Portion VAYETZEY (28:10 - 32:2)
28:10. When Yaaqov had left [va-yetzey] Beer-Sheva and was walking toward Charan,

By going to the place Avraham stopped en route to the Land until his f ather died, Yaaqov was retracing his grandfather Avraham's steps, getting in touch with his heritage. The first leg of the journey brings him to the place his father was offered up on the altar.

11. he encountered the place and stopped there to spend the night, because the sun had gone [down]. And he took [one] of the stones of the place and established a place for his head. Then he lay down in that place.

Reached the place: This is not a "chance" encounter or something he just stumbled upon; YHWH had it all planned. "Place" appears here three times--a sign of great emphasis. "The place" is often a shorthand for "the place where I have set My Name", and indeed it turns out to be the Temple Mount itself (v. 17). The stones may have been from the very altar on which Yitzhaq was offered as an "ascending". Established a place for his head: i.e., used it as a pillow, but this word connotes “that which has dominion", and thus establishes him as the one who will continue the lineage of Messiah (see v. 14). This scenario foreshadows Messiah's glorious resting-place (22:4; Yeshayahu/Isaiah 11:10)--a Temple built of "living stones" (1 Kefa/Peter 2:4-8),-a place for Y'shua, its Head, who has already been established as the foundation and cornerstone on which the remainder rests. (1 Cor. 3:10-17; Eph. 2:20-22; 4:15-16) Lay down: as in English, the term is often used of sexual union. Of course this did not literally happen here, but it does indicate that the encounter was an intimate one from which YHWH began the next stage of selecting His own spiritual "bride", Israel. In many ancient tombs a specially-shaped place was cut as a place to lay the head of the deceased. So Yaaqov is symbolically dying, following in his father's footsteps (for this was "the place" his father had been offered up to YHWH), and foreshadowing Y'shua's resurrection, because the word for "place" is from the root word meaning "rising up".

12. And he had a dream: behold, a stairway was established earthward, its top reaching the heavens --and behold, the messengers of Elohim were ascending and descending on it!

Stairway: based on the word for "lifting up", it is related to a name used of YHWH 54 times El Elyon: the highest Elohim. Reaching the heavens: Was this the reality counterfeited at the stepped Tower of Bavel (11:4)? That one was earth-based, but though this one was "fixed in place" onto the earth, it began in heaven, much like the stairways that fold down from an airliner. The word for a "burnt offering", which YHWH told Avraham to offer Yitzhaq as, can also mean a staircase, so his family was actually forming this staircase, which would culminate in Y'shua, who is called the "mediator between YHWH (often euphemized as ‘heaven') and humanity" (1 Tim. 2:5) and "the one who came down from heaven." (Yochanan 3:13) This site is "a city that is compact [joined] together" (Ps. 122:3), and thus is called the "place where earth and heaven meet". Scientists now speak of "layered space": several levels of reality existing at the same point in space. In another dimension, this correlates with the many staircases leading to the Temple that would stand in this very place. (v. 17) Top: really the word for "head" here. In Jewish mysticism, the "body" of the reconstituted Adam (of which Messiah, the "last Adam", is the Head, or first part) is called "the stairway". Y'shua alluded to Himself being this very approach to YHWH in Yochanan/John 1:51. Messengers: could read "angels", and indeed the one that met Avraham at this very spot must have been that. But the same word means any type of message-bearer, and most often refers to us as His servants as well. Ascending and descending: the Levites took their turns ascending to the Temple to minister to YHWH, then went back down into the rest of the Land to teach the rest of the Nation. (cf. Matt. 22:37-40)

13. And behold, YHWH stood at its top and said, "I am YHWH, the Elohim of your ancestor Avraham, and the Elohim of Yitzhaq. I will give to you and your descendants the Land on which you are lying.

14. "And your descendants shall be as many as the dust of the earth, and you will spread out [forcefully] to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south, and into you and your Seed shall all the families of the earth be grafted.

Families: Everywhere else this promise is given, except the first time YHWH spoke to Avram in ch. 12, it says "nations" instead. But here is the reason a genealogical search for the descendants of the tribes of Israel should not be done along the lines of certain ethnic groupings, since every family on earth has been mixed with his seed. (Compare how YHWH will regather them to the Land, Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah 3:14.)

15. "And behold, I am with you, and I will guard you in every place to which you may go, and I will bring you back to this Land, because I will not forsake you—not until I have done everything I have told you."

Compare 26:24. "Until I have done...": up to and including that time.

16. Then Yaaqov awoke from his sleep and said, "Truly YHWH is in this place, and I did not know it!"

YHWH: An Aramaic targum says "the glory of YHWH", which is taken to mean the Messiah.

17. And he was awestruck, and said, "How awesome this place is! This is none other than the house of Elohim; this is the very gate of Heaven!"

Awestruck: filled with the deepest respect. A Midrash says that the true heavenly temple always stood there, situated "opposite", above, or corresponding to, the ones later built there. Heb. 8:2-5 states that the pattern Moshe saw on Sinai--Ex. 25:9, 40--was actually present in heaven first. 1 Chron. 28:19 reveals that Elohim gave David the exact blueprints for Shlomo to build from. Remember also that Y'shua called himself "the door" (Yoch. 10:7-9).

18. So Yaaqov got up early in the morning and took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a memorial pillar and poured oil on top of it.

Memorial pillar: here, an unaltered stone. It was thus a dual picture of Messiah, the "anointed one", who was not altered as the first Adam was; cf. 1 Cor. 10:4.

