BENJAMIN’S
PROPHECY:
THE BIRTH OF
CHRIST
Judaism And
Christianity’s
Incredible
Son
There is a
point at
which the
gift of
prophecy
becomes the
most strange
of all the
Spiritual
gifts. It
blends the
past,
present, and
future.
Prophecy
foresees
approaching
events but
may describe
them as
having
occurred in
the past.
Or, it may
take an
event from
the past and
use it as
the
spring-board
for
revealing
incidents
yet to come.
God’s
purpose in
doing this
is not to
confuse us.
Instead, He
wants us to
realize that
whenever
eternity
projects
itself into
the realm of
time and
space that
what we call
past,
present,
future, may
loose its
identity.
This takes
place in a=2
0very
obvious way
in a
prophecy
announcing
the birth of
Christ. This
prophecy was
acted-out in
real life
with the
birth of
Jacob’s son
Benjamin and
the tragic
death of the
baby’s
mother.
I suggest
before
trying to
interpret
these
“Benjamin”
Scriptures
and the
prophecies
they connect
that we each
pray, asking
the Holy
Spirit for
His
revelation
regarding
them.
Without His
illumination
we may think
we have
understood
their
message when
in reality
we have not.
Whenever God
grants us
such
perceptivity
we are able
to step into
His realm of
supernal
truth.
1732 B.C.
Genesis
35:16-20:
"Then they
journeyed
from Bethel.
And when
there was
but a little
distance to
go to
Ephrath,
Rachel
labored in
childbirth,
and she had
hard labor.
Now it came
to pass,
when she was
in hard
labor, that
the midwife
said to her,
Do not fear;
you will
have this
son also.
And so it
was, as her
soul was
departing
(for she
died), that
she called
his name
Ben-Oni; but
his father
called him
Benjamin. So
Rachel died
and was
buried on
the way to
Ephrath
(that is,
Bethlehem).
And Jacob
set a pillar
on her
grave, which
is the
pillar of
Rachel's
grave to
this day."
712 B.C.
Isaiah
53:3"... A
Man of
sorrows and
acquainted
with grief
...He was
oppressed
and He was
afflicted,
Yet He
opened not
His mouth;
He was led
as a lamb to
the
slaughter,
And as a
sheep before
its shearers
is silent,
So He opened
not His
mouth."
606 B.C.
Jeremiah
31:15-17. "A
voice was
heard in
Ramah,
Lamentation
and bitter
weeping,
Rachel
weeping for
her
children,
Refusing to
be comforted
for her
children,
Because they
are no
more."
02 A.D.
Matthew
2:18. "A
voice was
heard in
Ramah,
lamentation,
weeping, and
great
mourning,
Rachael
weeping for
her
children,
refusing to
be
comforted,
because they
are no
more."
33 A.D. Matt
26:39: "He
went a
little
farther and
fell on His
face, and
prayed,
saying, O My
Father, if
it is
possible,
let this cup
pass from
Me;
nevertheless,
not as I
will, but as
You will."
More than
seventeen
hundred
years before
the birth of
Jesus,
Rachael,=2
0the beloved
wife of
Jacob, gave
birth to her
second son
at Bethlehem
and died. To
her he was
Benoni,"Son
of Sorrow,"
and she
named him
that in her
final
moments.
"Not so!",
the father
corrected
her. "He
shall be
called
Benjamin,
‘Son of my
Right
Hand.’" It
is easy to
imagine the
father
gripping
both the
baby and
its’ mother
as his wife
closes her
eyes in
death.
Rachael was
the first
love of his
life and the
one for whom
he labored
seven years.
The morning
after the
wedding
Jacob
discovered
that the
woman in the
darkened
tent was not
Rachael but
her older
sister Leah.
All through
the night he
had
unknowingly
loved,
caressed,
whispered
his hopes
and
happiness in
the wrong
ear. From
the
beginning,
his relation
with Rachael
had been
stung with
unspeakable
pain. Now,
the loss of
her in death
brought the
ultimate
grief into
his life.
