Can we do תפילות prayers for:
Mike Clayton and his ministery
That also through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?
 | | November 19 2010 |
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TEACHING THE HEBRAIC PERSPECTIVE OF FAITH IN AND OBEDIENCE TO THE ONE TRUE GOD
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| Vayishlach "And he sent" Genesis 32:4-36:43 Hosea 11:7-12:12 Obadiah 1:1 - 21 *Archived teaching from 2009*
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| Torah Commentary |
| Vayishlach "And he sent"
Genesis 32:4-36:43
Hosea 11:7-12:12
Obadiah 1:1 - 21
Another Opportunity Missed
Jacob may now be free of Laban, but in the end he may find that Laban was only practice for the real trials that would seek to destroy not only him, but the plans the Almighty had for his life. First on the list was his brother Esau. It was a meeting that Jacob would have preferred to not attend, but in the end he came out of it at least with all his pieces and parts still intact.
Now it is time for the final part of the journey. He is going back home! All of his enemies have been put defeated and he is free to walk into the Promised Land with his head high, wives, the slave girls, a small boat load of children and possessions too numerous to count. Well, not so fast. There are still a few small items that have never been dealt with.
We begin chapter 35 with HaShem telling Jacob that it is now time to cross the borders and go back home. Jacob turns to his family and gives them some instructions before he prepared to enter. On top of the list is to get rid of any false gods they have with them. How does he know there are false gods in the camp? Does he know that it is Rachel that has them? Has he known all along that she had stolen them from Laban and has them to this day? These are all questions that we can ponder at this point, but they are questions that will be made clear in the coming verses.
In the final steps of the journey, Rachael goes into labor. It is recorded as a hard labor, one which would take Rachael's life. She lives long enough to hear that the child is a boy and she calls him, "Son of my grief." There can also be another translation for the words she spoke on that day though. They can also be translated, "Son of my idolatry."
Within the last words she spoke, Rachael may have come to the place of finally admitting the secret life she had lived since leaving her father's house. In those last moments, maybe with Jacob standing right there, she was admitting that the words of her husband just days before to put away her false gods had been words meant for her. She would understand that she had been given a last chance to repent and had refused. Her life would come to an end, because she never let go of Plan B. Her life had been a mixture of faith in the gods of her father Laban and the God of her husband Jacob. The mixture of lukewarm living would keep her from the Promised Land.
Jacob would change the name of the child to Benjamin which carries the meaning of "son of my right hand" or "Son of my strength." But what was it about this child's birth that would cause Jacob to think of strength. Was it the strength he had received from Rachael through the years? Could it have been that he received strength on this day because in his heart he had always known that Rachael was divided in her devotion to him. Did he see in this moment that her outward beauty had been a deception? Had knowing about those false gods and not dealing with them literally been a drain on him, both spiritually and maybe even physically? Of course these are questions of speculation, but I think they are worth some thought.
Now just before we become so enamored with the possible failure of Rachael, let us turn the account and allow it to become a mirror for our own lives. How does the death of Rachael speak to us.
It takes no thought at all to know that I believe we have something in common with Jacob here in that we too are preparing to go back home. That thought, together with the fact that the Torah was written as an example to us, brings the question, "Would we also be receiving instructions the same as Jacob did long ago?" Would the words of getting rid of our false gods before we can enter in be words we should allow to examine and convict our lives?
It is doubtful if anyone reading this commentary actually has little idols around their homes like Rachael did. False gods though come in many forms. To find them we must first define them. Simply put, a false god is anything you turn to instead of, or as you are, turning to YHVH. A false god can be within a statement such as, "I am upset, I am going to see a movie so I can calm down!" Nothing against movies is implied here, but rather I use this as an example we do not think of right away. False gods can of course be a hidden bank account or that hundred-dollar bill you tucked away without telling your spouse, you know, for that 'just in case' moment. False gods can be pills that keep us from dealing with life. They can be children whom we worship and adore, status in our congregation, our dream house, a retirement account and the list can go on and on. It is not that there is anything wrong with many of the above mentioned things, but we must make sure they never take a place in life in which we rely on or place them above Yah.
It all comes down to this, "What do we have in our lives that will cause us to come up a few steps short of His full promises?" Is what we have hidden in the closets and drawers of life going to be the very thing that kills us in the end?
Rachael was given an opportunity to repent. She passed on it till the very end when it was too late. I believe the same warning is going forth today. Let us be a people who learn from history instead of repeating it!
Shabbat Shalom,
Mike
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