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. Amein.
Gen 30:12 And Lĕ’ah’s female servant Zilpah bore
Yaʽaqoḇ a second son.
Gen 30:13 And Lĕ’ah said, “I am blessed, for the
daughters shall call me blessed.” So she called his name Ashĕr.
Gen 30:14 And Re’uḇĕn went in the days of wheat
harvest and found love-apples in the field, and brought them to his mother
Lĕ’ah. And Raḥĕl said to Lĕ’ah, “Please give me some of your son’s
love-apples.”
It is also significant that the events of the Book of Rut/Ruth take place during the wheat harvest and are also read during Shavuot.
It appears common knowledge
that ‘’love apples’’ or in Hebrew ‘’dudaim’’ was some kind of aphrodisiac that
enhanced one’s libido. Why then would Leah part with these ‘’love apples’’ and
give them to her sister in exchange for having her husband spend the night with
her and not Rachel?
Gen 30:15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter
that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s love-apples
too?” And Raḥĕl said, “Therefore let him lie with you tonight for your son’s
love-apples.” (Heb ‘’dudaim’’ See Song of Solomon 7:13- this issue refers to an
obscure unknown sexual secret between two lovers - as exciting sexual desire, and favouring
procreation)
Scholars believe that
there was a significant breakthrough in Leah and Rachel’s relationship at this
stage. It was shortly after this event
that Rachel finally gives birth to her first born Yosef.
Could this be a
prophetic sign of the two houses of Yisrael – Yehudah and Ephraim coming
together in the last days?
Gen 30:16 And when Yaʽaqoḇ came out of the field in
the evening, Lĕ’ah went out to meet him and said, “Do come in to me, for
indeed, I have hired you with my son’s love-apples.”(used 5 times in three
verse) And he lay with her that night.
Book of Yasher 36:8. And Jacob was a hundred years old when the Lord appeared unto
him, and blessed him and called his name Israel, and Rachel the wife of Jacob
conceived in those days.
Yakov age of 84, fathered several children
in seven years – Wikipedia
It is understandable that Yakov’s wives
used ‘’love apples’’ to assist them in conceiving children.
Gen 30:17 And Elohim listened to Lĕ’ah, and she
conceived and bore Yaʽaqoḇ a fifth son.
Gen 30:18 And Lĕ’ah said, “Elohim has given me my hire,
because I have given my female servant to my husband.” So she called his name
Yissasḵar.
Gen 30:19 And Lĕ’ah conceived again and bore Yaʽaqoḇ a
sixth son.
Gen 30:20 And Lĕ’ah said, “Elohim has presented me with
a good present. Now my husband is going
to dwell with me, (Heb ‘’zabal’’ used only once meaning ‘’exalted through marriage
union’’) because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zeḇulun.
(Heb – honoured)
Gen 30:21 And afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
|
כ וַתֹּאמֶר לֵאָה, זְבָדַנִי אֱלֹהִים אֹתִי זֵבֶד
טוֹב--הַפַּעַם יִזְבְּלֵנִי אִישִׁי, כִּי-יָלַדְתִּי לוֹ שִׁשָּׁה
בָנִים; וַתִּקְרָא אֶת-שְׁמוֹ, זְבֻלוּן. |
20 And
Leah said: Elohim hath endowed me with a good dowry; now will my husband
dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.' And she called his name
Zebulun. |
In the above verse
the three highlighted words appear only once in the Hebrew scriptures all in
this one single verse. These are ancient Hebrew words and are no longer used in
modern Hebrew.
The Hebrew word ‘’zebed’’
(Mat 4:21 – sons of Zevedee) used twice in verse 20 meaning ‘’gifted or endowed
or bestowed upon me – by YHVH’’
Then the Hebrew word ‘’zaval’’ – exalted/honoured through a covenantal union.
How many married believers are honoured through their covenantal unions?
‘’Jezabel’’ means ‘’against honouring in a covenantal union.’’ Rev 2:20 http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Jezebel.html#.XYxsW-JMTIU
Hidden in verse 20 is perhaps a future prophetic promise of a fully functional restored family of Israel. Whatever the agenda of this family was, it is clear to see that YHVH had a bigger eternal plan.
Gen
22:18 “And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed….
Isa 49:6 and He says, “Shall it be a small matter for You to be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Ya‛aqoḇ, and to bring back the preserved ones of Yisra’ěl? And I shall give You as a light to the nations, to be My deliverance to the ends of the earth!” Isa 49:7 Thus said יהוה, the Redeemer of Yisra’ěl, their Set-apart One, to the despised , to the loathed One of the nation, to the Servant of rulers, “Sovereigns shall see and arise, rulers also shall bow themselves, because of יהוה who is steadfast, the Set-apart One of Yisra’ěl. And He has chosen You!”
ויזכר אלהים – maybe the ‘’love apples’’ were not working too well for Rachel and so YHVH remembered her and opened her womb.
Gen 30:22 And Elohim remembered Raḥĕl, and Elohim
listened to her and opened her womb.
Gen 30:23 And she conceived, and bore a son, and said,
“Elohim has taken away my reproach.”
Gen 30:24 So she called his name Yosĕph, and said, “יהוה has added to me another son.”
Gen
30:25 And it came to be, when Raḥĕl had
borne Yosĕph, that Yaʽaqoḇ said to Laḇan, “Send me on my way, to go to my own
place and to my land.
Gen
30:26 “Give my wives and my children for
whom I have served you, and let me go, for you yourself know my service which I
have done for you.”
