Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #23 of Genesis 33, and we are reading Genesis 33:19-20:

And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel.

I will stop reading there.  We have been carefully looking at the various statements in these two verses.  Jacob bought a parcel of a field, and there he spread his tent.  In our last study, we discussed the spreading of the tent.  We saw how the tent is a tabernacle, and God uses “tabernacle” interchangeably with “house,” as far as the house of God is concerned.

When we were looking at the language in Isaiah 54 about enlarging the tent, and about there being many more children of the desolate, we saw that it fit in with God’s plan to save the great multitude during the second part of the Great Tribulation period when He sent forth the Latter Rain into the world.

As we continue here in Genesis 33, it goes on to say in Genesis 33:19:

And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father…

I mentioned in our last study that the word “Hamor,” as far as its consonants and vowel points, is identical to the word for an “ass” or “donkey,” and God does relate men to the donkey where necessary, like where we read in Exodus 13:13: “And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb…”  It is just a figure of what happened in God’s salvation program where men must be redeemed with the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.  So as far as Hamor is concerned, we could say he is representing man, and that is not just based on his name because it is not as clear as some other names like Edom, which is “Adam” or “man.”  But another reason is due to the fact that Hamor is selling a parcel of a field, and Jacob is purchasing a field just like Abraham did earlier in the book of Genesis. 

So Jacob bought the parcel of a field at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.  The word “Shechem” is a related word to “shoulder,” so we can relate “shoulder” to Christ, as the government would be upon His shoulder.  I am not really sure what Shechem is pointing to here.  But Jacob bought the field for a hundred pieces of money, and with the number “100,” we see multiples of “10,” as “10 x 10” equals “100,” so we would be directed to understand that the completeness of the purchase is in view.  Again, the “field” is the “world,” and at the foundation of the world Christ bore the sins of His people, and God smote Him, and He died, making complete payment for the sins of those chosen people, the elect children of God.  By paying for those sins, the Lord Jesus established the world, especially the world to come, which is the new heaven and the new earth.

You know, it is interesting that when we look at the word “hundred,” specifically, it is not used too often in the Bible, but it is used a couple of times concerning this field.  We saw earlier that it said in Joshua 24:32:

And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

Here, again, it is a hundred pieces of silver, and it is the same as a hundred pieces of money.  It is just a different English translation of the same Hebrew word.  And in a couple of other places, we can read of a hundred talents of silver, but it is not really that often that the exact number “100” comes up, but we do read in one of Christ’s parables in Matthew 18 that the number “100” is in view.  But first there is the number “10,000,” if we begin reading in Matthew 18:23-27:

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

Here, we see that the figure of 10,000 talents identifies with the debt owed to the king.  And, of course, it is really pointing to the sin debt of mankind, as everyone has offended and transgressed the Law of God and owes this debt to God and the Law of God.  The Law of God has been offended and it demands payment for the offense of sin, and the Law also requires that the payment be death, the complete end of the individual’s life.  He has to give his life completely.  We know, of course, that in God’s magnificent and merciful Gospel program, the Lord Jesus paid that debt for certain ones, His chosen people. 

So here, we see this individual owed 10,000 talents, and when he could not pay, the king was moved with compassion and forgave him the whole debt.  But then we read of the same individual in Matthew 18:28:

But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.

Again, I think this account reveals that the number “10” is significant.  By the number “10,000,” we read that a much greater debt was owed to the king, who represents God, than the fellow servant owed.  But it still involved owing debt.  And the multiples of “10” in regard to the debt shows that the price of 100 pieces of money to purchase the parcel of ground is indicating that we are on the right track in understanding that this payment pictures what Christ paid at the foundation of the world in order to save His people.  He paid the sin debt of all the elect, thereby purchasing the “field,” and He will own everything in the field as far as this world is concerned, as well as the world to come.  We also saw in Joshua 24:32 that the parcel of ground is part of the inheritance, so it all fits together.

Let us go on to Genesis 33:20:

And he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel.

“Elelohe” is a compound word.  The word “'êl” is God, and “Elohe” is also God.  It is actually the same Hebrew word for “el-o-heem',” so it is God, God of Israel.  He called it “Elelohe-Israel,” God, the God of Israel, and it is really beautiful that God uses both the singular “'êl” for His name and  the plural “el-o-heem',” but in this form “Elohe.”   He is using two different names for Himself, but it is just indicating that He is the God, the Triune God of Israel. 

And Jacob was now “Israel,” was he not?  He had his name changed (by God) in this same year as he was coming out of Haran.  We discussed that back in Genesis 32:28:

And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

So as Jacob was setting up this altar, he named it “God, the God of Israel.”  And he is Israel, but his children would also be “Israel,” and all their children would be “Israel.”  And not only that, but it identifies with “spiritual Israel,” all those truly saved individuals that are circumcised in heart, and, therefore, are counted for the seed in Christ and the true sons of Abraham.

