s speaking but with God’s, showing that genuine intercession is God’s speaking in our speaking.
Gen 19:1a And vv. 1-14: 2 Pet. 2:7-8
Gen 19:1b Lot Gen. 11:27
Gen 19:11 Lot
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 19:11 [1] Lot was a righteous and godly man (2 Pet. 2:6-9). Nevertheless, although he had come out of Ur of Chaldea and was dwelling as one of God’s people with Abraham in the land of Canaan (12:5), he became defeated because he separated himself from Abraham, with whom was God’s witness and testimony, and drifted into the wicked city of Sodom (13:11-13; 14:12), which was condemned by God and was to be destroyed under His judgment.
Gen 19:11 [2] Ur of Chaldea was a place of idols, Egypt was a place of worldly riches and pleasures, and Sodom was a city of sin. These three places form a triangular boundary around the land of Canaan. God’s called ones live within this triangle and must be careful lest they fall back to the city of idols, go down to the place of worldly pleasures, or drift into the city of sin.
Gen 19:4a Sodom Gen. 13:13; 18:20; Isa. 3:9
Gen 19:51 know
The wicked Sodomites were homosexuals (Rom. 1:24-27).
Gen 19:81 daughters
Lot’s willingness to sacrifice his two virgin daughters to satisfy the Sodomites’ lust shows that Lot, having dwelt a considerable time in the sinful city of Sodom, had lost his sense of morality and shame (vv. 33, 35).
Gen 19:9a sojourn cf. Gen. 13:10-12
Gen 19:111 blindness
This shows that sinfulness blinds people. See notes 271 in Matt. 9, 401 in John 12, and 12 in John 9.
Gen 19:14a go Num. 16:21, 26, 45; cf. Jer. 51:6
Gen 19:15a Lot vv. 15-23: Luke 17:29; 2 Pet. 2:7-9
Gen 19:161 lingered
Lot had no willingness to escape from the evil and condemned city, but the Lord was merciful, pulling him out of Sodom like wood plucked out of a fire (cf. Zech. 3:2; Jude 23).
Gen 19:17a behind Gen. 19:26; cf. Luke 17:31
Gen 19:201 I
Lit., my soul.
Gen 19:221 Zoar
Meaning little.
Gen 19:24a Sodom Jer. 50:40; Lam. 4:6; Amos 4:11; Zeph. 2:9; 2 Pet. 2:6; Jude 7; Matt. 10:15; Rom. 9:29
Gen 19:24b brimstone Deut. 29:23; Luke 17:29
Gen 19:26a wife Luke 17:32
Gen 19:261b pillar cf. Matt. 5:13
See note 321 in Luke 17.
Gen 19:27a stood Gen. 18:22
Gen 19:28a smoke Rev. 9:2
Gen 19:29a remembered Gen. 8:1
Gen 19:321 seed
Having been drugged with the wicked current of the evil world, Lot’s daughters had lost their sense of morality. Desiring to have seed regardless of the means, they bore sons out of their father by incest, thus breaking the governing principle ordained by God. In principle, to use any kind of sinful or worldly methods to secure increase for our success in the Christian work is to break God’s governing principle and thus to commit spiritual incest (cf. Matt. 7:21-23). The seed produced by incest became a great damage to the people of God through fornication (Num. 25:1-5; Rev. 2:14 and notes 2 and 3).
Gen 19:371a Moab Deut. 2:9
Meaning from father.
Gen 19:372b Moabites Ruth 1:6
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 19:372 [1] God rejected the Moabites and the Ammonites (v. 38) with a holy and divine hatred, commanding His people not to “seek peace with them nor prosperity with them all your days forever” and forbidding an Ammonite or a Moabite to enter the congregation of Jehovah, “even to the tenth generation…forever” (Deut. 23:3-6; cf. Matt. 1:5 and note 3).
Gen 19:372 [2] Ishmael, brought forth by fleshly effort, was rejected by God (21:10-12). Moab and Ben-ammi, brought forth by incest, were a shame in history. Only Isaac, brought forth by God’s grace, was used to fulfill God’s purpose.
Gen 19:381 Ben-ammi
Meaning son of my people.
Gen 19:38a Ammon Deut. 2:19
Gen 20:11 there
I.e., Hebron (18:1; cf. 13:18).
Gen 20:21 She
When Abraham journeyed from Hebron (v. 1), he left God’s presence and the proper standing on which he could have fellowship with God (13:18 and notes). Although he had been circumcised both physically and spiritually (17:10, 23-24 and note 101), when he left the proper standing of fellowship with God, Abraham was again in the flesh and repeated his previous failure (12:13). This shows that no matter how high our spiritual attainment may be, as long as we are still in the old creation, if we do not remain in fellowship with God, we are capable of being in the flesh and of behaving like the worldly people. We should never have any confidence in our flesh; the flesh is absolutely untrustworthy (Rom. 7:18; Phil. 3:3). We must put our trust in the Lord’s presence.
Gen 20:2a sister Gen. 12:13; 26:7
Gen 20:3a dream Gen. 28:12; 31:24; Job 33:15-16; Matt. 1:20; 2:12
Gen 20:7a pray Gen. 20:17; 1 Sam. 7:5; Job 42:8
Gen 20:101 What
Lit., What did you see…
Gen 20:111 thought
Lit., said.
Gen 20:11a slay Gen. 12:12; 26:7
Gen 20:131 when
Abraham’s lying to Abimelech was planned by him from the time he began to follow the way of God. Thus, his failure in this chapter exposed his hidden weakness in the matter of following the Lord and trusting in Him absolutely.
Gen 20:13a God Gen. 12:1
Gen 20:141 returned
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 20:141 [1] In figure, Abraham signifies faith and Sarah signifies grace (Gal. 3:7; 4:23). When Abraham failed, Sarah suffered and Abraham lost the testimony of grace. This shows that whenever faith fails on our side, grace suffers on God’s side, and whenever the enjoyment of grace is lost, the testimony of grace also is lost.
Gen 20:141 [2] Although Abraham’s faith failed, God still preserved him by His sovereign care. God wisely and sovereignly restored Sarah, taking care of His grace and His testimony.
Gen 20:161 vindication
Lit., covering.
Gen 20:171a prayed Gen. 20:7; cf. James 5:16
Abraham had to intercede for Abimelech’s need in spite of his own failure and the fact that Sarah was still barren. This shows that our interceding for others does not depend on our condition; it depends on who we are. God did not count Abraham’s failure but considered him His prophet (v. 7). Regardless of our condition, in God’s eyes we, God’s called ones, are His prophets (1 Cor. 14:31), His new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), the members of the Body of Christ (Eph. 5:30).
Gen 20:18a wife Gen. 12:17
Gen 21:11 And
For vv. 1-13 in this chapter, see notes in Gal. 4:22-31.
Gen 21:12a visited 1 Sam. 2:21
See note 141 in ch. 18.
Gen 21:1b promised Gal. 4:23, 28
Gen 21:2a Sarah Heb. 11:11
Gen 21:21 bore
God’s goal in His economy is to bring forth Christ as the seed for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose (3:15; 12:7; 22:18; Gal. 3:16; 2 Sam. 7:12-14a). The birth of Isaac signifies the bringing forth of Christ as the promised seed through God’s work of grace at God’s appointed time. The prerequisite to this is the termination of our natural life and strength through spiritual circumcision (17:10-16).
Gen 21:2c appointed Gen. 17:21
Gen 21:31a Isaac Gen. 17:19; Matt. 1:2
Meaning he laughs.
Gen 21:41a circumcised Gen. 17:10, 12; Acts 7:8
See note 101 in ch. 17.
Gen 21:42 eight
See note 121 in ch. 17.
Gen 21:5a hundred Gen. 17:17; Rom. 4:19
Gen 21:6a laugh Gen. 17:17; 18:12-13
Gen 21:81 grew
The growth of Isaac signifies the growth of Christ in the New Testament believers after He is born in them. The growth of Christ in us is needed that Christ may be formed in us (Gal. 4:19 and note 4).
Gen 21:91b mocking Gal. 4:29
See notes 292 in Gal. 4 and 173 in Gal. 3.
Gen 21:101a Cast Gal. 4:30
The casting out of Hagar and Ishmael signifies the casting out of the law and the result of the effort of the flesh, which have no place in God’s economy (see notes 245 and 301 in Gal. 4).
Gen 21:10b not cf. John 8:35
Gen 21:12a Isaac Rom. 9:7; Heb. 11:18; cf. Matt. 1:2; Gal. 3:29; 4:28
Gen 21:12b seed Gen. 12:7
Gen 21:13a nation Gen. 17:20; 21:18
Gen 21:17a Angel Gen. 16:7-11; 22:11; Exo. 14:19
Gen 21:191 well
A well signifies the source of one’s living. Ishmael’s well was in the wilderness close to Egypt (vv. 14, 20-21). Ishmael’s source of living made him an archer (v. 20; cf. 10:8-9), a hunter, a killer of life, and eventually joined him to Egypt, signifying the world (v. 21).
Gen 21:23a swear Gen. 26:28
Gen 21:251a well Gen. 26:15, 18
The well for Isaac is a type of Christ as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:6, 17), who is the source of the living water as the divine supply for God’s people (John 4:14; 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 12:13; Rev. 22:17). Isaac’s source of living made him a burnt offering for God’s satisfaction and led him up to Mount Moriah (22:2), which eventually became Mount Zion, where God’s temple was built in Jerusalem (2 Chron. 3:1). Ultimately, the proper source of living makes us Isaacs and leads us to the New Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26-28).
Gen 21:281 seven
Abraham redeemed the well at the cost of seven ewe lambs. In typology the seven ewe lambs signify the full redemption of Christ, indicating that the divine living water has been redeemed, bought back, by Christ’s full redemption (John 19:34).
Gen 21:311a Beer-sheba Gen. 26:33
Meaning well of an oath.
Gen 21:321 covenant
The covenant here, involving the redeeming of the well at Beer-sheba, is a seed of the new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:8-12), enacted through Christ’s redeeming blood (Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:20). Isaac drank of redeemed water, the water of the covenant. Likewise, the living water drunk by the New Testament believers is redeemed and covenanted water.
Gen 21:322 Philistines
In typology, the Philistines signify a people who accept God but handle the things of God according to human cleverness, not according to God’s economy (1 Sam. 6:1-9 and note 41).
Gen 21:331 Abraham
Lit., he.
Gen 21:332 tamarisk
A tamarisk, having slender branches and very fine leaves, portrays the flow of the riches of life, the issue of the experience of the tree of life (2:9-10; cf. John 7:37-38). Thus, the tamarisk tree signifies the tree of life experienced and expressed.
Gen 21:33a called Gen. 4:26
Gen 21:333b Eternal Deut. 33:27; Isa. 40:28; Rom. 16:26; 1 Tim. 1:17
Heb. El Olam. El, meaning the Mighty One, is one of the names of God. Olam, meaning eternal or eternity, comes from a Hebrew root meaning to conceal, to hide. The divine title El Olam implies eternal life (cf. John 1:1, 4). Hence, by calling on the name of Jehovah, the Eternal Mighty One, Abraham experienced God as the ever-living, secret, mysterious One, who is the eternal life.
Gen 22:1a tested Heb. 11:17
Gen 22:21 only
Abraham’s offering of his beloved and only son, Isaac, on the altar is a vivid picture of God the Father’s offering of His beloved and only Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross. In this picture Isaac typifies Christ in a detailed way. Isaac, as Abraham’s only son (vv. 2, 12, 16), typifies Christ as God’s only begotten Son (John 3:16). Isaac was Abraham’s beloved son (v. 2), and Christ was the Father’s beloved Son, in whom He delighted (Matt. 3:17). Isaac took his father’s will (v. 6), and Christ also chose the will of His Father (Matt. 26:39). Isaac was obedient unto death (vv. 9-10); likewise, Christ was obedient unto death (Phil. 2:8). Isaac carried the wood for the burnt offering and walked to the top of Mount Moriah (v. 6); in the same way, Christ bore His cross and walked to Golgotha (John 19:17). Isaac was offered to God as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah; Christ also was offered to God on the same mountain (see note 11 in Mark 10) to fulfill the type of the burnt offering. Isaac was “killed” on the altar and was returned to Abraham on the third day, that is, in resurrection (vv. 4, 10-13; Heb. 11:19); similarly, Christ was crucified on the cross and was resurrected on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4). Isaac was multiplied in resurrection (v. 17), and Christ also was multiplied in His resurrection (John 12:24; 1 Pet. 1:3). Isaac was the seed of Abraham for the blessing of all the nations (v. 18); likewise, Christ is the unique seed of Abraham in whom the blessing of Abraham has come to the nations (Gal. 3:8, 14, 16).
Gen 22:22a Moriah 2 Chron. 3:1
Meaning the vision of Jah. Mount Moriah, the place of God’s choice, eventually became Mount Zion, the site for the temple (cf. 2 Chron. 3:1) and the center of the good land. Abraham was the first to worship God with the burnt offering on Mount Zion. Later, Abraham’s descendants, the children of Israel, were commanded by God to go three times a year to this place to worship God and there to offer to Him their burnt offerings (Deut. 16:16; Psa. 132:13). Today, the New Testament believers, Abraham’s spiritual descendants, are on Mount Zion (Heb. 12:22-23). Eventually, we all will join Abraham to worship God on the eternal Mount Zion, the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:22).
Gen 22:23 offer
Isaac, a type of Christ as the promised seed (Gal. 3:16), was given to Abraham by God. Here God asked Abraham to give back to God what God had given him. This surely was a test to Abraham (v. 1; Heb. 11:17). This shows a basic principle in God’s economy: all that God has given us, even what He has wrought in us and through us, must eventually be offered back to Him, that we may live a life of faith, not holding on to anything, even to the things given by God, but relying only on Him. After Isaac was offered, he was returned to Abraham in resurrection and became a blessing (vv. 12-13, 16, 18; Heb. 11:19). Likewise, after we have offered to God what we have received of Him, He will return it to us in resurrection and it will become a blessing for the fulfillment of His purpose. See Rom. 4:17 and notes.
Gen 22:24 burnt
See note 31 in Lev. 1.
Gen 22:31 rose
Abraham obeyed God immediately because he believed in the resurrecting God (v. 5; Heb. 11:17-19; James 2:21-22; Rom. 4:17 and note 1).
Gen 22:8a provide Gen. 22:13; Heb. 11:19
Gen 22:8b lamb cf. John 1:29, 36; 1 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 5:12
Gen 22:9a Isaac Heb. 11:17; James 2:21
Gen 22:111a Angel Gen. 16:7; 22:15-16; Exo. 3:2
See note 71 in ch. 16.
Gen 22:131 ram
The ram here, killed in place of Abraham’s son, is a type of Christ as the Lamb of God (John 1:29) provided by God to replace God’s chosen people, those who would inherit God’s promised inheritance, as the burnt offering (v. 2) for God’s satisfaction.
Gen 22:132 thicket
Horns signify fighting power, and the thicket signifies humanity. Christ as the Lamb of God was willing to have His “horns” caught by His human nature that He might be offered to God as our Substitute (1 Pet. 3:18). Cf. Matt. 26:50-54.
Gen 22:141 Jehovah-jireh
Meaning Jehovah will provide, or Jehovah will see [to it].
