Bereshith (Genesis) 32

Lesson date: 03/10/5855AA

In Chapter 31 we see a beautiful picture of a covenant being formed between Laban and Ya’aqob. Using stones, they erected an edifice to commemorate the covenant, they slaughter an animal(s), ate a meal and had a witness: H5707 – עֵד – ‛êd – ayd – From H5749 contracted; concretely a witness; abstractly testimony; specifically a recorder, that is, prince: – witness.

It is a beautiful example of our covenant with YHVH, we have a stone (Eph. 2:20), we have a slaughtering (Eph. 5:2, Heb 9:26,10:12) and we have a meal (Mat. 26:26-29).

Verses 1-2 – “Ya’aqob went on his way”: way = H1870 – דֶּרֶךְ – derek – deh’-rek – From H1869; a road (as trodden); figuratively a course of life or mode of action,

If our way is also Yah’s way it is the true way. (John 14:6) In going along his way Ya’aqob encounters angels of Elohim, this could be an important sign that he was on the right way.

H4264 – מַחֲנֶה – machăneh – makh-an-eh‘ – From H2583; an encampment (of travellers or troops); hence an army, whether literally (of soldiers) or figuratively

H4266 – מַחֲנַיִם – machănayim – makh-an-ah’-yim – Dual of H4264; double camp;

Mahanayim = two camps: Mat 6:24 “No one is able to serve two masters, for either he shall hate the one and love the other, or else he shall cleave to the one and despise the other. You are not able to serve Elohim and mammon.

We also have “two camps” in our walk with YHVH and whichever camp (master) we follow will be the one to which we pledge our heart.

Verse 3 – Ya’aqob was sent away by his parents to go to Paran to take a wife and to get away for his brother who wanted to kill him. His brother, Esau, who was described in Ber. 25:25 as a “hairy garment”: H8181 – שַׂעַר שֵׂעָר – śê‛âr śa‛ar – say-awr’, sah’-ar – (The second form used in Isa_7:20); from H8175 in the sense of dishevelling; hair (as if tossed or bristling): – hair (-y), X rough.

Se’ir = H8165 – שׂעיר – śê‛ı̂yr – BDB Definition: Seir = “hairy” or “shaggy”

“The field of Edom” = H123 – אדום / אדם – ‘ĕdôm / ‘ĕdôm – BDB Definition: Edom = “red”. All of these are nuances of Hebrew. Remember, Esau was also called Edom (Ber. 25:30) because he was a red-headed hairy man.

Verses 4-8 – Following in the “way” of Ya’aqob: Ya’aqob humbles himself “Say this to my master Esaw”. Luk 17:10 “So also you, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants, we have done what was our duty to do.’ ”

We see Ya’aqob remembering his past dealings with his brother and the anger of his brother so, he makes plans to deal with his past sins and “prepares for the worst” by dividing his camps into two parts, so that if one is lost the other might survive/escape: H6413 – פּלטה / פּליטה – pelêyṭâh / pelêṭâh – BDB Definition: 1) escape, deliverance 1a) escape, deliverance 1b) escaped remnant

Isa 4:2 In that day the Branch of יהוה shall be splendid and esteemed. And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for the escaped ones1 of Yisra’ĕl.

Isa 37:32 “For out of Yerushalayim comes forth a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Tsiyon – the ardour of יהוה of hosts does this.

Joe 2:32 “And it shall be that everyone who calls on the Name of יהוה shall be delivered. For on Mount Tsiyon and in Yerushalayim there shall be an escape as יהוה has said, and among the survivors whom יהוה calls.

Oba 1:17 “But on Mount Tsiyon there shall be an escape, and they shall be set-apart. And the house of Yaʽaqoḇ shall possess their possessions.

Gen 45:7 “And Elohim sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to give life to you by a great escape.

We are coming into the Last Days and believers are being split into two camps: those that adhere to the teachings and traditions of the “church” and those that adhere to the Word of YHVH. We must make a choice

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to fight with the remnant of her seed, those guarding the commands of Elohim and possessing the witness of יהושע Messiah.

Rev 14:12 Here is the endurance of the set-apart ones, here are those guarding the commands of Elohim and the belief of יהושע.

Rev 22:14 “Blessed are those doing His commands, so that the authority shall be theirs unto the tree of life, and to enter through the gates into the city.

