Joy in the Messiah

‎וַיֵּצֵא‎
VaYetze / And He Went Out
Genesis 28:10-32:2
HafTorah Portion Hosea 12:13-14:9
Brit Chadasha John 1:43-51  

          The man Jacob was and what he became was a changing point in his life. Jacob’s name, Ya’akov. meaning “supplanter” or “deceiver,” definitely reflects his early life. Yet, God changes his name to Israel in the Torah portion, Genesis 32:28. This change was not just a name change; it was a divine appointment of Jacob’s future and the future of the nation of Israel. He was to be transformed from a deceiver to one with deep spiritual faith, but not without trials.
    The first time we hear a description of him he is called ish tam: a simple, quiet, plain, straightforward man. But that is exactly what he seems not to be. Through barter, he acquires Esau’s birthright in exchange for a bowl of soup, and then maneuvers to take the blessing, in disguise, taking advantage of their father’s blindness. Through this parsha, we witness more deceit and cunningness by Jacob, so he seems anything but an ish tam, a straightforward man, as we watch Jacob deceive first his father, then his brother, then his father-in-law. 
     Later, after his wrestling match with the Heavenly Messenger, he receives a new name – that is, a new identity – as Israel, “…because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” As Israel Jacob learns to be unafraid to contend with people face-to-face. He no longer needs to deceive. 
    In this parsha, the story of Jacob begins with the vision at Bethel. Heavenly messengers of God moved up and down the ladder in the dream, symbolizing a bridge between earth and heaven.  In Genesis 28:13-17 God affirms the covenant and His promises that He made with Abraham, promising to bring Ya’akov back to the land. 
     When Jacob awoke from the dream, he stated in Genesis 28:17 ‘Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And 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!”
     However, the word vayifga which means not only, “he came to, encountered, happened upon” but also “he prayed, entreated, pleaded” as in Jeremiah 7:16, “Neither lift up cry nor prayer for them nor make intercession to Me [ve-al tifga bi].” The Sages also understood the word bamakom, “the place” to mean “God” (the “place” of the universe). 
      In Genesis 28:17 Jacob actual says, “and I did not know it.” In the Hebrew, the word is yadati which means “I knew,” and lo yadati, “I did not know.” When Jacob wakes from his sleep, however, he says, “Surely the Lord is in this place ve’anokhi lo yadati.” Anokhi means “I,” which in this sentence is redundant. To translate it literally we would have to say, “And I, I knew it not.” Why the double “I”?  The sages teach that we know that God is in this place by ve’anokhi lo yadati – ‘not knowing the I’. We know God when we forget ‘the self’ for our ‘self’ can keep us from knowing God.
    In Genesis 29 Jacob meets Rachel, yet is tricked into marrying Leah. From Leah, the tribes of Rueben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulan, and eventually a daughter Dinah, would be born. After 14 years of labor for Laban, he was given Rachel. 
     In Genesis 30, Rachel’s jealousy is spiked towards Leah and her sons. Rachel complains to Jacob wailing that she would die! Jacob responds with anger, telling her ‘Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?’  Her response is to give him Bilhah, her maid servant of which Dan and Naphtali would be born. This inspired Leah to give her maid servant to Jacob, resulting in the births of Gad and Asher. 
   ‘God remembers’ Rachel and she gave birth to a son, Joseph.  Genesis 30 ends with Jacob stealthily increasing his herd of goats; Genesis 30:42-43 ‘…but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So, the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. ⁴³ In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
    In Genesis 31, Jacob flees Laban, but not without consequence. Rachel steals her father’s idol, and Scripture states that Jacob once again deceived; Genesis 31:20-21- ‘When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods. ²⁰ Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. ²¹ So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.’
     This Torah portion ends in Genesis 32:1-2, with Jacob preparing to meet Esau.  The angels of God met him and when Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.’
    Jacob was a multi-faceted man. He was a deceiver, a supplanter, a man of trickery, a man of faith, a man of vision, a hard worker, a man of vows, of conviction, and a man of perseverance.  
     There are two important connections within this parsha to the Messiah. According to Maimonides the purpose of the ladder is to explain the relationship between two realities, between existence on earth and existence in the "world of heavenly spheres," both of which are set in motion by God. This interpretation connects the Messiah as the ladder as it says in John 14:6-7 ‘Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
      In John 1:51 Yeshua states: “Truly, truly I say to you, here after you shall see heaven open, and the angels of Elohim ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” 
    The Torah, is the bridge from earth to heaven. Since Yeshua is the Living Word, the Living Torah He is the ladder, He is that bridge.  
     Regarding the rock that Jacob anointed with oil, Genesis 28:11, Genesis 28:18 we can connect the Messiah to it, too. The usual focus of Vayetze seems to be upon the ladder that Jacob saw but Jacob set up the stone as a memorial pillar and he called it the house of God (EL). 
     Rocks were used as reminders in that time period. Jacob and Laban set up stones for remembrance of the covenant in Genesis 31:44-47. 
      In Genesis 49:24 we find Jacob blessing his son Joseph,  ‘But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel)…’
     Israel's is Jacob’s Rock! The Rock of Jacob became The Rock of all of his descendants. This Rock was the Shepherd of Israel. This clearly relates back to Jacob’s memorial stone where he met God.  This Rock became the chief cornerstone: “Therefore this is what the LORD God says: 'Look! I am laying a foundation stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation: Whoever believes firmly will not act hastily” Isaiah 28:16.  
     Now, Yeshua is The Rock, the Shepherd of Israel. He is: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”  Psalm 118:22. 