19. And he named that place "The House of Elohim" [Beyth-El], though the city's original name had been Luz.

This was not the city later named Beyth-El; the ambiguity may have been what later led Yaravam/Jeroboam to choose Beyth-El as an alternative worship site (1 Kings 12:29), which displeased Elohim. Luz: means an incline,
perversion, or a nut-bearing tree. (30:37)

20. And Yaaqov made a vow, saying, "If Elohim is indeed with me and keeps me safe on this journey on which I am walking, and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear,

If Elohim is indeed with me: i.e., if this was not just a dream. Bread and clothing: a foreshadowing of his descendants who would be given "manna" on their journeyings, in which their clothing would not wear out. Tradition says that the dowry he took along for the wife he was to find in Charan was lost or stolen on the way.Bread and clothing: compare Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 61:10-11.

21. "and I return in peace to my father's household, then YHWH shall be my Elohim,

This test was not so much a doubt of the Elohim of his fathers, but rather "testing the spirits" (1 Yochanan 4:1) to be sure this was really the one He said He was.

22. "and this stone which I have set up as a memorial pillar shall indeed become the house of Elohim, and of all which You shall give me, I will tithe one tenth to You."

Set up: Yaaqov thus laid the cornerstone for the Temple, which is Y'shua, the Anointed One. (Eph. 2:20) Tithe: to give back a tenth as a tribute. Non-agricultural tithes were never actually required, but if they come from the heart, they are a wonderful expression of thanks. Tithe one tenth: or repeatedly tithe.


CHAPTER 29

1. So Yaaqov lifted up his feet and went to the land of the sons of the east.

Lifted up his feet: Yaaqov had just "planted his feet" on Mt. Moryah with a vow, wanting to make sure he would return there. To obey his parents he had to temporarily pull himself loose from this holy place where his father had laid down his life. In a way he was living out the lives of his two ancestors so that he, too, could cross over into the Land again and be a Hebrew in that sense as well. Sons of the east: could be read "Children of the ancient" or "eternal", or those who preceded him (his ancestors). The "sons of antiquity" to whom he was particularly going were the descendants of Aram, the son of Shem, which probably explains why they, like their fellow Aramean Bilaam, knew YHWH's name and were often even His prophets. Yet they made room for other elohim, and had a taste for riches.

2. And he looked, and behold, there was a well in the field. And behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, because they would water the flocks from that well. Now the stone over the well's mouth was large.

He probably became excited when he saw the well, knowing the story of how his father's wife was found. This was undoubtedly the same well at which his father's servant had met his mother.

3. When all the flocks would be assembled there, they would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in place over the mouth of the well.

4. Yaaqov said to them, "My brothers, where are you from?" And they said, "We are from Charan."

My brothers: a Middle Eastern way of greeting strangers that creates rapport. But in this case, they literally were his relatives. And since they were tending sheep and attempting to water them at a well (which was what his father spent his life digging), he felt a special sense of kinship with them.

5. He said to them, "Do you know Lavan the descendant of Nachor?" And they said, "Yes, we know him."

6. So he asked them, "Is he well?" and they said, "He is well, but look, here comes his daughter Rachel [right now] with the sheep!"

I.e., she can tell you all about him herself!

7. But he said, "Look, it's still broad daylight; it isn't time to gather the livestock in yet! Why don't you water the sheep and then feed them?"

8. But they said, "We can't do that until all the flocks are gathered and they roll the stone away from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep."

Perhaps they needed the strength of all the shepherds, or even the oxen, to pull the stone from the opening. The root word in Hebrew for flocks means to keep rank. The root meaning of the word for well is "to explain or make clear". In the previous passage a stone was a picture of the Messiah. So the underlying picture is of the Messiah being given such an enlarged position that it obscures the clarity of the water (a frequent idiom for the Torah) and prevents the flocks (whose root meaning is “ranks”) from the water they know they need, so the "armies" are falling asleep. Many are waiting for Y'shua to come "like a thief in the night" to clear up all our questions about understanding the Scriptures. But 1 Thess. 5 tells us not to wait until the night, because we are children of the day; we already have a shepherd

9. While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with the sheep which were her father's, because she was a shepherdess.

Y'shua cursed the fig tree that had leaves but did not bear fruit since it was not the right season. (Mark 11:13ff) The whole house of Israel ("all the flocks") were not yet gathered, so he could not yet take his bride (cf. Song of Songs 2:13), for they had been scattered among the idolaters (Hos. 9:10). First Y'shua had to roll away the stone (Mark 16:4). He then sent his followers to gather all the flocks (Yoch. 10:16). Yitzhaq and Moshe also found their brides tending flocks at wells. In a way, Y'shua did too, as the woman he spoke to at a well (Yochanan 4) was probably one of the first "lost sheep of the House of Israel" to whom he revealed his role. While he was still speaking: the same pattern as when the servant of Avraham found Rivqah before he finished his prayer. (Compare Yeshayahu 65:24)

10. And it so happened that when Yaaqov saw Rachel, the daughter of Lavan, his mother's brother, and the sheep belonging to Lavan, his mother's brother, he came forward and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of Lavan, his mother's brother.

