Hebrew Understanding and Family

Contents

City

In Hebrew the word city means literally a “watching man” and it was a watched place or a guarded place of protection. It was also related to words for enemy, darkness and blindness. The first mention of the word city in scripture is in Genesis 4 where it says that Cain’s wife bore him a son called Enoch and that Cain built a city and called the city after the name of his son, Genesis 4:16-17 “And Cain goeth out from before Yehovah, and dwelleth in the land, moving about east of Eden; and Cain knoweth his wife, and she conceiveth, and beareth Enoch; and he is building a city, and he calleth the name of the city, according to the name of his son – Enoch.” Hebraically, the city of Cain was his son or sons within whom Cain in effect had an inheritance, just as he gave his son or sons the city or “watched place” or place of protection that he had built. The last mention in scripture of a city is the City of God, the Bride of the Anointed One, the Heavenly Jerusalem. Jesus as the son of David is building the City of God within his own body, which becomes the eternal dwelling place of God’s living breath, the Holy Spirit. The heavenly Jerusalem descends from above to replace the earthly Jerusalem that should have been the inheritance or dwelling place of God but they rejected and crucified the son of David, the heir of Abraham’s blessing and the Author of Life and asked for a murderer to take his place.

House and Temple

There are two words often translated as temple in scripture. One of the commonest is actually the word for house and meant literally the “mark of the tent” which provided a place of protection for sleeping at night. The other word meant a large enclosed place, palace or temple. King David was eager to build a permanent house or temple within Jerusalem for the presence of God to dwell amongst the people. However, God spoke to David through Nathan the Prophet in 2 Samuel 7 and said that out of David’s own house or body would come a son (Yehoshua) would build a house for God’s Name or behaviour. So, 2 Samual 7:12-16 says “When thy days are full, and thou hast lain with thy fathers, then I have raised up thy seed after thee which goeth out from thy bowels, and have established his kingdom; he doth build a house for My Name, and I have established the throne of his kingdom unto the age. I am to him for a father, and he is to Me for a son; whom in his dealings perversely I have even reproved with a rod of men, and with strokes of the sons of Adam, and My kindness doth not turn aside from him, as I turned it aside from Saul, whom I turned aside from before thee, and stedfast is thy house and thy kingdom unto the age before thee, thy throne is established unto the age.” Jesus said in Matthew 18:20 “for where there are two or three gathered together – to my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

The Temple in Jerusalem

The temples built by King Solomon, Zerubbabel and King Herod were a foreshadowing of the real temple or house of Yehovah, the man Jesus the son of David who was the real temple builder and was the Chief Cornerstone or Living Stone in Zion the Heavenly City, House or Temple of God. In Hebrew the word for son is related to the words for stone and build and branch. Yehovah, the King Himself came to the Temple in Jerusalem in peace on a donkey, as it was written in Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice exceedingly, O daughter of Zion, Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, Lo, thy King doth come to thee, Righteous – and saved is He, Afflicted – and riding on an ass, And on a colt – a son of she-asses.” The Temple or House itself was a foreshadowing of Yehoshua’s very own identity as the son or dwelling place of Yehovah. Jesus was the firstborn of many brothers who corporately make up the house, temple, city and son of God. The Temple in Jerusalem was meant to be a place of prayer for all nations but the Chief Priests, Scribes and Leaders of the people had turned it into a marketplace and den of thieves. Jesus said that if they were to destroy the temple of his body, that he as God would raise it up in three days. John 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” They rejected and crucified their own hope of glory and God and King by having him nailed to a tree. Sadly as God’s temple or eternal dwelling place, the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth the son of Abraham and the son of David was a foreshadowing of the curse and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple a generation or so later in 70 AD and the time of Jacob’s trouble that inevitably follows such wickedness.

