Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #5 of Genesis 33, and we are continuing to look at Genesis 33:4:

And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

In our last study we were beginning to ask some questions regarding the word “neck.”  What does it represent, spiritually, in the Bible?  When it comes to this particular word, it is rather difficult, and I am not sure we will come to a definitive answer, but we will see that God does liken the “neck” to a particular thing.

But before that, in our last study we closed by remembering that the human body has a neck, and God likens all those He has saved to His body, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the head.  We were discussing John the Baptist.  Let us go to Mark 6 where we read of the death of John the Baptist, in Mark 6:27-29:

And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse, and laid it in a tomb.

I mentioned that the word “corpse” has the Greek word “pto'-mah,” underlying it.  That word is #4430 in Strong’s Greek concordance, and that word is found five times. It is found once here in Mark 6, and it is used once in Matthew 24:28: “For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”   And it is found three times in Revelation 11, so let us go to Revelation 11 where we read of the two witnesses that had finished their testimony, and it says in Revelation 11:7-9:

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

Three times this word “pto'-mah” is used here out of the five times it is found.  We know this is the judgment on the churches during the Great Tribulation, and it is the same context as Matthew 24 where it speaks of the “carcases.”  And it is used only one more place in reference to John the Baptist, so John is a figure of the church at its end, and when the church age came to an end, off goes the “head.” 

And who is the head?  We could look at a few verses that reveal this, and this would be the spiritual definition provided by the Bible.  The “head” is Christ.  Christ is the head of the church and the Saviour of the body, so at the time of the end the Spirit of Christ, who had dwelt in the midst of the candlesticks throughout the church age, departed out, leaving the churches and congregations of the world without a “head,” and they were immediately a “corpse.”  They were like John the Baptist, and you cannot live without the head.  You can lose a hand, a leg, or an eye, but you cannot lose the head.  It is impossible for the body to survive without a head.

And in order to sever the head from the body, where would you cut?  You cut at the neck.  The neck is that part of the body that joins together the head with the rest of the body.  It is a connecting piece.  So that is interesting, and it is true that the neck is that which ties together the body with its head, or all the elect of God with the Lord Jesus Christ.  The “lifeline” or connector is the neck.  So what Herod did through the executioner was to sever the connection at the point of the neck, and the body would then die even though it still has a neck.

So, again, what can we know about the “neck” from the Bible?  Let us go to Song of Solomon 4:5:

Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

In verse 4, we see that it says, “Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury…”  We know that the Song of Solomon is a parable that teaches about the love relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and His bride, the eternal church comprised of all those He has saved.  So He describes the neck as being “like the tower of David builded for an armoury.”  So we can take away the idea that the neck is like the tower of David.

Now let us go to Song of Solomon 7:1-3:

How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince's daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman. Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins. Thy neck is as a tower of ivory;

Here, the woman is again in view, and her neck is like “a tower of ivory.”  Earlier we read the neck was like “the tower of David.”  So the consistent thing is that the neck is like a “tower,” so if we look up the word “tower,” maybe that will help us understand the word “neck.”  And this would be the “neck” of the body of Christ because Solomon, the king of peace, is a type of Christ, and His bride would be those that are saved.  So the body of Christ is in view, and the neck is said to be like a “tower of ivory” or the “tower of David.”

Let us turn to Proverbs 18:10:

The name of JEHOVAH is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

The name of JEHOVAH is like a strong tower, and when we read of this name for God in the Bible it really ties in with all the attributes and characteristics that make God who He is, and that is quite a lot.  That is an enormous connection to the word “tower,” but it seems to relate to that.  So God’s name or “all that is God” is as a strong tower.  And that would be the Lord Jesus Christ.  That would be the Word of God, and the fact that God is our help, and all the wonderful things the Bible tells us regarding God’s strength and power: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  And the Word of God strengthens me.  And this is all in view regarding the name of God which is like a strong tower.

In Psalm 61, it says in Psalm 61:1-3:

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

In ancient times when a city wanted to protect itself, they would build a wall, and joined to the wall would be towers.  Jerusalem had several towers, and these towers would go up high.  (Remember that they built the tower of Babel to reach up to the heavens.)  So the tower would shoot up far above the wall to enable the watchman to look out to see if the enemy were coming.  It was a much better vantage point.  I think it was King Uzziah who built some armaments, and he put them on the towers to shoot arrows, as well as other weaponry that was used against enemies. (2Chronicles 26:15) 

So a tower became a place of protection.   If you were in a tower, it would be very hard for an enemy to defeat or harm you.  So God Himself is the Rock that is higher than I.  And the Lord Jesus Christ completely identifies with the whole Bible, and it says, “ For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.  So if we are a true, elect child of God, we are in Christ.  We are in God, just as the previous verse had said: “The name of JEOHVOAH is a strong tower.”  Therefore we are protected against the enemies of God who are our enemies as well, including Satan, evil spiritual forces, and the unsaved inhabitants of the earth.  Ultimately, they cannot injure or harm us in our soul existence regarding the gift of eternal life, so that is a “strong tower” against the enemy.  We have great safety and security in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And keep in mind why we are looking at the word “tower.”  It said, “Thy neck is like the tower of David,” and the name “David” means “beloved,” and he is a type of the Lord Jesus who is the beloved of God.  So it could be said, “Thy neck is like the tower of Christ, the Word of God,” and, again, that gives great security.

