Vayetze: And He Departed

7/22/2019 Vayetze: And He Departed

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Vyatze- And He Went Out' Breshiyth 28:10-32:3

Haftarah Hoshea 12:13-14:9 Brit Chadasha Yochanan (John) 1:43-51

Here we begin this weeks teaching chronicling the story of Jacob

fleeing his brother Esaus wrath at the behest of his mother Rebekah andhis father Isaac to his mothers brother, Labans house in Haran. In the

Complete Jewish Bible translation we begin in Breshiyth 28, verse 10

where we read Yaakov went out from Beer-Sheva and traveled toward

Haran.


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There the word for and he went out is our Torah portion title, or

Vayetze. In the Hebrew, the root word is yat-sah.

= Yod-Tsadi-Alef, S#H3318, meaning to go or to come out.Pictographically however, again there is so much more we can extract from

this three letter root word.

Yod= Hand Alef=First, Father, Strength, Leader

If we simply examine the first and last letters of this word we see taken

together it means the Hand of God! Tsadi= .To lay on ones side, to hunt, to follow after, to ambush

Used in light of the root word Yatsah, strung together pictographically we

see that

As Jacob goes out, theHand of the Father is at his side

There is an interesting point Brad Scott brings up about the tsadi,as it refers to hunting. Typically we see hunters almost always portrayed in

a negative light. The reference is not to portray those who hunt in a

negative way at all, but what it IS saying, is that like Ishmael, like Nimrod,

and like Esau, these men were hunters who allowed their belly, or more

accurately their physical appetites to be their god, and their lives were

consumed by the pursuit of the hunt which is to imply that they would

reject God and spend their lives searching out for everythingbut God.

And so it represents a person who spends all their time filling up withwhatever they can in this life, as opposed to being filled with The Spirit of

Promise (Eph.1:13), that is the life of Messiah in you, to live the life that The

Father has prepared for you. But once youve received the promise, and

entered into covenant with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then one


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no longer needs to hunt per se because theyve found what it was they truly

lacked. So here in the Torah portion we have YHWH using the picture of

chasing or following as how He will be with Jacob as he departs to Haran.

And to recap and give just a bit of back-story. Esau is enraged, and

full of murderous thoughts toward his brother,because as Jacobs elder

brother he feels betrayed by having been deprived the blessings and the

birthright of the firstborn. But to give proper perspective here let us

remember that it was GOD who prophesied to Rebekah while both Esau

and Yaakov were still unborn that the elder would serve the

younger; and later we observe Esau devalue his birthright, selling his

birthrightto Jacob for a meal, and then upon rising and leaving he

despises the birthright. It was onlyafter having the blessing given to

Jacob that Esau then became interested, which in many ways fulfills thetime-worn saying, you never know what you got til its gone.

Another essential point we need to cover before proceeding any further is

clarifying the principle of the seed. This is how we see GOD working in

mankind since the garden and into our day. Brad Scott does an excellent

teaching on this, for more details it would bless you to get his teaching on

The Principle of the Seed. But for today we just want to identify this pattern

before we resume our walk with Yaakov to Haran. We read again in the

Complete Jewish Bible in Breshiyth 3:15 YHWH judges,

I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your

descendant and her descendant; he will bruise your head, and you will

bruise his heel.

And so here we learn that The Father is going to operate through the

SEED of the woman, which at first glance one may thinkwait, man has

the seed, woman has the eggcorrect. But the verse is telling us that

through the woman will come GODs SEED, which according to Luke 8:31reveals

"Now the parable is this: the seed IS(emphasis mine) the word of God.

(Luke 8:11 NAS).


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The opposite side of this revelation then reveals in Genesis 3 that every

teaching that is contrary to the seed of the womanwhich is the Word of

GOD, IS of the serpent!

Notice the verse again in Genesisanimosity. It was only when I read

Genesis 3:15 in this translation that I finally understood what The Father

was trying to say!

Have you ever looked up the meaning of the word animosity?? It means A

feeling of ill-will arousing active hostility! in the King James the word

there is enmity. And it is even more direct when we examine the Hebrew

=

S#H342, Alef-Yod-Bet-Heh, eybah, ay-baw, Hostility

enmity, hatred, from

= S#H340, Alef-Yod-Bet, ayab, aw-ab; a primitive root, to hate (asone of an opposite tribe or party); hence, to be hostileenemy.