Gen 22:14a mount 2 Chron. 3:1; Isa. 2:3; 30:29; Joel 3:17; Micah 4:2; Zech. 8:3; cf. Num. 10:33
Gen 22:142 it
Or, He will be seen.
Gen 22:14b provided Gen. 22:8
Gen 22:15a Angel Gen. 22:11; 31:11
Gen 22:16a sworn Heb. 6:13; Psa. 105:9; Luke 1:73
Gen 22:171b stars Gen. 15:5
The stars of the heavens signify Abraham’s heavenly descendants, the descendants who are of faith (Gal. 3:7, 29), whereas the sand on the seashore and the dust of the earth (13:16) signify Abraham’s earthly descendants, the descendants in the flesh. The sand on the seashore is the dust beside the sea. This sand is separated from the sea and also washed by the waves of the sea. The sea signifies the Gentile nations (Isa. 57:20; Rev. 17:15). The Gentile nations used by God to chastise Israel throughout the centuries (Joel 1:4 and note) were like the waves from the Mediterranean, coming up again and again with their invading armies to wash Israel as the dust to produce a remnant who are like the sand on the seashore (Zech. 12—14; Rom. 9:27-29). The New Jerusalem is composed of these two categories of Abraham’s descendants (Rev. 21:12, 14). Hence, the New Jerusalem will be the ultimate consummation of Abraham’s seed. By being offered to God by Abraham, Isaac was multiplied to become the New Jerusalem. This was God’s blessing to Abraham.
Gen 22:171c sand Gen. 32:12; Jer. 33:22; 2 Sam. 17:11; 1 Kings 4:20; Isa. 10:22; Hosea 1:10; Rom. 9:27; Heb. 11:12; cf. Gen. 13:16
See note 171.
Gen 22:17d gate Gen. 24:60; Psa. 127:5
Gen 22:181 seed
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 22:181 [1] According to Gal. 3:14, the promise given to Abraham was that God Himself would come to be the seed of Abraham, and this seed would be a blessing to all the nations by becoming the all-inclusive Spirit for mankind to receive (1 Cor. 15:45). God’s blessing of Abraham eventually issued in Christ as the unique seed in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed (Acts 3:25-26; Gal. 3:16). All the believers in Christ, as members of the corporate Christ (1 Cor. 12:12), are included in this seed as the heirs of God’s promised blessing (Gal. 3:7, 29 and note 291).
Gen 22:181 [2] In this chapter Christ is revealed in three ways: as the Angel of Jehovah (vv. 11-12, 15-18), as the ram (v. 13), and as the seed of Abraham (v. 18). The Angel of Jehovah, who is Christ, provided the ram, a type of Christ, which eventually issued in the seed, who is also Christ.
Gen 22:18a all Gen. 12:3
Gen 22:18b obeyed Gen. 26:5
Gen 22:231 Rebekah
Meaning ensnarer.
Gen 23:21a Hebron Gen. 13:18
See note 183 in ch. 13.
Gen 23:31 children
I.e., the Hittites.
Gen 23:61 choicest
Abraham buried Sarah in the choicest burial place. He cared much more for the place in which he and his descendants would be buried than for his tent as his earthly dwelling (cf. Matt. 8:20; 27:57-60). He was more concerned for the future than for the present. This is because he considered himself a stranger and a sojourner on the earth, looking for a permanent city and a better country (Heb. 11:9-10, 16).
Gen 23:91a Machpelah Gen. 23:17; 25:9; 49:29-32; 50:13
Meaning double, doubling. Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah, three couples, were all buried in the cave of Machpelah (v. 19; 25:9; 49:29-32; 50:13). The names Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the components of the divine title of God, who is the God of resurrection (Exo. 3:15; Matt. 22:32 and note).
Gen 23:92 field
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 23:92 [1] Although Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac were living at Beer-sheba (21:33), Sarah died and was buried in Hebron, the place of fellowship with God. Hebron is between Beer-sheba on the south and Jerusalem on the north. Thus, Hebron was not only a place of fellowship but also a way that led to Jerusalem. In spiritual significance, the cave of Machpelah in Hebron (v. 19), in which Sarah was buried, is the gateway to the New Jerusalem.
Gen 23:92 [2] The cave of Machpelah was at the end of a field, in which were many trees (v. 17). A field is a place where life grows; thus, it implies resurrection. Abraham did not bury Sarah in a place of death but in a place of life, a place full of resurrection (1 Cor. 15:36 and note). This indicates that Abraham believed in the God of resurrection (Rom. 4:17) and was filled with the expectation that his wife would be resurrected and would be in the city which has the foundations, the New Jerusalem. According to Abraham’s realization, Sarah’s death was not a termination but an entering into the gate of resurrection, the gateway into the expected city and the better country (Heb. 11:10, 16).
Gen 23:17a Machpelah Gen. 23:9
Gen 24:1a blessed Gen. 24:35
Gen 24:21 And
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 24:21 [1] This chapter primarily reveals the practical living of God’s people in oneness with God for the accomplishing of His eternal purpose. The marriage of Isaac was not merely for his human living; it was altogether for the producing of a people, the seed of Abraham, for the fulfillment of God’s purpose (22:17). Thus, in the gaining of a wife for Isaac, everything was done according to God’s economy to bring forth Christ for the producing of the kingdom of God.
Gen 24:21 [2] This chapter also presents a rich type of the marriage of Christ, typified by Isaac, and the church, typified by Rebekah.
Gen 24:22a servant Gen. 15:2
In this account of the marriage of Isaac, Abraham typifies God the Father, the servant typifies God the Spirit, Isaac typifies God the Son, and Rebekah typifies the chosen people of God, who will marry the Son and become His counterpart. The entire New Testament is a record of the Triune God working together to gain a part of the human race to be the bride, the counterpart, of the Son (John 3:29; 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2, 9-10). In eternity past God the Father had an eternal purpose and made an eternal plan to gain the church as a bride for His Son out of the human race (Eph. 3:8-11). Then, in time, God the Father commissioned God the Spirit to carry out His plan by going to contact the chosen bride and bring her to God the Son to be His counterpart, His wife.
Gen 24:3a God Ezra 5:11; Acts 17:24; Gen. 14:19, 22; cf. Gen. 24:7
Gen 24:31 not
There is no record that God told Abraham not to take a wife for his son from among the Canaanite women (cf. Deut. 7:1-4). Because Abraham lived in oneness with God (v. 40a), he knew God’s will and mind and acted in accordance with God’s inner feeling (cf. 1 Cor. 7:25 and note; 2 Cor. 2:10 and note 3; Phil. 1:8 and note).
Gen 24:3b daughters Gen. 26:34-35; 27:46; Deut. 7:3; cf. 2 Cor. 6:14
Gen 24:41 relatives
In typology, the fact that Isaac’s bride was taken from Abraham’s relatives indicates that the counterpart of Christ must come from Christ’s race, not from the angels or from any other creatures (2:18-23 and notes). Since Christ was incarnated to be a man (Heb. 2:14a), humanity has become His race.
Gen 24:4a wife cf. Gen. 28:1-2
Gen 24:61 Be
Abraham’s word to his servant in vv. 6-8 and 40 indicates that he lived by faith in the sovereign Lord for the carrying out of His economy in the land of God’s promise.
Gen 24:7a God 2 Chron. 36:23; cf. Gen. 24:3
Gen 24:101a Aram-naharaim cf. Acts 7:2
Meaning Aram of the two rivers; i.e., Mesopotamia.
Gen 24:12a Abraham Gen. 24:27, 42, 48
Gen 24:121 please
The servant’s prayer here indicates that he followed in Abraham’s footsteps, trusting in the Lord for the carrying out of his responsibility (vv. 21, 42).
Gen 24:13a I vv. 13-14: Gen. 24:43-44
Gen 24:161 virgin
Rebekah was chaste, kind, and diligent. She was also absolute in her decision to take Isaac as her husband (vv. 57-58, 61) and was submissive to Isaac (vv. 64-65). As such, she is an excellent type of the church as the bride, the wife, of Christ.
Gen 24:221a nose-ring cf. Ezek. 16:11-13
These gifts, sent from Isaac and given by the servant of Abraham, the father, signify the riches of Christ given by the Spirit of God to the bride for the accomplishing of God’s purpose. These gifts relate to the function of the believers. Gold signifies the divine nature, and a ring signifies the initial gift of the Spirit (Acts 2:38), which is the Spirit Himself as a seal and a pledge, a foretaste of God as our eternal portion (Eph. 1:13-14; cf. Luke 15:22). The function of the nose is to smell. The putting of the nose-ring upon Rebekah’s nose (v. 47) signifies, spiritually, that her “smelling” function had been caught by the divine nature (cf. 2 Cor. 2:14-16; Heb. 6:4-6; 1 Pet. 2:2-3; 2 Pet. 1:4). Hands are for working (see note 83 in 1 Tim. 2). The putting of the bracelets on Rebekah’s hands signifies the receiving of the divine function for the service in the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:4).
Gen 24:222 half
The half shekel signifies the first taste, the foretaste, of the Spirit, which guarantees that the full taste is coming (Rom. 8:23; 2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13-14). The ten shekels, ten signifying fullness, or completeness (e.g., the Ten Commandments, which express God’s demand in full), indicate that the divine function we have received of the Spirit is complete, not partial (1 Cor. 12:4-11).
Gen 24:26a worshipped Gen. 24:48, 52
Gen 24:27a Abraham Gen. 24:12, 42, 48
Gen 24:29a Laban Gen. 25:20; 28:2; 29:5
Gen 24:31a blessed Gen. 26:29
Gen 24:321 Laban
Lit., he.
Gen 24:32a wash Gen. 18:4
Gen 24:35a blessed Gen. 24:1
Gen 24:36a son Gen. 21:2
Gen 24:36b all Gen. 25:5
Gen 24:37a swear Gen. 24:3-8
Gen 24:40a angel Gen. 24:7
Gen 24:42a Abraham Gen. 24:12, 27
Gen 24:43a I vv. 43-44: Gen. 24:13-14
Gen 24:44a Drink Gen. 24:14, 18-19
Gen 24:47a nose-ring cf. Ezek. 16:11-12
Gen 24:48a worshipped Gen. 24:26
Gen 24:48b brother Gen. 22:23
Gen 24:531 silver
The gold nose-ring and bracelets (v. 22), the silver and gold jewelry, and the clothing given to Rebekah, along with the precious things given to her brother and her mother, symbolize the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8). The servant testified to Rebekah concerning Isaac’s riches, which he inherited from his father (vv. 35-36), and gave some of these riches to Rebekah as a foretaste. This caused Rebekah to be attracted to Isaac and made her willing to leave her father’s house to be his wife (v. 58) even though she had never seen him. In the same manner the Spirit comes to Christ’s believers and testifies to them of the riches of Christ, which He has received from the Father (John 16:13-15), causing them to be attracted to Christ and to love Him, to forsake the world, and to leave their natural relations in the flesh to be joined to Christ (Matt. 19:29), even though they have never seen Him (1 Pet. 1:8). Before Rebekah met Isaac in the good land, she had participated in and enjoyed Isaac’s inheritance through the servant’s gifts. Likewise, before we meet Christ, we enjoy the gifts of the Spirit as a foretaste of the full taste of His riches (Heb. 6:4; Rom. 8:23).
Gen 24:571 her
Lit., from her mouth.
Gen 24:59a nurse Gen. 35:8
Gen 24:60a Thousands cf. Gen. 17:16
Gen 24:60b gate Gen. 22:17
Gen 24:601 them
Or, him.
Gen 24:621a Beer-lahai-roi Gen. 16:14; 25:11
Meaning well of the living One who sees me, or well of the One who reveals Himself.
Gen 24:65a veil 1 Cor. 11:10
Gen 24:671 brought
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 24:671 [1] Isaac, Abraham’s son, did nothing but receive his bride. This signifies that everything is planned by the Father and accomplished by the Spirit. The Son only receives the bride.
Gen 24:671 [2] Isaac received Rebekah in the evening (v. 63), signifying that the marriage of Christ will be at the evening, the close, of this age. Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent of Sarah, his mother, and loved Rebekah, signifying that Christ will receive His bride in grace (typified by Sarah) as well as in love. After marrying Rebekah, Isaac was comforted, satisfied; likewise, Christ will be satisfied on the day of His marriage.
Gen 25:11 another
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 25:11 [1] Although Abraham was called by God, was justified and lived by faith in God, and lived in fellowship with God, he did not attain to maturity in his spiritual life. This is shown by the fact that, after Sarah died, Abraham remarried and brought forth six sons by the energy of his flesh. Furthermore, at the end of his days Abraham did not bless anyone, in contrast to Isaac and Jacob (27:27-29; 48:13-20; 49:1-28; cf. Heb. 7:7).
Gen 25:11 [2] As far as the experience of life is concerned, Abraham cannot stand as a complete person. He needed Isaac and Jacob (with Joseph) to complete him. See note 11, par. 2, in ch. 12.
Gen 25:1a Keturah vv. 1-4: 1 Chron. 1:32-33
Gen 25:2a Midian Gen. 37:28; Exo. 2:15; 3:1; Num. 22:4; Hab. 3:7
Gen 25:51a all Gen. 24:36
God considered Isaac as Abraham’s only son, the unique seed to inherit the promises given by God to Abraham for the fulfillment of His purpose (22:2, 12, 16, 18; 17:19; 26:3-4). As such, he typifies Christ as the only begotten Son of the Father (John 1:14; 3:16), who was given by the Father all that the Father has (John 3:35; 16:15a). It was by grace, not by Isaac’s effort, that Isaac became the heir of his father’s riches.
Gen 25:52 Isaac
In Genesis the records of Abraham (12:1—25:18) and Isaac (21:1-8; 22:1-24; 24:1-67) overlap. Abraham’s life reveals that if we would enjoy God’s grace and have the full enjoyment of God’s riches, we must suffer loss and have our natural life circumcised, cut off. Isaac’s life reveals that our suffering to terminate our natural life is for the enjoyment of God’s grace. Throughout his entire life Isaac did nothing but enjoy God’s rich blessing (v. 11; 26:24b), which points to the grace of the New Testament (see note 111). Isaac was born in grace (21:1-3; Gal. 4:23), grew up in grace (21:8), and was made an heir of grace (v. 5). In the New Testament, all the called believers are heirs of grace, destined to enjoy God’s absolute and unconditional grace (Eph. 1:3, 6-8; 2:7).
Gen 25:91a Machpelah Gen. 23:9; 35:29
See notes on 23:9.
Gen 25:10a Abraham Gen. 49:30-31
Gen 25:111 blessed
The blessing in the Old Testament corresponds to the grace in the New Testament (see note 36 in Eph. 1). God’s free gift to us is His blessing. When God’s free gift in Christ is wrought into us to be the life element within us, it becomes grace. See note 22 in Rom. 5.
Gen 25:11a Beer-lahai-roi Gen. 16:14; 24:62
Gen 25:12a Ishmael Gen. 16:15
Gen 25:13a sons vv. 13-16: 1 Chron. 1:29-31
Gen 25:19a Isaac Matt. 1:2
Gen 25:211 entreated
Isaac’s need to have a son corresponded with God’s need to have a seed out of Isaac for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose. Because of this, God answered Isaac’s entreaty. Eventually, Isaac’s son Jacob not only met Isaac’s need but also fulfilled God’s purpose, for out of Jacob came Christ (Matt. 1:1-2), who brings in the church, the kingdom, and the New Jerusalem.
