Abraham is visited by God and the angels that save Lot when Sodom is destroyed. Sarah gives birth to Isaac, Hagar and Ishmael get the boot, and later Abraham takes Isaac to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him
SPOILER ALERT– he doesn’t.
But what we are going to talk about are the angels of the Lord: are they just angels, or does God show up in the middle of the message they bring?
Rosh HaShanah began Wednesday evening (the only holy day to occur the same night as the new moon) and the traditional reading is the Akedah, Genesis 22, which is the story of the Binding of Isaac. Even though we have Ha’azinu (the Song of Moses) as this Shabbat’s Parashah, I am going to talk about the Akedah.
The story, as I am sure you all know, starts with God telling Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him. Abraham sets off the very next morning to do so, and they walk three days until they come to Mount Moriah, where Abraham takes Isaac, binds him, places him on the wood and is about to slaughter him with a knife when the angel of the Lord calls and stops Abraham. God tells Abraham this was a test of his loyalty and faith; Abraham sees a ram with it’s horns stuck in a bush and sacrifices the ram to God. Then he and Isaac go back home.
NOTE: because it was a ram that was substituted for Isaac, the shofar is usually a ram’s horn to honor that ram.
This reading is considered a Messianic passage by both Jews and Christians, alike. From the Christian (and Messianic) viewpoint, we see the father of the nation of Jews sacrificing his only son (Isaac, who is the “son of the promise”) as a foreshadow of the Father of the Universe sacrificing His only son, Yeshua.
From the Jewish side, I have seen too many different messages from this to even start to say this one is what it means, or that one is why it is considered messianic. The only thing agreed is that the Akedah it is the most read passage in the Torah, since it is repeated daily before the Shacharit (morning) prayer and again on the second day of Rosh Hashannah. In some circles it is even thought that Isaac did die and was resurrected, but the bible is clear he did not die.
I am just going to say the Akedah is considered a Messianic passage by Jews, and leave it at that.
The point I want to make today, though, has nothing to do with it’s messianic foreshadowing. What I want to talk about is how sometimes we hear from God, and we know what He wants from us, but then things change just as we are doing what we thought He wanted us to do!
For instance, in the Akedah (which means “binding”) Abraham was sure that God told him to sacrifice Isaac, but at the last moment God changed that. Abraham was told why things changed, that this was only a test of his faith, but often we may not be told why things suddenly change. They just will.
By the way, God didn’t even tell Abraham to substitute the ram- Abraham took that upon himself to do. I believe it was a thanksgiving sacrifice, for I am certain Abraham was very, VERY thankful to God that the sacrifice of Isaac was not required.
If, and when, we hear God’s calling in our lives, (hopefully) we answer that calling. But what about when after we answer it we find out that what we are doing isn’t working out? Here’s an example: where I have been worshiping, a place I know God called me to go, we are going to be disbanded in a few months. This is currently a Hebraic Roots church which is a sovereign Assemblies of God church; the first Senior Pastor left almost immediately after I joined to pursue his corporate calling (Ezra International) and the current Senior Pastor is quitting to pursue a Masters his employer (Bridges for Peace) is paying for. This leaves the church with no one who has Senior Pastor credentials with the A of G. That means the church will revert to an A of G district church, and that means we can kiss goodbye Friday night Shabbat. It is almost a foregone conclusion that they will go back to Sunday mornings, and even if they send a pastor with a heart for Israel, it is impossible to consider that this will remain a Hebraic Roots congregation. So you see, I am very sure that my calling to this church is about to take a significant turn from what I thought it would be when God told me this is the place for me.
And it has been the place for me. What God sent me here to do wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be, but it turns out that I have been exactly what was needed at that time. And now that time is over. Abraham was looking forward (not in the way of hopeful expectation) to having to kill his only son, and knew that is what God wanted from him. Both Abraham and I found out that what we thought God told us we were to do didn’t end up being what He had planned for us to do.
When you find yourself following God’s calling in your life and suddenly you have to make a U-Turn, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are under attack from the enemy; it doesn’t have to mean you misunderstood what God was calling you to do; and it doesn’t mean that you have fallen from Grace. It just might mean when you heard God call you to do something, you thought there was more to it, but there was only what He had planned, and you’ve done it.
Just like Abraham thought God called him to kill Isaac, but all God needed was to test his willingness to kill Isaac.
Just like I thought I could come to this place and only be in the congregation, without the responsibilities or burden of being in leadership, but I ended up holding three positions on the Council and working with the Pastor leading the congregation in liturgy and delivering the weekly messages.
What about you? Have you found yourself in a position where you could have sworn God called you to, and now it seems that you might have been wrong about it? Are you currently experiencing troubles (tsouris) in your life that you can’t explain, and you are doubting your calling with God? Are you thinking , “Maybe I’m not doing what God wants of me?” You could be right, or you could be done with what God really wanted of you and you just don’t know that yet. Maybe you are being pruned and the real reason for your current troubles is that you aren’t trying to listen to God because you think you already know what He wants?
Overall, the only way to know what God wants for you is to ask Him to show you. Always expect the unexpected from God because He doesn’t have to tell you any more than what you need to know, when you need to know it. That means things may change at any time, so be alert, be watchful, be ready.
And always be listening to the Spirit.
Jacob has left his home in fear of his brother, whose blessings were given to Jacob. He goes to Haran where Rebekah’s brother, Laban, lives and Jacob stays with him. On the way he has a dream in which God appears and confirms to Jacob the promises that He gave to Abraham and Isaac.
Jacob sees Rachel before he sees Laban, and falls in love with her right then and there. Laban welcomes him into his home, and after a month Laban offers to pay Jacob. Jacob names his wages: he will work 7 years and then Rachel is to be his wife.
Now we start to see how the one called the “Supplanter”, who manipulated his brother into giving up his birthright, now meets his match. Well, almost his match.
