The Calling of Abraham

Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy Seed, which is Christ… And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:16, 29)

Alice C. Linsley


We first meet Abraham in Ur, which is where his older brother Haran died. When Abraham's father died, Abraham was living in Haran. Abraham's call to leave Haran is consistent with the Horite Hebrew marriage and ascendancy pattern.

As was the marriage custom of the Horite Hebrew rulers, Terah had two wives. Abraham makes this clear when he explains that he and Sarah have the same father, but different mothers (Gen. 20:12).

Terah's two wives resided in separate settlements. One lived in Ur and the other in Haran to the north. Terah's territory extended along the Euphrates from Haran in southern Turkey to Ur in southern Iraq. At that time, there was a large system of lakes at the midpoint between Haran and Ur. It appears that Terah controlled much of the water commerce between Ur and Haran.

Terah's first born son by his half-sister wife was Nahor, and Nahor was Terah's proper heir. (Na-Hor means "Horus is exalted.") When Terah died, Nahor ruled over Terah's territory, and Abraham was sent away to establish his own kingdom. This is consistent with the Horite Hebrew custom of sending away sons who are not the first born. Other sent-away sons include Abraham's sons Yishmael/Ishmael (son of Hagar) and Yishbak (son of Keturah). Yishbak means “sent away." (The initial Y in these names is a solar symbol that indicates a ruler under divine appointment.)

Before he died, Abraham "made grants" to his other sons and sent them away from his heir Yitzak/Isaac (Gen. 25:6). We may assume that Terah made a grant to Abraham and sent him away from Nahor before he died. This began Abraham's journey south where he eventually became established in Edom, and where his descendants ruled for many generations.

The practice of sending away sons to establish their own kingdoms drove the Horite Hebrew expansion out of Africa into Mesopotamia and beyond. Nimrod, the son of Kush (Gen. 10), was a sent-away son who became a great kingdom builder in Mesopotamia. Abraham is one of his descendants.

This feature is important in understanding Jesus' true identity as Messiah. He left the glory he enjoyed with His Father as a sent-away son. He set aside His immortal nature that He might stoop to save (kenosis). He became mortal that He might redeem a people for Himself and establish an eternal kingdom.

As with all sent-away sons, God promises to deliver a kingdom by divine power. This pattern speaks of the Son of God who is heir to the eternal kingdom. Abraham's call is to possess the Kingdom. Psalm 2 declares this concerning the Kingdom: He said to Me, "Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Thy possession."

The sending forth of Abraham constitutes a divine call and appointment. It means that a kingdom will be gained, not according to worldly means, but as God directs. Sent-away sons receive divine protection, guidance, territory, authority, and heirs. This pattern is found with Cain, Abraham, Moses, Yacob, Yoseph, Samuel and David.

In II Samuel 8:18, David’s sons are called priests. They are of the Davidic House which is assocaited with the Horite Hebrew settlement of Bethlehem, Jesus' birthplace. The Prophet Micah proclaimed that Messiah would be from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

In Genesis 3:15, the Messiah is called the "Seed" of the Woman. In Abraham's time, she was shown overshadowed in images like this:

In Christian iconography, the "Woman" is shown overshadowed by a dove. The dove replaced the solar cradle of the Horite Hebrew, but the message is clear. When Mary asked how she would conceive, seeing that she was a virgin, the Angel Gabriel replied: "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35)

When Abraham went to Canaan he did not abandon the tradition of his ancestors. He continued the marriage and ascendancy pattern of his Horite Hebrew people, taking a cousin wife from among his Horite Hebrew kin. Horite rulers practiced endogamy because they believed that the Seed of God would be born of their ruler-priest bloodlines. That is why the lines of priests intermarrried and why unchaste daughters of priests were burned alive (Lev. 21:9). Sexual impurity was not tolerated.

Horite priests were known for their purity and devotion to the High God whose emblem was the Sun. Plutarch wrote that the “priests of the Sun at Heliopolis [biblical On] never carry wine into their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King. The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, for they use it, though sparingly.”

From Abraham's seed comes the Seed of God

Abraham left his father’s territory as a response to God’s call whereby God would deliver to Abraham a kingdom. To gain that kingdom, he needed a proper heir. This was not Eliezer, but the firstborn son of Sarah who was barren. Yitzak (Isaac) was the son whose miraculous coming into the world was to bring Abraham a kingdom. This speaks of the Son of God.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

Jesus is the fulfillment of the expectation of Abraham's Horite people. He is a direct descendant of the Horite Hebrew ruler-priests. About Him it was written "My wrath will be turned against the enemy of my father Osiris and I will put him beneath my feet...” (Coffin Texts, Utterance 148). Note the similarity to the Messianic reference in Psalm 110:1: The Lord says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

The substance of Abraham's faith centers in the belief of his people that the Creator made a promise to their ancestors in Eden that a woman of their bloodlines would conceive the Divine Seed who would overthrow the curse and restore paradise and perfect communion with the Creator. From this faith Christianity emerges organically. Christians affirm that the Creator has been busy fulfilling that promise in Jesus Christ, the Divine Seed/Son. The core belief of Christianity in God Father and God Son can be traced to Abraham and his ancestors. It predates all the great world religions. Christianity is not original, but what it lacks in originality it makes up for in great antiquity, and herein rests its authority.

