VaYishlach Slides (pdf)
VaYishlach Notes (pdf)
Overview of VaYishlach (“And He Sent”) Genesis 32:3 – 36:43
Last week’s Portion ended with a confrontation between Laban and Jacob: Laban accused Jacob of taking his wives and children without first saying good-bye But more importantly he accused him of taking his teraphim (small stone idols) which apparently were also a type of title deed for Laban’s property. Unbeknownst to Jacob, Rachel had indeed taken them, but Laban searched everybody’s possessions and was unable to discover them. So they erected boundary markers between their two parcels of land and essentially said to each other, “You stay on your side of the line and I will stay on my side!” So they arrived at an uneasy “land for peace agreement and each went his separate way: Laban returned to his land of Seir, and Jacob moved on to Machanaim, “the Place of Two Camps”. There he would re-unite with his brother Esau (for the first time in twenty years); he went from a bad situation with Laban to a potentially worse one with Esau…and he was very concerned about the reception that Esau would give him.
We are told of the beloved Rachel’s death during the birth of Benjamin in this Portion – almost as an afterthought, occupying only four verses of text. Her premature death was very likely the result of Jacob’s unwitting oath to Laban: “With whomever you find your gods [teraphim], do not let him live.” It is odd that her death would receive such little attention…considering that Jacob had worked for 14 years to earn the right to marry her. Even though it is barely mentioned, this event is a major foreshadowing of future events. Rachel’s labor and travail (and ultimate death) during Benjamin’s birth is a picture of the events surrounding Messiah’s First and Second Comings. Jeremiah compared the future “time of Jacob’s Trouble” with a woman’s time of labor prior to her giving birth. The Prophet Jeremiah tells us:
“We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask now, and see, whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor, and all faces turned pale? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; and it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” (Jeremiah 30:5-7)
The Prophet Isaiah clarifies the connections to Yeshua’s First Coming (still a future event at the time that Jeremiah penned his prophecy):
“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child.” (Isaiah 66:7)
Yeshua’s First Coming was not preceded by tribulation; Israel’s tribulation occurred some 40 years later with the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the dispersion of the Jews at the hands of Babylon.
And concerning His Second Coming, the Book of Revelation symbolizes Israel as a woman crying out in travail as she gives birth to “the Man-child”. And the battle between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Gen 3:15) ensues; thus fulfilling Jeremiah’s prophecy. So we can certainly expect times of trouble (tribulation as foretold in Revelation 6); but we can equally expect Yehovah to protect His Children from that tribulation as He protected His Children from the Egyptian Plagues some 3,500 years ago.
Chapter 32 Jacob’s Plan to Meet Esau
In anticipation of meeting Esau (who had sworn to kill Jacob for ‘stealing’ his birthright), Jacob prepared a three-prong plan for the meeting:
1) Pray for God’s Protection
2) Shower Esau with gifts to deflect his anger
3) As a last resort, stand and fight.
He formed two groups (camps): Group #1 consisted of servants with animals, and Group #2 consisted of all his family. The servants would take the animals to Esau in an attempt to turn his anger away with these gifts…or in other words, he would bribe Esau to accept him. If Esau would receive the animals, then maybe he would accept Jacob’s family…and ultimately accept Jacob himself. That was the plan. It is no coincidence that while Jacob’s troop is camping at a location called “Two Camps” that he separates his troop into two groups: family and servants (with animals). The servants returned to Jacob with the message that Esau had received the animals and he was coming to meet Jacob…with 400 armed men!
Chapter 32 Jacob’s Wrestling
After the animal gifts had been sent out, Jacob sent his two wives, his two concubines and his 11 sons across the Brook Jabok and he remained alone on the other side; there is no mention that Dinah was included in this group – the Rabbis speculate that Jacob deliberately hid her for fear that Esau would take her for a wife. Alone on the north side of the Jabok he wrestled with “a man” all night long, until the sun rose. Neither one prevailed even though “the Man” touched Jacob’s hip and put his socket out of joint, causing him to limp for the rest of his life. God’s desire is that each one of us would have our walk permanently changed while “wrestling” with Him! Jacob asked “the Man” for a blessing, and “the Man” changed Jacob’s name to Israel, meaning “God Prevails” or Prince of God.” Jacob showed that he understood who “the Man” was by naming that place Peniel, meaning ‘Face of God’. Once again we see the blurring of the identities of “the Man” (who appeared to Jacob and talked with him and even wrestled with him) and Yehovah. We have already seen this same blurring of identities when God appeared to Abram on the Plains of Mamre, and also when He appeared to Isaac at Bethel (Luz). Jacob’s journey started 20 years ago as the sun was setting (Gen 28:11); and now his journey has ended as the sun arose (Gen 32:32) …. suggesting that his 20 years with Laban were a type of night, and now Jacob is ready to start his “day.”
