Old Testament Lesson #12 "Fruitful in the Land of My Affliction"

(Genesis 40-45)

TRUE BIRTHRIGHT SONS

In the three generations following Abraham, we have met brothers Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, and Reuben and Joseph.  There are many striking similarities in the three generations. 

• The older brother had evil or even murderous intent toward his younger brother, who should have been his charge. 
1. Ishmael mocked and persecuted Isaac (Gen. 21:9; Gal 4:29).  According to the historian Josephus, Sarah had concerns that Ishmael would kill Isaac after their father's death (see "Abraham's Wives" in a previous post.)
2. Esau intended to kill Jacob after their father's death (Gen. 27:41).
3. Joseph's older brothers considered killing him, then sold him as a slave instead (Gen. 37).
• The brothers were estranged for many years.
1. Ishmael and his mother were sent into the wilderness (Gen. 21:14).
2. Rebekah sent Jacob to Haran to protect him from Esau (Gen. 27:42-44).  He ended up staying twenty years (Gen. 31:41).
3. Joseph was sold into Egypt while the rest of his family remained in Canaan (Gen. 37).
• The younger brother had many trials, but remained righteous.
1. Isaac was offered as a sacrifice to Jehovah by his father (Gen. 22:9).  Isaac had to wait to the age of 40 to find a covenant wife (Gen. 25:20), and they had to wait 20 years to have children (Gen. 25:26).
2. Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah, had to work twice as long as planned to earn Rachel, and his father-in-law cheated him continually (Gen. 29-30).
3. Joseph was sold into slavery, framed as a sex offender, and forgotten in prison (Gen. 39-40).
• The younger brother had great spiritual experiences.
1. Isaac was present when the angel of the Lord spoke to his father at the altar (Gen. 22:11-12).  The hand of the Lord was obvious when Abraham's servant went to find a covenant wife for Isaac (Gen. 24).  Isaac also received personal revelation restating the covenant (Gen. 26:2-5; 24).
2. Jacob saw the vision of the ladder going into heaven (Gen. 28).  He also received direction from an angel in a dream (Gen. 31:11-13).  He saw angels again while traveling home (Gen. 32:1).  Jacob's name was changed to Israel by an angel (Gen. 32:28).
3. Joseph had the ability to receive and to interpret dreams that were revelations (Gen 41:16,25).
• The older brother did not follow righteousness.
1. There is not any information about Ishmael in this regard, except that the Ishmaelites became a heathen nation (Bible Dictionary p. 707).
2. Esau disregarded the birthright (Gen. 25:32), and married Hittite women (Gen. 26:34-35).
3. See "Opposites" in the previous post for the many escapades of Joseph's brothers.
• The younger brother earned the right to be the birthright son.
1. The Lord established His covenant through Isaac (Gen. 17:18-19), and Abraham gave him all that he had (Gen. 25:5).
2. Rebekah overrode her husband, and arranged the birthright blessing for Jacob (Gen. 27).
3. Joseph was given the coat of many colors (Gen. 37:3), which LDS scholars consider to be symbolic of the birthright.  After his sojourn in Egypt, he was able to take care of his family's welfare (Gen 45).
4. This carried on to the fourth generation as patriarch Israel blessed Joseph's younger son Ephraim with the birthright (Gen. 48:14-20).
• The older brother eventually mended his ways.
1. We have no details about Ishmael.
2. Esau married a third wife who was of the family of Abraham (Gen. 28:8-9).
3. Joseph's brothers felt remorse for their treatment of him (Gen. 42:21-22); they consequently treated their youngest brother, Benjamin, with much care, offering their own lives or children's lives for his on three occasions (Gen. 42:37; 43:9; 44:33-34).
• The younger brother prospered...eventually.
1. Isaac had a hundredfold return in one year (Gen. 26:12-14).
2. Despite the cheating of Laban, Jacob cleverly increased his own herds (Gen. 30:37-43) and gave the glory to God (Gen. 31:7-9).
3. Joseph became a leader in Potipher's house, in prison, and in all of Egypt (Gen. 38-41).
• The younger, birthright brother treated the older brother with great kindness, compassion, and forgiveness.
1. There are no details about Isaac and Ishmael.
2. When he returned to his homeland and his murderous brother, Jacob did not bring an army, but gifts of reconciliation (Gen. 33:11).
3. Joseph sold his brothers food, then returned their money to them (Gen. 42:28; 44:1).  When he revealed himself to them, after testing their integrity, he frankly forgave them, and encouraged them to forgive themselves (Gen. 45:5-8).
• The brothers were reconciled and reunited.
1. Isaac and Ishmael together buried their father (Gen. 25:9).  Although there have been centuries of feuding between the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael (the Jews and the Arabs), attempts at reconciliation continue through the missionary work of the House of Israel, and in political organizations such as Ishmael & Isaac.
2. "Esau ran to meet [Jacob], and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept" (Gen. 33: 4).
3. Joseph invited his brothers to live near him in Egypt where he could take care of them (Gen. 45:10-11).  He "kissed all his brethren and wept upon them" (Gen. 45:15).  He sent Pharoah's wagons and provisions with them to Canaan to move their families to Egypt (Gen. 45:19).

