Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Is there anything in your life worth fighting for? I mean, really fighting for? Most people don't have a whole lot to fight for. Nothing that really has any meaning. Sure, many people go to extreme lengths for money because they are driven by greed. But there are very few people who would be willing to fight for much of anything else. Fighting hard enough to suffer pain for an extended period of time, them to be part of something larger than themselves. Well, across the world today, we have an existential cris among our youth because they don't have anything to live for or to die for. This is probably why so many college students across the world have been duped into believing the antiisrael propaganda. They see the false reports and because they want so badly to make a difference in the world, they go all in with this anti Israel campaign, as deceptive as it may be, because they believe they finally found something that they can fight for. But what if I told you there's something real to fight for? And we can learn about it in this week's Torah portion? Would you be interested? Then let's take a look together in this week's five minute Torah.
[00:01:17] This week we're studying the Torah portion. Vayishlok. Genesis 32 four through 36 43. And here are the three things that you need to know about it. Number one. Jacob meets Esau. A reluctant reunion. It had been more than 20 years since Jacob had seen his brother Esau, and the last thing Jacob had heard was that Esau was out to kill him. When Jacob got word that Esau was headed his direction with 400 armed men, his fear went through the roof. So he came up with a plan. He sent Malachim ahead of him to try and appease his brother. Who were these malachim? The Hebrew word malachim can mean either messengers or angels. Which did he send? Good question. Thankfully, when Jacob finally meets his brother, they have a peaceful interaction. Esau offers to escort Jacob back to his camp to catch up on old times. But Jacob tells him to go ahead because his children and livestock will slow him down, basically saying, don't wait on me. You go ahead. I'll catch up with you later. Much later.
[00:02:24] Number two. Shechem and Dina. A tale of revenge. Eventually, Jacob purchased a lot of land near the city of Shechem and settled down. One day, his daughter Dina decided she would go out and meet some of the local women. While she was out, she was kidnapped and taken advantage of by Shechem, son of Hamor, the Hivite. Well, Hamor, the father of Shechem, came to Jacob and proposed marriage between his son and Dina, asking what price he needed to pay for Dina. When her brothers heard about what was going on, they were livid, and rightly so. They concocted a scheme, saying that in order for Shechem to marry their sister and intermarry with their family. All of the men of the city had to be circumcised. Hamor and Shechem somehow got the men of the city to agree, and they were all circumcised. On the third day after their circumcision, when their pain had reached its highest point, simeon and Levi came through the city with a sword and killed every single male. And number three, the death of Rachel and the birth of Benjamin. Toward the end of our portion, Rachel, Jacob's cherished wife, tragically passes away while giving birth to her second son and final child, Benjamin, near Bethlehem. Although she names him Benoni, which means son of my suffering. After her death, Jacob renames him Ben Yamin, which means son of the right hand, and ode to Jacob's affection toward his son rachel's untimely death deeply affects Jacob, and he erects a pillar at her gravesite to memorialize his beloved wife. The Torah says, quote so Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrat, that is, Bethlehem, and Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. It is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Adair. This is Genesis 30 519 through 21. The phrase tower of adair is migdal adair, which means tower of the flock. I know you're probably tired of hearing it, but Hanukah really is just around the corner. If you want to have a great family experience for Hanukkah, be sure to pick up your copy of Eight Lights, My Hanukkah how to and devotional that will make each night of Hanukah a night to remember. So if you want to have fun and learn together and learn how to be a better disciple of our master yeshua. Then check out my book Eight Lights, using the link below. This week's Torah commentary is called Wrestling for a Blessing and comes from my book five Minute Torah, Volume Two. When Jacob and his family were leaving Laban in Padanaram and heading back to Canaan, jacob began preparing for the inevitable. He would undoubtedly have a run in with his brother Esau once they got nearer to home. Although 20 years had passed since he left with Esau's birthright, jacob was preparing his family for their encounter with his brother. He prayed to the Almighty, please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him that he may come and attack me. The mothers with the children. Genesis 30 211. He knew that although time and distance were between them, there was