Related reading: Abraham's Complaint; The Ra-Horus-Hathor Narrative; The Horite High Places; Abraham's Territory Between Hebron and Beersheba; Horite Hebrew Rulers With Two Wives

Numbers and the Kingdom of God

Alice C. Linsley

St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430) wrote: “Numbers are the universal language offered by the Deity to humans as confirmation of the truth.” St. Augustine argued against the Donatist, Tichonius, observing that "if Tichonius had said that these mystical rules open out some of the hidden recesses of the law, instead of saying that they reveal all the mysteries of the law, he would have spoken truth" (De Doctrina Christiana, III, xlii).

The Church Fathers recognized that mystery surrounds the divine, but they condemned magical use of numbers in occult practices. They observed patterns in the numerical symbolism of Scripture. St. Ambrose, commenting on the days of creation, explained that interpretation for the Christian relies upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He wrote:

"The number seven is good, but we do not explain it after the doctrine of Pythagoras and the other philosophers, but rather according to the manifestation and division of the grace of the Spirit; for the prophet Isaias has enumerated the principal gifts of the Holy Spirit as seven.”

The Church Fathers were not interested in philosophical speculation about numbers. However, they did wish to lift up the meaning of Scripture according to the tradition which they received, a tradition that Jesus Himself drew on; a Tradition rich in number symbolism, typology, and pattern. Perhaps Ambrose’s view takes into consideration the consistency of number symbolism throughout the Canon.

The ancient Horite Hebrew used numbers and numerical patterns in decision making, selecting clans and individual for God appointed tasks, and in rendering judgements.

Casting lots was a method of selecting and is not occult. It is based on probability and it is likely that the ancient Horite Hebrew understood that randomness resolves in patterns. They would have viewed these patterns as being fixed by the Creator.

One form of divination that God allowed was done only by the High Priest. This is sometimes referred to as "cleromancy". Exodus 28:30, explains that the Urim and the Thummim (probably sets of stones) were in the breastpiece, "so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.” One set was white and the other was black. These appear to represent a yes-no approach to decision making consistent with the binary worldview of the Horite Hebrew. These seem to represent binary sets. The urim would have a number of associations which would be assigned the opposite meaning with the thummim. Using these tools involved yes-no questions, but also a cosmological framework by which meaning was expressed. That would involve considerations such as the four directional poles, sacred centers, gender, numbers, and reversals.

The prophet of old, the moreh, gave instruction from their trees. Abraham consulted the Moreh at Mamre who sat under a great Oak. Deborah sat under a tamar, or date nut palm. These prophets, like John the Baptist, were away from the population centers. People had to make an effort to travel to them. Further, their trees appear to be at the sacred center between two shrine cities. The oak of the moreh was between Ai and Bethel, on an east-west axis. The tamar of Deborah was between Bethel and Ramah, on a north-south axis.

The number symbolism of the ancient prophets represents a system that assigned numbers and gender virtues to the north, south, east and west. Thus the number one is assigned to north, and north is associated with the heavens, God’s eternal throne. The number six is assigned to sacred center (tiferet), a state of harmony or equilibrium.The number nine represents the west, the future, the bridal chamber, and the consummation of the celestial union.

When the number 3 is associated with south, fertility, productivity, and peace on earth (shalom). It is that state of heaven coming down (the advent of God, Messiah's Incarnation). This is evident in the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation. The city has twelve gates and sits on twelve foundation stones (Revelation 21:12-14). Three face east, three face north, three face south, and three face west. We may illustrate this as follows

3→ 3↑ 3↓ 3← Notice that the third position faces south.

Compare this to the “bronze sea” in Solomon’s temple which rested on twelve oxen (1 Kings 7:23-26).

3→ 3↑ 3↓ 3← Notice that they coincide.


It appears that north and east are dominant and associated with maleness. South and West are supplementary and associated with femaleness. Some of this mystical number symbolism is evident in the Ten Sefirot of Kabalah.

