Shalom Mishpocha! Please find below transcript from yesterday’s teaching which I hope you will find a blessing. All our love R&A xxx
Vayechi (and he lived) Gen.47:28–50:26; 1Kings 2:1–12; John 10:1–21
“And Jacob lived (Vayechi Yaacov) in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred forty and seven years.” (Gen. 47:28)
In this week’s Torah portion Jacob makes Joseph promise him to bury him in the land of his fathers in Canaan, NOT in Egypt. This is significant. (Gen. 47:29–30) Jacob never forgot the land God had promised him, despite the famine which forced him temporarily out from there. He had endured a life filled with struggles but finally at the very end he recognised how God was bringing him and his family into a spacious place with a new beginning in a miraculous way where he could embrace God’s faithfulness to His promises that were embedded in the land of Israel his final resting place.
Maybe we have been faced or are currently facing circumstances that are beyond our control that appear to be squeezing us into positions that are contrary to the direction we thought God was providing for us? Let’s never forget God’s faithfulness and walk confidently in His praises that lead to abundance in the fullness of time!
Jacob’s yearning for the land of Israel given to him in covenant relationship with God has permeated throughout history within the hearts of the Jewish people, from the time of their exile over 2500 years ago. Even when in exile they vowed never to forget her:
“If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth — If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.” (Ps. 137:5–6)
Throughout the entire period of exile following the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70AD, the Jewish people never lost hope against all hope of their eventual return to the reestablishment of their land that became a reality in 1948 only 3 years following the Holocaust. – a miracle of miracles, because God is faithful to His promises!
Since then, Israel has been surrounded by hostile enemies who have actively and consistently sought her annihilation. The most persuasive argument for the existence of God are the Jewish people who have survived against all odds. God never breaks His covenant promises even when Israel has been faithless as their history has demonstrated repeatedly. Though we too are many times faithless, He remains faithful because He cannot deny who He is – The Faithful One!
And now Israel’s current situation looks in the natural precarious as it faces the spectre of another Holocaust and its entire destruction existentially. But it is here that the Bible shares with us a very different narrative. And in this regard, the Talmud (Beresheet Rabbah) speaks of each nation that has been appointed an angel except for Israel, because Israel is protected by God Himself!
In Jacob’s vision, which we read about in the Torah portion of a few weeks ago, he beheld a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. (Gen.28:12) Jacob’s vision reveals that other nations will rise and fall, eventually disappearing into the sands of time, but Israel will never disappear. This has been true for every empire including Egypt the nation who God used to save Jacob and his family, and later would place his descendants in bondage for several centuries until the moment of Divine intervention, an unprecedented miracle in Israel’s history, a shadow and type of the Messiah to come who would free the whosoever, the Jew and the stranger in their midst from their slavery and bondage to sin.
Our God is merciful and compassionate beyond measure but let nobody mess with His children for the consequences are always devastating. And here we fast forward in this week’s parasha can we see it connecting in several ways to current events in the world arena – where all eyes are focussing upon a pin-prick in the land mass of the world, whose size would fit into Kruger National Park. And of course, I’m referring here to the land of Israel. This fascinating fact should not be a surprise since Scripture is clear that this it is something we will see in the last days. Although this may appear outwardly alarming, the Bible presents us with a very different picture. The Lord spoke through the prophet Zecharah these words: “2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples when they besiege Jerusalem as well as Judah. 3 Moreover, in that day I will make Jerusalem a massive stone for all the people. All who try to lift it will be cut to pieces. Nevertheless, all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against her.” (Zech 12;2-3)
This refers to the same little nation born from the 12 sons of Jacob from our Torah portion. The description of a stone (“Moreover, in that day I will make Jerusalem a massive stone for all the people. All who try to lift it will be cut to pieces”) speaks here of Divine judgement, mentioned earlier in chap. 2 of Zech: “those who touch them touch the apple of His eye.” (Zech.2;18)
So too in 1Pet. 2:8, Yeshua is here described as, “… a stone that will make people stumble, a rock over which they will trip. They are stumbling at the Word, disobeying it — as had been planned.”
This last phrase, “as has been planned” is something that brings comfort for it confirms who is in control. Though the nations continually come against Israel because God has blinded their hearts through their pride, rebellion orchestrated from the very pit of Hell, yet the day of reckoning is drawing ever closer.
