Parashas Toldos
Genisis 25:19 – 28:10
Please Pray this Prayer
Before reading
In the name of Yahushua
Our Messiyah,
I pray for the Spirit of
Understanding
The Spirit of Knowledge and
The Spirit of Wisdom
As I read through this
Parasha
Parasha Toldos is the 6th Torah Portion in the yearly Torah
Cycle, in Hebrew Toldos means “generations.”
Each of the Patriarchs of old maintained a Yeshivah(Torah study) in which they
taught about the existence of EL YAHVEH “יהוה” and HIS
Will for their lives. The stories of every Torah Characters are design to show
how spiritual greatness or follies were establish in the various live of
humanity.
Today we should be
no different; the father of the house is in essence the Patriarch of the
family, on his head lays the responsibility to speak or teach to his children,
what his father and fathers before him should have done.
This Parashas provides a clue to the ways in which Isaac’s
role diverged from that of his father Abraham. Abraham accepted everyone into
his sphere of influence, while Isaac did not.
Like every individual we all have different personality traits, or from a
spiritual point of view different talents. These talents determine which road
we travel to maturity, and how we travel that road individually.
Torah devotes less space to Isaac’s life than that of his
father Abraham. Abraham was more of an
outgoing personality that his son Isaac, that is why Torah says that Isaac
dwell in Tents, he was a mama’s boy. But this story is to show that even if
there are differences in personality, the ultimate spiritual goal is still full
maturity.
The life of Isaac seems to be but a bridge between Abraham
and Jacob; even though his talents was less than his father and his son, he was
still required like all of us, to draw a line between good and evil, right and
wrong.
In contrast to his father Abraham whose primary fruit of
the Spirit was strength in kindness (chessed), Isaac’s was kindness in strength
(gevurah). In every individual there is a personality, we all have a tendency
towards certain trait, actions, and weakness. It is our strength that our
Fathers want us to place in His Hands, and our weaknesses He wants us to
develop.
We will learn from
this Parashas, how ABBA YAHVEH used the circumstances in our lives to maximize
our strength and developed our weaknesses. The life of Isaac even though, it
was different from his father, he walk faithfully in the character he was
predisposed to, or what he was required to walk in.
In the Hebrew scheme
of life, kindness and strength must go together; either one without the other
can be dangerous. Kindness if not tempered by strength can lead to self-denial,
abstinence, frugality; strength without kindness can lead to selfishness and
cruelty.
The study of
Kabbalah continually reminds us of the value of looking below the surface for
life many meaning. When we as believers in Messiyah do so, we may find that we
have to revise our initial impressions of the meaning of the various stories in
the Torah. For example the story of Toldot, and the complex relationship
between Isaac and his son Jacob and Esau.
In this Torah
Portion Esau trades his birthright as firstborn son to his brother Jacob for a
bowl of soup. Later we see Jacob poses as Esau to gain the blessing of his
elder father. It is easy to read this story or Midrash and see Esau purely as a
villain, however, the Torah says, Isaac loved Esau, which gives us a reason to
look deeper into this story.
The family tree of
Jacob and Esau begin with their grandfather Abraham who was followed by their
father Isaac. According to the Midrash, when Isaac spoke with his father, Isaac
talked about lofty matters like the details of fulfilling ones spiritual life.
Most people in reading this midrash will think that Esau was just some
liar, that he wanted his father to think
that he was a good man, when in fact, he was not. However, even if Esau had
been a liar, Isaac was too mature a person to be fooled by mere words.
Initially, Jacob and
Esau start life with the same parents in the same environment. Each were a
favorite of one parents, and both were given the same spiritual training. There
was one significant difference, Esau wanted his father not just to favor him,
but to recognize how spiritual he was. This was the reason why He got into such
a rage when he discovered that Isaac had given his blessing to Jacob. This
seams to me that he craved the praises of man more than anything.
