The Case For Israel~Listen and Then Judge...

Bill Whittle Presents the Facts (Genesis 26:12~16) Please Listen Carefully and Pray

Apollo 8~In The Beginning...

On December 24, 1968 three men were orbiting the moon for the very first time in history. Here is the recording of their words. Oh, how far we have fallen since then...

Weekly Bible Study~Vayeishev (Genesis 37:1 to 40:23)

This week we study Vayeishev which is found in Genesis 37:1 to 40:23.

Jacob is now living in Hebron with his twelve sons. His favorite is 17 year old Joseph, "And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was a son of his old age"...Jacob makes a precious multi-colored coat for Joseph. His brother are jealous and see him as a dreamer and tale teller. When Joseph tells his brothers of two dreams that foretell of his destiny to rule over them, it is too much and they  become filled with envy and hatred.

The brothers plan to kill Joseph, and tell Jacob that a wild beast had attacked him. Reuven intervened: "Do not shed blood! Cast him into this pit, which is in the desert, but do not lay a hand upon him"...He was trying to buy time so that he could later save Joseph.

The brothers take Joseph's beautiful coat from him and throw him into a pit without food or water. While they are eating they see a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way from Gilead to Egypt. Judah suggests selling Joseph into slavery so they turn him over for for twenty silver pieces. When Reuven returns he is distraught. The brothers kill a kid and cover the coat with blood then send it to Jacob. Of course Jacob cannot be consoled over the loss of his favorite.

Judah takes Tamar as a wife for Er, his firstborn. But Er was very wicked and the Lord slew, him so Judah gave his second son, Onan to marry Tamar (*This was called a Levirate marriage) Onan knew the child would not be his so he decided to "spilled his seed". This made Gd angry so he put Onan to death as well. Judah tells Tamar to remain a widow in her father's house until the youngest son grows up "Lest he too die, like his brothers".

 
Judah's wife dies and after the mourning period he  leaves for Timnah. Tamar covers her face and goes to the crossroad where she sees that the youngest, Shelah has grown and realizes that Judah has deceived her. Judah notices her and thinks she is a harlot. He promises to pay her with a kid, but she asks for a pledge until it arrives--"Your signet, your cloak, and the staff that is in your hand". Judah agrees. As a result of their liaison Tamar conceives--she leaves with the pledge before the kid is delivered. When her pregnancy becomes known Judah accuses her and sentences her to death. But Tamar shows him the "pledged items" and he admits his mistake in not giving her to his son. Tamar bears twins--when the hand of the first appears the midwife puts a crimson thread on it. Then the hand is drawn back and the other twin is born causing the midwife to declare "With what strength you have strengthened yourself!". When Judah sees this he names him Perez. Tamar's strength of character and determination produced Peretz, whose descendants would be David and his dynasty, and eventually the Mashiach.

Meanwhile the slavers sell Joseph to Potiphar, Pharaoh's chamberlain. Joseph has integrity and managerial skills and is soon appointed to run Potiphar's household. Joseph is successful and becomes knowm for his handsome features and beautiful complexion. Potiphar's wife sees his beauty and tries to seduce Joseph, but he refuses to sin against Gd. One day when they are alone in the house she grabs his coat--but he flees, leaving the coat behind. She accuses him of trying to seduce her using the coat as evidence. His master is very angry and throws him in prison, but Gd is watching over him and he is soon chosen by the warden to run the prison.

While he is in prison Joseph meets the cup  and the baker of the king of Egypt. When they have disturbing dreams and the next day when Joseph see them he notices their worried looks. They tell him of the dreams and Joseph says: "Don't interpretations belong to God? Tell [them] to me now". He interprets their dreams. Just as he predicts, within three days the baker is executed and the wine steward is re-appointed to his former position in the household. Joseph asks the wine steward to intervene on his behalf with Pharaoh, but when he goes back to his job he forgets all about Joseph.

 Next week Joseph finally gets out of prison when Pharaoh has dreams that nobody can interpret. He marries, famine hits Egypt and ten of his brothers come looking for food. Joseph recognizes them and sets them up so they have to bring their youngest brother to him...stay tuned.

Weekly Bible Study~Vayishlach ~Genesis 32:4 to 36:43

This weeks reading is Vayishlach (Hebrew for "he sent") and is found in Genesis 32:4 to 36:43.

