mordekhi v yisraela

Torah: B’ha’alotkha (When you set up), B’midbar (Numbers) 8.1-12.16
Haftorah: Z’kharyah (Zechariah) 2.14(10)-4.7
Suggested Messianic Writings: Revelation 11.1-19

Shalom,
וַיֹּאמֶר משֶׁה קוּמָה יְיָ וַיְהִי בִּנְסֽוֹעַ הָאָרֹן
Viy’hee been-so-ah ha-a-ron vi-yo-mer Moshe “Ku-ma Adoni”
And when the ark journeyed, Moshe said, “Arise Adoni
וְיָנֻֽסוּ מְשַׂנְאֶֽיךָ מִפָּנֶֽיךָ וְיָפֻֽצוּ אֹיְבֶֽיךָ
V’ya-fu-tsu oy-veh-kha v’ya-nu-su m’sa-neh-kha mee-pa-neh-kha.
May your enemies be scattered, and those that hate You flee from Your presence.”

This phrase, from B’midbar (Numbers) 10.35, is sung or chanted in synagogues around the world as the Torah scroll is removed from its cabinet and carried around the room. Those in attendance touch the Scroll cover with a Bible, a Siddur (prayer book), or the tzitzit from a prayer shawl, never the fingers, then touch that object to their lips. The scene pictures the original giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, from Sh’mot (Exodus) 24.3 & 7, “Moshe came and told the people everything ADONAI had said, including all the rulings. The people answered with one voice: ‘We will obey every word ADONAI has spoken….’” Then he [Moshe] took the book of the covenant and read it aloud, so that the people could hear; and they responded, ‘Everything that ADONAI has spoken, we will do and obey’” (emphasis added). Those who love ADONI and His Torah are in essence saying the same thing when the Torah is so honored in our day – we will do and obey.

To Messianics, the Torah scroll, written on a lamb’s skin, represents the Lamb of G-d, Yeshua, and that is why we honor the scroll. We do not worship the scroll, but we honor it as the written word of ADONI, which in turn represents the living Word, Yeshua. And as we understand the fact that Yeshua has been around eternally from before the Creation as a member of the mysterious triune G-dhead, we understand better His statement from Matthew 28.20, “…obey everything that I have commanded you.” Simply put, if we love Him we obey Him; if we don’t love Him, we don’t obey Him. If a commandment of His is relevant, it is to be obeyed, end of story. Somehow many followers of Yeshua have come to the conclusion that the commandments can be picked through and sorted according to personal desire; or worse yet, that the majority of anything to the left of Matthew 1 is irrelevant. Others have trouble with anything past D’varim (Deuteronomy). 1 Yochanan (John) 2.3-4 says this, “The way we can be sure we know him [Yeshua] is if we are obeying his commands. Anyone who says, ‘I know him,”’ but isn’t obeying his commands is a liar — the truth is not in him.” Whether a commandment is from Leviticus or Galatians, our Creator expects us to respond in an affirmative manner. We read in Luke 24.27: “Then, starting with Moshe and all the prophets, he explained to them the things that can be found throughout the Tanakh concerning himself” (emphasis added).

So if Yeshua is in it all, from Genesis to Revelation, then we should honor it all. The immediate understanding of Torah is the five books of Moshe, but the word Torah has such definitions as, “Law, teaching, instruction, direction, to point the way one is to walk in life”. David Stern in the Complete Jewish Bible makes an astonishing but correct translation of Hebrew 8.6: “But now the work Yeshua has been given to do is far superior to theirs [earthly priests], just as the covenant he mediates is better. For this covenant has been given as Torah on the basis of better promises” (emphasis added). According to Stern’s commentary, “If the New Testament is Torah, then the Torah has not been abrogated. Instead, the New Testament has been given the same status as the Torah of Moses; that is, it has come to have the highest authority there is, the authority that accompanies promulgation by God himself. One might say that Torah has been expanded – or better, that Torah has been made more explicit.” [For further understanding of his translation and usage of this terminology here, I suggest reading David Stern’s Jewish New Testament Commentary for a nearly two-page look at this terminology.]

