Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #34 of Genesis 31, and we will read Genesis 31:52-55:

This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount. And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

We are going to move on to verse 53.  We spent some time looking at verse 52, regarding the heap of stones and the altar that was set up by Jacob and his brethren.  Then Laban said that he was the one who cast it between them, and we discussed how Laban, a type of Satan and representing unsaved mankind, is responsible for the casting of the stones, the “heap” that has brought the judgment of God.  And God is witness – His Word is witness between these two and their houses or kingdoms in regard to this covenant.

We saw that Laban said, “I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me,” and how that tied into Luke 16 in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and the great gulf fixed in Judgment Day, because this is the spiritual time that is in view here.  It is the time of the wrath of God, and the Word of God is witness to these things as the Word carries out the judgment of God on this earth.

We read in Genesis 31:53:

The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us.

We continually see this reference to God as the Judge or to a witness, and that is what a witness would do, as we saw in Genesis 31:50:

If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.

Again, it said, “The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us.”  And that is what “Galeed” means – “heap of witness.”  Laban was the one that made reference to the God of Abraham, which is fine.  And then He added, “and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us.”   On the other hand, it says, “And Jacobsware by the fear of his father Isaac.”  We wonder why Jacob did not also sware by the God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father.

As Laban said these things that would be recorded (in the Bible), it was, therefore, according to God’s will that these words be written down.  And they reveal something, as Laban used the plural name for God in referring to “the God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father.”  It is the same plural name.  It is “Elohi,” which is a form of  “Elohim,” and it is the same Strong’s #430 in the concordance.  Now it could be that he was referring to the true God of the Bible, “Elohim,” as God uses that Hebrew name as a plural name to identify Himself.  But whenever it is used of God, the King James translators correctly translated in the singular: “God created the heavens and the earth,” and they did not translate it, “Gods created the heavens and the earth.”  So the proper translation is God.  Here, the King James translators translated it as, “The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father,” and they translated all three as singular “God.”  So that is fine.  They understand this Hebrew word, and they had already come across it many times in the book of Genesis.

But we wonder, when Laban used the plural word, did he have in mind the singular reference?  Remember, we read earlier in this chapter when Laban caught up with Jacob, it said in Genesis 31:30:

And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

And, here, once again, we have the Hebrew word “Elohim,” Strong’s #430, but it is in the form of “Elohi,” and the “mem” is not in the original.  And here, Laban clearly had in view his household gods.  These were his personal gods that were in his family, and maybe that is why he is referring to “the God,” and it is the same word, so he very well could have been referring to the “Gods of Abraham, and the Gods of Nahor, and the Gods of their father.”  And that may explain why Jacob, knowing Laban and the fact that he just accused him of stealing his gods, did not swear by the ones that Laban calls upon, but he swore “by the fear of his father Isaac,” and the “fear of Isaac” is JEHOVAH God of the Bible.  That is the One that Isaac feared, so Jacob was swearing by the true God.

One thing that fits with this idea that Laban was referring to plural gods rather than the singular God of the Bible that goes by “Elohim,” (a plural name) is that he used the word “judge,” as he said in Genesis 31:53:

The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us.

This word “judge” is in the “third person masculine plural,” so it would agree with the plural use of “Elohim,” but there are other places in the Bible where God uses “Elohim,” and then if there is a verb in the context, it is “singular,” so it is not necessary to use a plural verb when using the word “Elohim.”  So it is as though Laban was saying, “The gods of Abraham, and the gods of Nahor, the gods of their father, they judge between us.”  They judge.  If you would translate the plural word “judge,” you would use “they,” and not “he,” which would be singular.  But saying, “they judge” would be incorrect because, again, God is one God.  He is three Persons, but one God.  The Bible insists upon that, and it is often not understood by those that are not truly God’s people, and Laban is not truly one of God’s people.

Now I will give an example of using a verb along with “Elohim,” by going to Genesis 31:42:

Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

Again, in this verse, it is “Elohim” in all three references.  The word “rebuked” is not plural.  It is “third person masculine singular.”  And yet, it is in relationship to “Elohim,” the plural name for God.  But it is correctly in the “singular,” so I think that indicates that in verse 53 where the word “judge” is plural, it would relate to “they judge,” and that was what Laban was trying to say.  And therefore Jacob swore “by the fear of his father Isaac.”  He did not get into that, and he wanted nothing to do with that, but he focused on the true, and one God of the Bible. 

Let us go on to Genesis 31:54:

Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.

Let us think about this.  Again, what time or season is in view on the spiritual level with this account?  I am sure you know, because we have repeated it again, and again.  It is Judgment Day.  It is the end of the day of salvation.  Jacob has found his bride.  Jacob has taken his flocks from Laban, and he was headed for the Promised Land.  But now they are on mount Galeed, and Laban had caught up with him, and they have made their pillar and heap of stones.  And there they ate.  It is interesting that we read back in Genesis 31:45-46:

And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat there upon the heap.