Verses 9-12 – Following the way of Ya’aqob: He begins in prayer, recalling the promise of Elohim and relies on that promise to guide him through whatever may happen. He rightly credits YHVH for his increase (v. 10) and asks for protection.

Psa 34:4 I sought יהוה, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears.

Psa 34:5 They looked to Him and were lightened, And their faces were not ashamed.

Psa 34:6 This poor one cried out and יהוה heard him, And saved him out of all his distresses.

In verse 10 we see Ya’aqob giving thanks for YHVH’s loving-commitment “chesed”(2617) and His Truth, ’emet(H571): Psalm 119:142 “Your righteousness is righteousness forever, and Your Torah is truth.”

Psalm 119:151 “You are near, O יהוה , and all Your commands are truth.”

Psalm 119:160 “The sum of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous right-rulings are forever.”

Your Torah is Truth; Your commands are Truth; Your Word is truth; AND they are forever” Amein!! This is the crossroad of Ya’aqob’s life and this is the crossroad that we face/faced and will face: we left the land of Laban, slavery to the traditions of men, the “church” and now we are in front of a river(multitude) and about to face “one of our brothers”. So, we grow fearful and think up a strategy on how to survive this encounter and we divide into “two camps” rather than crossing the river in full faith. Mat 6:24 “No one is able to serve two masters, for either he shall hate the one and love the other, or else he shall cleave to the one and despise the other. You are not able to serve Elohim and mammon.

A = strong leader, strength

m = people, water, chaos

t = sign of the covenant

By His strength, we pass through the chaos(multitude), to secure His covenant.

H = tent wall, separation, separate

x = thorns, grab or pierce, take hold

d = tent door, move back and forth,

We must be separate and grab hold of the Door of our faith.

Joh_10:7 יהושע therefore said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

Kaphar is the word from which Kippur, as in Yom Kippur, is derived: H3725 – כּפּר – kippûr – BDB Definition: 1) atonement

Son 1:14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blooms In the vineyards of Ěn Geḏi.

H3724 – כּפר – kôpher – BDB Definition: 1) price of a life, ransom, bribe 2) asphalt, pitch (as a covering) 3) the henna plant, name of a plant (henna?)

A covering, price of life, a ransom. YHVH has ransomed us with the covering of the Blood of the Lamb, His Son.

Verses 22-25 – Following in the way of Ya’aqob: we see Jacob send his family over the ford to the other side of the stream and he remained behind in the camp. Ya’aqob divested himself of all that he had, family, children, possessions and now is positioned between two bodies of water, as it were, to wrestle with a man and have his walk changed forever. (Yes, pun intended.)

As most of you know, when we enter into an understanding of the Truth we lose somethings in this life: friends, family maybe even a job. As a result our “walk in the Way” will be changed forever. Are we called on to “wrestle” today? Yes! Col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Messiah, greets you, always wrestling for you in prayers, so that you stand perfect and complete in all the desire of Elohim.

H79 – אבק – ‘âbaq – BDB Definition: – 1) (Niphal) to wrestle, grapple (get dusty), bedust

I know I had to wrestle or get dusty in the Word when YHVH revealed the everlasting nature of His Word and that I was not following His Way but the way of Man, traditions. It changed my walk in the Way forever.

Verse 26 -28 – I have been here many times since coming into and understanding of the perpetual nature of Yah’s Word, and I am doing so right now. I have wrestled on night with the Word and I hear “Let me go, I’m tired, sleepy.” No! I’m not letting go of the Word until I get my blessing for it. Some lessons come easy and others are hard fought. I got dusty on this one.

Why did the Man of Elohim ask Ya’aqob his name? He knew his name. Ya’aqob responded with the name that the world called him but YHVH gave him a new name. If we wrestle with the Word, stay in the Word and persevere in the Word until our Master comes, we too, will get a new name: Rev 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes I shall give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I shall give him a white stone, and on the stone a renewed Name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” ’

Verse 29 – “Please let me know Your Name”. This should be our prayer, that He let us know His Name and that He Writes His Name upon us like 144,000: Rev 14:1 And I looked and saw a Lamb standing on Mount Tsiyon, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s Name written upon their foreheads.

He is seeking a place to put His Name: 1Ki_9:3 And יהוה said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me. I have set this house apart which you have built to put My Name there forever, and My eyes and My heart shall always be there.