•  The Corner Stone - Ephesians 2:20    
•  The Chief Corner Stone - Matthew 21:42, 1 Peter 2:7 and Acts 4:11 
•  He is the Stone of Stumbling - Isaiah 8:14  
•  The Foundation Stone - Isaiah 8:16
•  The Rock in the Wilderness - 1 Corinthians 10:4    
•  He is the Rock of Salvation - Psalm 62:2    
• The Rock of Refuge - Psalm 62:7
• The Rock Fortress - Psalm 18:2   
• The Rock of Deliverance – 2 Samuel 22:2   
       

VaYetze / And He Went Out
Genesis 28:10-32:2
HafTorah Portion Hosea 12:13-14:9
Brit Chadasha John 1:43-51

   Humility and Strength;

      This Torah portion opens with Isaac blessing Jacob, Esau taking another wife and Jacob's vow at Bethel. In Genesis 29 Jacob is tricked into marrying Leah and eventually after serving seven more years, is given Rachel as a wife. In chapter 30 the children of Jacob are listed and he agrees with Laban. However, Jacob formulated a system where he would gain the best of the herd, and in chapter 31 he flees from Laban. VaYetze ends with Rachel making a great mistake, stealing her father's idols.
      Throughout VaYetze we see humility and the lack of humility. The art of humility is the beginning of one’s strength.   VaYetze begins with the famous stairway and dream in Genesis 28:10-17.  In verse 16, after Jacob awakes, we see strength through humility, ‘…I was not aware…’ We might not have recognized the immensity of it, however:
      It is taught that Hebrew verbs carry, in their declensions, an indication of their subject. Thus, the word yadati means "I knew," and lo yadati, "I did not know." When Jacob wakes from his sleep, however, he says, "Surely the Lord is in this place ve'anokhi lo yadati." Anokhi means "I," which in this sentence is superfluous. To translate it literally we would have to say, "And I, I knew it not." Why the double "I"?To this, Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz (Panim Yafot) gave a magnificent answer. How, he asks, do we come to know that "God is in this place"? "By ve'anokhi lo yadati - not knowing the I." We know God when we forget the self. We sense the "Thou" of the Divine Presence when we move beyond the "I" of egocentricity. Only when we stop thinking about ourselves do we become truly open to the world and the Creator.” 
     What does it mean to be strong through humility?  Jacob could have declared that ‘he knew God was in this place.’ Instead, he reveals that ‘he knew it not.’ 
     The most common use of words in the Hebrew text for humility is anah, anvah, aniy, and anavah. Humility in Hebrew is עֲנָוָה   anavah.   Aniy usually denotes a condition of circumstance. Those who are 'aniy are suffering or afflicted and as a result find themselves in a lowly condition, whether physically, materially, or socially.
     Besides the obvious physical strength, what is strength from within? Is it an individual concept or because of Adonai?  The Hebrew verb chazak,  חָזַק usually translates as ‘to be or grow firm or strong, strengthen’. Koch כוח which means power, force, or might. 
   The strength in humility continues in what the dream and ladder might represent. There are many opinions and theories, but looking closely, we see a connection between heaven and earth.  Throughout Scripture, there are many examples of heaven and earth being the two witnesses.  In Deuteronomy 32:1 Scriptures specifically speak of heaven and earth as a witness: ‘Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.’ And in Deuteronomy 30:19, heaven and earth is there to witness our choice. 
     What connects our fleshly earth to that of the heavenly realm? The Torah – therefore the ladder would represent Torah. The ladder alludes to Sinai since the words Sinai and sulam both have a numerical of 130; the angels might represent Moses and Aaron; and God stood atop the ladder just as He stood atop Sinai to give the Torah. Accordingly, the Torah, given at Sinai and taught by Moshe and Yeshua, is the bridge from earth to heaven. Since Yeshua is the Living Word, the Living Torah, He is the ladder, He is that bridge.  According to the sages, the ladder's purpose is to explain the relationship between two realities, between existence on earth and existence in the "world of heavenly spheres," both of which are set in motion by God. This interpretation connects the Messiah to the ladder as He verifies this in John 1:51: “Truly, truly I say to you, here after you shall see heaven open, and the angels of Elohim ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” And John 14:6-7.  Yeshua ‘said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.  “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”    
      Humility gives us strength and allows us to see the bigger picture. A lack of humility keeps us locked in the earthly or fleshly realm. We miss the heavenly sphere and the connection between the two. Humble individuals are often open to learning from others, willing to admit when they are wrong and tend to put the needs and feelings of others above their own. Arrogance is characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance, a lack of willingness to listen to others, and a tendency to view oneself as superior to others. The paradoxical relationship between humility and arrogance emerges when we see underlying motivations and expressions of these traits. In some cases, what may appear as humility can be a manifestation of hidden arrogance.
     A lack of humility hardens the already proud and hardened heart and opens the gate to other manifestations. Pride, self-righteousness, shifting blame, defiance disobedience, scoffing, contention, vanity, greed, envy, jealousy, and covetousness. 
   There are many examples in Scripture of those that lacked humility, Lucifer being the first, Isaiah 14:12-16. 
    The blessings of humility are shown through Daniel, Moshe Solomon, the Centurion, and the prodigal son. 
     Proverbs 15:33 ‘The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honor is humility.’