Parsha Toldot: Beresheeth 25:22-23. From the Restoration Scriptures True Name
Edition:
22 And the children
struggled together within her; and she said, If it is so, why am I like this?
And she went to inquire of vuvh.
23 And
vuvhsaid to her, Two nations are in your womb,
and two kinds of peoples shall be separated from your bowels; and the one people
shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
The
stronger (aggressor), Esav would still serve the younger Yaakov (submitted).
Why? Because of strength. Two kinds or DNA strands. One: strong
personality apart from submission to YHWH’s revealed will is not a noble
trait (Esav). Two: Submission, or weakness (dependence on YHWH’s will) displays
the DNA of submission and supernatural strength. That is the DNA of
Yitzchak, passed down to Yaakov, which was revealed in Yaakov after many outer
layers of self-reliance had to be peeled.
Yitzchak, is of an unquestionably passive character compared to others in
Scripture. In the course of his life, he doesn't seem to truly struggle or
confront his surroundings aggressively. Even the basic task of finding a proper
wife is "arranged" for him by his father's servant, Eliezer.
On the surface of things, this would seem to be a flaw in Yitzchak's
personality; one may have perhaps thought that a mature young man would be more
active, take greater control of his own destiny.
Yitzchak personifies "Midat HaDin" - literally, the attribute of Strict
Justice. What does this quality mean, and how does it apply to a person?
"Din” relates to the extent to which a person
has succeeded in completely attaining control over himself, or self discipline
by submission and separation, without feeling as if there is more to discover,
somewhere outside of YHWH’s will, apart from what YHWH wants you to both know
and have AS FOUND ONLY IN TORAH. And in Yitzchak's case, submitting himself to
the already revealed will of YHWH, was what made him both gentle and great.
In Yitzchak's life, this quality finds its most profound expression during the
"Akeida-binding (Beresheeth 22),"
- when he showed that he was willing to sacrifice his very life in response to a
divine command. He was a submitted teenager! When Yitzchak is relieved of
material concerns, he is freed up to sanctify and
elevate himself to the status of what
our sages call "Olah Temimah" – or a "Pure Burnt Offering."
His offering was an olah, or elevation
into YHWH’s perfect will, so that his natural climb up Olivet in the land of
Moriah was then easy, and ironically a relaxing and assuring experience.
Yaakov 2:21 Was not Avraham our abba made tzadik by mitzvoth, when he had
offered Yitzchak his son upon the altar?
RSTNE
Yitzchak’s part in blessing Abraham with the promise of covenant is often
overlooked. His submission was on display.
Yitzchak rather than being sovereign and king over his
own life simply submitted to YHWH in all his travels and steps on the earth.
While Avraham and Yaakov were more aggressive, Yitzchak’s greatness like
Moshiach Yahshua is in His submission and obedience to YHWH’s authority rather
than his own understanding. Yitzchak was able to do this because he didn’t
seek temporary things, or temporal healing, but ultimate healing with Yahshua.
His city and kingdom were great and eternal as opposed to temporal.
Ivrim 11:17 By emunah Avraham, when he was tried,
offered up Yitzchak: and he that had received the promises offered up his only
brought-forth son,
18
Of whom it was said, That in Yitzchak shall your zera be called: 19 Accounting thatvuvhwas able to raise him
up, even from the dead; from where also he received Him in a figure.
RSTNE
Yitzchak
was the prototype of the willing submissive and obedient suffering Servant
Yahshua Himself. Yeshayahu 53 says of our Savior:
6 All we
like sheep have gone astray; we have turned each one to his own halacha; and
vuvhhas laid
on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is
brought as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb,
so He opens not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from mishpat: and who shall declare His
generation? For He was cut out of the land of the living: for the transgression
of My People-Ami was He beaten. RSTNE
This dynamic was certainly an essential element of the
personality of Yitzchak our forefather. He submits himself to YHWH’s will,
cultivates his own personal attribute of the fear of Heaven, and from this
internal greatness, he elevates daily life - as he grows in both importance and
wealth. This upward spiral continues until all associated with him recognize his
greatness. Even Avimelech chooses to strike a covenant with Yitzchak by seeing
his willing and submissive spirit even to things, people and places Yitzchak
doesn’t quite grasp.