Jacob’s Ego was very
different. Jacob separated himself from any need for his work to be acknowledge
by his father; instead, he put his certainty in the Word of the CREATOR. Jacob
understood if he did the right things, the CREATOR would make sure that the
right things would happen to him at the right time.
Regrettable, many of
us can relate to Esau: we want what we want, when we want, for what we want,
and we get very upset when we do not get it. This Torah portion of Toldot helps
us to understand just how powerful the Desire to Received is. Our spiritual
goal is to refurbish our Ego, from a Desire to received, to a Desire to give
without condition.
Our spiritual work
must take place between the CREATOR and ourselves. We must also keep those who
are not directly involve from knowing too much about our spiritual life, for
anonymous good deeds reveals the most light.
How could Isaac have
not known the truth about Esau? Isaac had the Divine Inspiration, the Holy
Spirit with him all the time. It seems to me that the true blessings that Jacob
and Esau sought could not come from Isaac, it could only come from the CREATOR.
Isaac was only the conduit, but he could not give the blessing, because if he
had done so, he would have limited their blessings. The CREATOR in HIS Wisdom
arranged a complicated set of deception and mistaken identity in order for the
blessings to reach Jacob.
Kabbalah teaches us
that the day of the blessing by Isaac, was unique in the history of mankind,
because on that day, the Gates of the Heavens were open to reveal to his world
the entirety of the Light of Redemption. Isaac knew that this Light of
Redemption needed to be brought down to their world, but Jacob could not
handle it despite his knowledge of and desire for Torah.
The revelation of
Light in this world has three requirements. First, there is the source, the
perfect Light in the Endless World, which is inaccessible to most of us.
Secondly, we must have a pure conduit to draw down this Light and to allow it
to be received properly. Isaac drew down the Light of Redemption for Jacob, so
when He is ready to receive the Light, it would be ready for him.
When Isaac was ready
to bless Esau, he told his son to prepare food for him. Rebecca the flesh
overheard this conversation, she knew the CREATOR had chosen Jacob over Esau,
she took Esau’s clothes or vessel and dress Jacob in them, Rebecca explain to
Jacob who was still listening to the flesh, that on this day there was to be a
great revelation of the Light of the Gemar HaTikkum, or the Final Redemption
for that generation.
She told Jacob that
he was not ready to received the Light. having been so immersed in his Torah
studies, Jacob had not yet experience the pain that this world. To do this he
had to take on the the clothing of Esau.
The Spirit of
Rebecca was sharing with Jacob as she is sharing with us on this Sabbath, that
to the degree that we take upon ourselves the pain of the world, to this
degree, we have to take upon ourselves the clothing of Esau, the pain of this
world.
On this Sabbath of
Taldos, we can come to receive the blessings of Isaac. He is here to give then to us, and
with them the ability to help bring about the final Redemption in our
generation. We can only receive this tremendous infusion of Light, once we have
truly accepted the truth off Messiyah which lies beyond our studies. Only to
the degree that we dress ourselves in the pain of this world can Isaac gives us
the blessings of the Gemar HaTikkum. Now the rest of the Story.
Genesis 25:19 This is
the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot Isaac. 20 Isaac
was forty years old when he took Rebecca as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the
Syrian of Padan Aram,
the sister of Laban the Syrian. -
Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel a
wicked woman, she was an offspring of the wicked people in Aram; however,
Rebecca did not emulate their evil ways. The principle we are been taught here
is that, even if we are surrounded on every side by wickedness, our Heavenly
Father will send a Eliezer, a redeemer to take us out from among a wicked
nation, to prepare us to be the bride of the Master’s Only Son. We will see in this verse the same principle
playing it-self out over and over again.
This narrative says
that Isaac took a wife at forty. We know that Messiyah Yahushua died on the
cross at 33 years old, we know that one year is like a thousand year. Will
Messiyah Yahushua return for His bride at age 40 also? Just thinking!
