Good Morning.
When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife. And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. Then Leah said, “A troop comes!” So she called his name Gad. (Genesis 30:9-11)
As Jacob’s story continues, we see a principle developing that is accented with the birth of Gad or “a troop.” The concept is this: the people of God always multiplied outside of the land of Israel. Amplifying the point is the fact that only Benjamin was actually born in the land of Israel. Later on, Jacob and his family numbering seventy souls were compelled to go down to Egypt. There they stayed for over two centuries but all the while growing in number until the king of Egypt began to fear that they were more and mightier than he. When they finally came out of Egypt, Israel had multiplied in numbers estimated to be around two million people and were joined by what the Bible calls the “mixed multitude.”
The principle that God’s people multiply outside of the land is actually first introduced in the beginning. The Bible says that God formed man from the dust of the earth which is understood in Jewish commentary to be dust from all regions of the earth. That would imply that the first man was comprised of what would produce all nations. Then God placed the man that He had already formed in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:7-8). In other words, the text strongly suggests that Adam was not created IN the garden but was placed there after his creation
The point of all this is to demonstrate that to be considered as God’s people was never limited to one ethnicity, tribe or language. From the beginning has desired those from every nation would worship Him and, thus, He called Israel out of the nations to be a light to those nations. The light is intended to draw others from the darkness of the nations to come unto the God of Israel and be joined to His family and so it is written:
“Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants — everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant — even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:6-7)
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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