After
Yitzchak by meek submission managed to withstand the trial of the Akeida-binding
of Yitzchak, and after Avraham found just the right match for his son, Yitzchak
still could not father children, given the fact that Rivka was barren. Rivkah
suffered from a serious physical deficiency - she had no womb - and she
therefore had no hope of giving birth to a baby.
Despite the couple's predicament, Yitzchak and
Rivka entreated YHWH to heal her (as opposed to running to Babylonian faith
healers), to transform her body into one that could produce children. It worked.
His humility and submissive spirit caused YHWH to overturn Rivkah's womb, or to
grant her one, when she missed the actual biological part. A creative miracle!
Beresheeth 25:21it states that in this healing “YHWH was found by
him.”
INTERNAL
STRUGGLE of submission and simplicity versus aggression and making things happen
as YHWH’s child.
Rivkah's pregnancy did not mark the end of her suffering, though. The pregnancy
itself became very complicated and rather painful - "The two boys ran about or
struggled within her," says the Torah. Our sages explained this "running" in the
following manner in a comical allegory: When Rivkah would pass by a synagogue,
Ya'akov would kick, in an effort to get out (to worship in the Synagogue)
Similarly, when she would pass by an idolatrous temple, Esav would press to
leave (to worship there). It is difficult to accept the sages' description of
the pregnancy literally - as if Esav had already chosen idolatry as a way of
life, while Yaakov chose Torah! Esav was obviously not consciously aware that
his mother was passing by an idolatrous temple - and Yaakov didn’t consciously
understand that his mother was passing by a synagogue. If so, what is the
meaning of the midrash?
Yaakov and Esav, so to speak, are two different types of creations Beresheeth
25:23. Both are from the same womb, but are different kinds of peoples and
future nations. Yaakov, by his nature, is drawn to the world of the Ruach.
Material reality, for him, is just a means by which he develops his spiritual
potential. Esav, however, is drawn by his nature to the material, to the
temporal physical. Since the distinction between Esav and Yaakov is natural and
intrinsic, even before they were born, we read of them being drawn to the house
of idolatry and synagogue, respectively. History has born that personality
pattern to be true. The birth of Yaakov and Esav was unlike any other. Two
diametrically opposed paths were born, two clashing perspectives, each of which
was to handle the world’s challenges in his own special way.
Esav
was carnal and worldly, seeking quick fixes. Sound like anyone you know?
Yitzchak was submissive as seen even by his
dwellings on earth. We read in:
Ivrim 11: 9: By emunah he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange
country, dwelling in tents with Yitzchak and Yaakov, the heirs with him of the
same promise: 10 For he looked for a city that has foundations, whose Builder
and Maker is
vuvh.
RSTNE
His
prayer life was by submission to YHWH not by naming things and claiming them. We
read: Ivrim
11: 20 By emunah Yitzchak blessed Yaakov and Esav concerning things to come.
By submission. He prayed the revealed will of YHWH over the boys. Over the
idolater and the righteous one.
Close-Romiyah 9:7 Neither, because they are the zera of Avraham, are they all
b’nai Yisrael: but, In Yitzchak shall your zera be called.
RSTNE
Thus like Yitzchak we are to be fully submissive to YHWH’s will for our lives
even when that means unfamiliar and uncomfortable changes, or turmoil in
changing seasons of His desire for us. Galutyah
4:28: Now we, Yisraelite brothers, are like Yitzchak was.
The name
Esav equals the gematriya of the word shalom (peace). Esav and shalom both equal
376. Yet Esav was
never a man of shalom nor are his offspring today. Why did YHWH allow this
gematriyah? Because shalom depends on the
aggressor’s willingness to be turned into a submissive one in Yahshua!
Until, or unless Esav is ready for peace in his heart, he has only aggression
and not the submission that leads to inward and outward shalom. Only Moshiach
can change Esav's heart to desire peace in Moshiach Yahshua with the offspring
of Yitzchak.