But, in
spite of all
that, God
had
prophetic
plans to use
his pain for
the benefit
of all
future
generations.
In the
dual-naming
of Rachael's
son we have
one of the
earliest and
most
profound
prophesies
of the
future
Messiah. In
Hebrew, the
name Benoni,
identified
Him as the
"Man of
sorrows and
acquainted
with grief."
His other
nam e, and
the one by
which we
remember
Him,
Benjamin, is
the one
which
acknowledges
Him in
glory:
"Son of the
Father's
right hand."
Rachael ‘s
giving birth
to her son
at Bethlehem
was not
accidental.
It had to be
that way.
Her own name
in Hebrew
means "ewe"
or "Mother
Sheep"–that
is, the one
who gives
birth to the
lamb. John
the Baptist
was the one
who
announced
arrival of
the Great
Benjamin/Benoni:"The
next day
John saw
Jesus coming
toward him,
and said,
Behold! The
Lamb of God
who takes
away the sin
of the
world! This
is He of
whom I said,
'After me
comes a Man
who is
preferred
before me,
for He was
before me.'
I did not
know Him;
but that He
should be
revealed to
Israel,
therefore I
came
baptizing
with water."
John
1:29-31.
Observe that
John
identified
both
qualities in
Jesus: Lamb
and Lion.
Returning to
the scene
after
Rachael's
death, Jac
ob carefully
guarded his
son. While
the other
children
were allowed
freedom to
travel
about,
Benjamin was
kept close
to home and
to the heart
of his
father.
Later,
Rachael’s
only other
son, Joseph,
and
Benjamin’s
whole
brother,
vanished,
sold into
slavery. The
grieving
father was
made to
belie ve
that his son
had been
killed by a
wild beast.
For that
reason, when
famine came
and the
older sons
went into
Egypt to buy
grain,
Benjamin was
not allowed
to go. Jacob
diligently
kept his
promise to
the boy's
mother and
kept their
son close to
his "right
hand." Jacob
told the
brothers,
"My son
shall not go
down with
you, for his
brother is
dead, and he
is left
alone. If
any calamity
should
befall him
along the
way in which
you go, then
you would
bring down
my gray hair
with sorrow
to the
grave."
Genesis
42:38. But,
as we read
further,
when the
reality was
forced upon
Jacob that
no food
could be
purchased
without
Benjamin
accompanying
the brothers
into Egypt,
in great
agony of
soul he
consented
for him to
go. At that
point, none
of them
realized
that
Rachael's
prophetic
name, "Son
of Sorrow,"
was destined
to fall upon
this
innocent
young man
with its
deadly blow.
Benjamin
excitedly
accompani ed
the others
into Egypt.
There he saw
the
Pyramids,
magnificent
Temples, and
other
structures
he had only
heard about
from
travelers.
Finally, he
stood before
the Governor
of the land,
an imposing,
richly
dressed
dignitary,
who spoke
roughly to
them in
Egyptian.
What he did
not know was
that this
foreign man
was his
long-lost
brother
Joseph. Nor
did he know
that
inwardly,
this
stranger
wept for
him, yearned
to rush from
his throne,
grab him,
hug and kiss
him in an
explosion of
tears. But
all of those
feelings
were
controlled
and the
route Joseph
chose for
restoration
w ith his
family was
bizarre
indeed.
At Joseph’s
instruction,
his valuable
silver cup,
the one he
personally
used, was
secretly put
into
Benjamin’s
sack of
grain. Hours
later when
the men were
on their way
home
rejoicing,
Egyptian
soldiers
overtook
them,
accusing
them of
stealing
from their
master.
Benjamin was
totally
innocent but
when his
sack was
opened and
spilled out
in the
desert sun,
the cup fell
glistening
in the
light. In
that moment,
Rachael’s
prophecy of
his being
the "son of
sorrow"
slammed him
to the earth
with its
deadly blow.
