ANGELS DANCED, AND
THE HOUSE OF JOSEPH WENT IN
Vayeitze "And went out"
Genesis 28:10-32:3
Hosea 12:13-14:10
Psalm 3
 1 Co 15:42-53

After many years of reading the Torah portions, it's easier to see prophetic language embedded among the "stories."  For instance, when Jacob "sleeps," the reader should tune his or her channel to "death," and when he "awoke from his sleep," the channel should change to resurrection. Vayeitze is an especially mystical portion.  Vayeitze means "when he went out" of the Promised Land.  Jacob went into exile.  His encounter with a Heavenly gate has a strange connection to his descendants, the House of Judah and the House of Joseph.  It is the prophecy of exile and return, not simply to the earthly Land of Israel, but to the spiritual realm of the Garden of Eden just above it.

T he word  makom  ["place"] is scattered multiple times in Yaakov's (Jacob's) encounter at Beit-El, just as it is in the account of the binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah.  "HaMakom" even occurs 3x in one sentence, a resurrection marker:  

He came  to  a  certain  place  and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the  place  and put it  under 
his head, and lay down in  that place .

Something a reader might miss is that there was an encounter even BEFORE Yaakov dreamed his dream and realized where he was.  Here is the Hebrew:

וַיִּפְגַּע בַּמָּקֹום  וַיָּלֶן שָׁם  כִּי־בָא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ  וַיִּקַּח מֵ אַבְנֵי  הַמָּקֹום  וַיָּשֶׂם  מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָיו וַיִּשְׁכַּב  בַּמָּקֹום הַהֽוּא ׃

Although the English translation says Yaakov "came" to the place, the Hebrew text reads much more specifically, yifgah, which means to encounter something, sometimes to touch the border of something or to meet with something.  Yifgah is super-specific, not the generic "came to."  Yaakov encountered or touched the border of s omething even  before  the dream that awakened him to the significance of the place.  This is often the case when you go to Israel.  You realize what happened in hindsight.

Then  Jacob awoke from his sleep  and said, "Surely the LORD is in  this place , and I did not know it."  He  was afraid and said, "How awesome is  this place !  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven ."  So  Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put  under  his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top.  He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz .  Then  Jacob made a vow , saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I  take , and will give me  food  to eat and garments to wear , and I return to my father's house in  safety , then the LORD will be my God.  This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house , and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You ." (Ge 28:10-22)

The clue to the encounter is in the text.  Yaakov has encountered ha-makom, The Place, which specifically is the Temple Mount, the place of the House of El (God).  The problem is that physically, Beit El is approximately eighteen miles from Jerusalem.  How those two locations may have merged is something of a textual mystery, but maybe not.  In Scripture, it is not unusual for people to be "folded" into a different place or encounter it, such as Phillip to the Ethiopian's chariot or Yeshua from the middle of the Galilee to shore in an instant.  Is it time travel or place travel?  We'd probably need to see Yaakov's ladder to know for certain.

Yaakov's mission in exile was marriage.  The promise in the dream was of "descendants," which was an affirmation of Yaakov's journey.  He was to find a godly wife and father godly children.   In order for him to do this, he encounters the Ha- makom , "a gateway to heaven that spans the  void between the physical terrain beneath his feet and the heavenly world, the spiritual and transcendent spheres beyond this world.  Yaakov's vision is almost unfathomable, for he describes spiritual structures that transcend the physical, yet have a physical manifestation." - (R. Ari Kahn, p. 181-182)

To decipher the security code to the gateway, let's return to the First Mention  of  makom :

Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so . (Ge 1:9)
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יִקָּווּ הַמַּיִם מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמַיִם  אֶל־ מָקֹום  אֶחָד וְתֵרָאֶה הַיַּבָּשָׁה  וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן

The  makom 's  first mention is in relation to the gathering of the waters "under the  shamayim ."   Yeek-veh-u, or gathered, ha s the same root as  mikveh , a ritual immersion for purity after an experience with the realm of death and preparatory to entering the inner precincts of the "House." Mikveh ("baptism to Christians) is also "hope," and it makes sense why Yeshua wanted to immerse repentant  people in a mikveh: he was their hope of being gathered into The Place, the House of El.  He was their hope of producing fruits worthy of that repentance.