What then is the purpose in us honoring the Word, to obey the Word? Simply this: “For we are His workmanship, created in [Messiah Yeshua] for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2.10). And from Isaiah 43.21, “The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise.” All that we do is to honor Him; all that we do should be a form of praise unto Him. Ancient Israel did not separate the sacred and the secular. That is a good lesson for us.

The words of Moshe above signaled not only a statement of Adoni’s authority as Israel set out from an encampment, but also a prophetic word that will ring true in these last days. “As the ark journeyed…,” that is, as the entire Word of ADONI, and thus the G-d and Messiah of Israel, is held to a higher standard of love, respect and obedience by His children – Jew and Gentile alike, then the G-d of Israel will arise and scatter His enemies, and those that hate Him will flee from His presence. Those who trouble Israel had better beware. Z’kharyah (Zechariah) caps it off perfectly for us, from 2.12(8), a verse just prior to this week’s reading: “Adonai-Tzva’ot says, ‘Anyone who injures you injures the very pupil of my eye.’”

שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלִָם – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

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.

Suggested Messianic Writings reading: Romans 9.1-13

Shalom,
This parashah gives us a look at events in the adult life of Yitz’khak (Isaac). Yitz’khak was forty years old
when he married Rivkah (Rebecca), and between verses 20 & 21, twenty years had lapsed. Rivkah had
been childless, and Yitz’khak interceded on her behalf in prayer. She became pregnant, and from before
birth the twins in her womb were at odds with each other.
When we look at the “matriarchs” of Israel – Sarah, Rivkah and Rachel – we see that even the birth of the
nation of Israel was a miracle, for all three women were, in their individual lives, barren until the hand of
ADONAI gifted each woman with child. We also see the grace and mercy of ADONAI in the way that each
child came. In Sarah’s case, a child was promised through the covenant ADONAI had cut with Avraham.
When this birth did not occur within the time frame of Sarah’s hopes and dreams, she apparently gave up
and offered her slave-girl Hagar to Avraham as a substitute. The result of the birth of Yishmael was a
blood-feud that has continued for millennia.
Two generations later, Rachel did the same for Ya’akov. Being childless, she offered her slave-girl Bilhah
to Ya’akov. Two separate children were born to this union, Dan and Naftali, from which came the two
tribes in Israel of the same names. Dan, as the first-born of Bilhah, was not particularly blessed by
ADONAI. The bad that happened to the tribe seems to outnumber the good, and the tribe eventually
succumbed to idolatry and witchcraft.
Naftali fared somewhat better, for Barak and Gideon came from this tribe. The tribe of Naftali was part of
the Northern Kingdom of Israel in later history, and thus came under the Assyrian conquest. Yesha’yahu
(Isaiah) 9.1 relates that the land of Naftali was, “in earlier times regarded lightly, but would later on be
honored”. That promise is later repeated in and fulfilled in Mattityahu (Matthew) 4. The Northern Kingdom
of Israel was conquered by Assyria in 729BCE. Assyrian annals uncovered by archaeologists reveal that
Sargon II, the King of Assyria, recorded that he carried away 27,280 men from the Northern Kingdom into
exile, primarily leadership, of an estimated population of 4-500,000. Thus, when Yeshua began His
earthly ministry, Mattityahu very correctly states that He settled in the land of Zebulun and Naftali, around
the Galilee, for many from these tribes had remained in the area.
When Assyria carried the 27,000 captives away, they in turn brought in conquered peoples from other
nations to re-settle the area. These people merged with some of the remaining Israelites to become the
Samaritans we read of in the Messianic Writings. Because of this mixture of people groups, Mattityahu 4,
quoting from Yesha’yahu 9, also states that Yeshua went to live in גליל הגוים Galil HaGoyim (Galilee of
the Nations). Sometime later, in Yokhanan (John) 4, Yeshua spoke with a Samaritan woman, explaining
that He Himself is the way to salvation, thus inferring that this offer was being offered not just to Israel, but
