Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight, is study #10 of Genesis, chapter 11 and we are going to begin by looking at Genesis 11:29-30:

And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

In our last study, we were discussing Milcah, Nahor’s wife, as God gives us additional information in Genesis, chapter 22:20-24:

And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor; Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

As I mentioned in the last study, we see here an interesting picture regarding the children of Nahor and his two wives, Milcah and his concubine. Milcah bore eight sons and the concubine bore four, totally 12. That number reminds us of the sons of Israel (or Jacob), as he had children with his wives Leah and Rachael and with the handmaids (concubines) of both women. Leah had six sons and her handmaid had two sons by Jacob and since the two sons were credited to Leah, she had a total of eight sons. Then Rachel had two sons, Joseph and Benjamin, and her handmaid also had two sons by Jacob, so Rachel was credited with four. The total was 12 sons and the breakdown of the two wives was eight for Leah and four for Rachel, even though some of the sons were from concubines.

We looked at this before and we saw that there is a one third/two thirds relationship. Rachel, whose name means “ewe lamb” or “sheep,” and she or the children she bore are representative of God’s elect. Leah was representative of those that are not God’s elect or “two thirds.” God later breaks this down in Zechariah 13:8-9:

And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith JEHOVAH, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, JEHOVAH is my God.

This is a Biblical figure God uses as He looks out over the whole of mankind. He uses the figure “one third” to represent His people and “two thirds” to represent the rest, the unsaved inhabitants of the earth. The “one third” became so identified with the people of God that the New Testament churches and congregations took upon itself identification with “one third.” In Revelation, chapter 8, that is why when the Lord is describing the judgment that begins on the house of God (the corporate church), it is spoken of as a judgment on the “third part,” and the “third part” is referred to again, and again, and again. That language is indicating that it was where the Word of God was found and it was where the elect were found and the elect are that true “third part” that would be brought through the fire. Also, significantly, when judgment began at the house of God beginning in 1988, the 13,000th year of earth’s history, until it concluded on May 21, 2011, the population of the world was between six and seven billion people and the number of professed Christians in the world was about two billion people, or roughly “one third” and “two thirds.” There was “one third” professed Christians and there were “two thirds” or the rest of humanity – the other religions, atheists and secularists. So, as God identified judgment on the “third part,” it was almost very literal, because by that time the churches were filled with an overwhelming majority of unsaved people and it did number an estimated two billion or “one third” of mankind. So, the corporate body took on that identification with “one third,” but as it indicates in Zechariah 13, verses 8 and 9, there it refers not to the corporate body but to the true believers that are brought through the fire; they are purified as they are brought through the fire.

It is the same picture in 2Samuel 8:1-2:

And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines. And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.

This is exactly what God’s election program did. Here, they were all Moabites, so to speak, and God decided with a “line,” which can be identified with the Word of God, that He was going to spare the “third part” and put to death the other “two thirds.” Or, in Zechariah 13 we do read that “two thirds” were cut off and died and the “third part” was brought through a fire and, yet, they were spared and they lived. Again, that pictures God’s salvation program at work, which we can see is just being touched on regarding Milcah and Reumah and their children. There was eight for one and four for the other. Again, there was “one third” for Reumah and “two thirds” for Milcah. We are not familiar with either of these women and we are not even that familiar with Nahor and that is why I say it is just “touched upon,” as I do not think this is a very in-depth kind of teaching of the point the Lord is making, but maybe just a “surface” picture. For instance, the name “Milcah” is the Hebrew word that is Strong’s #4435 and it is from the word #4436 and the word #4436 in the Hebrew Strong’s Concordance is the word “queen.” Milcah means “queen.” Remember what we read of Babylon in Revelation 18:7:

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Babylon is likened to a “queen.” That is exactly what the name Milcah means and keep in mind that Terah and his three sons spent a considerable amount of time in the land of their nativity, Ur of the Chaldees, and the Chaldeans are basically Babylonians. When we read in the Bible about Chaldees or the Chaldeans, it is synonymous with the Babylonians.

Going back to Genesis 11, it says in Genesis 11:28-30:

And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

It gives the appearance that they took these wives while they were in Ur of the Chaldees and that makes Milcah a Babylonian, so we can definitely see the tie-in with Revelation 18, verse 7, where the Lord is personifying Babylon as a queen. And, here, Milcah’s name means “queen” and she bears eight children in her marriage to Milcah.

I will just mention (although I do not know what to make of it it) that Nahor’s name means “nostrils” or “snorting.” From what I could see, this word is translated as “nostrils” two times and “snorting” one time and in all three cases it had to do with horses. So, again, I do not know what to make of that, but we do know something about Nahor and who he represents and we will discuss that later.

Nahor had two wives. One was Milcah, the “queen,” who identifies with Babylon and Reumah. Milcah had more children – she had eight sons. Reumah had four sons. Therefore, Milcah had “two thirds” of all Nahor’s children and Reumah, the concubine, had a “third part.” The Hebrew word translated as “Reumah” is Strong’s #7208 is from #7213 and it is only found one time in the Bible, in Zechariah 14:10:

All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place…

The word is translated here as “lifted up” and it is very difficult to know what is in view, but we do know that “Reumah” gives the idea of being “lifted up” and that picture relates to salvation. When we are saved, what happens? Christ gave a description of Himself as a “ladder” and the “angels” of God (or messengers) of God ascending upon it and descending. When we become saved, as it tells us in Ephesians, we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus – we are “lifted up.” We are raised up. There is a resurrection of the soul and to be resurrected means to “rise up.” The dead in the day of resurrection are said to rise up. I know this is rather loose and is not really that solid, but this is the only time this word is used to help us understand the name “Reumah.” It has to do with rising or being lifted up. There are some historical parables God gives in the Bible and they are very well laid out or “fleshed out” and there is much more information, but here we are just seeing a few verses that speak of Nahor’s wives and the children they had, but, again, it is similar to Jacob and it definitely relates to the picture God develops in several places in the Bible regarding saving “one third” and not saving “two thirds.”

