Crossing the Great Gulf Between Us
Vayeitze "And went out"
Genesis 28:10-32:3 
   
Beth-El

This week, Jacob journeys to Haran in search of his own bosom and tent, a wife  (Dt. 13:6).   A wife is a man's bosom.  Sarah is Abraham's bosom.    Sarah's Tent comforts those who dwell in Abraham's bosom with bread, light, and the Presence of Adonai, the three traditional miracles of Tent Sarah.  While they await the resurrection in Abraham's bosom, there is peace.  Yeshua demonstrated all three signs to Israel, and now Jacob must seek a wife among his mother's kin.  Jacob will end up with a bigger bosom than he originally bargained for.

In this week's Torah portion, a prophetic barrier will separate Jacob's family in their return to the Land of Abraham and Isaac.  It is a special Land, one that Jacob had seen in his dream was the very House of God, which hovers just above it no higher than a dove would fly.  The barrier will fix a great gulf between Israel and Laban.
 
The wonderful promise given to Jacob's Grandfather Abraham and Grandmother Sarah was that they would be father and mother to many nations.  Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born, and the promise was passed on to Isaac, and then to Jacob.  
 
I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; (Mt 8:11)
 
In strange irony, Laban changes Jacob's wages "these ten times."  Hebrew scholars disagree with that translation, though.  "Times" would have been paamim, but Jacob says ten "countings."  A "counting" is understood to be ten, so Laban actually changed his wages a hundred times, giving Jacob the "100" connection to Abraham's age when Isaac was born and Isaac's 100-fold increase in the planting of his field in Gerar.  The sages say that Isaac did so in order to tithe.

Jacob also promises to tithe at Beth-El should Adonai do certain things for him on his journey.  It included the three things that every Israelite husband is obligated to give his wife: food, clothing, and "time," or his close relationship.  In fact, there are several bride and House (Temple) allusions in the Torah portion, such as mentions of "the place" (HaMakom), a metaphor for the Temple.  

Let's start with the Hebrew designation for male and female.  In the Hebrew dictionary, a masculine noun is designated with a zayin, which stands for:

zakar  = male, past
#2145  Male  zakar ; from #2142 Memorial, remembrance 
             #2146 remembrance  zikkaron
 
The female gender in the dictionary is represented by the Hebrew letter nun:
 
   #5347 Female  =  nekevah ; from #5344   nakav  - to pierce

A female (wife) designates, makes specific, for the full definition of nakav is:

to puncture, literally (to perforate, with more or less violence) or figuratively (to specify, designate, libel):-appoint, blaspheme, bore, curse, express, with holes, name, pierce, strike through.

When Jacob meets Rachel, he is inspired to designate her as his bride. Nakav   most often appears in context as to "designate," specifically to designate a person by name or to  designate an expected wage ;  in  Isaiah 62:1-7, it is the new name designated for the " married" and "virgin bride" Jerusalem. 
 
☛ What do you expect the  reward  to be in the relationship?

The Torah portion will give many examples of a female's designating her expected wages or reward, and only then will Jacob be able to nakav, or designate his wage and reward from Laban.  It is the essence of a female to designate an expected reward in the future, such as Leah's naming of her sons, each one named according to her expected reward in the relationship with Jacob.  In this sense, the female is more forward-looking, she is a visionary.  It is what she adds to the relationship.

A male's essence is remembrance.  This is not just recalling the past, but Biblically, it is to intervene in someone's life for good in the present based on something in the past.  We "remember" the Shabbat day in the present based on the Shabbat of Creation.  It is not passive, but active.  When a woman celebrates Shabbat, she adds an element of prophecy, that "remembering" the Shabbat is prophecy of a future day that will be all Shabbat.  Together, male and female, we remember, do today, and look forward to the final reward for these efforts.

The woman was created to be an "ezer kenegdo," or a "helper against him." When the husband is faithful, she is a comfort, Tent Sarah.  When he forgets the vision or vow, she is an opposing helper.  An  Ezer  is a Helper, the description of the  Ruach  HaKodesh :

But  the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will  teach  you all  that  I said to you . ( Jn 14:26)

A woman (designator) helps her husband remember.  She is a teacher  with a voice.   She is his Shabbat, so that he can "guard" and "remember" it.  Without designation, which is prophecy toward a definite future, today's opportunities are left undeveloped. For this reason, Abraham is told to "listen to Sarah's voice" concerning Hagar and Ishmael.  He should not forget the promised reward because of his love for Ishmael in the present. 