After 7 years Jacob is all set to marry Rachel, but Laban throws Leah into the tent and by the time Jacob realizes who he has been celebrating the honeymoon with (I gotta think- how drunk was he to not notice the difference?) it is too late. Laban has pulled a fast one on Jacob, who now is forced to work another 7 years for Rachel (at least he gets to marry her first, after he spends the mandatory 1 week with Leah.)
Now that he is married and the years of labor for Rachel are in full swing, Leah starts to drop male rug-rats like there’s no tomorrow, whereas Rachel is barren. Then Rachel orders Jacob to give her children through her handmaiden, to which Leah counters with the same demand, and eventually Rachel gives birth to Joseph, and we have the birth of 11 of the 12 tribes of Israel, and are told the reason for each of their names.
Meanwhile, back at the sheep troth, Jacob asked for speckled and dark sheep and goats (the less valuable) as payment for tending Laban’s flocks, and by using streaked rods when the animals drink and mate, he manages to get the strongest kids and lambs to be in his flocks, whereas Laban’s flocks are weaker. Jacob hears Laban’s sons becoming hostile and decides it’s time to go back home, so he takes his family and flocks and beats a fast retreat to Canaan when Laban is not anywhere around. Laban goes after him and catches up, but God warns Laban in a dream not to do anything bad to Jacob.
Laban is also upset because, unknown to Jacob, Rachel has taken the family gods which are the inheritance of the firstborn and gave Laban authority over the other members of the family. Laban never found the gods because Rachel said she was in her time of Niddah (menstruating) so that Laban would not come near her to search under the saddle she was sitting on, where the gods were hidden.
Finally, Laban and Jacob make a pact that neither will cross over a standing stone to do the other harm, and Laban goes back to his home.
Well, well, well…what goes around comes around, doesn’t it?
Jacob finagles the blessings and rights of the firstborn from his brother, then is tricked into marrying Leah, consequently forcing Jacob to work an additional 7 years to marry Rachel (who was first promised to him.) Then Jacob manipulates the flocks so that he has the healthiest and Laban has the dreck (Yiddish for trash.) Then, when Jacob sneaks away, Rachel steals the family gods, which are part of the birthright of the firstborn.
‘Round and ’round, up and down- Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!
I find it interesting that here we have the Patriarchs! The fathers of Judaism, the ones that are righteous before God, who God, Himself, talked to. More than once, even! And yet, they are deceptive, they are self-centered (telling your wife to allow herself to be taken into a harem to protect your own skin) and they end up marrying the same type of person: Rebekah told Jacob to fool Isaac and Rachel stole from her father.
I read in my Chumash that the Midrash explains why Rachel stole the family gods: it was so that her father wouldn’t worship them. C’mon, really? That is what I call giving something that isn’t holy a holy “spin.” Those gods represented power and authority in that culture: the other family members would go to the oldest, who was the keeper of these gods, and pay him to pray to the gods so that their crops would be plentiful and their herds reproduce well. I don’t believe for a second that Rachel had anything else in mind other than to take what she felt was hers. I base this on Genesis 31:14, where both Rachel and Leah state that they no longer have any inheritance in their fathers house. They accuse Laban of having sold them and used up what there was of the purchase price. In other words, Laban has nothing left to give them as an inheritance. I think it is pretty clear that Rachel stole the gods to recoup what she felt was owed to her.
This is what is so wonderful about the bible- we see the people in it for who and what they really are: human beings. There is no “sugar-coating” their actions or their intentions. And why I think this is so wonderful is that it shows us that we don’t have to be super holy to be loved by God; we don’t have to be sinless to be saved; and God will help us even when we aren’t doing everything on the “up and up” so long as we are trying to do what He wants from us.
The bible stories are so interesting, so full of romance, deceit, murder, retribution, and (best of all) a happy ending for the good guys. I am not at all surprised that thousands of years after these events happened, we are still fascinated reading about them (well, I am) and the message they have is never old or out of date.
Maybe that’s because the bible is about more than just God and salvation- it is about us. About people, about society, and about what the world is like. And, of course, about what the end will be and how to finish on the winning side.
If you aren’t reading the bible every day, please do so. If you know someone who doesn’t read it at all, share these stories but don’t tell that person where they are from until he or she asks. I really want to do something to help people read the bible because they need to know what God is saying, not only what some Pastor, Rabbi or Priest is telling them they learned in Theology class.
The world is witnessing the fulfillment of God’s promise of judgement on the nations, and seeing the regathering of Israel. It is not coming soon, it is happening now! We who know the Lord and know what is to happen are obligated to tell those who are ignorant and obstinate.
Tell someone else about this blog- I don’t mean to sound uppity or self-important but I am trying to write in here that which will always give glory and honor to God, and I want to help people realize the truth about what God says so they can compare it to what they are being told. We need to understand what being “holy” really means, and not what the church or synagogue makes it seem like.
To be holy means to be separated, that’s all- and when we are separated from the world, which is a cursed and sinful place, although we may still be sinful in our hearts we can control ourselves to be less sinful.
I was a sinner before I knew the Lord, and now that I know the Lord I am still a sinner! BUT- I am a saved sinner because I have done T’shuvah, I have turned from my desire to sin and now have a desire to sin less. I understand I can never be sinless, but I know that I can always sin less.
Read the “manual” and get to know the people in it, who and what they are, and be empowered by their weaknesses which they overcame with God’s help. As Shaul (Paul) says in 2 Corinthians, 12:9:
And he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest on me.
Let the weaknesses of the Patriarchs encourage you so that you, too, can be a Patriarch (or a Matriarch) of your own future.
One of the best known stories of the Bible is in this parashah- the selling of the birthright. Or, as some describe it, Jacob steals Esau’s birthright and blessing.
We all know the story: Esau, Mr. Right-This-Minute-Who-Cares-About-Tomorrow , comes in from the field after a hard day, sees Jacob with some lentil stew (“That red stuff! Give me some of that red stuff!”) and says if Jacob doesn’t give him some stew he will starve to death. Jacob takes this opportunity to offer the stew for a price- the birthright of the firstborn.
