Jacob was the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham.
His name means “usurper,” someone that will wrongfully take things that don’t belong to him.
He tricked his brother Esau into selling his birthright for a bowl of pottage (Gen. 25:29-34).
With his mother’s help, Jacob tricked his almost-blind elderly father, Isaac, into blessing him with the blessing that Isaac intended to give to Esau (Gen. 27:1-29).
Esau planned to kill Jacob, but their mother, Rebekah, got word of it; and she urged Jacob to flee to her brother Laban’s house in Syria (Gen. 27:41-43).
Jacob wound up in Syria where he met Laban’s youngest daughter, Rachel, with a flock of her father’s sheep (Gen. 29:1-17).
Jacob fell in love with Rachel and served her father seven years (one week of years) so he could marry her (Gen. 29:18-20).
Laban tricked Jacob (the usurper reaped what he sowed), and he married Rachel’s older sister, Leah, instead (Gen. 29:21-26).
Jacob served Laban seven more years (another week of years, the length of the Tribulation Period), and he married Rachel (Gen. 29:27-28).
Time passed; Jacob had fathered 11 children, and he decided to take his family and go back home to Israel. But Laban didn’t want that, and he asked Jacob what he would charge to stay with him in Syria (Gen. 30:25-28).
To make a long story short, Jacob said he would stay a little longer if Laban would give him all of the off-breed speckled and spotted cattle, sheep and goats in his herd (Gen. 30:29-34).
Not many of the animals were off-breed, and Laban agreed (Gen. 30:35).
But Jacob bred the full-breed animals with off-breed animals; and he soon had a big herd of cattle, sheep and goats (Gen. 30:36-39).
This time it was the trickster Laban that reaped what he sowed.
Jacob eventually took his spotted and speckled animals back to Israel; and because of their rarity, the sheep became known as Jacob’s sheep.
It was approximately 2015 that a story appeared that said there was a herd of Jacob’s sheep in Canada.
Some Jews believe that the sheep that were sacrificed at the Jewish Temple in Israel were Jacob’s Sheep.
Their wool was used in priestly garments, and their horns were used to make Shofars.
And I am wondering if some of the spotted sheep produced sheep without spots (Out of a flock of sinners, comes One that has no sin).
Anyway, on Mar. 22, 2016, it was reported that the Canadian herd of Jacob’s sheep would soon be moved to Israel.
It took 11 flights; but 119 head of Jacob’s sheep were taken to Israel, and they were moved around several times after they got there.
In June 2017, the herd got a disease, and 48 sheep died.
On Aug. 20, 2018, it was reported that the Israeli government has given the owner of the sheep almost 100 acres of land at Migdal Eder, which means “The Tower of the Flock.”
Migdal Eder is near Bethlehem Ephratah, the place where Jesus was born (Gen. 35:19-21; Mic. 4:8, 5:2).
The Tower of the Flock was used by priest-shepherds that kept watch over the Passover lambs without blemish and spot that were sacrificed at the Temple.
When a lamb was born, the priest-shepherds wrapped it in swaddling clothes (strips of cloth) and put it in a manger (or a stall) for protection until it got strong enough to stand and walk without bumping into things.
Some of these priest-shepherds were in the field with sheep when an angel appeared to tell them that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem.
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger (Luke 2:13-16).
That was the first coming of Jesus; but there is another prophecy, and it is about the Second Coming of Jesus.
“And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem” (Mic. 4:8).
The dominion (or reign of David) will exist again, and the Messiah will establish His kingdom in Jerusalem (one reason why moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem is so important).
Jesus came the first time as the Lamb of God without spot and blemish, but He will come back as King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16).
The angel Gabriel appeared unto Mary and said, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:30-33).
Students of Bible prophecy know that the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt, the animal sacrifices will resume, and a herd of sacrificial animals will be needed.
Now, the owner of Jacob’s sheep has property at the Tower of the Flock.
One more thing: The Romans, Ottomans and others were in control of Israel and the Tower of the Flock for hundreds of years.
They turned the area into a barren wasteland.
Sheep called Jacob’s sheep might not exist if they stayed there.
Some wound up in a foreign country where they survived. And now, a herd is back in Israel at the Tower of the Flock, Israel is no longer a wasteland, there is talk of rebuilding the Temple, and it has been 70 years since Israel became a nation.
Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond & Rachel Duck
duck_daymond@yahoo.com