Gen 25:21a conceived Rom. 9:10
Gen 25:231a Two cf. Gen. 17:16
I.e., Israel (32:28) and Edom (v. 30; 36:1, 43; Jer. 49:7-8; Obad. 8).
Gen 25:23b stronger cf. 2 Sam. 8:14; Obad. 18-21
Gen 25:23c serve Gen. 27:29, 40; Rom. 9:12
Gen 25:232 younger
This was God’s choosing, His selecting, of Jacob before he was born, corresponding with God’s choosing before the foundation of the world (Rom. 9:11a; Eph. 1:4). God’s choosing of Jacob was according to His foreknowledge (1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 8:29), not of Jacob’s works but of God who calls and who shows mercy (Rom. 9:11b, 16). God’s choosing is with His predestinating and is followed by His calling (Eph. 1:4-5; Rom. 8:30).
Gen 25:251 Esau
Meaning hairy, rough.
Gen 25:261a holding Hosea 12:3
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 25:261 [1] Even while he was still in his mother’s womb Jacob was striving to be the firstborn. His desire to be the first corresponded with God’s intention that he be the one who would receive the birthright. However, like his grandfather Abraham, Jacob exercised his natural ability and his natural strength to fulfill God’s intention and satisfy his desire. Although God had chosen him to be the first, God sovereignly caused Jacob to be born the second so that he might learn that his natural man was altogether unworthy and had to be cut off. Since Jacob’s natural man was not qualified, he needed to be transformed.
Gen 25:261 [2] The record of Jacob’s life occupies more than half of the book of Genesis. This long record shows us that the purpose of God in His selecting, predestinating, and calling is to transform sinners into royal sons of God who bear God’s image to express Him and exercise God’s dominion to represent Him (cf. 1:26). God destined Jacob to live a struggling life all his days. Furthermore, God sovereignly arranged every circumstance, situation, and person in Jacob’s life and caused them all to work together for Jacob’s good, so that He could transform Jacob, a supplanter and a heel holder, into Israel, a prince of God. In particular, God used Jacob’s family, including his father, his mother, his brother, his uncle, and his wives and children, to deal with Jacob for his transformation. God’s dealing with Jacob is a full picture of the Holy Spirit’s discipline and His transforming work in the New Testament believers (Rom. 8:28-29; 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18).
Gen 25:262b Jacob Gen. 27:36; Matt. 1:2; Acts 7:8
Meaning supplanter, heel holder.
Gen 25:27a tents Heb. 11:9
Gen 25:281 he
Lit., game was in his mouth. Isaac’s preferential love for his firstborn son was altogether in the natural life and according to the natural taste and preference, as was Rebekah’s love for Jacob and Jacob’s love for Joseph (37:3-4). Although Isaac lived in a natural way, he nevertheless enjoyed God’s grace. However, his living in the natural life caused him to suffer, as was the case with Rebekah and Jacob.
Gen 25:301a Edom Gen. 36:1
Meaning red.
Gen 25:311 First
Lit., today. So also in v. 33.
Gen 25:33a birthright Heb. 12:16
Gen 25:341 despised
Concerning Esau’s despising of the birthright, see Heb. 12:16-17 and notes.
Gen 26:1a famine Gen. 12:10
Gen 26:3b with Gen. 28:15
Gen 26:31 bless
Isaac inherited not only all that his father had but also the promise God had given to his father concerning the good land and the unique seed, who is Christ, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed (Gal. 3:14, 16). This promise was actually for the fulfillment of God’s purpose that God might have a kingdom on the earth in which to express Himself through a corporate people. See notes 22 in ch. 12 and 31 in ch. 15.
Gen 26:3d establish Gen. 15:18; 17:2
Gen 26:3e oath Gen. 22:16-18; Micah 7:20
Gen 26:5a obeyed Gen. 22:18
Gen 26:71 She
This exposed Isaac’s natural weakness, which was the same as his father Abraham’s (cf. 20:1-2, 11-13).
Gen 26:7a sister Gen. 12:13; 20:2
Gen 26:12a hundredfold cf. Matt. 13:8; Mark 4:8; Luke 8:8
Gen 26:12b blessed Gen. 24:1, 35; 25:11
Gen 26:131 rich
Or, great…greater…great.
Gen 26:141 household
Or, body of servants.
Gen 26:15a dug Gen. 21:30
Gen 26:18a names Gen. 21:31
Gen 26:191 springing
Lit., living. See note 161 in Num. 21.
Gen 26:201 Esek
Meaning contention.
Gen 26:211 Sitnah
Meaning enmity.
Gen 26:221 Rehoboth
Meaning broad places, broad ways.
Gen 26:241 appeared
Although Isaac enjoyed God’s unconditional grace, finding enjoyment and satisfaction (signified by a well) in every place that he went (25:11; 26:15-22), Beer-sheba was the unique place in which he experienced God’s appearing, received His promise, built an altar, called on the name of the Lord, and pitched a tent as a testimony. God’s called ones are destined to enjoy God’s grace regardless of their standing, but this enjoyment does not justify their standing. If we desire to have God’s appearing, inherit His promises, and live a life for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose, we must come to the unique place that God has chosen and remain there. This unique place is signified by Beer-sheba, with the well for life supply and the tamarisk tree as the expression of the rich flow of life (21:25, 33). Cf. notes 51 and 171 in Deut. 12.
Gen 26:24a God Gen. 24:12; 28:13; Exo. 3:6
Gen 26:24b with Gen. 28:15; 31:3
Gen 26:25a altar Gen. 12:7
Gen 26:25b called Gen. 4:26
Gen 26:25c tent Gen. 12:8; Heb. 11:9
Gen 26:261 adviser
Or, friend.
Gen 26:29a blessed Gen. 24:31
Gen 26:31a swore Gen. 21:31
Gen 26:331 Shibah
Meaning oath.
Gen 26:332a Beer-sheba Gen. 21:31; 22:19
Meaning well of oath.
Gen 26:34a daughter cf. Gen. 24:3; 28:9; 36:2-3
Gen 26:35a bitterness Gen. 27:46
Gen 27:1a dim Gen. 48:10; 1 Sam. 3:2
Gen 27:3a hunt Gen. 25:27-28
Gen 27:41 I
Lit., my soul.
Gen 27:42a bless Gen. 14:19
See note 231 in Num. 6.
Gen 27:8a obey Gen. 27:13
Gen 27:10a bless Gen. 27:4
Gen 27:11a hairy Gen. 25:25
Gen 27:121 deceiver
Or, mocker.
Gen 27:12a curse cf. Deut. 27:18
Gen 27:13a on cf. 1 Sam. 25:24; 2 Sam. 14:9
Gen 27:15a clothes Gen. 27:27
Gen 27:191 you
Lit., your soul.
Gen 27:251 I
Lit., my soul.
Gen 27:25a bless Gen. 27:4
Gen 27:271 Isaac
Lit., he.
Gen 27:272a blessed Heb. 11:20
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 27:272 [1] In v. 4 Isaac wanted to bless Esau, but he mixed God’s blessing with his natural taste. Here, Isaac blessed Jacob, but he blessed blindly, both physically (v. 1) and spiritually, because he had been blinded by his natural taste. This indicates that Isaac did not have much maturity in life. However, Isaac did bless his sons by faith, and God honored his blessing and it became a prophecy (Heb. 11:20).
Gen 27:272 [2] Esau’s despising of the birthright (25:34), Rebekah’s ingeniousness in her preferential love, and Isaac’s blindness in blessing worked together for Jacob’s good, that God might sovereignly fulfill the purpose of His selection (cf. Rom. 8:28-30).
Gen 27:28a dew Gen. 27:39; Deut. 33:13; Zech. 8:12
Gen 27:28b grain Gen. 27:37; Deut. 7:13; 33:28; Joel 2:19
Gen 27:29a sons cf. Gen. 49:8
Gen 27:29b blessed Gen. 12:3; Num. 24:9
Gen 27:311 you
Lit., your soul.
Gen 27:34a bitter Heb. 12:17
Gen 27:361 Esau
Lit., he.
Gen 27:36a Jacob Gen. 25:26
Gen 27:36b birthright Gen. 25:33
Gen 27:37a lord Gen. 27:29; cf. 2 Sam. 8:14
Gen 27:37b grain Gen. 27:28
Gen 27:39a said Heb. 11:20
Gen 27:391 of
Or, away from the fatness…away from the dew.
Gen 27:39b fatness Gen. 36:6-7
Gen 27:39c dew Gen. 27:28
Gen 27:40a serve Gen. 25:23; cf. 2 Sam. 8:14; Obad. 18-21
Gen 27:401 become
Or, have roved about. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Gen 27:40b break 2 Kings 8:20-22
Gen 27:41a brother cf. Amos 1:11; Obad. 10
Gen 27:46a weary Gen. 26:34-35
Gen 27:461 daughters
I.e., the Hittite women.
Gen 27:46b daughters Gen. 24:3; 28:1
Gen 28:1b daughters Gen. 24:3; 27:46
Gen 28:31a All-sufficient Gen. 17:1
Heb. El Shaddai. See note 12 in ch. 17.
Gen 28:4a blessing Gen. 12:2-3; Gal. 3:14
Gen 28:4b sojournings Gen. 17:8
Gen 28:8a daughters Gen. 24:3; 26:34-35
Gen 28:10a Haran Gen. 11:32; Acts 7:2; cf. Hosea 12:12
Gen 28:111 put
Or, placed it as his pillow. So also in v. 18.
Gen 28:121a dreamed cf. Num. 12:6; Job 33:15-16
Jacob’s dream is a most crucial point in this book, and vv. 10-22 unveil the most crucial matter in the revelation of God. God desires to have a house on earth, and His intention is to transform His called ones into stones, material for His building. In the account of Jacob’s dream, the stone (vv. 11, 18, 22), the pillar (v. 18), the house of God (vv. 17, 19, 22), and the oil (v. 18) are outstanding items. The stone symbolizes Christ as the foundation stone, the top stone, and the cornerstone for God’s building (Isa. 28:16; Zech. 4:7; Acts 4:10-12). It also symbolizes the transformed man, who has been constituted with Christ as the transforming element to be the material for the building of God’s house (2:12; Matt. 16:18; John 1:42; 1 Cor. 3:12; 1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 21:11, 18-20), which is the church today (1 Tim. 3:15) and which will consummate in the New Jerusalem as the eternal dwelling place of God and His redeemed elect (Rev. 21:3, 22). In v. 11 a stone was used by Jacob for a pillow, signifying that the very divine element of Christ constituted into our being through our subjective experience of Him becomes a pillow for our rest (cf. Matt. 11:28). After awaking from his dream, Jacob set up the pillow-stone as a pillar, signifying that the Christ who has been wrought into us and on whom we rest becomes the material and the support for God’s building, God’s house (cf. 1 Kings 7:21; Gal. 2:9; Rev. 3:12). Eventually, Jacob poured oil, a symbol of the Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God reaching man (Exo. 30:23-30; Luke 4:18), on the pillar, symbolizing that the transformed man is one with the Triune God and expresses Him. That stone became Bethel, the house of God (vv. 19, 22). God’s house is the mutual dwelling place of God and His redeemed (John 14:2, 23)—man as God’s dwelling place (Isa. 66:1-2; 1 Cor. 3:16; Eph. 2:22; Heb. 3:6; Rev. 21:3) and God as man’s dwelling place (Psa. 90:1; John 15:5; Rev. 21:22). Hence, the house of God is constituted of God and man mingled together as one. In God’s house God expresses Himself in humanity, and both God and man find mutual and eternal satisfaction and rest.
Gen 28:122 ladder
This ladder is the center, the focus, of Jacob’s dream. This dream is a revelation of Christ, for Christ is the reality of the ladder that Jacob saw (John 1:51 and notes). Christ as the Son of Man, in His humanity, is the ladder that brings heaven (God) to earth (man) and joins earth and heaven as one (cf. John 14:6). Our regenerated spirit, which is God’s dwelling place today (Eph. 2:22), is the base on earth where Christ as the heavenly ladder has been set up (2 Tim. 4:22). Hence, whenever we turn to our spirit, we experience Christ as the ladder bringing God to us and us to God (see note 191 in Heb. 10). Where this ladder is, there are an open heaven, the transformed man, the anointing upon this man, and the building up of the house of God with this man. The issue of Christ as the heavenly ladder is Bethel, the church, the Body of Christ, and the consummation of this ladder is the New Jerusalem.
Gen 28:123b angels John 1:51
The angels are ministering spirits sent forth to serve the heirs of God’s salvation (Heb. 1:14 and note 1, par. 3).
Gen 28:131a God Gen. 26:24
God’s referring to Himself as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac implies that He would also become the God of Jacob. The God of Abraham is the God of justification, the God of Isaac is the God of grace, and the God of Jacob is the God of transformation through divine discipline. Eventually, the God of Jacob became the God of Israel (33:20; Exo. 5:1), the God of the transformed Jacob.
Gen 28:132 land
God promised Jacob that He would give him the seed, the land, and the blessing (vv. 13-14), as He had promised Abraham (12:3, 7; 13:14-16; 15:18; 22:17-18) and Isaac (26:3-4). The land is for the kingdom of God, and the seed is for the expression of God and for the spreading of God’s image. Both the land and the seed are Christ (see note 31 in ch. 15), who also becomes the blessing (v. 14) with which we bless others (Rom. 15:29).
Gen 28:132b seed Gen. 12:7
See note 132.
Gen 28:14a dust Gen. 13:16
Gen 28:14b all Gen. 12:3
Gen 28:15a with Gen. 26:24; 31:3
Gen 28:15b leave 1 Kings 8:57
Gen 28:17a house Gen. 28:22; Judg. 18:31; 1 Chron. 28:11-12; 2 Chron. 5:1; 24:13; Ezra 2:68; 6:14-15; Psa. 42:4; 52:8; 55:14; 1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 10:21; 1 Pet. 4:17
Gen 28:171 gate
This was a place on earth, but it was joined to heaven; hence, Jacob called it the gate of heaven. While we are in the church, the house of God, on earth, we can enter the gate of heaven, and through Christ as the heavenly ladder we can see and experience the things of heaven. See Heb. 4:16 and note 1.
Gen 28:18a stone Gen. 31:45; 35:14; 1 Sam. 7:12; 2 Sam. 18:18; cf. John 1:42
Gen 28:18b oil Gen. 31:13; cf. Exo. 30:26; Lev. 8:10-11; Num. 7:1
Gen 28:191a Bethel Gen. 12:8; 31:13; 35:1, 6, 15; Judg. 1:23; Hosea 12:4
Meaning house of God. See note 11, par. 2, in ch. 35.
Gen 28:19b Luz Judg. 1:26
Gen 28:20a vowed Gen. 31:13
Gen 28:21a my cf. Exo. 15:2; Deut. 26:17
Gen 28:22a stone Gen. 28:18; 35:14
Gen 28:22b tenth Gen. 14:20; Lev. 27:30-32
Gen 29:11 went
Lit., lifted up his feet.
Gen 29:121a relative Gen. 22:23; 24:15
Lit., brother. So also in v. 15.
Gen 29:12b told cf. Gen. 24:28-29
Gen 29:131 Jacob
Lit., he.
Gen 29:171 dull
Or, tender, weak.