Zion

The first reference to Zion in scripture is in 2 Samuel 5:7 when David conquered Jerusalem held by the Jebusites. In Hebrew the word Zion is related to words for nomad, travelling, desert and the stars and terrain or mountains as landmarks or signs for travelling to find pasture. Jerusalem was originally described as Zion, the stronghold and city of David. A stronghold was literally a hiding place where a hunter could hide and throw out a net or snare for hunting. The city was a protected or watched place. Zion is a beacon or land-mark of the love and protection of God’s fatherhood, where people cross over and journey to find freedom (“yasha”) and blessing within the body or house or blessing of the beloved (in Hebrew David) son (building or house) or city of God within which God dwells within the living stones of the sons. In Hebrew culture a mountain or hill wasn’t something static but something active, like a head rising up out of the ground. Pregnancy was seen as the mound of a woman rising up, and pride someone who rises and lifts themselves up in arrogance.

Daughters

Daughters were not so highly prized as sons in ancient Hebrew culture. They belonged to their fathers and they were often not mentioned by name. They derived their name and honour and sense of identity from their father and their father had the authority to cancel any vows that they made in their presence. They could even be sold as slaves within the tribe, although this was rare. Normally the daughters would not receive an inheritance and when this is mentioned in scripture (for instance Job and Caleb both gave their daughters an inheritance) this is considered an extraordinary blessing. In Numbers 27 the daughters of Zelophehad (firstborn) asked Moses for an inheritance in the land of promise because their father died in the wilderness with no sons. Moses brought their cause before Yehovah who granted their request. Daughters with an inheritance were required to marry within the clan to keep the inheritance within the family. When given in marriage they would leave their father’s household and be joined to their husband to establish his house by bearing sons. A daughter who married and gave birth to a son was instantly promoted to a place of honour because she had blessed her husband and was establishing his “house” through their son or seed together. If a daughter was barren she would have been considered a disgrace and under a curse because she had failed to establish the house and therefore the name of her husband. She risked being rejected as a wife and becoming nameless because of her shame. Culturally a barren woman would often be cast out as cursed and would die in misery. The dowry or bride price was often paid to the father of the bride to support her daughter in the event of her being cast out and having to return to her father’s house. It was said of Laban that he used his daughters’ dowry for himself. Hebraically the “daughters” of a town or village or country were the women of that place, but sometimes it represented the whole of the population. Dependent towns or villages were often called “daughters”. The village Bethany would be considered to be a daughter of Jerusalem because it relied upon Jerusalem for protection and provision. Often Zion, the Stronghold of David, was synonymous with the daughters of Jerusalem, those who were dependent upon God as a father. Songbirds were often described as the daughters of the morning because they relied upon the dawn for their song.

The Land of Blessing

The blessed or tilled land (“adamah”) was a land full of vines, figs, dates, olive trees and pasture for flocks. It was a land full of light and watered by the rains and rivers and the blessing and dew of heaven. It was a place of life and prosperity where life could thrive. It was the home of those who did what was right. Families dwelt in towns and villages overseen by the elders, the fathers of the blessing guarded the blessing with righteousness and mercy and justice and passed it on as an inheritance to the next generation of sons. An unwritten covenant extended itself into the heavens above and brought the light and rain in their proper season and the whole community lived and prospered. They did not over-farm the fields. They honoured the trees by leaving fruit on the trees for the poor. They left the ground fallow every seven years and cared for their environment and treated their animals well. They kept their own hearts pure and guaranteed future blessing by offering the first fruits of the land to their God. This maintained the harmony and stability of covenant. The blessed land was possessed by families and the source of blessing was passed down through the generations. The families owned the towns and the towns were governed by the living fathers or elders. These were men of full beard, men of honour who bore the burden of the community. Unfortunately, sin could destroy the land of blessing and turn it into a barren wilderness: Psalm 107:33-34 “he maketh rivers become a wilderness, And fountains of waters become dry land. A fruitful land becometh a barren place, For the wickedness of its inhabitants.”