The  gathering  of water is the  mikveh , the  place  of the gathering is  makom . 

The dry land emerges from the gathering of the place.  Water is a symbol of spirit, so man emerges from the dust of the ground (Ge 2:7), a "hybrid" of the spiritual and physical worlds.   Very specific dust of the earth is used, earth that emerged from  makom , the place.  If we connect the dust of "the place" to Moriah and Beit-El, the House of El, then man ( adam ) was formed from the  adamah  (earth) of the House of God.  He was to bear the image of both the earthy and the heavenly, physical and spiritual in a formed balance of precision.  

Targum Pseudo-Yonatan  states that "the dust was gathered from the place where the Beit  HaMikdash  would stand." ( Targum Yonatan to   Bereishit  2:7)

Okay, that's shouting material if it's really sunk in.  It explains why your heart longs to go to Israel, specifically, Jerusalem.  You are not just a spiritual child of Jerusalem; your very physical body is derived from its earth!  It is true, there's no makom like home...the House of Elohim. 

When you are resurrected in the Mikveh Yisrael, Yaakov's anointed "rock," your spirit AND your body want to turn homeward.  The anointing of the oil on the pillar-rock is alluding to mashiach, or messiah, to be smeared or anointed with oil. Yaakov's head rested on that rock while he "slept," figurative of death, but through that rock he will "arise early in the morning."

When we return to Jerusalem, we return home in a very basic, elemental sense. The very stones of the Temple Mount are of one piece with our bodies.  We are part and parcel  of the holy Altar , and that holiest of places is intertwined with our very essence...exile is, above all a disconnection from the source of our spiritual identity. (Kahn, 2011, pp. 185-186)

Yaakov anoints the stone and sets it up as a pillar to mark the  makom .  He then departs to find his holy bride in the exile. He must produce godly descendants through a holy marriage.  The word  makom  is related etymologically to  mekayeim , something that sustains and provides existence. Perhaps this is why Avraham says to Sarah in Egypt (exile), "that I may live because of you."

Yaakov didn't depart for Charan immediately after his father's blessing.  There are fourteen years missing in his life story, and Jewish tradition says Yaakov served in the House of Eber, the descendant of Shem who passed on godly knowledge according to the priestly order of Malkhi-tzedek.  The number fourteen is the generations of Messiah, and Eber is from avar, the root of "Hebrew," one who has crossed or passed over.

One who commits manslaughter must flee to a refuge city, a type of exile within the Land. His exile from his "place" ends with the death of the Cohen  HaGadol .  This suggests that symbolically, in  Yeshua's  passing into the heavens, those who believe in him are released from exile should they choose to return:

Therefore , since we have a great high priest who has  passed (Hebrew cognate:  avar )  through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession . (He 4:14)

Although human beings are disconnected from their natural and spiritual makom in the third heaven of the Garden of Eden,  Yeshua  has worked and continues working so that we, too, may be Hebrews and to  avar  i nto the heavens. 

Yaakov is on his way into exile.  He will need this perception of ha-makom as God's House preparing for a holy bride in order to maintain his resolve to return. It also helps Yaakov to focus on his job in exile: maintain his faith and marry a righteous bride.  In his encounter,  Yaakov is reminded of the special dust from which he was formed, and his very physical being is part of that House of God:

Or  do you not know that your body is a  temple  of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from  God , and that you are not your own ? (1 Co 6:19)

Adonai assures Yaakov that He will be with him both in exile and in his return to his place, his physical and spiritual source, the dust and water of the House of God.   "Our lives are bound up with the Altar in Jerusalem, with the dust of the earth of the Temple Mount.  Every death, then is a destruction of the Altar and the Temple." (Kahn, p. 191)

This lends credence to John's reference in Revelation to the souls under the altar crying out.  They are told to rest for a little while and given robes.  So, too, Yaakov's vow involves invoking both bread and "garments to wear" in his exile.  Two curses of exile from Eden were lack of clothing and difficulty producing bread. Yaakov also requests "return to my father's house."  A return to the Garden.  The Promised Land.  My Father's House.  HaMakom. To ascend and descend to guard and keep the spiritual and physical realms of earth according to Adam's original created nature.

