El is Israel's G-d!

Israel

This series is so important, because we are now going into understanding who is Israel, who are the Jewish people, and what does it mean to be grafted in.

This parsha is huge as it makes everything so clear and distinct and actually gives a picture to what will happen in the future! Be aware that we will be looking at physical Israel, spiritual Israel and what being spiritual Israel means.

The first we will be taking a look at is phyiscal Israel, and no better place to start than the portion to which Israel became known!

Let’s get this clear, G-d made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Can anyon tell me the promise that G-d gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

G-d’s Promise to make Abraham a great nation (Gen. 12:1-3):

Genesis 12:1–3 TLV

Then Adonai said to Abram, “Get going out from your land, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. My heart’s desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you, to make your name great so that you may be a blessing. My desire is to bless those who bless you, but whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

G-d’s Promise to give the land to Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 14:14-17)

Genesis 14:14–17 TLV

When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he rallied his trained men, those born in his household, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. Then he divided his servants against them at night, and he defeated them and pursued them as far as Hovah, which is north of Damascus. He brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the other people. Now after he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (this is the King’s Valley).

G-d’s Promise was to Abraham’s own (physical) son, not that of a servant (Gen 15:1-7)

G-d Restates the Promise of the land to his descendants (Gen. 17:1-8)

G-d Clarifies that His promise is through Isaac, not Ishmael (Gen. 17:19-21)

G-d confirms the same promises to Isaac (Gen. 26:2-6)

G-d confirms the same promise to Jacob (Gen. 28:10-15):

Genesis 28:1–15 TLV

So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, commanded him and said to him, “Don’t take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. Get up, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. Now may El Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you will become an assembly of peoples. And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you that you may take possession of the land of your sojourn, which God gave to Abraham.” Then Isaac sent Jacob away and he went toward Paddan-aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. Now Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob when he sent him to Paddan-aram to take for himself a wife from there, when he blessed him and commanded him saying, “Don’t take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.” Jacob listened to his father Isaac and to his mother and went toward Paddan-aram. Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were contemptible in his father Isaac’s eyes. So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, Nebaioth’s sister for his wife, besides his other wives. Then Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He happened upon a certain place and spent the night there, for the sun had set. So he took one of the stones from the place and put it by his head and lay down in that place. He dreamed: All of a sudden, there was a stairway set up on the earth and its top reaching to the heavens—and behold, angels of God going up and down on it! Surprisingly, Adonai was standing on top of it and He said, “I am Adonai, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your seed. Your seed will be as the dust of the land, and you will burst forth to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed—and in your seed. Behold, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not forsake you until I have done what I promised you.”

And of-course in this parsha....

G-d reconfirms this promise to Jacob (Gen. 35:10-12)

Genesis 35:10–12 TLV

God said to him: “Your name was Jacob. No longer will your name be Jacob, for your name will be Israel.” So He named him Israel. God also said to him: “I am El Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and an assembly of nations will come from you. From your loins will come forth kings. The land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac— I give it to you, and to your seed after you I will give the land.”

Yesterday, we spoke about struggle and about how we must look towards the L-rd. But what happens after the struggle? After the struggle, our hopes are either realized or they are unrealized! For Jacob, his hope for shalom becoming a reality was what would lead him to choose wether or not he would follow G-d. Jacob wanted the blessing, but remember, while the blessing was necessary to secure for his physical life and the taking care of his family, deep down Jacob wanted…. Shalom!

Of-course, we go back to remember what Jacob said in Gen. 28:20-21

Genesis 28:20–21 TLV

Then Jacob made a vow saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this way that I am going, and provide me food to eat and clothes to wear, and I return in shalom to my father’s house, then Adonai will be my God.

This is what Jacob really desired… he wanted to live a peaceful life, but instead he faces so many struggles… so many struggles that he even struggles with G-d coming face to face with the Angel of Adonai!

This takes entertaining angels to a whole different level. Like who knew that angels like to wrestle with people? This just shows that our faith is constantly being proved everyday. Our struggle determines whether we are wrestling with G-d or against Him!

I just hope that you are grand slamming those doubts and fears and holding on tightly to the L-rd for that blessing and the fulfillment of that promise.

Jacob was holding on to dear life, because while he was afraid of his brother, he had faith in the G-d of his fathers… Did this take away the thought that Esau might still kill him? No, Jacob still had to assume that Esau was after his life, but following the blessing of Angel of Adonai, Jacob was able to remember the promise of G-d given to his father’s was also His.

So Jacob being afraid of death now only sees a hope, and now he can… he is way more than able!!! to face death. Yes, we can rightly say,

1 Corinthians 15:55 TLV

“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”

Jacob came to the realization that all things belonged to him, because to him was given the promise of a hope and future.

Check out what Paul says to the community of Corinth....

1 Corinthians 3:22-23 “whether Paul or Apollos or Kefa, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come. All are yours, and you are Messiah’s, and Messiah is God’s.”

WOW! WOW! WOW!

G-d has given everything to us! Yes, G-d has given us dominion over the whole earth! And to Messiah, belongs all His people, and to G-d belongs the Messiah!

