Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #9 of Genesis 30, and we are going to read Genesis 30:9-13:

When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son. And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad. And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son. And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.

I will stop reading there.  We are continuing to look the wives and children of Jacob, and now in this fierce competition between the two sisters, Leah and Rachel, Rachel had previously given her handmaid Bilhah to Jacob to be his wife, and Bilhah bore two children.  She had a child named Dan and a child named Naphtali.

Leah had left bearing.  We first read that at the end of Genesis 29, and we will see that the apparent reason she left bearing was because she was not allowed to go in unto her husband Jacob and, therefore, she could not conceive and bear children.  And this was the case until Rachel decided to give her handmaid to Jacob to wife. 

We might ask, “How does that affect this kind of arrangement?”  After Leah bore four sons, one after another, Rachel went to her husband and said, “Give me children, or else I die.”  More than likely, over a period of time she was complaining and getting more and more upset, and the only thing that would appease her was if Jacob said, “I will not go in unto her anymore.  I will just stay with you.”  But then he has to go to Leah and tell her, “Leah, I know we are man and wife.  As you know, I love Rachel, and the reason you and I are married is because your father deceived me.  I know we are married, but this situation is really troubling Rachel.   Because I love her, I am not going to come in unto you any longer.”  So there were no further sexual relations between Jacob and Leah, and Leah left bearing.

But when Rachel came up with her plan to give her maid Bilhah to Jacob to wife, that destroyed the argument and the whole scenario concerning the idea that Jacob loved only Rachel and that it was only Rachel he wanted to be with, and Leah saw this, so she also gave Jacob her handmaid.

A little while later when Rueben found mandrakes in the field, Rachel desired to have some, then Leah struck a deal: “I will give you some of my son’s mandrakes, but I have to go in unto my husband.”

At this point, we have to keep in mind that the multiplication of wives (which is sin) begets more sin, and, certainly, Rachel’s idea of just being alone with her husband has been shattered because now he is also with concubines.  So it loosens her up to the point where she said to Leah, “Go ahead,” and then it goes back to the previous situation, because not only did Leah bear a fifth son, but she also had a sixth son.  This must have meant that the separation period was over, and they were going back to the former situation where occasionally Jacob would go in unto Leah.

But, here, Leah was giving Zilpah to Jacob to wife, just as Rachel gave Bilhah.  The Hebrew word Zilpah is #2153.  According to Strong’s Concordance, it is from an unused word, and that means there is no like word or similar word that it is derived from in the Bible, so we cannot determine what the name Zilpah means, although in Strong’s Concordance and in other commentaries, one person put forth a possible meaning, and because nobody is able to decipher the meaning, everyone picks that up and spreads it around, so everyone starts saying the same thing, which gives a kind of “weight,” but it is just man’s opinion.  And Strong’s opinion is that this word Zilpah means “to trickle.”  And that is all it is – man’s opinion.  It is Strong’s opinion.  It is not in the Bible, so we cannot, and will not, do that.  We will just leave the meaning of her name alone, unless God opens up some information from the Scriptures. 

Then it says in Genesis 30:11:

And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

So Zilpah had a son, and because she was a handmaid or slave to Leah, Leah took ownership of the child, just as Rachel did.  And she named the child, just as Rachel named Bilhah’s two sons.  So Leah said, “A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.”  The name Gad is Strong’s #1410,  and it is pronounced pretty much as it is written in the Hebrew.  We can see the connection being made in the verse between “gad” and a “troop.”  So Gad means “a troop,” and the word “troop” is Strong’s #1409, and “Gad” is #1410, so they are very closely related.  The word “troop” is only found one other place, in Isaiah 65:11-12:

But ye are they that forsake JEHOVAH, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number. Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.

God is obviously speaking to the ungodly, the unsaved.  It could be those that are His people that identify with Him in name only because they have forsaken JEHOVAH and forgotten His holy mountain.  In order to forget, you have to have had some acquaintance or association with the thing being forgotten, so God says of these that have forsaken JEHOVAH and forgot His holy mountain, that they are those that “prepare a table for that troop.”  (This is the only other place this word is found other than Genesis 30:11, concerning Gad.) And, here, it is obviously a negative connotation.  It is used of those that have gone astray, and they are apostate.  They are enemies of God, because they are “they that forsake JEHOVAH, that forgot His holy mountain.”  And, therefore, when they “prepare a table for that troop,” it is clearly implying that the troop is an enemy army of some sort, as we will see that the word “troop” does relate to bands of men and to those that are gathered together like an army. 

Also, they “prepare a table,” but this is not a godly table.  We know there are two different kinds of “tables,” when we look at a spiritual table that is set of the Word of God, the Gospel, and the teaching of the Scripture, which does set forth a table before the readers and hearers of the Bible.  For instance, it says in Psalm 23:4-5:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

The “table” that God prepares would have upon it the “bread” that is Christ, and the “drink” that is Christ, the blood of Christ and the body of Christ.  We partake of the Lord and the salvation He has wrought.  That is the table that God spreads out, and His people dine, spiritually.