The Wilderness

In stark contrast to the land of blessing was the wilderness or desert. It was a place of darkness, of dust storms that blot out the sun and of drought. It was full of snakes and scorpions and wild animals, thorns and thistles. There were no roads or villages or pasture. No fruit trees or vines, figs or dates. No places of shelter or rest. It was the dwelling place of curse and the cursed. It was the source of wickedness and emptiness, the home of fools and the morally corrupt, the sons of Belial and disobedience and rebellion and characterless or nameless men. However God’s blessing could turn the wilderness into a land of blessing: Psalm 107:35-38 “he maketh a wilderness become a pool of water, And a dry land become fountains of waters. And he causeth the hungry to dwell there, And they prepare a city of habitation. And they sow fields, and plant vineyards, And they make fruits of increase. And he blesseth them, and they multiply exceedingly, And their cattle he doth not diminish.”

The Grave

In close proximity to the wilderness of the cursed desert was the grave. In Hebrew the word often translated grave, or pit or sometimes hell is the word “sheol” and it simply meant “to enquire, request or ask”. It was a shrug of the shoulders because they didn’t really know what it was like because no-one living had “seen” death and returned. However the tentacles of curse and death ever reached up and attempted to pull the living through the gates of the grave into death through deceit and sickness, sin and corruption. In the Psalms and Prophets it was generally described as a cruel place, full of decay and corruption, where the dead lay on a bed of worms. The dead who were there were weak and powerless, empty and meaningless. So it says in Psalm 88:10-12 “To the dead dost Thou do wonders? Do Rephaim rise? do they thank Thee? Selah. Is Thy kindness recounted in the grave? Thy faithfulness in destruction? Are Thy wonders known in the darkness? And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?“. Adam had been created by the word of God speaking into him the breath of life or Holy Spirit but through sin he and his fallen sons were separated from the life or breath of God. Their natural breath could not keep them alive forever and they had died. They were seen as shadows or shades of their former self. The grave was full of plagues and illness, and rivers of Belial where darkness abides and whose mouth swallows the good and the bad. It was full of mud and slime that offered no firm foothold or stability. It was the home of pointless futility, the realm of decay and destruction. The power of the grave dwelt within the wilderness of curse and the hearts of the wicked.

The Death of the Righteous

The grave of course, was also seen as a temporary rest for the righteous, for in the grave the fathers lay, buried close to their living families upon the family land, waiting for the promised resurrection when their bodies that had been created, originally by the word of God, would be reunited with the life of God’s indwelling breath. The people knew of course that the grave was to be their final resting place in this life. They hoped to live in blessing as long as possible and die the death of the righteous surrounded by their blessed sons within whom was the fathers’ inheritance within their sons and through whom their name and their blessing lived on. It says in 2 Kings 22:18-20 “And unto the king of Judah, who is sending you to seek Yehovah, thus do ye say unto him, Thus said Yehovah, God of Israel, ‘The words that thou hast heard – because thy heart is tender, and thou art humbled because of Yehovah, in thy hearing that which I have spoken against this place, and against its inhabitants, to be for a desolation, and for a reviling, and dost rend thy garments, and weep before Me – I also have heard – the affirmation of Yehovah – therefore, lo, I am gathering thee unto thy fathers, and thou hast been gathered unto thy grave in peace, and thine eyes do not look on any of the evil that I am bringing in on this place’; and they bring the king back word“. Scripture states very briefly that when Jesus died on the cross the graves of the righteous, the blessed ones, were opened and when Jesus rose from the dead they also rose and appeared to many. Scripture does not say but it is likely that these righteous blessed ones ascended into heaven with Jesus who was the firstborn of many brothers and they are with him in heaven right now waiting for resurrection at the end of days.

Honour and Family

Hebrew families drew their name and sense of honour from their father or fathers who had established their household. Households were grouped into clans and tribes. Someone who was wronged would appeal to their fathers to help them to demand recompense for the wound done to the name of the family. The fathers would consider the issue and then appeal to the wider family or house to gain strength to demand that the wrong be righted because the name of the whole family had been damaged and the honour of the family shamed. Widows and orphans had no name and were often wronged because they had no-one to defend them. The widows were not normally the owners of landed estates as they would still be within the larger family. Isaiah 1:21 How hath a faithful city become a harlot? I have filled it with judgment, Righteousness lodgeth in it – now murderers. So it says in Isaiah 1:22-23 “Thy silver hath become dross, Thy drink polluted with water. Thy princes are apostates, and companions of thieves, Everyone loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, The fatherless they judge not, And the plea of the widow cometh not to them. They were usually the poor of the land.” The orphans were fatherless because they were usually the sons or daughters of concubines and prostitutes who literally had no father or larger family to be part of. They had no house to appeal to and relied upon the “righteous” to plead their cause. A widow could draw her sense of honour and name from her son if she had one. If the only son of a widow died it was seen as a dreadful curse and the onset of a living death.

