𝗩𝗮𝘆𝗲𝘁𝘇𝗲/ "𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵"
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝟮𝟴:𝟭𝟬–𝟯𝟮:𝟯
This weeks Portion picks up with Jacob leaving his father's house to go to Paddan-aram, in order to find Laban, his mother's brother, to secure a wife from his daughters. Isaac blesses Jacob and sends him on his journey.
Of course, we can't be in this Portion and not mention Jacob's significant dream. The dream in which the LORD is expanding the covenant that was to Abraham and Isaac, now also to Jacob. Its worth noting that Jacob did nothing to deserve being the one to whom the blessing would pass. In fact, he had tricked his father into giving him the blessing that should have gone to Esau as the firstborn - and had also asked Esau to give him his birthright for a bowl of soup. Instead of just feeding his brother who was hungry, he used the moment of weakness to take advantage of the situation. Yet, here, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙩, we see the LORD 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 the covenant of blessing to him and his descendants. Notice, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲, these are the same words that were given to Abraham and Isaac, which are now being given to Jacob. What did change, was 𝘄𝗵𝗼 was part of it!
𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘵; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘢𝘤; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥; 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶.” -Gen 28:11-15
Jacob awakens from his sleep and says, "“𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵.” He sets up a stone as a pillar and poured oil on its top. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘸, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, “𝘐𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘠𝘰𝘶.” Shew. That right there - that's good stuff. Can you even imagine that kind of encounter!?!?!? Life-changing! And it won't be the last time he has an encounter with the LORD.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭. - Gen 29:1-3
Jacob, continuing on his journey comes to the place of the 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹, and there are already some 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙥 laying near it. Jacob begins talking with the men there to see if they know Laban, and if he is well. During their discussion two images really came into focus. First, verse 8. This comes after Jacob saying to water the sheep and take them back out to pasture. The men respond, "𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱.” Pause break. Read that verse again, slowly. Remember the stone being rolled away from the empty tomb? Yeshua being the living water? Yeah. This is a prophetic picture that is come - and still to come. As I read those words my heart burned within me. There is a final redemption coming soon, friends!
And now, to where we will land today. The second image that came into focus was related to another piece of info these men told Jacob, in relation to Laban.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱.” 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘴. vs 6,9
My goodness. 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘀. But note, these were 𝗻𝗼𝘁 her sheep, the Word says they were her 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗽. As I read these words, it was like the LORD was speaking directly to my heart. "𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱, 𝘵𝘰𝘰." The image was too striking not to share. This daughter, was leading a flock of sheep, belonging to her father, to the living water. Mind blown. We see so many times the stories of the prophetic picture of shepherds such as David and of course our Great Shepherd, but I have never heard, taught from Scripture, of a woman who was called a Shepherd. I love this so much!! It truly has been my heart for so very long (and continues to be), to point people to Him. To lead them where He has led me. To bring His flock back to where they belong. I just had no idea of the journey He would take me on this year. Oh friends, the Word has been opened to my heart in such a way that I will 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 by it. I pray you are beginning to see it, too. I pray that each time you read the words I am sharing, you feel its drops quenching the driest places of your soul. There is so much to learn. We cannot afford to miss the fact that we all have a following. The question simply becomes, where are we leading them? Wow. To Him belongs the glory, forever and ever, Amen!