We are seeing before us arising in the horizon what I believe to be a precursor of Rev. 6 with the 4 horsemen who are preparing to unleash destruction of unparalleled proportions that will lead to total chaos throughout the world. Although we currently see this from a distance, its devastation is already being keenly felt and we tremble at the thought of what it will be like when it is unleashed in all its fullness. But how does God respond to these things? The answer lies in Ps. 2 where the psalmist asks,
“Why are the nations in an uproar [in turmoil against God], And why do the people devise a vain and hopeless plot?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand; And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and His Anointed (the Davidic King, the Messiah, the Christ), saying,
3 “Let us break apart their [divine] bands [of restraint] And cast away their cords [of control] from us.”
Then, in the spirit he sees things from God’s perspective:
4 He who sits [enthroned] in the heavens laughs [at their rebellion]; The [Sovereign] Lord scoffs at them [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].
5 Then He will speak to them in His [profound] anger And terrify them with His displeasure, saying,
6 “Yet as for Me, I have anointed and firmly installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
7 “I will declare the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son; This day [I proclaim] I have begotten You.
8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will assuredly give [You] the nations as Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth as Your possession.”
In this new Gregorian year just entered, it is very important that we clearly understand who is in control as terrifying end-time events are beginning to unfold before our very eyes, and thereby redeem these final moments of time in order for us to prepare well for Yeshua’s return.
There is one last thing that I would like to share from Va’yechi that focuses upon the theme of forgiveness. The importance of this is not diminished by the fact that the world is filled with bitter hatred and unforgiveness, but we should rather understand how Scripture constantly and consistently emphasises our responsibility to forgive others from the heart in the same way that God forgives us unto salvation leading to eternal life. (“Forgive us our sins as we forgive them who sin against us.”)
I want to share with you something as a congregation comprising a small family of believers seeking to love and serve the lord wholeheartedly and uncompromisingly in these days in which we live.
The parasha demonstrates to us something about the profoundness of true forgiveness when Joseph revealed himself to his brothers at the climax of the story and spoke to them these words found in Gen. 50:19-21,
“Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.”
Rabbi Sacks made observed the following: “Note what has to happen for (true) forgiveness to be born. First, Joseph engages in an elaborate plan, hiding his identity, to make sure the brothers were capable of remorse and atonement….
Second, Joseph arranges a trial that will test whether Judah., the brother who proposed selling him into slavery in the first place, is indeed a changed person. He has Benjamin brought before him on a false charge, and is about take him as his slave when Judah intervenes and offers to become a slave in his place so that Benjamin can go free. This is what the Sages and Maimonides defined as complete repentance, that is, you have so changed that you are now a different person. These two elements tell us what has changed in the brothers so that they, the wrongdoers, can be forgiven.”
But Joseph himself was also a changed person. Rabbi Sacks adds that “.. He (Joseph) reframed his life, so that the entire story of his relationship with his brothers has now become utterly secondary to the drama of Divine Providence that is still unfolding. As he explains: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” This is what allows the victim, Joseph, to forgive.”
When we walk in forgiveness we recognise that we are all victims in a world filled with sin. And God commands us to hate sin but to love the sinner – to release any offences we may hold against the offender or even those against ourselves (self hate is perhaps the most destructive element in life) Instead, we are commanded to love one another. God’s love covers a multitude of sins and forgiveness is a vital element of genuine love demonstrated one towards another without discrimination or blindfolds.
There are so many “little foxes” that are strewn around us in our lives that are constantly on the look out to destroy the vine. And we must always resist the temptation to nurture them rather than ejecting them from our lives. Godly unity is an extremely precious commodity that is sadly a rare commodity among believers instead of being a normative expression but the truth remains that there can be no blessing without it.
We as a Mekudeshet congregation who declare this unity described in Ps. 133 as a ”… precious ointment” must always strive to preserve it for Satan has a fixed agenda to destroy that which is precious in God’s sight. This year of 2023 we seek to experience as we continue to pursue an ever deeper unity in the bond of peace casting aside all personal offences and petty differences we may encounter wherever it is hidden. We covenant between one another to love God with all our hearts, minds and strength and one another with that same love wherewith He has loved us. It is here that lies our greatest victory in life to help us overcome every obstacle we will face as He transforms us from glory to glory until that day when we will see Him face to face!
Raphael ben Levi