Now, when we very first look at these Hebrew letters there may be some

confusion initially as we inspect each of them. At first none of these letters

seem to indicate anything ugly, hateful or evil, which is understandableuntil you put them in context.

Alef= First, chief, strength, or father.

Yod= hand, work, throw, make

Bet= house, in, family.

We see the Alef and the first thing that comes to mind is GOD. But taken

in context of the word ayab which is to hate as one of an Oppositetribe or party, we begin to see how subtle it truly is. Cain killed his brother

Abel, Ishmael tried to kill Isaac, Esau wanted to kill Jacob, the Phariseeswanted to kill Messiah. What we find in this word is not pointing to YHWH,rather it is directing our attention to anotherthe father of lies.


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39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said tothem, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.

40 "But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth,which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.

41 "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were notborn of fornication; we have one Father, even God."

42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me; for Iproceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on Myown initiative, but He sent Me.

43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying?It isbecause you cannothear My word.

44"You are ofyourfather the devil, and you want to do the desires ofyour father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does notstand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever hespeaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and thefather of lies.(Joh 8:39-44 NAS)

I want us to take another look at fateful meeting between the serpent, and

Adam and Chava. We read.

Now the serpent was more subtilthan any beast of thefield(Gen 3:1 KJV)

If we look at the word in Hebrew there for what has been translated as

subtil it comes from Strongs #6175

= aruwm, and it means cunning.And this then triggered to my memory of the birth of a particular child who

is described in such phenomenally similar terms. In Genesis chapter

25:27


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And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of thefield;

I promise I am not attempting to go backward here but it has to be brought

to our attention here, that Esau grew up to become a cunning hunter, a man

of the fieldjust like his daddy, the father of lies, who IS the original hunter

of man in the field. And remember, the field was a picture representing a

life out in the world. The field is the world; the good seed are the children of

the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

(Mat 13:38 KJV). Which is outside the protective walls of the camp, and

represents a picture of a life void of Torah, The WORD. But getting back to

Genesis 3:15

I will put animosity between you and the woman, and between your

descendant and her descendant; he will bruise your head, and you willbruise his heel.

Hes saying those who reject my Teachings, My Torah, MY WORD, are

rejecting MY SON!And are NOT of ME! Because if the seed is The Word,

and The Word is the Messiah (Rev.19:13), then those who reject the

birthright, which is identified as The SEED!!!, are Rejecting Messiah, so

they must then be of the serpent! Because it says in the book of James in

the New Testament that

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the

world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world

is the enemy of God. (Jam 4:4 KJV)

And so here we see beginning with Cain, and then down to Nimrod, then on

to Ishmael and then to Esau and we see how the seed of the serpent who is

a picture of hasatan (the devil) constantly works to corrupt the seed of the

womanbut YHWH always makes a way! We see it coming through Noah,

then through his son Shem, passed down through Abraham, then in his sonIsaac and now we are seeing it take root in the heart of Yaakov.

In last weeks parsha, Toldot or Generations, we examined and

learned of a young man that grew up in a home nourished with the truths of

Torah from birth under his mother Rebekah, and later in the tents of Shem


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and Eber, ever learning Torahbecoming that man of integrity. A man

groomed and taught in the things of the inner man, with a heart compass

pointed towards the things of YHWHand yeteven after having been

divinely ordered by YHWH to carry on the Promise to future descendents

Jacob we will discover is not quite as simple as we might have originallythought.

We may have dodged a few critical questions in the last portion; some

due simply in part that much of the scant information available in rabbinic

commentary professes Jacob a mild mannered man, a meek man, even a

mamas boy. Perhaps I chose not to challenge certain questions since GOD

had already ordained it so; and finally because maybe I knew if we moved

in for a closer look we would discover the ugly truth that many of us and the

sages of old have simply glossed over, giving Jacob a pass; Even closer tothe truth we might find that every hero is never without his own flaws. It

would come too close to home. It would tell my story, and reveal that we all

have a little bit of Jacob in all of us and it started with a kiss We read in

the book of Proverbs that

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemyare

deceitful. (Pro 27:6 KJV).

All this time we had been more than happy to point at, accuse and

fault find with Esau because we know how his story ends. He was a man

enamored with the world, he was a man of the moment. He was profane in

that he despised his birthright, and sought to establish his own reputation,

as a self-made man. We relieved our hearts happy to allow Esau to be the

obvious target of well deserved contempt.