Yaaqov was strengthened when he saw his bride approaching, and the other shepherds were not needed after all. He had gone up to the Temple Mount and set up the stone, establishing his understanding about the Messiah; now he descends and serves his brethren and the flocks by "bringing clarity" as the Levites did with the learning they had gained during their tours of duty at the Temple. The woman at the well (Yochanan 4) also came at high noon for water, and Y'shua told her that the one she was waiting for was already here to provide the clarification she needed, for salvation is of Yehudah--those who worship whom they know. He also told His disciples on that occasion not to wait four more months for the harvest, since some fields were ready for harvest (perhaps paralleling the barley and wheat harvests). Though the stone was rolled away from Y'shua's tomb and the Northern Kingdom received Him as Messiah, there was still a blindness since Efrayim's sentence was not yet up. In the prophets, the "House of Yaaqov" refers to Yehudah, so there is a foreshadowing here of our own day when Yehudah, who, though rejecting Y'shua and being leavened by the Pharisaical Rabbinic teachings, still preserved the Torah, festivals, Sabbaths, understandings of kosher and niddah, etc., and have brought clarity to our flock, since turning Messiah into the Greek "Christ" had kept us from seeing many aspects of who He is. The threefold emphasis on Lavan being "his mother's brother" hints at his similarity to her. Every time the phrase "your mother" appears in the prophets, it always refers to an idolatrous woman whose children, nonetheless, were beloved of YHWH, and whom He hoped would also repent. (cf. Rev. 2:21)

11. Then Yaaqov kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice and wept.

She was beautiful, but at this point it would probably be a Mideastern-style kiss of greeting for one's relatives.

12. And Yaaqov told Rachel that he was a close relative of her father's--that he was Rivqah's son--and she ran and told her father.

Rivqah was known there; Yitzhaq was known only by name. Yaaqov was also his mother's favorite, not his father's, and so was in some sense more "her son" than his. But since the family had blessed Rivqah with the hope of fertility when she left (24:60), this was especially significant, because they were seeing the first evidence that their blessing had taken root.

13. Now when Lavan heard the report about Yaaqov, his sister's son, he ran to meet him, embraced him, and took him to his house. And he recounted all these events to Lavan.

Yaaqov did not embrace Lavan back. In fact, though many embraced him, the only ones he was ever said to embrace were Rachel (v. 11) and his two grandsons (48:8ff), a picture of commitment to holiness in a world where many would use the righteous for their own purposes. Lavan indeed turned out to be interested in him not because he was a relative but because he could be "brought into his house" to serve his own purposes. Y'shua Himself was betrayed with a kiss. (Mk. 14:44) Paul warned not to lay hands on anyone too quickly (1 Tim. 5:22), for this confers authority and is a very solemn matter. We should also be careful about whom we allow to lay hands on us or anoint us for service, for first of all they must have the real authority to do so, but they may also have the wrong motives. They may want to "eat our sheep" rather than taking care of them for us. (Yirmiyahu 23)

14. Then Lavan said to him, "You are indeed my bone and my flesh!" And he stayed with him for a whole month.

My bone and my flesh: This reminds us of Adam and Chavvah. Both words emphasize the natural sameness with Lavan, who hopes Yaaqov will be simply an extension of himself. He assumes that Yaaqov is there to work for him, rather than having a life of his own. This represents how the institutional church now seems to honor Israel, yet co-opts it for its own purposes.

15. But then Lavan said to Yaaqov, "Just because you are my relative, should you work for me without pay? Name what your wages should be."

He sounds noble, but Yaaqov's mother had only told him to stay a short time, and his father had told him to get a bride from there but then return. Y'shua, too, was co-opted by the Gentiles from among whom He had “come” to gather His bride, and ended up serving the purposes of that household instead.

16. Now Lavan had two daughters; the older one's name was Leah, and the younger's name was Rachel,

Leah means "wild cow" or "weary". Rachel means "ewe", but it is based on the word for "journeyer", since perhaps the female of the herd is more capable of migration. But also, her elder son became a sojourner and her
second son was born during a journey.

17. and Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was both shapely in form and lovely in appearance.

Eyes were weak: frail, delicate, or, she was tender-eyed, but that was the only beautiful thing about her. Also, as Rivqah was Sarah's niece, so Rachel was Rivqah's niece. If the pattern held, Leah, being the elder, would
be slated to marry Esau, and tradition says she had heard what kind of man he was and her eyes were weary from weeping about this.

18. And Yaaqov loved Rachel, and said, "I will work for you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel!"

19. And Lavan said, "Well, it is better that I give her to you than to another man; stay here and live with me!"

The "other man" theme links us to the "nearer kinsman" of Naomi (Ruth 3:12ff), especially since he also ends up with more than he bargained for.

20. So Yaaqov served seven years for the sake of Rachel, but because of his love for her, they seemed to him like only a few days.

Y'shua willingly dwelt "among the Gentiles" for a great length of time in order to procure his bride.

21. Then Yaaqov said to Lavan, "Give me my wife—since the days of my term have been completed—and let me go into her."

22. So Lavan gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.

This "feast" is a drinking party, not the type of feast later celebrated at the Temple. Lavan had a reason for this:

23. But when evening had come, he went and got his daughter Leah and brought her to him, and he went into her.

She was thoroughly veiled and the room was dark, and apparently he got Yaaqov drunk. Since he was always speaking of "our customs", and Yaaqov did not know them well, he could easily have told him that it was customary here for the bridegroom to drink twice as much as the others! Nowadays, because of this, at every Jewish wedding the groom lifts the veil just to be sure before they are pronounced married! By marrying both sisters, however, Yaaqov confirms yet again that he has inherited Esau's rights as well as his own.

24. Lavan also gave Zilpah, his slavegirl, to his daughter Leah as a maidservant.

25. Now when the morning came, lo and behold, it was Leah there with him! So he said to Lavan, "What have you done to me? Didn't I serve with you for Rachel? Then why have you tricked me?"