Gen 29:18a serve Gen. 29:30; 30:26; 31:41; Hosea 12:12
Gen 29:24a Zilpah Gen. 35:26
Gen 29:251 Leah
Jacob was a crafty supplanter, but Laban was more subtle than Jacob. This was sovereignly arranged by God. Everything Laban did to cheat and to “squeeze” Jacob (31:7, 40-42), plus the competition, envy, and wrestling between Jacob’s wives in their bearing children (29:31—30:24), were sovereignly used by God to deal with Jacob’s natural disposition so that God could transform him. Jacob’s history shows that God sovereignly arranges each aspect of the environment of His chosen ones so that He may carry out His work of transformation in them (Rom. 8:28-30).
Gen 29:29a Bilhah Gen. 35:25
Gen 29:30a served Gen. 29:18, 20; 31:41
Gen 29:301 Laban
Lit., him.
Gen 29:31a hated cf. Deut. 21:15
Gen 29:31b barren cf. Gen. 30:22
Gen 29:321a Reuben Gen. 49:3-4
Meaning see, a son.
Gen 29:331a Simeon Gen. 49:5-7
Meaning hearing.
Gen 29:341a Levi Gen. 49:5-7
Meaning joined.
Gen 29:351a Judah Gen. 37:26; 38:1-26; 43:8; 44:14-18; 46:28; 49:8-12; Matt. 1:2
Meaning praise.
Gen 30:1a children Gen. 29:31
Gen 30:2a withheld cf. Gen. 16:2; 1 Sam. 1:5
Gen 30:3a Bilhah Gen. 29:29
Gen 30:31b have cf. Gen. 16:2
Lit., be built up.
Gen 30:61a Dan Gen. 49:16-18
Meaning judging.
Gen 30:81 In
Or, with mighty wrestlings.
Gen 30:82a Naphtali Gen. 49:21
Meaning my wrestling.
Gen 30:9a Zilpah Gen. 29:24
Gen 30:111a Gad Gen. 49:19
Meaning, perhaps, (good) fortune.
Gen 30:131 Happy
In Hebrew the words happy and blessed are from the same root.
Gen 30:131a blessed cf. Luke 1:48
See note 131.
Gen 30:132b Asher Gen. 49:20
Meaning happy, or blessed.
Gen 30:14a mandrakes S.S. 7:13
Gen 30:181a Issachar Gen. 49:14-15
Meaning hire.
Gen 30:201 dwell
Or, honor me.
Gen 30:202a Zebulun Gen. 49:13
Meaning honoring, exaltation, or exalted dwelling.
Gen 30:22a remembered cf. 1 Sam. 1:19
Gen 30:22b opened cf. Gen. 29:31; Psa. 127:3
Gen 30:23a reproach Luke 1:25; cf. Isa. 4:1
Gen 30:241a Joseph Gen. 37:2; 49:22-26
Meaning adding.
Gen 30:24b another Gen. 35:17
Gen 30:26a served Gen. 29:20, 30
Gen 30:291 Jacob
Lit., he.
Gen 30:351 Laban
Lit., he.
Gen 30:43a flocks cf. Gen. 24:35; 26:13-14
Gen 31:11 Jacob
Lit., he.
Gen 31:12 wealth
Or, glory.
Gen 31:3a Return Gen. 31:13; 32:9
Gen 31:3b with Gen. 28:15
Gen 31:6a served Gen. 30:29; cf. Gen. 31:38-41
Gen 31:7a ten Gen. 31:41; cf. Num. 14:22; Neh. 4:12; Job 19:3; Rev. 2:10
Gen 31:8a wages Gen. 30:32
Gen 31:91a taken Gen. 31:1
Lit., rescued, or, salvaged. So also in v. 16.
Gen 31:111a Angel Gen. 22:15; 48:16
See note 71 in ch. 16.
Gen 31:121 I
Jehovah’s word to Jacob here indicates that he became wealthy not through his own cleverness but through God’s sovereign hand (v. 16).
Gen 31:12a seen cf. Exo. 3:7
Gen 31:131 God
Heb. El-Bethel.
Gen 31:13a Bethel Gen. 28:19; 35:7
Gen 31:13b anointed Gen. 28:18
Gen 31:13c return Gen. 31:3; 32:9
Gen 31:191a teraphim Gen. 31:30, 34; cf. Judg. 17:5; 1 Sam. 19:13; Ezek. 21:21; Hosea 3:4
These were idols worshipped in Laban’s home. So also in vv. 34, 35.
Gen 31:211 River
I.e., the Euphrates.
Gen 31:241 God
The crucial person in this chapter is neither Jacob nor Laban, but the invisible, transforming God, who was sovereignly preparing the environment for Jacob’s transformation (cf. Rom. 8:28-29). Jacob was under the secret care of Christ as the Angel of God (v. 11) because Christ would eventually be born of Jacob’s descendant Mary (Matt. 1:2, 16).
Gen 31:24a dream Gen. 20:3
Gen 31:25a pitched Heb. 11:9
Gen 31:26a deceiving Gen. 31:20
Gen 31:29a God cf. Gen. 28:13; 31:42, 53
Gen 31:311 thought
Lit., said.
Gen 31:32a one cf. Gen. 44:9
Gen 31:39a bore cf. Exo. 22:12
Gen 31:41a served Gen. 29:27
Gen 31:41b ten Gen. 31:7
Gen 31:42a God Gen. 31:53
Gen 31:44a make Gen. 26:28
Gen 31:45a stone cf. Gen. 28:18
Gen 31:47a Laban Gen. 28:5; 31:20
Gen 31:471 Jegar-sahadutha
In Aramaic, meaning the heap of witness.
Gen 31:472 Galeed
In Hebrew, meaning the heap of witness.
Gen 31:48a witness Gen. 31:44-45; Josh. 24:27
Gen 31:491 Mizpah
Meaning watchpost.
Gen 31:50a witness Judg. 11:10; 1 Sam. 12:5; Jer. 42:5; cf. Job 16:19; Micah 1:2
Gen 31:51a heap Gen. 31:45-46
Gen 31:521 witness
The pillar set up here by Jacob was a witness, a testimony. The thought of a pillar as a testimony is seen also in the two pillars (two is the number for a witness, a testimony—Matt. 18:16; Luke 10:1) set up by Solomon in front of the temple (1 Kings 7:21), and in the church, the house of God, as the pillar that upholds the truth by testifying, manifesting, the truth (1 Tim. 3:15-16). The three pillars set up by Jacob in chs. 31 and 35 were three landmarks of Jacob’s life. (The pillar set up in 28:18 was in response to a dream and was not part of Jacob’s spiritual experience; hence, it is not considered a landmark in his life. See note 141 in ch. 35.) The first pillar, set up at Galeed (vv. 45, 47), was a testimony of God’s sovereign care for him in the first stage of his experience. The second pillar, set up at Bethel (35:14), was a testimony of God’s building, God’s house, in the second stage. The third pillar, set up on Rachel’s grave on the way to Bethlehem (35:20), was a testimony of the death of Jacob’s natural choice for the bringing forth of Christ, typified by Benjamin, in the third stage of his experience (see notes 181 and 183 in ch. 35).
Gen 31:53a God Gen. 31:42
Gen 32:2a camp cf. Josh. 5:14; Luke 2:13
Gen 32:21b Mahanaim Josh. 21:38; 2 Sam. 2:8; 17:24, 27; 1 Kings 2:8; S.S. 6:13
Meaning two camps. See note 132 in S.S. 6.
Gen 32:3a Seir Gen. 36:8-9; Deut. 2:5; Josh. 24:4
Gen 32:9a God Gen. 28:13; 31:42, 53
Gen 32:9b Return Gen. 31:3, 13
Gen 32:10a two Gen. 32:7
Gen 32:12a sand Gen. 22:17; 28:14; Heb. 11:12
Gen 32:131a present Gen. 43:11; cf. Prov. 18:16; 19:6; 21:14
Although Jacob had prayed in vv. 9-12, he did not trust in his prayer but continued to exercise his human wisdom by sending gifts to Esau to appease him.
Gen 32:241 man
According to Hosea 12:4, this man was the Angel of Jehovah, Christ (see note 21 in Exo. 3). The Lord as a man wrestled with Jacob so that He might touch Jacob’s natural strength, signified by the socket of Jacob’s hip at the thigh muscle (vv. 25, 32). The Lord’s wrestling with Jacob lasted a considerable time, fully exposing how natural Jacob was.
Gen 32:24a wrestled Hosea 12:3-4
Gen 32:251 the
Lit., He.
Gen 32:252 touched
The touching of the socket of Jacob’s hip at the thigh muscle (v. 32), the strongest muscle in the body, signifies the touching of Jacob’s natural life, his natural strength. This was the beginning of Jacob’s transformation. As ch. 33 shows (see notes 41 and 171 there), after this experience Jacob was still natural. Nevertheless, although there was no change in Jacob’s outward living, his natural life, his inward natural strength, had been dealt with by the Lord. This is signified by the fact that Jacob walked with a limp (v. 31). The way of religion is to change man’s outward behavior; the way of God in His economy is to touch man’s inward life in order to change his inward being.
Gen 32:261 man
Lit., He.
Gen 32:262 Jacob
Lit., he.
Gen 32:26a not cf. Luke 18:1
Gen 32:271 What
Here the Lord asked Jacob his name to cause Jacob to realize who he was—Jacob, the supplanter (see note 262 in ch. 25).
Gen 32:281a Israel Gen. 35:10; 2 Kings 17:34
Meaning one who struggles with God. The changing of Jacob’s name to Israel indicates that God would eventually transform Jacob. See note 52 in ch. 17.
Gen 32:28b struggled Hosea 12:3-4
Gen 32:29a tell Judg. 13:18
Gen 32:291
It does not say that the man came to Jacob before wrestling with him (v. 24), nor does it say that the man left Jacob after wrestling with him. This means that the Lord who wrestled with Jacob was with him all the time and never left him. Cf. John 20:26 and note 3.
Gen 32:301 Peniel
Meaning the face of God.
Gen 32:30a seen Deut. 5:24; Judg. 6:22; 13:22; cf. Exo. 33:20; Isa. 6:5
Gen 32:311 sun
In the dark night Jacob was strong, and every part of him was whole. After being touched by the Lord, Jacob was lame, but he was in the shining of the heavenly light.
Gen 33:41 kissed
All Jacob’s fears were products of his own worrying, and all he had done in exercising his natural skill and ability to save himself was in vain. God had protected Jacob from Laban by appearing to Laban in a dream (31:24), and He had aroused Esau’s brotherly love toward Jacob. These were God’s marvelous acts to care for His chosen one. Thus, Jacob, who had God’s promises and was on the way to reach God’s goal, did not need to fear what was behind him or what was ahead of him. Instead of trusting in his own striving, he should have rested in God and in His all-sufficient care (cf. Phil. 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 5:7).
Gen 33:5a graciously Gen. 48:9; Psa. 127:3; Isa. 8:18
Gen 33:81 Esau
Lit., he.
Gen 33:8a camp Gen. 32:16
Gen 33:8b favor Gen. 32:5; 33:15
Gen 33:11a blessing 1 Sam. 25:27; 2 Kings 5:15
Gen 33:121 Esau
Lit., he.
Gen 33:15a find Gen. 33:8; 34:11; 47:25
Gen 33:171 built
Jacob’s building a house for himself and booths for his cattle indicate that he was still natural and for himself. He neglected the dream that he had had at Bethel and the vow that he had made to God, promising that he would build a house for Him (28:20-22).
Gen 33:172 Succoth
Meaning booths.
Gen 33:181 safely
Or, in peace.
Gen 33:182 Shechem
See note 11, par. 1, in ch. 35.
Gen 33:19a bought Josh. 24:32; Acts 7:16; John 4:5
Gen 33:19b tent Heb. 11:9
Gen 33:201a altar Gen. 12:7
In Shechem in the land of Canaan, Jacob pitched his tent (v. 19) and erected an altar, as his grandfather Abraham had done (12:6-7). Here Jacob began to live a life as God’s called one for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
Gen 33:202 El-Elohe-Israel
Meaning El, the God of Israel.
Gen 34:1a Dinah Gen. 30:21
Gen 34:31 affectionately
Lit., to the heart of.
Gen 34:4a wife Judg. 14:2
Gen 34:101 trade
Or, move about. So also in v. 21.
Gen 34:25a Simeon Gen. 29:33, 34; 49:5-7
Gen 34:251 unawares
Lit., secure.
Gen 34:301 brought
See note 11, par. 1, in ch. 35.
Gen 34:30a few 1 Chron. 16:19; Psa. 105:12
Gen 35:11a Bethel Gen. 28:19; 35:6, 15
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 35:11 [1] At Bethel Jacob had made a vow to God, promising that if God would preserve him and care for him, the stone which he set up for a pillar would be the house of God (28:20-22). Here, God reminded Jacob to fulfill his part of that vow (cf. 31:13). On his return from Paddan-aram, Jacob came to Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he settled there (33:18-20). However, this was short of God’s goal. God’s purpose according to His heart’s desire is to have Bethel, His house on earth. Thus, it was necessary for Jacob to go on from Shechem to Bethel. All the unfortunate events in ch. 34 were sovereignly used by God to make it impossible for Jacob to remain in Shechem and to prepare Jacob to receive God’s charge to go up to Bethel. Jacob’s passing through Shechem and going up to Bethel signifies our passing through the individual Christian life and going up to the corporate church life for the building up of God’s eternal dwelling place, which is the church today and the New Jerusalem in eternity.
Gen 35:11 [2] Bethel is a great seed in the Bible, a seed of the house of God. When Israel, the transformed Jacob, was multiplied into the house of Israel, in God’s eyes the house of Israel was the house of God (see note 61 in Heb. 3). Eventually, the tabernacle and later the temple were built as symbols of the house of Israel as God’s dwelling place on the earth in the Old Testament time. In the beginning of the New Testament the Lord Jesus came through incarnation to be the reality of the tabernacle and the temple (John 1:14; 2:18-21). Then, in Matt. 16:18 the Lord prophesied that He would build the church as the habitation, the temple, of God (Eph. 2:22; 1 Cor. 3:16-17) on Himself as the rock and with His believers as stones (1 Cor. 3:11; 1 Pet. 2:5). This is Bethel, the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15). Ultimately, this Bethel will be enlarged to consummate in the New Jerusalem, the eternal tabernacle of God, in which God Himself and the Lamb will be the temple (Rev. 21:3, 22). See note 121 in ch. 28.
Gen 35:1c fled Gen. 27:43
Gen 35:21 Put
An idol is anything that replaces the genuine and true God (cf. 1 John 5:20-21). For Bethel, God’s house, the idols must be removed (2 Cor. 6:16). Furthermore, everything impure, filthy, or defiled must be cleansed away (2 Cor. 7:1). For the realizing of Bethel, the old man with his old manner of life, signified by the old garments (Isa. 64:6), must also be put off, and the new man with his new manner of life, the church life, must be put on (Eph. 4:22-24).
Gen 35:3a answered cf. Gen. 32:11; Psa. 107:6
Gen 35:3b with Gen. 28:20
Gen 35:41 rings
Earrings are for self-beautification. Jacob buried these with the foreign gods, the idols, indicating that in the consciousness of Jacob and his household, the earrings were as abominable as the idols (cf. Exo. 32:2-4 and note 21).