no guarantee that Esau would allow bygones to be bygones. He seriously believed that Esau might attempt to exterminate his entire family, so he devised a plan for the survival of at least some of them. They traveled in small caravans with distance in between each group, so that if Esau attacked one, then the others would have time to flee. Needless to say, Jacob was not looking forward to a reunion with his brother. After sending the last of his family off, Jacob remained behind, evidently to spend the night before heading out himself the next morning. The tour tells us that during the night, however, quote, a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. Genesis 32 24. Much has been written to explain what exactly took place that night. Who was this mysterious figure that wrestled Jacob throughout the night? Was it an angel? Was it a demon? Was it Esau or someone representing him? We must remember that the Hebrew word for angel, malach, simply means messenger. It appears from the text, however, that this was no ordinary messenger. This was a divine being sent to convey an important message to Jacob and to teach him a very important lesson. What lesson did Jacob learn from this all night wrestling match? Up until this point, Jacob's response to problems was either to have someone else take care of it for him or to find the easy way out instead of receiving the blessing outright. By telling his father that Esau had sold him the birthright, jacob had to be coerced by his mother into a scheme to receive what was rightfully his. Rather than standing up to Laban for his trickery, jacob spent 20 years trying to devise a plan to escape Laban's dominance, and he eventually ends up sneaking off behind his back. Rather than confronting his brother Esau, jacob schemed at how he could save his own neck. Well, the angel came to Jacob during the night to teach Jacob about himself. He came to reveal to Jacob his true nature and character that he had repressed all his life. He put Jacob into a situation that gave him no choice but to fight back with his entire being. He couldn't escape this situation by his previous means and was therefore forced to confront his adversary in an engagement that lasted throughout the entire night. In this event, Jacob sees what he is capable of for the very first time. Rather than surrendering, he shows his tenacity by wrestling with the angel, quote until the break of day. And then when the angel wants to flee, Jacob doesn't let him, even after having his hip dislocated in the process. By that point, Jacob had decided that he wasn't going to give up this time. He had determined in his mind that he would fight to the end and come out on top. He gives the angel an ultimatum bless me, or I will hang on to you indefinitely. We know the rest of the story. The angel blesses Jacob and changes his name from Jacob to Israel before fleeing into the diminishing shadows of the night. But before Jacob's name is changed by the angel, the transformation has taken place. He has wrestled with the divine and overcome. Rather than merely resigning to fate, jacob took a stand and held his ground. He took charge of his destiny and stepped into the calling that would forever change his life. He became Israel. Many of us will do whatever it takes to avoid confronting our true selves and our true purpose in this life. We continually make excuses and find the easy way out. It is simply the path of least resistance. But only when we struggle with the divine and overcome will we ever fulfill our purpose. In this life. Jacob strove and overcame his natural inclination to become something greater.
[00:09:40] What is your struggle? Will you wrestle with your angel and overcome? Will you become the person Hashem intended for you to be? Is it even worth it? As I said in my last video, the popular thing to do across the world right now is to hide your face and chant from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. But that's just jumping on the bandwagon of a false narrative and justifying terrorism against innocent people. If you really want to join the fight for a worthy cause, then first fight for your relationship with God. Wrestle through the night, and then fight for Israel, God's chosen people. The world wants to destroy both, but you have the power to wrestle against the spiritual forces that want to come against both your relationship with the Lord and against the Jewish people. You have the power to overcome last as the end of the calendar year approaches, please once again consider a one time gift to help support this channel. As I said previously, we're operating in the negative and we have operating expenses that we need to pay in order to keep producing quality messianic content. So if you'd like to help support this channel, please consider using one of the links below or giving a super thanks using the button below this video, your gift can make a difference no matter what the size. Thank you for your consideration. Well, this wraps up this week's five minute Torah. Glad to have you guys with us here. We'll see you next week with another messianic insight into the eternal Torah of God. Blessings from Amet Ha Torah.
