Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #25 in Genesis 35, and I will read Genesis 35:21-26:

And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar. And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun: The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin: And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali: And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.

I will stop reading here.  After Rachel died on the way to Bethlehem, we read Genesis 35:21:

And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

Israel refers to Jacob who was given the name of Israel (by God), but now the whole family are now children of Israel, and identify with Israel.  So Israel journeyed, and then we read that he spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

Nothing is the Bible is just “there,” as if God is relating casual events for no purpose or reason.  Everything in the Bible has definite purpose, and it is in the Bible because God is teaching something.  This applies to the whole Bible, no matter where we read.  It all has very definite spiritual meaning.  There is no exception.  We may not always understand it, but it certainly has great meaning, so we want to try to find the meaning in verse 21.  It almost would seem to be a verse we could read quickly, make a comment or two, and move on, but it is more significant than that.

The fact that Israel “spread his tent” would relate to God’s salvation program.  Let us go to Isaiah 54:1-3:

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith JEHOVAH. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Here, we read what appears to be simple language: “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.”  It is pointing to a great multitude that are being saved and coming into the kingdom of God.  The “tent,” or “tabernacle” of God is a similar picture to the “house” of God.  Remember during the wilderness sojourn God’s presence was within that tabernacle, and when they finally came out of the wilderness into the Promised Land, the Lord dwelt in the tent at Shiloh for quite a while.  It was hundreds of years before Solomon eventually built the house of God as a solid structure.  Remember that God tells us in Hebrew 3 that Jesus is a Son over His own house, whose house are we.  And 1Peter tells us that we are a spiritual house, built up, and so forth.  The idea of the “house” is one we see very clearly.  When God saved people, that house was being built.

The same goes for the “tent.”  If you need to enlarge the place of your tent, you need to make it bigger, and you stretch forth the curtains of your habitation, and you lengthen the cords, and strengthen the stakes because it is being expanded for the great multitude saved out of the Great Tribulation period  Then verse 3 relates it to the “seed,” where it says, “…thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.”  So the idea of enlarging the place of the tent does identify with salvation, and with bringing the Gospel that would accomplish the salvation of souls.  So when Israel journeyed and spread his tents, it is the idea of setting up the kingdom, and that kingdom would either be the outward representation of God’s kingdom (the corporate church), or bringing the Gospel wherein people  would be truly saved and enter into the eternal kingdom of heaven.

Again, it says in Genesis 35:21:

And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.

The word “Edar” is Strong’s #5740, and it is also spelled “Eder.”  Here, it is spelled “Edar,” but it is found three more times spelled as “Eder.”  It is the identical Hebrew word, but the King James translators changed the spelling, for whatever reason.  But the word “Edar,” Strong’s #5740, is identical to Strong’s #5739, and that word is translated as “flock.”  It says in Psalm 78:52:

But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

The word “flock” is the word “edar.” 

Also, we read in Isaiah 40:11:

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.

The word “flock” is used in one more verse, in Ezekiel 34:12:

As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

So we now know some things from comparing Scripture with Scripture.  And, again, it is the very same word that was translated as “edar” in these verses that speak of a “flock.”  We could understand it to say, “And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of the flock.”  That is what we can understand “edar” to represent.

But what about the tower?  What is that pointing to? We understand that spreading his tent identifies with the kingdom of God and those who came into the kingdom of God.  And that would relate to the last part of the verse that says, “

…beyond the tower of Edar.” 

The word “beyond” has the idea of “forward.”  That is, you are at a place, and then you go beyond, moving forward in a direction, and this would point to the tower: “

…beyond the tower of Edar,” or “forward  of, or from, the tower of the flock.”  That is where he spread his tent, or where the kingdom of God is being established.

Again, it does not specifically tell us whether it is just the outward representation of the kingdom, or the eternal kingdom itself.  Of course when God established the corporate church, the outward representation of His kingdom on the earth, there were those who became saved there and entered into the eternal kingdom.  That was its purpose in bringing in the firstfruits.

But let us go back to the word “tower,” and try to understand it.  In Micah 4:8, the word “flock,” or “edar,” is also in this verse, as well as the word “tower.”  It says in Micah 4:8:

And thou, O tower of the flock…

And, again, we could read this as, “O tower of edar,” but I think it is correctly translated “flock,” which is certainly more understandable to us.  Again, it says in Micah 4:8:

And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

That is a complicated Scripture, and I do not know if I understand everything, but what we can see is that “thou” refers to a person.  “Thou,” or “you,” the tower of the flock, would identify with the elect children of God.  It is our tower.  The strong hold that is this tower is the strong hold of the daughter of Zion.  It is really rewording the first part of the verse, as the tower of the flock is the strong hold of the daughter of Zion.  And the daughter of Zion is the flock, the elect, and the tower is the strong hold: “

…unto thee shall it come,” and, again, it refers to a person.  If we go to Psalm 61, we will see another reference to tower.  It says in Psalm 61:3:

For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

If we back up a verse or two here, we will see who this is referring to, in Psalm 61:1-2:

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.

Jesus is that Rock, and strong tower from the enemy.  “Jesus is the Rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm,” as that wonderful hymn declares.  God is our shelter.  God is our refuge and hiding place.  He is this strong tower to protect us from the enemy, and we can go in, and be safe, and find refuge.  Then it says in Psalm 61:4:

I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.