Gen 35:5a terror cf. Exo. 15:16; Deut. 11:25; Josh. 2:9; 2 Chron. 14:14
Gen 35:6a Bethel Gen. 28:19
Gen 35:71a altar Gen. 12:7
An altar is for consecration. Jacob’s consecration in erecting an altar at Shechem (33:20) was for himself as an individual; his consecration in building an altar at Bethel was for the house of God, to fulfill God’s eternal purpose and satisfy His heart’s desire.
Gen 35:72 El-bethel
Meaning God of Bethel. At Bethel God is no longer merely the God of individuals but the God of a corporate body, the house of God.
Gen 35:8a Deborah Gen. 24:59
Gen 35:81 Allon-bacuth
Meaning oak of weeping.
Gen 35:10a no cf. Gen. 17:5, 15
Gen 35:101b Israel Gen. 32:28
At Peniel God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (32:28), but there Jacob did not have much experience of this new name. It was at Bethel that Jacob was actually renewed and became a new person, a transformed person (cf. Rom. 12:2). This kind of change can be experienced only at Bethel, i.e., in the proper church life. The church is altogether a new man (Eph. 2:15), and the church life is the new life of the transformed Israel (Gal. 6:16), which life is God in Christ.
Gen 35:111a All-sufficient Gen. 17:1
Heb. El Shaddai. This chapter and ch. 17 correspond to each other in the revelation of the divine title the All-sufficient God (v. 11; 17:1), in the changing of human names, signifying the transforming of human beings (v. 10; 17:5), and in the promise of multiplication for the bringing forth of nations and kings (v. 11; 17:4, 6). These three matters indicate that God’s all-sufficiency and His transforming of His people are for them to be fruitful and multiply to produce transformed persons as materials for the building of God’s house, Bethel. See notes 52 and 152 in ch. 17.
Gen 35:11b fruitful Gen. 1:22
Gen 35:112c nation Gen. 17:5-6, 16
See note 41 in ch. 17.
Gen 35:12a seed Gen. 12:7
Gen 35:141 pillar
This was a repetition of what Jacob had done in 28:18. There Bethel, the house of God, was only a dream; it was not yet Jacob’s experience. Here Jacob set up a second pillar at Bethel to consecrate himself to God for the fulfillment of the dream and of his vow to God in 28:10-22. This pillar was the second landmark in Jacob’s experience (see note 521 in ch. 31).
Gen 35:14a pillar Gen. 28:18; 31:45
Gen 35:142 drink
See note 171 in Phil. 2. This is the first mentioning of the drink offering in the Bible (Num. 15:1-5; 28:7-10; Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6). Its being mentioned here in connection with the pillar at Bethel indicates that the drink offering is for God’s building. The fact that Jacob poured a drink offering upon the pillar before pouring oil upon it signifies that the pouring out of the drink offering brings in the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2:33) for the sanctifying of God’s house (Exo. 40:9).
Gen 35:15a Bethel Gen. 28:19; 35:1, 6
Gen 35:17a son Gen. 30:24
Gen 35:181 died
Rachel was Jacob’s natural choice according to his heart’s desire (29:18-20). The death of Rachel was the loss of Jacob’s natural choice. This was a deep and personal dealing for Jacob. Jacob lost Rachel, but in the process he gained Benjamin, who was a type of Christ. “Rachel” had to die so that “Benjamin” could be born. In the same manner, God will eventually take away our natural choice so that we may bring forth Christ for His expression. God’s goal is not to make His chosen ones suffer loss; it is to bring forth Christ through them.
Gen 35:182 Ben-oni
Meaning son of my affliction.
Gen 35:183a Benjamin Gen. 49:27
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 35:183 [1] Meaning son of the right hand. Benjamin is a type of Christ, who was first Ben-oni, the Son of affliction, from His birth through His human life on earth (Isa. 53:3), but eventually became Benjamin, the Son at the right hand of God, from His resurrection and in His ascension (Matt. 26:64). See note 271 in Psa. 68.
Gen 35:183 [2] Benjamin and Joseph, the two sons born to Jacob by Rachel, are both types of Christ. Although Joseph was born first, in typology he is the continuation of Benjamin, for the record of Joseph’s life (chs. 37—50) follows the record of Benjamin’s birth. Joseph, like Benjamin, typifies the suffering and exalted Christ. During the first part of his life Joseph suffered as the son of affliction, and during the second part he was exalted to the throne at the right hand of Pharaoh (41:40-44).
Gen 35:19a died Gen. 48:7
Gen 35:19b Bethlehem Ruth 1:2; 4:11; Micah 5:2; Matt. 2:6, 16-18
Gen 35:201 pillar
See note 521 in ch. 31.
Gen 35:20a pillar 1 Sam. 10:2
Gen 35:211 Israel
Prior to this time Jacob’s name had been changed to Israel (32:27-28; 35:10), but this is the first time he is actually referred to as Israel. This indicates that after his experience at Bethel and the death of Rachel, Jacob had become a transformed person.
Gen 35:21a tent Heb. 11:9
Gen 35:221a lay Gen. 49:4; 1 Chron. 5:1; cf. 2 Sam. 16:22; 1 Cor. 5:1
Reuben, born of Leah, was the firstborn and should have inherited the birthright. However, because of his defilement in his lust, he lost the birthright, and it was given to Joseph, Rachel’s son (1 Chron. 5:1; Gen. 49:3-4; 48:22). Joseph gained the birthright because of his purity (39:7-12). Cf. Heb. 12:16 and note.
Gen 35:22b twelve vv. 22-26: cf. Gen. 46:8-27; Exo. 1:1-4; Acts 7:8; Matt. 1:2
Gen 35:271a Hebron Gen. 13:18
After experiencing the deeper and more personal dealings, Jacob entered into full fellowship with God at Hebron (Hebron means fellowship, communion). Abraham had come to Shechem (12:6), had passed through Bethel (12:8), and had dwelt in Hebron (13:18; 18:1), and Isaac spent nearly his whole life in Hebron. Jacob followed Abraham’s footsteps to come to Shechem (33:18), to pass through Bethel (35:6), and to dwell in Hebron. In Hebron Jacob enjoyed full rest, joy, satisfaction, intimacy, and fellowship with the Lord. It was in Hebron that he began to mature in life.
Gen 35:27b sojourned Gen. 17:8
Gen 35:291a buried Gen. 49:31
Isaac died in faith, as indicated by the fact that he was buried in the cave of Machpelah (49:30-32; cf. 23:9 and notes).
Gen 36:1a Edom Gen. 25:30; 36:8, 19, 43
Gen 36:2a daughters Gen. 26:34
Gen 36:7a property cf. Gen. 13:6
Gen 36:12a Amalek Exo. 17:8-16; Num. 24:20; Deut. 25:17-19; 1 Sam. 15:2-3, 32-33
Gen 36:151 clans
Or, chiefs. So also throughout this chapter.
Gen 36:241 hot
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Gen 36:31a reigned vv. 31-43: 1 Chron. 1:43-54
Gen 36:371 River
I.e., the Euphrates.
Gen 36:43a Edomites Gen. 36:9
Gen 37:11 Jacob
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 37:11 [1] At this point Jacob was a transformed person, but he was not yet mature. To be transformed is to be metabolically changed in our natural life (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18); to be mature is to be filled with the divine life that changes us. We may be changed in our natural life (transformed) yet not be filled with the divine life (mature). The last stage of transformation is maturity. Jacob’s transformation began at the time God touched him (32:25), and it continued until the end of ch. 36, when the process of transformation was relatively complete (see note 31 in ch. 37). Genesis 37:1—43:14 is a record of the process of Jacob’s maturity.
Gen 37:11 [2] Genesis shows a complete picture of how human beings can be remade and transformed to express God in His image and represent God with His dominion. This book ends as it begins—with God’s image and dominion. The last fourteen chapters indicate that after Jacob had become Israel, he bore the image of God and, through Joseph, exercised the dominion of God. For God’s expression and dominion there is the need of maturity. Only a mature life can bear God’s image and exercise His dominion.
Gen 37:21 Joseph
In the last fourteen chapters of Genesis the biographies of Jacob and Joseph are blended, indicating that according to spiritual experience, Jacob and Joseph are one person (cf. note 11, par. 2, in ch. 12 and note 11, par. 2, in ch. 25). Joseph is a type of Christ as the One who is altogether perfect, having no defects (Luke 23:4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22). As such, Joseph represents the reigning aspect of the mature Israel, the constitution of Christ in Jacob’s mature nature. As a mature saint constituted of Christ, the perfect One, Jacob reigned through Joseph (41:39-44).
Gen 37:22 shepherding
Joseph, like Abel, was a shepherd. This signifies the aspect of the constitution of Christ in the mature life that is the shepherding life to care for others (John 10:11; 21:15-17).
Gen 37:31 more
Jacob’s preferential love for Joseph indicates that he was not fully transformed but was still living somewhat in the natural life. Jacob’s partiality toward Joseph caused him further sufferings, which deeply touched his personal feelings. These final dealings brought him to full maturity for the expression and dominion of God.
Gen 37:3a old Gen. 44:20
Gen 37:3b coat Gen. 37:23, 31
Gen 37:51a dream Gen. 42:9
Joseph’s two dreams (vv. 7-9), both from God, unveiled to him God’s divine view concerning the nature, position, function, and goal of God’s people on earth. According to their fallen nature, God’s people are evil and unclean, but in God’s eternal view, His people are sheaves of wheat full of life and heavenly bodies full of light (cf. Num. 23:21; 1 Kings 19:18; Rev. 12:1 and note). The reigning aspect of the mature life never condemns God’s people (cf. v. 2c). Rather, it shepherds and appreciates them. Joseph’s dreams controlled and directed his behavior (cf. Acts 26:19). See notes 121 in ch. 39 and 91 in ch. 42.
Gen 37:7a bowed Gen. 42:6; 43:26
Gen 37:11a jealous Acts 7:9
Gen 37:11b kept cf. Luke 2:19, 51
Gen 37:131 send
Joseph’s life was a copy of the life of Christ: in his being a shepherd (v. 2; John 10:11-16); in his being his father’s beloved (vv. 3-4; Matt. 3:17; 17:5); in his being sent by his father to minister to his brothers according to his father’s will (vv. 12-17; John 6:38); in his being hated, persecuted, and betrayed (sold) by his brothers (vv. 5, 18-36; John 15:25; Matt. 26:4, 14-16); in his being cast into the prison of death with two criminals, one of whom was restored and the other executed (39:20; 40:1-23; Acts 2:23; Luke 23:32, 39-43); in his being released (resurrected) from the prison of death (41:14; Acts 2:24); in his being enthroned with authority (41:40-44; Matt. 28:18; Acts 2:36; Rev. 3:21); in his receiving glory and gifts (41:42; Heb. 2:9; Psa. 68:18; Acts 2:33); in his becoming the savior of the world, the sustainer of life (the revealer of secrets) (41:45 and note 1; Acts 5:31; John 6:50-51); in his taking a wife from the Gentiles (41:45; John 3:29; Eph. 5:23-27; Rev. 19:7; cf. note 14 in Matt. 1); in his supplying people with food (41:56-57; John 6:35); in his acknowledging his ignorant brothers and being recognized by them (45:1-4, 14-15; Rom. 11:26; Zech. 12:10; Rev. 1:7); and in his reigning in the kingdom over the whole earth (41:40—50:26; Rev. 11:15; Dan. 7:13-14).
Gen 37:181 conspired
While Joseph’s brothers were drowning in the water of human anger, Joseph, representing the reigning aspect of a mature life, lived as a sheaf of life (see note 51) and emerged from the death water of human anger.
Gen 37:20a slay Gen. 37:26
Gen 37:21a Let Gen. 42:22
Gen 37:22a pit Gen. 37:29-30
Gen 37:23a coat Gen. 37:3, 31
Gen 37:25a caravan Gen. 39:1
Gen 37:26a slay Gen. 37:20
Gen 37:281 Midianite
Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar (16:15), and Midian was the son of Abraham by his last wife, Keturah (25:1-2). Both the Ishmaelites and the Midianites represent the flesh, the natural strength. In addition, hatred (v. 8) is related to the flesh, and the flesh is connected to the world, represented by Egypt (Heb. 11:25-26). In His sovereignty God used everything, including the flesh, the hatred of Joseph’s brothers, and Egypt, to fulfill His purpose concerning Joseph (45:5-8a; 50:20).
Gen 37:28a sold Gen. 45:4; Psa. 105:17; Acts 7:9
Gen 37:31a coat Gen. 37:3, 23
Gen 37:33a wild Gen. 37:20
Gen 37:33b torn Gen. 44:28
Gen 37:351a Sheol Gen. 42:38; 44:29, 31
See note 231 in Matt. 11.
Gen 37:361 sold
The time from the selling of Joseph to the sending of Jacob’s sons to Egypt (42:1-5) was at least twenty years. In the record of Jacob those twenty years were a time of silence. Through the loss of Joseph, Jacob became a person who was absolutely open to God. It must have been that during those years God dispensed Himself into Jacob more and more, until Jacob was filled with the divine life unto maturity. See note 21 in ch. 42.
Gen 37:36a captain Gen. 40:3-4; 41:10, 12
Gen 38:2a Shua 1 Chron. 2:3
Gen 38:3a Er Gen. 46:12; Num. 26:19
Gen 38:51 she
Following the Septuagint; the Hebrew text reads, he was.
Gen 38:61 Tamar
For vv. 6-30, see Matt. 1:3a and notes.
Gen 38:7a wicked 1 Chron. 2:3
Gen 38:8a wife Deut. 25:5-6; Matt. 22:24; Mark 12:19; Luke 20:28
Gen 38:111 thought
Lit., said.
Gen 38:14a Shelah Gen. 38:26
Gen 38:151 Judah
Judah behaved in a blind way, indulging in his lust in darkness. In contrast, Joseph, living as a star of light (see note 51 in ch. 37), overcame his lust (39:7-12).
Gen 38:18a seal Gen. 38:25
Gen 38:25a seal Gen. 38:18
Gen 38:26a Shelah Gen. 38:14
Gen 38:291a Perez Gen. 46:12; Num. 26:20; 1 Chron. 2:4; Matt. 1:3
Meaning a breach.
Gen 38:301 Zerah
Meaning a dawning, or a shining.
Gen 39:1a captain Gen. 37:36
Gen 39:1b Ishmaelites Gen. 37:25, 28
Gen 39:21a with Gen. 39:21; Acts 7:9; cf. Gen. 26:24, 28; 28:15; 1 Sam. 16:18; 18:14, 28; Luke 1:66
As a representative of the reigning aspect of a mature life, Joseph enjoyed the presence of the Lord, and with it the Lord’s authority, prosperity, and blessing (vv. 2-5).
Gen 39:3a prosper Gen. 39:23
Gen 39:4a found Gen. 39:21
Gen 39:41b charge Gen. 39:8
Lit., hand. So also throughout the chapter.
Gen 39:5a blessing cf. Gen. 30:27
Gen 39:9a sin 2 Sam. 12:13; Psa. 51:4
Gen 39:121a fled 1 Cor. 6:18; 2 Tim. 2:22
Joseph lived a life that corresponded to the vision he saw in his two dreams (see note 51 in ch. 37; cf. Acts 26:19). Joseph’s brothers vented their anger (37:18-31) and indulged in their lust (38:15-18), but Joseph subdued his anger and conquered his lust, behaving as a sheaf full of life and conducting himself like a heavenly star shining in the darkness (see notes 181 in ch. 37 and 151 in ch. 38). Joseph’s life under the heavenly vision was the life of the kingdom of the heavens described in Matt. 5—7. By living such a life, he was fully prepared to reign as a king.