In the case of Isaac, who became blind to the promise, Rebekah steps in and designates Jacob instead of Esau.  She put's Esau's garments on Jacob in "the house," and sends him to Isaac's tent with savory food.

Who is Jacob's Tent?  There is a good case for Leah, who faithfully designates each son, calling him with a prophetic name.  What about Rachel?  

Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children,  she  became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, 'Give me children, or else I die .'  Then Jacob's anger burned against Rachel, and he said, 'Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb ?' (Ge 30:1-2)

Is this simple jealousy, or an attempt to DESIGNATE Jacob's spiritual energy, not his physical energy?   Isaac prayed in the field as he awaited Rebekah, and then he multiplied prayers again for her to conceive.  What is Jacob withholding from Rachel?  Not physical attempts.  He's missing the message, but he is acknowledging that conception can be blocked by God.  Adonai wanted faith and prayers from Abraham and Isaac when their wives were barren.  

Jacob should be praying for Rachel, not becoming angry! 

Rachel "opposes" Jacob when he does not advocate for her to conceive.  He is conceiving with Leah and the handmaidens, so he feels no pressure.  Perhaps he even likes having Rachel unencumbered with childbearing.  In ancient times, some men took a childbearing wife, and then a concubine who would take herbs to prevent conception; it was a relationship rewarding only to the husband.  

Not interceding for Rachel to conceive goes against Jacob's spiritual essence, "remember." It means meeting the other's needs and recognizing her pain in the present.  This may account for Jacob's multiple miseries in herding the flocks. It's a reward, but not rewarding until Rachel designates and names a son, Joseph.  We know that it was Rachel's prayers that were heard by Adonai, not Jacob's:

Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb. (Ge 30:22)

Rachel designates, or "calls, names," what she hopes to see.  Naming ("kara ") is a prophetic action, like designating .   A woman wants to be " remembered " by her husband, moved by her voice, and treated kindly. She wants him to intercede with Adonai when she is in pain, for she keeps his eyes on the reward in the relationship.  When he does, she is his "wealth."

Rachel designates a seed and a son's name: 

Now  it came about when Rachel had borne Joseph...

Once Rachel has designated the name and future of Joseph, then Jacob can designate and increase wealth:

"... Jacob said to Laban,  'Send  me away, that I may go to my own place and to my own country.  Give  me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for you yourself know my service which I have  rendered  you .' 

But Laban said to him, 'If now it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined that the LORD has blessed me on your account...Name  me your wages (nakav) , and I will give it.' 

So  the man  [Jacob] became  exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male servants and camels and donkeys . (Ge 30:35-43)

When he left The Land  of Abraham and Isaac, Jacob made a designation of the reward he expected in his relationship with Adonai.  He vowed to pay a tithe of all his increase upon his return.  Now that Jacob is experiencing trouble from Laban, he summons his wives and consults them about the return and tells them what he's seen in a dream:

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar,  where you 
made a vow to Me ; now  arise ( kum- a resurrection hint ) , leave 
this  land, and return to  the land  of your birth .'"

Rachel and Leah said to him, 'Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father's house?    Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also  entirely  consumed  our  purchase price.    Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you .'  

Rachel and Leah point out that Laban didn't even give them a bride's dowry-instead he only took wealth in exchange for them like slaves.  Jacob can now return to pay the vow-tithe at the  chag  in Israel.  This is their voice, their teaching.