Esau, not caring for anything past right now, says (essentially), “Sure, take it. After all, what good is it to me if I am dead.” Jacob then feeds Esau, and please note he also gives him bread and water, so he wasn’t all that bad. Consider Ebeneezer Scrooge, who wouldn’t even pay an additional half-penny for a piece of bread. After eating, Esau goes on his merry way, forgetting the whole thing.
Now later, Rivka (Rachel) gets wind that Yacov (Isaac) is getting ready to give the blessing to Esau, so she gets Jacob to cross-dress as Esau and “steal” the blessing. Of course, afterwards Isaac can’t give the firstborn blessing to Esau and Esau gets second-best, which doesn’t go over very well with him.
I want to mention that there is no mention, anywhere, that Rivka knew of the selling of the birthright so what she cajoled Jacob into doing was her own idea. Like mother, like son?
So, here’s the question: did Jacob really steal anything? After all, he did buy the birthright, so he also owned the blessing that goes with the birthright, right? If you buy a plot of land and it isn’t specified about the mineral rights, then you own the mineral rights, so if you own the birthright of the first-born, you own the blessing that the birthright is entitled to.
Here we see another example of how God’s ways are not our ways:
Humans give the birthright and a double portion to the first-born son, but God has made sure that from the first of the Patriarchs all the way down the line, the son that is worthy is the one who gets the blessings.
Jacob did not steal the birthright or the blessing- he bought the birthright and by ownership of same, was entitled to the blessing. We could look at it this way: because Jacob owned the first-born blessing, which Isaac was going to give to Esau, by fooling his father Jacob actually saved his father from sinning against Jacob by giving Jacob’s rightful blessing to the wrong person!
What would have happened if Esau had been just a little more mature, just a little more cognizant, and just a little less immediate? Maybe he wouldn’t have given up his birthright so quickly, but in the long run it was good that he did. We see later, at the end of the parashah, that Esau just didn’t “get it”: when Isaac and Rebekah show their displeasure with Esau’s Hittite wives, he goes and marries Ishmael’s daughter.
Just not getting it.
But Jacob knew what he was doing from birth- after all, he did supplant, did he not? He knew what he wanted and how to get it, and although he was a bit sneaky and manipulative, it served him well and (eventually) served us all well. Jacob married well, too- Rachel was just as sneaky as Jacob was, stealing the family gods then pretending to be in her time of Nidah to prevent Laben from finding them.
But, then again, that’s another story.
The end of the beginning, and the beginning of the promise happen in this Parashah. Abraham and Sarah, the beginning of the Jewish faith, both die in this parashah, and between the passing of Sarah and Abraham, Isaac is married to Rivkah (Rebekah) and it is through his progeny that we have the founding of both the 12 tribes of Israel and also the nations of the Arab people (In Gen. 25:23 God tells Rebakah she has two nations in her womb.)
The burial cave of Abraham is in Hebron, a very dangerous place for Jews to visit as the majority of Hebron is Arab controlled, with a few Jewish settlements. I have been told by people who have made multiple visits to Israel that, as sad as it is, a place so important to Judaism is so dangerous to see that most Jews going to Israel will not be able to visit it.
The Chumash (a “Chumash” is a commentary of the 5 books of Moses, the Torah, as well as the Haftarah readings. The one I have is the Soncino edition, and was a present from my Reform Temple when I had my Bar Mitzvah) states that when Sarah died the blessings and pious customs of the Patriarch stopped, and were not re-initiated until Rebekah came into the tent. This is understandable because the wife is the one in charge of the household. The Father is the leader of the family, but the wife is, traditionally, the one who runs the house.
Here is an excerpt from the chabad.org website which describes the role of the Jewish wife (I bold printed explanations I have added):
She has been entrusted with, and is completely in charge of, the kashrut (ceremonial cleanliness) of the foods and beverages that come into her kitchen and appear on the dining table. She has been given the privilege of ushering in the holy Shabbat by lighting the candles on Friday, in ample time before sunset. Thus she actually and symbolically brightens up her home with peace and harmony and with the light of Torah and mitzvot (laws, as well as good deeds). It is largely in her merits that G-d (many Jews will not misuse God’s name, even in the spelling of it) bestows the blessing of true happiness on her husband and children and the entire household. This is the great task and mission which G–d gave to Jewish women – to observe and disseminate the observance of Taharat Hamishpachah (Laws of the Family) and of the other vital institutions of Jewish family life. For besides being the fundamental mitzvot and the cornerstone of the sanctity of Jewish family life, as well as relating to the well-being of the children in body and soul, these pervade and extend through all Jewish generations to eternity.
Too often we hear people tell of the misogyny of the bible, but in truth both in the New and Old Covenants, woman are respected and honored. The problem people have with the bible is the separation of the roles of men and women. That would be, in my opinion, like saying (I really don’t like sports analogies, but have to admit they often work really well) the pitcher of a baseball team should also play in the outfield, and the catcher should be allowed to pitch. If you are not familiar with baseball, this is a ridiculous thought, since each of these positions are unique in the skills needed. True, there may be someone talented enough to pitch well and play the outfield, but you can’t do both at the same time, or do both interchangeably and do each one well. The wife has her role, the husband his role, and when they work together they can achieve something impossible to achieve when everyone does the same thing- that is called synergy. Synergy is defined as when the total is greater than the sum of its parts.
In my world, the world of technology, we need to have anti-virus programs to protect our data. However, if you have two anti-virus programs running simultaneously (both checking every single data stream, both reading through every file for something unusual, both tracking and dissecting every attempt to read or change anything on the hard drive), instead of having twice the efficiency, what happens is that you can’t get anything done! The computer resources are so over-worked that even opening a web site takes longer, editing a Word document takes a lifetime, and you end up with less productivity than if you had no anti-virus running at all. Now, if you have an anti-virus program and you supplement it with an anti-malware program, which doesn’t interfere with the anti-virus but adds to its effectiveness by checking things the anti-virus doesn’t, now you have a synergistic effect.