Imagine a circle with north as a point at the top center. This also represents high noon, a time of no shadows. This position of priority is assigned the number 1, symbolizing the Uncreated Hidden God (Ain Soph). Directly opposite is the point south, assigned the number three. It is associated with marriage and fertility, divine overshadowing and miraculous conception.


Kingdom Building by Two

In Genesis the numbers two and seven point to a kingdom given or revealed. We see this in the necessity for two wives to establish a kingdom. Sarah resided in Hebron (Kiriath-Arba) and Keturah in the region of Beersheba. Their separate households were on a north-south axis and marked the northern and southern boundaries of Abraham's territory in Edom (Idumea - land of red people).

In the story of Joseph’s interpretation of dreams in Genesis 40-41, we find a pattern involving the number two and seven:

2 years in prison awaiting his deliverance
2 royal officials
2 dreams involving the number 7
2 additional years in prison before Joseph receives a kingdom

Compare this to Luke 10:1-20 which uses two and seven to speak of the Kingdom:

70 + 2 appointed to proclaim the Kingdom
2 sent (in pairs) to declare peace to many households
2 cities: Chorazin and Bethsaida, where Christ perform miracles and none repented (Luke 10:13)
2 cities: Tyre and Sidon, where the Prophet Elijah performed miracles and Jesus was recognized as Messiah (Mark 3:8; 7:24).

The number two speaks of a kingdom given and received. The ancient kingdom builders built up their houses through two wives and two concubines. This was the pattern until the time of David and Solomon. The first born sons of the two wives did not share their father's throne. The proper heir was the first born son of the first wife. This wife was a half-sister, as was Sarah to Abraham. So, Isaac was Abraham's proper heir. His first born son by Keturah was Joktan. He was named after Keturah's father and served as a high ranking official in the territory of his maternal grandfather, after whom he was named. This is pattern characterizes the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the Horite Hebrew.


Related reading: Number Symbolism in the Bible; Yes, Georgia, there is a Kingdom; Jesus Christ in Genesis; Kushite Kings and the Kingdom of God; Genesis on Sons and the Son

Kushite Kings and the Kingdom of God

Alice C. Linsley

The origin of the words Kain/Kenan/Canaan/Kenite is originally Nilotic and the name is found among extant African tribes. Related are the words "kente" (cloth worn by Akan /Ashante rulers), kenten (cloth basket); Kenya (the country); and the Kenem, Kanembu and Kenton tribes of Nigeria, and the Kana-kuru and Kanuri who live in Adam-awa and Bor-no (Land of Noah). There are many other peoples in west central Africa with names related to Kenan. Many of these peoples originated in the Nile Valley and migrated westward. Some migrated eastward into Arabia and as far as India, Siam and Nepal.

In Nepal, approximately 30,000 Sarki live in a province called Seti.  Sarki and seti are both Kushite words. The original name of Kush was Ta-Seti. A Kushite tribe of Central Asia was called Kushana. The Kushan of China were called Ta-Yuehti. I explore the Kushite-Kushan connection here.

Among Kushitic peoples sarki means ruler. Among Chadic peoples gon mean ruler. Thus the Akkadian Sar-gon represents a double royal title. In Nigeria the Kano Kings are called sarki. Kano is another word related to Kain/Kenan/Kenite/Canaanite.

Another interesting connection is the Kandahar dialect of Pakistan/Afghanistan, which has Tir-hari as a principal dialect. Tir is a form of the name Tiras, mentioned in Genesis 10 and hari is a form of hor/horite/horim. The Sarki of Nepal belong to a larger ethnic group called Pa-hari.

The words Khan and Kandake (Candace in English Bibles) are also related and refer to rulers. The name Khan, meaning ruler/chief, is a common surname among many who speak languages of Central Asia, specifically Pashto, Urdu, Farsi, and Hindi. The Kushites who built kingdoms across the Afro-Asiatic Dominion left the world a legacy of great rulers, including Nimrod (Sargon the Great) and Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan’s name is more accurately spelled Činggis Qaγan and Qayan is the Arabic spelling of Kain.

Genghis Khan's first-born son was named Jochi which is the equivalent of Joktan, the name of Abraham's first-born son. Genghis Khan married a woman of the Olkut’Hun, meaning the Hun tribe. Ogur Hun means the Hun clan or the Hun community of Og. The word ogur means clan, community or tribe and appears to be equivalent to the Pashto, orkut, meaning community. So, the words ogur, orkut and olkut seem to be cognates and probably Indo-Pakistani. The word Og is found in Genesis also. Og was one of the three clans in the Og, Magog, Gog Horite confederation.

It is easy to see how the Altaic Mongolian-Korean connection came to be once we make the connection between the Nilotic Horites of the ancient world and Genghis Khan's people. A distinctive marriage and ascendency pattern drove Kushite expansion out of the Nile Valley.

