Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #2 of Genesis, chapter 29, and we will begin with Genesis 29:4-12:
And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them. And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep. And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep: for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son: and she ran and told her father.
As we were discussing last time, Jacob had left Canaan and gone to Haran, and he came straightway to a well. The well was sealed. There was a stone upon it. There were three flocks of sheep lying by it. And as he was talking to the shepherds there, Rachel came with her father’s flock to water her sheep. It was the fourth flock of sheep, pointing to the worldwide aspect of the watering of the sheep. If you listened to our first study, you would have heard that the spiritual picture is of the beginning of the Latter Rain in the year 1994, because this is the beginning of Jacob’s 40-year sojourn in Haran. And that 40-year period ties in with the time of the end, and we have learned from the Bible that there is a Biblical timeline from 1994 to 2033, and there is much Biblical evidence pointing to 2033 as the year of the end of the prolonged judgment. The official judgment of the churches began in 1994, and transitioned to the world (in 2011), and the world’s judgment, according to the Biblical evidence, will conclude with the end of the world in 2033, which is 40 inclusive years.
And 1994 was a Jubilee Year, the beginning of the proclamation of “liberty to the captives” and the sending forth of the Latter Rain, which ties in with the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit. You know, God uses various figures to teach the same thing regarding the fact that He would no longer use the churches, and at the time of the end He would complete the salvation of the whole company of the elect by saving them out in the world using the Word of God, the Bible, which was proclaimed primarily through the electronic medium. Actually, from what we can learn from the Bible, the seals were taken off the Bible in 1988, and some of the hidden information began to come forth. (It was not new information because that it was always in the Bible, but it was “new” to the understanding of the people of God.) Information began to come forth over that period of time from 1988 to 1994, because the seals had come off in 1988. But for purposes of an historical parable, it is too “detailed” to paint that kind of a picture. So, here God is painting the picture of Jacob leaving Canaan, a representation of the corporate church, and coming to Haran (out of the churches), and finding there was a well of water and sheep by it. And the well of water would point to the truth of the Bible, but it was sealed – there was a stone upon the well. Therefore, very quickly in this account, Jacob (who can be both a figure of Christ and of the body of Christ, the elect) rolled away the stone. At that point, he was a figure of Christ.
He did so, and the water was now available for all the flocks of sheep that were outside the land of Canaan, and especially for Rachel’s sheep. The Hebrew word translated as “Rachel” means “sheep,” and it is also translated as a “ewe,” the world for a female sheep. So Rachel, the ewe lamb, came to the well with her flock, as she is a type and figure of God’s elect. She would eventually become Jacob’s bride, the wife that he loved. Of his twelve children, four would be accredited to her. Actually, she only bore two children, but also bore two through her handmaid, which she claimed for her own. So four of the twelve, or one third, would represent her children, and two thirds would not be her children. So we see here as a type and figure of the elect, the bride of Christ. And the Bible tells us later on that Jacob kept sheep for a wife, and it was over this period of time that God would save that great multitude out of Great Tribulation, and they would compete the bride. She will have “made herself ready,” and then the marriage would come, as Revelation 19 details it. And the “marriage supper of the Lamb” is Judgment Day itself, the time period we are presently in.
Concerning the well of water, we know from John chapter 4…and I want to read it again, so we have this spiritual picture clear. And I say “again” because we have discussed this before in our study in the book of Genesis because “wells of water” have come up a few times. In Genesis 24, when the man first came to Haran to look for a bride for Isaac, he also came to a well of water. It says in John 4:6-14:
Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
That is the spiritual backdrop, the deeper spiritual meaning when we read of the well of water where Abraham’s servant requested water to drink from Rebekah. And it is the spiritual backdrop when Jacob left Canaan, came to Haran, and found a well in the field. And, again, the field would be the world. And there were flocks of sheep by it, so they are a representation of God’s elect out in the world waiting for the “stone to be taken away,” or waiting for the water so they could drink. Even if they were not aware that they were waiting, it was actually the case. It was God’s salvation program, and, finally, at the time of the end, God had made all necessary preparation. He ended His relationship with the corporate church and called His people to come out of it, and He raised up new technology. For instance, the advancements in electronics was just phenomenal. Over a relatively short period of time, perhaps, toward the end of the 19th Century and into the 20th Century, these things began to develop, like the telephone, radio, and so forth. It began slowly, and then there were two world wars. Do you know what happens during world wars? Men or, more importantly, governments use their resources to develop technology to kill their enemies and win the war. So two of the greatest wars the world has ever known took place, one early in the 20th Century and then about the middle of that century there was a second war, and practically all the major nations in the world were involved. They used their wealth and resources, and they put their most brilliant minds to work to develop greater speed in their aircraft in order to win the war, and there were rockets and missile launchings, and the speed of everything increased tremendously because of these wars.
