Our Torah portion for this week (i.e., parashat Naso) includes the famous blessing that Aaron and his sons (i.e., the priests) were instructed to recite over the people of Israel: “The LORD bless you and guard you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Num. 6:24-26). The Hebrew text of the blessing begins with three words, is comprised of three parts, invokes the divine Name three times, and is therefore appropriately called “the three-in-one blessing” (שלוש בברכה אחת). Notice that the words are spoken in the grammatical singular rather than plural because they are meant to have personal application, not to be a general benediction over a crowd of people. The phrase, “The LORD lift up His face toward you…” (יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ) pictures the beaming face of a parent as he lifts up his beloved child in joy… The repetitive construction of God “lifting up His face” (יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיך) suggests that God’s compassion now flows outward to the child in superabundant grace. Undoubtedly Yeshua recited this very blessing over his disciples when he ascended back to heaven, though of course He would have spoken it in the grammatical first person: “I will bless you and keep you (אני אברך אותך ואשמור לך); I will shine upon you and will be gracious to you; I will lift up my countenance upon you, and give you my shalom” (Luke 24:50-51).
In the State of Israel, “Jerusalem Day” (i.e., Yom Yerushalayim: יום ירושלים) commemorates the re-unification of old city of Jerusalem on June 7th, 1967 during the infamous Six Day War. In 1968 the Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared Iyyar 28 to be a holiday to thank God for answering the 2,000-year-old expression of hope recited by Jews throughout the world: “Next Year in Jerusalem.” On March 23, 1998, the Knesset passed the Jerusalem Day Law, making it a national holiday.
Jerusalem is central to the Jewish heart. The Hebrew word “Zion” (ציון) is mentioned over 160 times in the Scriptures. That’s more than the words faith, hope, love, and countless other key words… And since Zion is a poetic form of the word Jerusalem (ירושׁלם), the number of occurrences swells to nearly 1,000! Since it’s the most frequently occurring place name in all the Scriptures, it’s no overstatement to say that God Himself is a Zionist…. “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth” (Psalm 50:2). “The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, O City of God” (Psalm 87:2-3). Indeed, Yeshua called Jerusalem the “City of the great King” (Psalm 48:2; Matt 5:35): It is the place where He was crucified, buried, resurrected, and ascended to heaven; and is it furthermore the place where He will return to earth (Zech. 14:1-9).
In light of all this, how can we forget Zion, “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22)? Is she not “our mother” (Gal. 4:26)? Are we not her citizens, indeed, her exiles in this age? As the psalmist said, “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!” (Psalm 137:5-6).
The famous words, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 126:6) reveals prophetic truth about our Savior and Messiah. The word sha’alu (שאלו) means “you ask” (as in ask a sheilah, a question), and the word shalom (שׁלוֹם) is the name of Yeshua, the Prince of Peace (i.e., Sar Shalom: שר־שלום). The word “Jerusalem” means “the teaching of peace” (jeru– comes from the same root as the word Torah [ירה], which means “teaching”). The command, “sha’alu shelom Yerushalayim” can therefore be construed, “ask about the Prince of Peace and His Teaching.” Amen. Yeshua the Messiah is indeed the rightful King of Jerusalem (Matt. 5:35) who is coming soon to establish Zion and to reign over all the earth (Isa. 62:7).
Our Torah portion this week (parashat Emor) lists the eight main holidays revealed in the Holy Scriptures. In the Torah, these “holidays” are called “appointed times” (i.e., mo’edim: מוֹעֲדִים), a word which comes from the Hebrew root meaning witness (עֵד). Other words formed from this root include edah (עֵדָה), a congregation, edut (עֵדוּת), a testimony, and so on. The related verb ya’ad (יָעַד) means to meet, assemble, or even to betroth. The significance of the holy days, then, is for the covenant people of the LORD to bear witness to God’s love and faithfulness.