After being away for twenty years, Jacob begins his journey home to see his father Isaac. Still fearing the anger of his brother (Esau), he decides to send messengers ahead with a message of greeting. When they return and report that Esau is coming to "meet" him--with a troop of 400 men--Jacob starts to worry. He decides to split his family and possessions into two groups, so that one would engage in a battle so the rest could flee. Jacob then prays,  "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac"...and asks to be delivered from the wrath of Esau.

Jacob decides to "soften" Esau with a lavish gift of hundreds of heads of  goats, ewes, nursing camels and their young, cows, bulls, and male and female donkeys. He spaces them out, sending one herd at a time. Each herder is given instructions that when he encounters Esau to tell him; "[I belong] to your servant Jacob; it is a gift sent to my master, to Esau, and behold, he himself is behind us." Jacob then takes his family accross the Jabbok River ("luxuriant river"). When he is the last one left  Jacob again encounters an angel--this time it is Esau's archangel. 




They wrestle until dawn, but the angel is unable to overpower Jacob, so instead he damages Jacob's sciatic nerve, leaving him with a permanent limp.  When the angel tries to leave Jacob refuses to release him until he gives him a blessing. This the angel does, then tells him that his name will be changed to Israel. Jacob names the place Peniel (face of Gd), for as he said, "I saw an angel face to face, and my soul was saved." According to the Torah, Jews to this day may not eat the sciatic nerve--even of kosher animals--because of this.

 
Esau arrives on the scene and the brothers embrace each other and weep. Jacob's family meets Esau and Jacob forces Esau to accept the gifts he had sent. Although Esau wants to accompany Jacob home, Jacob declines so Esau returns alone to his home in Se'ir. Jacob carries on to (Sukkot) where  he builds himself a house, and makes booths for his cattle.  Jacob eventually reaches the outskirts of Shechem and purchases a plot of land where he erects an alter to Gd.

 

Dina, Jacobs daughter wanders into the city of Shechem where the crown prince (Shechem) abducts and violates her and keeps her hostage. Shechem's father, the governor goes to Jacob to ask for Dina's hand in marriage to his son. Jacob is clever, and says that if all the men of the city agree to circumcise themselves he will give Dina to Shechem. The men agree, but while they are recovering Dina's brothers, Simon and Levi enter the city, kill all the males and free Dina. Jacob is not pleased and is afraid of reprisals from the neighboring Canaanites. Nonetheless, Jacob continues on his way. The "fear of Gd" comes over the surrounding cities and Jacob and his family are able to travel through unhindered. They arrive in Canaan, in Beth-El, where Gd blesses Jacob saying "And the land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, I will give to you and to your seed after you will I give the land." He is re-named Israel.

Jacob and his family continue on to Hebron. On the roadside leading to Bethlehem, his beloved wife Rachel gives birth to her second son, Benjamin (the twelfth of the tribes of Israel.) Rachel dies and Jacob buries her there in what is now known as Rachel's Tomb. They continue on to Eder and while they are there, Israel's eldest son, Reuben lays with his concubine Bilhah. Jacob is aware of this.

Finally Jacob and his family arrive in Hebron. Isaac dies soon after at the age of 180 and is buried by his sons in the Cave of Machpelah alongside his wife and parents. 

The Torah lists the wives and decendents of Esau who had left Canaan and settled in Se'ir.

The last section gives an enumeration of the princes of the original Se'irite natives, as well as the monarchs of that land that descended from Esau. These "lists" may seem boring, but they are vital in establishing historical ancestry. Remember, there is nothing extra in the Torah and we must strive to understand the deeper meanings as we learn.

Next week Jacob and his twelve sons settle in Hebron and we learn of the jealousy Joseph's brothers feel and their vengeful actions. Judah is outsmarted by his daughter-in-law Tamar, while poor Joseph ends up in an Egyptian jail with Pharaoh's butler and baker.

Weekly Bible Study~Vayeitzei~Genesis 28:10 to 32:3

This week's reading is Vayeitzei, "go out" and is from the book of Genesis, Chapters 28:10 to 32:3. Jacob leaves his hometown Be'er Sheva  and journeys to Charan to the home of his uncle Laban. He stops for the night at a place that traditionally is considered to be Har Moriah, the site of the Akeida, (the binding of Isaac)  and the location of the future Beit Ha Mikdash. We know it as the Temple Mount. Jacob dreams of a ladder. It was pointed out by one of the great sages that the ladder was described as having its "feet" planted in the ground (representing worldliness and basic decency) and that its "head" reached the heavens (representing spiritual pursuits). In his dream Jacob sees angels going up and down the ladder. Some say that this is a message telling us that wealth is temporary and can go "up" and "down", therefore if we are blessed with wealth we should use it wisely, constructively and charitably. Gd appears to Jacob and tells him that He will bequeath the entire land to Jacob's descendants, and that He would safeguard him (Jacob) until his return to Canaan. When Jacob wakes up, he recognizes the holiness of the location and erects a monument to Gd. He names the location Beth El (House of Gd) and makes a vow to tithe all his belongings when Gd's promise of a safe return would be fulfilled.