At Luz, Yaakov renames the "House of God" Beit-El.  The mission of Yaakov's "going out" is to find a wife, to make a holy marriage, not a Hittite marriage like Esau. "He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz [almond tree]." (Ge 28:19)

The original city-name of Luz is a clue.  There was some way in which Luz touched the border or "met or reached" Ha-Makom, the Place of Moriah, the later Temple Mount. When the tribes began conquering the Land of Israel and settling their tribal territory,   Judah  conquered Jerusalem with the "edge of the sword and set the city afire." ( Ju  1:8)  Later, there is a change interruption to the Judges One narrative, which is describing activities of specific tribes.  One would expect to read "Ephraim" or "Menashe," but instead, at the conquest of Beit-El, the writer inserts "House of Joseph":

Likewise  the house of Joseph went up against Bethel, and the LORD was with them.  The H ouse of Joseph spied out Bethel (now the name of the city was formerly Luz).  The  spies  saw a man coming out of the city  and they said to him, "Please  show us the entrance to the city  and we will treat you kindly."  So  he showed them the entrance to the city, and they struck the city  with the edge of the sword , but they let the man and all his family go free.  The  man went into the land of the Hittites and built a city and named it Luz,  which  is its name to this day ." ( Ju  1:22-26)   

There a few more anomalies.  If you see a man coming OUT of a city, why would you ask him to show you the entrance?  It's either non-sensical or prophetic, such as the men of Sodom not being able to find the door to Lot's house after the angels pulled him inside.  No matter how blind you are, you can find the doorway to a house in about five minutes...unless its supernatural.  Something has folded, place or time.  The unnamed man of Luz and his family move north to the springs that feed into the Galilee.  They build another city named Luz, which is still there (see Louaize on the border of Lebanon and Israel).

  וַיַּעֲלו ּ  בֵית־יֹוסֵף  גַּם־הֵם בֵּֽית־אֵל וַֽיהוָה עִמָּֽם ׃

" Likewise,  the House of Joseph went up against  Bethel..."

It means that Joseph succeeded also in conquering a  separate  area known as Beit-El, just as Judah conquered Jerusalem.  But the grammar suggests more. The House of Joseph ALSO went up to Beit-El.  As Judah went up, so did the House of Joseph.  The use of the word ya-alu symbolizes resurrection, like an olah offering, it means to go up into the heavens.

So there are two possibilities.  The House of Joseph conquered a separate area about eighteen miles north of Jerusalem after Judah conquered Jerusalem. But what if the "man" they encountered coming out of an entrance they could see in the physical realm represents a "meeting" of Jerusalem and Beit-El, like Yaakov's, when the text makes sure we know the original name of the city was Luz?

This language teases with resurrection like Yaakov's encounter with the entrance to Heaven .  Perhaps the wording is folding together two separate locations into one, just as rabbinic commentary speculates.  They say that Moriah was folded into Beit-El so that Jacob could pray at the chosen place of his father's sacrifice.  Space-bending, or in this case, "place"-bending, to encourage the House of Joseph.

It may be a prophecy concerning the ability of the "House of Joseph" to do as Judah had done, to find and gain entrance to Jerusalem, the House and "the place" of El.

Thus says the LORD, 'Yet again there will be heard in  this place , of which you say, "It is  a waste, without  man ( adam )  and without beast ," that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate,  without  man ( adam )  and without inhabitant  ( yoshev ) and  without beast,  the  voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride , the voice of those who say , " Give thanks to the LORD of  hosts, for  the LORD is  good, for  His lovingkindness is everlasting "; and  of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the LORD.  For I will restore the  fortunes  of the land as they were at first,' says the LORD . (Je 33:10-12)

Without human beings to "be fruitful and multiply" in "ha-makom" in Eden, and with the fall of the animal kingdom with them, the planted Garden was empty. Ultimately,  Yeshua's mission  was to restore the Bride to the Garden so that joy and gladness would once again be heard there, "as they were at first" at the first marriage.  Like Yaakov was ordered to do and sent into exile by his parents.