Whenever we see such repetition in the scriptures, we can be sure that the Lord is trying to teach us something. These stories teach us great truths about birthright sons.


THE PRODIGAL SON

Jesus Christ taught a parable to the Jews, the descendants of Judah, Joseph's older brother. As it is a part of our scriptures, He is still trying to teach that parable to us today.

"A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want" (Luke 15:11-14). The prodigal ("wasteful") son was reduced to poverty and starvation before he decided to return home to his father prepared to beg forgiveness, intending to say, "'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.' And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" (Luke 15:18-20). The father hastened to make a feast to welcome his son back wholeheartedly and invited his whole household to celebrate.  This is the beautiful part of the story.  Now comes the ugly part: The other son reacted with bitterness. He complained about a feast being given for his brother when he had always done what his father wanted and never got a calf or a ring.  The father, surprised by this jealousy, pointed out that the older son had been greatly blessed all along and would be in the future because of his obedience.  With this reminder, the story ends abruptly, leaving us to choose for ourselves the older son's reaction.

If we have learned the lessons of the birthright taught three times in Genesis, we will not miss the message of the parable, and neither should have the Jews in Christ's day.  The parable has at least two interpretations:

First, we as the House of Israel, the members of the Church, most of us direct descendants of Joseph through Ephraim, are the birthright sons and daughters. Those who have willfully or wanderingly left the Church family are the younger brothers. We have "ever been with our Father" and have been blessed accordingly. If we are one with Christ, we will be on the road, watching and ready for the return of our younger (or less spiritually mature) siblings. Our "bowels [will] yearn upon [our] brothers," as did Joseph's (Gen. 43:30). We will rejoice at their progress, even when they are still "a great way off," as did the father of the prodigal son.  We will greet them with generosity rather than enmity, as did Jacob, saying, "Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough" (Gen. 33:11).  Rather than resent any troubles our siblings have brought upon us by their errors, we will recognize, as did Joseph, that it was all a part of the plan: "God sent [us] before [them] to...save [their] lives by a great deliverance" (Gen. 45:7). If we are true birthright sons, our attitude will reflect that of the repentant Judah, who refused to leave Egypt without his younger brother Benjamin, saying, "How shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me?" (Gen. 44:34).

We can also learn a great truth from this parable if we put ourselves in the role of the prodigal son. Imagine what would have happened to us had Christ, our birthright Brother, behaved as the "good" son in the parable did! We, as the poorly behaved, short-sighted younger siblings, every one, find ourselves wandering off to riotous living to one degree or another, and ending up in the slop with the pigs. Christ, the birthright Son, our liaison with the Father, watches for us on the road, welcomes us back when we have only partly made the journey, walks with us the rest of the way, gives us a ring, and a robe, and a fatted calf, and forgives and even exalts us through His Atonement. We don't deserve a bit of it, and yet He gives it willingly, just as Joseph gave his brothers the life-saving grain! "Yea, [Christ] saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely" (Alma 5:34).