Perhaps this is why Lavan wanted to be sure there were enough strong men on hand (v. 22)--so he would be prepared to handle the wrath of a man who had singlehandedly moved the stone from the well. As we saw in ch. 24, Lavan appears to be a decent man (his name meaning "white", a symbol of righteousness), yet is greedy--a picture of the institutional church, which is related to Israel, yet does not completely share its values, being part pagan. It has used a similar "bait and switch" tactic on us by promising a rose garden and freedom from the Torah, but by doing so proves it is not the same congregation Y'shua promised to call out, but an elaborate counterfeit woven around it that has developed into something other than what we bargained for--a business.

26. And Lavan said, "It is not done this way in our place, marrying off the younger before the firstborn.

In our place: i.e., it is not our culture's custom. Since Yaaqov had told him all that had happened (v. 13), Lavan could have been insinuating, "We know that YOU have no regard for seniority in YOUR household, but don't think you're going to get away with that here!" (Yaaqov, being the younger, had preteneded to be the elder, an dthe deception came back upon him.

27. "But just fulfill this one's week, and then we will also give you that other one, in exchange for the service you will render to me for yet another seven years."

We will give you: yet he had to work for this "gift"--another indication of Lavan's sense of his own generosity. He gave him the equivalent of a credit card. "This one's week": the week of rejoicing with her husband, to which every bride is entitled. What the Messiah really wanted was a united Israel, and He longed to bring the real treasure (Yerushalayim) under His wings (Matt. 23:37). But He must wait until this "other flock" (Yochanan 10:16), to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Efrayim) who is called YHWH's firstborn, is gathered before that wedding.

28. So Yaaqov did so; he fulfilled the week of "this one", then Lavan gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

But we can also reverse the metaphor: Yaaqov's life is in a way a foreshadowing of that of all of his descendants. Ephraim--Rachel's descendant--is said to be the one YHWH especially longs for (Yirmeyahu/Jer. 31:20), but His redemption had to be "to the Yehudi [son of Leah] first" (Rom. 1:16; 2:10), and indeed it was (as all those described in Acts of the Envoys chapter 2 were Jews). But though the royal line was promised to Yehudah, the first king of Israel was actually one of Rachel's descendants.

29. And Lavan gave his slavegirl Bilhah to Rachel as a handmaid for her.

30. Thus he also went into Rachel; moreover, he loved Rachel more than Leah, so he served him yet another seven years.

31. But when YHWH saw that Leah was less favored, He opened her womb (while Rachel remained childless).

Less favored: literally, hated. While Yehudah has provided Y'shua with comparatively fewer "children" than the northern Kingdom and the Gentiles among whom they are mingled, her time will come. Childless: literally, barren or sterile. The actual root word means "plucked up" like a field with nothing left to harvest. Yeshayahu 64:10-12 describes Yerushalayim as a barren place until the end of the age. The fullness of the Gentiles must finish coming in first, just as Leah had to finish having her children before Rachel could.

32. So Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Re'uven, because she said, "YHWH has indeed noticed my humiliation, because now my husband will love me!"

Re'uven: "Look! A son!" A wife who provided her husband with a male heir was more valued in that society. Humiliation: or misery.

33. Then she conceived again, and bore Yaaqov a second son, and said, "Surely YHWH has heard that I am hated, and has given this one to me also." So she named him Shim'on.

Shim'on: An intensive form of "shema", to hear: she was heard.

34. And she conceived yet again, and bore a son. And she said, "Now, this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons. So he was named Levi.

Three sons: a symbol of completeness. "Levi means "my joining"(attachment) or "confirmer of my companionship"; his tribe would "join" all Israel to Elohim, for they would be the priests. But the root meaning is to twine together, and since he is the third son, this forms a threefold cord. Levi's descendants would be a holier people within a holy nation, just as Israel is in a separate class from all nations. He was named: or "he named him"--unlike the rest, whom the mothers named. He was YHWH, because she had not credited YHWH as she had for the first two sons, so she had in essence stolen him from YHWH, so YHWH required him back. He did not belong to her, so she could not name him. He would not actually claim the sons of Levi for himself until the Exodus, when He took them as substitutes for all the firstborn of Israel, and attached them to His Temple service.

35. And she conceived once more and gave birth to a son, and she said, "This time let me be sure to give thanks to YHWH." Therefore she named him Yehudah, and after that she stopped having children.

She learned her lesson. Yehudah means "thanksgiving" or "praise". His descendants are those specifically called "Jews" (Yehudi). Thus Paul extends this to say that anyone who is a praiser of YHWH is a "Jew".


CHAPTER 30

1. When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Yaaqov any children, she envied her sister. So she told Yaaqov, "Give me sons; if you don't, I will die!"

Polygamy is not explicitly forbidden in the Scriptures (except in the case of congregational elders), as Elohim foresaw that in some circumstances, unmarried women who outnumbered men would be uncared for. But by means of the accounts of where it did take place, a fair warning is given of the detrimental effects of such an arrangement. And later, marrying two sisters was indeed forbidden. (Lev. 18:18) I will die: How ironic that she should die in giving birth to her second son. But she did have a posterity, whereas if she did not, she would indeed be extinct, because the seed carries on the individual's existence in a very real way. As it is, there were later prophecies about Rachel still weeping for her children (Yirmiyahu 31:15), though she herself had long been dead.

2. Then Yaaqov's anger glowed at Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the position of Elohim, who has kept back from you the fruit of the womb?"

3. But she said, "Here's my maidservant Bilhah. Go into her and let her bear upon my knees. Then I too will be built up--through her!"

Upon my knees: she literally sat this way, as thus it would appear as if the child was being born from Rachel as well, and symbolized her adoption or ownership of the child. Built up: i.e., perpetuated.

4. So she gave him her maidservant Bilhah as a wife, and Yaaqov went into her.

Though a wife, she was still a slave. (Compare Exodus 21.)

