Genesis 46: 8 – 27
I show you a Mystery
8 Now these were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn. 9 The sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puvah,Job, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three. 16 The sons of Gad were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel. 18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons. 19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. 21 The sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons in all. 23 The son of Dan was Hushim. 24 The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all. 26 All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
Here are a couple of questions for you to ponder. Have you ever thought or had someone ask you these questions;
1. Since we live in a time after our Lord Jesus came to earth and sacrifice His life for us, what about those people who lived before and never heard of the gospel, what happens to them?
2. The bible was written by 40 writers over a period of 4000 years. They are only a bunch of myths and fables put together. How is God involved?
3. If the bible is complete how come, we find the mention of ‘mysteries’?
4. What is the purpose for all the listings of names throughout the bible?
Let me quickly answer all 4 questions then elaborate on them.
In question #1 you may be surprised that since the beginning of time all of mankind had the Gospel preached to them.
We read in the book of Hebrews chapter 4 verse 2, “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
Galatians 3 verses 8 and 9, “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. So, then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”
So, the scripture says that they did receive the Gospel. The question then you ask is how. Where is the proof. I will get to this for you.
Let me continue to address the 4 questions. Here is one for you to make a mental note. Question # 2 is answered by question # 3. Say what?
In the 2 letter to Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 we read, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”
This verse says that when those 40 writers penned the words they had our Precious Holy Spirit speaking to them what to write. Now you might be thinking, ‘hold on there captain. That’s a pretty big statement. Prove it.’
Okay, in doing this, I will also answer question # 4.
Let us go back to Genesis chapter 4 and look at the names of the descendants of Cain. You will note that Cain had a son who then fathered a son and so on down the line. Now here we see that without even this race of fallen men our Precious Holy God spoke to the minds of these men in naming their sons. For example, He inspired Cain to call his son Enoch. By doing so we can see our Holy God speaks about the outcome of those who rejected God and made their lives here on earth. The outcome is the end of their family existence. I am going to list this portion of Scripture and then list in descending order each son. Then I will show you what that name means. We can then put them all together and reveal the mystery of their names.
You see a ‘mystery’ is not some new secret. It is already in God’s Holy Word. You just need to dig up the gold like Paul says in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 51, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—n a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
Notice what Paul says, I will ‘show’ you a mystery. The awesome truth has been there all along. What Paul is saying let me point out this amazing truth from our Wonderful and Awesome God which many of you might consider that it is a mystery now being revealed and which you may never have considered before.
Now back to Genesis 4.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech. 19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. 22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron.”
Now I have separated the names in the descending order and give you the meaning of their names. Let’s see what we come up with.
Adam = man
Cain = brought forth
Enoch = instructed
Irad = fugitive
Mehujael = The one smitten by God
Methushael = His death is of God
Lamech = despair
Jabal = end of ages
Jubal = A river flows forth
Tubal-Cain = O offspring of the man brought forth
Now you do not have to be a Rhodes scholar to put the meanings of the names together to come out with a message from God.
Man brought forth and instructed a fugitive. One smitten by God. His death is of God causing despair with the end of the age. A river (flood) flows forth O offspring of the man (Cain) brought forth.
Now for the Good News Gospel as revealed in the names of the descendants of Seth in chapter 5.
And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. 5 So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died. 6 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. 7 After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. 8 So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died. 9 Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan. 10 After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. 11 So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died. 12 Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. 13 After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. 14 So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died. 15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. 16 After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters. 17 So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died. 18 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. 19 After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 20 So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died. 21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. 25 Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. 26 After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters. 27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died. 28 Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. 29 And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.” 30 After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. 31 So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died. 32 And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Adam = man
Seth = appointed
Enosh = mortal man
Cainan = sorrow is born
Mahalalel = The Glory of God
Jared = shall come down
Enoch = instructed
Methuselah = his death shall bring
Lamech = despair
Noah = comfort and rest
So, let us again put the names together from top to bottom.
Man is appointed. A mortal man of sorrow is born. The Glory of God shall come down instructing that His death shall bring those in despair comfort and rest.
Let us go with the flow and see if there is a message in the names of Abraham’s sons found in chapter 46 in the order they were born shall we.
8 Now these were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn. 9 The sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puvah,Job, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three. 16 The sons of Gad were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel. 18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons. 19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. 21 The sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons in all. 23 The son of Dan was Hushim. 24 The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all. 26 All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all. 27 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
Reuben = see a son
Simeon = hearing
Levi = joined
Judah = praise
These four were the sons of Leah. Then Rachael gave Jacob Bilhah who bore two sons.
Dan = Judgment
Naphtali = wrestling
Leah then decided on having more children and she produced
Gad = troop, company
Asher = happiness
Issachar = hire
Zebulun = dwelling, exalt, honor
Our Holy God then answered Rachael’s prayers and two sons were born.
Joseph = adding
Benjamin = son of my right hand
All together the message is ‘See a son. Hear Him. We are joined again with the Son. Praise is the response of all joined to the Son. (We) have passed from judgment and wrestling to form a company with all those joined together in happiness. The Son has hired us for His exaltation and honor. As we exalt Him more will be added to our company of believers and He will allow us to sit at His right hand.
To me all this is just Amazing!