My research into the genealogical material in Genesis involves analysis of the Horite kinship pattern whereby the rulers had two wives and at least two concubines. The first wife was a half-sister and the second wife was a patrilineal cousin or niece. The marriages of firstborn sons contributed to the diffusion of Horite religion. The firstborn son of the half-sister wife ascended to the throne of his biological father. The firstborn son of the patrilineal cousin or niece bride ascended to the throne of his maternal grandfather. All other sons were given gifts of camels, jewelry, flocks, herds and servants and sent away. Sent-away sons moved away from the territories of their fathers and established new territories.

The ancient Nilo-Saharan kings were believed to be appointed by the Creator whose emblem was the Sun. This is why many of the Biblical rulers names have the Canaanite Y, a solar cradle indicating that the ruler has been overshadowed, a sign of divine appointment. All pharaohs were believed to be "sons of the Sun" (Ra-mes) generated by Horus, the "Son of Ra" born to the virgin queen Hathor-Meri. She is shown on ancient monuments with the long horns of the Acholi cow upon her head.

The importance of this marriage pattern as a driving factor in Kushite expansion should not be overlooked. It is important also in understanding the divine Son, Jesus Christ. He who had the power and the right to live immortally in communion with the Father, set aside His power and right (kenosis) and became mortal that He might redeem a people for Himself and establish an eternal kingdom.

 
Related reading: Kushite Wives; The Afro-Asiatic Dominion; The Peoples of Canaan; Genghis Khan: Last Afro-Asiatic Kingdom Builder; Kushite Kingdom Building; The Migration of Abraham's Ancestors; Binary Distinctions and Kenosis; The Urheimat of the Canaanite Y

More Questions About Sex

Alice C. Linsley


The following questions were asked by a reader of Just Genesis and I consider them very important.

Q: If our Western culture traces the evolution of thought to Abraham, are we required to live by and make moral choices based on the worldview of his people?

R:  That's a good question and one too few are asking.  There are separate points to be made here. The first concerns the authority of the Bible.  For Christians the Bible is an authority. For some it is taken as the only authority (sola scriptura) and for others it is an authority along with Holy Tradition.

The second point concerns the doctrine of free will. If humans have free choice we are not bound by the worldview of any people. However, we in the West are formed and influenced by the biblical worldview. Atheists and deists, for example, choose to reject the biblical view of God, as do some Christians and Jews. Revisionists tell us that the worldview of Abraham’s people is antiquated and irrelevant for the time in which we live. These argue that homosexuality was not properly understood in Abraham’s time because the ancients did not have the benefit of modern psychology. If we are honest, we must admit that Psychology is a fairly murky science whereas the binary worldview of Abraham's people was at least based on objective and universally observed constants in nature: most fundamentally the cycle of the Sun, the fixed cyclical relationships of the stars and constellations, and the norm of male-female humanity.

Clearly none are required to live or make moral choices based on the binary worldview of Abraham’s people. That said, and I’m now speaking as an anthropologist, the binary worldview of Abraham’s people is largely misunderstood today and much of the reaction against it is based upon assumptions, not reality and certainly not material evidence.


Q: If Abraham’s relationship to his God is the model we are to emulate, then shouldn’t we be sacrificing our children?

R:  We are dealing here with two issues. A prior question is “What was Abraham’s relationship to God?” We are able to address the question of Isaac’s sacrifice once this question is resolved.

All the evidence of the Bible indicates that Abraham and his people were Horite ruler-priests, a caste devoted to Horus who was regarded as the miraculously-conceived “son of God.” Horus prefigures Jesus Christ (as Oholibamah, Esau's Horite bride, prefigures the Virgin Mary). Horite ruler-priests had a calling to be pure. This was expressed in abstinence from certain foods, wine and sex in preparation for service in the temple. They ritually washed several times daily and shaved their heads. All these activities were adjoined to intense prayer.

Clearly none today are required to live this life. Yet it is a pattern of self-denial by which ascetics have ascended above earthly concerns for thousands of years. For most of us, merely abstaining from meat during Lent is almost impossible!

Remembering that Abraham was a Horite ruler-priest helps us to understand the binding of his son Isaac (or Ishmael, according to the Quran). Genesis suggests that Abraham believed Isaac to be the expected Seed of Genesis 3:15. This Seed was to be miraculously born of a woman of Abraham’s people and was to pass through death to life. That passing was understood in terms of the Sun’s movement from east to west. Horus rose in the east as a newborn lamb and set in the west as a ram of doubled strength. This is symbolic of passing through death.

Of course, Christians are not called to emulate Abraham. We are called to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. He is the sacrifice once offered. All is accomplished in Him. No sacrifices are necessary as He sacrificed Himself.


