vaYishlach (And 'Jacob' Sent)
8) Genesis 32:3[v.4 Hebrew]-36:43
Dear RD4KB Advocates,
I am addressing you as an “RD4KB Advocate” because I aim to use this online Faith for ALL publication to raise up an army of people pursuing Relational depth for Kingdom breadth (RD4KB is the acronym).
RD4KB Advocates prioritize relationships with God and others over mere transactions and tasks and are committed to a relationally-driven way of life.
Yeshua (Jesus) taught and modeled this way of life as He daily lived with His Talmudim (Disciples). Furthermore, He sent these same men to teach and model this way of life to others. Immediately after being resurrected and after extending a blessing of peace, in John 20:21 Yeshua sends these Talmudim out for a divine purpose:
“Shalom aleichem! (Peace to you!) As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
Compare the final verses in Matthew where later from northern Galilee, Yeshua sends His followers out with this Commission:
Now the eleven disciples went to the Galilee, to the mountain Yeshua had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped; but some wavered. And Yeshua came up to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. And remember! I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
In this week’s portion, Jacob sends messengers in front of him to prepare the way for his return. The name of the portion comes from the first word in the Hebrew text, vaYishlach (וַיִּשְׁלַח), meaning “and he sent”. In this portion, Jacob sends messengers. In Yeshua’s commission, He sends His followers as messengers as well.
Jacob knows he has some relationship repair work to do with his brother Esau. Family relationships definitely take work, don’t they?
In what ways did your Thanksgiving holiday require some relationship “work”?
Seriously, stop and think about it. Where was God working in and through you over your Thanksgiving holiday? The “work” of the Spirit of God is to produce, among other things, the fruits of love and joy. This good work, however, is often realized only after more difficult seasons of training and learning endurance. My role of parenting five children has definitely required me to learn much endurance (and I am still working on this daily!)
All the readings for this week’s portion is below. I encourage you to click on one of the links that will take you to the free online commentary in the Parashah Project for vaYishlach.
First, however, let me highlight one critical verse in this portion from Genesis 35.
God also said to him:
“I am El Shaddai.
Be fruitful and multiply.
A NATION and an ASSEMBLY OF NATIONS will come from you.
From your loins will come forth kings. (Gen. 35:11)
This verse is a key to understanding the relationship between Israel and the Church. While I don’t develop this theme in the online commentary, let me briefly highlight the significance of the two categories highlighted above by the words in Genesis 35:11 that I BOLDED and put in CAPS. Remember, these are the words God spoke to Jacob. These were words of promise.
The NATION is Israel.
In fact, this week’s reading includes the part of the story where God changes Jacob’s name to Israel (see 32:28 and 35:10). This future “nation” is the one God promised earlier to Abraham in Genesis 12:2 would be a “great nation” (goy gadol, גּוֹי גָּדוֹל). Furthermore, after miraculously assembling Abraham’s offspring around four hundred years later (along with Gentiles who attached themselves to this community, see Exodus 12:38), God offers this budding nation a promise to be a “holy nation” (goy kadosh, גּוֹי קָדוֹשׁ) which means a “set apart” nation. Set apart from the nations of the world.
God chose the people of Israel and the land of Israel to be a “beachhead” to rescue the world. One nation through whom God would reach all nations.
The ASSEMBLY OF NATIONS includes all the other nations of the world.
To begin to understand the mysterious relationship between Israel and the Church, you need to keep two things simultaneously in view:
Israel = physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob along with those who are attached to her.
Church = Jews and Gentiles united in Messiah—the “One New Man” community described in Ephesians 2:15.
I believe that none of us can fully understand this mysterious relationship between Israel and Church because God has ordained mystery in this Age until Yeshua’s return (see Revelation 10:7; the Greek word for mystery, musterion, appears 28 times in the Greek Apostolic writings, typically referred to as the New Testament, and includes the relationship between Jew—Gentile, Israel—Church).
Brothers and sisters, dive into God’s word this week to wrestle with Him to understand history, where YOU are in His-story, and where He is in YOUR story. When you prioritize your relationships—with God and other people—you will discover marvelous things! One way you prioritize your relationship with God is by setting apart time to invest, linger, study, and savor through meeting with Him through His word—written and living! He is alive.
Feast on!
Readings for the Week:
Torah: GENESIS 32:3[v.4 Heb]–36:43
Prophets: OBADIAH 1:1–21
Apostolic Writings: HEBREWS 11:8–20
Click HERE for the online Parashah commentary.
Shalom,
Thomas