“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘These are the appointed times of the LORD (מוֹעֲדֵי יְהוָה) that you shall proclaim as holy convocations (מִקְרָאֵי קדֶשׁ); they are My appointed times'” (Lev. 23:2). Note that these hallowed times – the very first of which is the weekly Sabbath – are “of the LORD,” meaning they should be regarded as appointments given by God Himself to help draw us closer to Him, to reveal prophetic truth, and to remind ourselves of His great plan for our lives. God did not give us the Torah in vain, friends, neither does He speak out of two sides of his his mouth… Yeshua was the Voice of the LORD speaking the words of Torah to Israel at Sinai, and therefore every “jot and tittle” (kotzo shel yod: קוֹצוֹ שֶׁל יוֹד) is indeed relevant to our lives as his followers (Matt. 5:18-19).
Our Torah reading for this week, parashat Vayechi (ויחי), recounts how the great patriarch Jacob adopted Joseph’s two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) as his own children. When Jacob blessed the boys, however, he intentionally reversed the birth order by putting the younger before the older, signifying that the old struggle he had faced as a child was over, and he now understood things differently. And note Ephraim and Manasseh’s reaction: the older did not envy the younger, nor did the younger boast over the older. The family had apparently learned that blessing from God is for the good of all, and that there is no real blessing apart from genuine humility that esteems the welfare of others.
Following this, Jacob was ready to summon his family to hear his final words. Among other things, he foretold how the Messiah would come from the line of Judah and then instructed his sons to bury him only in the promised land, and not in Egypt (Gen. 49:10-12; 49:29-32).
After his death, Joseph and his brothers, with various dignitaries of Egypt, formed a funeral procession and returned to Canaan to bury Jacob in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. After the funeral, they returned to Egypt, but Joseph’s brothers feared that he would now repay them for their former betrayal and threw themselves on his mercy. Joseph reassured them that they had no reason to fear him and reminded them that God had overruled their earlier intent by intending him to be a blessing to the whole world (Gen. 50:20).
The portion ends with the account of the death of Joseph, who made the sons of Israel promise to take his bones with them when the LORD would bring them back to the land of Canaan (alluding to the great Exodus to come). Joseph’s faith in the Jewish people’s return to the Promised Land is summarized by his statement: “God will surely remember you” (Gen. 50:24). He died at age 110, was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt, full of faith that he would be raised from the dead in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In our Torah portion for this week, parashat Vayigash, Benjamin stood before Joseph accused of the theft of a chalice, while Judah “drew near” (vayigash) and vicariously offered to bear the penalty for his brother, pleading with Joseph to spare his father the loss of yet another son. Joseph was so moved by Judah’s act of mesirat nefesh (self-sacrifice) that he decided the time had finally come for him to reveal his identity to his brothers. After clearing the room, he began speaking in Hebrew and said, אֲנִי יוֹסֵף הַעוֹד אָבִי חָי, “I am Joseph, is my father still alive?” When the brothers drew back in shock and dismay, Joseph said, “Draw near to me, please” (from the same verb nagash) and then explained how God providentially brought him to Egypt to save the family’s life….
The revelation of Joseph and his reconciliation with his brothers is a prophetic picture of the acharit hayamim (end of days) when the Jewish people will come to understand that Yeshua is indeed the One seated at the right hand of the majesty on high as Israel’s Deliverer. At that time Yeshua will speak comforting words to His long lost brothers and restore their place of blessing upon the earth. Indeed, the entire story of Joseph is rich in prophetic insight regarding our Lord and Savior. Vayigash (וַיִּגַּשׁ) means “and he drew near,” referring first to Judah’s intercession for the sins of his brothers, and then to Joseph’s reciprocal desire for the brothers to draw near to him (Gen. 44:18, 45:4). Joseph initiated the reconciliation by saying, גְּשׁוּ־נָא אֵלַי / g’shu na elai – “Please draw near to me,” and indeed there is a play on the verb nagash (נָגַשׁ), “draw near,” throughout this story. Yeshua is depicted both in Judah’s intercession (as the greater Son of Judah who interceded on behalf of the sins of Israel) and in Joseph’s role as the exalted Savior of the Jewish people in time of tribulation. When Joseph disclosed himself and asked, “Is my father alive,” we hear Yeshua evoking the confession of faith from the Jewish people: “I am Yeshua: do you now understand that My Father is alive?” Upon His coming revelation, all Israel will confess that indeed God the Father is “alive” and has vindicated the glory of His Son.