5. And Bilhah conceived and bore a son to Yaaqov.

In terms of the allegory of their later descendants, these two handmaid-wives probably relate to those referred to as "Yehudah and the children of Israel, his companions, and ...Yoseyf, the house of Israel, and his companions" (Y'chezq'el 37:16)--two "nations", each with their affiliates, which will become one community.

6. So Rachel said, "Elohim has given His ruling and has proven to have listened to my voice, and has given me a son!" So she named him Dan ["Judgment/Verdict"].

Dan means judgment or verdict. YHWH had accepted her prayer, thus "judging" in her favor. But in a way she was being judged as well, fo rthough this son was legally hers, Yaaqov never recognized him as his firstborn. In fact, even YHWH's opinion of Dan appears ambivalent throughout history. Rachel followed Sarai's bad example, and the effect again was detrimental, because Dan is the "snake-in-the-grass" tribe (49:17) from which the counterfeit Messiah will come, and who will not be included in the 144,000 witnesses during the birthpangs of the Messiah. Being not truly her child, he may represent the concept of "spiritual Israel", in which the church vied with physical Israel for recognition as YHWH's favorite.

7. Then Bilhah, Rachel's maid, conceived again, and bore Yaaqov a second son,

8. so Rachel said, "With wrestling contests of Elohim have I wrestled with my sister, and, indeed, I have succeeded! So she named him Nafthali.

Wrestling contests of Elohim: an idiom for heroic ("godlike") struggles. Nafthali means "My wrestling" (or maneuvering): based on a word for "twisting"; perhaps "born by a roundabout way". These children had to live with the names that reflected their mothers' running feud. But a greater battle was being won as YHWH was building of them a supernatural nation that would win the title to the earth back for mankind.

9. When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing children, she fetched Zilpah, her maidservant, and gave her to Yaaqov as a wife.

10. And Leah's slavegirl Zilpah bore a son to Yaaqov.

11. So Leah said, "What good luck!" So she named him Gad.

Again, the firstborn of the slave-girl shares a name--and a philosophy--with a pagan god. She has acknowledged YHWH, but why should we assume she worships Him exclusively? She still lives in her father's house in more ways than one. Charan is the half-way city--the family of Avram's stopping point between full-scale paganism and the Promised Land, and thus a picture of today's half-Israelite, half-pagan church. The part of the family that remained here when Avram moved on still could not give up their idols. Gad (pronounced like "God" in American English) sounds just like the word for "fortune" (luck), which is one reason we should not substitute it for YHWH's name. We are commanded not to even have the names of pagan deities on our lips (Exodus 23:13), and Gad is listed as just that in Yeshayahu/Isaiah 65:11. He was known as Ba'al-Gad (or "Lord God") in Yehoshua 11:17. His feast-day, perpetuated through adoption of its practices in Christianized Europe when they could not rid the common people of their feast of Saturnalia, is what has become modern-day Christmas. Some believe the Norsemen, who count "Gud" as their deity, are descendants of Gad, and thus this name for the creator may have stemmed from a form of ancestor worship. Gad can mean "a troop", based on the word for "attack" or "crowd upon", so perhaps she was also counting him as another soldier in her battle against her sister. But indeed, it turned out that the Roman army chose Gad as their deity--the god of aggression. They changed the name of this religion to Mithraism. And "luck" has nothing to do with YHWH, but is the attitude of Amaleq, who believed everything was according to chance. YHWH's providence is very deliberate, as in 25:21.

12. Then Zilpah, Leah's slavegirl, bore a second son to Yaaqov,

13. and Leah said, "I am blessed! For the daughters [of Kanaan] shall call me happy." So she named him Asher ["Happy"].

I am blessed: Literally, "In my happiness!" But Asher is based on a verb meaning to go straight ahead and make progress, which should shape our definition of what happiness really is--not based, as in English, on
"happenstance", which is like "luck". Our concepts should be based on Hebrew-oriented terminology.

14. Now in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuven went out and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. But Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

Days: the Septuagint says only" day" -- possibly specifically Shavuoth, which is at the wheat harvest, when the "counting of the measure" is complete. Perhaps she thought this was an especially auspicious time to conceive, superstitious as she was. Mandrakes: or "love apples", a fragrant plant thought to be an aphrodisiac to promote fertility since they resemble a phallus. The name in Hebrew is a dual form of the word for "beloved", i.e., meant to endear the "victim" to oneself. But verse 17 reveals the real source of her success.

15. But she asked her, "Is it a trivial thing that you took my husband? And now you want to take my son's mandrakes too?!" So Rachel said, "Okay, so he'll lie with you tonight instead of me, in exchange for your son's
mandrakes."

16. When Yaaqov came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him, and she said, "You must come into me, because I have indeed hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he lay with her during that night,

Come into me: or come in unto me, in my tent; each wife would have a separate one.

17. and Elohim listened to Leah; she conceived and bore Yaaqov a fifth son.

18. Then Leah said, "The Lord has given me what I earned when I gave my slavegirl to my husband." So she named her son Yissakhar.

Yissakhar means "There is recompense/reward" or "he was hired".

19. Leah then conceived again and bore a sixth son to Yaaqov.

20. So Leah said, "Elohim has presented me with a good endowment. This time my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she named him Zevulun.

"Endowment": or dowry; "the better portion". Dwell with me: i.e., settle permanently in my tent, exalting me--make me his favorite. Apparently he normally stayed with Rachel, only making forays into Leah's tent. Zevulun thus means "Exalted dwelling" or "habitation"; it was his tribal land (in and around Natzereth) which the Messiah would inhabit! Thus ten of Yaaqov's sons were not born to his favorite wife Rachel. Since Levi was dedicated specifically to the service of YHWH's sanctuary, he could be called the tithe.