In Laban's rummaging through the tents,  Rashi  comments on the order of his search.   Rashi  says that "Jacob's Tent" at the beginning of the search is "Rachel's Tent" at the end, for they lived in the same tent. "Similarly it says, 'the sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife,' but about all of the other wives, it does not say 'Jacob's wife.'" ( Rashi  to Ge 31:33)  

We have an important hint to Rachel being Jacob's Tent, for her designation of Joseph ( Yosef ) was that "He will add," for Yosef means "ingathering."  Leah and Rachel tell Jacob that they have become strangers in the Land of Laban, and they want to return to the Land of Jacob's birth, the Land of Abraham and Isaac where Sarah and Rebekah comfort those who have been strangers and pilgrims, looking for a better country.  (He 11:16)

Y eshua reminds his audience in Luke 16:22 that "Abraham's bosom" is where, according to tradition, the patriarchs greet the one who crosses the Burning River of Eden in the Lower Garden.  In Tent Sarah the pilgrims are finally home, and they recline in peace, eat, and enjoy the Light of eternal Shabbat and the Presence of the Shekhinah over them.  This was Jacob's request at Beth-El.

Unfortunately, those who are not gathered to Abraham's bosom cannot cross over.  There is a great gulf fixed between them, a spiritual barrier:

In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'  But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.  And  besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and  that  none may cross over from there to us.' (Lk 16:23-26)

Rachel's children are thematically connected to Esther by tribe and bereavement. In Scripture, a parent "miscarries" (shakal ) not only during pregnancy, but when a child precedes him in death ( Rashi  to Ex 23:26).
After Jacob is sold into Egypt, Jacob thinks he is "bereaved" of Joseph, and he finally agrees to be "bereaved" of Benjamin.  

Jacob's return with his wives and "reward" of offspring, is to  the place of the vow  at Beth-El, where he anointed ( mashach) , the altar stone at a gateway to Heaven.

"The place" (HaMakom) of Jacob's Ladder to the House of God is mentioned several times.  HaMakom  refers to the Temple, Mount Moriah. According to tradition, the ladder stretches from  Be'er Sheva  to Beth-El.   At Beth-El, the House of God, Jacob anoints a pillar and promises to return, worship, and tithe from the increase.  He makes a VOW that will be paid at The House.

Later, Israelites paid their vows at the three pilgrimage festivals at the Temple.   A vow hints strongly to the  chagim, the three "foot festivals" of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.  The "good news" of the pilgrimage feasts is related to Jacob's feet when he leaves Beth-El:

Behold, on the mountains  the feet of him who brings good news , who  announces peace ! Celebrate  your  feasts ( chag ),  O Judah ;  pay your vows . For  never again will the wicked one pass through  you; he  is cut off completely . (Nahum 1:15)

Laban was "cut off" from Jacob "that I may not cross over to you...nor may you cross over to me..."   Sound like the rich man and Lazarus parable?

So after Jacob vows to pay a tithe if Adonai returns him to the Land in peace, he "lifted his feet," and went toward the land of the easterners..." (Ge 29:1  Artscroll  Rashi )

Why does the Hebrew text say that Jacob "lifted his feet" instead of "walked"? Rashi says,  "Once he was imparted  good tidings , that he was assured of being guarded, his heart lifted his feet and it became easy to walk."

Judah is still "keeping" the  chagim  and pays vows of return.  One day he will intercede for Benjamin's return.

Rachel and Leah said that in the land of  Lavan , they have become "strangers."  They will be at home in the Land of Jacob's father Isaac and grandfather Abraham, not their own land.  They say that God has "taken away" ( hitzil ,  Ge 31:16) or "saved" the wealth from  Laban  and given it to them and their children, so Jacob should return to Beth-El and pay the vow of the tithe.  It is good tidings of Sukkot, tithes and the livestock are the sign of strangers from other nations returning to "Abraham's bosom."

Jacob reminds  Laban  that blessing came to Laban "to my foot." (Ge 30:30)
Rashi comments, " This means because of the arrival of my foot to you, with the coming of my foot, blessing came to you.   It is the same sense as 'the entire people are at your feet' (Ex 11:8) and in 'to the people who are at my feet,' which means, 'who come with me.'"

Dizzy yet?

Esther, a Benjamite descended from Rachel, illustrated  the "Tent" of Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah.  Queen Esther was a mother of many nations...127 provinces, to be exact.  This is the same age of Sarah when she died, may her memory be for blessing.

When Mordechai informed Queen Esther of her husband's deadly vow, Mordechai reminded her that the same judgment that would fall on a husband or father who failed to annul a foolish vow would also be inflicted upon her even though she was  a woman.