to the Nations. So from the above failure of Rachel we see a prime picture of ADONAI “causing everything
to work together for good… according to His purposes.”
On to another matriarch. What we see in the case of Yitz’khak and Rivkah is that Rivkah did not offer a
slave-girl to Yitz’khak, but rather we see that Yitz’khak interceded with ADONAI on his wife’s behalf, and
she became pregnant. It is known that Hebraic writing in the Tanakh is not always laid out in a
consecutive time-frame. The events of B’resheet 26 may very well have occurred prior to the birth of the
twins, for that would have made it much easier for Yitz’khak to lie to Avimelekh about Rivkah being his
sister. (This is not the same Avimelekh as in the similar Avrahamic situation; Avimilekh was a title for the
king of the Philistines, just as Pharaoh was a title for the king of Egypt). And very possibly the battle of the
twins in Rivkah’s womb and the feud that has ensued ever since was because of a holy judgment upon
that lie and failure to trust ADONAI. That is not actually stated, but, “Death and life are in the power of the
tongue” (Mishlei / Proverbs 18.21). And yet, again working out for good, “mercy triumphs over judgment”
(Ya’akov / James 2.13), for we know that the prayer of Yitz’khak, whatever the timing, was answered with
the miracle of barrenness turning into childbirth.
Many Jewish opponents of a miraculous birth in the case of Yeshua generally fail to recognize the
instances of miraculous births in the case of Israel’s fathers. Without these miraculous births, Yitz’khak
would not have been born to Sarah; Ya’akov would not have been born to Rivkah; and Yosef (Joseph)
would not have been born to Rachel; there would not be a nation and people of Israel. One birth made
such a difference; something to think about.
And in the effects of another lie being turned into good, Le’ah was given in marriage to Ya’akov in a
deceitful manner. Yet from the union of Ya’akov and Leah came the tribe of Y’hudah (Judah), from which
came King David, and later, the Messiah Yeshua. And of course, from Ya’akov’s well-known lie to gain
the blessing from Yitz’khak came the chosen nation of Israel.
Not that these are lessons teaching us to go around lying and being deceitful, expecting good to result;
we are not to continue in sin so that grace will abound, because quite simply, grace will not abound if we
continue in sin. The patriarchs and matriarchs were good and faithful people. They made mistakes – just
like you and I do – but they continued on their journey with their Creator, and He honored them for that.
The blessing of B’resheet 12.3 has ridden the crest of time and here at the end of days is just as valid as
it was when Avraham first heard the words.
So the point is this: ADONAI has had a mysterious plan ever since the fall of man to restore mankind to
redemption, to the Jew first, and then the Gentile. It could only come through a sacrifice by the Creator
Himself. Sha’ul wrote much of this mystery, especially in Ephesians. Why the hidden plan of redemption
is the way it is, is beyond the comprehension of the human mind alone, but when we allow it, our spirit will
readily connect with this truth. That’s why Sha’ul suggested praying with both the mind and the spirit. The
mystery is not as complicated as the religions of man have made it out to be. He desires our faith to be in
Him, and for us to grow in our trust of Him. Of course there are trials and test, and they are not enjoyable,
but they are designed to strengthen us and mold us into His design of who we are to be. Our joy is not to
be based on this life, but only in Him. The joy and satisfaction of being a disciple of Yeshua will far
outweigh any sacrifices we might have to make.
So for anyone who is struggling, whose life may be full of difficulty and weariness, think of Yeshua, “who
for the joy that was set before him endured the execution stake, despising the shame, and is seated at
the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against
himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted” (Hebrews 12.2-3). He is the one who declared to
each of us, “Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mattityahu 11.28-30).

שַׁאֲלוּ שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלָםִ – Sha’alu shalom Yerushalayim – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May Israel
consider Yeshua, then take His yoke upon themselves and learn from Him.