11/15/2019

Parashat 9 Portion 35 Ber 38:1-40 Yesh/Is 37:31-37 Matt 1:1-17






Bar’chu et YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed!
Baruch ata YHVHEloheinu melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu eht Torah-to. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”

(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the blessed One for all eternity. 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.

Gen 38:1  And at that time it came to be that Yehuḏah left his brothers, and turned aside to a man, an Aḏullamite whose name was Ḥirah.

Rashi comments:  “ va yered yehudah” Yehudah went down – his descent was figurtative in the sense that his brothers deposed him from his position of leadership. This narrative interrupt the story of Yosef to teach how Yehudah’s brothers lowered him in esteem because of the incident with Yosef, for when they saw their father’s intense grief, they blamed Yehudah for it. “You told us to sell him,” they charged. “Had you advised us to send us to send him back to Father, we would have listened!” As a result of their disenchantment with him, Yehudah moved away from the family and settled in Adullam, where he became the business partner of Chirah.”

Adullam means “justice for the people,” the sages tell us that because of Yehudah’s culpability for Yakov’s suffering, he was repaid by losing his two oldest sons, so he would experience the same grief as his father – Sforno.
As the old adage goes “what goes around comes around” or as the second writings succinctly states -
Gal 6:7  Do not be led astray: Elohim is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap.

“Chirah” refers to a noble family – Strongs 2437. However the Hebrew root of this word – charar - is to “shame or to wax pale” Strongs 2357 – (Deut 7:1-3 forbids marriage with Canaanites)

This sounds like Yehudah was so down because of what happened that he simply decided to assimilate.
Assimilations is the struggle of Yehudah and all those grafted into the same family tree today. We are so pressured by the world and by the spirt of this world to conform to the pattern of this world.
Instead of taking a stand we succumb to the pressure. This is the curse of the “galut”
See commentary Stones Chumash page 208 vs 2&6-10.

Rom 12:2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you prove what is that good and well-pleasing and perfect desire of Elohim.

Gen 38:2  And Yehuḏah saw there a daughter of a certain Kenaʽanite whose name was Shuwa. And he took her and went in to her.

Kenanite – is never referred to as a merchant in the Torah. The Torah describes Kenanites as the descendants of Cham; only later did the word Canaanite, acquire the additional meaning of trade or merchant (Zephaniah 1:11, Ezekiel 16:29). Shuah – meaning wealth.
The Hebrew word “galut” applies to those who live outside the land. The Hebrew word “gala” which means to go into exile can also mean to be naked or uncovered – and thus to be ashamed and vulnerable.

Gen 38:3  So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Ěr. (Heb – awake)
Gen 38:4  And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. (Heb – strong)
Gen 38:5  And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shĕlah.(Heb – petition) And he was at Keziḇ (Heb – false) when she bore him.
Gen 38:6  And Yehuḏah took a wife for Ěr his first-born, and her name was Tamar. (Heb – palm tree)
Gen 38:7  But Ěr, Yehuḏah’s first-born, was evil in the eyes of יהוה, and יהוה took his life.
Gen 38:8  And Yehuḏah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.”
Gen 38:9  And Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. And it came to be, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he spilled on the ground, lest he should give an offspring to his brother.
Gen 38:10  But what he did displeased יהוה, so He took his life too.
Gen 38:11  Then Yehuḏah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shĕlah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die as his brothers did.” And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

Book of Jasher 45:23-24
23. And in those days Judah went to the house of Shem and took Tamar the daughter of Elam, the son of Shem, for a wife for his first born Er. 24. And Er came to his wife Tamar, and she became his wife, and when he came to her he outwardly destroyed his seed, and his work was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord slew him.  (Gen 10:22)

