The Pattern of Judgments (A Cycle Beginning with New Creation and Ending with Judgment) - Part X
This article is the conclusion of our focus on Major Cycle #3 – Genesis 19:30–36:43. This will be the last article focusing on establishment of the Pattern of Judgments.
Introduction
In our previous article, The Pattern of Judgments (A Cycle Beginning with New Creation and Ending with Judgment)—Part IX, we showed how many of our sixteen themes from Genesis 1–3 were reappearing in Major Cycle #3, Genesis 19:30–36:43. I was not able to complete this important lesson in that article, so here is the conclusion.
Genesis 3:22-24—Judgment
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Normally, when we think of Adonai’s judgments, we think of devastating events like Noah’s flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the deaths of Samuel’s two wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas, or Adonai’s judgment upon Balaam who was slain with the edge of the sword. However, there is one judgment we should be aware of that is also very important—the judgment of EXILE! In fact, as noted in the passage quoted above, the judgment of exile is one of the primary judgments visited upon Adam and Eve when they sinned in the garden! Knowing this, I’d like to focus on how Major Cycle #3 hints to us about the theme of judgment. It does so in two ways. The first way is in a subtle manner, using the life of Jacob. The second way, which we’ll cover later in this article, is pretty straightforward and pertains to the annihilation of the Shechemites by Jacob’s sons.
It is within the context of Jacob’s life that we can see the theme of judgment through his exile from the Promised Land! One of the most important themes we need to learn pertains to judgment through exile. It was demonstrated to us for the first time through Adam and Eve’s banishment from the garden, but it is also demonstrated through the lives of Abraham, Jacob and the nation of Israel.
Let’s explore this theme through the nation of Israel first. What was Israel’s ultimate punishment supposed to be for the sin of forsaking Adonai? According to Leviticus 26:33, Israel’s ultimate punishment/judgment would be exile from the land of Israel!
I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
This theme of exile can also be seen in the story of Abram’s sojourn in Egypt. Remember, Adonai promised Abram that He would give him a special land where his descendants would flourish. Upon believing this promise, Abram and his entire entourage left Mesopotamia and traveled to the Promised Land. And what happened when they arrived in this wonderful land? A famine occurred! So, not only could this “Promised Land” not sustain a nation as numerous as the stars in the heaven, it couldn’t even support Abram and his fledgling group of followers! You can read about this in Genesis 12:10-20. So what did Abram and his burgeoning clan do in response to the famine? They took all they had and traveled to Egypt where thy sojourned until the famine was over.
What does this have to do with an exile, you may ask? Well, let’s examine this story thematically and see if some of the themes ring a bell.
Abram was married to Sarai.
A famine in Canaan caused Abram to descend with Sarai into Egypt.
Abram went to Egypt to sojourn there.
The famine of Genesis 12 was characterized as very severe.
Before arriving in Egypt, Abram convinced Sarai to change her identity. Thus, when they arrived, the Egyptians did not know Sarai was Abram's wife.
Pharaoh tried to take Sarai for his own possession as a concubine.
The Holy One sent plagues on Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai.
When Abram left Egypt, he left with a significant amount of wealth he had acquired from Pharaoh because of Sarai.
Do these themes remind you of any other story in the Tanakh? They should! This is a condensed version of the story concerning Israel’s exile to and redemption from the land of Egypt! Please note the following parallels:
Just as Abram was married to Sarai, The Holy One was married to Israel.
A famine in Canaan caused Abram to descend with Sarai into Egypt. In Genesis 42:5, it was a famine in Canaan that led Jacob to send his sons to Egypt, which ultimately caused the entire family to descend into Egypt.
Abram went to Egypt to sojourn there. The children of Israel "sojourned" in Egypt.
The famine of Genesis 12 and 42 were both characterized as very severe.
Before arriving in Egypt, Abram convinced Sarai to change her identity. Thus, when they arrived, the Egyptians did not know Sarai was Abram's wife. In the story of the Exodus, initially, the Egyptians did not know that Israel was married to the Holy One, and belonged to Him.
Just as Pharaoh tried to take Sarai for his own possession by placing her into his harem as a concubine, eventually it was Pharaoh who took Israel as his possession by enslaving them.
The Holy One sent plagues on Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai. In the Exodus account, the Holy One used plagues against Pharaoh and the land of Egypt because he possessed Israel (through slavery). In both cases, the result was the release of the bride.
When Abram left Egypt, he left with much wealth he had acquired because of Sarai. When the children of Israel left Egypt, they left with much of the wealth of the Egyptians.
Hopefully you can see now why I referred to Abram’s stay in Egypt as an exile! Apart from making the thematic connections we made above, it may seem that Abram just took a little temporary jaunt down to Egypt. However, the thematic connections above prove the following:
The story of Abram’s sojourn in Egypt in Genesis 12:10-20 is actually a prophetic foreshadowing of the EXILE of the nation of Israel to Egypt and their eventual REDEMPTION from that land.