At Sinai we heard the voice of God (קוֹל אֱלהִים) speaking from the midst of the Fire (Deut. 4:33), an event that foreshadowed the great advent of the King and Lawgiver Himself, when the Eternal Word (דְבַר־יְהוָה) became flesh and dwelt with us (Phil. 2:6-7; John 1:1,14). Any theology that regards God as entirely transcendent (i.e., God is beyond any analogy with the finite) will have a problem with divine immanence (i.e., God is inherent and involved within the finite), since the highness, holiness, and perfection of God will make Him seem distant, outside of us, far away, and unknown…
Incarnational theology, on the other hand, manifests the magnificent humility and nearness of God to disclose the divine empathy. Indeed, the LORD became Immanuel (עִמָּנוּ אֵל), “God with us,” to share our mortal condition, to know our pain, and to experience what it means to be wounded by sin, to be abandoned, alienated, forsaken. It is God’s own bittul hayesh (בִּטּוּל הַיֵּשׁ) – his self-nullification for the sake of love and truth. The “Eternal made flesh” bridges the gap between the realm of Ein Sof (אין סוף), the infinitely transcendent One, and the finite world of people lost within their sinful frailty. Of course we believe Adonai Echad (יְהוָה אֶחָד) – that the “LORD is One” – both in the sense of being exalted over all things but also in the sense of being compassionately involved in all things (Rom. 11:36). We therefore celebrate the giving of the Torah both at Sinai and especially at Bethlehem with the birth of Messiah. We celebrate that God is indeed the King and Ruler over all, but we further affirm that God’s authority and rule extends to all worlds – including the realm of our finitude and need…
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, the climax of Sinai was the revelation of the Sanctuary. The two tablets of the law, summarizing the Ten Commandments, were stored inside the famous Ark of the Covenant (אֲרוֹן בְּרִית־יְהוָה), a sacred “three-in-one” box placed in the innermost chamber of the Tabernacle called the Holy of Holies (קדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים). As such, the Ark served as kisei ha-kavod (כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד), the Throne of Glory itself. Upon the cover (or crown) of the Ark (i.e., the kapporet) were fashioned two cherubim (i.e., angel-like figures) that faced one another (Exod. 25:17-18). According to the Talmud (Succah 5b), each cherub had the face of a child – one boy and one girl – and their wings spread heavenward as their eyes gazed upon the cover (Exod. 25:20). It was here that God’s Voice would be heard during the Yom Kippur service, when sacrificial blood was sprinkled upon the crown to symbolize the atonement of sin secured through Messiah, the Word that became flesh for us… In the very heart of the Sanctuary, then, we see the Word of God and the sacrificial blood.
The LORD God Almighty was clothed with human skin: our flesh, our bones… The miracle of the incarnation is the Absolute Paradox, as Kierkegaard said, wherein the infinite and the finite meet in mystery of the Divine Presence. Here God “touches a leper,” eats with sinners and prostitutes, sheds human tears, and suffers heartache like all other men… The gloriously great God, the very Creator of the cosmos, has “emptied Himself” to come in the form of a lowly servant (δοῦλος) – disguised to the eyes of the proud and hardhearted, but is revealed as High Priest to those who are genuinely broken and in profound need. The LORD God is God over all possible worlds, and that includes both the celestial realms of the heavens but also the world of the fallen, the ashamed, the alienated, and the lost… God’s infinite condescension reveals and augments the majesty of His infinite transcendence. There is no world – nor ever shall there be such – where the LORD God Almighty does not reign and have preeminence.