21. And afterwards she also gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.

Dinah is the feminine form of Dan, also meaning "judgment".

22. Then Elohim remembered Rachel, and hearkened to her, and opened her womb,

Remembered: not that He had forgotten her, but now He intervened on her behalf. But as the seventh child of Leah, a female whose name meant judgment, she was in a sense a reminder to YHWH of a judgment He had placed on another woman, Rachel (v.6).

23. and she conceived and bore a son, and said, "Elohim has taken away my disgrace!"

Taken away my disgrace: or gathered in my betrothal. Her full marriage could now take effect, as Leah's "seven" had been fulfilled, not just in days or years, but in the number of children as well. Rachel's children, chiefly Efrayim, who mixed with the Gentiles, thus took on themselves the judgment of a form of illegitimacy. They began their rebellion by setting up an idol in, of all places, Dan. (2 Kings 10:29) YHWH gave them time to repent, but had already said that if they did not, He would make their sentence seven times as long. (Lev. 26:18) This became necessary, but He said that when that sentence was up, they would again be called "my people" when they turned back to His covenant. (Outlined most clearly in the book of Hoshea, this is also alluded to by many other prophets, and many of Y'shua's parables.) This is beginning to happen in our day! YHWH has taken away our disgrace, the reproach of being considered Gentiles instead of Israel, and brought His firstborn back to full status, not simply as “married” to Him, but as actually being fruitful for the sake of Israel.

24. So she named him Yoseyf ["May he add"], saying, "May YHWH add yet another son to me."

He did indeed, but Yoseyf also added to the people of Israel by means of his two sons who gave Yitzhaq another tribe, but one of them disobediently "mixed with the nations" and by doing so was instrumental in the grafting of multitudes of Gentiles into Yaaqov's seed (Rom. 11:12, 25). We can also read his name as "YHWH will gather" (relating the reference to seed and harvest to Yezre'el--Elohim will sow, Hoshea 2:22) or "YHWH will count (him)" and not let one of his rightful descendants fall to the ground. (Amos 9:9) The regathered s'firot of the Ancient Adam also stem from his name, which is the root for the derived English word "cipher". On another level, once Yoseyf (the firstfruits, symbolizing the barley harvest) was born, Rachel knew there would be "another harvest" as well, symbolized by the wheat harvest, the grain that is not so "rough" and for which darnel can be mistaken since there is more compromise with what the world considers more progressive. (Mat. 13:25-40)

25. Now when Rachel had borne Yoseyf, Yaaqov said to Lavan, "Send me off so that I may go to my place and my own land.

This happens after between 14 and 20 years (31:38) with Lavan, prefiguring Y'shua being away from His homeland, seeking out His bride among the nations. But His chief responsibility is to his family back home, Israel, and he says, "Let My people go." His parents were old and needed him. If remaining in the church requires that we forsake Israel, no benefit we could derive or contribute can be ethically acceptable. Why does he feel ready after Yoseyf is born? Because there is now a firstborn from his true wife, from whom the fullness of the nations (48:19) will come. There is a son born to carry on the promise to Avraham and Yitzhaq. His will also be the largest “house” among Yaaqov’s sons. My place: Mount Moryah.

26. "Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go. For you yourself know with what kind of service I have served you."

27. But Lavan said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, I have learned by divination that YHWH has blessed me on account of you."

On account of you: only since you came. Yaaqov had been given a land by Elohim, and though Gentiles might benefit from his sojourn among them. It would not be proper for them to keep him back from his inheritance. His
mindset is still that all of these things happened for his own benefit--they are all his! Yet though he gives credit to YHWH, he is still mixing religions when he uses divination, which is an abomination to YHWH.

28. Moreover, he said, "Propose to me whatever wage you want, and I will give it to you."

Propose: literally, stab: “Tell me what the damages will be!” He represents the church that, when it sees it is about to lose the cream of its crop who realize their energies need to go into Israel, is willing to allow us to do Passover seders in the church, have Christian Jews come in and teach as a token recognition, or let us use their buildings on Saturdays when they do not need them, just so they can maintain our constituency, since it is the Israelites in the church who have been the ones to accomplish most of the worthwhile work.

29. But he replied, "You know how I have served you, and what has transpired, while your livestock have been with me,

30. "for you had little before I came, but now it has broken forth into a multitude, and YHWH has blessed you wherever I went. But when indeed shall I build up my own house?"

Wherever I went: literally, "at my foot". He is saying, "So I've made you rich; then you can get along without me!" The church, too, has grown rich, having been blessed because it is based on Israel. But what will it be
once Israel is called back out into its own Land? If it has truly learned from the relationship, it should have "sufficient oil" to make it on its own (Matt. 25:8), but apparently, like Lavan, it has been a parasite rather than
a well-nursed child. Build up my own house: stop working for someone else and amass an inheritance for my own family. It is only because of the Northern Kingdom being "lost" among the nations that the latter were able to hear the Glad News of the Kingdom, in the process of the Son of Man's going out to "seek and save" His lost sheep who were scattered among them. Now they are being called back to the Land which, because the covenant is renewed for them, is again their heritage.

31. But still he said, "What shall I give you?" Yaaqov replied, "Don't give me a speck [of anything]. If you will just do this one thing for me, I will stay on, feed your flock and pasture it:

Don’t give me: i.e., I am not asking for a handout. Besides, he knows that what comes from Lavan will be tainted anyway; it will be a blemish (another meaning of the word here for “speck”).