But Esau as I turn my attention to Jacob now, almost appears as asideline issue in light of the gaping fatal flaws apparent in our beloved

Patriarch Yaakov. Its easy to point at blatant wickedness, but much of

what makes wickedness, wellso wicked, is its subtlety. Its when we put

our lives up against the backdrop of Torah that we begin to cringe and


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squirm, for all the things we thought we had either dealt with or hidden

well enough now appear like the proverbial pink elephant in the middle of

the living room. So much Rabbinic commentary glosses over Jacob

Rebekahs scheme to ensure that Jacob received the blessing of the

firstborn.

DECEPTION

To borrow from Nathaniel Lawrences parsha outline, the world is

comprised of only two types of people on the earthEsaus and Jacobs.

Hanging on a cross on either side of Yeshua is an Esau, and a Jacob (Read

Luke 23:39-43) Esau was an obvious sinner, a man whos god was his belly;

consumed with the temporal, sensual pleasures with no eye to eternal

things, a man of the world. Jacob was perhaps less obvious, at least whereouter appearances are concerned, but was worthy of judgment just like his

brother.

Arent we all experts at fault-finding? I am always looking for the

guilty one, who are we going to assign the guilt to? I want to make certain I

have the right target before I cast the first stone (that was sarcasm). But in a

convincing way I am bent upon wanting to find someone elses flaw,

exposing their shame and then use their disobedience to draw attention

away from my own. I know this is wrong, but in that part of me that warsagainst my inner man, its always there.but the truth iswhen we identify

flaws in others, its only because we suffer the same disease!

We read in last weeks parsha,

And Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, "Behold, Esau my brother is ahairy man and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me,

THEN I SHALL BE AS A DECEIVERin his sight;andIshall bringuponmyselfaCURSEand

NOT A BLESSING."

-It just doesnt get much clearer than that huh?


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But his mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son; only obey myvoice, and go, get them for me." (Gen 27:11-13 NAS)

We read the verse and my immediate thought is, See? Jacob is a good

man! He knows Torah, he wants to walk in ithes demonstrating wisdom,

my hero, right?

Because truthfully, Jacob knew what was later inscribed on stone tablets,that says

"See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God,

which I am commanding you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to

the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the waywhich I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have

not known.(Deu 11:26-28 NAS)

And he had to have known what another righteous man spoke so long ago

that Paul even alludes to in the New Testament;

"According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow

trouble harvest it. (Job 4:8 NAS)

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked;for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his

own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption,but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life.

9 And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if wedo not grow weary. (Gal 6:7-9 NAS)

But later we find Jacob not only becomes a willing participant by way of

obedience to his mother Rebekah, but he becomes the lead role.We read

And Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your first-born (lie); I havedone as you told me (lie). Get up, please, sit and eat of my game (lie), that

you may bless me."


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20 And Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have itso quickly, my son?"And he said, "Because the LORD your God caused itto happen to me (lie)."

(Gen 27:19-20 NAS)

And again

Then his father Isaac said to him,"Please come close and kiss me, my son."

27 So he came close and kissed him;and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said,"See, the smell of my son (lie) Is like the smell of a field which the LORD

has blessed;(Gen 27:26-27 NAS)

Not to cut Esau some slack, but this entire incident is one big hail-marypass, taken straight out of the devils playbook!

1. Jacob knows this will bring a curse upon him but agrees to do itanyway is an open act of rebellion.

2. The fact that Jacob L-I-E-S to his Father is a dishonorable andshameful sin.

3. The fact that he makes GOD the reason why he was able to preparethe meal so quickly is an obscene lie.

4.And the fact that he kisses his father to seal the deception is only

heaping sin upon sin.

Jacobs actions against the backdrop of Truth paint a very grim profile ofhis character.

Deception

Disguise,

Dishonest words, bringing God into the conversation and then

Casting doubt upon HIS Word.

Where else have we read of another very similar strategy being playedout?

Gan Edan with the serpent!