Q:  But doesn't the Afro-Asiatic understanding of God and creation reveal some terrible aspects of child abuse?  Circumcision involves the mutilation of children. Permanently altering the future of human beings by violating their personhood when they are in the most vulnerable phase of development is barbaric.

R:  Circumcision was to Abraham's people what Baptism is to Christians. Since our children are very dear to us we want them with us in the Covenant of the Blood.  Circumcision looks forward to the Covenant of the Blood of Christ and Baptism looks back to the event in which Christ's blood was shed for the life of the world.  If people understood (or believed) what happens in Christian Baptism, Christian parents who have their babies baptized would be accused of child abuse, for in Baptism we die with Christ in order that we might also be raised with Him.


Q:  How can the elevation of male over female by virtue of physical strength be a Kingdom Principle when we are told that the meek that shall inherit the earth?

R: The Kingdom Principle represents a restoration of the order of Paradise.  In Genesis we read that Eve was the crown of creation, the pinnacle of the hierarchy of created things. The submission of her will to a creature at the bottom of the hierarchy represents an inversion of the original order. 

Inversion means the reversal of a fixed order. In nature fixed order is represented by the 1-2 pattern. In other words, there is a binary set behind the Kingdom.  God is always 1, yet God in Christ willingly became 2.  It is called kenosis.

The Horites were also great observers of nature and noted what is universally obvious: the male of the species is larger and stronger than the female. This reality is not the result of the corruption of the original order. It is part of the 1-2 order.  So St. Paul urges Christian husbands to love their wives kenotically, as Christ loves the Church.


Q:  Why should we take as authoritative a world view in which everything associated with the female reproductive process was considered "unclean"?  Surely the Semitic world view is damaging to women and should be rebutted.

R:  Deep investigation of Abraham's people doesn't support the view that women and the reproductive process were considered unclean. Male and female represent a binary set and as such one can't exist without the other.  This understanding is much older than the rabbinic teachings to which you refer.  Jesus told the Jews that they should not call "unclean" what God has made clean.

In fact, there is evidence that the Rabbis missed the point about the shedding of blood in childbirth.  This is a purifying work of women. It is life-giving blood work and as such the most important work. For the female, contact with the birthing blood does not represent ritual impurity. It does for the men of Abraham's caste because they were ruler-priests. On the other hand, women were not to come into contact with the blood of sacrificed animals.  For women this represented ritual impurity since the blood work of the priest involved taking the life of the animal.


Q:  There is no place in the binary world view for the LGBT community. In light of the fact that gay people are human beings, I wonder what function for which they were created?

R:  There is a place for all people in the biblical worldview.  However, there are lifestyles that express a dismissal of the biblical worldview, sometimes quite arrogantly. Homosexuality represents a category that does not conform to the created order with its binary distinctions of male/female, East/West, night/day, life/death/heaven/earth, etc. That is why homosexuality is considered an abomination along with sex with animals (bestiality). Bestiality blurs the distinction between humans in the image of God and creatures not in the image of God. Likewise sex with corpses blurs the distinction between the living and the dead.

Further, in the biblical worldview it is absurd to say that God created people with gender confusion or perverted desires. Gender confusion and sexual perversion are not features of God's original design in creation, but rather results of the corruption of creation resulting from sin and death.

The Bible also takes a position against onanism. Onanism is still regarded as an unrighteous deed among African and Asiatic tribal peoples. It is viewed as a violation of the order of creation. The seed that should fall to the earth is the seed of plants, which spring forth from the earth. The seed of man should fall on his own type (the womb), from which man comes forth. Clement of Alexandria wrote, “Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted” (The Instructor of Children 2:10:91:2 A.D. 191).


Q:  The production of children, as the Afro-Asiatics believed, was the only purpose of a sexual relationship. Levirate law required a widow to have intercourse with her dead husband's brother. Isn't this an example of dysfunction in a society?

R:  There is no evidence that Abraham's people regarded the production of children as the only purpose of sex.  In fact, the tantric-like aspects of the oldest layers of the tradition suggest that sex was viewed as a way of experiencing mystical union with the Creator. Begetting children likely was connected in their minds with co-creation.

Levirate marriage among Abraham's people served to insure the survival of the ruler-priests lines that intermarried exclusively.  These are the lines of Jesus Christ's ancestry, and they can be traced back to the Edenic Promise (Gen. 3:15).


