Shalom chaverim. In this week’s Shavuah Tov audio podcast I provide a brief overview of parashat Vayera (פרשת וירא) with special focus on the “Akedah of Isaac” (the binding of Isaac) as a picture of the gospel of Yeshua the Messiah. I hope you find it helpful.
..Vayera Podcast:
The Scriptures are filled with desperate cries of the heart… “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?” (Psalm 13:1-2). “Make haste to help me, O LORD, my salvation!” (Psalm 38:22). “My soul melts away from sorrow; strengthen me according to your word” (Psalm 119:28). “Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 143:7). God know that “hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12), so there can be no turning to God, no teshuvah, apart from the presence of real hope (תִּקְוָה). Indeed, as the Apostle Paul wrote: “We are saved by hope” (Rom. 8:24).
Last week’s Torah portion (Bereshit) showed how the mutiny of Adam and Eve caused humanity to plunge into idolatrous chaos. The subsequent generations lost sight of the LORD and became progressively steeped in moral anarchy and bloodlust, so that “every intention of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). After just nine generations, the LORD had grown so weary of humanity that he “regretted” (i.e., yinchem: יִּנָּחֶם) creating man and “his heart was grieved” (Gen. 6:6). However, God recognized Noach (from the godly line of Seth) as a tzaddik (צַדִּיק), a righteous man of faith, and graciously made provision to save him from the wrath to come….
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Originally recorded Oct. 2018….
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“Then the LORD God formed the man from dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). We tend to think of dust in self-effacing terms; for example, repenting in “dust and ashes” expresses unworthiness and sinfulness. Yet the dust God used to form Adam was not worthless, but instead represented very fine particles of creation, a substance suspended midway between heaven and earth, almost a “spiritual matter.” This is suggested by the fact that God first intended man to be his image bearer and only then used dust as the material for that higher end. The sages note that regarding the creation of animals, God said, “Let the earth (eretz) bring forth according to their kinds” (Gen. 1:24), but regarding man he said, “Let us make him be’tzelmeinu – in our image (as a photograph), after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Therefore God brought forth the lower animals in groups, but he created Adam as the only one of its kind, the son of God and prince of God’s creation. God breathed into Adam nishmat chayim (נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים), “a living soul” (the word neshamah [נשָׁמָה] is used to describe life breathed into humans, not to animals). The LORD breathed “out of himself” to share his own spirit with mankind… Therefore your soul does not come from nature, but from God; your inner essence originates directly from the LORD. Yeshua breathes out and says to you, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).
The very first occurrence of the Name YHVH (יהוה) concerns the creation of Adam. When Adam first opened his eyes and human consciousness was born, he immediately understood that the LORD created all things, including himself. According to midrash, Adam’s first words were, יהוה מֶלֶךְ עוֹלָם וָעֶד / Adonai malakh olam va’ed: “The LORD is King for ever and ever” (Exod. 15:18). God then said, “Now the whole world will know that I am King,” and He was very pleased. This was the “tov me’od” (טוֹב מְאד) moment of creation, when God saw all that He had made “and found it very good” (Gen. 1:31).
See the graphic below as you listen to an audio podcast lesson on the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:26 and you consider what is meant by the “image and likeness” of God:
THE VERY FIRST PROPHECY OF THE TORAH concerns the promise of the coming “seed of the woman” who would vanquish the serpent (nachash) that had originally tempted and deceived Eve (Gen. 3:15). This prophecy is sometimes called the proto-euangelion (“first gospel”), since it is the starting point of all subsequent prophecy and redemptive history revealed in the Scriptures. Indeed, since the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God is foreshadowed here, this prophecy is linked to the original woman, Eve. Just as Eve became a carrier of the corruption of human nature by heeding the voice of the tempter, so she would be the carrier of God Himself for the deliverance of mankind through the advent of the Redeemer. In the tragic aftermath of the transgression of the first man and woman, then, God first announced His unfailing redemptive love for the human race that would culminate in the birth, sacrifice, and resurrection of Yeshua our Savior and Deliverer – “born of a woman, born under the law” (Gal. 4:4).
