For those who prefer listening to podcast or audio versus reading, my dear friend, Lynn Brunk, was kind enough to speak the words here. To listen click below.
While researching, I found under the genealogy of Benjamin a man named Shaharaim, whose name means two eclipses— double darkness.
The prophets describe the day of the Lord as a day of darkness and no light. “Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?” (Amos 5:20).
The great Day of the LORD is near—near and coming quickly.
Listen, the Day of the LORD! Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.
That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of horn blasts and battle cries against the fortified cities and against the high corner towers.
(Zephaniah 1:14-16)
I began this blog before I knew there would be a solar eclipse on (10-14-2023) and also a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Before we get to the prophetic word that I found hidden in the genealogy of Benjamin, I would like to cover a few points. The solar eclipse in April occurs before many Jews and Christians will be keeping Passover. We look to the heavens for our seasons and festivals. Psalms 19 states that God’s big clock in the sky speaks:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day, they pour forth speech; night after night, they reveal knowledge.
Without speech or language, without a sound to be heard, their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
(Psalm 19:1-4)
Our Father’s calendar is mainly based on the lunar cycle. New month’s begin with sighting the sliver of a new moon to mark our festivals—The Holy One’s feast days. Genesis chapter 1 tells us these heavenly luminaries are for signs, seasons, days, and years. We have gotten so used to the Gregorian calendar, but the Creator has given us His own calendar to follow.
On October 10, many looked to the skies for the solar eclipse—a ring of fire. During an annular solar eclipse, the moon appears smaller than the sun, so it cannot block the entire disk. The result is a beautiful “ring of fire.” Many of you took photos of this heavenly picture.
Yahweh speaks in the Book of Zechariah: “I will be a wall of fire around Jerusalem, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory within it.’” (Zechariah 2:5).
On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk. (Science/Nasa).
The prophets speak of this:
Before them, the earth quakes,
The heavens tremble,
The sun and the moon grow dark
And the stars lose their brightness.
“It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord God,
“That I will make the sun go down at noon
And make the earth dark in broad daylight.
Double darkness and new moons, blood-red moons, and all sorts of similar language have been used to express the moon in our Bibles. When we read words like new month or in the month of, it usually says “New Moon or in the Moon of.”
What does all this have to do with war? While researching the tribe of Benjamin, I found a prophecy.
Benjamin means “Son of My Right Hand.” When Jacob (Yacov) blesses his sons, he describes Benjamin- as a wolf:
“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.” (Gen. 49:27).
Shaharaim, of Benjamin, whose name means “total darkness or double eclipse,” had two wives. He divorced both, but only Hushim appears to have given him children (1 Chronicles 8:8). Afterwards, he travels to Moab, marries Hodesh, meaning New Moon, and has more sons. This man’s name sounds like Shaaraim (Hebrew: שַׁעֲרַיִם Šaʿărayīm), Which, according to several sources may mean “Two Gates.” Shaaraim is an Israelite city on a hilltop overlooking the Elah Valley, which is the valley where David took the head off of Goliath!
In I Chronicles 8, we learn who Benjamin fathered.
- Bela
Which means swallowing and gluttony. The name Bela stems from an Edomite (Esau who begot Amalek)
We read in Genesis 36:32: “The King of Edom was Bela the son of Beor, which means cruel, inhuman, and barbarous. The name of his city Dinhabah, means to be given over to judgement.
- Ashbel—which means (Fire of Bel/Ba’al–Flowing Forth]
- Ahrah—which means (after his brother)
- Nohah—which means (Rest—)
- Rapha—which means (He (God) Has Healed—the Giant, Sunken Powerless one).
When these names are read in sequence, it gives a proclamation.
Amalek’s fire and hatred flow forth after his brother Jacob (Yacov) to steal his rest, but Yahweh will bring healing through David (Messiah ben David/ Yeshua), whose slingshot makes the giant powerless.
Two nations were at war in Rebecca’s belly. Jacob (Israel) and Esau.
