VaYishlach, And He Sent
B’reshiyt (Gen) 32:4 – 36:43
Obadiah 1:1-21; Hosea 11:7 – 12:12
Matthew 2:13-23; 26:36-46; John 1:19 – 2:12; Acts 3:18-26; 1 John 3:4-10; Hebrews 11:12-16; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Titus 2:1-15; Revelation 7:1-14; 18:2,4
Who is God? How would you describe Him? How do you know what you believe is true?
One thing I have learned from many testimonies of our mishpochah is that the Holy Spirit challenges us to question everything. Oftentimes, no man challenges us on the basic tenets of the faith – the God of Israel does. It’s a common theme you can hear in The Way Documentary available at hebrewnationonline.com/store The documentary starts with the Holy Spirit persistently asking a believer who had sold out to the Way – “How do you know?” That started him down the path of discovering the roots of the faith in the God of Israel and how to truly live like our Savior Yeshua.
Suspicion vs Curiousity
From my perspective, it’s not about being suspicious that everything I’ve ever learned was a lie. Just because a saying or an understanding came out of Christianity or Judaism, I do not believe that by default it’s wrong. I don’t take that tact. I don’t assume anything. My approach is along the lines of curiosity. I’m a curious Klug.
Albert Einstein revealed a key to a genius, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.”
To be in awe of the Creator is in part what it means to fear God. I’m curious as to what the original meanings of the Word really are. For me, Abba has revealed to me the mysteries of life are in the Messiah – from the very first letters of the Torah – B’reshiyt – to the very last letters of the Book of the Revelation of the Divine Messiah Yeshua – Amein!
Discover how the Messiah Yeshua, is in every letter, from Alef to Tav, comprising every word of the mother tongue – the Hebrew language of the original Scriptures. How does the Messiah come to us?
‘Lo, I come, in the volume of the Book it is written of Me.’ Psalm 40:7
The ancient pictographs of the AlephBet reveal to us the realities of the meanings of every word written in the Scriptures. My friend, Eric Bissel, called ‘Paleo Erik’ and I developed a chart of all 22 letters and how Yeshua is revealed in every letter. Feel free to contact me for a free chart as a PDF or print-out of ‘Yeshua in the Alef Bet.’
Elohim in Vayishlach
In this portion, ‘Elohim’ is found to be the central divine figure, written 17 times, whereas ‘YHWH’ is found only once. The one time YHWH is recorded is in the context that His Sacred Name is often found – about mercy and deliverance for Jacob. (Genesis 32:9-11)
Yod Hey Vav Hey in paleo means – Behold the outstretched hand, behold the clenched nail. Here we see a picture of salvation by the work of Yeshua the Messiah hanging on the cross.
What picture do we see of the divine title – Elohim, and what is its context in this portion? The most frequent occurrence of ‘Elohim’ is in Genesis Chapter 35, where Elohim blesses Jacob and tells him once again that his name would not be Jacob, but ‘Israel.’
Elohim said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you shall no longer be called ‘Jacob’, but Israel shall be your name.” Thus He called him ‘Israel’. Genesis 35:10
Why does the Torah use the title ‘Elohim’ and not the Name ‘YHWH’ as the One Who gave Jacob the new name of ‘Israel’? The English word ‘God’ is pretty abstract. What character did Elohim impart to our forefather after whom we’re named?
To answer this question, let’s first take a paleo-Hebrew look at the word ‘Elohim.’ Its root word is ‘El’,’ spelled ‘Alef lamed.’ The ‘Alef’ pictures the strength of an ox wielding horns of authority. The ‘lamed’ pictures a shepherd staff that controls the sheep by hooking and pulling in a wandering sheep and by warding off invading predators.
Adonai Yeshua declared Himself to be the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-14). The staff can also represent a scepter of authority. The most powerful authorities in the TaNaKh, Moses, and David, were shepherds before they became kings.
The Israel of God
What does the picture of a mighty authority, or a strong controller, show us about the name and character of Jacob’s new identity as Israel? What does the name ‘Yisra’el’ mean about our character as the people surnamed by this name? (Isa 44:5; Hebrews 8:10; Ephesians 2:12-13) After all, ‘the Israel of God’ is the identity of the people of God (Gal 6:16). Isn’t it amazing how many thousands of denominational names man has come up with? Yet the name that Yah has given His kingdom is the one name – Yisra’el.
According to the dictionaries, Yisra’el means ‘God prevails’ and ‘he strives, he prevails as a prince of God.’ Ya’aqov (Jacob) was no longer characterized as a ‘heel grabber’ holding off his brother Esau from kicking in his head, always warding him off from killing him, Elohim called him ‘Yisra’el.’ He was no longer depending on his flesh and intellect to preserve his life and to obtain the blessing of God, he learned to master the flesh and prevailed over his old Adam nature as a man of the Spirit. Abba raises and matures all His children through this same process called ‘sanctification’.
The name Yisra’el is spelled – Yod, seen, resh, alef, lamed. What deeper meanings can we discover about our character from these five paleo-Hebrew letters? See the chart for the operative meanings of these letters in the context of the known meaning of the name. Hang tight, let’s take a run at it:
Yisra’el is the people that Yah goes to work with consuming the flesh with His holy fire raising him up as an exalted head. Yisra’el presses forward and perseveres through fiery trials, as a man of the Spirit. Yisra’el prevails in life as a prince of God, mighty in the authority of the reigning Messiah. Is this our reality? Hard to believe? He calls those things that are not as though they were. It’s up to us to walk in this identity by faith.