The next day he arrives at a well on the outskirts of Charan where he spots Rachel, Laban's youngest daughter, arriving with her father's sheep. When she is unable to remove the cover of the well, Jacob single-handedly rolls away the heavy stone and gives water to the flock. Rachel tells her father about Jacob, and Laban rushes out to greet him. Jacob goes to Laban's home, and after a month, Laban offers Jacob the job of tending to his herds, and asks Jacob what he wants in terms of wages.

Laban had two daughters--Rachel, and her older sister Leah. Jacob falls in love with Rachel and offers to serve Laban for seven years in exchange for her hand in marriage. Laban accepted the deal and after the seven years pass, Jacob tells Laban he wants to marry Rachel. Laban arranges a wedding feast, but when it is time to go to their tent for the night, Laban switches the girls, giving Leah instead of Rachel. Some sages say that Rachel cooperated in this ruse by giving Leah her "private signals" to Jacob. They say she did this to save Leah from a probable marriage to Esau, Jacobs elder brother. When Jacob realizes the deceipt he protests, so Laban offers to give Rachel to him as well--in exchange for another seven years service. Jacob marries Rachel, and begins another seven years of working for Laban. Leah gives birth to four children, Reuben, Simon, Levi, and Judah--but Rachel remains barren. Rachel and Leah both give their handmaids to Jacob as concubines. Rachel's maid, Bilhah, bears two children, Dan and Naftali, and Leah's maid gives birth to Gad and Asher.

Leah's son Reuben picked dudaim (fertility) plants for his mother. Rachel asks Leah for some of them, and Leah agrees, provided that Rachel relinquishes her turn with Jacob that night. As a result Leah gives birth to another two sons--Issachar and Zebulun--and one daughter--Dinah. Eventually, Rachel, too, gives birth to a son, whom she names Joseph. At that point, Jacob asks Laban for permission to take his wives and children and return to Canaan. Laban, not wanting Jacob to leave, points out that his divining reveals that his wealth and blessings are due to Jacob's presence in his home.

Laban wants Jacob to stay so he tells him to name his wages "And I will give it!" Jacob asks that all the streaked and spotted sheep born  be given to him and in return, he would continue caring for Laban's flocks. Laban, in a sly move takes all the existing spotted and streaked sheep from the herd and gives them to his son. Jacob makes striped poles for the strong and robust sheep to view while they are mating. As a result, the sheep give birth to striped lambs. Despite Laban's sneaky ways, and continual changing of the terms of Jacob's wages, Jacob soon becomes very wealthy and after six years, Gd commands Jacob to return to Canaan. Jacob talks to his wives, and they agree that it is time to leave.

Jacob waits until Laban is away, then takes his family and belongings and slips away. Rachel takes one of Laban's idols. Some say she did this in order to save her father from the sin of idolatry. When Laban discovers they have left he goes after them. The night before he reaches them, Gd warns Laban in a dream not to harm Jacob or his family. When Laban finally catches up to Jacob on Mount Gilead, he complains that Jacob didn't allow him to say goodby to his daughters, and he also says that one of his idols is missing. Jacob allows Laban to search for his idol in their belongings. Laban searches everything (except Rachel's personal belongings), and finds nothing.

Laban and Jacob made a peace treaty and erecte a stone monument to seal the pact. Laban  kisses his family good bye and returns to his home in Charan, while Jacob continues on his way. When he entered Canaan, he is greeted by welcoming angels.

Next week, as Jacob returns to the Holy Land, he once again has a dream--this time he will struggle with an angel. Jacob will get a new name, finally meets his brother Esau, then loses his wife.

Bible Study for Week of 31 October~06November 2010

This week's study, Toldot, means "offspring" and "generations"; it also means "generations" in the more general sense, (ie) that which a person generates and produces. Thus, "the toldot of Isaac" are Isaac's two sons, Jacob and Esau, as well as the deeds and achievements of Isaac...And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. 

