Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #16 of Genesis 30, and we are going to read Genesis 30:21:

And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

In our last study, we began to discuss “daughters” in the Bible, and how God refers to daughters as part of those that He saves.  We were looking at some Scriptures, especially in the book Isaiah, that had to do with God calling and bringing His sons and daughters from afar.  They are a picture of those that were saved, because in our time we know we are now looking back at God’s salvation program wherein they were saved.   And then they will be brought, which is (occurring) in our time during the prolonged period of Judgment Day, and we can see this in Isaiah 60:1-4:

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of JEHOVAH is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but JEHOVAH shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

And there is the reference to sons that shall come from far, and daughters that shall be nursed at thy side.  It is indicating the great multitude that will be drawn by the Lord Jesus Christ, and they will come – people of all nationalities, all nations of the earth, all races, and both male and female.  They are “sons and daughters,” and they will come to Christ.  They will come to the Word, as the Word cannot be distinguished from Christ.  They will come to the Word that the elect left on the earth are proclaiming and, in that sense, they would come to the elect themselves.  Maybe we will not see them personally, but as the people of God band together and send forth the truth of the Bible in the Day of Judgment into the nations – however that happens – which we will leave in God’s hands, but when they come to that truth, they are also coming to the elect and the light of Christ that has risen upon them.  Remember, the Bible tells us in Revelation 18 that Babylon is fallen, and Babylon is a representation of all the nations of the world, and then it says in Revelation 18:1:

And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

The Lord Jesus Christ is in view, and the earth is lightened with His glory in the time of the world’s final judgment, and that is the light being referred to in these verses.  So these “sons and daughters” will come to Christ, the Word: “..thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.”   The word “side” is a word that we find in Genesis 6, concerning the ark, and it says in Genesis 6:16:

A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

We know the ark is a figure.  Yes, it was an actual ark that God commissioned Noah to build.  It was built, and it did sail upon the flood waters, so we are not saying it was not an actual ark when we say it was a “figure,” but it is also a historical parable.  It is a true historical event, but at the same time, it is a historical parable that typifies Christ, as all those inside the ark were delivered from the wrath of God pictured by the flood waters.  In order to get into the ark, they would have had to go through the door, and the “door” is said to be Christ in John 10:9: “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved…”  He is the door of salvation.  Likewise, all who entered through the door of the ark were saved from the flood and delivered, so it is significant that the Lord said, “and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof.”  They had to go through the “side” into the door to enter into the ark.  And, again, that is Christ.  Remember when the Lord Jesus was on the cross and His side was pierced and out flowed water and blood.  Also, when God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, God opened up his side and took out a rib, and from the rib He made the woman.  So the woman came out of the “side” and the blood and water flowed from the pierced “side” of the Lord Jesus.  And that blood and water is another spiritual picture, going forth and finding the bride of Christ, and every elect person that heard the Gospel was brought into the safety of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The safety and security of God’s salvation came through the “side.”  And Isaiah 60:4 said, “…thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.” 

We read in Isaiah 66:10-13:

Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith JEHOVAH, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

Do you see that beautiful language?  God draws the picture of this heavenly Jerusalem and these young ones are receiving suck and they are “borne upon her sides and be dandled upon her knees.”  It is a really a lovely picture of God’s care and comfort of His people,  So, too, this is true of Isaiah 60:4:

… thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

This language of “sons and daughters” fits in with what we read in our last study in Isaiah 49:22:

Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles…

And keep in mind that the word “Gentiles” is the word for “nations.”  Again, it says in Isaiah 49:22-23:

Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am JEHOVAH: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

Again, this has everything to do with our present time, and this is the time when Christ has ascended His throne on the earth, and he is ruling all nations.  Satan is no longer ruling.  It is the Lord Jesus, and every knee will bow to Him, in one way or another, and that is what the second part of the verse refers to: “they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth.”  But in the first part of this verse it says, “And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers…”  We do not see it in the English translation, but when we see the two words translated as “nursing,” they are two different Hebrew words.  Where it says, “nursing mothers,” the word “nursing” is Strong’s #3243, and it is translated as “suck” in some places, like 1Samuel 1 where it refers to Hannah.  It says in 1Samuel 1:23:

And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only JEHOVAH establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him.

That makes sense because a woman, a female, gives “suck” to her baby, and that is the word, #3243 in Strong’s Hebrew Concordance.  But the first reference to “nursing” is where it says, “And kings shall be thy nursing fathers.”  And that strikes us as being odd, and that is why we started looking into this, because we do not normally think of fathers nursing their sons and daughters, but God said, “And kings shall be thy nursing fathers,” and this word for “nursing” is Strong’s #539.  We looked at a verse in Numbers last time, and we will go back there again.  But this word is also translated as “faithful” and “believe” or “believed,” as well as “nursing.”  For example, it says in Deuteronomy7:9:

Know therefore that JEHOVAH thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

