mordekhi v yisraela

Torah: Vayeshev (And he settled), B’resheet (Genesis) 37.1-40.23

Haftorah: Amos 2.6-38

Suggested Messianic Writings reading: Acts 7.9-16 (esp 9-10)

Shalom,

Yosef (Joseph) is now the focus for the rest of the book of B’resheet. We are told in 37.3 that Yosef was the favorite son of Israel (Ya’akov/Jacob), and we were given a hint of that back in chapter 33.2, when Ya’akov was preparing to come face to face with Esav (Esau) after all of those years apart. Ya’akov put the servant-girls and their sons first in line, then Leah and her children, followed at the back by Rachel and Yosef. The favorite son, along with the wife Ya’akov had originally chosen, were put in the position with the most protection in case of trouble. In our current chapter, we are told that Yosef was out pasturing the flock with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah (Dan & Naftali, Gad & Asher). Rabbi Hertz’ commentary notes that with Yosef’s favored position, even at the young age of 17, it was very probable that he was in fact out supervising the sons of the servant-girls.

Another reason we can possibly determine that Yosef was supervising is because of the robe Ya’akov had given him. Depending upon the translation, this may be a robe with long sleeves, a robe with many colors, or both. The Septuagint translates “many colors,” but the Hebrew כְּתֹנֶת פַּסִּים k’toh-neht pah-seem may simply mean “by implication a long and sleeved tunic (perhaps simply a wide one; from the original sense of the root, that is, of many breadths).” The robe may have had stripes with varying colors, but it was more than likely not the multi-colored squares we see popularized in many pictures. Archeology has discovered that in those days, leaders in the middle-eastern area would wear robes, or coats, with varied colors, which was a symbol of leadership. Yosef’s robe, given to him by his father, marked him as becoming the leader of all of the brothers upon his father’s death. (Re’uven (Reuben) lost this position as first-born when he slept with Bilhah, see B’resheet 35.22 & 49.3-4.) Thus, when Yosef impetuously related his dreams of superiority over his brothers, this only fueled the rage and jealousy of the brothers.

At some later point, Ya’akov sent Yosef out to check on the brothers, who were pasturing the sheep. The brothers seized upon the opportunity, hoping to kill Yosef, until Re’uven convinced them to throw Yosef into an empty pit, or cistern.

The brothers then apparently went some distance off from the pit, possibly to avoid Yosef’s screams, and sat down to eat, awaiting a caravan of Yishmaelites (Ishmaelites), to whom Y’hudah (Judah) convinced them to sell Yosef. It is said that in the clear desert air, a caravan could be seem 2-3 hours out, at the slow speed at which it would travel. There is to some a confusion as to why it seems the Yishmaelites were a verse later called Midyanim (Midianites), but Hertz believes what actually happened was that while the brothers were away from the pit, some Midianites came by, heard Yosef, pulled him out and sold him themselves to the Yishmaelites. He bases this upon Yosef’s own words in 40.15, “For the truth is that I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews….” That explains why Re’uven discovered Yosef missing, and returned to tell the other brothers. Yosef may have been sold more than once, for 37.36 states that the Medanites sold him to Potiphar, although 39.1 says that Potiphar bought him from the Yishmaelites, which may simply refer to the initial “purchase”. There is discussion among the commentators as to whether the Midianites and the Medanites are the same or different people; the Hebrew for the former is מִדְיָנִים Mid’yanim, the latter is מְּדָנִים M’da-nim. Midian was one of the sons of Avraham by Keturah (B’resheet 25.1-2), after Sarah’s death. Irregardless of who they were, Adonai’s plan for the coming nation of Israel was being put into motion. This will continue in the next parashah.

The path of Israel would be difficult all through their history. The reason they have gone through so much woe is given in a verse from the Haftorah for this week, from Amos 3.2, spoken by Adonai: “Of all the families on earth, only you have I intimately known. This is why I will punish you for all your crimes.” The Hebrew for “known” here is ידע yada, a term we are familiar with, meaning the intimacy of marriage, as from “Adam knew Eve”. “From him who has been given much, much will be demanded” (Luke 12.48). Adonai would use human means to punish Israel, but woe to those who went/go overboard with their cruelty. “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” (Heb 10.31).