‘’The three women in Samson’s life were Gentiles. The first was the woman from Timnah whom he married, the second was the whore from Gaza, and the third was the only woman mentioned by name, Delilah, with whom Samson “fell in love. The Rabbis also learn of Samson’s many liaisons with foreign women from his end. When Samson was imprisoned in Gaza he was a “mill slave [tohen] in the prison” (Jud. 16:21). The Rabbis understand the word “tohen” as meaning sin, specifically sexual misdoing, which they deduce from Job 31:10: “May my wife grind [tithan] for another, may others kneel over her!”
Each of the Philistines would bring his wife to Samson’s prison, that he might impregnate her, so that they would have a child as strong and powerful as Samson. In this vein, the Rabbis cite the popular saying: “Before a wine drinker, set wine, before a plowman, set a basket of roots.” Since Samson was such a womanizer, they brought women to him (BT Sotah 10a). With these statements the Rabbis might mean to demonstrate, once again, that Samson’s beginnings determined his end and that his punishment fit the crime.’’

Gen 38:12  And after a long time the daughter of Shuwa, Yehuḏah’s wife, died. And Yehuḏah was comforted, and went up to his sheep-shearers at Timnah, he and his friend Ḥirah the Aḏullamite.
Gen 38:13  And it was reported to Tamar, saying, “See, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”
Gen 38:14  And she took off her widow’s garments, and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat at the entrance to Ěnayim which was on the way to Timnah. For she saw that Shĕlah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.
Gen 38:15  And Yehuḏah saw her, and reckoned her for a whore, for she had covered her face.
Gen 38:16  And he turned aside to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What do you give me to come in to me?”
Gen 38:17  And he said, “Let me send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “Do you give me a pledge until you send it?”
Gen 38:18  So he said, “What pledge should I give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” And he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.
Gen 38:19  And she arose and went away, and removed her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.
Gen 38:20  And Yehuḏah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Aḏullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.
Gen 38:21  And he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the way to Ěnayim?” And they said, “There was no cult prostitute in this place.”
Gen 38:22  And he returned to Yehuḏah and said, “I have not found her. And the men of the place also said there was no cult prostitute in this place.”
Gen 38:23  And Yehuḏah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we become despised, for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”
Gen 38:24  And it came to be, about three months after, that Yehuḏah was informed, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has whored, and see, she has conceived by whoring.” And Yehuḏah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”
Gen 38:25  When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please examine whose these are: the seal and the cord and the staff.”

It is rather ironic that the same words “identify if you please” used by Yehudah to ask his father to identify Yosef’s garment(37:32) are the same words Tamar uses when revealing Yehudah’s infidelity with her – see vs 38:25 – “haker na” –

Gen 38:26  And Yehuḏah examined and said, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shĕlah my son.” And he never knew her again.
Gen 38:27  And it came to be, at the time for giving birth, that see, twins were in her womb.
Gen 38:28  And it came to be, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand. And the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”
Gen 38:29  And it came to be, as he drew back his hand, that see, his brother came out! And she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” So his name was called Perets.
Gen 38:30  And afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. So his name was called Zeraḥ.

Isa 37:31  “And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Yehuḏah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. (perfect balance between the physical and spiritual)
Isa 37:32  “For out of Yerushalayim comes forth a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Tsiyon – the ardour of יהוה of hosts does this.

The only difference between the name of YHVH and Yehudah is that Yehudah has a  “daleth” – daleth is a symbol of a door. Yehudah was destined to be a doorway for the remnant.

Yud Hey Vay Hey = YHVH. Yud hey vav DALETH hey = Yehudah.

Jer 36:3  “It could be that the house of Yehuḏah hears of all the evil which I plan to bring upon them, so that each one turns back from his evil way, and I shall pardon their crookedness and their sin.”

The key is possibly Yosef – he was the one who united the brothers again.

Is 'The Church' Israel?
So, just what does fullness of the Gentiles mean? There are three prominent views to be considered. First, some say that the ‘Church’ is Israel; thus the fullness of the Gentiles refers to the glory of the Church. The idea that the Church replaces Israel is sometimes called ‘replacement theology.’ This view of the glory of the Church is incorrect for several reasons.