Honour and Shame

Hebraically, honour meant inner strength of heart to achieve and to have the ability to bless others. Honour came from being physically healthy and strong, from wealth, or property and land, or from having a large family, or having a famous or honourable father or from some other external source. Sometimes, it came from within the person of honour. The honoured were high and mighty, glorious, worthy or majestic. The less honourable rose in the presence of the honourable and strong. The shamed on the other hand were dishonoured. They were empty and feeble in heart, unable to act or achieve. They would sit with nervous hands deprived of initiative and the ability to achieve, lacking in self-confidence. Shame could come from misfortune, sin within the family, failed crops or rains or harvest, or poverty. It says in Joel 1:11-12 “Be ashamed, ye husbandmen, Howl, vine-dressers, for wheat and for barley, For perished hath the harvest of the field. The vine hath been dried up, And the fig-tree doth languish, Pomegranate, also palm, and apple-tree, All trees of the field have withered, For dried up hath been joy from the sons of men [Adam].” The word for shame was related to the word for wither, stink and pale. In English the root of the word appal is from the Latin “pallere” which means “to make pale”. A weak dangling head or a stooped stance indicated shame or a weakening of life but being shown honour by someone great could lift the head. Being honoured could take away shame and bring a renewal of life by untwisting the heart and bringing uprightness within.

Honour and Nakedness

It says in Genesis that when Adam and Eve were created they were naked but knew no shame. The word for naked or nudity meant literally “to see a man”. Babies and children were often naked but knew no shame. As children grew up there was a point in their lives (usually at puberty) when they became aware of their nakedness and kept themselves covered by garments. If exposed, they often experienced shame but it depended upon who saw them. Between mothers and daughters there would probably be no shame. It says of Ham that he saw the nakedness of his father Noah when Noah got drunk and uncovered in the midst of his tent. In Leviticus it states that the nakedness of a father is his wife. Leviticus 18:6-8 states “None of you unto any relation of his flesh doth draw near to uncover nakedness; I am Yehovah. The nakedness of thy father and the nakedness of thy mother thou dost not uncover, she is thy mother; thou dost not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of the wife of thy father thou dost not uncover; it is the nakedness of thy father.” The wife does not feel shame to be seen naked by her husband. It is likely that Ham violated his mother while Noah was asleep. This shamed his father. Nakedness and shame go together. King David sent Hanun the king of the Ammonites a gift when Hanun’s father died. Hanun didn’t receive the gift but instead had David’s messengers shaved and their garments cut to reveal their buttocks. This nakedness was a great shame upon David and his messengers and resulted in war. Hebraically any behaviour that results in shame could be described as exposed nakedness. Being caught red-handed in a sin is having nakedness exposed because it results in shame. Reuben slept with his father’s wife and shamed his father by defiling his bed. Just as garments were provided to cover naked bodies, so the blessing of God inspired a change of behaviour on the part of the righteous so they didn’t do shameful things. Joseph brought honour to his father by being inspired by God’s blessing not to do such things even when the opportunity was there. Joseph’s nakedness was covered by the blessing of his father’s God in the same way that fragrant anointing oil covered the head and changed the behaviour of the King. Jesus speaks of the marriage supper of the Lamb and talks of those who are cast out into outer darkness because they had no wedding garments. These are people who were deceived by their religious traditions into not bothering to receive the Pentecostal blessing and anointing of their fathers Abraham and David. They were therefore not inspired by the blessing to walk in love and the anointing to reign in life and so had no guarantee or deposit of their Pentecostal inheritance. Their natural selfish nakedness was exposed and they wept and gnashed their teeth having lost their inheritance within the kingdom of the son. The word gnash is related to the word debt which was related to the word for deceive because deception resulted in a debt or loss and the gnashing of the teeth.