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The kiss should hearken our memory to the fateful night when thattreacherous traitor of a disciple, one Judas Iscariot, sold out The Savior of

the world for a bag of silver. Which we read, because it was consideredblood money, of which Judas never spent a dime, became unacceptablefor use in the Temple treasury. So it was used to purchase a potters field,

which was purposed to burySTRANGERS.

remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excludedfrom the commonwealth of Israel, and

strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope andwithout God in the world. (Eph 2:12 NAS)

How precipitously close to separating himself from The very hand thatwas guiding and protecting him he must have come at that moment; And if

we start to examine our own choices, how we too will groan at theinnumerable close-calls birthed out of defects of character we refuse to

address.

The diagnosis at the end of all of this is Jacob suffers from the samething many of us doimpatience. Along with his like-minded mother, the

two of them agree to HELP GOD bring about His planwhere is the faithin that?

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivatefaithfulness.

4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of yourheart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.6

And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, And yourjudgment as the noonday.7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of

him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wickedschemes.

(Psa 37:3-7 NAS)


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Rather than react based on the outward appearances of ourcircumstances we must submit our lives to The One who we are in covenant

with, and allow Him to bring about His will for our lives according to HisWay, not through an arm of flesh, or the schemes of man. Rememberbeloved, we reap what we sow

Please Turn in your Bible to Hoshea 12:1-13:4 and Read:

This is only a small bite of our Haftarah portion that goes along with thisweeks Torah portion. But its opening lends itself beautifully to illustratinghow THE LORD uses The Patriarchs to not only teach us today for ourlearning, as echoed in the New Testament,

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning,that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

(Rom 15:4 KJV)

It faithfully foreshadows what is to be expected in the coming generationsfrom Jacobwho is Josephwho is Ephraimwho is also most often

referred to as ISRAEL.

Now Please Turn Back to Genesis 28:10-16:

Jacobs name means heel catcher; a tripping up of the heels. I can onlyimagine what must have been churning in Jacobs spirit as he fled forHaran. Perhaps it may have remotely sounded like this..

Mother told me I was chosen by Adonai, so why then is this happening tome? Why did we have to deceive Father? I feel gross! Why did I do that??

Why is my brother so wicked? Why should I have to run in fear? How comeI have nothing to show, as being Firstborn should receive a double portionof our Fathers inheritance? This so unfairhow did things get so turned all

upside down?

These are just a few possible ideas that may have been in the mind ofJacob as he has now essentially been cast out of as an exile , a povertystricken, marked man, began making his way to the sons of the easttoBabylonthe great fallen city that had become the habitation of devils, and


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the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird;(Rev 18:2 KJV) (Probably not exactly what Yaakov had in mind for hisfuture), and into the town of Charan,

= S#H2771kaw-rawn,parched;From

= S#H2787khaw-rar; a primary root;to glow, lit. to melt, burn, dry up, angry.

And it is here we find as dusk approaches, Jacob stopping to sleep ina town known as Luz. I find it peculiarly similar, although not possessingthe exact same outcome, but Matthew Henry offers excellent commentary

but in reference to Hagar and Ishmael after they had been exiled fromAbrahams camp, perhaps we might obtain some potential insight intoJacobs situation through the insights of Matthew Henry who says,

By abusing our privileges we forfeit them. Those that know notwhen they are well off, in such a desirable place as Abraham's family,deserve to be cashiered, and to be made to know the worth of mercies by

the want of them. Like one under the power of the spirit of bondage, shedespairs of relief, counts upon nothing but the death of the child(v. 15, 16),though God had told her, before he was born, that he should live to be aman, a great man. We are apt to forget former promises, whenpresent providences seem to contradict them; for we live bysense.

Much the same can be said of our lead character and exile Jacob, whoafter having sown iniquity was forced to hard lodging in the land of Luz,

while still enroute to the dry land of Labans house in Haran. But as the titleof our parsha reminds usThe Hand of Adonai went with Jacob, besidehim.

Jacob, arrives in Luz at sunset and we read that he gathered up astone under his head as his pillow and he slept there. Hebrew scholars and


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Messianic teachers alike agree that Luz, which Jacob later renamed Beit-El,or House of GOD is the same location as Mount Moriah where we

witnessed The Akeidah, or better known in English as The Binding ofIsaac, who is a prophetic picture of Messiah, laying his life down willingly

becoming a sacrifice for his Father. And many also concur this is the samelocation that became the temple Mount where the Tabernacle in Jerusalem

was constructed and likewise was the same location where Yeshua (Jesus)hung between Heaven and Earth on a cross, or tree in order to reconcileman to GOD.

