My
friend Alan continues his series on the sons of Jacob:
KJV
Matthew 7:13 “Enter ye in at the strait (narrow; constrained) gate: for wide is
the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be
which go through it: 7:14 because strait (narrow; confined) is the gate, and
narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.”
In
the ongoing competition between Leah and Rachel to produce sons for Jacob, God
was continuing the revelations of mankind concerning our journey from adam’,
and unto Christ. For that is a Spiritual journey that all who pursue God will
experience. In the religion that calls itself ‘Christianity’, we have been
deceived by ‘religious deceptions’ over the millennia through lack of Spiritual
understanding, and for failing to rightly discern the words preserved for us from
our forefathers. That ‘religious deception’ is not an indictment, but simply
the results of failing to Spiritually discern messages that were intended to
orchestrate our individual spiritual journeys.
As believers, we were all too eager to take these scriptural messages as
literal rules and commandments, rather than search for the Spiritual Life
imbedded in these instructions.
And
we have all failed. There is none that have not ‘missed the mark’. There is
none that have not ever misunderstood scripture, and attempted to physically
manifest a Spiritual understanding by applying our carnal interpretations and
descriptions. This has been, and will continue to be, Our Father’s Plan. For
in no way will God allow us to access or understand the Glory of God, nor the
Kingdom of God, by observing and applying our carnal interpretations to His
Spiritual Blueprint. His Glory He will not share with another
(understanding). Yashua
answered
them, “You do err not knowing (have Spiritual Understanding) the scriptures;”
[Matt. 22:29] Unfortunately that still applies today, though many are now
coming to understand the simplicity of the statement of Yashua, “God is
Spirit”. [John 4:24]
In
our last discussion we looked at the seventh son born to Jacob; Gad. And in the
investigation of the name/nature that Gad represents, I tried to illustrate an
understanding of coming to a point in our journey, from ‘adam’ to Christ, that
we recognize a need to ‘separate’ ourselves from the wayward path that our
journey had been taking, and realize a need for a ‘change of direction’. In the
competition for preeminence in the role of wife to Jacob, Leah had produced four
sons. And then she ceased conceiving. Rachel, desperate to participate in the
family, gave
her
handmaid Bilhah to Jacob as concubine, and Bilhah produced two sons for Jacob.
But Rachel was as yet barren, and could not conceive. When Leah faced the reality
that she was no longer conceiving, not to be outdone she gave her own handmaid,
Zilpah, to Jacob. Zilpah produced a son, and Leah called his name/nature Gad.
KJV
Genesis 30:12 “And Zilpah Leah’s maid bare Jacob a second son. 30:13 And Leah
said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed: and she called his
name Asher (Happy).”
Upon
the birth of another son for Jacob, through Leah’s handmaid Zilpah, Leah called
the name/nature of this son Asher, proclaiming that she was now ‘happy’ (ah-sher),
and ‘blessed’ (ah-sher). The Hebrew word ‘ah-sher’, which we pronounce simply
as ‘asher’, Strong’s # H833 thru H838, has been very much misunderstood. And
probably the most misunderstood use of this word has been when it has been
translated as ‘happy’. The Hebrew ‘ah-sher’ is one of those
words,
like Gad, which might take several paragraphs of discussion to grasp the
importance of the use of this word.
One
of the more valuable lessons I was taught as an early ‘convert’ to Christianity
was the understanding that God had not called me to His kingdom to “…make me
happy”. As I began to familiarize myself with ‘christian’ surroundings, I
wanted to be ‘happy’. My Father, however, wanted to teach me to be Glad. While
I wanted to be happy experiencing the newness of ‘christianity’, My Father
wanted me to learn the Joy of His Presence, regardless of the circumstances of
my surroundings. I had to learn the lesson that ‘happiness’ is the fleeting emotion
of ‘being happy’; happy because what I wanted to happen was unfolding. ‘Glad’,
on the other hand, is the heart that can still sense the Presence of God, even
when having no control of
what
is occurring.
‘Happy’ is being pleased with the ‘happenstance’ of what I wanted to transpire,
while ‘unhappy’ is being emotionally deflated with the negativity of the
moment.