1Ki_11:36 ‘And to his son I give one tribe, so that My servant Dawiḏ shall always have a lamp before Me in Yerushalayim, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My Name there.

Num_6:27 “Thus they shall put My Name on the children of Yisra’ĕl, and I Myself shall bless them.”

“Why do you ask about My Name?” People get angry over His Name when you try to tell them that His Name is not God, that is just a title, but that His Name is YHVH. Have you ever heard: “What difference does it make?” I have.

Ya’aqob wrestled all night with the Word. He asked for a blessing from the Word and received it and the sun rose on him. It was the dawning of a new day. He had wrestled in darkness and now he saw the Light: Joh_8:12 Therefore יהושע spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but possess the light of life.”

Joh_9:5 “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

“And he limped”. I am limping along in the Word. Remember, how when we were in the church we could run in the world. Now, after wrestling with the Word, we must limp slowly along in order to see the fullness and richness of His Word which is separate for the world.

Lesson date: 08/16/5858AA

Stop and think about this for just a moment before we go on, Ya’aqob’s parents sent him to Paran to find a wife but, the real reason for his leaving was to escape his brother’s wrath. So, initially Paran was the land of “salvation” for Ya’aqob. Shortly thereafter Paran became a land of servitude for Ya’aqob. Later, Yisra’el (Ya’aqob and his family) will go to Egypt, under the rule of Yoseph, and find salvation from the famine only to end up in servitude to Pharaoh. Later, Yisra’el, lead by Moshe will flee Mitsrayim to go to another pile of stone called Mt. Sinai, enter another covenant(Shem. 19:8).

If I can get you to endure my rantings just a little longer Ya’aqob basically went into Paran a penniless refugee and came out very rich. Yisra’el went into Mitsrayim to keep from starving and came out very rich (Shem. 12:35-36) Also, YHVH used dreams to intervene in the life of Ya’aqob (Bere.

28:12-16; 31:9-13 and we will read in the future how YHVH will use dreams to intervene in the life of Yoseph. I am getting the cart before the horse but look at what YHVH tells Ya’aqob in Bere. 46:3-4 and compare that to what YHVH told him in Bere. 28:15. I am pointing out all of this to show you the patterns that YHVH can use in a person’s life over and over and, I point these out so that if we can see the patterns in other people’s lives maybe we can then begin to see and understand similar patterns He uses in our own lives.

One more things in Chapter 31 and then I promise I will try my best to get to Chapter 32. We see a beautiful picture of a covenant being formed between Laban, Ya’aqob’s former master and, Ya’aqob. Using stones, they erected an edifice to commemorate the covenant, they slaughter an animal(s), ate a meal and had a witness: H5707 – עֵד – ‛êd – ayd – From H5749 contracted; concretely a witness; abstractly testimony; specifically a recorder, that is, prince: – witness.

It is a beautiful example of our covenant with YHVH, we have a stone (Eph. 2:20), we have a slaughtering (Eph. 5:2, Heb 9:26,10:12) and we have a meal (Mat. 26:26-29).

Verses 1-2 – “Ya’aqob went on his way”: way = H1870 – דֶּרֶךְ – derek – deh’-rek – From H1869; a road (as trodden); figuratively a course of life or mode of action,

If our way is also Yah’s way it is the true way. (John 14:6) In going along his way Ya’aqob encounters angels of Elohim, this could be an important sign that he was on the right way.

H4264 – מַחֲנֶה – machăneh – makh-an-eh‘ – From H2583; an encampment (of travellers or troops); hence an army, whether literally (of soldiers) or figuratively

H4266 – מַחֲנַיִם – machănayim – makh-an-ah’-yim – Dual of H4264; double camp;

We also have “two camps” in our walk with YHVH and whichever camp (master) we follow will be the one to which we pledge our heart

Pardon the pun but at this moment Ya’aqob is between a rock (so he cannot return to Laban) and hard place, making peace with Esau.

Se’ir = H8165 – שׂעיר – śê‛ı̂yr – BDB Definition: Seir = “hairy” or “shaggy”

Verses 4-8 – Following in the “way” of Ya’aqob: Ya’aqob humbles himself “Say this to my master Esau”. Luk 17:10 “So also you, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants, we have done what was our duty to do.’ ”

Isa 4:2 In that day the Branch of יהוה shall be splendid and esteemed. And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for the escaped ones of Yisra’ĕl.