Before we end our Bible study in Genesis 33, let us look a little bit at the fact that Jacob erected there an altar.  The Hebrew word “erected” means that he “set up” the altar, as we read back in Genesis 28:12:

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

The word translated as “erected” is translated here as “set up.”  The ladder was set up.  It carries the idea of “standing,” and that is why it was translated as “erected.”  And since it was set up from the earth to heaven, we know that the “ladder” is Christ, the Lord Jesus.  So this language of something being “set up” can certainly identify with the Lord Himself.

In this case, Jacob erected an altar, and then he called that altar, “God, the God of Israel,” so it is linking an altar with the God of Israel.  And that is what the altar represents.  It represents Jesus Christ, and Jesus is God, the God of Israel.  He is the God of the Bible, and we know from Revelation 6 where it tells us about the “souls under the altar” that the altar is pointing to Christ.  It says in Revelation 6:9:

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

They are “under the altar” because Christ is typified by the altar, and it would be upon the altar that the animal sacrifices were made, and their blood would spill down.  That is the picture of these souls under the altar, as Christ is our sacrifice and His blood spills down to cover us so that we are under His blood.  It is the same idea as when the high priest of Israel would enter into the Holy of holies on the Day of Atonement once a year with the blood of the sacrificial animal, and he would sprinkle it upon the mercy seat.  The mercy seat contained the Ark of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments that represented the complete Law of God.  Man is under the Law, and the Law above us was condemning us, but the blood of the Lamb slain at the foundation of the world covered over the Law and also over us, and we are under that blood if we are His elect.

So we can comprehend that the altar represents Christ, but it also represents the Gospel.  The altar is also used as a synonym for the “temple.”  We can see this in various places.  Let us go to 1Kings 13 where we will read of a prophet that was sent by God to Bethel, and Bethel literally means “house of God.”  It says in 1Kings 13:1-3:

And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of JEHOVAH unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar in the word of JEHOVAH, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith JEHOVAH; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which JEHOVAH hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

And as it continues, the altar was rent, and the ashes were poured out from the altar.  So the prophet was sent to Bethel, the house of God, and he cried against this “altar,” as this altar represented a false gospel, as King Jeroboam of Israel had established a different site for people to worship and offer sacrifice on a different altar than the true altar in Jerusalem.  So, in this case, the “altar” represents “another gospel,” a false gospel.  We see God referring to this altar and other altars in Bethel, in Amos 3:14:

That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.

It is God’s judgment on Israel, which typified His judgment on the churches, and yet, the language is speaking of visiting the “altars.”  It is a coming against the altars, just as we can read of God coming against the house of God or the city of Jerusalem, and other typical language that indicates God’s wrath on the apostate corporate church.  And yet, here, it is using the language of these “altars.”

If we go to Lamentations 2, I think we will see this very clearly.  It says in Lamentations 2:6-7:

And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the assembly: JEHOVAH hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest. The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of JEHOVAH, as in the day of a solemn feast.

The book of Lamentations is the lament that the Lord moved Jeremiah to write regarding the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem and the temple.  In Lamentations 2:7, it says, “The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary,” and “altar” and “sanctuary” are synonyms that describe the same thing.

We can find this in other Scripture in the New Testament where God is speaking of the “temple.”  For example, it says in Matthew 23:16-18:

Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing…

It was the same thing they said of the temple.  They said it was nothing if they swore by the temple, and nothing if they swore by the altar.  It is the same thing.

Another passage is in 1Corinthians 9:13:

Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?

If you minister in the temple, you live of the things of the temple.  If you minister at the altar, you partake with the altar.  It is synonymous.  It goes on to say in 1Corinthians 9:14:

Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

So living of the temple, living of the altar, and living of the Gospel are all the same things.  The altar and the Gospel are identical.  If you have a false altar, you have a false gospel.  But if you have a faithful altar, then you have a true and faithful Gospel. 

So the word “altar” can represent Christ Himself, and it can represent the Gospel and those that identify with the Gospel, such as the “house of God,” or the “temple of God.”  In 2Corinthians 11, the Lord Jesus Christ is used as a synonym for the Gospel in 2Corinthians 11:4:

For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

So “another Jesus,” “another spirit,” or “another gospel” all mean the same thing.  And that helps us when we read of “false Christs” in Matthew 24.  It is referring to false gospels, as it says in Matthew 24:23:

Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Obviously, it will not deceive the elect if someone comes saying he is Christ, but if someone comes saying, “I have the true Gospel,” and it is a very close likeness to the true Gospel, that is another story.  And that is what is in view here.  It is not just about those crazy people that think they are Jesus, but it is about those that come with “another gospel,” or “another Christ,” and that is what God warns about.

Again, in Genesis 33, Jacob bought a parcel of field where he spread his tent, and he also erected an altar.  He brought the Gospel.  That is how we can understand it, as far as the spiritual meaning of Jacob setting up this altar.