If Israel would return to that intimacy with their Creator, they would understand His plans. That is precisely what it meant by the words in Amos 3.3-8, “Do two people travel together without having so agreed?….” Only in intimacy are wisdom, knowledge, joys, fears, as well as plans shared. In B’Midbar (Numbers) 11.29, Moshe desired that all of Adonai’s people were prophets, and that His Spirit was on all of them. Only in intimacy can anyone accept and understand Amos 3.8b, “Adonai, God, has spoken. Who will not prophesy?” Only in intimacy will He share His plans.

שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! Pray for the persecution of Messianic Jews to cease, and for righteous leadership to be raised up in the Land. May Israel come to “know ידע yada” their Messiah Yeshua.

Torah: Vayishlach (He sent), B’resheet (Genesis) 32.4(3)-36.43
Haftorah: Ovadyah (Obadiah) 1.1-21
Suggested Messianic Writings reading: Heb 11.11-20

Shalom,

(B’resheet 32.25(24)): “And Ya’akov was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the
day.” As our parashah opens, Ya’akov (Jacob) is returning to his home, after all the many years of
working for and being cheated continually by his less-than-honest father-in-law Lavan (Laban). Now he is
returning home, uncertain of how his brother Esav (Esau) would greet him. By this time, Ya’akov has 11
sons and a daughter, and as far as he knows, he may be putting them all at risk. Yet at the same time he
knew it was time to leave the home of Lavan. Ya’akov seems to have kept his faith in ADONAI during those
years, but also seems to have leaned a lot upon his own devices. Now the time has come in ADONAI’s
plan for the formation of a chosen people. (As we noted in last week’s drash, Ya’akov was the first of the
three patriarchs of Israel to father only “Hebrew” children.) But first Ya’akov’s heart must be dealt with.

So Ya’akov, before he comes in contact with Esav, spends a night alone wrestling with a man. I am
reminded here of a later story, when Y’hoshua (Joshua), the new leader of Israel, was near Jericho when
suddenly he saw a man in front of him with his sword drawn. When Y’hoshua asked the man if he was for
Israel or for their enemies, the man basically replied, “No, I’m here to take over” (Y’hoshua 5.13-15).
Y’hoshua was a soldier, and was prepared for battle, so he was ready to fight as needed. We are not told
how the Ya’akov event began, so we don’t know Ya’akov’s initial reaction. We do know that the Hebrew
says that a “man, אִישׁ  ish” was wrestling with Ya’akov; the same term is used for the man who stood
before Y’hoshua. This word is a contraction of אֱנָשׁ  enosh, which we find used in the Book of Daniel,
where the prophet saw “one like a son of man, and he came up to the Ancient of Days.” The phrase “son
of man” here is בַר אֱנָשׁ bar enosh. When Yeshua referred to Himself as “the Son of Man,” he would have
used “Tanakh terminology” that the people of Israel, His listeners, were familiar with, and this title in
particular indicated His deity. אֱנָשׁ  Enosh means, “sick, incurable, desperate, wicked, woeful,” in the
sense of the mortality of man. This is in contrast to another usage of son of man found in Scripture, בֶּנ
אָדָם ben adam, meaning, “[son of a] human being.” (Bar is Aramaic for “son,” ben is Hebrew.) Stern uses
“human being” in the CJB. בֶּנ אָדָם Ben adam is seen particularly in the book of Yechezk’el (Ezekiel), as
ADONAI calls out often to Yechezk’el with this title.

When Yeshua called Himself “Son of Man, בַר אֱנָשׁ Bar Enosh,” He was indicating His dual role. [Although
this term is not seen in the Greek, we must remember that Yeshua was Jewish, speaking to His Jewish
audience, using the language they knew – Hebrew and/or Aramaic.] Firstly, He came and took on the
weak flesh nature of man, to the point of experiencing physical death; Secondly, He stated that He is THE
Son of Man who approached the throne of the Ancient of Days, as seen by the prophet Daniel. No mere
mortal man could have done that and lived; this One was blessed and given an eternal kingdom. Nor is
any angel ever blessed in such a manner. This בַר אֱנָשׁ Bar Enosh could only be one “person” – the One
who is fully God and fully man, Yeshua HaMashiakh, Yeshua the Messiah. This heavenly vision of
Daniel’s is found in Daniel 7.13-14; a similar picture is found in Revelation 4 & 5 as witnessed by
Yokhanan (John).