Eliphaz, son of Esau, and his concubine Timna had a child named Amalek.
We are warned about Amalek through scripture. When the Children of Israel left Egypt, Amalek attacked them when they were tired and weary. Think spiritually. We read in Deuteronomy 25:17-19, TLV:
Remember what Amalek did to you along the way as you came out from Egypt— how he happened upon you along the way and attacked those among you in the rear, all the stragglers behind you, when you were tired and weary—he did not fear God. Now, when Adonai, your God, grants you rest from all the enemies surrounding you in the land Adonai, your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, you are to blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. Do not forget!
This strong message points to the rearguard, the hindermost part like the serpent that attacks the heel, the woman’s seed. Adonai adds an alarming thing: do not forget to blot them out!
In the Book of Esther, we learn that Haman was a direct descendant of Agag, King of the Amalekites.
The Book of Numbers hints at a future time of triumph, or at least a promise of destroying the power of Amalek in each generation. Numbers 24:20 states,
“Amalek was the first of the nations, but his latter end is to destruction forever.” (Numbers 24:20, TLV)
We are still waiting for the total destruction of Amalek and for our King Yeshua to set up His kingdom, an everlasting Kingdom.
Continuing in I Chronicles 8,
The sons of Bela:
Addar, Gera, Abihud, Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram. These were the descendants of Ehud, who were the heads of the families living in Geba and were exiled to Manahath:
The son of Gera was Ehud. Who was Ehud?:
Ehud was a second judge of Israel, a Benjamite, the son of Gera. He concealed under his garment a two-edged sword. He carried a present to Eglon, the Moabite king who had held Israel in subjection for eighteen years. Ehud was left-handed and able to draw his weapon without suspicion, and he plunged it through the king, who was surprised and too obese to resist. Ehud escaped to Seirath and, gathering an Israelite army, slew the Moabite forces numbering 10,000 men. (Judges 3,14-30).
Though a thousand may fall at your side,
and ten thousand at your right hand,
no harm will come near you.
You will only see it with your eyes
and witness the punishment of the wicked.
Psalm 91:7-8
In review: Bela begot many sons. One son stands out. His name is Shaharaim, meaning “Double Darkness–Two Eclipses.” A total eclipse usually happens every year and a half somewhere on Earth. In a solar eclipse, the Sun gets darker. In a lunar eclipse, the Moon gets darker.
In I Chronicles 8, we learn that Shaharaim had children in Moab. The Moabites were the incestuous children of Lot by one of his daughters. We learned earlier that Shaharaim means Double Darkness—two eclipses. This man named Shaharaim divorces both of his wives.
One wife named Hushim (who makes haste), the other Baara (Kindling of the Moon).
Baara also means Consuming but suggests a mindless chomping and a singeing purification. (Abarim Publications)
Later, this man, whose name means double darkness, marries again, and her name is Hodesh, which sounds like the word for new moon, Chodesh, and actually means New Moon or New Thing. After the thick darkness, God will do a new thing, and it will spring forth, as the prophets tell us. We learn that this man’s first-born son with his wife named New Moon is named Jobab (Crying out), and her second son is Zibia, which means to swell and get bigger, and Abarim Publications defines the word to represent beauty and Gazelle.
The moon swells and gets bigger. It then starts over and is “BORN AGAIN or BORN ANEW.” Have you been born anew? Remember, 14 days before Passover in April 2024, we have another eclipse.
Proverbs 6:5 says: “Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.”
The Hebrew word for deer is Tzvi, and the Prophets used it to describe the Land of Israel. They referred to it as the land of the deer and the Glory of all lands.
The wife, whose name means new moon, has a third son named. Mesha (Mesha is the name of a port city on the Red Sea.
Mesha means saving salvation. This saving is Israel crossing over the Red Sea or Sea of Reeds from Egypt into the promised land. God is their saving salvation. Passover always falls on a full moon. Like the wife, whose name means New Moon, eventually, the moon swells and gets bigger.
