Parashat 8 Portion 31 ‘’Vayishlach’’ ‘’and he sent’’ Gen 32:3-33:17 Joel 4:12-31, Joel 1:11-12

 Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, Creator of the universe, You have set us apart with Your commandments and You have called us to internalize the words of the Torah. Please, YHVH, our Elohim, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths 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. Please uncover our eyes and open our hearts that we may carefully examine and receive the marvels and mysteries of Your Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH, who teaches Torah to His people Israel.

Deu 4:5  “See, I have taught you laws and right-rulings, as יהוה my Elohim commanded me, to do thus in the land which you go to possess. 

Deu 4:6  “And you shall guard and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding before the eyes of the peoples who hear all these laws, and they shall say, ‘Only a wise and understanding people is this great nation!’ 

Deu 4:7  “For what great nation is there which has Elohim so near to it, as יהוה our Elohim is to us, whenever we call on Him? 

Deu 4:8  “And what great nation is there that has such laws and righteous right-rulings like all this Torah which I set before you this day? 

Deu 4:9  “Only, guard yourself, and guard your life diligently, lest you forget the Words your eyes have seen, and lest they turn aside from your heart all the days of your life. And you shall make them known to your children and your grandchildren.

 

 Moses is addressing the Israelites, (including those grafted into Israel) reminding them that keeping these laws – this Torah - shows their wisdom and understanding to the world today, in the last days and in the world to come.

 

The prophets remind us again and again – if there is any word, any truth – and it does not agree with the words of this Torah as faithfully lived out by an obedient Apostolic community to which these words were entrusted – these words are dark, deceptive and dangerous – Is 8:20

 

The apostolic community of Yahshua agreed with and taught all of the words of the Torah with the realization in their hearts that only Yahshua in us makes it possible for us to walk in the righteousness of the Torah.

 

וישׁלח – “and he sent’’

Gen 32:3  And Ya‛aqoḇ sent messengers before him to Ěsaw his brother in the land of Sě‛ir, the field of Eḏom 

Why did Jacob send messengers? Yahshua gives us the answer - Mat 5:25  “Be well-minded with your opponent, promptly, while you are on the way with him, lest your opponent deliver you to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Mat 5:26  “Truly, I say to you, you shall by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. 

Gen 32:4  and he commanded them, saying, “Say this to my master Ěsaw, ‘Your servant Ya‛aqoḇ said this, “I have sojourned with Laḇan and stayed there until now. 

Gen 32:5  “And I have bulls, and donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants. And I have sent to inform my master, to find favour in your eyes.”

Gen 32:6  So the messengers returned to Ya‛aqoḇ, saying, “We came to your brother Ěsaw, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him.” 

Gen 32:7  And Ya‛aqoḇ was greatly afraid and distressed. So, he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups, (Jacobs strategy of dividing his flock may be repeated in the last days – Rev 12)

 

It is possible that Laban also sent a messenger to inform Esau of his brothers returning to the land? Labans intention was to bring harm on Jacob and his family.

 

Gen 32:8  and he said, “If Ěsaw comes to the one group and strikes it, then the other group which is left shall escape.” 

Gen 32:9  And Ya‛aqoḇ said, “O Elohim of my father Aḇraham and Elohim of my father Yitsḥaq, יהוה who said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives, and I do good to you,’ 

 

Gen 32:10  “I do not deserve the least of all the loving-commitment and all the truth which You have shown Your servant, for I passed over this Yarděn with my staff, and now I have become two groups. (note Jacobs’s attitude – even though YHVH chose him and blessed him – Jacob did not feel entitled to YHVH’s protection or blessings – Luke 21:36)

Gen 32:11  “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Ěsaw, for I fear him, lest he come and shall strike me and the mother with the children. 

Gen 32:12  “For You said, ‘I shall certainly do good to you, and shall make your seed as the sand of the sea, which are too numerous to count.’ ” 

Gen 32:13  And he spent the night there, and took what came to his hand as a present for Ěsaw his brother – 

Gen 32:14  two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 

Gen 32:15  thirty suckling-camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 

Gen 32:16  And he gave into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between drove and drove.” 

Gen 32:17  And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Ěsaw my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? And whose are these in front of you?’ 

Gen 32:18  then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Ya‛aqoḇ’s. It is a present sent to my master Ěsaw. And see, he also is behind us.’ ” 

Gen 32:19  So he commanded the second, and the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “Speak to Ěsaw this same word when you find him, 

Gen 32:20  and you shall say, ‘Also look, your servant Ya‛aqoḇ is behind us.’ ” For he said, “Let me appease him with the present that goes before me, and after that see his face. He might accept me.” 

Gen 32:21  And the present passed over before him, but he himself spent the night in the camp. 

 

Pro 21:14  Privately given gifts pacify wrath, and payments made secretly appease great anger. 

 

Jacob Wrestles with YHVH

Gen 32:22  And he rose up that night and took his two wives, and his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Yabboq. (emptying – the dark night of the soul)

 

Hearin lies a very important end time message – when you think things cannot get worse, they become more worse than you could ever have imagined.