Related reading:  Genesis on Homosex: Beyond Sodom; Some Thoughts on Sex; Why Women Were Never Priests; Did Abraham Believe Isaac to be Messiah?; Jesus: From Lamb to Ram; Blood and Binary Distinctions; Circumcision Among Abraham's People

Jesus Christ in Genesis

To appreciate the biblical narrative one must look for patterns. One of those patterns involves two sons and another involves three sons. Two sons poses the theme of conflict and competition between brothers. The conflict sometimes ends badly as when Cain kills Abel, but often God’s power to restore broken relationships and to heal family wounds is shown.

Another pattern involves three sons and speaks of these as a tribal unity. The three sons of Noah, while not the progenitors of the human race, symbolize the unity of humanity, as Rabbi Hirsch shows in his commentary on Gen. 9:25-27.

Usually one of the three sons is less well known or even hidden in the text. This is the case with the three brothers Magog, Og and Gog. We have to hunt to find Og, but the third brother is in the text. Other tribal units include Huz, Uz and Buz.

When we consider the pattern of three as a unity, we of course thinnk of the Holy Trinity. This great mystery bids us to discover the Son who is also unveiled to those who seek Him.

The pattern of two sons
Two sons are often found to be in conflict. The conflict sometimes results in murder, as when Cain killed Abel, or in a threat of murder, as when Esau threatened Jacob’s life after Jacob stole his birthright. Sometimes God justifies one son over the other, as in the case of the conflict between Moses and his half-brother Korah. Numbers 26:10 tells us that the earth opened and devoured Korah and his fellow conspirators. This is presumed to be an act of God.

The biblical narrative derives structure from the theme of two sons. Consider this partial list to grasp the scope of this theme:

Cain and Abel and Cain and Seth
Peleg and Joktan – Eber’s sons
Abraham and Nahor – Terah’s sons
Moab and Ammon – Lots sons
Ishmael and Isaac – Abraham’s sons
Jacob and Esau – Rebekah’s twin sons
Ephraim and Manessah – Joseph’s sons born in Egypt
Perez and Zerah – the twin sons of Judah and Tamar
Moses and Aaron – Amram’s sons
Eleazar and Gershom – Moses’ sons
Hophni and Phinehas – Eli’s sons
James and John
Andrew and Peter, and two parables involving two sons

While the conflict between brothers is a prominent theme, it would be a mistake to conclude that these were the only sons. We must remember that Nahor (Gen. 22:20-24), Abraham, and Jesse all had eight sons. The youngest of Jesse's sons was chosen to be King in Israel and David's rule would be preserved in Messiah's eternal reign.

The conflict between two sons illustrates God’s power to restore broken relationships. We remember that Jacob and Esau eventually made peace with each other. We remember that Joseph and his brother Benjamin were eventually reunited. The theme also lifts up for us how God is at work in different places at the same time.

The story of Judah and Tamar in Canaan and the story of the Joseph in Egypt is an example. Both narratives are about the loss and gain of two sons. Jacob lost Joseph and Benjamin to Egypt, but gained Perez and Zerah in Canaan. The loss of Joseph and Benjamin in Egypt was temporary and foreshadows the Egyptian captivity of Israel. The gain of Perez and Zerah in Canaan foreshadows the dynasty of David and the coming of Messiah. Chapter 38 constitutes a bridge between two settings of divine action: Egypt and Canaan. We see God working salvation in more than one place.

Joseph would have been about 26 at the time that Judah’s oldest son married Tamar. This son died without issue and the next oldest was enlisted to marry Tamar according to the law of levirate marriage. The second son died when he refused to raise up sons for his dead brother and spilled his seed. Judah was reluctant to marry another son to Tamar so he sent her to her “father’s house” in Edom. Naomi sent her widowed daughters-in-law to their "mother's house". The distinction between houses is important to the story. Judah never intended that Tamar should remarry.

Judah, like his father Jacob, lost two sons. After the death of two sons, he gained two sons by Tamar. His rule was amplified through Perez, the ancestor of David and Messiah.

This theme of loss, restoration and amplification is lifted up when Joseph presents his sons to his father. Then Israel said to Joseph, "I did not think I should ever see you again, and now God has let me see your children as well." (Gen. 48:11)

The theme of two sons also involves reversals. Consider the repetition of the blessing of the younger son over the older. When Israel saw Joseph’s two sons, he asked ‘Who are these?’ ‘They are my sons whom God has given me here,’ Joseph told his father. ‘Then bring them to me,’ he said, ‘so that I may bless them.’ (Gen. 48: 8). Joseph presents his older son to Jacob’s right hand and is surprised when old Jacob lays his right hand on the younger and his left hand on the older.

In the binary framework of the Bible, reversals indicate that God is acting both here and there. The Judah-Tamar shows God working in two places: Egypt and Canaan. The Judah drama in Canaan parallels the Joseph drama in Egypt. This is alluded to in the mention of the women’s association with shrines. Joseph’s wife was the daughter of the priest of the shrine at On. Her name "Asenath" means "holy to Anath", the goddess-consort of the High God. Tamar presented herself to Judah at a shrine in Edom. Asenath is to Egypt what Tamar is to Edom. Both women had 2 sons and in both cases, the younger son was elevated above the older.