The next son born is Malcam, meaning Most High King!
Shout and praise the Father, for His hidden manna is before our eyes.
Next, we have Jeuz, meaning Counselor.
For unto us, a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
Isaiah 9 NKJV
“After he (Shaharaim) had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives. 9By Hodesh his wife he begot Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, 10Jeuz, Sachiah, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of their fathers’ houses.
Hushim is one of three wives of Shaharaim, the other two being Baara and Hodesh.
11And by Hushim he begot Abitub and Elpaal. 12The sons of Elpaal were Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns; 13and Beriah and Shema, who were heads of their fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who drove out the inhabitants of Gath (Hamas). (I Chronicles 8:9-13).
Let’s recap— a descendant of Benjamin, Shaharaim, meaning Total darkness, had a wife named Hodesh (New Moon) gives birth to Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah (1 Chronicles 8:8-10).
- Jobab—meaning (crying out)
- Zibia—meaning (To swell and get bigger—beauty and gazelle)
- Mesha—meaning (Red Sea-saving salvation)
- Malcam—meaning (Most High King)
- Jeuz—meaning (Counseling, He Will Counsel)
- Sachiah—meaning (Cover Of Yah, Watchman Of Yah)
- Mirmah—deceit
8, 9. Beriah and Shema, who were heads of their fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who drove out the inhabitants of Gath. Shema and Beriah successfully battled the people of Gath.
Remember, 14 days before Passover in April 2024, we have another eclipse.
When we take the names above from the sons of Shaharaim and his wife, New Moon, and place them together, we get:
The Israelites began to cry out and lament during the new moon. Their Most High King brings counsel (Moses/Aaron) Our King Yeshua. Afterward, Adonai covers Egypt in thick darkness as the angel of death takes the Egyptian’s firstborn sons. But the Children of Israel are covered by the Blood of the Lamb, again, Yeshua Messiah. As the Moon swells like a deer, becoming whole, the Children of Israel begin their journey into the sea of Reeds. Through trickery and deceit, Pharoah once again brings his horses and chariots, but his riders are hurled into the sea, as Yahweh uses His plans to drown the enemy by deceit and by hardening Pharaoh’s heart:
And with all things cyclical, we land back at Amalek, who came to destroy Israel as they are weary, and like a serpent, they came to destroy the rearguard and strike at the heel of the woman, the seed of Abraham.
But our Father is greater, and we look to the heavens, to a woman named New Moon, and a full moon like a gazelle. We smile at the mysteries of naming a son, total eclipse, double darkness, knowing that the Word Of God is mightier than any two edge sword:
On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel:
“O sun, stand still over Gibeon,
O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
So the sun stood still
and the moon stopped
until the nation took vengeance
upon its enemies.
Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?
“So the sun stopped
in the middle of the sky
and delayed going down
about a full day.”
There has been no day like it before or since when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.
Joshua 10:12-14.
May our mighty King Yeshua bring victory. May Adonia fight for Israel until Hamas no longer exists. And may we never forget what a hidden trove of treasure every word is in the Bible.
All Word definitions taken from Abarim Publications
Side Note on the genealogy of Benjamin:
The Hizkuni to Bereishis 46:21 says that actually (according to Divrei Hayamin I 8:1-5) Binyamin had 11 sons (the 11th son had not yet been born at the time he descended to Mitzraym), making the list in Bereishis correct if you consider this.
The second list (in Bamidbar) had five sons because it shows the five of the ten families of descendants of Binyamin that were killed by the levites, so they were not counted here (see the source by @Menachem above).
The reason why their names differ from list to list is because some of them were sinners that repented. (It is well known that the Torah rename people’s names after important events, positively or not). See, for instance Tzeror Hamor to Bereishis 46:21 for more details on this case. Renato S. Grun
tanach – How many sons of Benjamin were there? – Mi Yodeya (stackexchange.com)