This is what we want in the Jewish home. Actually, in every home there should be the proper separation of roles that husband and wife play so they can show their children how well people can get along when they are different, have different things that they do, and work together as a team.
When Sarah died, a very important team member of the family was missing, so that role, that position on the field (so to speak), was left unoccupied. When Rivkah (Rebekah) joined the family (in Hebrew, family is “Mishpachah”) that role was again filled. Hence, the blessings that the wife provides within the family unit returned to Isaac and Abraham.
This is what is so wonderful about the bible- you read about Sarah dying and with the appropriate commentary and understanding of the cultural and historical context, you receive a message that is not directly given in the text. We read about Sarah’s death and then Isaac took his new wife into his mother’s tent, indicating that Rebekah took over the role of Sarah, and with that the family was once again made whole and the blessings available that are based on the role of the wife returned to the Patriarch.
How do you distribute the responsibilities in your home? Are they seen as a burden or as a blessing? Does the husband help the wife and the wife help the husband, or do you both just do what you want to do? I clean the dishes because Donna usually does the cooking, and since I will be retiring at the end of this year I will be able to cook more often and when I do, Donna will clean up. Donna does most of the outside gardening, and I do most of the heavy lifting and work in the yard. We know that we each have our own duties to perform as a team, which doesn’t mean we always do the same things but that we do what we each need to do and work together to accomplish getting everything done; we each work within our best skill sets. It may not be “perfectly biblical” with regards to what we each do, but it is biblical in that we each have our own role to play and we are responsible to do what we are supposed to do for , as well as with, each other.
Don’t let the world’s view rule your life. The world says that everyone should be the same, everyone gets the same treatment, and that everyone should be allowed to do whatever they want to: C’mon, let’s get real!- having the right to do whatever you want to do doesn’t mean you have the ability. The truth is that we are all different, blessed with talents that are meant to serve the Lord (not ourselves) and when we use the gifts God gave us to serve Him and each other, then we will live such a blessed existence that heaven will almost appear to be anti-climatic!
Treat each other with respect, work together to achieve synergy, do what you are supposed to do before you worry about what the other person is supposed to do, and if that person needs help, then help. Teamwork is not doing something for someone else, it is doing what you are supposed to do and then, if the other person needs help, supplementing their duties. That is how you achieve synergy, and I believe God wants us to be synergistic in our relationships with each other and with Him.
Jacob comes back to the land he left, and hears that Esau is coming out to meet him with 400 men. Frightened for his family, he splits the camp, sends them ahead and stays behind the Jabbok River that night by himself. That night he wrestles with an angel, who (in order to be released by Jacob, who has prevailed against the angel even after the angel damages his hip) gives Jacob the name “Israel” and blesses him. Jacob limps across the river, then decides to send gifts to Esau to appease him before the camp even gets close. As he gets closer, he sends his favorite wife and her child (Rachel and Joseph) to the very rear, then next closest is Leah and her children, and right behind Jacob are the handmaidens of his wives and their children. It is obvious that the least favored of his children’s mothers were to be closest so if Esau killed Jacob and the family, these would be next, and hopefully Esau’s anger would not reach all the way to the end to find Rebekah and Joseph. However, Jacob’s prayers are answered when Esau embraces and cries over reuniting with his brother, and that is about all the lovey-dovey they do. Esau goes back to his family and life in Seir, and Jacob ends up settling at that time in Shechem, in the land of Canaan.
In this land Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, is raped by the son of Hamor, the king of Shechem. After doing so, however, the prince falls for her and asks a bride price. The sons of Jacob (interesting that Jacob is not in this discussion) state that the men of the city, all the men, must be circumcised before Dinah can marry even one of them. Then when the men are recovering, Levi and Simeon attack the men, kill all the adult men and take the women, children and possessions as spoil. Jacob is enraged about this, and (reasonably) concerned for his welfare and that of all his family. God tells Jacob to get to Beth-el. Jacob sets up a standing stone there, an altar to God, and as they continue to travel towards Bethlehem, Rachel dies in childbirth as Benjamin in born. She is buried there, and they continue to Bethlehem. One other major event is that Reuben sleeps with his father’s concubine, and this is an affront for which he is not forgiven, even unto Israel’s dying blessing on him, and Reuben also loses the rights of the firstborn (which go to Joseph and his sons.)
The parashah ends with a brief review of the sons of Jacob, and then an entire chapter to cover the descendants of Esau. From this point forward we don’t really hear that much about Esau and his relationship to Jacob, and the storyline shifts starting with the next parashah further away from Jacob and into the life of Joseph.
I could write a book on this parashah: there is so much in the telling of the brotherly love-hate relationships we’ve seen so far in the bible. Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob and Esau: each set of brothers had strife between them. Cain and Abel strove over the acceptance of God, Ishmael and Isaac strove over the acceptance of Abraham, and Esau and Isaac strove over the rights of the firstborn. From God’s acceptance, to their fathers acceptance, to receiving the blessings for themself. We see the relationship deteriorate from between me and God (accepting my sacrifice), to me and Dad (Abraham sending Ishmael out on his own with no real inheritance), to pretty much me and me (Jacob and Esau struggling over the blessing and rights of the firstborn.) There’s plenty of juice in this orange we could squeeze out.
There’s also the changing of Jacob’s name, his wrestling not just with an angel, but with his (or mankind’s) desire to use deviousness over doing what is righteous. The name change is more than just that- The Chumash indicates that it represents a change in his entire viewpoint and actions from one of being the “supplanter” to one of being the “champion of God.” We see this change somewhat in how Jacob despises the deviousness of Levi and Simeon.
So, nu? With all this good stuff to talk about, what do I talk about? Actually, as I am writing this I am not sure. But I think I know where to go, and it isn’t from the storyline. It’s from the comments I read in the Chumash.