We find this same Hebrew word for “tower” translated in a very different way in the book of Nehemiah in chapter 8, and this is the chapter in which Ezra and the people of Jerusalem were going to observe the feast of Tabernacles, from the first day to the last day.  We have gone here often before, as Ezra was reading from the book of the Law, and thirteen men caused the people to understand.  We discussed how that ties into the end of time (after 13,000 years of earth’s history) when God opens the Scriptures and causes His people to understand.  But here we find that Ezra was going to read from the Scriptures, and it says in Nehemiah 8:1-3:

And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which JEHOVAH had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

There is a very heavy emphasis on the book of the Law, which is the Word of God, the Bible.  Ezra the priest read the Law, and the people of God were attentive to the Law, and the whole Bible is the Law of God.  And in our chapter, Esau typifies the Law, as well as Christ typifying the Word.  They are two sides of the same coin.  Then we read in Nehemiah 8:4:

And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood…

That is the same word as “tower,” where it said the name of JEHOVAH is like a strong tower.  And we can get a picture of how this happened.  There were hundreds (if not thousands) of people, and that would be a lot of people to reach by voice without a megaphone.  At least I do not think they had megaphones back then, but maybe they spoke through a ram’s horn or something to magnify the sound.  But if there are thousands of people, the people in the back would be at ground level and not able to see him, so they built a pulpit of wood.  We do not know how high it was, but it must have shot up into the air quite a bit in order for God to have used this word for “tower.”  Ezra the scribe stood upon a tower of wood.  It could have 15 or 20 or 30 feet high (just as gallows were built), and there would be steps he could walk up until he reached the top.  There would have been a podium there were he could rest the scroll, and then he spoke to the people, and the people could see him high above, and he would have had to project his voice very loudly, and the people heard.  Then there were additional men that stood by, and maybe they were out a distance, and they caused the people to understand: “Here is what the Law said, and here is how we are to understand it.”

Anyway, there was a tower of wood upon which was the Word.  And all the people there could be likened to the body of Christ, can they not?  And there was the tower, and we know, “Thy neck is like a tower,” and upon the tower was the Word, the head.  Christ was proclaimed to the people, and it is almost as though the “neck” is connecting the people with the Law of God or the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.  At least that is one way to understand the spiritual identification between “neck” and “tower,” and that would seem to fit in.

Let us go back to Genesis 33:4:

And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.

He fell on his neck, which identifies with the name of JEHOVAH and all that is God.  It identifies with David, who is Christ.  So here it a type of the Law meeting a type of Christ and falling upon his neck.

And then they kissed.  Remember that in our last study we looked at the word “kissed” in Psalm 85:10:

Mercy and truth are met together…

Jacob and Esau are finally coming together, and they meet after 40 years.

Then it goes on to say in Psalm 85:10:

…righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

And when you kiss, you are in agreement.  Again, if you do not think that the Law and Christ meet, Psalm 85:10 is speaking of that kind of encounter where both represent God, and yet, they are kissing one another.

The Hebrew word translated as “kissed” is also translated as “touched” in Ezekiel 3:13:

I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another…

That is the same word as “kissed,” and the vision that Ezekiel was seeing is a representation of God.  He saw it in chapter 1, and he will see it again in chapter 10.  Let us go back to Ezekiel 1 where we see this appearance of God to the prophet Ezekiel, and it is basically summed up in Ezekiel 1:28:

As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of JEHOVAH. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

And going back to Ezekiel 3, it says in Ezekiel 3:12:

Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of JEHOVAH from his place.

The appearance in chapter 1 was also as the glory of JEHOVAH.  Then it says in Ezekiel 3:13:

I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched (kissed) one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.

So this was taking place within the Godhead or within the Person of God where there was kissing with one another, and when we search out what it means to kiss, we can go to Psalm 2 where we read an interesting statement.  It says in Psalm 2:12:

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Kiss the son, lest He be angry, and you perish if you fail to kiss Him.

It says in 1Kings 19:18:

Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

Here, again, there is a link between knees bowing (in this case unto Baal), and every mouth which had not kissed him.  So these seven thousand represented all those who had not bowed the knee to Baal.  They had not worshipped him or kissed him.  You see, it really relates to being in submission, humbling oneself in worship.

Yes – we should kiss the Son lest He be angry if we do not come broken before the Lord Jesus Christ.   If God has not become our Saviour and if He has not granted us forgiveness of sins by washing them all away, then we will continue to serve sin and Satan, and we will not have “kissed the Son.”  That is, we will not have bowed down to Him.  Instead, we will have kissed Satan or Baal and worshipped him, so it is one or the other.  No man can serve two masters, but every man will serve one.  Who we serve depends on if we are a true child of God, or not, depending on whether God has delivered us from our sinful condition. 

So righteousness and peace have kissed each other, and that is what we are seeing in Genesis 33.  There is this submission on the part of Jacob toward Esau because Esau represents the Law, and Christ is under the Law.  He has bowed the knee, and, in effect, they have kissed one another, and that is what we see here: “And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.”

We will have to pick this up when we get together, Lord willing, in our next Bible study.