Toldot--Genesis 25:19-28:9
Isaac and Rebecca (sister to Laban) marry. After twenty childless years their prayers  are answered. Rebecca conceives but the pregnancy is difficult. G-d tells her "there are two nations in your  womb" and that the younger will prevail over the elder.

The twin boys emerge, Esau first, followed by Jacob who is born clutching Esau's heel. Isaac favors Esau "a cunning hunter and man of the field" but Rebecca loves Jacob "a  wholesome man, a dweller in the tents of learning". One day, when Esau returns exhausted and hungry from the hunt, he sells his rights as the firstborn (birthright) to Jacob for a pot of red lentil stew. Then comes the famine in Canaan and Isaac escaps by traveling to Egypt via Philistine (The Holy Land). And Gd told Isaac to remain there and that He (Gd) will give to him all the blessings promised to Abraham.

In Gerar, the land of the Philistines, Isaac claims Rebecca is his sister, out of fear that he will be killed over her beauty. He farms the land, and reopens wells dug by his father Abraham. Eventually, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, perceives that Rebecca is Isaac's wife. He reprimands Isaac, but then issues a decree that no one should touch them. While in Philistine, Isaac sows crops, and miraculously harvests many times more than a field's normal yield.

The Philistines eventually became envious of Isaac's wealth, and ask him to leave. He moves away from the city, settling in the Gerar Valley. There, Isaac's servants dig two new wells but the Philistines contest his ownership over these wells. Isaac moves on and digs a third well. This well is uncontested and he names it Rehoboth "for now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land".

Isaac goes to Beersheba, where Gd appears to bless him and assure him that He (Gd) would always be with him. Abimelech travels to where Isaac is and requests to enter into a peace treaty with him; "We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee".

Isaac agrees to Abimelech's request and on that day, Isaac's servants inform him that they have successfully dug another well. Isaac names it Shebah. Isaac is now becoming old and blind. He wants to bless Esau, but first asks him to hunt for his (Isaacs') favorite game. Rebecca overhears, and devises a plan to disguise Jacob as Esau, including using goatskins to simulate the feel of his hairier brother. She then prepares the meal and sends Jacob with it to Isaac.

 Jacob receives the blessing for "the dew of the heaven and the fat of the land and mastery over his brother". Esau arrives soon after and only then does Isaac realize what has happened. He tries to comfort Esau with a minor blessing "Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck". But Esau remains furious and is determined to kill Jacob. Once again, Rebecca finds out and asks Isaac to send Jacob to Charan to find a wife. Isaac does so, and blesses Jacob again before he departs.

After Isaac sends Jacob to his brother-in-law Laban's home, to marry one of his daughters,  Esau also marries (again) this time to Machalat the daughter of Ishmael. 

We see from this that Isaac was blinded concerning Esau’s (un)worthiness for the birthright, while Rebecca, who had lived under the same roof with the evil Besuel and Laban, saw through him and took steps to insure Jacob received the blessing, then finally, sent him away to safety. How often in families do we have this same situation where one parent favors a particular child. Does this contribute to sibling rivalry? Do we even recognize we are favoring one child over another? What if we have a difficult, unruly child? A very wise woman with many children once said that when a child of hers became "uncontrollable" she would immediately ask Gd to help her react to the child with love, and to provide her with a method to deal with the situation.

Next week Jacob leaves his hometown Be'er Sheva and journeys to Charan. On the way, he meets and struggles with an Angel.

Outrageous! When did Rachel's Tomb Become a Mosque ?

Arutz 7 has reported that on 21 October 2010, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) voted recently on a resolution prepared by seven Arab states, to officially declare Rachel's Tomb to be a mosque. UNESCO director Irena Bokova had previously stated “concern” at Israel's decision to treat the tomb as a heritage site.  The PA has also demanded total control of Rachel's Tomb, the Tomb of the Patriarchs--the burial site of the other Biblical Patriarchs and Matriarchs--and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Furthermore, UNESCO could not really explain any Moslem connection to Rachel’s Tomb! In a note to the proposed resolution, the holy site is called “the Tomb of Rachel, home to the historic Bilal ibn Rabah Mosque.” But nowhere in the 11-paragraph document is it explained how or when the site became Moslem!  The remarks of protestation made by Israeli representative Nimrod Barkan were erased from the protocol because UNESCO claimed that his words were “too aggressive”.