Know that this means that though we are in the world, we do not belong in it.

For know, we carry this flesh, and the truth is that the flesh carries an identity of this world. We in the flesh belong to the world, but we will like Messiah, in time, put away what is corruptible and put on what is incorruptible!

However, the only ones to be able to do so are those that have put on the mind of Messiah! This only belongs to those that have received Messiah are are struggling with (not against) Him.

In so G-d begins to work with the rest showing the outcome of your faith.

After the wrestling match, Jacob now has a different mindset to how he prepares to meet Esau.

Though Jacob is “prepared” for the worst, he hopes for the _____

Congregation Rebirth, it is wise to prepare for the worst, but it is necessary to hope for the (best;shalom;L-rd)

Jacob greets Esau as if he saw the L-rd, however, it is not that Esau was the L-rd, rather, Jacob was so fixed on the agreement made with G-d, that the only thing that Jacob could do was walk in the truth/the hope that he would return to his father’s house in shalom!

So when Jacob saw Esau, Jacob saw the promise....

Can you today look at the enemy and see the promise of G-d?

Jacob’s names was changed to Israel, because despite the struggle even with G-d, he prevailed.

He saw and wanted only the promise that G-d gave to his fathers, and later when he acts to receive the promise 100%, Jacob will finally take the name Israel.

Let’s read a little more following the meet-up between Esau and Jacob...

Genesis 33:16–20 TLV

So on that day Esau returned on his way to Seir, but Jacob journeyed to Sukkot and built a house for himself, and for his livestock he made booths. That is the reason that place is called Sukkot. So Jacob arrived in shalom to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped right in front of the city. He purchased the portion of the field there where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 pieces of money. There he set up an altar, and he called it, El is Israel’s God.

Now, even though El is Israel’s G-d, Jacob is still living to carry out the promise and purpose of G-d to bring the Salvation for all people.

Jacob & his sons come face to face with a situation that hurts the family. Jacob hoped to respond in the way for Hashem to be made known through Shalom. However, two of Jacob’s sons thought otherwise. While Jacob’s sons felt they had a reason, Jacob gives a rebuke and this situation determines how Jacob blesses these two sons.

And, I love this thought, because G-d shows up to Jacob and tells him… “Hey, your sons are not far off from you, because danger is coming for them and you because of them”, and “remember when you were in danger and I blessed you?!”

Jacob knew right away on what he needed to do...

Genesis 35:2–3 TLV

So Jacob said to his household and to everyone who was with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Cleanse yourselves and change your clothes. Now let’s get up and go up to Beth-El so that I can make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and has been with me in the way that I have gone.”

Jacob knew that he needed to decide for himself to do what it takes to attain the promise of peace, and in fully committing to how G-d was wanting him to live, he might be able to void the consequence that is present in this world.

This here is my favorite portion, because it allows us to see that the promise of G-d has been made available to us in Messiah Yeshua! G-d has been taking care of us providing His Salvation, we only have to act receive the L-rd and serve Him. Yeshua said it better as he rebuked the devil for the last time saying:

Luke 4:8 TLV

But answering, Yeshua told him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship Adonai your God, and Him only shall you serve.’ ”

Can you face your enemy and worship G-d?

When Jacob was able to establish G-d has His G-d and the G-d of his family present and future.....

G-d basically comes in and says....

OK That’s it That’s, you are not Jacob anymore… you are Israel, and as Israel… you are going to be the nation that I called you to be...

Ok, let’s read it as it is written:

Genesis 35:9–12 TLV

God appeared to Jacob again, after he returned from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. God said to him: “Your name was Jacob. No longer will your name be Jacob, for your name will be Israel.” So He named him Israel. God also said to him: “I am El Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and an assembly of nations will come from you. From your loins will come forth kings. The land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac— I give it to you, and to your seed after you I will give the land.”

And guess what, Jacob’s hope for Shalom becomes a reality.

Jacob is brought back to his father along with his brother Esau and they both get to bury they father in Shalom.

It is incredible to see how G-d operates and how everything is cyclical.

However, In this message, Israel is the name given to Jacob. The promise that is issued to Israel is that:

1. Israel is Jacob’s new name

2. A nation (Nation of Israel) will come from you

3. An assembly of nations will come from you (Israel).

4. From your loins will come forth kings.

5. The land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac—I give it to you,

6. The land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac—I give it to your seed after you I will give the land.

With this we see that God is very specific in Physical Israel and Spiritual Israel. We will go through each of these and how it reflects in the end times. But what needs to be addressed now is that at the end, we will see all of this promise come together.

We will see Israel (Jacob) and the nations (Esau) gather together and the end of time, and we will witness the great and terrible day of the L-rd. We will then witness the King of all Kings, Yeshua the Messiah, who is the king of Israel, take up His reign, and all will gather, from the tribes of Israel and all of those the seed of Israel in faith before the throne of Messiah to worship Him, who is G-d — worshipping G-d alone!

We will be His people, and He will be our G-d!

HALLELUYAH!