Inheritance

God spoke to Abraham and promised that if he left his father’s house and people and went to the land that God would show him, God would make him into a great nation and in effect establish a new house. This is what the ancient Hebrews were looking for. They wanted an inheritance or posterity when they died within the earth or “adamah” (bloods or red) of their descendants or sons. When Abraham travelled through the land of Canaan he was looking at the land as a provision for his life or inheritance within his descendants or house. Abraham’s walk with God won the land as an inheritance for his sons or seed. Proverbs 13:22 states “A good man causeth sons’ sons to inherit, And laid up for the righteous is the sinner’s wealth.” Through Abraham’s blessing the current generation of sons were to prosper within the land, and the fathers who had lived in the “land” before them, and had fathered them, lived on within their name. Each generation of sons themselves became fathers, and eventually were gathered to or joined them in death. Each father that had been known and loved by their sons gradually lost their individual identity as their memory and influence within their families faded. They had come from the house of their fathers and to their fathers they returned. But they somehow lived on and had an inheritance within the house of the sons who bore their name. This was a problem for Abraham because whilst God had blessed Abraham with his fatherhood, Abraham himself had no heir because his wife Sarah was barren. To die childless in ancient Hebrew culture was seen as a terrible curse and actual death. Abraham could not live on through the sons who bore his name because he had none. God’s promise of blessing not only included God’s fatherhood but also sonship. Abraham eventually fathered Isaac the son of promise and through Isaac, Mary the wife of Joseph bore Jesus, Abraham’s heir. Whilst being fully Abraham’s Yehovah God in his divinity, Jesus or Yehoshua was genealogically related to Abraham and was therefore part of his house. Jesus himself as a man had a perfect knowledge of God’s fatherhood because he was the seed or son of Eve promised in Genesis 3 but also the son of God in his humanity full of God’s breath or Holy Spirit. This was the ultimate blessing that Abraham sought, the city whose foundation and builder was God. This city or house was both God’s house, part of Abraham’s house through Judah and also the house of David and was filled at Pentecost with Abraham’s blessing. The deposit or guarantee of the blessing that was poured out at Pentecost was a down payment of the eternal inheritance of the breath of God as a father within the body of his son for those who received that blessing and were inspired by it to love as Jesus loved.

