Footsteps and the Dust of Jacob
Our Footsteps series has considered the signs of Messiah’s coming within key verses of the Song of Songs. Our most recent text is a prophecy of the final wilderness “of the people” and the Mishkan (Tabernacle) of Israel:
- What is this coming up from the wilderness
- like columns of smoke
- perfumed with myrrh and frankincense
- with all the scented powders of the merchant? (So 3:6)
Israel emerges from the wilderness of the peoples in Clouds of Glory. When we look for evidence of how Yeshua is working among us to gather us, the Wilderness Mishkan is a logical place to look. Last week, we took a close look at the “two witnesses” of fire in the wilderness that amazed and terrified the surrounding nations. There was the fire of two altars that never went out, one of sacrifice and one of incense, each with its column of smoke. There was a pillar, or column, of cloud by day and one by night, the night pillar revealing fire in the darkness. And according to the sages, the two tablets in the Ark of the Covenant produced two tongues of fire that cleared the area of the encampment of serpents and scorpions when the cloud and Ark stopped. Sound familiar? Hint: Acts Two.
This description of the “two witnesses” sounds very much like the Midrash’s description of how the Mishkan settled down:
- “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.” (Re 11:5)
The Midrash Rabbah to Shir 3:5 describes why the nations marveled at the Israelite camp in the wilderness:
- “When Israel was roaming from encampment to encampment in the Wilderness, the Pillar of Cloud would sink in the evening and then the Pillar of Fire would spring up, and the smoke of the burning pyre atop the Outer Altar would rise straight up, unaffected by the wind, and two darts of fire would issue from between the two staves of the Ark and incinerate the snakes, fiery serpents, and scorpions before the Israelites. [commentary to Ex 40:38]
John writes about how the angels of the four winds held them back until the righteous were sealed. If the righteous are somehow in the Clouds of Glory, even in a preliminary gathering among the nations, their smoke of sacrifice and prayer would go straight up as in the Wilderness, unaffected by the four winds:
- “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind would blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree.” (Re 7:1)
The stillness of winds upon the earth reflects what happened within the protection of Sukkot of Glory in the wilderness. The smoke of the altar fire went straight up, unaffected by the winds. The job of the four winds can be to gather, to scatter, vitalize, or simply hold still/stasis. ”Holding back” may be complemented by another angel’s mission of gathering. Typically, angels do one thing at a time, requiring multiple ministers to address multiple steps in a mission.
Scattering: Je 49:36; Zech 2:6
Gathering: Mt 24:1; Mk 13:27
Resurrecting or energizing to move: Ezek 37:9; Da 7:2
Stasis: Da 8:8; Re 7:1
Revelation 7:1 above illustrates a) a strong, earth-based wind that strengthens the beast; b) a sea-generated wind that is strong, yet weakens over land; c) a “tree,” a metaphor of human beings, sometimes of rulers.
The Midrash continues:
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“When the nations witnessed this [the fire], they assumed the Israelites had resumed the lofty station they’d held at Mt. Sinai when they said, ’We will do and we will hear’ upon hearing the Revelation [Ten Words]. The nations thought they’d been transformed into ministering angels, whose service of God is with fire (seraphim, elohim).”
This terrifying misunderstanding of the Israelites as angels is said to be reflected in:
- “I said, ‘You are gods [אֱלֹהִים], and all of you are sons of the Most High.’” (Ps 82:6)
Misunderstanding all the fire in the encampment, perhaps even the gushing of water from the Rock when it stopped, making the reflection of sun or the pillar of fire appear to flow around the boundaries of the twelve tribes, the nations believed the Israelites had been transformed into some kind of celestial beings, like angels. It is from Psalm 82:6, which is thought to allude to the fiery service of the Clouds of Glory, that we see how Israel is referred to as “Sons of Elohim” as well as elohim, meaning ministers, judges, appointed officials.
When the Judeans challenged Yeshua at Chanukkah in the Temple, they accused him of blasphemy. Using Psalm 82:6 and its context, Yeshua takes them to school on Scriptural interpretation. He applies what they already understand about the Psalm, that it is the setting of the fire service of Israel in the Wilderness. Using that understanding and how it is believed to connect with our verse from Song of Songs, linking with the “scented powders/dust” of the merchant, Yeshua reminds them that the “dust of Jacob” (avakah) in tradition was kicked up by Jacob in his all-night wrestling match (avak) with the angel before he met Esau.