As you can see, Genesis 12:10-20 is a very short story that gives us the highlights, so to speak, of Israel’s exile and redemption. Now, this brings us to Jacob’s story in Genesis 28–34. I’m sure you’ve noticed this is a much longer story than Genesis 12:10-20. What’s even more important is the fact that Jacob’s story is also a prophecy of Israel’s exile and redemption from Egypt! And, as you might have guessed, because of its length, Jacob’s story gives us even more prophetic details concerning the process of exile and redemption. So let’s take some time, put on our thematic thinking caps and see how the story of Jacob’s life provides a prophetic blueprint for the future of the nation of Israel. In order to do this, I’m going to break up Jacob’s story into larger thematic units and relate these units prophetically to the nation of Israel. The left side of each panel below will present certain events in Jacob’s life, and the ride side will show how Israel’s circumstances were a direct fulfillment of Jacob’s prophetic life.
These amazing connections clearly show that Jacob’s life was a prophetic blueprint for the lives of his future descendants! To understand the real significance of the events in Jacob’s life, we simply need to make the connections above. Jacob’s life is the story of Israel’s exile to and redemption from Egypt and their eventual return to their promised land of inheritance, Canaan. This is the big picture! However, for our purposes in elucidating the pattern of judgments, this thematic study has given us two proofs that we have arrived at the end of another cycle from our pattern of judgments:
Jacob’s story is a story of EXILE, which is inextricably connected to judgment.
As of Genesis 34, our themes end on the literal judgment meted out to the Shechemites for their cruelty shown towards Dina.
Thus, we find ourselves at the end of another cycle in the pattern of judgments and therefore the end of the first Minor Cycle of Major Cycle #3! So what should we expect next? We should expect to see themes related to another new creation! Let’s see if that’s so. As noted above, we won’t see a literal new creation as in Genesis 1 or a re-creation as in Genesis 8, but we will see themes that accompanied the new creations of the past. Let’s examine Genesis chapter 35 for themes that accompany a new creation.
After the first creation, we saw Adonai do the following:
He gave a name to Adam, His representative on earth.
Throughout Genesis 1:1–2:3 Adonai was identified with His title Elohim. It is not until Genesis 2:4 that He is identified as LORD (YHVH) God.
Within the context of being identified as God (Elohim), He made blessings of fruitfulness and multiplicity to Adam and Eve.
He presented Adam and Eve with a special land called the Garden of Eden.
Now read Genesis 35:10-13.
And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. 11 Also God said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” 13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.
All the themes referenced above that were present at the original new creation can be seen in Genesis 35:10-13 as follows:
Adonai gave a new name to Jacob, His representative in the Abrahamic covenant.
Adonai identifies Himself as God (Elohim) Almighty.
Israel, as the new regent of Adonai’s covenant of blessing, is commanded to be fruitful and multiply.
Israel is promised the land of Canaan, a special land for Adonai’s special people.
You will remember that during the original creation in Genesis 1, we were informed that the woman would suffer in childbirth.
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16).
Notice what happens in Genesis 35:16-20!
Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. 17 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; you will have this son also.” 18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
Lastly, remember how Adam and Eve sinned after the new creation of the heavens and earth? Also, remember how Noah and his son Ham fell into sin after the first re-creation through drunkenness and sexual perversion, respectively? Notice what happens in Genesis 35:21-22!
Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. 22 And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it.
Reuben committed sexual immorality by laying with his father’s concubine!
Lastly, Genesis 3:15 introduced us to the theme of the enmity of the seed:
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
Amazingly, Genesis 36 pertains to the genealogy of Esau’s descendants. And remember, Esau is the quintessential seed of the serpent who was born with a bestial hairy body!
Thus, we can see that many of the themes which occurred at the first creation and the first re-creation dominate the narrative at hand and help show that we are about to see yet another new creation or new beginning in the plan of Adonai.
All in all, as we’ve studied Genesis 1-36, we’ve learned a very valuable lesson—the pattern of judgments. Furthermore, we’ve seen that the focus of Genesis 1-36 is two-fold:
The establishment of the nation of Israel as the seed of the woman and the nations of the world as the seed of the serpent
The importance of the story of Egyptian Exile and Redemption
Genesis 12—Abram’s Exile in Egypt
Genesis 20—Abram’s Exile in Gerar
Genesis 28–32—Jacob’s Exile in Padan Aram
Although we included a complete discussion concerning the prophetic significance of Abram’s exile in Egypt (Genesis 12) and Jacob’s exile to Padan Aram (Genesis 28–32), we didn’t discuss Abram’s exile in Gerar. I will leave that up to you. I’m confident you’ll come to the realization that Abram’s stay in Gerar is as much a prophecy of Israel’s exile to Egypt as is Genesis 12:10-20 and Genesis 28–32.
Thus, the book of Genesis is neatly divided into two major thematic divisions: Genesis 1–36 and Genesis 37–50. Whereas Genesis 1–36 has the focus I’ve mentioned above, Genesis 37–50 is all messianic with Joseph cast as a prophetic foreshadowing of Messiah Yeshua, with complete pictures of His suffering, death, resurrection and first and second advents.
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the pattern of judgments. Now we’ll turn our attention to understanding how the pattern of judgments provides a foundation for understanding the book of Revelation!!!