Benoni
stared
wide-eyed,
unbelieving
and
terrified,
as the
sentence of
guilt was
pronoun ced
upon him.
The book of
Genesis
gives no
details
about his
reaction. So
far as we
know, he
stared in
mute,
unbelieving
silence.
But, we do
find his
agonizing
outcry in
the New
Testament.
It is the
words of his
counter-part,
the second
Benoni, in
the garden
of
Gethsemane.
The night is
that
infamous one
of betrayal
when Jesus
fell on His
face and
cried, "O my
Father, if
it be
possible,
let this cup
pass from
me!" Matthew
26:39.
Though the
two Benonis
were
separated by
nearly 2,000
years, in
God’s clock
and
calendar,
they stood
prophetically
in the same
spot. Time
and space
lost their
distinction.
In that
terrifying
moment in
Egypt the
brothers did
not think of
their own
grief as
much as that
of their
father. His
plea for
Benjamin was
still
ringing in
their ears.
How could
they go back
and tell him
they had
left the boy
imprisoned
in Egypt?!
They had
promised to
return him
safely! Now,
helpless,
they were
seeing him
tied and
hauled away
by soldiers.
Without
their
recognizing
it, Joseph
was giving
them a
replay of
his own
grief the
day they
sold to a
camel
caravan. He
had been
carried
away,
screaming to
them for
mercy. But
they had not
heard. They
now saw
events
taking place
as God’s
punishment
to them for
their
kidnaping
and
enslaving
Benjamin’s
brother
Joseph. The
grief they
foresaw for
their father
would
portray the
grief the
Father in
Heaven
experienced
at His Son’s
cry, " ...
Let this cup
pass from
me!" With
the first
Benoni the
cup had been
removed;
with the
second, it
was not.
Back in
Egypt, the
brothers
stood
trembling
before the
Governor.
Benoni was
innocent but
judged
guilty by
the
evidence;
the others
appeared
innocent but
were guilty
of having
kidnaped
Joseph.
Emotions in
the room
reached a
point of
suppressed
hysteria.
Unknown to
the men, the
man who
towered over
them in
terrifying
authority
was fighting
to restrain
his own
tears and
love for
them. Their
panic was
short-lived.
Joseph
suddenly
commanded
all
Egyptians to
leave the
room; he
then yelled–weeping,"I
am Joseph
your
brother! I
am Joseph
your
brother!"
The next
moment he
grabbed
Benjamin,
frantically
hugging and
kissing him,
embraced the
others,
weeping on
them,
clinching
them, and
assuring
them of his
love and
forgiveness.
A
celebration
comparable
to the
saints
arrival in
Heaven
erupted in
that stone
hall of
Egypt.
Benjamin
returned to
his father,
escorted in
the most
luxurious,
Royal
Chariot the
pharaoh
owned. He
was treated
as a
celebrity.
At first
Jacob
refused to
believe
Joseph was
alive but
when he
threw back
the tent
flaps and
saw the
golden
wagons
glistening
in the sun
he yelled,
"It is
enough!
Joseph is
yet alive! I
will go and
see him
before I
die!"
Amazingly,
it was
Benoni/Benjamin
who brought
about the
restoration.
The cup of
grief was
forgotten.
The anguish
of the trial
was past. He
had served
both
prophetic
names well:
He had been
loyal to his
father's
right hand,
and had
obediently
taken the
cup of his
mother's
sorrow.
Justly, he
earned the
tributes
which were
given him
upon his
triumphant
return to
the family
home.
The Gospel
of Matthew
describes
the agony
which the
two mothers,
Rachael and
Mary,
experienced:
"Then Herod,
when he saw
that he was
deceived by
the wise
men, was
exceedingly
angry; and
he sent
forth and
put to death
all the male
children who
were in
Bethlehem
and in all
its
districts,
from two
years old
and under,
according to
the time
which he had
determined
from the
wise men.
