Parashah 6: Toldot Generations "

Parashah 6: Tol'dot (History) - Genesis 25:19 through 28:9.

Haftarah (Writings and Prophets): Malachi 1:1 through 2:7.
B'rit Hadasha (New Testament): Romans 9:6-16; Hebrews 11:20; 12:1417.

Summary & Overview

TORAH
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Genesis
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Genesis

25:19 | The Birth and Youth of Esau and Jacob

25:29 | Esau Sells His Birthright
26:1 | Isaac and Abimelech
26:34 | Esau's Hittite Wives
27:1 | Isaac Blesses Jacob
27:30 | Esau's Lost Blessing
27:41 | Jacob Escapes Esau's Fury
28:6 | Esau Marries Ishmael's Daughter

In this week's Parashah we learn the history of Yitz'chak (Isaac), Abraham's son
as well as the lives of his two sons Jacob and Esau. What is interesting is that
Sarah, Rebecca & later Rachael all struggled to bear children, why is that? It is
so that they could get YHVH involved and get pregnant through faith. YHVH
stretches us in every way so that we could learn to be people of faith. The Word
says that it is impossible to please YHVH without faith and that we firstly have to
believe that He exist and secondly believe that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him. (Heb 11:6)
Before we start this, I would like to zoom out and describe a concept from a
bigger picture point of view to lay the foundation for explaining the battles we
face in life and why faith and even Satan exist.
Q Ever wondered why YHVH created man, why Satan exists and how the
concept of faith came into existence?
YHVH created people in order to have a
relationship with Him. If He created us without
free will, then we would have been like Robots
doing every command as programmed and be
very predictable and boring. It is better to have
someone choose to have a relationship with you
rather than have someone forced or
programmed to have a relationship with. This is
what the concept of love entails is that love is an
act of free will and has to do with choice. Agape
love is the highest form of love and is based on
choice and not feelings.

Free will can only exist if you have a choice. You can only choose when you
have different options. If YHVHs Word and His standard was the only option,
then free will would not have been possible.
In order to have a choice you have to have alternative options to choose from
and that is why Satan was created so that there will be another set of options to
choose from. The Word says that YHVH created evil just like He created a
shadow which exists in the absence of light and cold that exist in the absence of
heat. (Isa 45:7)
Now you have a choice; you can either choose to do what YHVH asks of you or
you can choose the options Satan present to you in every given situation. What
will be your choice and how will you exercise your free will?
If YHVH zapped you every time you made a wrong choice
according to His Standards, then it will program you to
always choose His will, and that will take away your free
choice. This is why YHVH introduces Time or delayed
response where the consequences of your actions will
only manifest after a period of time of time making the
offender think that he/she has got away with it allowing
them to make a wrong choice and enabling them to
exercise their free will. This is also true for making the right
choice and the consequences of that is blessings that will
only come after a particular time making you do it in faith-learning patience. This
means that Time introduces Faith and the Spiritual needs to travel through
Time while the believer stands in Faith until it manifests in the Physical.
All of this because YHVH wanted a relationship with man out of free will, all
these supporting factors had to be created so that free will can exist. With
free will you have choices but these factors not only exist on the outside, but
they are also internal as well, and that is what we are going to look at in this
Torah Portion; the Two Enemies Within.