What lesson are we to take away from this exploration of two sons? We recognize that although only one son could inherit the territory of his father, God is not restricted by primogeniture. He blesses whom He chooses and his blessings extend in all directions. This is the story of Abraham, Terah’s youngest son. God forms an everlasting covenant with Abraham, telling him that all the peoples of the Earth will be blessed through him. This is the story of Jesse's youngest, to whom the throne of Israel is given as an everlasting kingdom.

The pattern of three sons
Having considered the biblical theme of two sons, we now turn to the equally important theme of three sons. The recurrence of three sons is less evident because this theme is under the surface. The number three represents unity so searching for the three first-born sons enables us to identify a tribal unity. To illustrate how we must hunt for the third son, let us consider the case of Og, the brother of Magog and Gog.

According to the prophet Ezekiel, Gog was chief of the sons of Japheth. The name Gog doesn’t appear in Genesis 10:2-4, but the Prophet recognized that Gog and Magog are associated. When encountering two linguistically related names it is necessary to look for a third related name because Genesis presents familial units of three. We find the third name in Numbers 21:33, so that we are able to speak of the familial confederation of Og, Magog and Gog, with Gog having prominence by the time of Ezekiel (593-571 B.C.).

We note the persistence of the pattern of 3 sons here:
Gen. 4 - Cain, Abel, Seth
Gen. 4 - Jubal, Jabal, Tubal
Gen. 7 - Ham, Shem, Japheth
Gen. 11 - Haran, Nahor, Abraham
Gen. 46 - Jimnah, Jishvah, Jishvi

To this we must add Abraham’s first-born sons: Ishmael (by Hagar), Isaac (Sarah) and Jokshan (by Keturah). The birth order is not clear, which is strange given the importance of primogeniture among Abraham’s people. We are told that Ishmael was born first, but rejected as the heir upon Sarah's insistence, though she had arranged the situation. However, it is not clear that Ishmael would have inherited Abraham's office as chief, if Keturah's son Joktan was born first.

We are told that Sarah couldn't conceive, but finally bore Isaac in her old age. Meanwhile, the order of the narrative implies that Abraham married Keturah after Sarah died, which can't be the case, since it was the pattern among Abraham's people for chiefs to maintain two wives in separate households. Sarah was in Hebron and Keturah was in Beersheba to the south. That Abraham was recognized as a chief among the people is evident in Genesis 23:5 where the Hittites speak of Abraham as "a prince of God" among them.

Does Genesis provide clues as to which of Abraham's three first-born sons was oldest? Yes. The clues point to the hidden son, who is Joktan, the first-born of Keturah. He is the veiled son. Even today Keturah's descendents live very much as Abraham did and have spread out across the Arabian Peninsula.

The clues involve Isaac's two wives. Rebecca was his cousin wife and his other wife was a half-sister who lived in Beersheba. This is where Abraham settled after his experience at Mt. Moriah (Gen. 22:19), which appears to have caused estrangement between him and Sarah. Isaac’s rule in Beersheba is evident in Gen. 26 where we are told that he reopened the wells dug by his father between Beersheba and Gerar. This explains why Abraham’s servant brought Rebecca to Beersheba rather than to Hebron, the home of Isaac’s mother.

Just as Abraham needed two wives to establish himself in the land, so Isaac needed two wives to maintain the territory. We are now able to speculate that Isaac had three sons: Jacob and Esau by Rebecca, and a son by his wife in Beersheba. (Tradition gives her the name “Judith”.) Isaac’s two wives and three sons establish a connection between the Aramaic house of Terah and the Hamitic house of Sheba.Terah and Sheba are descendents of Eber’s sons Peleg and Joktan. Terah descends from Peleg and Sheba descends from Joktan. Now where have we heard that name “Joktan” before? This is the name of Abraham’s first-born son by Keturah. He is the hidden third son, and probably Abraham's first-born. We had to dig to find him.

Conclusion
By paying attention to the two sons and three sons motifs, we see a consistent theme of fraternal conflict. reconciliation, restoration and amplification. The fraternal conflict continues today between the Jews and Arabs, descendents of Abraham and brothers. God has power to reconcile them and He will eventually prevail in the Middle East, though evil men oppose Him.

Exploration of the theme of sons reveals that God is not bound by human custom in His chose of rulers. He chose Abraham’s, Terah’s youngest, to head the line that leads to Messiah. He chose David, Jesse’s youngest, to be the King from whom Messiah would come.