God is the faithful God, and that word “faithful” is the word translated as “nursing” in our verse.  God is the “nursing” God, and that is true in the sense that God cares for His young.  He is a nursing Father.  He comforts and cares and provides for His young ones.  Actually, we can see how this is by the translation of this word here as “faithful.”  It is through His faithfulness and provision in spiritual matters.   Through His Word, He does this for His sons and daughters.  This Hebrew word, #539, is also translated as “believe.”  I am just giving an example of each use, but it is used several more times in this way, where it is used in Genesis 15.  And it is translated more often as “faithful” or “believe,” than as “nursing,” which seems to be kind of an outlier.  I guess I can give a better breakdown.  This word, #539, is found a total of over 100 times, and it is translated as “believe” or “believed,” 44 times; as “faithful,” 20 times; as “establish,” seven times; and as “trust,” five times, and so forth.  It is also translated as “bring up,” four times; and as “nurse” a couple of times; and as “be nursed,” once; and as some other words.  So “nursing” is not its usual meaning.  It would more often be “believe,” or “faithful.”   We read in Genesis 15:6:

And he believed in JEHOVAH; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

We will not get into that subject, but we know that it (belief) being counted to him (Abraham) is not referring to Abraham’s belief but to the faith of Christ.  Again, we will not go into detail about that, but that is what the Bible teaches.  It says, “And he believed in JEHOVAH,” and the word “believed” is our word.  And this is also the word that we find in Numbers 11, again, when the people were in rebellion against Moses, and they were grieved because God continued to feed them with the “light bread” falling from heaven; they despised the manna, and they were crying.  It says in Numbers 11:10-12:

Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of JEHOVAH was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased. And Moses said unto JEHOVAH, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?

Here, Moses is troubled at what was happening, and he does not feel qualified to take care of these people, so he spoke to God and said, “Have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child…?” Now what is interesting is that this word “nursing” is the word #539 that is translated as “nursing” in Isaiah 49:22, regarding “nursing fathers.”  Then the word “sucking” is the other word translated as “nursing” in Isaiah 49:22, and that we saw in 1Samuel 1:23 where Hannah gave her son “suck.”  That is the same word, #3243.  So we see both words here.  So he is to “carry them in they bosom.”  The nursing father or the faithful father or the believing father is to carry the child who is on the “milk,” a young child (a son or a daughter).  And he is to do so as “a nursing father beareth the sucking child.”  It is not as if the child is taking suck from his breast, but from the mother’s breast, and it is the father’s role to carry the child.

I remember when our children were young, and whenever we went somewhere, I had a backpack and the youngest went into the backpack, and I would carry the child to the store or event, or wherever it was.  And it was a nursing child or a sucking child, but it was not nursing of me, but of my wife, and I think that is the picture God is using here to lay this out.

One other thing regarding Moses…and in delivering Israel, Moses was a type of Christ, as well as a type of the Word of God, so he can represent the Law, which is the Word of God.  And the Word of God can be likened to the female that provides suck, or it can represent Christ as the “nursing father.” 

But it said here, “carry them in thy bosom,” and the word “bosom” is found in Ruth 4:16.  After Ruth had a child with Boaz, we read of her mother-in-law Naomi, in Ruth 4:16:

And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it.

This is an interesting Scripture because if we read this without looking at the word “nurse”…and we have just seen that there are two Hebrew words translated as “nurse,” in Isaiah 49, and one had to do with a woman giving “suck.”  But Naomi was an older woman, so it seems a little strange that Naomi would take the child and give suck to it when the mother was capable of doing that, as she was a younger woman.  But I do not think we have to look at it that way because the word “nurse” is Strong’s #539, the same word that was used where it said “nursing fathers” in Numbers 11 and in Isaiah 49.  The same word is translated as “faithful,” “trust,” “believe,” and so forth.  So it is really saying that Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom, just as we would picture a grandmother in her rocking chair, holding her grandson and rocking back and forth with the child on her bosom.  She became “nurse” to the child; that is she watched over him faithfully, and she gave comfort and care to him, and she did everything she could to provide for the child’s needs.  But she did not give it suck.  If she had given it suck, we would have seen the other Hebrew word, like we saw in the case of Hannah, and so forth.  So that helps us to understand these Hebrew words.

If we go back to the book of Isaiah, we also find the word “bosom” in Isaiah 40.  It is referring to Christ coming in judgment, as we will see from the language used here.  It says in Isaiah 4:10:

Behold, the Lord JEHOVAH will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him…

Remember Revelation 19:15 which says that Christ will rule the nations with a rod of iron.  His arm will rule.  Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 4:10:

… behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

And that also fits with the language used in Revelation 22:12:

And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

This is happening now as God is evaluating whether they have done good or evil.

Then it says in Isaiah 4:11:

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Here, we find language that ties in with the whole idea of the great multitude and the command to feed the sheep.  And it also it ties into the idea of Israel coming out of Egypt, that great multitude that was delivered from bondage from the house of Pharaoh (a type of Satan), and God was leading them to the Promised Land, and there are Scriptures that speak of God leading them like a flock during that 40-year period of the wilderness sojourn.  And we can connect that to the 40 (inclusive) years fro 1994 to the year 2033.

So here, the Good Shepherd is gathering the lambs with His arm and carrying them in His bosom.  He is going to protect them, care for them, and provide for them.  He is comforting them.  All those things relate to this word “bosom.”

We have run out of time in this study.  Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study, we will look at how the word “bosom” is used, especially in the New Testament, and we will see what we can learn about that.