Gen 39:201a prison Gen. 40:3, 5, 15; 41:14; cf. Psa. 105:18; Heb. 11:36
Joseph was rejected by his brothers, sold by them, and cast into prison. Likewise, Christ was first rejected by His brothers, then sold by one of His people, and eventually cast into the prison of death.
Gen 39:21a with Gen. 39:2
Gen 39:22a charge Gen. 40:4
Gen 39:23a with Gen. 39:2
Gen 39:23b prosper Gen. 39:2-3
Gen 40:3a captain Gen. 37:36
Gen 40:3b confined Gen. 39:20
Gen 40:8a dream Gen. 41:15
Gen 40:81 Do
Although his own dreams (37:5-11) were not yet fulfilled, Joseph had the faith and the boldness to interpret the dreams of his two companions. The fact that he acknowledged God as the source of interpretations indicates that he still believed in the interpretation God had given him of his own dreams. Eventually, Joseph was released from prison indirectly through his speaking by faith in interpreting the cupbearer’s dream (41:9-13), and he was ushered to the throne directly through his speaking boldly in interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams (41:14-46). Both release and authority came to him through his speaking.
Gen 40:8b God Gen. 41:16; Dan. 2:28
Gen 40:12a interpretation Gen. 40:18; 41:12; Dan. 2:36
Gen 40:13a lift Gen. 40:20
Gen 40:15a kidnapped cf. Gen. 37:28
Gen 40:15b dungeon Gen. 39:20
Gen 40:18a interpretation Gen. 40:12
Gen 40:18b three Gen. 40:13
Gen 40:19a hang Gen. 40:22
Gen 40:20a lifted Gen. 40:13
Gen 40:21a restored Gen. 40:13
Gen 40:22a hanged Gen. 40:19
Gen 40:23a remember cf. Gen. 40:14
Gen 41:11 two
Like the Old Testament priests and the Lord Jesus, Joseph had to wait until he was thirty years old before he was fully put into his ministry (v. 46; Num. 4:3; Luke 3:23). While Joseph was in confinement, he was being tried, tested, and trained for his enthronement.
Gen 41:1a there vv. 1-7: Gen. 41:17-24
Gen 41:12 River
I.e., the Nile. So throughout the chapter.
Gen 41:8b magicians Gen. 41:24; Exo. 7:11, 22; cf. Dan. 1:20; 2:2; 4:7
Gen 41:10a angry Gen. 40:2-3
Gen 41:10b captain Gen. 37:36
Gen 41:11a dream Gen. 40:5
Gen 41:12a interpreted Gen. 40:12-19
Gen 41:131 Pharaoh
Lit., he.
Gen 41:13a restored Gen. 40:21-22
Gen 41:132 baker
Lit., him.
Gen 41:14a out cf. Psa. 105:20
Gen 41:141 dungeon
Or, pit. In his being released from the dungeon, Joseph typifies Christ as the One resurrected from the prison of death (Acts 2:24).
Gen 41:15a interpret Gen. 41:12; cf. Dan. 5:16
Gen 41:16b God Gen. 40:8; Dan. 2:28
Gen 41:161 will
Lit., will answer Pharaoh with peace.
Gen 41:17a there vv. 17-24: Gen. 41:1-7
Gen 41:24a magicians Gen. 41:8; Dan. 4:7
Gen 41:25a what Gen. 41:28; cf. Dan. 2:28-29, 45; Rev. 4:1
Gen 41:28a what Gen. 41:25
Gen 41:29a abundance Gen. 41:47
Gen 41:30a famine Gen. 47:13
Gen 41:35a gather Gen. 41:48
Gen 41:38a Spirit Num. 27:18; Dan. 4:8, 18; 5:11, 14
Gen 41:401a over Psa. 105:21; Acts 7:10
On the day Joseph was released from the dungeon, he was enthroned to be the actual ruler over the whole land of Egypt. In like manner, after Christ was resurrected from death, He was enthroned with all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18; Acts 2:36).
Gen 41:41a over Gen. 42:6; 45:8-9, 26; Psa. 105:21; Acts 7:10
Gen 41:421 signet
In his receiving glory and gifts in his enthronement, Joseph typifies Christ, who received glory (Heb. 2:9) and gifts (Psa. 68:18; Acts 2:33) in His ascension. The ring, the garments, and the gold chain portray the gifts that Christ received in His ascension to the heavens, which gifts He has passed on to the church. The signet ring signifies the Holy Spirit as a seal within and upon Christ’s believers (Acts 2:33; Eph. 1:13; 4:30; cf. Luke 15:22). The garments signify Christ as our objective righteousness for our justification before God (1 Cor. 1:30; cf. Psa. 45:9, 13; Luke 15:22) and as our subjective righteousness lived out of us that we may be qualified to participate in the marriage of the Lamb (Psa. 45:14 and note 1; Rev. 19:7-9 and note 82). The golden chain signifies the beauty of the Holy Spirit given for obedience expressed in submission (cf. Acts 5:32). A chained neck signifies a will that has been conquered and subdued to obey God’s commandment (cf. S.S. 1:10; Prov. 1:8-9). According to the sequence of spiritual experience, we first receive the sealing Spirit for salvation; then we receive the garment of righteousness and begin to live Christ (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:20-21a). In order for us to live Christ, our neck must be chained, our will must be subdued, by the Holy Spirit.
Gen 41:451 Zaphenath-paneah
Meaning savior of the world, sustainer of life, or revealer of secrets. First, Joseph was the revealer of secrets (40:9-19; 41:17-32); then, because he sustained the life of the people (vv. 47-57; 47:12-24), he became the savior of the world (47:25). In this also he typifies Christ (Matt. 13:1-52; John 6:50-51; Acts 5:31).
Gen 41:452 Asenath
In taking an Egyptian, a Gentile, as his wife, Joseph typifies Christ, who is taking the church from among the Gentiles as His wife during the time that He is being rejected by Israel (cf. note 14 in Matt. 1).
Gen 41:511a Manasseh vv. 51-52: Gen. 46:20; 48:5
Meaning making to forget.
Gen 41:521 Ephraim
Meaning fruitful, or twice fruitful.
Gen 41:52a fruitful cf. Gen. 49:22; Hosea 13:15
Gen 41:54a famine Psa. 105:16; Acts 7:11
Gen 41:55a all Gen. 41:30
Gen 41:561 all
Food maintains man’s existence and also brings man satisfaction. The whole earth being under famine signifies that all the nations are struggling to maintain their existence and are dissatisfied. Food could be found only where Joseph was (42:5-6), indicating in type that the real life supply and satisfaction can be found only in the church, where Christ is.
Gen 41:562 all
Following some ancient versions; the Hebrew text reads, all which was in them.
Gen 41:56a sold Gen. 42:6
Gen 41:57a buy Gen. 42:2, 5; 47:14
Gen 41:57b famine Gen. 41:31, 56
Gen 42:21a go Acts 7:12
God used the famine and Jacob’s sending of his sons to Egypt to deal with Jacob for his maturity in life. During his long wait for the return of his sons, Jacob was emptied of all his preoccupations (v. 36; 43:13-14) that God might fill Jacob with the element of the divine life. See note 261 in ch. 45.
Gen 42:31 brothers
The account of the relationship between Joseph and his brothers in chs. 42—45 is a detailed portrait of the relationship between Christ and the nation of Israel: (1) Just as Joseph’s brothers were forced to turn to him for food (vv. 1-5; 43:1-15), the children of Israel will be forced to turn to Christ to preserve their existence (Zech. 12:10; Rom. 11:26). (2) Just as Joseph’s brothers were ignorant of him (vv. 8, 28; 43:32-34; 44:14-34), so the people of Israel are ignorant of who Christ is today. (3) Just as Joseph tested and disciplined his brothers after they were forced to turn to him (vv. 15-24; 44:1-13), so Christ will test and discipline Israel when they are in the process of turning to Him (Zech. 13:8-9). (4) While Joseph was disciplining his brothers, he loved them and cared for them in a secret way (v. 25; 43:16, 25-34); similarly, at the end time Christ will secretly show His love toward Israel and provide for their needs (cf. Rev. 7:2-8). (5) Just as Joseph eventually acknowledged his ignorant brothers (45:1-4, 14-16), Christ will acknowledge the ignorant nation of Israel (Rom. 11:26). (6) Just as Joseph’s brothers eventually recognized him (45:15), the Israelites will eventually recognize Christ (Zech. 12:10). (7) Just as Joseph revealed himself in his exaltation and glory to his brothers (45:1, 8, 13), Christ will reveal Himself in His exaltation and glory to the remnant of Israel (Micah 5:3-4; Matt. 24:30). (8) Joseph’s brothers participated in the enjoyment of his reign, and Joseph took special care of them as God’s testimony on earth (45:16-24; 47:11-12; 50:21); likewise, in the millennium Israel will participate in the enjoyment of Christ’s reign, and Christ will care in a special way for Israel as God’s testimony among the nations (Isa. 2:2-3; 61:6; Zech. 8:23; 14:16-19).
Gen 42:4a Benjamin Gen. 35:18
Gen 42:4b harm Gen. 42:38
Gen 42:6a over Gen. 41:41
Gen 42:6b bowed Gen. 37:7, 9-10
Gen 42:7a harshly Gen. 42:30
Gen 42:91 said
The record of Joseph’s life is a revelation of the rulership of the Spirit, for the rulership of the Spirit is the reigning aspect of a mature saint. Although he was full of human feelings and sentiments toward his brothers (v. 24; 43:30-31; 45:1-2), he kept himself with all his feelings under the rulership of the Spirit. He dealt with his brothers soberly, wisely, and with discernment, disciplining them according to their need in order to perfect them and build them up that they might be a collective people living together as God’s testimony on earth (cf. 45:24). Joseph denied himself and placed himself absolutely under God’s sovereign leading, conducting himself wholly for the interest of God and His people. Joseph’s living under God’s restriction, a portrait of the human living of Christ (John 5:19, 30b; 7:16, 18; 14:10), manifested the maturity and perfection of the divine life and brought in God’s kingdom.
Gen 42:9b spies Gen. 42:30
Gen 42:13a no Gen. 37:30; 42:32
Gen 42:15a youngest Gen. 42:34; 43:3; 44:23
Gen 42:171 custody
This was done to touch their conscience and cause them to realize their guilt in hating Joseph and selling him (vv. 21-22).
Gen 42:19a honest Gen. 42:33-34
Gen 42:21a guilty cf. Gen. 37:23-28
Gen 42:22a sin Gen. 37:21
Gen 42:22b blood cf. Gen. 9:5-6; Luke 11:50-51
Gen 42:24a wept Gen. 43:30
Gen 42:241 Simeon
It might have been Simeon who took the lead in plotting to murder Joseph (cf. 49:5-7).
Gen 42:25a fill Gen. 44:1
Gen 42:27a sack Gen. 42:35; 43:21
Gen 42:30a harshly Gen. 42:7
Gen 42:31a spies Gen. 42:9
Gen 42:33a honest Gen. 42:19
Gen 42:34a youngest Gen. 42:15, 20
Gen 42:34b trade Gen. 34:10, 21
Gen 42:35a sack Gen. 42:27; 43:21
Gen 42:36a bereaved Gen. 43:14
Gen 42:38a harm Gen. 42:4; 44:29
Gen 42:38b sorrow Gen. 37:35; 44:29, 31
Gen 43:1a famine Gen. 41:31, 56-57
Gen 43:3a brother Gen. 42:20; 44:23
Gen 43:9a bring Gen. 44:32; cf. Gen. 42:37
Gen 43:12a sacks Gen. 42:25, 27, 35
Gen 43:141a All-sufficient Gen. 17:1
Heb. El Shaddai. See note 12 in ch. 17.
Gen 43:142 mercy
Or, compassion. While he was being dealt with in the last stage for his maturity, Jacob did not struggle but absolutely submitted to God’s sovereignty in his circumstances. He no longer trusted in his own skill and ability; rather, he trusted in the mercy of his all-sufficient God. This shows that he had been fully transformed for maturity.
Gen 43:14b bereaved Gen. 42:36
Gen 43:161 animal
Lit., a slaughter.
Gen 43:20a buy Gen. 42:3, 10
Gen 43:21a sack Gen. 42:27
Gen 43:24a feet Gen. 18:4
Gen 43:25a present cf. Gen. 43:11
Gen 43:26a bowed Gen. 37:7, 9-10; 42:6; 43:28
Gen 43:27a father Gen. 42:13
Gen 43:29a Benjamin Gen. 35:18
Gen 43:30a inward Gen. 45:1
Gen 43:30b weep Gen. 42:24
Gen 43:32a abomination cf. Gen. 46:34; Exo. 8:26
Gen 43:34a five Gen. 45:22
Gen 44:1a Fill Gen. 42:25
Gen 44:8a sacks Gen. 43:21
Gen 44:9a whomever cf. Gen. 31:32
Gen 44:14a Judah Matt. 1:2
Gen 44:14b fell Gen. 37:10; 42:6; 43:26
Gen 44:16a iniquity Num. 32:23; cf. Gen. 37:18-28
Gen 44:17a found Gen. 44:10
Gen 44:20a old Gen. 37:3
Gen 44:21a Bring Gen. 42:15, 20; 43:3, 5
Gen 44:22a die Gen. 44:31
Gen 44:23a youngest Gen. 43:3
Gen 44:25a buy Gen. 43:2
Gen 44:27a sons cf. Gen. 46:19
Gen 44:28a torn Gen. 37:33
Gen 44:29a Sheol Gen. 37:35
Gen 44:32a surety Gen. 43:9
Gen 45:11 Joseph
When Joseph’s brothers sold him, they hated him and did not care for their father or their younger brother. The attitude and spirit with which Judah spoke to Joseph about his father and brother (44:18-34) convinced Joseph that Judah had been subdued and broken. This was the right time for Joseph to reveal himself to his brothers.
Gen 45:1a control Gen. 43:30
Gen 45:4a sold Gen. 37:28; Acts 7:9
Gen 45:51 grieved
Joseph did not need to forgive his brothers, because he did not blame them (cf. note 281). He received as from God all that his brothers had done to him, and he comforted those who had offended him (vv. 5-8; 50:15-21). What grace, and what an excellent spirit, he had!
Gen 45:5a sent Psa. 105:17
Gen 45:5b preserve Gen. 50:20
Gen 45:71 remnant
God’s intention was that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would build Him a tabernacle (Exo. 25—30; 35—40) so that He might establish His kingdom on earth. God sent Joseph to Egypt to preserve life so that a remnant of the chosen and called race might remain for the fulfillment of His purpose.
Gen 45:8a over Gen. 41:41; 45:26
Gen 45:11a sustain Gen. 47:12; 50:21
Gen 45:14a fell Gen. 46:29; cf. Luke 15:20; Acts 20:37
Gen 45:14b wept cf. Zech. 12:10
Gen 45:16a Pharaoh’s Acts 7:13
Gen 45:18a fat Gen. 47:6
Gen 45:19a wagons Gen. 46:5
Gen 45:22a five Gen. 43:34
Gen 45:26a over Gen. 41:41
Gen 45:261 numb
When Jacob received the good news regarding Joseph, his heart grew numb, but his spirit revived (v. 27), indicating that his soul and spirit had been divided (Heb. 4:12). This was a manifestation of Jacob’s maturity in life.