Let us Read Genesis 28:10-16

The Hebrew word for Ladder here is found in the three letter rootsalal.

= S#H5549, meaning a staircase, aladder, a heap or mound, to lift up, to cast up.

Interestingly the Theo. Wordbook of the O.T. reveals itsdenominative from Akkadian sulu highway. The theme of casting up ahighway is utilized by the prophets. The figure, derived from building aroad higher than the adjacent terrain is natural.

In Jeremiah 18:15 he laments that Israel (who is Jacob) had leftGods highway to follow false bypaths.

'For My people have forgotten Me, They burn incense to worthless godsAnd they have stumbled from their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk

in bypaths, Not on a highway, (Jer 18:15 NAS) Isaiah 57:14; 62:10 foresaw the time when all obstacles would be

removed from the path of a repentant Israel, returning on the

Highway to Zion.

And it shall be said, "Build up, build up, prepare the way, Remove everyobstacle out of the way of My people." (Isa 57:14 NAS)


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Go through, go through the gates; Clear the way for the people; Build up,build up the highway; Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the

peoples. (Isa 62:10 NAS)

Prophetically it points to the highway of the returning remnant(Isa.11:16).

And there will be a highway from Assyria For the remnant of His peoplewho will be left, Just as there was for Israel In the day that they came up

out of the land of Egypt. (Isa 11:16 NAS)

Metaphorically it describes the way of the upright (Prov.16:17)

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way

preserves his life. (Pro 16:17 NAS)

Whats actually fascinating is taking a second look at the pictographicmeaning of the root word for staircase, or ladder, salal.

What we find in the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon is in this word is a two letter

root, the Samech and the Lamed. Taken together they mean Lift up. The Lamed

by itself is defined as the shepherd staff, the authority of the shepherd, theshepherd himself, moving towardas the shepherd uses his staff to direct and

guide his sheep toward the pen.

So, viewed this way one rendering of the ladder meansTo Lift up The Shepherd

Taken individually the Samech can mean to grab hold of, thorns used as ashield as the Shepherd used thorns and thickets to lay over top the sheepfold to protect the flock from predators, and it also means to pierce, as athorn can pierce. And taken this way gives us the pictographic meaning of

The Pierced Shepherd is the ladder used to draw closer toYHWH

Both of these interpretations square with scripture because its later we readin "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."

(John 12:32 NAS)


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We read earlier that the angels, or messengers, ascended and descended upand down the ladder to God and back to the earth upon this ladder. TheLadder is a figure of Messiah. If seen as indicated earlier as a highway weonly have to turn to John 14:6 where we read,

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comesto the Father, but through Me. (John 14:6 NAS)

But to further draw the connection and eliminate all doubt from thereference, it was our Master and King Yeshua Messiah who spoke as

recorded in the book of John,

And He said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens

opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son ofMan." (John 1:51 NAS).

He is The WAY, The Ladder, The Staircase, the Tree of Life, The TorahScroll, and The Highway of Holiness that all men must walk in order toReturn (Shuwb=to return, to repent) and to be reconciled unto The Fatheras prophesied back in Yeshayahu (Isaiah 11:16).

And again, Jacob awakes realizing how awesome this place is as this isidentified as his first real encounter with Elohim, he sets up a memorial

stone, anoints it with oil and calls the place Beit-El, or House of GOD,which is one of the names used interchangeably for The Tabernacle, orMishkan when it was constructed in Jerusalem.

Jacob continues until he reaches the well near Haran and we read fromhere is where Jacob first encounters Rachel, who he is said to have fallen inlove with, and as the Haftarah chronicles as well, becomes a humble

bondservant in the house of Laban, shepherding his flocks in service to him

for Rachel to become his wife.

After 7 years though Jacob, the deceiver, is deceived himself waking upafter the honey-moon to find that Leah has been given to him in marriage.So here we see Jacob learning, and being refined out in the world in the


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school of hard knocks learning to become the honorable prince that he willsoon become.

All in all Jacob ends up serving Laban for 22 years. In which course oftime he becomes husband to both Leah and Rachel, and each of their hand-maids and as such is the case with multiple wives, it generated a greatcontroversy and competition for who would be more favored by Jacob. Weall know Jacob favored Rachel, but it was Leah who bore Jacob morechildren. All this aside, the picture we have here is of Jacob, in exile,producing fruit, that becomes 11 of the 12 tribes that comprise the House ofJacob.

