Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, who has set us apart with His commandments and has commanded us to engross ourselves in the words of Torah. Please, YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Torah in our mouth and in the mouths of Your people, the family of Israel. May we and our offspring and the offspring of Your people, the house of Israel – all of us – know Your Name and study Your Torah for its own sake. Blessed are You, YHVH, who teaches Torah to His people Israel.
ויהי
כי־זקן
‘’..and it came to be when he was old ..’’
Abraham was
175 years old when he died. Isaac was about 180 years old when he died (Gen
35:28). Jacob was 147 years old when he died.
When meeting Pharaoh at age 130, Jacob says: (Genesis 47:9)
"The days of the years of my sojourning are 130 years;
few and evil [or 'difficult/hard'] have been the days of the years of my life,
and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers
in the days of their sojourning."
It's quite reasonable—and biblically supported—to say that a
significant portion of Jacob's hardships stemmed from being the father (and
product) of what many describe as one of the most dysfunctional biblical
families in Scripture.
This remains true in our time Jacobs’s family is more
dysfunctional today than what it ever has been and it is more difficult than
ever to distinguish who is from Jacob and who is from Esau.
This has been true of my own life – as I look in the mirror
who do I see - Jacob or Esau? Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.
Isaac Blesses Jacob
Gen 27:1 And it came to be, when Yitsḥaq was old ויהי כי־זקן and his eyes were too dim to see, that
he called Ěsaw his elder son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him,
“Here I am.”
Gen 27:2 And he said, “See now, I am old, I do not
know the day of my death.
Gen 27:3 “Now then, please take your weapons, your
quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt wild game for me.
Gen 27:4 “And make me a tasty dish, such as I love,
and bring it to me to eat, in order that my being does bless you before I
die.”
‘’One writer describes Isaac as unable to keep his
appetite under control, even in old age, behaving like a
"connoisseur" fixated on food rather than the eternal realities of YHVH's
covenant.’’
Gen 27:5 And Riḇqah
heard when Yitsḥaq spoke
to Ěsaw his son. And Ěsaw went to the field to hunt wild game and to bring
it.
Gen 27:6 And Riḇqah
spoke to Ya‛aqoḇ her son,
saying, “See, I heard your father speak to Ěsaw your brother, saying,
Gen 27:7 Bring me wild game and make me a tasty
dish to eat and bless you in the presence of יהוה
before my death.’
Gen 27:8 “And now my son, listen to my voice
according to what I command you.
Gen 27:9 “Please go to the flock and bring me two
choice young goats, and I make a tasty dish from them for your father, such as
he loves.
Gen 27:10 “And you shall take it to your father,
and he shall eat it, so that he might bless you before his death.”
Gen 27:11 And Ya‛aqoḇ
said to Riḇqah his
mother, “See, Ěsaw my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned
man.
Gen 27:12 “What if my father touches me? Then I
shall be like a deceiver in his eyes and shall bring a curse on myself and not
a blessing.”
Gen 27:13 But his mother said to him, “Let your
curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”
Gen 27:14 And he went and fetched them and brought
them to his mother, and his mother made a tasty dish, such as his father
loved.
Gen 27:15 And Riḇqah
took the best garments of her elder son Ěsaw, which were with her in the house,
and put them on Ya‛aqoḇ
her younger son. (Jacob putting on Esau’s garments – it’s still happening
today)
Gen 27:16 And she put the skins of the young goats
on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
Gen 27:17 Then she gave the tasty dish and the
bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Ya‛aqoḇ.
Gen 27:18 And he went to his father and said, “My
father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” (from the start
Isaac seems uncertain about Esau’s identity)
Gen 27:19 And Ya‛aqoḇ
said to his father, “I am Ěsaw your first-born, I have done as you said to me.
Please rise, sit and eat of my wild game, so that your being might bless
me.”
Gen 27:20 But Yitsḥaq
said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he
said, “Because יהוה your Elohim brought it to me.” (now
Jacob is blaming YHVH for his deception)
Gen 27:21 Then Yitsḥaq
said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Please
come near, so that I feel you, my son, whether you truly are my son Ěsaw or
not.”