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There is rational, intuitive, and empirical evidence to believe that the universe was created in time by a transcendental power that is the source of all value, meaning, purpose, and so on. Martin Heidegger asked, “Why is there something rather than nothing,” which is not a question about a possible cause for an observed effect, but is a question about the underlying cause of any possible existence at all. The Scriptures reply: “For God’s invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature from the creation of the world, have been clearly perceived, because they are understood through what has been made, so people are without excuse” (Rom 1:20).
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For more on this see:
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“You do not know what spirit you are of…” (Luke 9:55). Yeshua’s words imply that each of us has the responsibility to know ourselves (γνῶθι σεαυτόν), and to learn to endure (and overcome) the natural motives and focus of our hearts. We discover the truth of our spiritual condition in the midst of our daily frustrations, as we experience conflict, opposition, and the inner groan that arises from pressure and disappointment. Spiritual growth means learning to transcend our negative reactions, to stop cursing our conflicts, and to awaken to the blessings that surround and pervade our way.
God’s grace enables us to open our eyes so that we may “choose life and live” (Deut. 30:19). Our daily struggle with sin reveals the contradiction between the ideals of our faith and the spontaneous reactions of our heart…. We live in between the “is” and the “ought,” the real and the ideal (though often we deny one or the other). The impulse to despair, to be angry, to complain and curse our experience can be transformed into an opportunity to pray, to ask God for help, and to refocus on what is real.
This is the “hidden blessing” (ברכת סוד) of our troubles. When we learn to surrender to God’s Presence, we can breathe in his peace and love, despite the grief we encounter over ourselves and others. When we come to the light, and do not deny the truth about our condition, we can honestly ask the LORD for healing (Heb. 4:16). When we seek for the good – and even bless the struggle – we express our trust that God will use our sorrow to help us grow and to bring beauty from our ashes (2 Cor. 7:10). Hashivenu! “Turn us back to you, O LORD, and we shall be turned…”
V’zot HaBerakhah (“this is the blessing”) is the final portion of the Torah, which records Moses’ last words to the people just before his death. It is always read just after the festival of Sukkot on the holiday called “Simchat Torah.” After reading this portion, we will “rewind the scroll” back to Parashat Bereshit to begin reading the Torah all over again. We do this every year because Talmud Torah – the study of Torah – never ends! A true student of Scripture cannot claim to have completed the study of the Torah, for the implications of such study extend forever. And so the cycle continues, over and over in a continuous chain of study, ever widening, and all encompassing.
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When Moses proclaimed the good news of God’s forthcoming redemption for Israel, the Torah states that the people could not listen because they were “short of breath” (Exod. 6:9). Interestingly, this phrase (i.e., mi’kotzer ru’ach: מִקּצֶר רוּחַ) can also mean “lacking in spirit,” as if in a paralyzed state of hopelessness. But how did the people become so downhearted? Had they forgotten the promise given to Abraham (Gen. 15:12-14)? Had they disregarded Joseph’s final words (Gen. 50:24-25)?
According to some of the sages, part of the reason for their “shortness of breath” (besides the cruel bondage and hard labor imposed on them, of course) was that the Israelites miscalculated the duration of their 400 year exile, and therefore they began to lose hope. When members of the tribe of Ephraim tried to escape from Egypt some 30 years before the time of the redemption, they were all killed by the Philistines, and many of the Israelites began to believe that they would remain as perpetual slaves (Shemot Rabbah, 20:11). They became “short of breath” and could no longer receive the message of the Holy Spirit…
In this special “High Holiday” audio presentation, I discuss the holiday of Yom Kippur and its themes, particularly in reference to the atonement given in the Messiah Yeshua, as well as parashat Ha’azinu, the Torah portion we always read between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Ha’azinu is an amazing prophetic song (“shirah”) written by Moses just before he died. Written nearly 1,500 years before the advent of Yeshua, Moses foresaw the climatic events of Israel’s history — its past, present, and most notably its future, including the future time of redemption and atonement at the End of the Age.
I hope you find this podcast helpful, chaverim. Shanah Tovah b’Yeshua!
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