JOSEPH AS A TYPE OF CHRIST

(Teaching tip:  Print up the following statements about Joseph and Jesus Christ and cut them apart.  Pass all the papers out among the class members.  Have any class member who has a statement about Joseph read it aloud.  Those who have statements about Christ determine whether theirs is a match.  The matching statement is then read aloud.  This continues, in any order, until all statements have been read.)

Joseph was the favored son, the birthright son.
Jesus was the Only Begotten Son, the Birthright Son.

Joseph announced his prophecied position as leader of his family to his brothers, and they despised him for it.
Jesus announced himself as the prophecied King of the Jews, and they despised him for it.

Joseph was rejected by his brothers, the Israelites, and sold into the hands of the Gentiles.
Jesus was rejected by his "brothers," the Israelites, and sold into the hands of the Romans, the "Gentiles."

Judah proposed the sale of Joseph.  Judah became the head of the tribe of Judah, later known as the "Jews."
Leaders of the Jews turned Jesus over to the Romans.  Judas (the Greek form of the name "Judah") Proposed the sale.

Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver, the price of a slave his age.
Jesus was sold for 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave his age.

Joseph began his mission of preparing salvation for Israel at age 30.
Jesus began His ministry of preparing salvation for the world at age 30.

In their very attempt to destroy Joseph, his brothers actually set up the conditions that would bring about their eventual temporal salvation--that is, Joseph, by virtue of being sold, would become their deliverer.
In their very attempt to destroy Jesus, the Jews actually set up the conditions that would bring about their spiritual salvation--that is, Jesus, by virtue of being crucified, completed the atoning sacrifice, becoming the Deliverer for all mankind, even those who sold Him and killed Him.

When Joseph was finally raised to his exalted position in Egypt, all bowed the knee to him.
When Jesus is finally raised to his exalted position as King of all creation, all will bow the knee to Him.

Joseph provided bread for Israel and saved them from death, all without cost to them.
Jesus, the Bread of Life, saved all men from death, all without cost to them.

Judah and the brothers of Joseph, even twenty years after selling him as a slave, were racked with guilt.
After the crucifixion, Judas was tortured by guilt.

When Joseph was reunited with his brethren, after determining whether they had truly repented, he forgave them, embraced them and wept.
When Jesus welcomes us back into His presence, after determining whether we have repented, He will forgive us, and embrace us.

The brothers of Joseph were saved from famine because they came to Joseph in Egypt and begged his mercy.
Christ saves all those who will come to Him and beg His mercy.

Joseph acted as mediator between his brothers and Pharoah, pleading their cause.
Jesus will plead our cause as Mediator between us and our Father in Heaven.

Pharoah provided a royal inheritance for the Israelites because they were the family of Joseph.
Heavenly Father will provide a royal inheritance for those who have become the children of Christ.

Joseph was in a position to save his family because of his righteousness, his reliance upon God, and his great personal effort in Egypt.
Jesus is in a position to save us because of His righteousness, His godliness, and His tremendous personal effort in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Joseph's brothers had a difficult time believing that he had really forgiven them of their great sin, but Joseph said, "'Fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones.' And he comforted them and spake kindly unto them" (Gen. 50:21).  At their father's death, those worries returned and they once again begged his forgiveness.  He was saddened that they had not believed they were forgiven seventeen years before (Gen. 50:15-17).
Many of us have a difficult time believing that Christ will really forgive us of our sins; we think they are too great, or too many times repeated.  But Christ said, "Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?  Yea, verily, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life.  Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me" (3 Nephi 9:13-14).