 

Gen 32:23  And he took them and sent them over the stream and sent over what he had. 

Gen 32:24  And Ya‛aqoḇ was left alone. And a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 

Gen 32:25  And when He saw that He did not overcome him, He touched the socket of his hip. And the socket of Ya‛aqoḇ’s hip was dislocated as He wrestled with him. 

Gen 32:26  And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I am not letting You go until You have blessed me!” 

 

The apostle Paul understood this - 2Co 4:8  being hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; being perplexed, but not in despair; Footnote:

2Co 4:9  being persecuted, but not forsaken; being thrown down, but not destroyed;

2Co 4:16  Therefore we do not lose heart, but even if our outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

2Co 4:17  For this slight momentary pressure is working for us a far more exceeding and everlasting weight of esteem.

 

If you expand the meaning of verse 8 into a more modern vernacular – it would sound something like this: ‘’We face serious challenges from all sides – yet we are not trapped and even when we feel trapped with nowhere to go, He shows us a way out’’

 

1Co 10:13  No trial has overtaken you except such as is common to man, and Elohim is trustworthy, who shall not allow you to be tried beyond what you are able, but with the trial shall also make the way of escape, enabling you to bear it. 

 

‘’The “man” (ish) who wrestles with Jacob is almost universally identified by the sages as the guardian messenger (sar) of Esau (or sometimes called Samael, the accusing messenger associated with Esau/Edom). Samael can be understood as the embodiment of the Severity of Elohim – fallen messenger.

Why this identification? Every nation has a heavenly “prince” (Ps 84) or ministering messenger who represents its interests before YHVH. Esau/Edom’s messenger comes to block or harm Jacob as he returns to the land and prepares to face Esau.

Some sources add mystical depth: the struggle represents the cosmic or spiritual battle between the forces of Jacob (Israel) and Esau (symbolizing Rome, oppression, or the “material world” in later interpretations).’’

 

‘’Jacob himself experiences it as encountering YHVH (or divine presence), which is why he names the place Peniel (“face of El”) and says, “I have seen Elohim face to face and my life was spared” (32:30). The sages hold both ideas together: the visible opponent is Esau’s messenger, but the power and blessing ultimately come from YHVH.’’

 

Gen 32:27  So He asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Ya‛aqoḇ.” 

Gen 32:28  And He said, “Your name is no longer called Ya‛aqoḇ, but Yisra’ěl, because you have striven with Elohim and with men, and have overcome.” Footnote: Yisra’ěl means “to strive with Ěl; to overcome with Ěl; to rule with Ěl”. 

Gen 32:29  And Ya‛aqoḇ asked Him, saying, “Please let me know Your Name.” And He said, “Why do you ask about My Name?” And He blessed him there. 

Gen 32:30  And Ya‛aqoḇ called the name of the place Peni’ěl, “For I have seen Elohim face to face, and my life is preserved.” 

Gen 32:31  And the sun rose on him as he passed over Penu’ěl, and he limped on his hip. 

 

‘’Don’t trust any man who doesnt walk with a limp’’ Bob Mumford.

 

Gen 32:32  That is why the children of Yisra’ěl to this day do not eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the socket of the thigh, because He touched the socket of the thigh of Ya‛aqoḇ, in the sinew of the hip. (the sciatic nerve (sinew) is a thick piece of ‘’gristle’’ in the rear part of the animal hind quarters (rump) which is very difficult to chew)

 

Jacob Meets Esau

Gen 33:1  And Ya‛aqoḇ lifted his eyes and looked and saw Ěsaw coming, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children among Lě’ah, and Raḥěl, and the two female servants. 

Gen 33:2  And he put the female servants and their children in front, and Lě’ah and her children behind, and Raḥěl and Yosěph last. 

Gen 33:3  And he himself passed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. 

Gen 33:4  And Ěsaw ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 

Gen 33:5  And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?” And he said, “The children with whom Elohim has favoured your servant.” 

Gen 33:6  Then the female servants came near, they and their children, and bowed themselves. 

Gen 33:7  And Lě’ah also came near with her children, and they bowed themselves. And Yosěph and Raḥěl came near, and they bowed themselves. 

Gen 33:8  Then Ěsaw said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” And he said, “To find favour in the eyes of my master.” 

Gen 33:9  But Ěsaw said, “I have enough, my brother, let what you have remain yours.” 

Gen 33:10  And Ya‛aqoḇ said, “No, please, if I have now found favour in your eyes, then receive my present from my hand, because I have seen your face like seeing the face of Elohim, and you were pleased with me. 

Gen 33:11  “Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because Elohim has favoured me, and because I have all I need.” And he urged him, and he took it. 

Gen 33:12  And he said, “Let us depart and go, and let me go before you.” 

Gen 33:13  But he said to him, “My master knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flocks shall die. 

Gen 33:14  “Please let my master go before his servant, and let me lead on slowly according to the pace of the livestock that go before me, and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my master in Sě‛ir.” 

Gen 33:15  And Ěsaw said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “Why this? Let me find favour in the eyes of my master.” 

Gen 33:16  And Ěsaw returned that day on his way to Sě‛ir. 