Gen
30:27 And Laḇan said to him, “If I have
found favour in your eyes, please stay, for I have diligently watched that יהוה has blessed me for your
sake.”
Gen
30:28 And he said, “Name me your wages,
and I give it.”
Gen
30:29 So he said to him, “You know how I
have served you and how your livestock has been with me.
Gen
30:30 “For the little you had before I
came has increased greatly, and יהוה
has blessed you since my coming. But now, when am I to provide for my own house
too?”
Gen
30:31 And he said, “What do I give you?”
And Yaʽaqoḇ said, “Give me naught! If you do this for me, I shall again feed
and guard your flocks:
Gen
30:32 “Let me pass through all your
flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all
the black ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats.
And these shall be my wages.
Gen
30:33 “And my righteousness shall answer
for me in time to come, when you come concerning my wages: every one that is
not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the lambs, it is
stolen if it is with me.”
Gen
30:34 And Laḇan said, “See, let it be
according to your word!”
Gen 30:35 And on that day he set aside the male goats that were speckled and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the black ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
Wikipedia - Some believe that the modern breed is actually the same one mentioned in the Bible. The most distinguishing features of the Jacob breed are their four horns, although they may have as few as two or as many as six. Both sexes are always horned, and the rams tend to have larger and more impressive horns. The Jacob breed is generally considered to be an "unimproved" or "heirloom" breed (one that has survived with little human selection) Jacob’s are typically hardy, low-maintenance animals with a naturally high resistance to parasites and hoof problems.
These sheep actually exist, and some have been returned to Israel.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/biblical-sheep-in-israel-for-first-time-in-millennia/
Times of Israel – Dec 2016- The sheep have landed. After three years of high-level negotiations between the Israeli and Canadian governments, 119 heritage sheep, which trace their lineage back 5,000 years to the Middle East, began arriving in Israel on November 30. It is the first time that the breed, called Jacob’s sheep, has been represented in Israel since biblical times. Gil and Jenna Lewinsky also found meaning in the fact that the first sheep arrived during the week leading up to the reading of the Torah portion of Vayetzei, which is the first time that the uniquely speckled Jacob’s sheep are mentioned in the Torah in Genesis.
https://theisraelbible.com/jacobs-sheep-make-their-way-home-to-israel-after-thousands-of-years/
1Co 1:26 For look at your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. 1Co 1:27 But Elohim has chosen the foolish matters of the world to put to shame the wise, and Elohim has chosen the weak of the world to put to shame the strong. 1Co 1:28 And Elohim has chosen the low-born of the world and the despised, and the ones that are not, that He might bring to naught the ones that are, 1Co 1:29 so that no flesh should boast in His presence.
Gen
30:36 And he put three days’ journey
between himself and Yaʽaqoḇ, and Yaʽaqoḇ fed the rest of Laḇan’s flocks.
Gen
30:37 And Yaʽaqoḇ took for himself rods
of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in
them, and exposed the white which was in the rods.
Gen
30:38 And he set the rods which he had
peeled before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the
flocks came to drink, and they conceived when they came to drink.
Gen
30:39 So the flocks conceived before the
rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.
Gen
30:40 And Yaʽaqoḇ separated the lambs,
and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the black in the flock of
Laḇan, but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with
Laḇan’s flock.
Gen
30:41 And it came to be, whenever the
strong ones of the flock conceived, that Yaʽaqoḇ placed the rods before the
eyes of the flock in the gutters, so they would conceive among the rods.
Gen
30:42 But when the flocks were weak, he
did not put them in, so the weak ones were Laḇan’s and the strong ones
Yaʽaqoḇ’s.
Gen
30:43 Thus the man increased very much,
and had many flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
No one
seems quite sure why Yakov would place these rods or branches of wood with their
bark partially stripped off in front of these sheep.
Gen 31:11 “And the Messenger of
Elohim spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Ya‛aqoḇ.’ And I said, ‘Here I
am.’
Gen 31:12 “And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laḇan is doing to you.
Perhaps a more important lesson and midrash should be around people like us who are been drawn back to our Hebrew roots and back to the land of Yisrael. I personally think people think people like us are a bit strange – like one of Yakov’s sheep. We are different - maybe these ‘’Yakov’s sheep may provoke an end time Jewish people to jealousy
Deu 32:21 ….. But I make them jealous by those who are no people, I provoke them with a foolish nation. (Rom 11:11)
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen race,[b] Deu_10:15 a royal priesthood,c Isa_61:6 a set-apart nation,d Exo_19:6 a people for a possession,e Isa_43:2 that you should proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light, Footnotes: bAlso see Isa_43:20. cAlso see Isa_66:21. dAlso see Deu_7:6. eAlso see Exo_19:5, Tit_2:14.
Gen 31:1 And he
heard the words of Laḇan’s sons, saying, “Yaʽaqoḇ has taken away all that was
our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this
wealth.”
Gen 31:2 And Yaʽaqoḇ would look at the face of Laḇan and see that it was not toward him as before.
It is perhaps not a co-incidence that both the issues of reproduction of the spotted sheep and Yakov’s wives are discussed together in this parashah.`
What will Messiah’s end time flock look like? We have not come to replace
this ancient ‘’Family’’ but to be joined to this ancient family, their culture
and all their chosen descendants.
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheinu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan lanu
Toraht-emet, v’chai-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, notein
ha-Torah. Amein.
Blessed are you YHVH, 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 – Amein.