The “Rabbis” who contributed to the Chumash, even though they were learned and godly men in many ways, just had to find something deep and studious in the word of God. For instance, at the very beginning of this portion we are told that Rashi takes the term, “I have sojourned” to mean that Jacob is telling Esau that although he has become as rich as a prince, he really was never more than a humble wanderer, a sojourner, and that the blessing he received from Isaac saying Jacob would be greater than Esau has not been fulfilled, therefore Esau has no reason to be angry with Jacob. The Midrash states that the letters used in the word “גרתי” (sojourned) has the numerical value of 613, the exact number of commandments in the Torah, and it uses that to demonstrate that even though Jacob dwelt in a land that was not the one promised to him by God, he still remained subject to and obedient to the Torah- an exhortation to his descendants to do the same. Honestly, and with all due respect, to me that seems to be stretching it a bit; I mean, the Torah wasn’t even given to us yet.
Throughout the Chumash one can read many of these interpretations, and they do make sense in many ways, yet I was taught that you can’t make an argument from nothing. The fact that Hebrew letters have a numerical value and that it is part of interpreting the bible is valid- I have no problem with gimel (ג), or 8, representing a new beginning, 7 is completion, 3 is the godhead, and 4 for man and God. Yet, I can’t forget that old expression I learned when in banking: “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.” If we look deep enough, and manipulate things enough, eventually you can get blood from a stone.
When we read the bible the best way to interpret it is to let God, who wrote it, tell you what it means. The way that is done is through the Ruach HaKodesh, the Holy Spirit. I do not, in any way, feel that what I am writing now is spirit-led. I think it is more my own feelings, and experiences, and not some divine revelation. Still, I think it is valid ( or I wouldn’t write it) and ask that you think it over for yourself. Whether I tell you something, or your Rabbi/Pastor/Priest/Minister/whatever tells you something, you need to verify it for yourself by asking God to tell you what it really means. Of course, the spirit will only indwell when you ask for it.
The bible is, even for someone who doesn’t believe in God, a wonderful book, a valuable lesson in human relations, and a history of more than just the Jewish people (and every day it is proven more and more to be an accurate historical document.) It has wisdom, poetry, substance, and value to everyone and anyone who has to survive in this world. To those who do believe in God, and who have accepted the Ruach HaKodesh, they will read all that the non-believers will read but get so much more out of it.
I give to you today a blessing and a curse regarding the Word of God: the blessing is that if you allow the Ruach HaKodesh to be your ultimate interpreter when you read the bible you will receive wonderful, life-changing, and eternal understanding of God and His kingdom. The curse is this: if you only listen to others, you accept what you like and reject what you don’t like, and never ask God to lead your understanding, then the bible will become a trap and a snare for you and you will be led not to eternal joy but placed on a direct path to the Lake of Fire!
The bible is like fire: when handled with respect and awe it can warm you, save your life and provide protection; but, when not respected, understood or treated with concern it will turn on you, destroying you and everything you have.
God is just so much so! He is so far above us and so much holier than we can even imagine that He must be treated with the ultimate level of respect. He is the One, He is all there is, He is everything (and I mean, E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G) and the only thing that matters. As humans, we want to have the world revolve around us, but we need to revolve around God. He should be the center of our universe, and His word should be treated with total respect and awe. It is like dynamite- when you use it respecting it’s power, you get tremendous benefit from it. When you treat it casually and without respect, you get blown to bits!
Look for what God has in the bible for you, but make sure that no matter what you hear from humans, you always test it against what God tells you through the Ruach HaKodesh.
Another great story from the bible. Jacob goes to find a wife, sees and immediately falls in love with Rachel, the daughter of Laban. Laban, the head of the family, welcomes Jacob in and Jacob lives with them. Laban offers to pay Jacob for the help Jacob provides, and Jacob asks that his wages be Rachel, so Laban agrees to let Jacob work for him 7 years to “earn” Rachel. After 7 years Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah, then gives Rachel, too, but for 7 more years of labor. We saw Laban’s treachery when Eliazer wanted to take Rebekah back to Isaac, and now we see Laban is still a trickster. Next he makes a deal with Jacob to give Jacob the weakest sheep and goats, but Jacob turns the tables and ends up with the strongest of the herds and flocks. After 14 years the sons of Laban are angry with Jacob for having tricked their father, and Jacob hears of it and flees back to his father’s land, but is not fast enough. Laban catches up, and uses the fact that Rachel stole the family idols to accuse Jacob of the theft, but Rachel, a bit of a liar herself, hides the idols where Laban cannot look for them (under her saddle/chair, which she said she could not rise from because it was her time of Nidah, her menstrual period.)
So Laban can’t prove Jacob a thief, and they make a vow by a standing stone Laban sets up not to cross over to do harm to each other. I think that they hated each other and made this vow not to promise to visit each other peacefully, but really to say ,”You stay on your side and I’ll stay on my side, otherwise there will be trouble.”
The importance of taking the family idols was not because Rachel was an idol worshipper- the family idols were more than just religious: they represented the leadership and power of the one who owned them. The other family members would go to that person to ask them to pray for successful crops, for children, healing, whatever they needed. By stealing these idols Rachel was taking the inheritance she felt that she and her family were entitled to have.
So far in Genesis we have seen that from the very first humans created there has been treachery and sin in the world. God is perfect, but He doesn’t create perfection. That is not a mistake on His part, He did so to fulfill His plan. There is balance in the universe, and in human nature we all, like Shaul says, do what we don’t want to do and don’t do what we want to. In some they want to do evil more than they want to do good, and others do more good than evil. There is a wide bell curve with good and evil in each of us, no one being right in the middle, and very few at the extremes. Eve sinned and caused Adam to sin, Cain killed Abel, Noah got drunk, Abraham pimped Sarah (twice!), Isaac pimped Rebekah, Jacob tricked Esau and his father, Laban tricked Jacob, Jacob tricked Laban back, and Rachel tricked Laban, too.