32. "I will pass through your whole flock today, taking from there every speckled and spotted sheep, and every black sheep among the lambs, and those that are speckled or spotted among the young goats—these shall be my wages.

Why did he choose these? The real answer is in the meanings of the words: "Streaked" is based on the word for "tied" or "bound", reminiscent of the threefold cord of the two houses of Israel and Y'shua (Eccles. 4:12). Spotted: patched, or of diverse colors, since his children would one day be mingled with other nations (Hos. 7:8; Amos 9:9). These are the ones symbolized by Ruth's "nearer kinsman" not wishing to claim for redemption because of her "mottled" pedigree. They were the ones he knew nobody else wanted anyway, and Lavan would not be upset to lose them. But as the antetype of Boaz, Y'shua is willing to redeem them. Young: he left the older ones, perhaps knowing that a long journey was ahead of him very soon.

33. "This way my honesty will be self-evident in the days to come: whenever you go over my wages, right in front of your eyes, every one with me that is not speckled or spotted among the young goats, or black among the lambs, can be considered stolen."

34. So Lavan said, "Let it be as you say."

He struck the deal very quickly, perhaps being unable to believe Yaaqov would make such a ridiculous choice. All he wanted were what Lavan considered the mis-breeds, because they were not "all white" as his name said he was.

35. And on that same day he removed all the streaked and spotted he-goats, every one with white in it, and every black one among the lambs, and he put them in the care of his sons.

Though the text is ambiguous, it appears that Lavan himself did what Yaaqov asked to do (v. 32), perhaps still wanting to be in control.

36. And he put three days' journey between himself and Yaaqov, while Yaaqov was still pasturing Lavan's remaining flocks.

Lavan kept Yaaqov's flocks far from his own, still thinking Yaaqov might attempt to cheat him, though he never had done so, since that was his own mindset. But this is a picture of the first harvest (see note on v. 24), in which the firstfruits of YHWH's regathered Israel are taken out of the church completely, while others are left there to be included in the second harvest, where there are still tares to be sorted out. (Note the clarity about this in Rev. 12:5-17.) This distancing would turn out to be to Yaaqov's advantage later. (31:19-23) Three days' journey is how far Avraham traveled to sacrifice Yitzhaq, the distance from Egypt to the Red Sea, and the length of time Y'shua stayed in the tomb, so it is symbolic of a death experience. It correlates with having to leave father and mother to follow Y’shua. (Luke 14:26) In our day it often means leaving them behind in the church they are used to (like the older flock animals in v. 32) while we pursue the highest road to uncompromising holiness.

37. But for himself,Yaaqov took white rods of a fresh poplar tree, as well as the hazel and laurel, and he peeled white stripes in them, laying bare the white part of the rods.

Septuagint: "As he drew off the green, the white stripe which he had made appeared alternate."

38. And he set the rods which he had peeled by the gutters—by the troughs where the flocks came to drink—opposite [facing] the flocks, and they became stimulated [to mate] when they came to drink.

It is unclear exactly how the rods affected the sheep; perhaps they emitted some herbal aroma that caused them to be in heat. In any case, Elohim's hand was in it to build up Yaaqov's house. The lesson for us is on a level deeper than the literal. A poplar tree is livneh in Hebrew, which is related to Lavan’s name (meaning white), and thus represents the church. Hazel (or possibly another type of nut-bearing tree) is the same as the name of the city of Luz in 28:19, and thus represents the site that would later be the Temple Mount. Laurel (or chestnut) is from a word meaning "bare bones" or "basics", but also subtle or cunning. It is used in Prov. 15:5; 19:25 as meaning prudent or learning from others' mistakes. Ps. 18:24 says that to the crooked YHWH appears perverse. He allowed them to see beneath the surface, so each rod could be seen for what it was. So the allegorical level shows that at the place where the water was made available, he made a comparison between the church, the Temple, and the “basics” (the pure milk of the word, which is the plain commandments of Elohim, 1 Kefa/Peter 2:2; Heb. 5:12). When we do this, it becomes obvious that the church is full of greed and power-hunger like Lavan, nor does it fit with the “basics”, having rejected the Torah, while the Temple (the place of YHWH's presence) fits them perfectly. Thus bringing YHWH's firstfruits back out of the institutional church (which is using up energies that should be devoted to Israel) must be done in an honest manner, yet "cunningly" (wise as serpents yet innocent as doves) using the "water of the Word"--proving from Scripture itself that they belong not to the paganized, half-Christian structure, but to Israel after all. Zecharyah 11:4ff also juxtaposes the imagery of broken rods, feeding the flock, wages, broken brotherhood, and the reclaiming of all that is rightfully Yaaqov's.

39. And the flocks bore striped, speckled, and spotted offspring!

The additional animals that were born fitting the categories he had selected would also be his. The prophetic "spirit of Yaaqov" is now setting up these rods, because we see many churches (Lavan's flocks) beginning to teach the festivals and even turn to observing the Sabbath and using YHWH's true name. This will bring about a separation in which some recognize they are Israel and leave, while others remain where they are comfortable.

40. Then Yaaqov separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flock toward the striped ones and toward every black one in Lavan's flocks. And he set his own herds by themselves, and did not set them among Lavan's flock.

Though there was still a place for Lavan's flocks in YHWH's overall plan (ch. 31), Yaaqov would not allow the two to mingle, lest they become lost in the wrong crowd. The purity of the first harvest must be preserved for the best results for Israel's welfare.

41. And whenever the robust flocks were mating, Yaaqov would set the rods in front of the eyes of the flock at the troughs, so that they would mate by the rods.