The site has been recognized for over 3,000 (Rachel passed away in 1552 BCE) years as the tomb of Matriarch Rachel. It is considered as Judaism’s third holiest site, and is one of the oldest sacred places of prayer on earth. Rachel, wife of Jacob, is the quintessential mother in the Jewish psyche and it is here that Jews come to pour out their most gut-wrenching prayers. In 1169, Benjamin of Tudela,  mentions a pillar made of 11 stones and a cupola resting on four columns "and all the Jews that pass by carve their names upon the stones of the pillar." The brick cube with the dome was constructed around 1620 by the Ottomans. It was Sir Moses Montifeori who renovated the Tomb in 1841 and  added on an anteroom and enclosed the dome over the grave marker so that pilgrims could find shelter from the elements. Pilgrims came to Rachell's Tomb long before King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, and they continue to come until today.

 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. 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. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day...Genesis 35:16-21 (King James Version)

It was only a little more than ten years ago, that the PA begin to call the site the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque, and now they want to change history by having Rachel's Tomb removed from Israel's Heritage list. In fact, if we go back a few years, a publication called “Palestine, the Holy Land,” published by the Palestinian Council for Development and Rehabilitation, with an introduction by Yasser Arafat, simply says that: "at the northwest entrance to [Bethlehem] lies the tomb of the matriarch Rachel, who died while giving life to Benjamin."   (Benjamin-one of the 12 tribes)

This ongoing effort to de-legitimize Israel must be stopped! For the threat is not only  to Israel. For some time now, arabs have been spreading rumors that Mother Mary was a Muslim and that Jesus will only return to convert the world to Islam! Allowing this ongoing rape of history affects all of us from every faith and denomination. Even now, while the media remains silent, Christians in Muslim countries are being tortured and murdered daily, churches are burned, graves are desecrated and bones dug up. Ancient statues of the Buddhists were destroyed and nobody spoke up, now they make claims on the Holy sites of the Jews and the silence is deafening, and when they make claim to what remains there will be nobody left to stop them.

Weekly Scripture Study~Genesis 23:1 to 25:18

Every week in Jewish synagogues around the world a section of the Torah (the five books of Moses) is read. This week the "weekly reading" is found in Genesis, chapters 23:1 to 25:18 and is called Chayei Sarah.

Tomb of the Patriarchs (Machpeilah) in Hevron

We begin by learning that Sarah lived 127 years and died in Kiriath arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan (now Israel). Avraham negotiates with Ephron the Hitite to purchase Machpeilah "the double cave" or "the cave of the couples",  which is at the end of his field; for a full price saying to the people of Het "let him give it to me in your midst for burial property".  Although Ephron offered to give the land as a gift, Abraham insists on purchasing it, paying 400 premium silver coins. This is one of the three places which the nations of the world cannot accuse Israel and say, "You have stolen them." The three places are: the Cave of Machpeilah, the site of the Holy Temple, and the tomb of Joseph at Shechem.

After Sarah is buried, Avraham summons his servant and charges him with the mission of finding a suitable wife for his son Isaac. Abraham has his servant swear that he will not take a wife for Isaac from the local Canaanite women, rather, he sends him to Charan, his native land, to search for Isaac's wife.

Abraham's servant, Eliezer, is sent laden with gifts to Charan. At the village well, Eliezer asks G-d for a sign and decides that; when the maidens come to the well, he will ask for some water to drink; the woman who will offer to give his camels to drink as well, shall be the one destined for his master's son. Rebecca, the daughter of Abraham's nephew Bethuel, appears at the well and passes the "test". 

Eliezer is invited to their home, where he repeats the story of the day's events. Rebecca's family agrees that the match was divinely ordained, and consents to the marriage. Rebecca's family celebrates the engagement with Eliezer. Next morning,  he insists on immediately returning to his master, and after Rebecca agrees, the two set out for Canaan. There they encounter Isaac praying in the field. Isaac sees Rebecca, takes her into the tent  of his mother Sarah. And she  became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted for the loss his mother.

Avraham Avinu~Hebron

Abraham takes a new wife, Keturah (Hagar) and fathers six additional sons, but Isaac is designated as his only heir. Abraham dies at age 175 (2123-1638 BCE) and is buried beside Sarah by his two eldest sons, Isaac and Ishmael.

In the final verses Ishmael's progeny are detailed. Ishmael passes away at the age of 137.

Next week we will read how Rebecca finally conceives, her difficult pregnancy, and the discovery that she has "two nations in her womb"