Gen 27:22 And Ya‛aqoḇ
went near to Yitsḥaq his
father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Ya‛aqoḇ, but the hands are the hands
of Ěsaw.” (today Jacob can still look and talk and feel like Esau)
Gen 27:23 And he did not recognise him, for his
hands were hairy like his brother Ěsaw’s hands, and he blessed him. (people
today still struggle to recognize Jacob and Esau)
Gen 27:24 And he said, “Are you truly my son Ěsaw?”
And he said, “I am.”
Gen 27:25 And he said, “Bring it near to me, and
let me eat of my son’s wild game, so that my being might bless you.” So, he
brought it near to him, and he ate. And he brought him wine, and he
drank. (today people can still be completely fooled)
Gen 27:26 And his father Yitsḥaq said to him, “Please come
near and kiss me, my son.”
Gen 27:27 And he came near and kissed him. And he
smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of
my son is like the smell of a field which יהוה
has blessed.
This
narrative has puzzled the sages and scholars for centuries. The response
of Rebekah (and by extension Jacob) in Genesis 27 comes across as dysfunctional
and fraught with human flaws, particularly in the way they resort to outright
deception to "secure" what YHVH had already promised.
YHVH’s word to Rebekah—while the twins were still in
her womb—that "the older shall serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23).
This was a direct word from YHVH in response to Rebekah's inquiry about the
violent struggling she felt in her pregnancy:
"Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from
within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the
older shall serve the younger." (Genesis 25:23)
This lesson is important for us YHVH doesn’t need our assistance
to carry out His purposes, He requires our quite obedience. In fact ‘’helping
YHVH out’’ can prove to be very traumatic and destructive as evidenced in Jacob’s
life.
Sadly, this appears to be Jacob’s legacy to this day – maybe
Jacobs greatest challenge is not Esau, but himself!
This Torah
portion is addressing the generations of Jacob (including all those that are
grafted into Jacob – the redeemed of Israel) stating that many who are Jacob
are not really all that different from the generations of Esau and quite
frankly at times it is difficult if not almost impossible to distinguish the
difference between the generations of Jacob from the generations of Esau?
Maybe
this why in the last days YHVH says ‘’Eze 34:17 And as for you, O
My flock, thus said the Master יהוה, “See, I am judging
between sheep and sheep, (Jacob and Jacob) between rams and goats. (Jacob
and Esau)
Eze 34:18 “Is it not enough for you to have eaten
up the good pasture, and the rest of your pasture you trample with your feet.
Or that you should drink of the clear waters, and the rest you muddy with your
feet?
Eze 34:19 “And as for My flock, they eat what you
have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have muddied with your
feet.”
Eze 34:20 Therefore thus said the Master יהוה
to them, “See, I Myself shall judge between fat and lean sheep.
Eze 34:21 “Because you have pushed with flank and
shoulder, and thrust at all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them
abroad,
Eze 34:22 therefore I shall save My flock, and let
them no longer be a prey. And I shall judge between sheep and sheep.
These battles cause a great deal of collateral damage
amongst YHVH’s flock and will result in severe consequences, especially in the
last days. The end time Edomite deception is that they believe they can save
the world. The challenge for the chosen seed of Jacob is for them to discern
and expose this deception.
Isaac's Blindness as a Prophetic Archetype
The classical explanations for Isaac's dimmed eyes (Genesis
Rabbah 65:10, Rashi) are protective (from seeing Esau's evil), traumatic
(angelic tears from the Akeidah), or providential (so Jacob gets the blessing).
But later interpreters, especially in Chassidic and modern Torah thought, see
it as more than physical and consequential:
- Isaac,
in his blindness, reveals the future more clearly than the present
(Aish.com and others). He cannot neatly separate the "now" from
"what will be." (Isaac doesn’t fully realize the consequence of
his actions)
- This
creates a symbolic confusion at the exact moment the covenantal
lines are being drawn Jacob (the "smooth" one, voice of Torah)
vs. Esau (the "hairy" one, man of the field). The disguise works
because, to human eyes, the brothers can be made to look alike.
