Blessing for the Torah:
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-O’lam, asher
bachar banu m’kol ha-amim,
v’natan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn
ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe,
(Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim , King of the Universe,
you have selected us from among all the peoples,
and have given us your Torah. Blessed are you, YHVH,
giver of the Torah. Ameyn.)
This section starts with the evidence
of being in a covenant relationship with YHVH and it ends with the evidence of
one (Esav) who does not seek to be in a covenant relationship with YHVH. We see
Yitzchak is abundantly blessed even in famine and we see Esav grabbing what he
can and grieving his parents for the kind of choices he makes. The sages tell
us that Esav was known for taking married woman and doing whatever he pleased.
The evidence of these two spirits
still exists today.
Let us ask ourselves this question:
Would our fathers Avraham Yitzchak
and Yakov be pleased with the way modern day Christianity and even Judaism
conducts itself and its affairs in this world?
Yet we call ourselves children of
Avraham, are we truly his children?
Jer 6:16 Thus said יהוה, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where
the good way is, and walk in it; and find rest for yourselves. But they said,
‘We do not walk in it.’
Jer 6:17 “And I
raised up watchmen over you, and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the ram’s
horn!’ But they said, ‘We do not listen.’
Jer 6:18
“Therefore hear, you nations, and know, O congregation, what is upon
them!
Jer 6:19 “Hear, O
earth! See, I am bringing evil upon this people, even the fruit of their
thoughts, because they have not listened to My words, nor My Torah – and they
rejected it.
I don’t believe there can be any
doubt in the mind of a discerning believer that we have rejected our ancient scriptural
foundations and replaced them with those laid by men and their doctrines. Many
today follow in the paths of Esav, eager to expand and control and take what
does not belong to them. The Good News does not belong to the church, it never
has or never will, it has and will always be the inheritance of Yisrael.
Jer 5:30 “An astounding and horrible matter has come
to be in the land:
Jer 5:31 The prophets have prophesied falsely1,
and the priests rule by their own hand, and My people have loved it so.2
And what are you going to do at the end of it? Footnotes: 1See
27:14,15. 2Isa. 30:10, 2 Tim. 4:3.
Jer 2:13 “For My people have done two evils: they have
forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters1, to hew out for
themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns, which do not hold water. Footnote: 1See
17:13.
The Ruach of YHVH can only be poured out in Torah shaped clay vessels.
Gen 26:12 And Yitsḥaq
sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold, and יהוה blessed him.
See 26:1 – There was a “ra av” or famine in the land.
We notice in these first verses that YHVH particularly
instructs Yitzchak not to go down to Mitzraim/Egypt. Then YHVH confirms again
the covenant which he made with Abraham.
Gen 26:1 And there was a scarcity of food in the land,
besides the first scarcity of food which was in the days of Aḇraham. And Yitsḥaq went to Aḇimeleḵ, sovereign of the
Philistines, in Gerar.
Gen 26:2 And
יהוה appeared to him and said, “Do not
go down to Mitsrayim, live in the land which I command you.
Gen 26:3 “Sojourn
in this land. And I shall be with you and bless you, for I give all these lands
to you and your seed. And I shall establish the oath which I swore to Aḇraham
your father.
Gen 26:4 “And I
shall increase your seed like the stars of the heavens, and I shall give all
these lands to your seed. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall
be blessed,
Gen 26:5 because
Aḇraham
obeyed My voice and guarded My Charge: My commands, My laws, and My Torot1.”
Footnote: 1Torot - plural of Torah, teaching
Gen 26:6 And Yitsḥaq
dwelt in Gerar.
The apostolic writings very clear instruct us to walk as
our forefathers walked. See Rom 4.
Heb 6:12 in order that you do not become sluggish, but
imitate those who through belief and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews chapter 11 is that great Hebrew hall of fame. In
chapter 12:1,2 we read:
Heb 11:1 And belief is the substance of what is
expected, the proof of what is not seen.
Heb 11:2 For by this the elders obtained witness.
Heb 11:6 But without belief it is impossible to please
Him, for he who comes to Elohim has to believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him.
Heb 11:7 By belief, Noaḥ, having been warned
of what was yet unseen, having feared, prepared an ark to save his house,
through which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which
is according to belief.