A strong reason I think it is in view here is because Terah had three sons. As we mentioned in the last Bible study, the year he was born, which was 2297BC, is extremely significant as far as a time path. And by the way, it is not only a time path to 2033AD, but there is also a time path to 1994, the year of the second Jubilee. The time path is in actual years, so you add 2297 and 1994 and you subtract “1” and you break down that total of “4290,” and you get “3 x 10 x 11 x 13.” The number “3” is purpose of God; the number “10” is completeness; the number “11” identifies with the first coming of Christ; and number “13” identifies with the second coming and the end of the world. Each number is significant, just as we spoke of the great significance of the number breakdown for “4329,” the time path from Terah’s birth age in 2297BC to 2033AD, which I think was “3 x 3 x 13 x 37,” where each number was extremely significant and full of Biblical meaning.

Terah is really a representative of the human race or the world itself. Terah had three sons, Abram, Nahor and Haran and we know it said in Genesis 11:28: “And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.” We also know that Abram is going to leave Haran and enter the land of Canaan and we know that Nahor stayed behind and he does not enter Canaan – it was only Sarai, Abram and Lot. This is referred to in Joshua 24:2-3:

And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith JEHOVAH God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

Here, God is speaking of Terah and his three sons and He tells us, “And they served other gods.” There is some evidence as we read the account of Terah or Nahor or Haran that they may have had some relationship with the God of the Bible, but here we are told specifically that they were serving other gods, not the true God and it was on the other side of the flood. That word “flood” is not referring to Noah’s flood. If you look that word up, it is not “flood,” but it is word for “river.” On the other side of the river, they lived in Ur of Chaldees for a time and then they moved to Haran. If we go back to Genesis 11, it is interesting that it says in Genesis 11:31:

And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

So, it was Terah’s intention and the intention of his sons to go into the land of Canaan, right from the start, but they dwelt in Haran and in Haran they worshipped other gods on that side of the river. Ultimately, it was only Abram (Abraham) who would enter Canaan. Let me read it, so I say it right, in Joshua 24:3:

And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood…

God took Abraham from the other side of the river; that is, God chose Abram, or maybe it would be better to say that God “drew” Abraham, as we read in John 6:44: “No man can come to me, except the father which hath sent me draw him.” God took Abram from the other side of the river where other gods were being served and brought him over the river, as well as Lot. And what do we know about Lot? The Bible calls Lot “righteous.” That is another figure, but Lot was a child of God and representative of the elect. Abram crossed the river with Sarai, but the emphasis is really upon Abram as one of the three sons of Terah. He was taken and crossed the river into Canaan. Canaan pictured the kingdom of God and has various pictures associated with that. You can be saved in your soul and have your citizenship in heaven and be seated in heavenly places, and so forth. There is also the matter of the final salvation of our bodies and entering the new heaven and new earth, which Canaan can picture.

So, Abram was brought across the flood or the river. The river is a picture of “hell” or the “grave.” Everyone that God brings over must cross that river. Terah pictures the world and out of the world comes these three sons, but two of them never crossed that river – Haran and Nahor. They never made it over. There was an intention or a desire to do so. There was a “want to,” in this regard with mankind. Yes, they want to get right with God or they want to have a “security blanket” with a god of their own understanding or their religion or their altered and perverted gospel that has changed grace to works. Yes, men are willing to accept Christ and be water baptized. “Yes, I will take these few steps, as long as I can have assurance that I am right with God and I do not have to worry about that any more.” However, for the most part, they really just stop thinking about God and now they are free to focus on the world and pursue their worldly desires, having taken care of that little matter of salvation. Then at the proper time upon their impending death, “O, God, remember I accepted you. Remember I was baptized and now bring me into heaven. Bring me across the flood.” But, no, it does not work that way. God determined who He would bring over. They were His elect, the predestinated ones.

Abram crossed over the river and it is a picture like going through the fire in Zechariah, chapter 13. The “two thirds” are cut off and die and the “one third” God will bring through the fire. He will bring them through the flood and they will go through the experience of “death and hell.” First, this happened at the foundation of the world when we were baptized with the baptism we must be baptized with as we had our sins thoroughly purged and cleansed by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But, secondly, as Jesus said to James and John, “Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with,” and He was speaking in the future tense about something to come in the future; and that is where we are at this point as we live on the earth in the Day of Judgment, going day by day through the judgment process. We are making an appearance before the judgment seat, as God has brought the world into the condition of hell or death and we are going through the flood. Again, there is the matter of salvation when Christ died at the foundation of the world and became a curse for us; that is when we were saved and salvation was guaranteed. But now there is the matter of the salvation of the body and the entry into “Canaan” as we are finally brought into the new heaven and new earth.

Again, God brings the “third part” through the fire and the reference to “gold and silver” relates to 1Corinthians 3 where it says the “day will declare it,” or the fire will reveal it, as the fire of “hell fire” or the grave brings the condition of death to the world. So, we really see a picture of that, especially when we are given the age of Terah when Abram was born. We will discuss that in more detail when we move on to chapter 12.