And these people are supposed to be the Patriarchs and Matriarchs we look up to? Yes, they are. Because, as I say above, we all have the desire and opportunity to sin, and we also have the desire and opportunity to do good. We see the great Patriarchs did sin, sure enough, but they also did good. And the good they did was far more valuable and faithful than whatever evil they performed. Some of what they did that we see as sinful was culturally acceptable, in many ways. Stealing the family idols was almost understandable, from Rachel’s viewpoint. Jacob didn’t really trick Laban into stealing the strongest of the animals, he used good husbandry methods and was successful because of what he did with what he had (and God, of course, was helping.)
None of us is perfect, and the parashah we read this Shabbat shows that. But, on the other hand, none of us is purely evil (well, in today’s world with the current events in France and Israel, maybe I shouldn’t be too sure of that) and what really matters is not so much what we do, but what we want to do.
I believe that we read enough times in the Bible where God says He sees the heart, and how the blood of bulls and goats means nothing to Him. God wants a broken spirit and a contrite heart to come before Him; just doing the letter of the Torah is not going to please God. Obedience is important, and even forced obedience is better than non-obedience. What God wants, and what He constantly tells us in the bible, is that He wants joyful obedience, faithful obedience, obedience that comes from love and awe, not from coercion or threat of punishment.
We all have good and bad, Yin and Yang, Yetzer Hara and Yetzer Tov. We all have free will and the right to make our own decisions about what we do. And all God wants of us is to worship Him as He said we should (that’s all in the Torah) and to do so in order that we may live. God wants a cheerful and willing worshipper, He wants our obedience to be labors of love, He wants us to treat each other with compassion and respect. He knows we are sinful in nature and desire. I think that’s why He is so pleased when even one person does what is right in His eyes, because He understands how hard it is for us to do so.
You are going to sin. You are going to do so, over and over, no matter how hard you try not to. The thing to remember is that although it is wrong to sin, when we do we can ask forgiveness and receive it when it is our heart’s true desire to want to stop. God is not stupid or gullible, and if you sin because you want to and ask forgiveness while your heart is still desiring to sin, do you really think God will buy that? He sees your heart! He knows what you really want! The bible tells us that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, and that is true; but, the underlying meaning is that the ones calling are not doing so just to save their butts from Sheol- they do so because they want to stop sinning! We should ask for more than just “Forgive me!”- it should be a call for “Forgive me, and help me to stop!” That is a call that demonstrates you are truly doing T’Shuvah in your heart, that you are turning from your sin, that you are trying to do what God wants and are not just sorry you sinned. You need to be rueful and feel totally distraught. Many people, I think you will agree, feel sorry they sinned not because of what they did, but because they got caught. We need to be sorry for what we do to others that is hurtful and we need to feel terrible when we sin because no matter who we sin against, it is always first and foremost against God.
The enemy, HaSatan, wants you to feel so bad that you just give up trying to do right, so don’t fall for that. And don’t beat yourself up (well, maybe a little but not too much) when you keep doing the same sin over and over because your flesh is weak. It is your heart’s desire that is important.
I often say that before I was saved I was a sinner who rationalized my sins, and now I am a sinner who regrets my sins. That is the real difference- the feeling in my heart, the sadness in my soul when I sin, and the desire to stop doing wrong and to only do right.
We should look up to the people in the bible who are great leaders, righteous men and women, and recognize they are as weak and sinful as we are. Why? Because that gives us hope for ourselves: if Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, Noah, Moses (he committed murder, remember?), if all these great leaders and godly people were just as sinful as I am, then I can also be a righteous and godly person despite my sin. I just need to have the right attitude, have a constant desire to do what God wants me to do, and constantly work at it.
If you take three steps forward and then backslide two steps, you are still one step closer to God. We do right, we do wrong, we walk straight paths, we swerve, we fall, and we get up.
What matters is that you stay the course, that you keep walking forward, and that you keep improving. How fast or how slow is not important; what is important is that you keep improving.
This parashah has one of the best known stories of the bible- the selling of the birthright. Esau is hungry and asks his brother, Jacob, for some lentil stew he was making. Jacob says he will give it to Esau if Esau sells his birthright as the firstborn to Jacob. Esau is hungry, probably not even near death or starvation, but as the bible says, he “hated his birthright” (took no special interest in it) so sold it for some soup. If you read carefully, you will realize that Jacob also gave Esau bread and drink. He wasn’t all that cruel.
The next thing that Jacob “stole” was the blessing of the firstborn that Isaac was going to give Esau. Now, this is also on Rebekah’s head because the whole scam was her idea. Once Esau learns of this he lets it be known he is planning to kill Jacob, so Rebekah (again with some deviousness) gets Isaac to send Jacob away.
For both a Patriarch and Matriarch of Judaism to steal, lie and cheat, you would wonder why they were so loved by God, right?
But let’s look a little closer at this. As for the “theft” of the blessing, I don’t think it is right or fair to say that Jacob “stole” Esau’s blessing. Here’s why: Jacob was, legally (for lack of a better term) the firstborn ever since Esau sold that birthright. As such, he was entitled to whatever the firstborn is entitled to receive, which included the blessing. True, Isaac may not have known about the sale (most likely he didn’t- if you were Esau, would you tell your father you sold your birthright?) so to get what did belong to him, Jacob had to use a bit of subterfuge to ensure he received what was, now, rightfully his.
As for the original sale of the birthright, we can only wonder what would have happened if Esau had refused to sell it. After all, how far away from the tents of Isaac and Rebekah could Jacob have been? Was it so far that Esau would not have been able to make it all the way there? And would Jacob, really, have allowed Esau to starve? I always say you can’t make an argument from nothing, but I have to tell you, even if Esau refused to sell the birthright I just don’t see Jacob letting his brother starve or die of thirst.
Anyway, it doesn’t really matter what would have happened if the birthright hadn’t been sold because the fact remains it was sold. Esau was a man of the moment- now, now, now. Jacob was a thoughtful man, planning out his moves and showing patience and maturity.