Then was
fulfilled
what was
spoken by
Jeremiah the
prophet,
saying: A
voice was
heard in
Ramah,
Lamentation,
weeping, and
great
mourning,
Rachel
weeping for
her
children,
Refusing to
be
comforted,
Because they
are no
more."
Matthew
2:16-19.
Jeremiah
31:15-17.
Seventeen
hundred y
ears
separated
the first
Benoni from
the Second,
but the
mission for
each was the
same, and
the price to
be paid was
one of
sacrifice.
The single
purpose
uniting both
was that a
lost and
grieving
family be
reunited
with its
Elder
Brother.
With
Benjamin, it
was the
restoration
of Jacob’s
earthly
household to
Joseph. With
the Second,
the promised
Messiah, it
was the
restoration
of a fallen
race to the
glories of a
Heavenly
Home. But
the cup in
the hand of
Jesus was
incredibly
more
terrifying
than the one
Benoni
faced. All
the sin and
violence of
earth–combined
with the
depravity of
humanity–swirled
in the cup
Jesus drank.
His
contained
the
vengeance of
Heaven’s
justice in
opposition
to Hell’s
corruption.
But, in both
cases, the
sons of
Rachael and
Mary
fulfilled
their work
well.
For both,
Bethlehem
wept that
the world
might
rejoice. In
the
prophetic
twist of
Jacob’s
experience
it was the
mother who
died and the
son who
lived; in
Jeremiah and
Matthew’s
account the
prophecy
reversed
with the
children
dying and
mother’s
living. The
prophetic
message
explained
how
Bethlehem
was bathed
in the agony
of many
voices;
Jeremiah
became the
mouthpiece
that spoke
across the
centuries,
connecting
Genesis with
Matthew
explaining
any time
eternity
invades the
realm of
time and
space that
what we call
past,
present,
future, may
loose its
identity.
That eternal
ingredient,
confounding
as it may be
to our minds
, is a
necessary
part of the
prophetic
word. To
find help in
understanding
it, we must
turn to the
New
Testament’s
final scene.
It is the
one of the
Benoni/
Messiah's
restoration
to His
Father's
right hand:
"And they
sang a new
song,
saying: You
are worthy
to take the
scro ll, And
to open its
seals; For
You were
slain, And
have
redeemed us
to God by
Your blood
out of every
tribe and
tongue and
people and
nation, And
have made us
kings and
priests to
our God; And
we shall
reign on the
earth. Then
I looked,
and I heard
the voice of
many angels
around the
throne, the
living
creatures,
and the
elders; and
the number
of them was
ten thousand
times ten
thousand,
and
thousands of
thousands,
saying with
a loud
voice:
"Worthy is
the Lamb who
was slain to
receive
power and
riches and
wisdom, And
strength and
honor and
glory and
blessing!
And every
creature
which is in
heaven and
on the earth
and under
the earth
and such as
are in the
sea, and all
that are in
them, I
heard
saying:
Blessing and
honor and
glory and
power be to
Him who sits
on the
throne, And
to the Lamb,
forever and
ever! Then
the four
living
creatures
said, Amen!
And the
twenty-four
elders fell
down and
worshiped
Him who
lives
forever and
ever."
Revelation
5:9-14.
But there
are more
prophecies
surrounding
this scene.
Isaiah
looked back
to Rachel’s
son and
forward to
Mary’s. He
described
both: "Who
has believed
our report?
And to whom
has the arm
of the LORD
been
revealed?
For He shall
grow up
before Him
as a tender
plant, And
as a root
out of dry
ground. He
has no form
or
comeliness;
And when we
see Him,
There is no
beauty that
we should
desire Him.
He is
despised and
rejected by
men, A Man
of sorrows
and
acquainted
with grief.