Old Testament Lesson #10 Birthright Blessings; Marriage in the Covenant

(Genesis 24-29)

ISAAC'S QUEST FOR A COVENANT MARRIAGE

The overriding theme of the stories of these chapters is that it is not easy to come by a covenant marriage, but that when we put forth the tremendous effort required, the Lord will assist and blessings will ensue.  Here are some incidents that teach these lessons:

Gen. 24--Abraham's servant was given the overwhelming responsibility of traveling back to the homeland to find a worthy wife for Abraham's birthright son, Isaac.  He brought great riches with him as gifts, requiring ten camels for transport (vs. 10).  The task was overwhelming, requiring divine guidance.  The servant asked in prayer for a sign that the future wife of his master would be one who would offer him water, and additionally offer the ten camels water.  This would certainly single out the woman, because, although offering water to a male traveler was fairly normal ettiquette, offering to water the camels was well beyond the call of duty.  One camel could drink up to 30 gallons!  It was an extraordinary young woman who would offer this service, perhaps it was even unheard of.  But when the caravan arrived at the well, not only did Rebekah volunteer the service, but she "hasted" and she "ran" to complete it (v. 19-20).  When the servant discovered that she was a cousin, and therefore met the requirement set forth by Abraham, he knew his prayer was answered (v. 23-27). 

Rebekah's family wanted to have a little time with her before she left them to marry Isaac (v. 55), but the servant wanted to obey the Lord immediately, since the Lord had answered his prayer so immediately (v. 56).  Rebekah concurred, and went with the servant, never to see her family again.  Upon their arrival at Isaac's property, she saw a man cutting through the field to meet them (v. 64-65), and was told it was her future husband.  The closing words of this episode of the story are beautiful:  "and she became his wife; and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death" (v. 67).  Loving each other, and comforting each other are elements of a covenant marriage.

Gen. 25--While Isaac's brother Ishmael was blessed with a dozen sons, Rebekah was left childless.  (It's interesting how many righteous women in the Old Testament struggle with fertility issues.)  Finally, she was blessed with twin sons, Esau and Jacob.  An interesting description is given of Jacob in the footnote to vs. 27:  Jacob was "whole, complete, perfect, simple, plain."  Jacob valued the birthright, and bought it from his brother (v. 31-33).  Esau, like so many people, was overtaken by the physical desire of the moment, in his case hunger, and lost perspective of eternity. Unfortunately, many saints today do the same, selling their spiritual privileges for fleeting passions.

Gen. 26--Because Isaac continued in righteousness, the covenant promised to his father was restated in his behalf (vs. 2-5).  The same can be true for each one of us, as covenant children, particularly as we receive our patriarchal blessing.  Like his father, everywhere that Isaac went, he built an altar and called upon the Lord (v. 25).

Meanwhile Esau sold his birthright again, marrying outside the covenant and against his parents' wishes (v. 34-35) while  Jacob remained unmarried until age 40, presumably because no covenant wife was available where they lived.

A little note of explanation: Both Abraham and Isaac, when they moved to a new land, ended up telling the local royalty that their wives were their sisters. Both wives were cousins, so this was true, "sister" and "brother" being general terms for relations. Why hide the fact that they were wives? Camille Fronk Olson explains that if a king desired the wife of another man, he would kill the husband [Women of the Old Testament, p. 32-33]. This deception, therefore, saved the lives of Abraham and Isaac. In both cases, the king, upon discovering that the object of his affection was already married, returned the wife to her husband, and promised protection for the husband from others who might desire the wife. So why did the deception have to occur in the first place? One idea: Perhaps the kings needed to personally get to know the people involved, and gain an appreciation for their integrity, before they would extend this highly unusual offer.

REBEKAH'S LEADERSHIP

"Rebekah is one of the greatest patterns in all the revelations of what a woman can do to influence a family in righteousness...Women are appointed, Rebekahlike, to be guides and lights in righteousness in the family unit and to engineer and arrange so that things are done in the way that will result in the salvation of more of our Father's children" (Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, Jan. 1979, p. 62, 63).