So in all likelihood, Ya’akov was very possibly wrestling with the pre-incarnate Yeshua. But there are
other aspects to look at. English is a boiling pot language, with a word history coming from many ancient
languages of the earth, so it is good to study the Word of G-d in the original language and thought as best
we can. In the book, Aleph-Bet Soup, by Charles J. Thurston (Hearthstone Publishing), the author notes
that “there are more different English versions of the Bible (at least fifty) than any other translation in any
other language.” Thurston’s book is a study on the reliability of the Hebrew Scriptures through the ages,
and the author continues, “The freedom of speech so treasured by the English, both in Britain and its
colonies in America and Australia, has permitted a very wide range of potential meanings of Scriptures
not necessarily intended by the Author, as the Scriptures have been brought down to our modern lowest
English common denominator. It is not the original inspired Hebrew and Greek Scriptures that create so
many divisive factions and such wide disagreements of theology, but rather the inferior and imprecise
nature of the English language.”

With that in mind, let’s proceed. We are told that, “a man wrestled with [Ya’akov]….” The Hebrew root for
wrestled is אָבֵק  ah-bahk, which means, “to float away (as vapor); to bedust, to grapple.” A dictionary
definition of grapple is, “to struggle, in or as if in wrestling” (my emphasis). This gives a bit of a mysterious
slant to the idea of wrestling here. Is it possible that Ya’akov was not actually physically wrestling with this
man? But what about the hip injury? That sounds pretty physical. Wikipedia gives this description of the
working of a hip: “The strong but loose fibrous capsule of the hip joint permits the hip joint to have the
second largest range of movement (second only to the shoulder) and yet support the weight of the body,
arms and head.” Could this possibly mean that Ya’akov, as the father of a [coming] new nation, could no
longer depend upon his own strength to lead this people? Did this injury infer his weakness, and that the
strength and power would have to come from the One who wrestled with him? The literal Hebraic
implication is that the man struck “the power of the generative parts;” perhaps the limp that followed
referred to the constant “pain” that the descendants of Ya’akov would endure.

My take here is that Ya’akov spent the night “wrestling” with ADONAI in deep, deep intercession. In doing
so, Ya’akov became totally aware of the weakness of his flesh-man, and the error of doing things his own
way. And so he interceded for his prophesied numerous descendants. His “hip injury” meant to him that
he could not depend upon his own strength anymore, but would have to lean upon the strength of the
One who “touched” him. Yet because of his persistence all night long, his faithfulness was shown to
ADONAI, who in turn blessed him mightily. I believe that when we are told that “the man saw that he did
not prevail against Ya’akov,” this simply meant that ADONAI was testing the faith of Ya’akov to the nth
degree. So this man in a sense said here also, “No, I’m here to take over”. Because of this, Ya’akov knew
that He had touched the heart of the Father, who was guiding and protecting his every step, and thus
from Esav he would have nothing to fear.

So whether or not this was an actual physical wrestling, or a spiritual wrestling, the implication for us is
that when things seem so fearful and life does not seem fair and just, in the midst of great trials and
difficulties, Yeshua is there. His “touch” may seem at times to be injurious, but in reality it is healing, and
“all things work together for good….” Things may not go the way we would desire, even to the point of
suffering and death, but He is still there. Yeshua, as a man, walked the same path we walk, and He
understands. Why He allows great trials to come is beyond our human understanding. Even such
questions as “Why the holocaust?” are well beyond our understanding, but yet I believe that He was
there, tending to His sheep, providing for many a Corrie Ten Boom or an Oskar Schindler; history has
revealed that there were many such rescuers and “angels;” others remain unknown, as Irena Sendler did
for many years.

There is another lesson here. This wrestling continued until “the breaking of the day”. We are entering a
season of darker and darker days, as evil is growing stronger in these end times. Perhaps the idea is not
so much one of whether or not we can spend an entire night in intercession, as it is that we must continue
in intercession – “grappling” in prayer constantly (praying without ceasing) – until The Day comes, the
Day of the return of Yeshua. We will have to press in while the darkness seems to envelop us. I want to
encourage all who read this that you must prepare your hearts for greater and greater spiritual darkness,
for potential tribulation. But be encouraged, do not be fearful, for greater is He who is in us than he who is
in the world. Scripture speaks of a great end-time apostasy, a massive falling away from the faith. I
encourage you to hold on to your faith, just as Sha’ul wrote to Timothy, “Fight the good fight of the faith,
take hold of [literally, “seize”] the eternal life to which you were called when you testified so well to your
faith before many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6.12).

שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלָםִ – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! The salvation of
the Jewish people will affect the rest of the planet, for only when they cry out to Yeshua in acceptance
and repentance will He return (see Matthew 23.37-39). That most likely will not happen until after “Jacob’s
trouble” (Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 30.7). As a Messianic believer, my choice would be to stay here and stand
with Israel during her trials. May ADONAI grant me that grace if/when it is needed!

Torah: Vayetze (And he went out), B’resheet (Genesis) 28.10-32.3
Haftorah: Hoshea (Hosea) 11.7-14.10(9)
Suggested Messianic Writings reading: Yokhanan (John) 1.19-51

Shalom,

I remember as a youth at summer camp, high in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, all of us standing around
the late night bonfire while a leader led us in singing, “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder, we are climbing
Jacob’s ladder, we are climbing Jacob’s ladder, children of the Lord.” Everyone was in a somber reflective
spiritual mood (staring at a late night bonfire will do that), freezing on the side away from the fire, burning
up on the side facing the fire, not having a clue as to what this song meant. Oh, we understood the
“children of the Lord” line, but climbing Jacob’s ladder, what does that mean, how do you do that?

Our Parashah this week begins with Ya’akov (Jacob) heading back to the land his father and mother
came from, under the direction of his father Yitz’khak (Isaac), in order to find a wife. We can gain an
understanding of the culture when we realize that when Yitz’khak made this demand of Ya’akov, Ya’akov
was well over 70 years old, according to some commentators.

On the way, Ya’akov received a revelation from ADONAI. B’resheet 28.11 is translated as, “he came to a
certain place…, he lighted upon a certain place…,” etc. The Hebrew for “came to, lighted upon” is פּגע
pah-gah, and can also mean, “prayed, interceded.” I would conclude that, since ADONAI was guiding the
steps of this patriarch of Israel, this was more than a “by-chance” stopping point. I can imagine that when
Ya’akov entered this area, he felt the urgency to stop for the night and pray, since there was such a
heavy spiritual presence. He had, after all, at some point prior to this departure, been given a very
significant blessing and word of prophecy from his father. And yet he was definitely in need of a touch
from his Creator, for at this point he was leaving the scene of a disaster he had pretty much made by
himself, for he had deceived both his brother and his father, and in spite of being blessed, he apparently
was traveling pretty light, that is, not carrying loads of wealth and servants with him in this pursuit of a
wife, contrary to how Yitz’khak’s wife was pursued (see B’resheet 24).

There is a distinction in the wording between the blessing that had previously been given to Avraham,
and the blessing given to Ya’akov. In B’resheet 17.5, Avraham is promised by ADONAI that he will be the
father of a multitude of nations ( גֹּויִם , goyim). Goyim normally refers to non-Jewish people, but is also
used in the Tanakh to refer to nations as a whole, Jewish or Gentile. Avraham was the father of Yitz’khak,
from whom came the Hebrew line, but he was also the father of Yishma’el (Ishmael); we tend to forget
that Avraham later had six more sons with K’turah (Keturah), after the death of Sarah. So Avraham is
indeed the father of a multitude of nations – Jewish and non-Jewish. His son Yitz’khak fathered a
“Hebrew” son, Ya’akov, and a “non-Hebrew” son, Esav (Esau). Esav married some Kena’ani (Canaanite)
women, and later married a daughter of Yishma’el. By this marriage he may have been futilely trying to
please Yitz’khak, but he did not. In fact, what Esav produced by this marriage was an alliance between
two displaced first-borns, an alliance that has been at odds with the line of Ya’akov ever since.

In B’resheet 28.3, Ya’akov is promised that his descendants would be “ קְהַל עַמּיִם k’hal ahm-meem, a
company of peoples”. The terminology here is more direct – “all of your descendants will be of one people
group, one nation.” Ya’akov is the first of the patriarchs who did not father any “non-Hebrew”
descendants. All of his sons were considered to be the founders of one nation, Israel.