Do not suppose for a moment that the Torah of Moses does not teach “incarnational” theology. Since God created human beings in his image and likeness, the “anthropomorphic language” of Scripture is meaningful. The LORD reveals himself in human terms – using human language, expressing human emotions, and so on, as it says: Moses spoke to God panim el panim – “face to face” (Deut. 34:10). The Torah always has to take on human form – the Word made flesh – for the sake of human beings who live in flesh and blood reality…
The greatest expression of God’s word is found in the Presence of Yeshua. This is the Word of God that “tabernacles” with us, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Yeshua is the “Living Torah,” Immanuel (עִמָּנוּ אֵל), “God with us,” who enters our world to rescue us from death. Our Scriptures state that “in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, whom He appointed the Heir of all things, through whom also He created the worlds” (Heb 1:2). Note that the Greek construction for the phrase translated, “by his son” is ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ, which literally means “he spoke to us in Son” — that is, in the language or voice of the Son of God Himself… God speaks the language “of Son” from the midst of the fire revealed at Zion. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe (μετὰ αἰδοῦς καὶ εὐλαβείας) – for our God is Esh Okhelah – a Consuming Fire” (Heb. 12:28-29).
Addendum: Consider further the metaphorical and anthropomorphic language of the Scriptures: God “sees,” God “hears,” the “hand of the LORD” saves, etc. Without an implied incarnational theology, there would be no language that we could comprehend about God who is the Infinite One that transcends all things… God gets angry; God feels sorrow; God is jealous; God is a lover, etc. all these metaphors bring the language of heaven into the world of humanity… The Spirit that imparts revelation does so inside a human brain and is translated into human apprehension. Yeshua is the Substance of the shadowy talk of analogical language; he embodies God-life before us…. Yeshua is the Word of God made flesh — able to touch us, know us, share in our suffering, heal us of our sin-sickness, etc.
In our Torah portion for Chanukah week, parashat Miketz (i.e., Gen. 41:1-44:17) we will read how imprisoned Joseph successfully interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams and suddenly rose to power in Egypt. Because of a famine in the land of Canaan, however, his brothers (who had earlier betrayed him) came to Egypt in search of food. A disguised Joseph then tested his brothers to see whether they were the same people who had callously sold him into slavery, or whether they had undergone teshuvah (repentance).
The eventual revelation of Joseph and his reconciliation with his brothers is a prophetic picture of acharit ha-yamim (the “End of Days”) when Israel, in Great Tribulation, will come to accept Yeshua as Israel’s true deliverer. Presently, the veil is still over the eyes of the Jewish people and they collectively regard Yeshua as an “Egyptian” of sorts. In this connection, I list some of the ways that Joseph is a “type” or foreshadowing of the coming Yeshua as the Suffering Servant (see “Mashiach ben Yosef”).
Last week’s Torah (i.e., Vayishlach) recounted how Jacob had wrestled with a mysterious Angel before returning to the Promised Land to be reconciled with his brother Esau. No longer named Ya’akov (“heel holder” [of Esau]), but Yisrael (“prince of God”), a transformed Jacob finally returned to Hebron to see his father Isaac, nearly 34 years after he had left home. However, on the way back home his beloved wife Rachel died while giving birth to his twelfth son Benjamin.
This week’s portion (i.e., parashat Vayeshev) begins with Jacob living back in the land promised to Abraham and Isaac with his 12 sons, but the narrative quickly turns to Jacob’s favorite son Joseph, who was seventeen years old at the time. The Torah states that Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons since he was “the son of his old age,” and he was the firstborn son of his beloved wife Rachel. Indeed, Jacob made him an ornamented tunic to indicate his special status in the family.
As the favored son, Joseph’s job was to oversee the activities of Jacob’s concubines sons (Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher) and to bring “reports” about their activities back to Jacob. However, this role as the overseer and “favored son” was too much for the other brothers, and they became jealous of him and hated him. To make matters worse, Joseph related two dreams to his brothers that foretold that he was destined to rule over them, increasing their envy and hatred of him (the implication of the dreams was that all of Jacob’s family would become subservient to him). Jacob rebuked Joseph for arousing his brothers’ hatred, but he inwardly took note and waited for the fulfillment of the dreams.
The portion records that one day the brothers went out to pasture their herds, but when they saw Joseph coming to check on them, they conspired to kill him, though later they decided to sell him to some slave traders instead. The brothers then staged Joseph’s death by dipping his special tunic into goat’s blood and bringing it to their father, who was deceived into thinking that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.