Gen. 27--Isaac planned to bless his son Esau with the birthright, despite Esau's unworthiness.  This would have been a grave error, and Rebekah saw that.  She conspired with Jacob to put him in the right place at the right time to receive the birthright blessing.  This is an example of a wife who kept her covenant to obey her husband "in righteousness."  In this case, she would have been wrong to obey her husband, because in a matter of eternal importance, he was following convention and personal preference, rather than the Spirit.  Rebekah, however, had received a revelation before the twins were born that the younger was to be the leader of the family (Gen. 25:23), and besides, Esau had given up his birthright twice, definitely demonstrating that he did not have the integrity or foresight to be the patriarch of the family. 

When Isaac realized which son had received the blessing, he knew it was right.  What a prophet binds on earth is bound in heaven, but also what he looses on earth is loosed in heaven (Matt. 16:19).  Isaac had the power to revoke the blessing, but he let it stand (v. 33), because he knew his wife was right.  The Lord could easily have caused Jacob to be born before Esau, therefore preventing this problem from arising, but instead He chose to teach a lesson for many generations to come:  Righteousness is more important than circumstance, and revelation is more important than tradition.  When Isaac afterwards blessed Esau, he restated through revelation the same truth that had been revealed to Rebekah years before, that he would be subservient to his younger brother.  Despite the outward confusion, the blessings were given correctly through the Spirit, as the Apostle Paul stated, "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come" (Heb. 11:20).

Esau was so angry at being tricked, he plotted to kill his brother after his father's death (v.41).  This was told to Rebekah and she sent Isaac away to stay with relatives, saying that otherwise she would lose both her sons in one day: one to murder, and the other to execution (v. 45; see Gen. 9:6).  To Isaac, she stated the reason for sending him away to be the need for Jacob to find a wife among the covenant people, which was definitely necessary.  Of course, this was the Lord's plan as well.

It is worth noting that later Esau took a covenant wife (Gen. 28:6-9), and that when Jacob returned to Canaan many years later,  "Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept" (Gen. 33:4).

JACOB'S QUEST FOR A COVENANT MARRIAGE

Gen. 28--As Jacob went on his journey, he was granted a remarkable dream in which he saw a ladder ascending into heaven, with angels traveling up and down it, and the Lord standing above it.  The message of the dream was that the covenants Jacob made with the Lord were as rungs of a ladder to heaven.  He himself would have to climb the rungs in order to obtain the promised blessings that would allow him to enter into heaven with the Lord (Pres. Marion G. Romney, "Temples--The Gates to Heaven," Ensign, Mar. 1971, p. 16)  The Hebrew word translated as "ladder" could also be translated as "stairway" or "ramp."  The choice the King James translators made to use the word "ladder" provides us with a great symbol of the effort and time required to make our way to heaven.  We believe that it is through the merits of Christ that we are saved, but Christ requires us to move our hands and feet and climb the ladder of covenants in order to qualify for His grace.  It is not an elevator.

David E. Bokovoy, instructor at the Boston LDS Institute, currently a doctoral student in Hebrew Bible studies, recommends circling "the place" or "this place" anytime it is found in the Old Testament, because it almost always refers to a temple place (Know Your Religion Lecture, Feb. 15, 2002, Logan, Utah). Jacob said, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.  And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place!  this is none other but the house of god, and this is the gate of heaven...And he called the name of that place Beth-el" (v. 16-19).  "Beth-el is [short for] Beth-Elohim, which means literally 'The House of the Lord'" (Pres. Romney, as noted above.)  Even more interesting is to note a couple of additions which Joseph Smith made to verse 22 in his translation.  (These additions are not in the LDS Bible footnotes.)  The added words are in italics:  And the place of this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be the place of God's house.  (How much Hebrew did Joseph Smith know?)