Chapter 33 Jacob & Esau Meet
As Esau was coming to meet Jacob, he grouped his family in order of importance: the two maidservants and their children first; then Leah and her children and, lastly, Rachel and Joseph. The most expendable were first and the least expendable were last. It is interesting to note that when the Kingdom was split into Northern and Southern, it was not according to whom your mother was. The Southern Kingdom consisted of one tribe from Leah (Judah) and one from Rachel (Benjamin); and the remaining ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom were descendants of both Rachel, Leah and the two handmaids..
Despite Jacob’s planning for the worst, Esau ran to meet Jacob; he embraced him and greeted him with a kiss. The rabbis suggest that this was actually a bite on Jacob’s neck (see the Power Point slides showing all the extra “vowel points” on the Hebrew word for “kiss”, suggesting tooth marks!)
There were introductions all around and the two brothers fell into an uneasy peace. Esau insisted that Jacob return with him to his home on Mt Seir; he even “suggested” that his 400 soldiers accompany Jacob and family. Jacob said his family had been on a long journey and could not keep pace with Esau’s group; they would follow Esau shortly.
So Esau departed for Mt Seir to the south and Jacob and family immediately headed west to Sukkot where he built a house for himself and huts for his animals. Scripture doesn’t say how long he dwelled there, but it certainly looks like he spent a considerable amount of time building all those things. After that he then moved on to Shechem. The two men would not meet again until their father Isaac’s death.
Chapter 34 Dinah & Shechem
This chapter is usually presented that Dinah was taken against her will and forced into marriage to Shechem. That may be the case…but the text is neutral on the subject. Dinah “went out to see the daughters of the land”….something that a single woman just would not do at that time. And Shechem seemed to genuinely fall in love with Dinah…also something that usually does not happen in a non-consensual relationship. So the exact nature of Dinah’s and Shechem’s relationship is unclear from the text (may the Holy Spirit reveal to you what this relationship was); but what is clear is that procedure was not followed. Normally the prospective groom would approach the prospective bride’s father and establish the “bride price”, the terms of the marriage covenant and, finally, get the consent of the bride. Only after these things had occurred (and the groom had gone to prepare a place in his father’s house for his bride and himself) would the consummation of the marriage take place. Shechem did this backwards: first the consummation and then the negotiations with her father. And Dinah’s brothers did not like that! They considered it non-consensual sex (rape!). Incidentally, this situation seems to be exactly what both Abraham and Isaac feared would happen when they each brought his wife to a pagan land. Apparently, it was the pagan custom for a man to “take” any woman whom he wanted to marry without regard for her or her family. Well…this wasn’t how Abraham’s family operated!
In order to defuse the anger of Jacob and sons, Shechem’s father Hamor, which means “donkey” (conclude what you want from that!) offered Jacob a “partnership” with him; he would give Jacob land, the two families would merge and become great, and they would become a great nation with a great economy. Does this sound familiar?? Doesn’t this sound like the fulfillment of the promise that God made to Abraham back in Genesis 12? Jacob’s sons reluctantly agreed to this family merger …with one condition: that all the men of Shechem would be circumcised. King Hamor sold the deal to his people by saying, “will not their (Jacob’s) livestock, their property and every animal of theirs be ours?” There was deceit on Hamor’s part, but we will see later also on the part of Simeon and Levi.
When all the men of Shechem had been circumcised, Simeon and Levi (full brothers of Dinah – all children of Leah) attacked the city and killed every male – including Shechem & Hamor – and rescued their sister. What Jacob thought was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham was not what Yehovah had in mind back in Genesis 12…and He used Simeon and Levi to thwart Jacob’s plan. The fulfillment of this promise will only come when the whole House of Israel is gathered in the 1000 year Millennial Kingdom!! Shechem’s offer was a counterfeit… and Jacob received it. How many of us will be deceived by Antichrist’s counterfeit promises at the End of the Age???
Jacob had a very curious reaction to his sons’ slaughter of the men of Shechem: “You have troubled me by making me (my name) obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land…” Wow!!! He was more worried about his reputation than the slaughter of hundreds, or maybe even thousands of people. But looking back at God’s promise to Abraham: He would give him many people; He would give him land (and a government and economy to go along with it), and He would make Abraham’s name great. Well…the first two were manifested in Hamor’s offer, but not the last part. Not only was Jacob’s (and by association, Abraham’s) name not made great, it was made “obnoxious.” That explains Jacob’s reaction to the slaughter at Shechem. And, for their participation in the slaughter, Simeon & Levi forfeited their right to the firstborn inheritance (Gen 49:5-7).
When Jacob started on his journey 20 years earlier, he encountered the Angel of God at Bethel and he made an oath: if Yehovah protected him, and He provided for him while on this journey, and He would return him safely to his father’s house, then “of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” Well, Jacob has certainly taken his sweet time fulfilling this oath – and it will still be a while until he finally returns to the place of his oath with Yehovah. The Rabbis speculate that Jacob’s failure to immediately fulfil his oath to Yehovah brought about the Dinah/Shechem situation. And also when Yehovah released Jacob from Laban, He said, “Return to land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.” (Gen 31:3). This is the area near Beer Sheba; had Jacob also obeyed this command of Yehovah, then all of this turmoil with Dinah and Shechem would have never happened.