But there is also another “table,” and we know this because the Lord tells us about that in 1Corinthians 10:16-21:

The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

That is the other table.  The Lord’s table that God sets forth and furnishes completely has everything that is necessary and sufficient for the spiritual nourishment and welfare of His people.  But there is the “table of devils,” and that would be those that use the Bible and the Gospel, and they misapply it, pervert it, change it, alter it, and make that which is pure impure.  They would turn the grace of God into “works.”  And in doing so, it is like someone who sits down at the Lord’s Table: “Oh, is it not wonderful in our church?  We have the Bible and our pastor teaches faithfully.”  (That is what they think.)  And their pastor says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  There it is, plainly stated in the Word of God, the Bible.”  It is as though he is laying out the Lord’s table before them.  “Here is what you have to do to drink of that blood and eat of that flesh – you have to believe.”  But it is a lie.  It is a deceitful lie, and that is why it is the “table of devils,” because Satan, the Devil, is the father of lies.

God’s table is one of truth, and one that is holy and righteous and just.  It is what the Bible actually teaches.  A table of devils might use some of the things the Bible teaches, but they add a lie or take away something that is true.  God warns in Revelation 22 that anyone who adds or subtracts to the words of His book has done wrong, and is subject to the plagues written in it. 

So that is kind of ominous to see the word “troop” that the Lord uses concerning Gad.  I know Leah is the one who named him and spoke the words that God recorded, but this is the Word of God, the Bible, and God moved her to name him and to make the statement, “a troop cometh.”  And when we follow that word to the only place we can follow it, in Isaiah 65, it is very negative.  It has to do with those that are contrary to God and to the Word of God.

But let us look further into this idea of the “troop,” and we will find more information in Genesis 49, where we have gone regarding Dan and Naphtali.  This was the time when Jacob was about to die, and he was being moved of God to make statements concerning each of his sons, and we read of Gad in Genesis 49:19:

Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

A troop shall overcome him.  Here, the word “troop” is Strong’s #1416, so it is not the identical word that was in our verse in Genesis 30:11.  It is a related word.  This word, #1416, would be pronounced “ghed-ood'.  It is close, but it is a different Hebrew word.  Again, it says, “Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.”  And, by the way, the phrase “at the last” does not have to do with “time,” as the chapter 49 began, by saying, in Genesis 49:1:

And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.

And that has to do with “time,” and that is a different word than is being used, where it says, “but he shall overcome at the last.”  The phrase “at the last” is actually a translation of a Hebrew word that means “heel” or “heels,” like Jacob grabbing hold of Esau’s heel.  It is the same word we saw in Genesis 49:17, regarding Dan: “Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.”  And that is the same word being used in Genesis 49:19, and that makes it a very difficult verse.

We are jumping ahead anyway, and I am glad because that means that I do not have to explain every aspect of that verse at that time.  And that should give us some time, as we are only in chapter 30, and this is chapter 49, so check back later in about five years, Lord willing, and we should be going through chapter 49.

But the word “overcome” is also a related to the word “Gad.”  You know, “gad” and “troop” are words that seem to have many variations, and there are several numbers in the concordance, like #1408, #1409, #1410, #1416, and maybe one or two others, that are related words.  Well, “overcome” is another related word.  It is #1464, and it would be pronounced, “goode,” with a “u” sound, and it is only found three times in the Old Testament – twice in this verse: “Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.”  The third time is in Habakkuk 3:15-16:

Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses, through the heap of great waters. When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself, that I might rest in the day of trouble: when he cometh up unto the people, he will invade them with his troops.

The word “invade” is a translation of the same Hebrew word, #1464, that is also translated as “overcome.”  By the way, as far as I could tell, the word “troops” does not appear in the original text, but the word “invade” carries that idea of troops, so the translators added it, I believe.  So that brings us back to Gad: “…a troop shall overcome him.”  And that word translated as “troop” is a word that is found several times in the Old Testament.  And, again, this is #1416.  (I know I am giving you several different Strong’s numbers, so it is a good thing it is being recorded, because you can always pause the recording and  check out the words in the concordance.)   But this word “troop” is found in 1Samuel 30:16, but I will read the first couple of verses so we can see what is going on.  It says in 1Samuel 30:1-2:

And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

Then further down, we find the word “troop” in 1Samuel 30:8:

And David enquired at JEHOVAH, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

This is actually a nice historic parable picturing Christ, typified by David, who takes captivity captive, because David’s wives and the wives of his men had been taken captive by this enemy troop.  And David pursued them and delivered all the captives.  None were slain.  And that is a historical parable teaching that glorious truth that Christ took captivity captive, and that identifies with the saving of His elect people. 

So this troop or enemy army would represent Satan’s kingdom.  Since we have gone from the day of salvation to the Day of Judgment, there are no longer any captives that are God’s elect.  But all the non-elect are still captive to sin and Satan, but as far as those that were to be delivered, there are none at this point.  And, yet, the Bible does indicate that the sinner was taken captive at Satan’s will and held in the dark dungeon of sin, bound about with the cords of his own iniquity, and so forth.  We know how God pictures this.  Those that He saved were in bondage, just as the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, servants to Pharaoh and slaves that had to do his bidding.  But then God delivered Israel out of Egypt.  That is the typical picture.  Therefore, the troops that held the captives would point to the emissaries of Satan; they are in Satan’s army.  They would identify with Gog (Satan) and Magog (the unsaved of the nations), especially those that entered into the churches and congregations and became the “tares” that Satan sowed among the wheat over the course of the New Testament church age.

So we can see that picture with the word “troop,” and, again, it is a negative connection.  It is not a good thing at all, as far as the spiritual meaning being applied to Gad.