When we read about the events in the bible we need to remember to filter them with the cultural ethics of that time. It was a very lawless period, and even though there is evidence that moral codes existed, it was certainly not like anything we know today. For instance, both Abraham and Isaac said their wife was their sister so men wouldn’t kill them to be able to marry her. Therefore, if the woman was married it was morally wrong to have sexual relations with her, but if you murder her husband, then it’s OK to marry her. Adultery is definitely out, but murder is fine. Huh?
I would go as far as to say that when Jacob bought the birthright of Esau, it was Esau who is the real villain because he had no respect for himself or his obligations that come with being the firstborn. Back then the firstborn was to not just to get a double-portion of the inheritance; he was to be the leader of the family. There were responsibilities on him because the family was more than just parents and kids- there were all the servants, too. Remember Abraham took 300 men with him to fight against the 5 kings when he rescued Lot. Isaac is very wealthy and powerful, meaning he must have had many servants. Esau, as firstborn, was responsible to take over the family business, if you will, and be the leader. From what we read about him, it doesn’t seem that he would have been all too keen on that. He liked to hunt, he was a man of strong emotions, of immediate desires and needs, and he apparently (by his choice of wives) didn’t “get it”, as far as being faithful to God was concerned. He really had it all going for him, and yet he thoughtlessly threw it all away for a bowl of stew.
Jacob, on the other hand, showed faithfulness, thoughtfulness and planned ahead whereas Esau planned as far as his nose, and no further. Esau was not a very good choice to carry on the position of Patriarch, and Jacob clearly was. The fact that he fooled his father to gain the blessing that (as I explained above) he really deserved only showed that he was willing to do what needed to be done to attain that which he was entitled to. We see this later on, when Laban tries to fool and cheat him out of the rightful payments, and Jacob turns it to his advantage. But…that’s for later on.
In Genesis 25:23 God tells Rebekah that she will have two sons, and the elder shall serve the younger. Jacob was God’s choice from the beginning, so we could say that anything Jacob did in order to secure his position as the birthright holder was in keeping with God’s will.
In that verse God tells Rebekah she has two nations in her womb, …”even with
When Jacob took his entire retinue with him to return to the land of his father, Esau seems to have had many more men with him than Jacob had. Esau was the stronger of the two, but he (Edom) eventually served his brother (when Israel was under David) so what God told Rebekah was fulfilled. We can see that this shows strength in numbers is not going to get in the way of God’s plan. We see that throughout the bible, and even today- the creation of Israel, the 7-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, even in the midst of the current terrorism, Israel is the weaker of the surrounding nations yet they cannot come even close to subduing or overcoming this tiny little nation. That’s because this tiny little nation is like an iceberg- we only see the land of Israel but what supports Israel is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings- the Holy One of Israel, God, Almighty. Nothing is more powerful, so although the people of one nation may be more powerful than the people of the other, Israel has God on their side and no nation or group of nations can stand against Him.
We may not understand or even agree with what the Patriarchs and leaders we read about in the bible did, but it represents that they were no different from us than we are from each other. God is the God of doing great and wonderful things with schmo’s and schlemiels like you, like me, like Abraham, like Jacob, like Shimshon (Samson), and even with people like Jonah, who was about as unwilling a prophet as any I’ve ever read or heard about.
God can do whatever needs to be done, with whomever He chooses to do it with. If you want to be one of those He chooses, then remain faithful, listen for His guidance, accept His grace and don’t worry about the opposition.
What can man do to us when God is with us?
Not much here- only the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, not to mention the Akedah, the binding of Isaac (traditionally read at Rosh HaShannah.)
There is also the second time Abraham “pimped” Sarah, when Abimelech took her to wife because Abraham (with Sarah’s agreement) said she was his sister, not his wife. Abimelech was the king of the Philistine city and his entire household was cursed with not bearing children because he took Sarah as wife.
There is so much written about the Akedah I am not even going to try to comment on it, but I do feel that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has a lesson for us, something more personal than the story we read.
The people living in these two towns were wholly and unashamedly depraved. The bible makes sure we know that both young and old, meaning everyone, was depraved and sinful. I am not surprised, though; after all, doesn’t the society create it’s own morals? If you were alone in the desert, wouldn’t you form your own ideas about right and wrong? Look at modern cultures: some drink coffee, some drink tea, some nap in the afternoon and some don’t nap at all. Some believe that salad should be after the main course and others eat it first. There are many, many different cultural mores and values, not just about food and work, but about childbirth, capital punishment, education of the young, just to name a few. Lot offered his virgin daughters to the mob of men so they can gang rape the girls instead raping the guests in his house, the cultural ideal at that time being that to protect and care for a traveler was of the utmost importance. The care of a stranger was more important than protecting your own daughters from sexual abuse. We see this cultural standard also in Judges, 19.
Our society today, right here in the good old U S of A, is becoming more and more like Sodom. In the days of Sodom, people learned about social mores by observing their neighbors. There was no Face Book, Twitter or NetFlix to see what was happening all over. But today? We can see depravity as acceptable everywhere, in the newspapers, on TV, on our phones, and even inside the house of worship! How many of you have heard of “churches” that are pro-abortion? Churches that are specifically for homosexual and trans-sexual people? Churches that are abusing children, both physically and sexually? Churches? Places of worship? That’s what they call themselves.
Have you ever watched the History or Discovery channel specials on anything biblical? They debunk God, almost making it seem that He is a myth. I have more often than not heard references to biblical stories and lessons as being nothing more than passed down myths. The narrator refers to the “writer of these stories” as having made them up from existing legends. They show many biblical “scholars” who talk about the truths that God gave us in His word with cynical, disrespectful terms, as if they were referring to some fictional novel. And when they have someone who speaks of the bible with reverence for God, they make him or her look like some idiot, whose opinion is childish and uneducated; essentially they make faith-based obedience look like some uneducated, sect-like conditioned thinking.
Halloween is tomorrow- we give the kids candy because if you give no treat your house gets tricked. We know that the small children don’t understand anything about what their costumes and that day really represent, so we (myself included) condone, as it is, the demonic foundation of this day because we don’t want to hurt the feelings of the small children.