In the tradition, this “man” turns out to be Esau’s ministering angel. Esau represents the Red Beast, over whom Jacob must prevail so that his descendants may also prevail. Particularly, the sages say that it was this dust of battle that merited Jacob the right to bless his twelve sons with the blessings they would contribute toward the House of Israel. It was this dust that would identify the twelve tribes of Israel and set them apart as ministers of fire; not angels, but obedient human beings transformed into servants of the Most High when they said, “We will do, and we will hear” accompanied by thunder and fire at Mt. Sinai.
- “Jesus answered them, ‘Has it not been written in your Law: “‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’?” (Jn 10:34)
Let’s give context to Yeshua’s citation of Psalm 82:6.
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At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area, in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then surrounded Him and began saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
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The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus replied to them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law: ‘I SAID, YOU ARE GODS’? If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be nullified), are you saying of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” (Jn 10:22-38)
According to 3§11, the commandment to build the Tabernacle was given to Israel by Moses on 11 Tishrei (7th Month), the day after he descended Mt. Sinai with the second set of tablets (Yom HaKippurim). This was necessary because of the deception of the Golden Calf that appeared to come to life. Although not inaugurated until the first of Nissan, the Mishkan was finished on 25 Kislev, when the Feast of Dedication falls, giving context to Yeshua’s answer. He was there to fight a battle against Edom like Jacob, and as a result, he’d be able to gather the lost sheep of the tribes of Israel and their companions. Yeshua would bring the twelve tribes together so that the Presence could dwell among them, the job of the Mishkan in the Clouds (aka, Sukkot) of Glory.
Yeshua alludes to sheep, stating that if they follow him, then he gives him eternal life. Tradition says that until the sin of the Golden Calf, the power of the death angel was broken over Israel, and they wore two crowns: one for “we will do” and one for “we will hear.” Yeshua is this Voice, One with the Father. The Judeans want to stone Yeshua for blasphemy. Yeshua gives them a context for his claim: Psalm 82:6, “You are gods [elohim], and all of you are sons of the Most High.”
The Jewish context of Psalm 82:6 is the awe that fell upon the nations upon seeing what occurred at Sinai and whenever the pillars of fire and cloud settled and when the two fiery darts destroyed serpents and scorpions. They mistook the Israelites for angelic beings instead of “resurrected” human beings. Adonai calls them “gods,” which is a very poor English translation from context. In context, it is judges, appointed rulers, not literally Elohim Himself. Although Yeshua is One with the Father, they couldn't convict him of blasphemy on their proof text, or they'd have to convict themselves!
The internal text clarifies, “Sons” of Elohim, at oneness with His will and Word, therefore with the appearance of fire just like the seraphim and other fiery ministers of Heaven. They are judges in the sense that the twelve tribes will judge from the gates of Jerusalem when they go up from the final wilderness.
Here is a general review of angelic principles:
- Angels are malakim, or messengers dispatched with a specific mission, such as a deputy serving a warrant. מַלְאָךְ
- Angels are created beings, some appointed to nations, domains, population centers, individual human beings, and in Daniel we see an example of where “mission” may meet resistance from an angel over a principality. In our perception, this takes more “time.”
In the dispute with the Judeans at Chanukkah, Yeshua points out the need to know that Elohim has more than one meaning:
אֱלֹהִים ʼ; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used of the supreme God; occasionally applied to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:—angels, × exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), × (very) great, judges, × mighty.
As an example, a particular angel manages power over the altar fire:
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“Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar...” (Re 14:18)
An altar fire can represent judgment. The name Elohim, and the office of elohim both represent the quality of strict judgment and Judge. This Name is used at Creation to define the strict boundaries needed to preserve life. These fiery ministers, sons of Elohim, and elohim (judges, appointed ones) themselves, are explained further in the Midrash Rabbah:
- 3§5 “Who are these people,” ask the nations of the world, ‘that all their actions are with fire? How is it that they rise with fire and descend with fire?” The Holy One answers, “These are whom on to rely, for they are perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with every powder of the peddler-that is, they are descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
What the Midrash is explaining is how Israel emerges from the wilderness of the peoples to go through the gates of Jerusalem. They arise with columns of smoke:
- Pillar of fire, pillar of cloud,
- incense offerings, outer altar smoke.
- Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense: The spices of the altar sacrifices
- With the scented powders (avakah H81) of the merchant: The variety of “dust” resulting from Jacob’s wrestling at the crossing of the Jabbok River returning his son to their inheritance after his exile with Lavan. (from H79/80 avak, the Jacob’s wrestling match “Esau’s angel” who had to depart at daybreak in Ge 32:24-25). Each of the twelve tribes represents a different “spice,” or gift, blessing. The Proverbs 31 woman is also a merchant, not like the merchants of Babylon, indulging the lust of the soul, but bringing her “food from afar,” which alludes to the tribes of Israel returning from the nations, scented powders of the merchant, fragrant with obedience and spiritual strength.
The all-night wrestling match prior to Jacob’s face-to-face meeting with Esau holds a key. Night represents exile, and daybreak represents the ending of it. The angel was required to depart at daybreak, the end of Israel’s exile. Although it is hard to prove definitively from the text, let’s say that it is true that the angel was Esau’s ministering angel, and therefore it explains why Yeshua, when questioned as to whether he was the Messiah at Chanukkah, started talking about sheep knowing his voice.
Tradition says that the wrestling match with Jacob and Esau’s angel began with sheep! This is strange, but it explains Yeshua’s sheep speech as a clarification of Kislev 25, the completion of the Mishkan to house the Divine Presence in the *Sukkot of Glory, not just an allusion to the celebration of Chanukkah as a “Sukkot sheni,” or makeup Sukkot, after it was missed due to the Greek Abomination that Causes Desolation.
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The angel appeared to Jacob that night at the Jabbok stream as a shepherd and robber chief. “This one (Jacob) had sheep and that one (the angel) had sheep. The angel said to Jacob, ‘Bring across the Jabbok stream what is mine, and I will bring across what is yours. The angel brought across Jacob’s flock in the blink of an eye...” 3§6
If a robber, then it explains why Yeshua says no one can snatch his sheep out of his hand! The “blink of an eye” reference in the Midrash points to Yeshua’s ”eternal life” statement. We will be resurrected to eternal life in the blink of an eye. Yeshua is the holy flame that protects the Father’s sheep so they may re-enter the Garden of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s inheritance.
The Midrash goes on to tell how Jacob kept going back across the stream, and there would be more sheep...all night long! The night is the exile. Finally, Jacob realized it was sorcery, an illusion that there were more sheep each time, and he said, “Sorcery! Sorcery! You are a sorcerer, for sorcerers are successful at night!” 3§6
Jacob realizes that his own sheep would have followed him in the night of exile, not another. Jacob’s sheep would have followed him because they knew his voice. He was their shepherd. These other sheep were “Esau’s.” They belonged to The Red One because they didn't follow him. It was just a trick, a lying wonder.
Once the illusion was discovered, the angel knew the day was breaking, and he revealed himself to Jacob. Jacob had brought over the tribes of Israel to their inheritance. Abraham was promised his children would be as numerous as the stars of the sky and the dust as the dust of the earth in Genesis 13:16. To Abraham, the dust was afar, like rubbish and ashes. But when refined by Isaac and then Jacob, the House of Israel was birthed as the avakah, refined, fragrant, powder-dust of the merchant coming up from the wilderness.
This explanation of the dust of Jacob helps us to understand many important points:
1. Context is everything. Make sure when we quote a Scripture or believe we know a Scripture someone is quoting, that we understand its full context.
2. Know the culture surrounding the Biblical text. What would the immediate listeners have understood?
3. Familiarize ourselves with how to use a concordance to make sense of the original language.
4. Know the moedim and look for contexts from the TANAKH, especially when they are specifically mentioned.
*Remember, tradition says the Clouds/Sukkot of Glory were taken from the Heavenly Throne
Shabbat Shalom!
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