This again mirrors the prophetic story of GOD scattering Ephraim inexile, during which time they remain fruitful while at the same time

learning humility, being humbled and refined as it says in Hebrews,

5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when

you are reproved by Him;6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son

whom He receives."7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for

what son is there whom his father does not discipline?8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers,

then you are illegitimate children and not sons.9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected

them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He

disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to

those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit ofrighteousness.12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are

feeble,13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limbwhich is lame maynot be put out of joint, but rather be healed.14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one

will see the Lord.


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15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root ofbitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;

16 that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his ownbirthright for a single meal.

17 For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit theblessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though hesought for it with tears.

(Heb 12:5-17 NAS)

Pullingfrom Nathaniel Lawrences parsha commentary we see the Gospel storytucked in the names of the children of Yaakov.

29:3230:24

Here is another example of this in the meanings of the names of the sons ofJacob.They are: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali,Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin (who was not bornuntil Gen 35:18). Translated their names mean:

Reuben/See, a Son,(this points to Yeshua),

Simeon/Hearing (hear the Son or gospel/good news),Levi/Joined (referring to the union by which the Set-Apart Spirit makes

us one with the Son through the hearing of the gospel),Judah/Praise (the response of the redeemed upon being joined to Yeshuaand becoming regenerated spiritually or born from above),Dan/Judgment (the believer, though worthy of judgment for his sin, haspassed from judgment to life through the atoning blood of Yeshua,

Naphtali/Wrestling (this speaks of the believers life as he strugglesagainst the world, flesh and the devil endeavoring to walk righteously),

Gad/Troop, Company (this speaks of the fellowship of believersin the household of faith), the result of fellowship is

Asher/Happiness,


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Issachar/Hire (once a part ofthe spiritual body of believers, one isequipped for works of service in advancing the kingdom of Elohim as a

bondservant),

Zebulun/Dwelling, Exalt, Honor (we are to occupy until Yeshua comesagain while we honor and exalt him before the Gentiles),

Joseph/Adding(can refer to adding to the body of believersin Yeshua through outreach or to rewards in YHVHs eternal kingdom for a

job well done laboring inYHVHs spiritual field), and

Benjamin/Son of My Right Hand (a reference to Yeshua who sits at theright hand of YHVH and to believers who are seated with Yeshua inheavenly places, by faith).

It starts with Yeshua and ends with him. He is theAleph and the Tav (orAlpha and Omega), the Beginning and the End, the Author and Finisher of

our faith! Give him glory!

So the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks andfemale and male servants and camels and donkeys. (Gen 30:43 NAS)

Moving into Genesis Chapter 31 we read that Laban, a subtle, sly, cunningcheat, has been used as GODs refining fire for our Patriarch Yaakov. When

it was time for him to depart Laban promised him wages and mutuallyagreed with Yaakov that all of his striped and speckled flocks would belong

to Yaakov.The problem as we found out was shortly after the agreement was struck,

Laban gave all his striped and speckled flocks to his sons and then sentthem on a three days journey. Here we see Yaakov in need of a miracle.

And he gets it! God does a new thing. We read,

"And it came about at the time when the flock were mating that I lifted up

my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were matingwere striped, speckled, and mottled.11 "Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here

I am.'


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12 "And he said, 'Lift up, now, your eyes and see thatall the male goatswhich are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that

Laban has been doing to you.13 'I am the God ofBethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a

vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.'"(Gen 31:10-13 NAS)

And so we have a The Father blessing Yaakov as he has faithfully served asa bondservant to Laban for 22 years, but now it is time to go. Because muchlike Abimelech did to Abraham, and unto Isaac, as Cain did unto Abel,Ishmael to Isaac, Esau to JacobLaban has turned and become envious ofhim and his wealth because all that was his, GOD has now given to Yaakov.

Regarding Labans chase of Yaakov, Matthew Henry concludes, Lastly,

After all this angry parley, they part friends, v. 55. Laban very affectionatelykissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them, and then went back inpeace. Note, God is often better to us than our fears, and strangelyoverrules the spirits of men in our favor, beyond what we could haveexpected; for it is not in vain to trust in him.

Note: When God designs his people for extraordinary trials he preparesthem by extraordinary comforts.

Vayetze: And He Departed

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