{"id":2461,"date":"2020-11-23T04:30:31","date_gmt":"2020-11-23T10:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/?p=2461"},"modified":"2020-11-28T07:41:13","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T13:41:13","slug":"jacobs-great-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hebrew4christians.com\/training\/jacobs-great-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacob\u2019s Great Dream…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In our Torah portion this week (parashat Vayetzei<\/a>), we read that when Jacob fled from his home in Canaan, he \u201ccame upon a certain place and stayed there that night\u201d (Gen. 28:11). The Hebrew text, however, indicates that Jacob did not just happen upon a random place, but rather that \u201che came to the place\u201d — vayifga ba\u2019makom<\/em> (\u05d5\u05b7\u05d9\u05bc\u05b4\u05e4\u05b0\u05d2\u05bc\u05b7\u05e2 \u05d1\u05bc\u05b7\u05de\u05bc\u05b8\u05e7\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd). The sages therefore wondered why the Torah states ba\u2019makom<\/em>, \u201cthe place,\u201d rather than b\u2019makom<\/em>, \u201ca place\u201d? Moreover, the verb translated \u201che came\u201d is yifga<\/em> (from paga<\/em>\u2019: \u05e4\u05bc\u05b8\u05d2\u05b7\u05e2), which means to encounter or to meet, suggesting that Jacob\u2019s stop was a divine appointment.<\/p>\n

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The Torah then relates that Jacob laid down to sleep, \u201cand he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Gen. 28:12-15).<\/p>\n

The Hebrew word makom<\/em> (\u201cplace\u201d) comes from the verb kum<\/em> (\u05e7\u05d5\u05bc\u05dd), meaning \u201cto arise,\u201d and in Jewish tradition, ha-makom<\/em> became a Name for God.\u00a0 The early sages therefore interpreted the place to refer to Jerusalem, and the Talmud further identifies \u201cthe place\u201d Jacob encountered as Mount Moriah – the very location of the great Akedah<\/em> – based on the language used in Genesis 22:4: \u201cOn the third day, Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place (i.e., ha\u2019makom<\/em>: \u05d4\u05b7\u05de\u05bc\u05b8\u05e7\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd) in the distance\u201d (Sanhedrin 95b, Chulin 91b).\u00a0 If that is the case, then Jacob\u2019s dream of the ladder would have functioned as a revelation of the coming glory of the resurrected Messiah – the Promised Seed whom Isaac foreshadowed and through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed.\u00a0 It was Yeshua, the Angel of the LORD, who came to \u201cdescend\u201d (as the Son of Man) and to \u201crise\u201d (as the resurrected LORD) to be our mediator before God (see John 1:47-51). Perhaps the Talmud makes the claim that Jacob\u2019s vision occurred in Jerusalem because Bethel later became the site for one of two idolatrous shrines (i.e., the golden calves at Bethel and Dan) established by King Jeroboam of the Northern Kingdom which he set up to discourage worship at Solomon’s Temple in the City of Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 12:28-29).
\nAt any rate, the Hebrew word for \u201cintercessor\u201d (i.e., mafgia<\/em>: \u05de\u05b7\u05e4\u05b0\u05d2\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9\u05e2\u05b7) comes from the same verb (paga<\/em>\u2019) mentioned in our verse.\u00a0 Yeshua is our Intercessor who makes \u201ccontact\u201d with God on our behalf.\u00a0 Through His sacrifice for our redemption upon the cross (i.e., his greater Akedah), Yeshua created a meeting place (paga<\/em>\u2019) between God and man.\u00a0 Therefore we see the later use of paga\u2019 in Isaiah 53:6, “…the Lord laid on him (i.e., hifgia bo<\/em>: \u05d4\u05b4\u05e4\u05b0\u05d2\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9\u05e2\u05b7 \u05d1\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9) the iniquity of us all,” indicating that our sins “fell” on Yeshua as He made intercession for us (i.e., yafgia<\/em>: \u05d9\u05b7\u05e4\u05b0\u05d2\u05bc\u05b4\u05d9\u05e2\u05b7) for us (Isa. 53:12).\u00a0 Because of Yeshua, God touches us and we are able to touch God… And today, our resurrected LORD “ever lives to make intercession (paga<\/em>\u2019) for us” (Heb. 7:25). He is still touched by our need and sinful condition (Heb. 4:15).<\/p>\n

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