Gen 45:27a wagons Gen. 45:19, 21; 46:5
Gen 45:27b spirit 1 Sam. 30:12; Isa. 57:15
Gen 45:281 It
Upon hearing that Joseph was alive, Jacob did not blame anyone regarding the loss of Joseph. This is a sign that he not only had been transformed but also was mature, completely filled with the fullness of the divine life.
Gen 46:11 offered
As one who was mature in life, Jacob had fellowship with God by offering sacrifices to Him. Jacob’s way of offering signifies the worship of God with the worship that He seeks by offering Christ to God for His satisfaction (cf. John 4:24).
Gen 46:2a visions Gen. 15:1; Job 33:15
Gen 46:31 God
Heb. El.
Gen 46:3a father Gen. 26:24; 28:13
Gen 46:4a go Gen. 28:15; 48:21
Gen 46:5a wagons Gen. 45:19, 21, 27
Gen 46:6a Jacob Josh. 24:4; Psa. 105:23; Isa. 52:4; Acts 7:15
Gen 46:8a names vv. 8-26: cf. Gen. 35:23-26; Exo. 1:1-4
Gen 46:9a Reuben Exo. 6:14; Num. 26:5-6; 1 Chron. 5:3
Gen 46:10a Simeon Exo. 6:15; Num. 26:12-13; 1 Chron. 4:24
Gen 46:11a Levi Exo. 6:16; Num. 26:57; 1 Chron. 6:1
Gen 46:12a Judah Gen. 38:3-5, 29-30; Num. 26:19-21; 1 Chron. 2:3-5
Gen 46:13a Issachar Num. 26:23-24; 1 Chron. 7:1
Gen 46:14a Zebulun Num. 26:26
Gen 46:15a Dinah Gen. 30:21
Gen 46:151 persons
Lit., souls. So also throughout the chapter.
Gen 46:16a Gad Num. 26:15-17
Gen 46:17a Asher Num. 26:44-46; 1 Chron. 7:30-31
Gen 46:20a Joseph Gen. 41:50-52; Num. 26:28
Gen 46:21a Benjamin Num. 26:38-40; 1 Chron. 7:6-12; 8:1-2
Gen 46:23a Dan Num. 26:42
Gen 46:24a Naphtali Num. 26:48-49; 1 Chron. 7:13
Gen 46:27a seventy Exo. 1:5; Deut. 10:22; cf. Acts 7:14
Gen 46:29a neck Gen. 45:14
Gen 46:30a seen cf. Luke 2:29-30
Gen 46:31a tell Gen. 47:1
Gen 46:32a shepherds Gen. 47:3
Gen 46:34a abomination Gen. 43:32; Exo. 8:26
Gen 47:1a told Gen. 46:31
Gen 47:3a What Gen. 46:33
Gen 47:3b shepherds Gen. 46:32, 34
Gen 47:4a sojourn Deut. 26:5
Gen 47:6a best Gen. 45:18
Gen 47:71a blessed Gen. 14:19
The strongest manifestation of Jacob’s maturity in life is the fact that Jacob blessed everyone, including Pharaoh (vv. 7, 10), Jacob’s two grandsons (ch. 48), and his own twelve sons (49:1-28). Jacob’s supplanting hands became blessing hands (48:14-16). Maturity in life is a matter of being filled with God as life, and blessing is the overflow of life, the overflow of God through the maturity in life. To bless others is to bring them into the presence of God and to bring God into them as grace, love, and fellowship that they may enjoy the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (14:18-19; Num. 6:23-27; 2 Cor. 13:14). That Jacob blessed Pharaoh indicates that he was greater than Pharaoh (Heb. 7:7).
Gen 47:81 years
Lit., the days of the years. So also in v. 9.
Gen 47:9a sojourning Gen. 17:8
Gen 47:9b few Job 14:1; Psa. 39:5; James 4:14
Gen 47:9c years Gen. 25:7; 47:28
Gen 47:12a sustained Gen. 45:11; 50:21
Gen 47:141 collected
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 47:141 [1] Lit., gleaned. Because Joseph suffered and denied himself, he gained the riches of the life supply. In Egypt all the food was in the hand of Joseph. In order to receive food from Joseph, the people had to pay four kinds of prices: their money, their livestock, their land, and themselves (vv. 14-23). Money represents convenience, livestock signifies the means of living, and land represents resources. If we would receive the life supply from the Lord, we must give Him our convenience, our means of livelihood, and our resources. The more we give Him, the more life supply we will receive from Him. Ultimately, in order to receive the best portion from the Lord, including food for satisfaction and seed for reproduction (v. 23), we must hand ourselves, every part of our being, over to Him.
Gen 47:141 [2] Eventually, there was only one landlord in Egypt, and all the people became enjoyers on the same level. This is a prefigure of the millennium, in which the earth and all its fullness will belong to Christ (Psa. 2:8; 24:1; Dan. 7:13-14) and all the nations on the earth will enjoy Christ’s riches.
Gen 47:14a bought Gen. 41:56-57
Gen 47:171 fed
Lit., guided (as a shepherd).
Gen 47:24a fifth Gen. 41:34
Gen 47:26a only Gen. 47:22
Gen 47:27a Goshen Gen. 45:10
Gen 47:28a years Gen. 47:9
Gen 47:291a thigh Gen. 24:2
To put the hand under the thigh means to swear. In 32:25 God touched Jacob’s thigh (see note 2 there). After that experience, Jacob could still walk, albeit with a limp (32:31). However, as he was departing this life, Jacob could no longer do anything for himself; he could only lie on his bed. His natural strength having been fully terminated, he could trust only in God’s grace, represented here by Joseph, a type of Christ. It was not by Jacob’s strength but by the hand of Joseph that Jacob was finally brought to the good land for his actual inheritance (50:5-13). Likewise, it is not by our strength but by the grace of Christ that we inherit God’s promise (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9).
Gen 47:301 lie
Jacob viewed his death as lying down to sleep, indicating that he believed in resurrection (1 Thes. 4:13-16). He charged Joseph not to bury him in Egypt (v. 29) but in the good land, in the cave of Machpelah, where his fathers had been buried (49:29-32), indicating that he died in faith, believing that on the day of resurrection he would rise up to inherit the good land according to God’s promise (28:13; 35:12).
Gen 47:30a fathers Gen. 49:29
Gen 47:31a bowed Heb. 11:21
Gen 47:311 at
The Septuagint translates this phrase on the top of his staff (cf. Heb. 11:21). See note 211 in Heb. 11.
Gen 47:31b bed Gen. 48:2; 1 Kings 1:47
Gen 48:31a All-sufficient Gen. 17:1
Heb. El Shaddai. See note 12 in ch. 17.
Gen 48:3b Luz Gen. 28:19; 35:6
Gen 48:51 mine
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 48:51 [1] Jacob made the two sons of Joseph, who was born of Rachel, his first two sons to replace Reuben and Simeon, who were born of Leah. In blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob gave Joseph a double portion of the land (Josh. 16—17). Thus, the birthright among Jacob’s sons was shifted from Reuben to Joseph through Jacob’s desire to remember Rachel (v. 7). God honored what Jacob did and made it a fact by the allotting of the land at the time the children of Israel entered the good land. See note 23 in Matt. 1.
Gen 48:51 [2] In Genesis there are four cases of the shifting of the birthright. The shifting of the birthright from Esau to Jacob (25:22-26, 29-34) reveals that receiving the birthright does not depend on our natural birth but on God’s predestination (Rom. 9:10-13). The shifting of the birthright from Zarah to Pharez (38:27-30) illustrates the fact that the granting of the birthright does not depend on man’s doing but on God’s choosing. The shifting of the birthright from Reuben to Joseph (49:3-4; 1 Chron. 5:1-2) reveals that, although we may be predestinated to have the birthright, we can lose it by indulging in fornication. The shifting of the birthright from Manasseh to Ephraim (vv. 12-20) shows that the Lord’s blessing does not depend on man’s natural maneuvering but on God’s desire and selection. The last case of the shifting of the birthright in the Scriptures is the shifting of the birthright from Israel to the church (see note 311 in Matt. 21).
Gen 48:5a Ephraim Gen. 41:50-52; 46:20; Josh. 14:4
Gen 48:7a died Gen. 35:16-19
Gen 48:71 to
Or, by me.
Gen 48:9b bless Heb. 11:21; cf. Gen. 27:4
Gen 48:10a dim cf. Gen. 27:1
Gen 48:101 Joseph
Lit., he.
Gen 48:14a Israel vv. 14-16: Heb. 11:21
Gen 48:141 guiding
Or, crossing his hands. Jacob’s father, Isaac, blessed blindly (27:1, 23, 27), but Jacob’s blessing of his two grandsons was full of insight. Although his physical eyes were dim (v. 10), because Jacob was mature and was one with God in life, he was clear in his spirit that God’s will was to establish Ephraim above Manasseh (vv. 17-20).
Gen 48:151 God
Jacob’s threefold mentioning of God in vv. 15-16 is a reference to the Triune God. The God before whom Abraham and Isaac walked is the Father; the God who shepherded Jacob his whole life is the Spirit; and the Angel who redeemed him from all evil is the Son. This is the Triune God in Jacob’s experience. See note 141 in 2 Cor. 13.
Gen 48:15a shepherded Psa. 23:1
Gen 48:152 all
Lit., from since I was, to this day.
Gen 48:16a Angel Gen. 31:11; Exo. 14:19; 23:20; Acts 12:11
Gen 48:16b redeemed Psa. 34:22; Isa. 44:22-23; 49:7; 63:9
Gen 48:16c multitude cf. Num. 26:34, 37
Gen 48:17a right Gen. 48:14
Gen 48:191a multitude cf. Num. 1:33, 35; 2:19, 21; Deut. 33:17
Or, fullness; plethora.
Gen 48:21a with cf. Gen. 46:4
Gen 48:22a given John 4:5
Gen 48:221 portion
Or, mountain slope.
Gen 49:11 tell
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 49:11 [1] Jacob’s prophesying with blessing (v. 28) concerning his twelve sons is a further manifestation of his maturity in the divine life. As a God-constituted person, Jacob was saturated with God; thus, his speaking was God’s speaking and his word was God’s word (cf. 1 Cor. 7:25, 40 and notes).
Gen 49:11 [2] Jacob’s twelve sons eventually became the twelve tribes of the house of Israel, a type of the church as God’s house, composed of all the believers (1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:5-6). Thus, whatever was spoken prophetically by Jacob concerning his sons was a type, a picture, of the church and should be applied to the church and to the spiritual experience of the believers, as well as to the sons of Israel (cf. 1 Cor. 10:6).
Gen 49:1a last Deut. 4:30; 31:29; Dan. 2:28; 10:14
Gen 49:2a Assemble vv. 2-27: cf. Deut. 33:6-25
Gen 49:3a Reuben Gen. 29:32
Gen 49:3b firstfruits Deut. 21:17; Psa. 78:51; 105:36
Gen 49:41 not
Although Reuben had the preeminence of the birthright, because of his defilement he lost the birthright (cf. Eph. 5:5; see note 23 in Matt. 1) and became in danger of dying or of being greatly decreased (Deut. 33:6). This should be a solemn warning to us.
Gen 49:4a bed Gen. 35:22; 1 Chron. 5:1
Gen 49:51a Simeon Gen. 29:33-34; 34:25-26
Because of their cruelty (34:25-30) Simeon and Levi received no blessing from Jacob. Rather, Jacob exercised judgment over them to scatter them among the children of Israel (v. 7) so that they would not be able to behave cruelly according to their disposition (Josh. 19:1, 9; 21:1-3, 41). Later, Levi used his disposition in a renewed, transformed way to slay the worshippers of the golden calf (Exo. 32:26-28). Because of his absoluteness, desperation, and faithfulness toward God, Levi received the blessing of the priesthood with God’s Urim and Thummim (Deut. 33:8-9).
Gen 49:6a glory Psa. 16:9; 57:8
Gen 49:71 Cursed
Cf. note 81 in Num. 35.
Gen 49:7a divide cf. Josh. 19:1-9; 21:1-42; 1 Chron. 4:24-39
Gen 49:81a Judah Gen. 29:35
Verses 8-12 contain three wonderful seeds of the three main truths in the New Testament regarding Christ, which are the contents of the gospel: the seed of Christ’s victory (vv. 8-9), the seed of Christ’s kingdom (v. 10), and the seed of the rest in the enjoyment of the riches of Christ’s life (vv. 11-12). These three truths are a summary of the New Testament.
Gen 49:8b sons cf. Gen. 27:29
Gen 49:9a young Hosea 5:14
Gen 49:91b lion Rev. 5:5; cf. Num. 23:24; 24:9
Judah, likened poetically to a young lion here, is a type of Christ as the ultimate Overcomer, the fighting, victorious Lion (Rev. 5:5 and note 1).
Gen 49:92 up
The young lion in his freshness and strength is for fighting, for seizing the prey. When a lion goes after some prey, he descends from his dwelling place on the mountain, and after he takes the prey, he brings it up the mountain with him to devour it. After enjoying the prey, the lion couches, i.e., lies down, to rest in satisfaction. This is a picture of the victory of Christ over His enemies in His crucifixion (Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14) and of His satisfaction and rest in His ascension as the issue of His victory (Eph. 4:8 and notes).
Gen 49:93 lioness
A lioness, a female lion, is for producing baby lions. Christ is not only the fighting lion and the resting lion but also the producing lioness, who brought forth many overcomers as His “lion cubs.”
Gen 49:94 who
That no one dares to rouse Judah up signifies that Christ’s terrifying power in His resurrection and ascension has subdued everything (Matt. 28:18; Phil. 2:9; Eph. 1:21-22).
Gen 49:101a scepter Psa. 60:7; 108:8; Num. 21:18; 24:17
Christ’s victory brings in the kingdom. The scepter, a symbol of the kingdom (Psa. 45:6), denotes the kingly authority of Christ. That the scepter will never depart from Judah means that the kingship will never depart from Christ (2 Sam. 7:12-13; Dan. 2:44-45; 7:13-14; Rev. 11:15; 22:1, 3).
Gen 49:102 between
Between his feet is a poetic term denoting seed or posterity. This means that kings will always be produced from Judah’s descendants (1 Chron. 5:2). Christ, the King in God’s kingdom, is a descendant of Judah (Heb. 7:14).
Gen 49:103 Shiloh
Meaning peace bringer; referring to Christ in His second coming as the Prince of Peace, who will bring peace to the whole earth (Isa. 9:6-7; 2:4).
Gen 49:10b comes Ezek. 21:27; Matt. 2:6; 11:3; Luke 7:19
Gen 49:104 peoples
Equivalent to the nations, who will submit to Christ and obey Him at His second coming (Isa. 2:1-3; 11:10).
Gen 49:111 foal
A foal or a donkey is an animal used for transportation (cf. Matt. 21:5). To tie a donkey indicates that the journey is over and the destination has been reached. The vine in this verse typifies the living Christ, who is full of life (John 15:1, 5). To tie our donkey to the vine signifies to cease from our labor and our striving in our natural life and to rest in Christ, the living One who is the source of life (cf. Matt. 11:28-30). Because Christ has won the victory and has gained the kingdom, He has become the rich vine to us for our enjoyment, rest, and satisfaction.