Joy
is the stability of knowing the presence of the Holy Spirit of God, even when
the turmoil of chaos seems to reign supreme. So, how did the Hebrew word
‘ah-sher’ (asher) get translated so often as ‘happy’? The word ‘ah-sher’ is
used many, many times throughout O.T. scripture. It is one of the most
prolifically used
words
in all of the O.T. Most times, however, it is translated as ‘which’, ‘that’,
‘whose’, ‘that which’, etc. The word is used most often as a relative pronoun,
or relative particle, indicating a logical and accurate progression of thought
or events. The word has the responsibility of pointing us, the readers, to the
progression of events being described in these verses. Consequently, the most accurate definition of
the word ‘ah-sher’, at least for my understanding, is as “…the straight
progression”; or, “…the straight path”; or, “…the straight record”. Many
Bible
students will be familiar with a particular use of this word ‘ah-sher’, for it
is the basis for the word ‘Jasher’. ‘Jasher’ is referred to in Joshua and in
2Samuel as a ‘book of remembrance’ that the early ‘Israelites’ were familiar
with; or at least aware of. ‘Jasher’, in this context, is referring to a
‘straight record’; or straight and reliable recording of events in the history
of the descendants of ‘Adam’. While I have serious reservations about the
‘straightness’ of The Book of Jasher, there are many today that put much
confidence in this ancient text.
So,
how are we to best understand the use of the word ‘ah-sher’ as referring to the
second son born of the union of Jacob and Zilpah, a word that Leah chose to
describe the name/nature of the son of this event? What, if anything, was Leah
prophesying in the birth of this son of Jacob? From the background evidence of
the many uses and appearances of this word ‘asher’, it seems reasonable to
conclude that this word is referring to a ‘straight forward path’; a straight forward
and unwavering course of action, or intent, or expression. I believe this is
what Yashua
was
revealing to us in the verses we have recorded in Matthew 7: 13-14.
When
we begin to recognize the need for a separation in our own life experiences
from those things that continue to be distractions and hindrances to our
‘sanity’ and benefit, we then must begin to recognize a need for a straight
forward direction in the patterns of our conduct. A life of reckless and
wayward conduct (the ‘broad way’) is a prime candidate for a path of narrows,
constrictions and straits, whether self-imposed, or imposed upon us by others.
This is the very description of the Hebrew word ‘tzar-rar’, Strong’s # H6887,
which gets translated into many aspects of difficulty, including ‘rock’,
‘distress’, ‘enemy’, ‘adversary’, ‘affliction’,
‘narrow’,
‘trouble’, etc. This word ‘tzar-rar’ is the very word used to describe the
phrase ‘Jacob’s troubles’ as referred to in Jeremiah 30:7. But this word is
also used to refer to God as ‘Rock’, and it is the root from which the word for
Egypt is formed. Egypt has become synonymous with being “…between a rock and a
hard place”.
It
seems almost as if Leah, in the naming of the sons of Jacob of which she was in
charge, was declaring a change of understanding, and maybe even a necessary
‘course correction’; a course of which Jacob was the progenitor, but of which
God was orchestrating the events. The very names of these sons that Jacob was
siring were declaring a correction of understanding in this tribal family that
had begun in the most chaotic and reckless circumstances and activities. Jacob
was being squeezed through straits and narrows and afflictions that were
affecting his entire family, and affecting all in whom he came into contact.
Jacob was experiencing the consequences of his actions. It was almost as if
God, the Author and Finisher, was narrowing the path that this journey must take.
Jacob’s journey, to this point, had been one that ‘allowed’ for the bending of
the rules.
Jacob
had demonstrated great confidence in his ability to manipulate events, and
people, in order to get his own way. Jacob, ‘the supplanter’,
demonstrated a willingness to abandon the ‘straight and narrow’ to satisfy his
own carnal appetites. Let’s face it; you cannot desire to be ‘found’, until
it is revealed to you that you are ‘lost’. The remainder of Jacob’s journey
would require a return to a path of honesty, integrity and humility. Jacob
would have to find that “…strait (constrained; restricted) is the way, and
narrow is the gate that leads to Life”. On the journey from ‘Jacob’ to
‘Israel’, there would be many disappointments, and even tragedies, to have to
endure. Asher would become a declaration of the need for the ‘straight (strait)
and narrow path’ that leads to Life. ‘Asher’ is not the Life. ‘Asher’ is the
path that leads us to Life.
Herein
is Life; that you know God, and Yashua haMashiahk, whom He has sent. For
‘asher’ describes a ‘straight forward’ approach in relationship with self, and
with others. Asher, as a ‘straight path of life’, would help to avoid many
obstacles and self- inflicted difficulties. But more importantly, ‘asher’ is
required for surviving and overcoming the tragedies which this journey imposes.
Leah prophesied that in ‘asher’, her life would be called ‘Blessed’ (ah-sher). And she was correct, for Leah had more to
give to this family than she could yet imagine.