The pattern of the third son prompts us to look for the One who is veiled, Jesus the Christ. Three sons represent a tribal unity, just as the three Persons of the Trinity are one. Jesus Christ is the Son ‘hidden’ in the Father's bosom. He is revealed to those who seek Him.

Yes, Georgia, there is a Kingdom!

Alice C. Linsley

In our study of The Biblical Theme of Two Sons we discovered that the number 2 symbolizes binary oppositions, territory and boundaries. This theme is fundamental to the Biblical worldview. It is found in the order of creation: night and day, waters above and waters below, seas and dry land, male and female. It is found in the theme of 2 sons, and it is reflected in the bi-consonantal languages of central Africa from which Abraham’s ancestors came.

Genesis reflects the ancient metaphysics and practices of Abraham's Horite ancestors. Their's was a world quite removed from our post-modern materialist world. As heirs of the Enlightenment and empiricism we want evidence to back up statements about the figures in the Bible. The fact that the text does not come out and tell us that all the rulers in Genesis 4, 5 and 11 had 2 wives might trouble us, but this would not have been a problem for Abraham’s Horite people, since it was customary for Horite rulers to have 2 wives. In fact, the neglect of mentioning Isaac's first wife would have stirred their interest. They would be compelled to investigate why this break in the generations long kinship pattern? Mysteries interest Semitic peoples, as do number symbolism, binary oppositions, and reversals. This is the basis of Jacques Derrida's method and also that of St. Ephrem, the Syrian.

In our study of the significance of The Theme of Hidden Sons we discovered that the number 3 symbolizes realities that are not readily apparent. Just as Abraham needed 2 wives to establish himself in the land, so Isaac needed 2 wives to maintain the territory. With 2 wives we are now able to see that Isaac had 3 sons: Jacob and Esau by Rebecca, and by his first wife a son who is not named in the text. Here the theme of a 'hidden son" appears for the first time. We had to dig into Scripture to find the hidden third. We had to discover the pattern before we even knew to look for the anomaly. Anomalies speak to us of mysteries such as The Incarnate Word, a Son begotten of God, death trampled down by death, the Trinity.

The number 3 is repeatedly found in connection to the most astonishing acts of God. Jonah was 3 days in the belly of the whale. Moses was hidden for 3 months (Ex. 2:2). Job's 3 friends struggled with the mystery of why the righteous suffer. Moses asked permission to go 3 days journey into the wilderness to worship. Abraham traveled 3 days to a mountain only God could reveal and upon which God provided His own sacrifice. The Covenant God made with Abraham involved cutting up 3 animals that were 3 years old. The visit by 3 "Men" to Abraham's tent. The 3 measures of flour made into cakes for those Visitors. The 3 gifts offered them: curds, milk and a calf. Abraham prayed 3 times for Sodom. Joseph had a dream of a vine with 3 branches (Gen 40:10-12). The “Son of Man” appeared with 3 men in the fiery furnace. Jesus rose on the third day. The Afro-Asiatics even had a trinitarian name for God -"Baal Shalisha" (The 3 God).

The number 3 also symbolizes unity in the Scriptures. This is represented in familial triads:

Cain Abel Seth (Gen. 4-5)
Ham Japeth Shem (Gen. 5-9)
Og Gog Magog (Gen. 10, Nu. 21:33)
Haran Nahor Abraham (Gen. 11-12)
Ishmael Jokshan Isaac (Gen. 16, 21, 25)
Jeush Jalam Korah (Gen. 36: 4-18)
Lehab Lesha Letu (Gen. 10:6-19, Gen. 25:3)
Dedan Tema Buz (Jeremiah 25)

The 3 sons have one father (or a common paternal ancestor). The husband and his 2 wives are one territory, one kingdom. All of this is about Christ's Kingdom and the revealing of the Hidden Son of Man.

Georgia (a reader of Just Genesis) has asked, "Does Christ presently have two wives?” The short answer is that Christ has 2 brides, not 1 divided bride. To express this another way: the Good Shepherd has two flocks grazing in different pastures, but both belong to Him. As He has said, "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one Shepherd." (John 10:16)

The Church is one flock and the other flock are those who died in expectation of Messiah's appearing. The last of that generation were Simeon, Anna and John the Baptist. They are the 3 witnesses to the Kingdom's appearing. Simeon, a priest, represents the Blood, Anna, a prophetess, represents the Spirit, and John the Forerunner represents the Water. These are the 3 witnesses to which John alludes when he tells us "This is He who came by water and blood - Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and these three agree as one." (1 John 5:6-8)


Related reading:  Did Jesus Have a Wife?; The Kingdom of God in Genesis; No Kingdom By Deception