Robust: or early-bearing, or those that conceived easily. The root meaning is “bound together”. At this point, the truth is shown only to those who exhibit a ready desire for intimacy with YHWH. 2 Shmuel 22:17-32 and Psalm 18 speak of being rewarded according tour righteousness, even though it was a gift given to us. Note that he did not distinguish at this point between the sheep and the goats; that is for the later harvest. (Mat. 25:31-46)

42. But he did not set them in front of the weak flocks, so it turned out that the weak ones became Lavan's, whereas the strong became Yaaqov's.

Yoseyf has been born, the prefiguring of the "fullness of the Gentiles" coming in. (Rom. 11:25) The partial blindness is removed, but only for some of the flocks at first. We only reveal the truth about who Lavan is to the strong, who will be ready to be bound together in intimacy with YHWH. The weak who lag behind the rest--those who are slow to leave paganism behind, who respond to the truth about our Hebraic roots, but continue to mix it with churchly things, who do not have the extra oil (Mat. 25:8) or do not put to use the instruction that they are offered--are the ones that Amaleq attacks. (Exodus 17) These are left for the next harvest. But notice that none of the plain animals are being born anymore; once the truth is out, no one can remain completely like Lavan. The tares are burned up, and only Israel will remain; there will be no more church once the Kingdom begins, only firstfruits and the rest of Y'shua's subjects.

43. And the man grew very much wealthier, and he had many flocks, and slavegirls, and male slaves, and camels, and donkeys.


CHAPTER 31

1. But he overheard Lavan's sons saying these words: "Yaaqov has taken away everything that belonged to our father, and he has gotten his wealth from what was our father's!"

This same accusation was made by Hitler, and is still made of Yaaqov's descendants (Yehudah/the Jews in particular, since they are more recognizable), but the deeper picture is that Yaaqov's descendant, the Messiah, has gained for Elohim's family many people who once belonged to the conniving "father of lies". The institutional church is also likely to say this as more and more people within it realize they really belong to Israel. Yaaqov's actions here are instructive in teaching them how to respond to the jealous pressure to stay.

2. Yaaqov also noticed that Lavan's disposition toward him was indeed not like it had been in earlier days.

3. Then YHWH said to Yaaqov, "Go back to the land of your ancestors, and to your blood relatives, and I will be with you."

Yaaqov had already had this notion, but now it is confirmed to have come from his spirit and not his flesh. Blood relatives: or the land of your birth. He had been living with distant cousins, but YHWH narrowed the focus of which relatives he was most responsible to: the Hebrews, who are willing to cross over. Likewise, many in recent years have heard a call in their hearts back to the Promised Land, but when reasoned with, thought themselves presumptuous for even thinking they were worthy of such a privilege. But then, when the time of exile was completed, the revelation began spreading forth that this inner tug was actually the call of a heritage that was our own after all, because of YHWH's countless promises to bring the exiles back home.

4. So Yaaqov sent and summoned Rachel and Leah to the field where the flocks were,

They were still living with Lavan, and had to be called to come join Yaaqov where he was with his sons. Even so, Yaaqov's descendants are being summoned out of our tents--the heritage of our religious institutions--to where the "sheep" are being gathered to make the trek back to where our Shepherd will meet us.

5. and said to them, "I can see that your father's disposition is not the same toward me as it was in days past. But the Elohim of my father has been with me.

We have already seen how quickly some nations that once welcomed the Jews could turn on them; it seems that there will yet be a time when both houses of Israel will likewise become unwanted in the lands where they have been sojourning (while they were meant to be exiles, carrying the knowledge of YHWH to the ends of the earth), even though they have done their best to "seek the welfare of their place of exile" (cf. Yirmeyah 29:7):

6. "And you know that I have worked for your father with all my might,

7. "yet your father has tricked me, changing my wages ten times. But Elohim has not let him do evil to me.

Tricked me: or "cheated me". Changing my wages: finding loopholes in his promises. Ten times was the last straw for Yaaqov, just as YHWH Himself would decide to bar the generation that left Egypt from entering the Promised Land because they put Him to the test ten times. (Numbers 14:22-23)

8. "If he would stipulate: 'The speckled animals shall be your wages', then the whole flock gave birth to speckled offspring; but if he would say, 'The striped ones shall be your wages', then all the flocks gave birth to striped.

9. "Thus Elohim has taken away your father's livestock and given them to me.

10. "And once when the flocks were in heat, I raised my eyes and saw in a dream that, lo and behold, all the rams that were mounting the flocks of ewes were striped, speckled, and dappled.

The Hebrew word for rams can also mean leaders of the people, so this is a prophecy that after the comparison of the temple with the church is placed before them (see note on 30:38), the new disciples that are made will belong to Yaaqov as well.

11. "And the Angel of Elohim said to me in a dream: 'Yaaqov!' So I said, 'Here I am!'

12. "And he said, 'Please raise your eyes and notice all the rams mounting the flock: they are striped, speckled, and dappled, because I have noticed all that Lavan has been doing to you.

13. "'I am the El of Beyth-El, the place where you anointed the pillar and vowed a vow to Me. Now then, arise and go back to the land of your relatives."

The Septuagint adds, "and I will be with you." This is the portion read in synagogues the week before Yom Truah (Rosh haShanah), which foreshadows the removal of the bride of Messiah and the resurrection of the dead with the command to arise. And indeed it is the Messiah Himself (the messenger of Elohim, v. 11) who is telling Yaaqov this. Many times He has spoken for YHWH in the first person, as He also did when in the flesh. Yaaqov promised the anointed stone would become YHWH's house, and Y'shua did identify Himself with the Temple. (Yoch. 2:19) So