Rabbi  Nachman  says that the angels who Yaakov saw "going up and coming down" were dancing at the entrance.  Dancing is still an important part of marriage ceremonies.   They were dancing for Yaakov's journey to make a holy family in exile.  They were dancing for his plan to return and build a Holy House on earth to bring offerings.

R.  Helbo  said: "Whoever enjoys the wedding meal of a bridegroom and does not help him to rejoice transgresses against the five voices mentioned in the verse:

'The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who shall say, '"Give thanks to the Lord of Hosts.''" (Je 33)

And if one helps the Bridegroom to rejoice, i t is as if he restored one of the ruins of Jerusalem.

Marrying a holy spouse and rejoicing with the bride and bridegroom are counted as a thank-offering to the Temple in Jerusalem.  It's the angels' ladder-dance...and the latter-day dance.

Yaakov connects to his son Joseph with "Luz" when it is time to bless the House of Joseph, Ephraim and Menashe, in Genesis 48:3-8: 

Then Jacob said to Joseph, 'God Almighty  appeared to me at Luz  in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and He said to me, "'Behold, I will make you fruitful and  numerous...'"  

Isaac's blessing on Yaakov...God Almighty's blessing on Yaakov...Yaakov's blessing on the House of Joseph...all connected to help the House of Joseph also find their way from exile to the entrance to Jerusalem, and this time, to dwell there.  The "man" who built the new Luz built on the spring that starts the water-flow into the Galilee.  From there, the water flows into the Yarden (Jordan), and then into the Dead Sea.  Luz is an almond tree, the representation of the menorah, adorned with almond blossoms.  

It is not coincidence that Yeshua was mikveh'd at the area where the Yarden, which means "descending" merges into the Dead Sea.  From a "dead" collection of waters, Yeshua ascended to proclaim he was the River of Life that came down, and he will return again from Heaven to descend for his Bride.  Israel will at the same time ascend at the resurrection from the Dead Sea.  All Israel will find the entrance to Jerusalem above and be restored to their Garden...and the angels will dance.

Spotlight on Israel
Interested in celebrating Passover 2020 in Israel?

If Sukkot is over, then it's time to plan Passover.  Join us in Israel for a Passover seder.  To read about the adventure, click  Passover in Israel.

You can't beat the price for room and board!   Relax, hike, volunteer, explore the archaeological ruins, study, count the stars, or day tour, and choose the number of days you spend at Tamar. 
 
If you're interested in a FULL-SERVICE tour, then please consider going at Sukkot 2020. We hope to have registration and information available soon.

'TIS THE SEASON


'Tis the season for lots of questions about why you do what you do or why you don't do what you don't do.  If you want a great resource for the BIBLICAL foundation of Hanukkah and how it fits into end-time prophecy, specifically the lost sheep of Israel, click  The Seven Shepherds: Hanukkah in Prophecy for the paperback or  Kindle Copy.

As always, we need good reviews on our books.  This helps other readers who are  actively searching for information on a B iblical topic.  This means they are open to a new idea.  You never know how  one review will influence a person to select a book and hear the Word in a different way than ever before. Better yet, give a gift set of BEKY Books to your congregation or your curious friends.  They are affordable!

Even if you didn't purchase the book through Amazon, you can still leave a product review.  Just go to the book's product page and scroll down to "Review this Product."  Even one good line of review is appreciated.

LaMalah Children's Centre
Because of your support, who knows what she can do?  

We will disburse the First Quarter 2020 support funds to the Kenya LaMalah Children's Centre around the 16th of December.  We appreciate your donations at any time, but especially in the "slow" months of winter.  Thanks to your generosity, the congregations of Kenya and the children of LaMalah were able to enjoy Sukkot.  

If you would like to donate to the Children's Centre through The Creation Gospel, click on the Donate link below.  It will say The Olive Branch Messianic Congregation on your receipt.  Our local congregation is the non-profit covering for our ministry. Checks or money orders may be sent to:

The Creation Gospel
PO Box 846
East Bernstadt, KY  40729

The story of LaMalah is found at   www.thecreationgospel.com.