Heb 11:8 By
belief, Aḇraham obeyed when he
was called to go out to the place which he was about to receive as an
inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Heb 11:9 By
belief, he sojourned in the land of promise as a stranger, dwelling in tents
with Yitsḥaq and Ya’aqoḇ, the heirs with him
of the same promise,
Heb 11:10
for he was looking for the city having foundations, whose builder and
maker is Elohim.
Heb 11:11 By
belief also, Sarah herself was enabled to conceive seed, and she bore a child
when she was past the normal age, because she deemed Him trustworthy who had
promised.
Heb 11:13 In belief all these died, not having received
the promises, but seeing them from a distance, welcomed and embraced them, and
confessed that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. Footnote: 1See
v. 39.
Heb 11:14 For those who speak this way make it clear
that they seek a fatherland.
Heb 11:24 By belief, Mosheh, having become great,
refused to be called the son of the daughter of Pharaoh,
Heb 11:25 choosing rather to be afflicted with the
people of Elohim than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time,
Heb 11:26 deeming the reproach of Messiah greater
riches than the treasures in Mitsrayim, for he was looking to the reward.
Heb 11:27 By belief, he left Mitsrayim, not fearing the
wrath of the sovereign, for he was steadfast, as seeing Him who is invisible.
Heb 11:28 By belief, he performed the Passover and the
sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the first-born should touch them.
Heb 11:29 By belief, they passed through the Red Sea as
by dry land, and when the Mitsrites tried it, they were drowned.
Heb 11:30 By belief, the walls of Yeriḥo fell, having been
surrounded for seven days.
Heb 11:36 And others had trial of mockings and
floggings and more, of chains and imprisonment.
Heb 11:37 They were stoned, they were tried, they were
sawn in two, they were slain with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in
goatskins, being in need, afflicted, mistreated,
Heb 11:38 of whom the world was not worthy – wandering
in deserts and mountains and caves and holes of the earth.
Heb 11:39 And having obtained witness through the
belief, all these did not receive the promise,1 Footnote: 1See
v. 13.
Heb 12:1 We too, then, having so great a cloud of
witnesses all around us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so
easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race set before us,
Heb 12:2 looking to the Princely Leader and Perfecter
of our belief, יהושע, who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the stake, having despised the shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of Elohim.
We were always intended to walk in their footsteps.
Gen 26:13 And the
man grew great and went forward until he became very great.
Gen 26:14 And he
came to have possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great body of
servants, and the Philistines envied him.
We must ask the very painful question as to why we do not
prosper as Yitzchak prospered.
The answer is not easy because we too will go through
many trail and tribulations, however in the measure that we still have the
spirit and the heart of Esav in us will surely be the measure that we will be
prevented from enjoying YHVH’s covenant blessings.
The question then is how much of Esav still dwells within
each one of us?
We see the Esav spirit clearly in control of the world
and we see how this is going to have disastrous effects on the people of this
earth.
Remember the spirit of Esav is a spirit that cannot
tolerate the spirit and the values of his brother Yakov. The spirit of the
church generally cannot tolerate the Hebraic roots of their faith. The spirit
of Esav must conquer and control and possess what is not theirs to possess.
Gen 26:15 And the
Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in
the days of Aḇraham his father, and filled them with dirt.
There is still a spirit in the world that seeks to hinder
or stop the flow of the revelation of the Avrahamic covenant to the world.
We see again and again that when Yisrael does
not dwell
in the land it becomes a barren desert where nothing much grows, however when
they return prosperity and blessing returns to the land.
Gen 26:16 And Aḇimeleḵ said
to Yitsḥaq,
“Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
Gen 26:17 So Yitsḥaq
went from there and pitched
his tent
in the wadi Gerar, and dwelt there.
Gen 26:18 And
Yitsḥaq dug again the
wells of water which they had dug in the days of Aḇraham
his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Aḇraham.
And he called them by the names which his father had called them.
Note how these men broke the covenant made with Avraham
(21:27). These descendants cannot be trusted even to this day to keep any kind
of covenant.