Meanwhile Joseph was purchased at a slave trade by Potiphar, a captain of Pharaoh’s guard. The LORD was “with Joseph,” however, and blessed everything he did. In fact, soon he was promoted to be the head of Potiphar’s entire household affairs. Potiphar’s wife then began enticing Joseph to have an affair with her, and though he steadfastly refused her advances, she later falsely accused him of attempted rape. Potiphar was understandably outraged (at his wife?) and threw Joseph into the royal prison, but again God showed him favor there and soon was appointed to a position of authority in the prison administration.
The reading ends with two prophetic episodes in Joseph’s life that eventually would bring him to the attention of Pharaoh himself. While in prison, Joseph met Pharaoh’s wine steward and chief baker, both incarcerated for offending their king (according to Rashi, a fly was found in the goblet prepared by the butler, and a pebble in the baker’s confection). Both men had disturbing dreams which Joseph correctly interpreted; in three days, he told them, the wine steward would be released but the baker would be hanged. Joseph then asked the wine steward to advocate for his release with Pharaoh. Joseph’s predictions were fulfilled, but the wine steward forgot all about Joseph.
Note that this Torah reading is prophetic regarding Yeshua the Messiah. Joseph’s jealous brothers stripped him of his “coat of many colors” and threw him into a pit — a providential event that eventually led to the deliverance of the Jewish people by the hand of a “disguised savior.” Indeed, the life of Israel’s chosen son Joseph foreshadowed the two advents of Yeshua our Messiah: first as Israel’s Suffering Servant, and second as the national deliverer of the Jewish people during tribulation…
In our Torah reading for this week, called parashat Toldot (תוֹלדת), we learn that Isaac and Rebekah had been married for twenty years but were still without an heir to carry on the family line… Finally their prayers were answered and Rebekah conceived, though not without complications. When Rebekah inquired of the LORD about her travail, God told her that she was carrying twins that would be heads of two rival nations, but the younger child would in fact become the promised heir of the chosen people.
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.
Our Torah portion for this week (i.e., parashat Naso) includes the famous blessing that Aaron and his sons (i.e., the priests) were instructed to recite over the people of Israel: “The LORD bless you and guard you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Num. 6:24-26). The Hebrew text of the blessing begins with three words, is comprised of three parts, invokes the divine Name three times, and is therefore appropriately called “the three-in-one blessing” (שלוש בברכה אחת). Notice that the words are spoken in the grammatical singular rather than plural because they are meant to have personal application, not to be a general benediction over a crowd of people. The phrase, “The LORD lift up His face toward you…” (יִשָּׂא יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ) pictures the beaming face of a parent as he lifts up his beloved child in joy… The repetitive construction of God “lifting up His face” (יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיך) suggests that God’s compassion now flows outward to the child in superabundant grace. Undoubtedly Yeshua recited this very blessing over his disciples when he ascended back to heaven, though of course He would have spoken it in the grammatical first person: “I will bless you and keep you (אני אברך אותך ואשמור לך); I will shine upon you and will be gracious to you; I will lift up my countenance upon you, and give you my shalom” (Luke 24:50-51).
In the State of Israel, “Jerusalem Day” (i.e., Yom Yerushalayim: יום ירושלים) commemorates the re-unification of old city of Jerusalem on June 7th, 1967 during the infamous Six Day War. In 1968 the Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared Iyyar 28 to be a holiday to thank God for answering the 2,000-year-old expression of hope recited by Jews throughout the world: “Next Year in Jerusalem.” On March 23, 1998, the Knesset passed the Jerusalem Day Law, making it a national holiday.
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Last week’s Torah (i.e., Vayishlach) recounted how Jacob had wrestled with a mysterious Angel before returning to the Promised Land to be reconciled with his brother Esau. No longer named Ya’akov (“heel holder” [of Esau]), but Yisrael (“prince of God”), a transformed Jacob finally returned to Hebron to see his father Isaac, nearly 34 years after he had left home. However, on the way back home his beloved wife Rachel died while giving birth to his twelfth son Benjamin.
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