And God works in all these things, does He not? He arranges circumstances and orchestrates events. God had a timeline to keep, as it was fast approaching the time of the end of the church age. If God had continued to use the churches, all would have been in place since churches were in practically all nations. But, unfortunately, the plan of God called for Him to end that relationship and to bring about the separation of the wheat and tares. There was just too much deceit, too many falsehoods and too many lies that the churches were involved in with their “high places,” and at the time of the end, the Lord wanted to purify the Gospel message and make it as faithful as possible to the Bible, especially in matters of faith and salvation. And the church world was a “mess” concerning these things, so the Lord wisely determined to cut them off and abandon them and end that relationship, but there had to be a substitute way to get the Gospel to billions of people, which by the time of the end were almost seven billion leading up to May 21, 2011. Without utilizing the churches in all the nations, how could God do this? In the brilliant mind of God, He determined to reveal “secrets” of the earth itself, secrets that secular men would greatly desire to search out and develop, so knowledge would increase in that area. You know, Daniel 12 says, “…shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end …and knowledge shall be increased.” I think there can be a relationship also with scientific knowledge, and the knowledge about electrons that God increased at the time of the end. In other words, for most of history and thousands of years, man was tied to “horse and buggy,” but over the last 100 years, there has been an explosion in ability to travel and to communicate over the electronic medium. And was it just a coincidence that God ended the church age, but still had a worldwide platform His people could use, and it was all ready to go? Here or there, one or two of the elect could have contributed to the knowledge and advancement in electronics and other fields of endeavors, but probably played a small part overall. For the most part, it was the secular minds and, yet, they were also created in the image and likeness of God as creatures He had made, so God put them “to work,” as it were, until they accomplished His goal.
There are some of us, (not the younger people that have grown up with the internet and cell phones) that remember back in the 80s when there were no cell phones and there were no home computers where we could just “Google” anything we wanted to know, and we could go anywhere in the world and see a picture, hear a song, or listen to the true Gospel of the Bible, or listen to Family Radio. But, again, please do not go there any longer, but during that time from 1994 to 2011, that was the site and that was the place to go. And God just used a few people to operate those radio stations, and a few more to support that operation by sending their funds because they recognized the “voice of Christ” and the adherence to the Word of God and the things that were being taught and proclaimed in Open Forums and Family Bible Study. God moved in His people to will and to do of His good pleasure to send them forth with that Gospel, primarily through the electronic medium, and it was done.
So the well of water was opened up and God provided “living water,” the water of salvation, as the Holy Spirit would enter into the lives of these sinners that had been chosen to obtain eternal life, and they would be provided spiritual water everlastingly thereafter. This was the plan of God, and it is absolutely amazing, is it not? It is just amazing that these things exist, like phones, computers, radios, and television. Yes – there is much evil transmitted through those things, and the world means it for evil, for the most part, but God turned it to good, and He has used the electronic medium as a great blessing in the lives of His elect. Through it, He blanketed the earth (with the Gospel), oftentimes in the language of the people as they heard the Gospel in China, India, Vietnam, Africa, Australia, and everywhere else the Gospel went on all the continents, and the nations heard. More importantly, maybe not every human being heard, but “the nations of them which are saved” heard, as Christ has obligated Himself to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and the Great Commission was a commission in which the Gospel was to go into all nations. Let me read that in Matthew 28:19-20:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
This was accomplished by May 21, 2011. You see, the Great Commission was a task to go and teach all nations, not most of them, but all, and also to baptize them. Who is “them” referring to? It is referring to “all nations,” so all nations were to be taught and baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. What that done? No – it was not, if you are looking at the political nations of the world. If you are looking at some of the nations I just mentioned and countries in South America and Africa and Asia. Not all nations – and nations refer to people – so not all people in all the countries of the world were taught the truth of the Bible and, certainly, not all people in all the countries of the world were baptized by the Word of God. And, of course, it is referring to spiritual baptism which comes through salvation, and the only “nations” that were all taught (100%) and all baptized into the Triune God were “the nations of them which are saved.” And, by the way, I am not making up that phrase, but it is stated that way in Revelation 21, in speaking of “New Jerusalem, the heavenly city,” in Revelation 21:23-24:
And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it…
It is “the nations of them which are saved,” and Matthew 28:19 said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them.” Once we understand that this is referring to God’s elect that are scattered among the physical, political nations, and God obligated Himself to save all nations of the elect, or each and every one of Hie elect. And He did so, and once it was done, they were “the nations of them which are saved.” They were all taught, and they were all baptized, and the Great Commission was a glorious success. Otherwise, it would have been a miserable failure, as some nations are Communist, and they were not being taught. Some nations are Muslim, and they were not being taught. Masses of people were not taught the Bible, nor were they baptized. It would have been a miserable failure if it were referring to political nations rather than the spiritual nation of God’s elect. But, thankfully, it is referring to the nations of the elect, which is why the Great Commission is finished. It was complete, once God had saved the last one to be saved, and then they were all taught and baptized.
And now there is no further need to go forth (with the Gospel unto salvation), and that is why EBible Fellowship does not do those types of tract trips. We do not encourage people to cry for mercy in order that God might save someone because that task is complete. It is done.
Now there is a second “Great Commission” or a second task for God’s people to perform that was exclusively designed by God for the Day of Judgment, and that is to “feed the sheep.” And we are to go forth in whatever way possible. At this time (with the COVID-19 virus), it is not possible for us to go forth physically, but we are still going forth through the electronic medium and, again, we can see the great foresight and wisdom of God. Who can see the future like God? He knows the end from the beginning. He knows all these things, and even though we cannot travel now or even stand on the street corners, yet God has made provision for us. He has provided for His people, and we can still feed the sheep over the electronic medium. And, you know, I think it may be even more fitting than any of us had realized, but I had thought in the past that the name “EBible Fellowship,” which stands for “Electronic Bible Fellowship, was not the greatest of names to have picked, and maybe we could have come up with a better name. But when we think about it, and when we consider how God has used the electronic medium to save the great multitude, and He has also used the electronic medium since that time to feed the great multitude, maybe I was wrong about the name, and it appears that it was a very appropriate and very good name for a ministry that God is using at this time.