Wait For Jesus - God

Bible Scholars have Laws of Interpretation, which have proven out to be true, more times than not. One of those is the Law of First Mention, where the first time a word appears, within the scriptures, it will result in a message or very important theological statement.

In a recent poll, Christians were asked, “When you think of Jesus (Y’shua), what word comes to mind?” In an amazing response, over 90% of Christians responded with the word, Saved or Salvation. So, I went and searched out the first place, the word Salvation shows up. It turns out that Salvation appears, for the first time, in Genesis 49:18.

Now, most Jews and Christians are quite familiar with the chapter, because this is where Jacob, at the end of his life, gathered his 12 sons and prophesied over them and told them what would happen to them and their descendents, in the days to come and one by one, Jacob tells them, in detail, the coming events.

As you read this chapter, you’ll find one verse, that doesn’t quite fit and that is our verse 18. In the both the Jewish and Non-Jewish English translations, it is translated as, “I will wait for your salvation, O Lord.” or “For your salvation, I will wait, O Lord.”

First of all, please notice, that in different translations, the words “Wait” and “Salvation” are switched. That’s because there is a disagreement, as to what order, the two words appear. Most scholars agree that the oldest and most reliable manuscripts have the Hebrew word “Kavah”, first, followed by “Yeshuwah”.

You might ask yourself, “Why does this matter?” Doesn’t both say the same thing?

Well, let’s look at the verse, a little closer.

It turns out that Genesis 49:18 consists of just three words, Kavah Yeshuwah YHWH, even though the English Versions add additional words. Kavah simply means "Wait For". Yeshuwah is the Hebrew Name of Jesus. Of course YHWH is the eternal name of God.

If we believe most scholars, when they say that it’s “Kavah Yeshuwah YHWH”, not “Yeshuwah Kavah YHWH”, then amazingly, dead in the middle of Jacob prophesying over his sons and their descendents, he changes gears and says, “Kavah Yeshuwah YHWH”,

or

“Wait For Jesus. - God”.

Did God inspire Jacob to stop and basically say, “Even though all these things will happen to you, don’t worry, Wait For Jesus”? And even appearing to sign his eternal name?

Or is it just another amazing coincidence?

Shalom.