Gen 26:19 But when
Yitsḥaq’s servants dug in the wadi and found a well of running
water there,
Gen 26:20 the
herdsmen of Gerar strove with Yitsḥaq’s
herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” And he called the name of the well Ěseq,
because they strove with him.
Gen 26:21 And they
dug another well, and they strove over that one too, and he called its name
Sitnah.
Gen 26:22 And he
moved from there and dug another well, and they did not strive over it. And he
called its name Reḥoḇoth, and said, “For now יהוה has made room for us, and we shall
bear fruit in the land.”
The hidden message of the wells: The first well
was named “Esek” speaks of strife from outside. The second well
was named “Sitnah” speaks of continued strife from within. The
third well was named “Reḥoboth” which speaks of wide
open places.
This has
been described as similar to the Messianic restoration. When we begin to
rediscover the ancient wells of the truth of Torah, which have been blocked by
the “Philistines” you experience strife from those outside then from those
inside (Esek) and then when you move on and leave them behind, you have space to breath. (Rehoboth)
Pro 16:7 When a man’s ways please יהוה, He makes even his enemies to be at
peace with him.
Gen 26:23 And from
there he went up to Be’ĕrsheḇa.
Well of oath – a more perfect place.
Gen 26:24 And יהוה appeared to him the same night and
said, “I am the Elohim of your father Aḇraham. Do not fear, for I am with you, and shall bless
you and increase your seed for My servant Aḇraham’s sake.”
Gen 26:25 And he
built an altar there, and called on the Name of יהוה, and he pitched his tent there, and
the servants of Yitsḥaq dug a well there.
We
see again that the fathers PITCHED THEIR TENTS – BUILT ALTARS – DUG WELLS. Let
us follow in their footsteps.
Gen 26:26 And Aḇimeleḵ came
to him from Gerar, with Aḥuzzath, one of his friends, and Piḵol the
commander of his army.
Gen 26:27 And
Yitsḥaq said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing you
have hated me and have sent me away from you?”
Gen 26:28 But they
said, “We have clearly seen that יהוה is with you. And we said, ‘Please,
let there be an oath between us, between you and us. And let us make a covenant
with you,
Gen 26:29 that you
do no evil to us, as we have not touched you, and as we have done only good
toward you, and have sent you away in peace. You are now blessed by יהוה.’ ”
Gen 26:30 And he
made them a feast, and they ate and drank.
Gen 26:31 And they
rose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another. And Yitsḥaq let
them go, and they departed from him in peace.
Gen 26:32 And on
the same day it came to be that the servants of Yitsḥaq
came and informed him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We
have found water.”
Gen 26:33 So he
called it Shiḇah. Therefore the name of the city is Be’ĕrsheḇa to
this day.
Gen 26:34 And when
Ěsaw was forty years old, he took as wives Yehuḏith
the daughter of Be’ĕri the Ḥittite, and Basemath the daughter of Ělon the Ḥittite.
Gen 26:35 And they
were a bitterness of spirit to Yitsḥaq and
Riḇqah.
What was the secret of how our fathers were sustained and
endured all the tests and trails and even prosperity that came to them?
I believe like Shaul they learned the secret of
CONTENTMENT.
In fact Paul warns us to stay away from people who
believe that set apartness is a way to become rich.
1Ti 6:5 …. corrupt minds and deprived of the truth,
who think that reverence is a means of gain – withdraw from such.
Php 4:11 Not that I speak concerning need, for I have
learned to be content in whatever state I am.
Php 4:12 I know what it is to be humbled, and I know
what it is to have in excess. In any and every situation I have learned
both to be filled, and to be hungry, both to have in excess, and to be in need.
Php 4:13 I have strength to do all, through Messiah1
who empowers me. Footnote: 1John 15:5, 2 Cor. 3:5-6, 2 Cor. 12:9,
Eph. 3:20, Philip. 2:13, Heb. 13:20-21, 1 John 4:4.
1Ti 6:6 But reverence with contentment is great gain.
1Ti 6:7 For we brought naught into the world, and it
is impossible to take any out.
“Baruch atah YHVH,
Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam
nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh,
our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and
have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, Yahweh giver
of the Torah – Ameyn
Please note these notes
are under construction and are subject to correction and are in no way a final
authority on any subject.