The Torah is showing us that the
distinction between the two seeds is not always obvious to the naked eye—even
to a patriarch. And if it was blurry in the founding family, how much more so
across the generations?
The "Grafted-In" and the Blurred Lines
The lines between Jacob and Esau can blur, even within
the same household. And history bears this out: Edom (Esau) becomes Rome,
becomes the West, becomes ideologies and systems that claim Abrahamic
legitimacy while trampling the true heirs. Even among those who call themselves
"Israel" or "the flock," there are those who act with
Esau's spirit—pushing with flank and shoulder, muddying the waters for the
weaker ones.
A Torah Truth for Our Generation
"Do not think the distinction is automatic. Do not
assume that because you descend from Jacob, or have been grafted in, that
Esau's nature has no foothold in you or your community. In this world, the two
brothers can look remarkably similar. That is why YHVH, must judge between
sheep and sheep and rams and goats"
Isaac's blindness becomes our blindness until the day
the Master Shepherd comes to separate the flock with perfect sight.
It calls us to self-examination: Am I acting like Jacob
(humble, dwelling in tents of Torah) or like Esau (hunter, impulsive, trampling
and dominating others)? The time is coming when all eyes will clearly see the
difference.
Amo
3:1 Hear
this word that יהוה has spoken against you, O children of Yisra’ěl, (Jacob) against
the entire clan which I brought up from the land of Mitsrayim, saying, Amo
3:2 “You alone (Jacob) have I known of all the clans of the earth,
therefore I punish you for all your crookednesses.”
Amo
3:3 Would two walk together, without having met? (Heb נועדו ‘’moed’’)
CLV ‘’Shall
two walk together unless they make an appointment’’ (‘’unless they are on the
same page?)
What
makes this dilemma even worse is that even in the camp of Jacob, they fail to
recognize and embrace one another. This is why Paul speaking of Jewish and
gentile believers says in Rom 11:32 For Elohim has shut them all up to
disobedience, in order to have compassion on all.
The Greek verb here (συνέκλεισεν, from sugkleiō)
means "to shut up together," "enclose," or
"confine"
Why? "In order (ἵνα) to have compassion/mercy on all." The
purpose clause (ἵνα – hina)
shows divine intent: universal disobedience levels the field—no one earns
mercy; all need it desperately. This enables YHVH to display pure,
undeserved mercy to Jews and Gentiles without partiality or human boasting
(Romans 3:27; 11:18–20).
Rom 3:27
Where, then, is the boasting? It is shut out. By what torah? Of works? No, but
by the torah of belief.
The household of Jacob must stop throwing stones at one
another – acting like Esau in a dangerously fragmented world. (it’s dangerous
to throw stones in a glass house)
Rom
8:19 For the intense longing of the creation eagerly waits for the
revealing of the sons of Elohim. (sons of Jacob)
Joh
13:35 “By this shall all know that you are My taught ones, if you have
love for one another.”
How
will this all be revealed? (exposed)
More scholars and students of prophecy seem to be agreeing
how this whole dilemma will play out in the last days and focus their attention
on a prophecy found in Zech 5
A Vision of a Flying Scroll
Zec 5:1 And I lifted up my eyes again, and looked
and saw a flying scroll.
Zec 5:2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” And I
answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits
wide.”
20x10 cubits was the size of the set apart place of the
tabernacle. This is where the heart of covenantal truth is established,
preparing us for the ‘’Bridal chamber’’ the Most Set Apart place.
In terms of sheer volume and descriptive detail, the Tabernacle (the Mishkan)
is indeed the most expansive single subject in the Torah – 50 chapters and 400
verses.
Sages note that while YHVH created the world alone in just
over 30 verses, it took hundreds of verses to instruct how humans would
enter into an eternal covenant with YHVH.
This is the inheritance of the family of Jacob and all those
grafted into Jacob - Amo
3:2 “You alone have I known of all the clans of the earth….(this is
covenantal language)
Note the
curse of the Edomite (Esau) spirit in verse 3-4 – stealing birth rights and
making false covenants
Zec 5:3 And he said to me, “This is the curse that
goes forth over the face of all the earth: ‘everyone who is stealing shall go
unpunished (‘’nika’’),’ on the one side, according to it, and, ‘everyone who
has sworn falsely shall go unpunished,’ on the other side, according to
it.”