Gen 49:112 garment
Garments signify our behavior in our daily living, and wine signifies life (John 2:3). Hence, to wash our garments in wine and our robe in the blood of grapes signifies to soak our behavior, our daily walk, in the enjoyment of the riches of Christ’s life (Matt. 9:17 and note 1).
Gen 49:121 Dark
Or, Red. The eyes being red with wine and the teeth being white with milk signifies transformation from death to life by the enjoyment of the rich life of Christ. The teeth function to receive food into the mouth and to help the utterance in speaking. Spiritually, the whiteness of the teeth here indicates the sound, healthy function to take in God’s Word as food and to utter His word so that others may be nourished.
Gen 49:13a Zebulun Gen. 30:20; Deut. 33:18-19; Josh. 19:10-16
Gen 49:131 ships
The prophecy concerning Judah portrays the contents of the gospel (see note 81). Jacob’s prophecy concerning Zebulun is a picture of the preaching of the gospel. Zebulun was part of Galilee, the place where the Lord Jesus began His ministry of the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 4:12-23; 28:7, 10, 16-20). It was a shore for ships, a seaport. In ancient times the ships sailed from the seaport with their cargoes by the power of the wind. This portrays the sending out of the glad tidings of the gospel by the Galilean preachers under the power of the Holy Spirit as the heavenly wind (Acts 1:8; 2:2-41). See note 273 in Psa. 68.
Gen 49:132b Sidon Acts 13:46-47
The mentioning of Sidon, a Gentile seaport, indicates that the gospel would reach the Gentile world and spread to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8; 13:46-47).
Gen 49:14a Issachar Gen. 30:18; Deut. 33:18-19; 1 Chron. 12:32
Gen 49:141 Couching
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 49:141 [1] The strong donkey signifies the natural man; to couch is to rest in satisfaction; and the sheepfolds signify the denominations and various religions based on the law (cf. John 10:1-9, 16 and notes). The poetry in this verse portrays the genuine church life as the issue of the preaching of the gospel, in which our natural man rests in satisfaction between (outside) the religious sheepfolds.
Gen 49:141 [2] In Moses’ blessing in Deut. 33:18b, Issachar was to rejoice for his tents. There the tents signify the local churches as the expressions of the unique Body of Christ (Eph. 4:4a), in which the believers rejoice in the enjoyment of Christ’s riches (Phil. 4:4; 1 Thes. 5:16).
Gen 49:14b sheepfolds Judg. 5:16; Psa. 68:13
Gen 49:151 land
The land typifies Christ as the green pasture (John 10:9 and note 2) enjoyed by the believers in the church life.
Gen 49:152 task-worker
A task-worker does work assigned by his master. This signifies the members of the Body of Christ, whose service in the Body is assigned by the Head (1 Cor. 12:4-6, 18, 28; Eph. 2:10; 4:11-12). Such service eventually becomes a tribute offered to the Master for His satisfaction (cf. Rom. 15:16).
Gen 49:153 tribute
The second group of Jacob’s sons portray the gospel, signified by Judah and fulfilled in the four Gospels; the preaching of the gospel, signified by Zebulun and fulfilled in Acts; and the church life, signified by Issachar and fulfilled in the remaining books of the New Testament. The consummation of Jacob’s prophecy concerning Judah, Zebulun, and Issachar is seen in Deut. 33:19, which says that the peoples, the nations, will be called to the mountain, signifying the kingdom of God (Dan. 2:35), where they will offer sacrifices of righteousness and enjoy the abundance of the seas (the church composed mainly of Gentile believers—see note 11 in Matt. 13) and the hidden treasures of the sand (the kingdom hidden in the earth—Matt. 13:44). This shows that the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, and the church life as the issue of the gospel result in the enjoyment of the church life and the kingdom life (cf. Rom. 14:17 and note 1).
Gen 49:16a Dan Gen. 30:6; Deut. 33:22
Gen 49:161 tribes
The Hebrew word also means scepters. This prophecy with blessing indicates that Jacob was concerned that Dan would be cut off because of his apostasy (v. 17; Deut. 13:5-18). Jacob’s word here means that Dan not only would remain as a tribe but also would be a scepter, an authority. In 1 Chron. 2—9 and in Rev. 7 Dan is omitted in the record of God’s holy people (cf. Rev. 3:5), but he will still be a tribe in the millennium because of his father’s blessing (Ezek. 48:1). See note 61, par. 2, in Rev. 7.
Gen 49:171 serpent
In Deut. 33:22 Dan is likened to a young lion leaping from Bashan. As a young lion, Dan fought in order to gain more land (Josh. 19:47; Judg. 18:27-29), the land signifying Christ (see note 71 in Deut. 8). After his success in his victory Dan became a serpent, a viper, acting individualistically and independently in his pride to set up an idol and a divisive center of worship and to ordain a hired priest in the city of Dan during the time that the house of God was in Shiloh (Judg. 18:30-31; cf. Deut. 12:5 and note). As a serpent Dan bit the horse’s heels so that its rider fell backward, signifying that the apostasy brought in by Dan became a great stumbling block to the nation of Israel. Throughout the history of the church many spiritual people have followed Dan’s example, thereby frustrating God’s people from going on in His ordained way. A further fulfillment of Jacob’s prophecy concerning Dan is seen in 1 Kings 12:26-31 (see notes there).
Gen 49:18a waited Psa. 25:5; Isa. 25:9; Micah 7:7
Gen 49:181b salvation Psa. 119:166, 174; Luke 2:30
Jacob anticipated a salvation from the stumbling block that eventually resulted from the apostasy of the tribe of Dan.
Gen 49:19a Gad Gen. 30:11; Deut. 33:20-21
Gen 49:191 their
Gad’s victory in this verse, corresponding to his victory in Deut. 33:20, signifies the recovery of the victory of Christ lost by Dan because of his apostasy. According to Deut. 33:20-21, Gad was enlarged because of his victory; he provided the first part of the good land (the land east of the Jordan) for himself, but before enjoying his portion, he went with his brothers and fought with them to gain their portion of the land west of the Jordan (Num. 32:1-32), thus executing Jehovah’s righteousness and His judgments in Israel. Dan’s failure was because he was individualistic and cared only for himself, whereas Gad’s success was because he was corporate and took care of the need of his brothers. In New Testament terms, to follow Gad’s example we need to have the corporate sense of the Body and care for the members of the Body for the accomplishing of God’s will, which is to have the Body life (Rom. 12:1-21).
Gen 49:201a Asher’s Gen. 30:13; Deut. 33:24-25
Following some ancient versions; the Hebrew text reads, From Asher.
Gen 49:202 rich
Lit., fat. Both Jacob’s prophecy in this verse and Moses’ blessing in Deut. 33:24-25 show the sufficiency of Asher, coming after the recovery with Gad (v. 19). Asher was blessed with rich food, with the rich provision of life. His dipping his foot in oil (Deut. 33:24) signifies the enjoyment of the bountiful supply of the Spirit for the daily walk (Phil. 1:19; Gal. 3:5). The issue of such a rich provision is the enjoyment of absolute rest with peace, strength, security, and sufficiency.
Gen 49:21a Naphtali Gen. 30:8; Deut. 33:23
Gen 49:211 hind
The hind typifies the resurrected Christ (see title of Psa. 22 and note). The beautiful words are uttered by Christ and by those who experience Christ in His resurrection (Luke 4:22; John 7:46; Matt. 28:16, 18-20; Acts 2:32-36). According to Deut. 33:23, Naphtali is satisfied with favor (the Old Testament equivalent of New Testament grace) and is full of the blessing of Jehovah (referring to the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies—Eph. 1:3). Furthermore, Naphtali will possess the sea (the Gentile world—see note 11 in Matt. 13) and the south (the land of Israel), signifying that those who experience the resurrected Christ will possess the whole earth through their proclaiming of Christ (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8; Rom. 15:19). See note 274 in Psa. 68.
Gen 49:22a Joseph Gen. 30:22-24; Deut. 33:13-17; cf. Gen. 41:51-52; Josh. 17:14-18
Gen 49:221 bough
Joseph as a fruitful bough typifies Christ as the branch (Isa. 11:1) for the branching out of God through His believers as His branches (John 15:1, 5). In this verse the fountain signifies God, the source of fruitfulness (Psa. 36:9; Jer. 2:13), and the branches’ running over the wall signifies that Christ’s believers as His branches spread Christ over every restriction, magnifying Him in all circumstances (Phil. 1:20; 4:22; Philem. 10).
Gen 49:241 agile
Or, strong. Verses 23-24 refer to Joseph’s suffering at the hands of his brothers (37:18-31). Joseph overcame in his sufferings (cf. Rom. 8:36-37) because he was strengthened by God, the Mighty One of Jacob and the All-sufficient One, in whom he trusted (cf. 2 Tim. 2:1; Phil. 4:13).
Gen 49:24a Mighty Psa. 132:2, 5; Isa. 49:26; 60:16; 1:24; cf. Acts 7:46
Gen 49:24b Shepherd Psa. 23:1; 80:1; Zech. 13:7; Matt. 2:6; John 10:11, 14, 16; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4; Rev. 7:17
Gen 49:24c stone Deut. 32:4; cf. Isa. 28:16; Zech. 3:9; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:4
Gen 49:25a God Gen. 50:17
Gen 49:251b All-sufficient Gen. 17:1; 35:11
Heb. Shaddai. See note 12 in ch. 17.
Gen 49:252 bless
The blessings bestowed on Joseph, as seen in vv. 25-26 and Deut. 33:13-16, encompass all time, from ancient times to eternity (v. 26; Deut. 33:15), and all space, from heaven to earth, including the deep under the earth (v. 25b; Deut. 33:13-14, 16a). Time plus space equals the universe. As the one universally blessed by his father, Joseph typifies Christ, the appointed Heir of all things (Heb. 1:2; Col. 1:16), and His believers, Christ’s partners who participate in His inheritance (1 Cor. 3:21-22; Rom. 8:17; Heb. 1:9; 3:14; 1:14 and note). The universal blessing on Joseph will consummate in the new heaven and new earth, in which everything will be a blessing to Christ and His believers (Rev. 21:1, 4-5; 22:3, 5).
Gen 49:25c blessings Deut. 33:13
Gen 49:26a everlasting Deut. 33:15; Hab. 3:6
Gen 49:26b head Deut. 33:16
Gen 49:261 separate
Heb. nazir; translated Nazarite in Judg. 13:5, 7; 16:17. Here Joseph typifies Christ as the Nazarite, the One who was separated from the common people to live wholly for God (see note 22 in Num. 6). The universal blessing is bestowed on the crown of the head of such a Nazarite (cf. Deut. 33:16b).
Gen 49:27a Benjamin Gen. 35:18; Deut. 33:12; Judg. 20:21, 25
Gen 49:271 ravenous
Lit., tearing. As a tearing wolf, Benjamin is a type of Christ, who destroys the enemy by tearing him to pieces (Eph. 4:8; 2 Cor. 10:5).
Gen 49:272 spoil
[ par. 1 2 ]
Gen 49:272 [1] Moses’ blessing in Deut. 33:12 says that Benjamin will dwell securely beside Jehovah and that Jehovah will dwell between Benjamin’s shoulders. Jerusalem with God’s temple, God’s dwelling place, was located in the territory of Benjamin (Judg. 1:21). Thus, the blessing of Jacob’s twelve sons ends with God’s dwelling place, which ultimately consummates in the New Jerusalem as the mutual dwelling of God and His redeemed for eternity (Rev. 21—22). This is the greatest blessing to God’s people.
Gen 49:272 [2] Genesis 49:1-28 is an abstract of the entire Bible and a summary of the history of God’s people, as seen in the twelve sons of Jacob, the nation of Israel, and the church. It is also a portrait of the personal history of every believer. Jacob’s first four sons—Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah—were sinners, indicating that the history of God’s people begins with sinners. However, two of these sinners, Levi and Judah, were transformed to become priests and kings. Out of the kingship with Judah a kingly salvation was produced, which was preached as the gospel in the Gentile world by Zebulun and which issued in the church life with Issachar. But the apostasy came in through Dan, followed by the recovery with Gad, which issued in the sufficiency of the riches of Christ with Asher and in the resurrection with Naphtali. Finally, the history of God’s people concludes with Joseph and Benjamin, who typify Christ as the One who is altogether victorious and perfect, without defect. According to Jacob’s prophecy and Moses’ word, Joseph brought in God’s boundless, universal blessing (vv. 22-26; Deut. 33:13-16), and Benjamin, God’s eternal dwelling place (Deut. 33:12). Thus, the conclusion of Gen. 49 corresponds with the conclusion of the entire Bible—the universal blessing in the new heaven and the new earth, in which is God’s eternal dwelling, the New Jerusalem, as the issue and goal of God’s universal blessing (cf. Eph. 1:3; 2:22).
Gen 49:291 Bury
See note 301 in ch. 47.
Gen 49:30a Machpelah Gen. 23:9, 16-18; 50:13
Gen 49:31a buried Gen. 25:9; 23:19
Gen 49:31b buried Gen. 35:29
Gen 49:33a expired Acts 7:15
Gen 50:3a wept cf. Gen. 50:10; Num. 20:29; Deut. 34:8
Gen 50:5a grave cf. 2 Chron. 16:14; Isa. 22:16; Matt. 27:60
Gen 50:10a mourning Gen. 50:3
Gen 50:111 Abel-mizraim
Meaning mourning of the Egyptians.
Gen 50:13a Machpelah Gen. 23:9; 49:30
Gen 50:13b bought Acts 7:16
Gen 50:17a God Gen. 49:25
Gen 50:18a fell Gen. 37:10
Gen 50:191 Do
See note 51 in ch. 45.
Gen 50:19a am cf. Gen. 30:2; 2 Kings 5:7
Gen 50:20a preserve Gen. 45:5, 7
Gen 50:21a sustain Gen. 45:11; 47:12
Gen 50:211 kindly
Lit., to their heart.
Gen 50:23a children cf. Job 42:16; Psa. 128:6
Gen 50:23b Machir Num. 32:39; 1 Chron. 7:14-15
Gen 50:24a Joseph Heb. 11:22
Gen 50:24b land Gen. 15:18; 26:3; 28:13; 35:12
Gen 50:251 bring
Cf. Exo. 13:19. Like Jacob, Joseph died in faith, expecting that he would be resurrected to inherit the good land and participate in all the enjoyment therein. See note 301 in ch. 47.
Gen 50:25a bones Exo. 13:19; Josh. 24:32
Gen 50:261a died Exo. 1:6
In the beginning of this book God created man in His image that man might express Him and gave man His dominion that man might represent Him (1:26). After the experiences of so many called ones, this book concludes with a life that, in Jacob on the one hand, expressed God in His image and, in Joseph on the other hand, represented God with His dominion (see note 11, par. 2, in ch. 37). How excellent and wonderful this is! However, what is portrayed in Genesis is still a shadow in the age of typology. At Joseph’s time the reality had not come. Hence, in the conclusion of this book Joseph died expecting the age of fulfillment, in which he would share in the reality.
Gen 50:26b embalmed cf. Gen. 50:2