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Vayishlach“And he sent”

The 8th Torah Portion Reading8th reading in the Book of Genesis

Genesis 32:4 – 36:43Obadiah 1:1-21

John 1:19 – 2:12

Vayishlach

VayishlachThe Shadows of the Messiah

Titles of Messiah

• The Pierced One - Zechariah 12:10• Son of Trouble - Genesis 35:18• Son of the Right Hand - Genesis 35:18• Man at Your Right Hand - Psalm80:17,llO:1• Ruler in Israel - Micah 5: 1 (2)• Shepherd of the Flock - Micah 5:3(4)• Our Peace - Micah 5:4(5)• Son of Jesse - Lechah Dodi• The Bethlehemite - Lechah Dodi

Preparing to Meet Esau

Genesis 32:3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

Jacob's return to the land symbolizes the great ingathering and prophetic return of the Jewish people.

A Nation Divided

Genesis 32:6-7 6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;

Jewish tradition associates Messiah son of David with the camp of Leah and Messiah son of Joseph with the camp of Rachel:

A Nation Divided

• Esau forgives Jacob and they reconcile• Esau refuses Jacob’s gifts, but then accepts (typical Middle Eastern custom)• Esau assumes Jacob will follow him into Edom• Esau leaves, and Jacob implies he will follow

How can it be God and a Angel?

• At first, says Jacob wrestled with a “man”• Ish = man• Jacob’s hip is dislocated to end the match• Vs. 29 & 31 changes to saying the being was “Elohim” (God)• An Angel is the “bearer of the divine Word”• An Angel brings a divine message from God, or carries out an instruction

How can it be God and a Angel?

Angels are not God; they are the messengers of God: "He makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire.'" On the other hand, the reader of the Torah frequently encounters the mysterious Angel of the LORD.

An Old Testament Christophany?

Was the Angel of the LORD actually God, or was He an angel sent by God?

Was it a Christophany?

Probably not, our Master Yeshua did not seem to make cameo appearances in the Torah.

Angel of the Lord - Malach Elohim

The best overall translation that more gets the meaning right is probably “Messengers of the Divine Word”• Prophets Haggai and Malachi were called “malach elohim”• The distinctions between malach Elohim and Yehoveh are often blurred in Scripture• In the Burning Bush, it was “malach Elohim”• Similar issue with Yeshua

• He is 1) Bearer of the Divine word (Angel) 2) THE Divine Word (God) 3) Flesh and blood (Man)

Angel of the Lord

Genesis 32:25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us

The Angel of the LORD is the "Word made angel."

Angel of the Lord

Genesis 32:25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

Jacob’s Dislocated ThighGenesis 32:32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.

“Go ahead: make my dog”

“No ifs ands or butts”

“Your buns deserve better”

Hebrew National

No Longer Jacob

Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

The Match

Ya’aqob “Jacob” the man

Yabboq “Jabbok” the place

Ye’abeq “he wrestled” the match

Before ya’aqob could cross the yabboq to the land of blessing he had to ye’abeq wrestle

The Messiah’s Concealed Identity

Genesis 32:29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

The Face of Messiah

Genesis 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

The Redemption and Joseph and Rachel

Genesis 33:6-7 6 Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. 7 And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

Reuben, Simeon, and Levi

Genesis 34:25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.

Reuben, Simeon, and Levi

• Dinah was about 15 years old

• Ra-ah = wanting to see, learn

• Shechem, son of King Hamor, rapes Dinah

• Maybe an act of rebellion to go into the city.

• King’s son now says he wants to marry Dinah

Shechem

• In John 4, Shechem is currently called Sychar• Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, the well Israel used when camping outside the walls of Shechem• She is the 1st non-Jew to be offered salvation• Today Shechem (Sychar) is called Nablus, in the West Bank• Jacob erects an altar, calls it El- Elohe-Israel means El, the God of Israel

House of the God of Jacob

Genesis 35:7 And he built there an altar, and called the place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

Jacob’s Trouble

Genesis 35:16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

Jeremiah 30:5-7 5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? 7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Ben - oni

Genesis 35:18-19 18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.

Rachel's travail portends the birth pangs of Messiah. The name Ben-ani foreshadows Messiah in His first coming. The name Benjamin foreshadows Messiah in His second coming.

Vayishlach

Genesis 35:19-20 Ge 19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. 20 And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

Terah

Haran Abram Nachor

Lot Milcha SaraiMelchaSarai

Abram married his brother Haran’s daughter SaraiNachor married his brother Haran’s daughter Milcha

Lot was the son of Haran, and was Abram’s nephew

Born to Leah:     1.   Reuben Affection     2.   SimeonHearing     3.   Levi Husband; Joined     4.   Judah Praise     5.   Issachar Hire; service     6.   Zebulun Dwelling     7.   Dinah, Judgment; vindicated

Born to Bilhah, Rachel’s maid:     1.   Dan Judged; judgment     2.   Naphtali Wrestling's; prevailed

Born to Zilpah, Leah’s maid:     1.   Gad Nations oppose Israel     2.   Asher Happy

Born to Rachel:     1.   Joseph Adding     2.   Benjamin Son of my right hand

The Signature

This account later had great significance for Israel: God would deliver and protect Israel as He brought them back to the land from Egypt.