So they had already eaten there, but now they are eating there again.  Again, Laban had said, “This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.”  Then he called on the gods of Abraham, the gods of Nahor, and the gods of their fathers.  By the way, a great many people who have some identification through Abraham do call upon God, like many of the nations we read about in the Old Testament, like Ammon, Moab, Edom, Median, and other nations that have relationship through Ishmael or through Esau or through Abraham’s wife Keturah, who he had after Sarah died.  So just because a man of that time called upon “the gods of Abraham” does not make him a true believer.  Many can trace their descent back to Abraham.  Even today, there are tremendous numbers of people that are descendants of Ishmael, and Ishmael was a son of Abraham.  And many of these people are involved with the religion of Islam, so they can call upon the gods of Abraham, but that does not mean anything.

Again, it said, “The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount…

The word “offered” and “sacrificed” are the same Hebrew word, so it literally says he “sacrificed sacrifice.”  And normally, when we read of sacrifice in the Bible, who is in view?  It is the Lord Jesus Christ, especially if it is a “true man” or a true child of God.  So Jacob was bringing up the Lord Jesus Christ in a figure.  He is bringing up the “Lamb of God,” the Gospel of the Bible, which has everything to do with Christ’s sacrifice and atoning death at the foundation of the world, as well as His demonstration of that atonement in time at the cross in 33 A. D.  This is all pointing to the sacrifice of God, and God’s salvation program was carried out according to those specific persons for whom Christ died.  These are the blessed and chosen people whose sins the Lord took upon Himself, and He bore them, and He was smitten for those sins, and He suffered and died, paying for those sins in full.  The “fires of death” washed them away, and He cleansed His people for all eternity for their transgression against the Law of God.

So, of course, that is key and central to everything regarding Judgment Day.  Christ’s atoning work has been accomplished in full, as His shed blood at the foundation of the world was applied to all the elect.  It was as though the blood was in a large basin, and over the course of world history the Word of God would go forth, and then the Word “dipped” into that basin of blood, and it was applied through the hearing of the Word to this elect sinner or that elect sinner.  They were given ears to hear, and they were given new hearts or new spirits.  And this was repeated, again, and again, throughout history, until May 21, 2011. 

So the sacrifice in the Day of Judgment and the blood that has to be shed is now a different story.  The shedding of blood has to do with the type of gospel that is in view, and over all past history, it was the blood of Christ that had been shed for His chosen people that were predestined to obtain the grace and mercy of God.  But once Judgment Day came, the sacrifice of God is no longer the Lord Jesus Christ, but it is the sacrifice of the unsaved inhabitants of the world because they have sinned, but they have no Saviour.  They have no one to intercede and stand in on their behalf before an angry God, so they become their own sacrifice as God pours out His furious anger upon them, shedding their blood.  And that will be complete, finally, when they are dead on the last day.  The blood represents “life,” and they will die and give their lives, and they will never come back because they are not God.  Only Almighty God  has incredible power, even to defeat death.  But they are not God.  They are just little, finite, rebellious creatures that have sinned against their Creator, and once struck dead, they will remain dead for evermore.  It will be eternal death, the second death, and that will be the sacrifice or atonement.  And atonement is really what sacrifice teaches us about as Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount.  It is the atonement coming to the forefront, and here it is at the time of Judgment Day.  And at the same time, it goes on to say in Genesis 31:54:

… and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread.

He called his brethren, and Jacob is a type of Christ.  He did not call Laban, Laban’s sons, or Laban’s family members.  Jacob called his own brethren, specifically, to eat bread.  What does that remind us of?  It should sound familiar.  It reminds us of God’s plan in the Day of Judgment to “feed my sheep.”  If we go to John 21, there was a great catch of fish, and the spiritual picture of that great catch of fish is that they represent that great multitude.  The greatness of the catch ties in with the greatness of the multitude saved out of Great Tribulation.  Remember, the Bible tells us about two main fishing trips.  The first trip we can read about is in Luke 5, and there was a great catch of fish, but the net broke.  The second trip is in John 21, and there was a great catch of fish, but the net did not break. 

When we understand that Christ spoke in parables and that the whole Bible is a parable, and we recognize that fish represent men…and it does not take too long to look into the Bible to find that out.  Remember what Jesus said to the disciples when He originally called them when they were fishers.  He said, “Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.”  They were fishers of men because men are typified by fish in the Bible, and the sea is a picture of the wrath of God.  The fish are in the sea, just as men are under the wrath of God, and then the Gospel went “fishing” in the day of salvation to catch some of the fish.  When you go fishing, you never catch all the fish, and if you are like me, you only catch a few.  And that is what God did in His salvation program as He took captivity captive and saved a remnant of the whole of mankind.  It was like God went into the sea and took out a few of the fish, but the numbers of mankind are so great that the few could still be as many as 200 million.

But at the end God reserved the best until last, and He saved the great multitude out of Great Tribulation in the second main fishing expedition, which identifies with the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  So these fish come into view, and once they were caught, we read in John 21:9-13:

As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.

The fish came out of the sea and they were drawn, and that was after the Tribulation.  And after the Tribulation is the time of Judgment Day.  And simultaneously with this, the Lord has set a table for them, and they are to have some bread and some fish.  The same God who would have His people feed the sheep is also feeding them for their work, and He is revealing to them the truths of the Bible, as “bread” in the Bible typifies true doctrine.  So He is really opening up to them the revelation of His righteous judgment so that they will be able to reveal the same information to that great multitude.

We do not have any more time in this study, but Lord willing, next time we will continue to look at Jacob and his brethren eating bread upon the heap.