 

 

Jasher Says (Chapter 32)

Jacob sends messengers to Esau with words of supplication and humility (similar to Genesis).

Esau responds with pride and contempt. He has not forgiven Jacob for the blessing and birthright. Jasher portrays Esau as actively advancing with hostile intent — coming to destroy or harm Jacob and his household, accompanied by 400-armed men from the children of Seir (the Horites).

Jacob prays earnestly to YHVH for deliverance.

YHVH intervenes supernaturally and sends three messengers from heaven. These messengers appear to Esau and his men as two-thousand-armed horsemen, divided into four camps (with chiefs leading them).

The angelic “camps” repeatedly charge at Esau’s group in a terrifying manner (one camp at a time, four times total). This causes great fear: Esau falls off his horse in alarm, his men scatter, and they are filled with anguish and astonishment.

The messengers declare (in effect): “We are servants of Jacob, the servant of YHVH — who can stand against us?” They warn Esau that they would have destroyed him and his men if not for Jacob.

As a result, Esau becomes greatly afraid of Jacob. His heart is temporarily changed through fear, and instead of attacking, he goes to meet Jacob in peace (though Jasher notes he still concealed hatred in his heart).

 

Gen 33:17  And Ya‛aqoḇ set out to Sukkoth, and built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. That is why the name of the place is called Sukkoth. 

 

1Co 10:11  And all these came upon them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come, 

1Co 10:12  so that he who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall. 

 

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 –

Let us attempt to build and end time outline from Yahshua’s teaching on the last days:

Signs of the End of the Age

Mat 24:3  And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the taught ones came to Him separately, saying, “Say to us, when shall this be, and what is the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 

Mat 24:4  And יהושע answering, said to them, “Take heed that no one leads you astray. 

Mat 24:5  “For many shall come in My Name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they shall lead many astray. 

The first sign Yahshua gives his disciples is about the deception in the world regarding his identity. We have often said that if you get Yahshua wrong, you get everything wrong.

Prof John Lennox calls this “the greatest deception in history” because it is sophisticated, widespread, and targets the very people who think they are following Christ.

Yahshua here in vs 4 is talking about how he himself would be misrepresented – 2 Cor 11:3,4

The confusion as to the true identity of Yahshua will most probably trigger the great tribulation of the last days, when the ‘’abomination of desolation’’ makes himself known -

Mat 24:6  “And you shall begin to hear of fighting’s and reports of fighting. See that you are not troubled, for these have to take place, but the end is not yet. 

Mat 24:7  “For nation shall rise against nation, and reign against reign. And there shall be scarcities of food, and deadly diseases, and earthquakes in places. (Rev 6)

Mat 24:8  “And all these are the beginning of birth pains. (Rev 6)

Mat 24:9  “Then they shall deliver you up to affliction and kill you, and you shall be hated by all nations for My Name’s sake. (Rev 6:5)

Mat 24:10  “And then many shall stumble, and they shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. 

Mat 24:11  “And many false prophets shall rise up and lead many astray. 

Mat 24:12  “And because of the increase in lawlessness, the love of many shall become cold. 

Mat 24:13  “But he who shall have endured to the end shall be saved.a Footnote: aSee Mat_10:22. 

Mat 24:14  “And this Good News of the reign shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. 

At the end of the first 3 ½ year period the people will be praying for death to come upon them –

Rev 6:15  And the sovereigns of the earth, and the great ones, and the rich ones, and the commanders, and the mighty, and every slave and every free one, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 

Rev 6:16  and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us Hos_10:8 from the face of Him sitting on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 

Rev 6:17  because the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” 

 

The Abomination of Desolation – this is the beginning of the last 3 ½ year period called the great tribulation – our final journey to the promised land – millennial kingdom. Rev 8-15 trumpet judgments and related issues – first resurrection)

Luk 21:36  “Watch then at all times, and pray that you be counted worthy to escape all this about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Aḏam.” 

Mat 24:15  “So when you see the ’abomination that lays waste,’b Dan_11:31 spoken of by Dani’ěl the prophet, set up in the set-apart place” – he who reads, let him understand – Footnote: bSee also Dan_9:27 and Abomination that lays waste in Explanatory Notes. 

Mat 24:16  “then let those who are in Yehuḏah flee to the mountains. 

Mat 24:17  “Let him who is on the house-top not come down to take whatever out of his house. 

Mat 24:18  “And let him who is in the field not turn back to get his garments. 

Mat 24:19  “And woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing children in those days! 

Mat 24:20  “And pray that your flight does not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 

Mat 24:21  “For then there shall be great distress,c such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. Footnote: cOr great pressure, or great affliction. 

Mat 24:22  “And if those days were not shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the sake of the chosen ones those days shall be shortened. 

Mat 24:23  “If anyone then says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe. 

Mat 24:24  “For false messiahs and false prophets shall arise, and they shall show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. 

Mat 24:25  “See, I have forewarned you. 

Rev 3:10  “Because you have guarded My Word of endurance,(Torah Mat 5:17-19) I also shall guard you from the hour of trial which shall come upon all the world, to try those who dwell on the earth.