Inherited and Purchased Possession

It was God who gave the land of promise to Abraham and his heir or seed or son. Abraham’s heir was Jesus. The physical land of Canaan was important because it was somewhere for Abraham’s descendants through Jacob to live. However, it was symbolic of the life of the breath (or inspiration or spirit) of God as a father within the life of his son. Hebraically, God’s son is a corporate body of millions of people who have the same relationship with God as “father” Abraham and his heir or seed Jesus. Within the land of Canaan, the land was given by Moses to the different tribes or sons of Jacob. This land belonged to families and was passed down from the fathers to the current generation of sons. This land was an inherited possession and stayed within the family. Land could be sold outside of the family as a purchased possession but ultimately the title deed to the land belonged to the family and the family had the right to buy back the land if a kinsman redeemer could be found who could afford the price. So, it says in Leviticus 25:23-27 “And the land is not sold – to extinction, for the land is Mine, for sojourners and settlers are ye with Me; Levi 25:24 and in all the land of your possession a redemption ye do give to the land. When thy brother becometh poor, and hath sold his possession, then hath his redeemer who is near unto him come, and he hath redeemed the sold thing of his brother; and when a man hath no redeemer, and his own hand hath attained, and he hath found as sufficient for its redemption, then he hath reckoned the years of its sale, and hath given back that which is over to the man to whom he sold it, and he hath returned to his possession“. Jesus the man now possesses as his inheritance the land of promise, the kingdom or realm of the inspiration or breath (or Holy Spirit) of God as his Father in the embodiment or bodies of the sons that he as God poured out at Pentecost. Isaiah 54:5 says “For thy Maker is thy husband, Yehovah of Hosts is His name, And thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, ‘God of all the earth,’ He is called.” Yehoshua as the great kinsman redeemer came to re-establish Yehovah’s eternal purpose of sonship and so he imparts and redeems the land back to his brothers by sharing his sonship and blessing and anointing or oil of the joy of the Lord and a change of name or character to the name and character of God. Nehemiah 8:10 states “And he saith to them, ‘Go, eat fat things, and drink sweet things, and sent portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for to-day is holy to our Lord [Adonai], and be not grieved, for the joy of Yehovah is your strength.” Receiving this blessing or anointing was essential because it gave strength to the sons of God to live within the purchased possession within this life which is the deposit or guarantee of the eternal inheritance of sonship that the man Jesus has already inherited within the age to come. Abraham received the inheritance of sonship in this life as God swore by Himself that he would inherit because of his inspired obedience. He couldn’t lose his inheritance after this but others can. It depends how they behave. God also has an inheritance. His inheritance is within his sons or called out or chosen ones and Jesus the man purchased the land of inheritance within the bodies or “adamah” of his set apart (holy, special or different) ones. At the first resurrection, God will receive his inheritance within his sons just as he possesses that land within them through the deposit within them by the power of his breath (or Holy Spirit) that dwells within them during their lifetime. The fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control that they bear as good trees of righteousness in this life is the evidence or sign or seal or mark or reflection or image of God’s fatherhood or indwelling breath or being filled with the Holy Spirit that proves that they have the deposit which guarantees what is to come.

The Blessing of the Fathers

Blessing in Hebrew was a gift brought on bended knee, the word actually meant knee. The father was the strength of the house because the father provided for and protected their sons and gave them purpose. The fathers spoke words of blessing with breath that came from the very depths of their heart. If their sons were true sons to their fathers, the heartfelt words were endued with power and strength and the breath of life to empower their sons to establish (or faith) that blessing or gifting of their father. This gift or blessing established their father’s inheritance within the heart of his son and enabled the son to continue their father’s name. Isaac told Esau to go hunting and prepare him his favourite meal. When Isaac smelled the smell of his son and tasted the food, Isaac’s love for his son welled up within him and Isaac spoke words of gifting and blessing with the breath (or spirit) from the depths of his breathings (or soul). It says in Genesis 27:2-4 “And he saith, ‘Lo, I pray thee, I have become aged, I have not known the day of my death; and now, take up, I pray thee, thy instruments, thy quiver, and thy bow, and go out to the field, and hunt for me provision, and make for me tasteful things, such as I have loved, and bring in to me, and I do eat, so that my soul [“nephesh”, breathings] doth bless thee before I die.” The blessing that he spoke was actually inspired or inbreathed by the breath of God, and Isaac blessed whom he thought was Esau with the blessing of gifting of God originally given to his father Abraham. The blessing that Isaac gave was the word of God spoken with God’s life’s breath, and gifted Jacob with everything he needed to succeed in life and achieve his destiny in God. Isaac’s blessing of Jacob instead of Esau was the result of both divine providence but also deception. Jacob himself experienced deception from the mouths of his uncle Laban and also his own sons when Joseph was sold into slavery. However the blessing of Abraham, and of Isaac was upon Jacob whose character, behaviour and therefore his name was changed from Jacob to Israel, an overcoming or prevailing prince with God.

Levirate Marriage

If a married man died childless without a son and he had a brother, then his brother was required to marry the widow and bear a son. The firstborn son would inherit the name of his dead father and the house and name of the dead man would be established and live on within the people. The brother was in effect laying down his life for his dead brother by raising a son to carry his brother’s name and not his own. If the brother was not prepared to do this, he was required to be publicly humiliated and spat on (cursed) by the widow before the elders of the people. Judah married a Canaanite woman and his firstborn son was so wicked that God struck him down dead. Judah gave his son’s widow to his second son to father a family on his dead firstborn son’s behalf.

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