So we return to Ya’akov’s first stop on his journey to the land of his parents. This “ladder,” or “stairway,”
as it would more correctly be defined, was indeed a mystery. Ya’akov saw, in a dream or vision, angels
“ascending and descending” this stairway, and realized that he had indeed come upon a holy place. The
next thing he knew, “ הִנֵּה hee-ney, Lo!, Behold!, Suddenly! ADONAI was standing over it, or beside him,”
depending upon the translation. At any rate, Ya’akov was given a mighty promise of blessing and
protection that the land he was in would be given to his descendants. When Ya’akov awoke, he set up the
rock he had been sleeping upon, anointed it with oil, and named that place “ בֵּית אֵל , Beyt El, Bethel,
House of G-d.”

Now regarding the “ladder,” or the “stairway,” upon it Ya’akov saw angels of ADONAI going up and down.
In Yokhanan 1.51, from our reading this week, Yeshua tells Natan’el (Nathaniel) that he, Natan’el, would
see heaven opened and the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man!” By saying
that, Yeshua stated that He is the connection between the holiness of heaven and the desperate search
of fallen man; to climb that staircase, to rejoin with the heavenly is now possible only through Him.
Humanity has an internal need to try to re-gain what was lost at the fall. True, much of mankind has jaded
their spirit and does not even realize this inner desire, but when eyes are opened to the truth of Yeshua,
that connection can be made.

When we desire for someone to see the truth of who Yeshua is, intercession is the key to the removal of
the blinders over the spiritual eyes, the veil over the spiritual heart. Sha’ul says in 2 Corinthians 4.4,
concerning people who can not see the truth of Yeshua, that they cannot come to faith “because the god
of the olam hazeh [this world, this age] has blinded their minds, in order to prevent them from seeing the
light shining from the Good News about the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God.” Sha’ul
teaches a little later on that through intercession we are actually engaged in spiritual warfare. As he told
us, the mind of man has been blinded by the god of this world. In 2 Corinthians 10.3-5, Sha’ul teaches us
what to do in order to help open these blinded minds: “For although we do live in the world, we do not
wage war in a worldly way; because the weapons we use to wage war are not worldly. On the contrary,
they have God’s power for demolishing strongholds. We demolish arguments [the logic of the mind] and
every arrogance [the pride of the mind] that raises itself up against the knowledge of God; we take every
thought [the deductions, conclusions, and judgments of the mind] captive and make it obey the Messiah.”

This type of praying for someone is NOT what is sometimes known as “spiritual, or charismatic
witchcraft,” or mind control, i.e., “praying” for a person do something against their will, or for something to
happen to them in the same way; praying for our will to happen in their lives. No, true intercession is the
crushing of the spiritual power that blinds the eyes of a person to the truth. Only then will that person
realize what truth is, and hopefully they will direct their mind, or “will,” to that truth. Sometimes this type of
intercession may take weeks, months, years, even decades. The teaching about intercession in Scripture
is that it must be consistent with and insistent upon ONLY the will of ADONAI.

No doubt that Avraham and Yitz’khak both interceded for Ya’akov. Ya’akov was undergoing a spiritual
transformation here, and it was not against his will; Ya’akov was in a place of complete freedom in ADONAI
when he had this dream. That is the place we should all desire to be in: “And the Lord is the Spirit; and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty; and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the
Lord, to the same image are being transformed, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2
Corinthians 3.17-18, emphasis added). As Ya’akov passed through this location, he was moving up to
another level of glory, by the Spirit of ADONAI. As you work your way up the “stairway” to ADONAI Yeshua,
take heart in this fact – you also are being transformed, from glory to glory. Sometimes the next level of
“glory” may not appear to be so “glorious,” but in reality it is. “Furthermore, we know that God causes
everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called in accordance with his
purpose” (Romans 8.28).

Ah, so that is how we “climb Jacob’s ladder;” we live our every day lives – the exciting and the mundane –
in accordance with His will; as we do this, Yeshua walks with us, every step bringing us closer to our real
home.

שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלָםִ – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! Pray for spiritual
eyes and hearts to be uncovered, to see the truth of who Yeshua is – the Messiah, God, and King of
Israel – and the true home of the heart of every descendant of Ya’akov. And pray that all of the “cousins”
of Israel will come to the same realization.