The Hebrew word ‘’nika’’ is a polysemic word -Polysemy - the coexistence of many possible meanings
for a word or phrase. ‘’Nika’’ can mean “”unpunished’’ and also mean ‘’purged’’
You might believe you are being unpunished but in reality
you are been purged or removed.
This is the worst kind of curse imaginable – YHVH just lets
you continue on your road of destruction and doesn’t say a word until it’s too
late.
Psa 50:16 But to the wrong Elohim said, “What right
have you to recite My laws, Or take My covenant in your mouth,
Psa 50:17 “While you hated instruction And cast My
Words behind you?
Psa 50:18 “When you saw a thief, you were pleased
with him, And you take part with adulterers.
Psa 50:19 “You let your mouth loose to evil, And
your tongue frames deceit.
Psa 50:20 “You sit, speak against your brother; You
slander your own mother’s son.
Psa 50:21 “You have done this, and I kept silent;
You have thought that I was altogether like you – I rebuke you, and set it in
order before your eyes.
Psa 50:22 “Understand this please, you who forget
Eloah, Lest I tear you in pieces, With no one to deliver:
Psa 50:23 “Whoever slaughters praise esteems Me;
And to him who prepares a way, I show the deliverance of Elohim.”
This curse shall settle in the house of hypocrisy and false
religion and will destroy it - Rev
18:4 And I heard another voice from the heaven saying, "Come out of
her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her
plagues.
Zec 5:4 “I shall send it out,” declares יהוה of hosts, “and it
shall come into the house of the thief and the house of the one who shall swear
falsely by My Name. And it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall
consume it, both its timber and stones.” (Great tribulation)
A Vision of a Woman in a Basket
Now this where this prophecy gets very interesting. There is
a growing consensus that this could be a prophecy about the USA – which some say
symbolizes Edomite Christianity.
Zec 5:5 And the messenger who was speaking with me
came out and said to me, “Lift up your eyes now, and see what this is that is
going forth.”
Zec 5:6 And I said, “What is it?” And he said, “It
is an ěphah-measure that is going forth.” Again he said, “This is their
appearance throughout the earth:
Zec 5:7 “And see, a lead cover lifted up, and this:
a woman sitting inside the ěphah-measure!”
Zec 5:8 And he said, “This is Wrongness!” And he
threw her down into the ěphah-measure, and threw the lead weight over its
mouth.
Zec 5:9 And I lifted up my eyes, and looked and saw
two women, coming with the wind in their wings. And they had wings like the
wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ěphah-measure between earth and the
heavens.
Zec 5:10 Then I said to the messenger who was
speaking to me, “Where are they taking the ěphah-measure?”
Zec 5:11 And he said to me, “To build a house for
it in the land of Shin‛ar. (Babylon) And it shall be established and set there
on its own base.”
Commentators who lean toward a modern-day fulfillment often
use the following parallels:
- Commercial
Empire: The ephah is a primary symbol of trade and
commerce. Proponents of the USA theory argue that because the U.S. is
the world’s leading economic power and its culture is defined by
consumerism, it fits the description of a "commercial system" of
wickedness.
- Connection
to Revelation: Many scholars link this woman to the "Harlot
of Babylon" in Revelation 17-18, which describes a great
city that dominates the world's merchants and kings. Some modern
interpretations suggest the "Harlot" represents a superpower
like the USA that has "fallen" into spiritual and moral decay.