Chapter 35 Jacob’s Journeys
After the events of Shechem, Jacob and family were forced to move south to Bethel (Jerusalem) because of Jacob’s “bad reputation.” Two things would happen there: 1) this completes God’s promise that Abraham’s descendants (in this case, Jacob) would occupy the Land; they would be a great family and they would have a great nation with great wealth; and 2) there would be a correction. All the idols that were still in the possession of the Children of Jacob were buried in Shechem. This was done in preparation for fulfilling his oath to Yehovah
This idol-burying bears a striking resemblance to a future event described in Jeremiah 32:1-25. Here the Prophet finds himself in prison (his place of residence for most of his prophetic career) even as Nebuchadnezzar’s army was preparing to storm the gates of Jerusalem. His cousin offered to sell him the family property (which happened to already be under Nebuchadnezzar’s control), and Jeremiah accepted his offer; he purchased the land and buried the deed to be retrieved later. To natural eyes, this looks like a very poor investment…one that will never pay off. But the Spirit had revealed to Jeremiah that the Babylonian exile would not be permanent – after 70 years Israel would be allowed to return to the Land, and he could dig up this buried land title and reclaim the land that he had purchased 70 years earlier. This was certainly a positive sign to Israel that the upcoming exile would be temporary.
They moved on to Luz, where Jacob saw the Angels descending and ascending on the ladder, presumable to finally offer Yehovah His tithe and thus complete his oath made 20+ years earlier.
Rebekah’s nurse, Deborah, died there and the name of the place is called Allon Bachot (“Oak of Weepings”). Because the name is plural, the rabbis suggest that Rebekah died at the same time and is also buried there.
They move on to Padan-Aram – where Jacob had wrestled with God and He had changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Notice in the reading of the text that God “appeared” to Jacob; He physically manifested Himself and talked with Jacob. This happened again only with Moses at the Burning Bush. Here at Padan-Aram God reconfirmed His Covenant with Jacob…this time adding: “kings shall come from your body.”
From Padam-Aram they journeyed to Ephratah where Rachel gave birth to Jacob’s last son, Benjamin (near Bethlehem); it was here that Rachel died in childbirth, and she is buried on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
From there they traveled to the western frontier, “beyond the tower of Eder.” This was where Reuben slept with Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaiden. Reuben saw Jacob’s favor of Joseph, and now also Benjamin – both sons of Rachel. Perhaps he was trying to “reinforce” his position as the true firstborn son and rightful heir of the firstborn’s inheritance by producing a child by the handmaid of the beloved Rachel. That didn’t work out so well for him – it actually sealed his disinheritance of firstborn rights (I Chronicles 5:1 & Genesis 49:3-4).
The chapter concludes with the death of Isaac at age 185. More than 40 years earlier, Isaac thought he was dying and wanted to settle his affairs with his two sons by giving his blessing to the firstborn. Apparently, his belief that he was dying was very premature! Both Jacob and Esau bury their father at Hebron.
Notice that in these last two chapters the cities of Shechem and Hebron are prominent in the narrative. Today they are strongholds of the Palestinians but I would suggest that they will be featured prominently when God will restore them back to the House of Israel in the End Times!
Chapter 36 Esau’s Genealogy
We see in this genealogy that Esau had a much larger family than Jacob, but we also know that God’s Promise is with Jacob! Even though the Kingdom of Edom was defeated in the fifth century BC, the “spirit of Edom” is alive and well today in those who seek to destroy Israel. But God will prevail!! (See the notes for specific Bible prophecies concerning the destruction of Edom.)
The Haftarah Reading (Obadiah 1:1-21
The Haftarah reading is from the book of Obadiah, where God tells not only of the destruction of the Kingdom of Edom (2,500 years ago), but He also tells of the destruction of the “Spirit of Edom” that is overtaking the world today. We read of that destruction in verses 1-4 and then of Israel’s ultimate victory in verses 17-21:
The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom (We have heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying, “Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle”): “Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be greatly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ Though you ascend as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” says the Lord…….“But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame; but the house of Esau shall be stubble; they shall kindle them and devour them, and no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,” for the Lord has spoken. The South shall possess the mountains of Esau, and the Lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captives of this host of the children of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath. The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the South. Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
In the last few Torah Portions, we have seen God’s hand upon Jacob: starting when he and Esau were in Rebekah’s womb and continuing throughout his life: during his flight from angry Esau; during his “adventures” with Laban, and in this week’s Portion, during his reunion with Esau.
And we remember the promise that God made to Jacob at the beginning of his journeys:
“Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
The Brit Chadashah Reading (Revelation 7:1-4)
In the Brit Chadashah we read of God’s Hand upon His People in the End of Days; and just as He protected Jacob, He will also protect us. We read from Revelation 7:1-4:
After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four-thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.
This is clearly a vision of Yehovah’s protection of His Children during that final time of “Jacob’s Trouble” in the End Times.