Gen. 29--Interestingly, Jacob met his wife, Rachel, at a well, just as his father's servant had met his mother at a well.  In this case, however, it was Jacob who served Rachel, by rolling away the stone covering, and drawing the water for the flock.  Typically it was the woman's job to water the sheep, however in this instance it seems that a tremendous effort was required to open the well, since the shepherds were waiting for all to be gathered together in order to do it (v. 8).  It was "a prodigious feat for one person--a measure of Jacob's elation at seeing [Rachel]" (Harper-Collins Study Bible, p. 44)  Both of these covenant marriage relationships began with an act of great service: another lesson for us to follow throughout our marriages.

In an ironic twist, Jacob's father-in-law Laban and Rachel's older sister Leah tricked him into marrying Leah first, a similar act to the deception that Jacob and his mother worked in order to procure the birthright blessing.  Of course, in keeping with social convention, the older daughter should be married first, and in all the seven years of labor, there was apparently no other suitor.  Since parents always arranged their children's marriages, and the father had supreme rule over the family, it was not so strange for Laban to control the marriages of his daughters (Sidney B. Sperry, "Hebrew Manners and Customs," Ensign, May 1972).   It certainly would have been nicer, though, if it could have been done honestly, as this method set up a conflict and competition in the family at the outset: Leah was "unloved" (another translation for the word used as "hated" in v. 31), while Rachel was cherished (v. 20).

BEING "LOVED" OR "UNLOVED"

The people of the Old Testament times lived in an imperfect society with flawed families.  Plural marriage was particularly plagued with feelings of competitiveness and unfairness, so much so that the problems of "loved" versus "hated" wives were actually recognized and addressed in the Law (Deut. 21:15-17).  We today still live in a fallen world with imperfect people and troubled relationships.  We may encounter discrimination, negligence, or abuse from others when we expected love and kindness.  But God Himself is perfect, and His love is extended towards all.  In the lives of Leah and Rachel, as in the lives of Sarah and Hagar, we see the impartial kindliness of the Lord.  In both cases, both women found solace in their relationships with God.  In both cases, the Lord blessed the less-loved wife with the compensatory joy of motherhood immediately, and made the favored wife wait a while.  This delay of infertility, though, was followed by the delight of a son who had the birthright, or earned it through his righteousness.  In all cases, the Lord communicated his care and concern to the woman in her individual trial (Sarah in Gen. 21:1, 6; Hagar in Gen. 21:17; Leah in Gen. 29:31-32; Rachel in Gen. 30:22). 

God is always inviting, comforting, and encouraging, and is no respecter of persons.  The scriptures show repeatedly that His love is offered to all:  "He layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him" (2 Ne. 26:24); "Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price" (2 Ne. 26:25); "All men are privileged [to partake of God's goodness] the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden" (2 Ne. 26:28); "Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men" (Alma 5:33); "Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost" (3 Ne. 12:6).

In our times of affliction, or our situations of injustice, we can have confidence that the love of God will find us and compensate.  "I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction. O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever" (Jacob 3:1-2).
 
COVENANT MARRIAGES BRING BLESSINGS
 

 

(This is my own photograph of the Salt Lake City Temple.

I hold the copyright, but you are welcome to use it

for teaching purposes.)

 

Despite the imperfections of the partners involved, covenant marriages put us on that ladder, bringing us ever closer to heaven.  Both Leah and Rachel developed great faith through their marriage and child-bearing trials, which carried them through other trials.  For example, when their prophet-husband received the command of the Lord to uproot the family and move back to his birthplace, where the threat of being murdered by Esau weighed heavily on his mind, he consulted both women, and both responded, "Whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do" (31:14).  Jacob did, and was joyously surprised by the heartfelt welcome of his now repentant brother Esau (Gen. 33).  Generations afterward, when Boaz married Ruth, the blessing of the members of the wedding party to Ruth was that God would make her as great as Leah and Rachel.  Together, these two women, with their two handmaids and their husband, bore and built the House of Israel, and their names are honored forever.  Today, regardless of our circumstances, we similarly play a part in building our own branch of the House of Israel, and we can also leave a great legacy of faith as we make and remain true to our covenants.