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Revelations 12:12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!" Jacob is in exile (he is not called Israel yet). His exile could seem as the result of simple feuding rivalries at home, but it is also part of a greater Divine plan to create the foundational family that is to become the gates of the Kingdom of God for the rest of the world (Revelations 21:12). The heavenly purposes of Hashem do not settle on earth without struggle. The deceit and rivalries that brought him to this 'Babylonian' exile would follow Jacob to Laban's house. There he would be deceived by a man who swapped his younger sister for the older one (like Jacob did with his father) creating a feud between Rachel and Leah as they tried to 'out-birth' each other to win Jacob's favor. But Jacob's heart was set on Rachel. Laban for his part saw the favor of God on Jacob during his exile. Whatever he did turned to gold, which made his Babylonian task-master jealous and want to keep Jacob no matter what the price. Whatever Laban did to out maneuver Jacob, God blessed his chosen-one. This infuriated Laban (Genesis 30). As Jacob went in exile for twenty years fleeing from Esau who was also called 'Edom', present-day Israel has been in exile for twenty-centuries. The Sages of the Talmud actually surnamed this exile the 'Edomite' exile. As Hashem prospered Jacob while in exile, God also always prospers the Jewish people while in exile. We see it in Jacob and Laban, the Children of Israel in Egypt, and now in the world. In every age, this has caused the 'Labans' and the 'Pharaohs' to despise the Children of Israel. As it was Jacob, the world often envies Jewish success. Esau's problem was that of a sibling rivalry, but Laban's attitude embodies the heart of Anti-Semitism throughout the ages. Till this day, the 'Jacob' shrewd and heartless Jewish businessman stereotypes as found in Shakespeare's work 'The Merchant of Venice' and even in the famed 'Christmas Carol' Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley lingers on. Today, as the divine Plan of universal restoration comes to its completion, the devil screams and shrieks in fear. Anti-Semitism rises its ugly timeless head again as both 'Esau' (the Arab world), and Laban (the world at large) seem to mount an endless propaganda war against Israel and Jews worldwide. Don't they know the story? Haven't they read it in the Book? No matter what anyone may do or say in of the great governmental institutions of man, time may demand its due, but as it was before, Jacob returns to its dear Promised Land under the name of Israel. There he lays the foundations of a kingdom that will eventually rule the entire world through one of his descendant: Yeshua. May it be soon Abba, even in our days! Patrick Gabriel Lumbroso www.yedideiadonai.weebly.com www.thelumbrosos.com
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Laban, Jacob, Antisemitism,
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