And we hid,
as it were,
our faces
from Him; He
was
despised,
and we did
not esteem
Him. Surely
He has borne
our griefs
And carried
our sorrows;
Yet we
esteemed Him
stricken,
Smitten by
God, and
afflicted.
But He was
wounded for
our
transgressions,
He was
bruised for
our
iniquities;
The
chastisement
for our
peace was
upon Him,
And by His
stripes we
are healed.
All we like
sheep have
gone astray;
We have
turned,
every one,
to his own
way; And the
LORD has
laid on Him
the iniquity
of us all.
"He was
oppressed
and He was
afflicted,
Yet He
opened not
His mouth;
He was led
as a lamb to
the
slaughter,
And as a
sheep before
its
shearers=2
0is silent,
So He opened
not His
mouth. He
was taken
from prison
and from
judgment,
And who will
declare His
generation?
For He was
cut off from
the land of
the living;
For the
transgressions
of My people
He was
stricken.
And they
made His
grave with
the wicked —
But with the
rich at His
death,
Because He
had done no
violence,
Nor was any
deceit in
His mouth.
Yet it
pleased the
LORD to
bruise Him;
He has put
Him to
grief. When
You make His
soul an
offering for
sin, He
shall see
His seed, He
shall
prolong His
days, And
the pleasure
of the LORD
shall
prosper in
His hand. He
shall see
the labor of
His soul,
and be
satisfied.
By His
knowledge My
righteous
Servant
shall
justify
many, For He
shall bear
their
iniquities.
Therefore I
will divide
Him a
portion with
the great,
and He shall
divide the
spoil with
the strong,
because He
poured out
His soul
unto death,
and He was
numbered
with the
transgressors,
and He bore
the sin of
many, and
made
intercession
for the
transgressors."
Isaiah 54:2.
"Thus says
the Lord:
Refrain your
voice from
weeping, And
your eyes
from tears;
For your
work shall
be rewarded,
says the
Lord, And
they shall
come back
from the
land of the
enemy. There
i s hope in
your future,
says the
Lord, That
your
children
shall come
back to
their own
border.
Jeremiah
31:16-18.
"Sing, O
barren, You
who have not
borne! Break
forth into
singing, and
cry aloud,
You who have
not labored
with child!"
Isaiah 54:
1,2.
With these
thoughts,
may I be the
first to say
prophetically
to you,
"Merry
Christmas"!
Rejoice in
Benjamin/Benoni’s
love for
you.
Charles
Carrin
Christmas
Carols hold
a place of
special
beauty in
our heart.
Their
message,
like the one
below,
written in
1816, speaks
volumes of
holy truth.
Rejoice!
Angels From
The Realms
Of Glory
Angels from
the realms
of glory,
Wing your
flight o’er
all the
earth;
Ye who sang
creation’s
story
Now proclaim
Messiah’s
birth.
Come and
worship,
come and
worship,
Worship
Christ, the
newborn
King.
Shepherds,
in the field
abiding,
Watching
o’er your
flocks by
night,
God with us
is now
residing;
Yonder
shines the
infant
light:
Sages, leave
your
contemplations,
Brighter
visions beam
afar;
Seek the
great Desire
of nations;
Ye have seen
His natal
star.
Saints,
before the
altar
bending,
Watching
long in hope
and fear;
Suddenly the
Lord,
descending,
In His
temple shall
appear.
Sinners,
wrung with
true
repentance,
Doomed for
guilt to
endless
pains,
Justice now
revokes the
sentence,
Mercy calls
you; break
your chains.
Though an
Infant now
we view Him,
He shall
fill His
Father’s
throne,
Gather all
the nations
to Him;
Every knee
shall then
bow down:
All
creation,
join in
praising
God, the
Father,
Spirit, and
Son,
Evermore
your voices
raising
To
th’eternal
Three in
One.
Come and
worship,
come and
worship,
Worship
Christ, the
newborn
King.