And what effect does that have? It plants a new seed of Sodom. This is how societies become depraved: little by little, one small concession to the mob mentality after another, until you have God thrown out of the courtroom, out of the schools, and even out of the places of worship.
Anyone who says they worship God cannot also acknowledge as acceptable those things God says are not.
God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. We need to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, too- not the towns of millennia ago, but the sinfulness and depravity that exists in our own hearts. Yeshua said that which goes into the body doesn’t defile us, but that which comes out of the mouth is what defiles us (Matthew 15:11), so exorcise that which defiles you. The words we speak, especially in anger, are straight from our hearts. We later apologize, and say, “I didn’t really mean it”, but isn’t that a lie? If we didn’t mean it, we wouldn’t have said it! THAT is the truth- what we say in anger or under stress is what is in our hearts. When we lie to the one we said it to we are really lying to ourselves because no one wants to face the truth of what is in his or her defiling, evil heart.
The towns and people of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God, but we need to destroy the spirit of Sodom and Gomorrah in ourselves. When we call on the Holy Spirit we can get the spiritual strength to overpower our evil hearts. Eventually, the Torah will be written on our hearts, these hearts of stone will be replaced with hearts of flesh and we will be living Torahs, just as Yeshua is the living Torah.
Until that day, we need to work at destroying Sodom in us.
A rose. by any other name, would smell as sweet. So said Juliet in the play “Romeo and Juliet.” She was making a point: just because Romeo’s last name was that of the family’s enemy, Romeo, himself, was okay. His name was irrelevant.
Is that the same with Yeshua, mostly known by the world as Jesus? Is there really a difference?
The etymology of Jesus is that Yeshua, the Hebrew name that means ‘God’s salvation’, could not be translated into Greek because culturally, religiously and in every other way the Greek’s had no such identity to refer to: think of trying to interpret the word “snow” into the language of the people living on Easter Island, who have never seen or had snow, ever, in their history. So what happened with Yeshua is that when translating into Greek they used a transliteration: a word that sounds like the name, which was “Jesu.” When Latinized, Jesu became Jesus.
Christ comes from a similar evolution of words: Mashiach (Anointed One) also had no Greek counterpart so, using the bastardized Hebrew-Greek of the Septuagint, Maschiach got to be Cristos (the act of spreading oil on a shield, representing the anointment by oil) and that became Christ. So Yeshua ha Maschiach became Jesu Cristos, then (finally) Jesus Christ.
That brings us back to the original question: what’s in a name? For Juliet, Romeo’s name meant nothing, but is that true for God and for His Messiah?
We are told that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, so that begs the question: does it matter to God which name we use? If ‘Jesus’ is a non-name, but ‘Yeshua’ is known to people as ‘Jesus’, when we call on the name ‘Jesus’, or pray in the name of ‘Jesus’, does it have the same level of authority that His real name, ‘Yeshua’, has? Now that I think about it, is ‘Yeshua’ OK? Didn’t the angel tell Yosef to name the child ‘Immanuel’? That means “God with us”. To me, ‘God with Us’ and ‘God’s Salvation’ are much more powerful and authoritative than some translated transliteration. Right?
Aren’t we also told in Revelations , a well as in the writings of different prophets, that the Messiah will be given a new name? A name that only He knows? That seems to impart a lot of importance to which name we use.
Yitzhak (Isaac) was named that because Sarah laughed when the angel told Abraham he would have a son. And Yakov (usurper) was named that by means of his birth (grabbing Esau’s heel) and he lived up to that name, right? And didn’t God tell Nathan the Prophet to change the name of Solomon to Jedidiah (beloved of God) because God loved the child? And didn’t God tell Hosea what names to give his children so that they represented what God wanted the people to know? It seems that names are very important to God.
Jewish folklore (I just learned this) also puts great importance on the name. It is referred to as kishmo ken hu–“Like his name, so is he” (1 Samuel 25:25). Traditionally, at birth the Hebrew name given is something that the child will (hopefully) grow into and represent later in life; then, an English (or whatever language is appropriate) name with a similar meaning is also given. My English name is Steven Robert (my mother liked Steven and Robert is after one of my fathers best friends) but the Hebrew is Shaul Baer. I doubt very much that my parents gave me a Hebrew name then the English, since they were not religious or knew the Lord, so my Hebrew name came from the translation of the English. Actually, there is some truth to my names: the Hebrew should have been first, then the English, but in my case it is backward, and I was a breech birth, so maybe….?
Where does all this bring us? It brings us here: if names are so important, does that mean all who have called on ‘Jesus’ are not saved? Does the name ‘Jesus” has no value to God? When we pray in the name of ‘Jesus” are those prayers ignored?
Of course, I can’t speak for God or Yeshua; personally, I think that using the name ‘Yeshua’ is important and shows the proper respect for the one who bears it.
We are told, over and over, that God knows the heart. I think, knowing God’s compassionate and understanding nature, if we are truly repentant and come before God with a broken spirit and a contrite heart, as David did (Psalm 51), then the names or words we use are secondary to what our heart is “saying”, as far as God is concerned. Therefore, my answer to , “What’s in a name?” is that the name is important and deserves to be honored, but so long as our heart is in the right place and our T’Shuvah before the Lord is genuine, names and even words are unimportant. Those that are mute from life, who can’t even speak in their minds, can communicate with God, can’t they? If there is someone who recognizes God as the only true God and knows, spiritually, that He exists but just has never heard the name or read the Bible, is God going to ignore that person just because he doesn’t know with which name to call upon Him?
Each of us has to choose for ourselves. Being Jewish I am much more comfortable with the Hebrew name ‘Yeshua’ than with ‘Jesus’, which represents many bad things to Jewish people. And for that same reason I understand the vast majority of Gentiles are more comfortable with Jesus. I don’t think God cares that much which name we use, but I do think Yeshua appreciates being called upon with His real name. Just my opinion.
As for me and my house, we will call upon the name of Yeshua, because well, …that’s His name.