- The
"House" in Shinar: Traditional views state the vision
represents wickedness being returned to its "birthplace" in
ancient Babylon (modern-day Iraq). Theory proponents suggest this could
mean the transfer of global power or influence back to the Middle East from
Western powers like the USA
Connecting the Curse (Scroll) to the Woman in the Basket
The two visions in Zechariah 5 are intentionally linked—the
scroll's curse on theft and false oaths (covenant violations) prepares the
ground for the basket's removal of systemic "wickedness" (risha'ah,
v. 8). Theft/liars represent individual sins against YHVH and neighbour; the
woman embodies corporate, entrenched evil—idolatry, injustice,
hypocrisy—in post-exilic Judah. She's shoved into the ephah (a large measuring
basket, symbolizing economic deceit or "false measures," cf. Amos
8:5) and sealed with lead,(fate sealed) then flown to Shinar (Babylon, v. 11)
to be "housed" there. It's exile of sin so the remnant can be pure
for restoration (leading into the temple visions).
Today, we this reality coming to life in Israel
Cyrus the Great is Alive!" Billboards: In
October 2025, following reports of a Gaza ceasefire and the return of hostages,
billboards appeared across Jerusalem and Tel Aviv featuring Donald Trump
alongside Israeli and American flags.
Isa
45:5 I am יהוה, and there is none else –
there is no Elohim besides Me. I gird (enable) you,(Cyrus) though you have not
known Me, Isa 45:6 so that they know from the rising of the sun to
its setting that there is none but Me. I am יהוה, and there is none else, Isa
45:7 forming light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil.
I, יהוה, do all these.’
Isa
45:21 …And there is no mighty one besides Me, a righteous Ěl and a
Saviour, there is none besides Me.
See vs 7
– YHVH creates both good and evil – this verse is important for us to
understand this week’s Torah portion. It is also very important for us to
understand YHVH.
Isa 45:7 יוצר
אור ובורא חשׁך עשׂה שׁלום ובורא רע אני יהוה עשׂה כל־אלה׃
There are
two things YHVH cannot do:
- He cannot lie - Numbers 23:19
(YHVH is not a man that He should lie), Titus 1:2 (YHVH, who cannot lie),
and Hebrews 6:18 (impossible for YHVH to lie).
- As the Creator – YHVH
cannot change - Mal
3:6 “For I am יהוה, I shall not change,a and you, O sons
of Ya‛aqoḇ, shall not come to an end. Footnote: a Jas_1:17.
However, whatever YHVH creates can change: Man can change
from imperfection to perfection
2Co
3:18 And we all, as with unveiled face we see as in a mirror the esteem
of יהוה, are being transformed into
the same likeness from esteem to esteem, as from יהוה, the Spirit.
Lucifer changed from
perfection to imperfection –
- Ezekiel
28:15: "You were perfect in your ways from
the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you"
- Ezekiel
28:12: "You were the seal of perfection, full of
wisdom and perfect in beauty"
Conclusion:
In Pirkei Avot (a Mishnaic text), there's a saying that "the only free person is one occupied
with Torah" (roughly 6:2)
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Every day a heavenly voice
(bat kol) goes forth from Mount Horeb proclaiming, “Woe to humanity for
scorning the Torah!” For whoever does not occupy himself with the study of
Torah is called nazuf (the rebuked / outcast / reprimanded / shamed). As it is
said: “Like a gold ring in a swine’s snout is a beautiful woman who lacks
discretion” (Proverbs 11:22). (is He talking to Jacob?)
Joh 8:31
So יהושע said to those Yehuḏim who believed Him, “If you stay
in My Word, you are truly My taught ones,
Joh 8:32
and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Gal
4:29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then
persecuted him born according to the Spirit, so also now.
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.
Additional
midrash:
New Billboards in Israel Hail Trump as King Cyrus:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/h1ONabNSvYA
“President Trump is our modern day King Cyrus from the
Bible,”
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PJxFSQ2VMak
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JMErsHJnQPY
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WMeMsf1yD2c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxtW0dPNl3s
The two stalks – unclean animals – unclean messengers –
Scholars suggest names such as Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis
Prevost) is a United States citizen.
Jared Kushner an Orthodox Jew and the grandson of Holocaust
survivors, he has been married to Ivanka Trump since 2009;
leading member of Board of Peace, a multinational body established
in January 2026 to oversee a $25 billion master plan for "New Gaza".
The plan includes the construction of up to 180 skyscrapers, a new port, and an
airport Abraham Accords which normalised relations between Israel and
several Arab nations.