First, not only is this view grammatically impossible, it is contextually impossible. All the way through Romans 11, “Israel” is referred to as the Jewish people, and distinct from the Gentile believers (vv. 2, 7, 25, 26). Also, it is redemptively impossible. In 11:25, it says blindness in part has happened to Israel, but of the “Ekklessia” (called out ones) Paul says that the eyes of our understanding have been enlightened as to who Messiah is (Ephesians 1:18). Thus the Ekklessia/Kehelah as Israel being blind simply makes no sense. Plus, in Romans 11:26 a ‘saved Israel’ is equated with a ‘delivered Jacob’: …The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. The Ekklessia, which is not spoken about in this chapter, is made up of those already redeemed, both Jews and Gentiles. Here blinded Israel is spoken of as one that is not yet redeemed, but will be. Finally, the view of the glory of the Church is thematically impossible. The whole theme and purpose of Romans 9-11 is to show YHVH’s faithfulness to the Jewish people, who are Israel (see Romans 9:3,4); it simply does not speak of Israel being replaced by, or identified as the Church.

Faithful Friends
The fullness of the Gentiles leading to “all Israel” being saved begs the question: When will this happen? When the greatest Jew-hater of all time, the Anti-Christ, comes on the scene. He will attempt to destroy all the Jews (Revelation 12) as well as all believers in Yeshua (Revelation 13:17), and

attempt to stop the return of Messiah to rescue the remnant Israel. According to Matthew 25:31-46, at this future time Gentile believers around the world will care for the Jewish people, the ‘least of His brethren’. When the Gentiles fulfill their calling to the Jewish people their witness will bring about a turning to Yeshua at Israel’s darkest hour. Though presently the majority of Israel is in unbelief, one day all Israel will be saved. Please note that the text does not say that all Israel may be saved, but that all Israel will be saved. They will turn to Messiah and be saved even as the Prophets, along with Paul, predicted (Zechariah 12:10; Isaiah 53; Psalm 118:22, etc.). Israel’s turning to Yeshua brings about His Second Coming from the ‘Heavenly Tzion’ to the earthly Tzion - Jerusalem! This idea of the Gentiles ministering to Israel is found throughout the Old Covenant: I will make them jealous with those who are not a people (Deuteronomy 32:21); And many nations will join themselves to YHVH in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that YHVH of hosts has sent Me to you (Zechariah 2:11; also Isaiah 49:22; 62:6,7). YHVH has always desired the Gentiles who believed in Him to demonstrate their faith by a love for, and ministry to, the people of Israel.

So What Do I do Now?
That’s why we need to share with Jewish people today, as there is still opportunity for them to be made jealous and believe in Messiah. As followers of Messiah, we can have confidence in YHVH’s promises for the future and for today, and fulfill His calling for our lives. If you are not yet a believer in Yahshua, know that the Elohim who will save all Israel in the future is saving Jewish people today, and He will save you now if you will trust in His Son, Yahshua the Messiah.

For additional insight... 
Having a grasp of the words Paul used helps us to better understand this ‘Mystery of Israel’. Some Bible versions (NIV) translate this phrase until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. This is unfortunate, and is more of a paraphrase than a translation.
*** If Paul had meant to say full number he could have used a different Greek word: ‘arithmou’, as in Revelation 7:4, the number of those who were sealed; or ‘telestoi’, “full number of days”, even as his student, Luke, used in Luke 1:43 (NASB).
*** Paul used the word ‘pleroma’, and it is never translated anywhere else as full number, but only as fullness (as 11:12). Paul meant fulfilled as in ‘complete, the state of being full.’ In its verb form pleroma means ‘to be full, or filled up’, thus ''the fullness of the Gentiles has come in'' refers to the yielding of Gentile believers to YHVH’S will – His Torah. The result of this will be the salvation of Israel. End quote.
''The fullness of the Gentiles'' infers to the yielding of ex Gentiles completely to the Torah and will of YHVH as revealed to us through Yahshua and his talmadim (true followers).

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 Yahveh, 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, YHVH giver of the Torah – Ameyn,)