The Mighty Authority of the Messiah
The Gospels proclaim the divine, mighty authority of the Messiah Yeshua. To be the Mighty Authority is the very definition of what it means to be ‘Alef Lamed’, to be ‘El’, God. What are just a few of the proofs of the divinity, the Mighty Authorities of the Messiah?
The Divine Authority to Forgive Sins
Yeshua had divine authority to forgive sins and to heal all manner of diseases, bar none.
But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Yeshua. Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” Luke 5:19-20
When YHWH came to earth to become the Son of Man, He emptied Himself of His divine authority as judge (John 3:17; 12:47), but He did not empty Himself of His divine authority to forgive sins. Why? Because His mission as the Son of Man was to save us from our sins, not to condemn us as the Judge of heaven and earth He’ll come back as.
The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Luke 5:21
Now here’s an example of why I believe that Elohim entrusted the Pharisees, the Jews, with sayings that were not all bad (Romans 3:2). This saying that only God can forgive sins was not a quote from the Torah, but a doctrine derived directly from the Scriptures.
The Pharisees rightly taught that only God can forgive sins. They rightly deduced that Yeshua was claiming divinity by forgiving the paralytic of his sins. What they got wrong was that Yeshua was blaspheming by speaking like God as the Mighty Authority. In other words, the Pharisees would not admit that Yeshua was divine. Beware! Today, religious people are running around saying the same thing – that Yeshua is not divine.
But Yeshua, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” – He said to the paralytic – “I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” Luke 5:22-24
What authority did Yeshua say the Son of Man had? The authority of the Mighty God to forgive sins, because He is God, as even the Pharisees recognized He was saying.
The Authority of Elohim
After Yeshua finished His work of saving mankind from their sins through the work of the cross, Yeshua resumed all authority as God. Hear what the Master said to His disciples when He appeared to them after the resurrection:
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.” Matthew 28:16-18
Notice that Yeshua did not rebuke the disciples for worshiping Him, knowing that the Torah commands us to worship Elohim and no other (Deuteronomy 5:19). Neither did He rebuke Thomas when He worshiped calling Him, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28) Why not? Because Yeshua the Messiah is God! I agree, Yeshua is “my Lord and my God.”
Claiming ‘all authority in heaven’ was to claim the plural form of God in Hebrew – Elohim – which in paleo means ‘Mighty Authorities.’ When Yeshua ascended on high, the heavenly Father gave back to the Son all the authorities of Elohim in Heaven. Yeshua was not just any Elohim with limited authority on earth like Moses, He has it all!
The Authority of the God of Israel
The authority of the ‘Israel of God’ comes with the Great Commission from the exalted Head, the Prince, the divine Messiah:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20a
Because Yeshua is Elohim, the Name of Yeshua is the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
For His Name shall be called … the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.
Isaiah 9:6
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Colossians 2:9
After the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Peter had this revelation from the Father that the Name of the Son of the Living God is the Name by which to baptize. Peter said to the crowd that day:
“Repent, and each of you be baptized in the Name of Messiah Yeshua for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38
Was Peter not in keeping with the Great Commission by baptizing in the Name of the divine Messiah Yeshua?
I’m sure Paul had the same revelation when he wrote to the Colossians:
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord Yeshua, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17
Anything we do that must be done with the authority of YHWH Elohim, like casting out demons, is to be done in the Name of Yeshua. If Yeshua is not divine, how could anyone cast out a demon by His Name? Devils will only submit to the Mighty Authority higher than that of satan. The divine Messiah is that Authority.
Yeshua taught His disciples that the very essence of Who He is – is Spirit: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:16-18
Condensing His words makes the point:
He will give you…the Spirit…I will come to you.
When a person is born again, he receives the Spirit of Yeshua. (Philippians 1:18-19)
Paul also confirmed this idea by saying that God, the Mighty Authority, will sanctify His people – who are first and foremost spirit:
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete. 1 Thessalonians 5:23a
Most of the time I hear this Scripture quoted either ‘mind, body and spirit’ or ‘body, soul and spirit.’ But the order is purposeful and important.
We are first, in essence, a spirit being in a tent of flesh. In between is the soul – mind, heart, and emotions. By our free will, we choose to either submit to the authority of the Spirit by the law of the Messiah, or to the tyranny of the flesh under the law of sin.
These are choices we wrestle with every day, just as Jacob wrestled with all his life. But Elohim blessed him with the power and ability to walk not after the flesh, nor the intellect, but after the Spirit, just as we do when we receive the gift of the Spirit from the Messiah.
For the One whom God sent speaks the Words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. John 3:34
If Yeshua comes to us by the Spirit without measure, than Yeshua Himself must have the Spirit without measure. For the Messiah to live in multitudes of hearts, He must be divine. If He is only a man, not divine, how could He possibly dwell in our souls?
But may I never boast – except in the cross of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Through Him, the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything – but only a new creation. Now as many as live by this rule – shalom and mercy on them and on the Israel of God. Galatians 6:14-16
What should the ‘Israel of God’ persist and be doing in this life?
And so all Israel will be saved, even as it has been written, ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.” Isaiah 59:20-21, Romans 11:26
Our work is to spread the Gospel of the New Covenant wrought by the blood of Yeshua, for souls to be saved. The Good News is that sinners can be set free from slavery to the flesh by the divine Messiah and that we can overcome and live victoriously by the power of the Holy Spirit. Then we can keep the Great Commission baptizing in His Name and making disciples, teaching the commandments of the Torah, kept by a heart controlled by the Spirit, submitted to the Mighty Authority of Yeshua.
BaShem Adonai Yeshua in all things,
David Klug
email: klugtaph97@hushmail.com
Cell: 541-460-1872