In English:

Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul,  her husband  may establish it, or  her husband  may annul it. (Nu 30:14) 

If it is transliterated without the vowels, which weren't in the original Hebrew text, there is a dual meaning to the verse:

Ishah yekimehnu veh-isha yefehrehnu.

" A woman  may establish it and  a woman  may annul it."

As soon as they heard of it, the requirement for the annulment or establishment of a vow, Rachel and Leah established Jacob's dream and vow to tithe and return the speckled, spotted, streaked, and striped flocks to The Land of Abraham.  So also Esther, the descendant of Rachel's son Benjamin, annuls a vow that would destroy Sarah's descendants among the nations of the earth.  Esther's Hebrew name was Hadassah, the myrtle branch that forms part of the lulav with which Israel celebrates its foot festival of Sukkot, the Feast of the Nations.

The verb Jacob uses twice when he thinks Benjamin will be lost in Egypt is- shakolti- which literally means to lose (miscarry) a child. His phrase begins with the Hebrew word ka'asher and is followed by a doubled verb, shakolti, shakolti, each phrased in first person, past tense. The only other time in the entire Bible ka'asher appears along with a similarly conjugated doubled verb is when Esther says ka'asher avadeti, avadeti: "If I am destroyed, I am destroyed."  The king may either extend the sceptre or destroy her when she intercedes on behalf of the designated Bride Israel.

"Avadeti's" root avad, is the root of Abaddon, the Pit, Sheol, Hades, or Hell.  

There is a great gulf between Abaddon and Abraham's bosom with the courageous, comforting matriarchs of Israel.  Shall we continue, drawing all the parallels among Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, and Esther?  

Perhaps we should stop with this portion.  Pray.  Dream.  Remember. Designate.  And lift our feet to pay our vows to return to the Land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  After all, we're just strangers here now.

SAVE the DATE!

Much of this newsletter alludes to past teaching.  Feel free to scour the newsletter archives at www.thecreationgospel.com for past issues.   I hope to teach the Rivers of Eden, the Feasts, and the Lower Garden more completely at our Creation Conference with Brad Scott May 3-5, 2019.  Stay tuned for registration details.


 If you're joining us for the Passover seder and Israel tour, we need you to register SOON!  We must meet the minimum number of registrants by a certain date to retain our lodging accommodations.
THE RESURRECTION IN PLACES MOST PEOPLE NEVER LOOK!  
JOIN US IN ISRAEL FOR PASSOVER 2019: IN-DEPTH, TORAH-BASED PROPHECY OF THE RESURRECTION

Passover at Tamar Park 2018

Tour Dates:
April 14 - 25 2019

Price:
$2,495 (airfare not included)

Tour Includes:
  • Hotels
  • Breakfast
  • Dinner (except April 24)
  • National Park Passes
  • Masada Lift
  • Galilee Boat
  • Bus transfer to and from Ben Gurion Airport
  • All tips (except housekeeping)
  • All meals at Biblical Tamar Park
Not Included:
  • Lunches
  • Flight/Trip insurance
  • Airline Ticket
At Passover, our tour will focus on the Biblical teaching of resurrection. We will study the process of death, burial, post-mortem experience, and two resurrections from Genesis to Revelation. Specific sites along the journey will offer the opportunities to stand on the ground where biblical events and prophecy of the nations will take place. 

Are you coming?

To read the itinerary and register, go to 


LAMALAH CHILDREN'S CENTRE



Goverment health officials inspected LeMalah, and they commended the Centre in many areas.  They also had some recommendations like tiles for all wash rooms, ceiling finish work, paint, and a fence, which your generous donations have now covered and will be disbursed with First Quarter funds. They have planted a kei-Apple fence and believe it's just a matter of time, and that problem will be solved. You can see how much they enjoyed Sukkot!  More pictures are posted on our facebook page.  

Unfortunately, one of the milk cows died, and some of the older students will be entering high school, which incurs higher school fees.   If you'd like to contribute toward monthly support of the Children's Centre (or two other children's homes, one in India and one in Peru) or become a monthly donor, please visit our website at www.thecreationgospel.com