Post by alon on Dec 20, 2018 2:45:53 GMT -8
This week’s readings:
Date of reading- 22 December, 2018/ 14 Tevet, 5779
Name of Par’shah- Vayechi- He Lived
Par’shah- Gen 47:28-50:26
Haftara- 1 Kings 2:1-12
Brit Chadashah- Act 7:9-16; Heb 11:21-22; 1 Peter 1:3-9, 2:11-17
D’rash: Rav S soon leaves on an overseas tour, where he will have the opportunity to reach millions of people in countries long held by the enemy, but now hungry for truth! He, as many others of the Synagogue Beit Aveinu family is experiencing spiritual and physical demonic attacks. But there are some things in our Brit Chadashah portion we all need to keep in mind:
1 Peter 1: (ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
I’ve asked God “why” more than a few times lately. I think this both answers that, as well as puts it all in perspective. Now to our par’shah:
Genesis 48:5 (ESV) And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
Ephriam and Manasseh will be given the standing of Reuven and Simeon, who were regarded with disapproval by Ya’akov:
Genesis 49:3 (ESV) “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
In Gen 35:22 Reuven laid with Bilhah, his fathers concubine, and so lost not only its status as firstborn, but showed the lack of character that relegated his offspring to insignificant status in the final blessing of Moshe on Yisroel:
Deuteronomy 33:6-7 (ESV) “Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few.” And this he said of Judah: “Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him in to his people. With your hands contend for him, and be a help against his adversaries.”
Ephriam is synonymous with Yehudah as speaking of the Northern Kingdom. Yehudah comes from the verb לְהודות Lehodot, to thank. It’s synonymous with both gratitude and praise; there was a “Sacrifice of Thanksgiving” In the Temple, called simply תּודָה “Todah,” the noun for “Thanksgiving.” In contemporary Hebrew the same word תּודָ todah, used in the Temple to express gratitude to God means simply “thanks.”
The Song of Devorah also rebukes Reuven for indecision:
Judges 5:16a (ESV) Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks?
Genesis 49:6- (ESV) “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
Simeon will later be absorbed into Judah, and Levi will be a priestly tribe without land.
Genesis 49:8-10 (ESV) “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. … The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute [shelo- “his”] comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Shelo- “his” can be read “shilo,” He who is to be sent. This is believed a Messianic prophecy in Messianism, Judaism, and Christianity. The scepter, a “rulers staff” could be a symbol of office for a commander to a king; in this context it is probably that of Melech Dovid and ha’moshiach.
Genesis 49:11 (ESV) Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
R Ovadiah Sforno said ha’moshiach would ride an ass rather than a horse, because God wages the wars enabling Him to rule, “and he will become king in peace.”
Zechariah 4:6 (ESV) Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 9:9 (ESV) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
We know Yeshua rode a donkey into Yerushalayim:
Matthew 21:6-7 (ESV) The disciples went and … brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
And He will come again, riding a white horse:
Revelation 19:11 (ESV) Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
Mekorot: JPS Study TNK, Green’s Interlinear, Webster’s Hebrew Dictionary, Rav S, my father, and others
Date of reading- 22 December, 2018/ 14 Tevet, 5779
Name of Par’shah- Vayechi- He Lived
Par’shah- Gen 47:28-50:26
Haftara- 1 Kings 2:1-12
Brit Chadashah- Act 7:9-16; Heb 11:21-22; 1 Peter 1:3-9, 2:11-17
D’rash: Rav S soon leaves on an overseas tour, where he will have the opportunity to reach millions of people in countries long held by the enemy, but now hungry for truth! He, as many others of the Synagogue Beit Aveinu family is experiencing spiritual and physical demonic attacks. But there are some things in our Brit Chadashah portion we all need to keep in mind:
1 Peter 1: (ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
I’ve asked God “why” more than a few times lately. I think this both answers that, as well as puts it all in perspective. Now to our par’shah:
Genesis 48:5 (ESV) And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
Ephriam and Manasseh will be given the standing of Reuven and Simeon, who were regarded with disapproval by Ya’akov:
Genesis 49:3 (ESV) “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!
In Gen 35:22 Reuven laid with Bilhah, his fathers concubine, and so lost not only its status as firstborn, but showed the lack of character that relegated his offspring to insignificant status in the final blessing of Moshe on Yisroel:
Deuteronomy 33:6-7 (ESV) “Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few.” And this he said of Judah: “Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him in to his people. With your hands contend for him, and be a help against his adversaries.”
Ephriam is synonymous with Yehudah as speaking of the Northern Kingdom. Yehudah comes from the verb לְהודות Lehodot, to thank. It’s synonymous with both gratitude and praise; there was a “Sacrifice of Thanksgiving” In the Temple, called simply תּודָה “Todah,” the noun for “Thanksgiving.” In contemporary Hebrew the same word תּודָ todah, used in the Temple to express gratitude to God means simply “thanks.”
The Song of Devorah also rebukes Reuven for indecision:
Judges 5:16a (ESV) Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks?
Genesis 49:6- (ESV) “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
Simeon will later be absorbed into Judah, and Levi will be a priestly tribe without land.
Genesis 49:8-10 (ESV) “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. … The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute [shelo- “his”] comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
Shelo- “his” can be read “shilo,” He who is to be sent. This is believed a Messianic prophecy in Messianism, Judaism, and Christianity. The scepter, a “rulers staff” could be a symbol of office for a commander to a king; in this context it is probably that of Melech Dovid and ha’moshiach.
Genesis 49:11 (ESV) Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes.
R Ovadiah Sforno said ha’moshiach would ride an ass rather than a horse, because God wages the wars enabling Him to rule, “and he will become king in peace.”
Zechariah 4:6 (ESV) Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 9:9 (ESV) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
We know Yeshua rode a donkey into Yerushalayim:
Matthew 21:6-7 (ESV) The disciples went and … brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
And He will come again, riding a white horse:
Revelation 19:11 (ESV) Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
Mekorot: JPS Study TNK, Green’s Interlinear, Webster’s Hebrew Dictionary, Rav S, my father, and others