This is a beautiful Psalm telling us of our great protection, and the tremendous safety and security in the Rock.  And who is the Rock?  1Corinthians 10 tells us plainly of the spiritual definition that often applies to “rock” in the Bible.  It says in 1Corinthians 10:4:

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Christ is the Rock, and Christ has been a shelter for us, and Christ has been our strong tower from the enemy.  He is our strength and shield.  He is everything, really, to the ones He has saved.

Also, we see this same word “tower” in Proverbs 18:10:

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

The name of JEHOVAH identifies with all that God is – all the goodness, mercy, grace, and love of God, and all the wonderful and glorious attributes of the Person of God.  The name of JEHOVAH is a strong tower, and not a weak tower.  No one is going to be able to invade it, or overcome it, or cause it to fall.  The name of JEHOVAH is a strong tower, and “the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” 

And how does the Bible speak of “running”?  (Everything in the Bible has a deeper hidden meaning.)  It says in Psalm 119:32:

I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.

Also, in Romans 9 where God is spelling out that He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and that salvation is not of the will of man, it says in Romans 9:16:

So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

It is not through the will of man, or through running the way of God’s commandments, or keeping His commandments that we obtain salvation: “For no man is justified by the works of the law.”  So, it is not of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

So the name of JEHOVAH is a strong tower, and the righteous runneth into it.  Where can we find this tower that is the almighty tower of God (and this Rock that is higher than we) where we could enter to have everlasting protection, safety, and security?  Where is it located?  Where does it exist?  Obviously, it is not a physical place, not even when the churches were operating, because they were only a representation of God’s kingdom, or a representation of the tower, but they were never the actual “tower.”   And this is why many entered into the churches and congregations, but perished because they never found that strong tower of safety and security that the righteous run into and are forever protected and safe.  They thought they did, but there is a difference.  The tower of God that the righteous run into is revealed in the Bible, by running the way of God’s commandments after first receiving that new resurrected soul which has an ongoing desire to do the will of God.  After being saved, the new born-again individual is able to go into this place of safety that is in Christ, and in the Word.  It is in the Bible itself.  That is where the righteous run, and are safe, as we follow the will of God as He lays out each passage for us word by word, and verse by verse.

So Christ is the tower.  Christ is the Rock.  JEHOVAH is a strong tower.  I also want to look at another interesting verse, and afterwards we will go to a couple of verses that do refer to the “tower” in relationship to the churches.  But first, let us go to Nehemiah 8 where Ezra was about to establish the Law.  He is preaching from the Bible during the feast of Tabernacles, and this chapter is one of the main chapters that help us understand that the feast of Tabernacles has everything to do with the “feast of the Bible,” the opening of the Scriptures.  As Ezra preached from the Word, these thirteen men caused the people to understand, and this feast went right up to “the last day” of the feast of Tabernacles.  This is the only place in the Old Testament where the phrase “the last day” is found.  We read in Nehemiah 8:2-3:

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.

Here, all the people are spiritually representing those that become saved, and when we are saved we are given “ears to hear.”  Then it says in Nehemiah 8:4:

And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose..

Then the names of the thirteen men are given, which caused the people to understand.  But this pulpit had to have been very big because there were thousands of people.  In order for them to see Ezra, and also so his voice could carry, they had to build a pretty big pulpit of wood.  The word translated as “pulpit” is our word “tower” that we just read in those other Scriptures.  So Ezra the scribe stood upon a tower of wood to preach the Word.  And, spiritually, we can see why because that “tower” identifies with Christ the Rock, with the name of JEHOVAH, and with the Word of God, the Bible, as he is preaching.  So there is a strong tie-in with this word “tower” and the Scriptures.

Let us go to Isaiah 5, an Old Testament passage that describes the New Testament corporate church, as typified by a vineyard.  In the New Testament God also speaks of a vineyard, but there He is referring to the old corporate body of national Israel.  It is curious that God did this, as we would expect to read about the New Testament church in the New Testament, and about Old Testament Israel in the Old Testament, but God switched them.  No doubt He did so to “hide truth.”  It says in Isaiah 5:1-2:

Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

Then the judgment is given.  The question is asked, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?”  And the judgment was that He would take away the hedge, break down the wall, and it would be trodden down.  It was destroyed.  It was not given to other husbandmen as was the vineyard in the book of Matthew.  Those husbandmen slew the owner of the vineyard’s son, which is definitely pointing to national Israel who turned Christ over to be crucified.  That vineyard was given to “other husbandmen,” the New Testament church.  But here in Isaiah 5, this vineyard is not turned over to others, but it is destroyed, so it is referring to the New Testament corporate church after they had their period of time representing the kingdom of God, and producing the firstfruits.  And within the churches they had a “tower,” as the Lord Jesus Christ was present there in the “midst of the candlestick,” or in the congregations.  Again, although Christ was there, and the Word of God was there, God did not save everyone that entered in, so all did not enter into that eternal, spiritual tower of safety that God provides in salvation, because many were called, but few were chosen.

Let us look at one more verse in Isaiah.  It says in Isaiah 30:25:

And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

It is “the day of the Lord,” and it came upon the towers, and this would be the tower that identifies with the corporate church.  Judgment began at the house of God, so they fell.  Once Christ departed out of the churches, they “collapsed,” with not one stone left upon another, spiritually.  And the “tower” that was built there fell.

This could also relate to the tower of Babel and the world with its religions and philosophies that have sought to “reach unto heaven,” and so forth.  All the “towers,” or all the ways that men attempt to get right with God and enter into His holy heaven, fall in the Day of Judgment.