Genesis 25:21 Now
Isaac pleaded with YAHVEH for his wife, because she was barren; and YAHVEH
granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. - Isaac the spirit prayed abundantly for Rebecca the flesh as she
simultaneously prayed on her own behalf. Even though we are promise a blessing,
it is incumbent for us to pray it in existence. That is why our Messiyah and
Savor is making intercession for us the church even as we speak. He is promise
a bride by His Father. He sits at the Right Hand of His Father while the bride
makes herself ready for Him.
It is the same with
the second matriarchs, Rebecca. She too is barren and Isaac pleaded with YAHVEH
on her behalf. It seems that Isaac may have learned a leasson from his father’s
failure to pray for his wife. Here, the husband’s prayer to YAHVEH is for the
wife, and the prayer was answered.
Genesis 25:22 But the
children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I
like this?” So she went to inquire of YAHVEH. – After being barren for so long, Rebecca finally conceives, but the
pregnancy is troubled; the twins fight in her womb. She was mostly likely in
physical distress and worried that the pregnancy might fail, or the children
might be born in compromised health.
So, she cryed out to
YAHVEH from the depths of her heart, her godself. What is my godly purpose on
this Earth? Why is my godself expected to fulfilled, except for the fulfillment
of this mission.
As Jacob and Esau
represent two spiritual forces in her body; these two forces represent the
spirit and the flesh, these forces that transcend the normal course of
personality development, exist in all of us even from birth. This is what I
call, our Characteristic traits. Like all good mother Rebecca (the church) went
to inquire of YAHVEH, outside of her husband. Shouldn’t she have gone to Isaac
and said honey, I have a problem, let us go seek ABBA YAHVEH guidance together.
Here we see another
aspect of women, their willingness to circumvent their husband. Yes, EL YAHVEH
will speak to them. EL YAHVEH gave her an answer; however, He did not give her
a solution. What if Isaac a type of Messiyah for Rebecca, had been included in
the visit to EL YAHVEH, would they be given a solution to the problem?
Genesis 25:23
And YAHVEH said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples
shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.” - EL
YAHVEH conveys the significant of her frightening symptoms only to her and not
to Isaac. EL YAHVEH conveyed to her that there were two unborn child,
representing two nations and two conflicting ideologies: Yisrael and Edom, the
spirit and the flesh. There struggle in the wound, the world, symbolized the
future rivalries between them, which would end with the youngest prevailing
over the other.
It is usually those who are younger that
has a more open disposition to spiritual development, than the older more
unbending Ego.
The turmoil within her was due to the
irreconcilable conflict between the two people that was already taking shape.
The two will never be mighty together; one will fall and one will rise. This is
another principle worth remembering: two believers: one espousing morality and
justice and the other standing for license and barbarity. They will always be
in conflict until one comes to dominate the other, whether through victory on the
battle field or in the contest for the mind of men.
Rebecca like her mother-in-law Sarah
were barren, elucidating that the emergence of the Hebrew people is a miracle,
for each new generation was a specific gift from EL YAHVEH. Without the
infilling of the Holy Spirit Yisrael the church, the woman will be barren
spiritually.
The life of Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel
demonstrate the motto that EL YAHVEH desires the prayer of the righteous, who
pleas for EL YAHVEH mercy and attempts at self-Improvement, show how humanity
can raise themselves to Spiritual.
Genesis 25:24 So when her days were fulfilled for her
to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. 25And the first
came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name
Esau. 26Afterward his brother came out and his hand took hold of
Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she
bore them. - From the onset their eternal
rivalry already showed itself in their appearance and developing behavior. This
again is our predispose character. Does this means that some of us are
predisposed to destruction while other are not.
No! Individuals may
not be predisposed, but evil is! In
everything we have a choice; however, Yisrael the church must pay attention and
ask for our Messiyah help to curb those among us who are predisposed with
certain character trait.
All character
traits, even the basest, can be used for good. Man must learn to harness his
nature through the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the Word, and not let the
nature of the flesh dominate him.
David and Esau had
similar personalities, David utilized his nature for good and become one of the
greatest people ever lived. Esau let his nature run rampant, and became the
eternal symbol of evil and cruelty.