The Two Enemies

Last week we discussed the concept of the two souls; the
Nashama (Spiritual Soul) and the Nefesh (Fleshly Soul). It
is within these two souls that the battle raged for
dominance, just like two dogs, a white dog representing
good and a black dog representing evil. The dog you feed
will be the strongest and overcome the other, and that
nature will be dominant in your life.
The Nefesh or physical soul manages our physical
desires is responsible for the Lust of the Flesh that causes us to sin and is at
war against our spiritual soul as Paul describes in Romans 7 that is usually
misunderstood.
Rom 7:21-25 I find then a law (obeying the nefesh), that evil is present
with me, the one who wills to do good (nashama). 22 For I delight in the
Torah of Elohim according to the inward man (nashama). 23 But I see
another law in my members (fleshly desires - nefesh), warring against the
law of my mind (spiritual desires - nashama), and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin (lust of the flesh) which is in my members
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(flesh). 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body
of death? 25 I thank Elohimthrough Yshua Messiah my Master!
This ties in with this weeks Torah Portion where we will look at the Twins, Jacob
and Esau representing these two souls and every one of us is a Rebecca with
these invisible forces within us. What is interesting is that Isaac was 60 when
the twins were born, and 6 is the number of man that ties in with this current
topic regarding the soul of man and free will. We will look at Jacobs and Esaus
lives to see how the two souls operate and interact with each other and the
dynamics and internal conflict where the one is trying to have the upper hand in
order to manifest through each one of us.
The conflict between these two forces are found all over Scripture and is about a
war between flesh and the spirit, the Nashamah and the Nefesh, good and bad
and on the world stage, the conflict between Israel and many other nations.
Let's look at these twins side by side to see what these two opposing forces are
all about:

Esau

Jacob

Came out first fleshly man

Came out Red with a hairy mantle that
gave him his name Esau that means
hairy.
Man of the field animal like an
external man. He had a physical
appetite

Born second born again spirit man

Came out with his hand on his
brothers aqov or heel that gave him
his name Yaaqov or heel catcher.
A wholesome man living in tents an
inside man. A man of learning and
study and they say that the Torah was
handed down to him from the tents of
Shem
Represents the Nashama Feminine
Spiritual Soul
Jacob was born pure tom like Noah,
righteous in his generation
Rebecca loved Jacob because he
helped her around the household.

Represents the Nefesh Muscular

physical soul
Esau was born a mighty hunter before
YHVH, like Nimrod.
Isaac loved Esau because of what he
gave him to eat.

Isaacs Life
Isaac settled in Gerar, and when the men of Gerar
asked Isaac about his beautiful wife, he said that she
was his sister out of fear that the people might kill him
on account of her. Like father like sonAbimelech
summoned Isaac and complained that one of the
people might have lain with her, and Isaac would have
brought guilt upon the Philistines. This shows us that
Isaac did not learn from his fathers mistakes and
experience and had to face the test himself in order to
see if he is a man of fear or a man of faith he failed.
Yet another test for the people of YHVH, a famine struck the land, and Isaac
went to the house of the Philistine King Abimelech in Gerar. YHVH told Isaac
not to go down to Egypt, but to stay in the Land YHVH would show him, for
YHVH would remain with him, bless him, as He had sworn to Abraham.
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YHVH told Isaac to do something that is not logical according to man, he had to
plant in the midst of a famine and not go to Egypt where the Nile and abundance
is. Isaac passed the test, obeyed YHVH and kept His Commandments, and
YHVH blessed him, and Isaac reaped bountiful harvests.
Personal Application: What we learn from this is that when times are hard
and challenges comes your way in the form of financial problems, sickness or
relationship dynamics, etc. then you have to know what YHVH says about
this in His Word and follow that instruction and He will bless you within that
famine. YHVH told Isaac not to go to Egypt (Sin & Bondage), looking at the
world and what solutions it can bring, but rather look at YHVHs Word and
what solution He can make within your situation.
Isaac grew very wealthy, to the envy of the Philistines. The Philistines stopped
up all the wells that Abraham's servants had dug, and Abimelech sent Isaac
away, for his household had become too big. So Isaac left to settle in the wadi of
Gerar, where he dug anew the wells that Abraham's servants had dug and
called them by the same names that his father had. But when Isaac's servants
dug two new wells, the herdsmen of Gerar quarrelled with Isaac's herdsmen and
claimed them for their own, so Isaac named those wells Esek and Sitnah. Isaac
moved on and dug a third well, and they did not quarrel over it, so he called it
Rehoboth.
Isaac went to Beersheba, and that night YHVH appeared to Isaac, telling Isaac
not to fear, for YHVH was with him, and would bless him and increase his
offspring for Abraham's sake. So Isaac built an altar and invoked the Lord by
name. Isaac pitched his tent there, and his servants began digging a well. Then
Abimelech came to Isaac and told him that he recognised that YHVH had been
with Isaac, and sought a treaty that neither would harm the other.
Isaac threw a feast for the Philistines, and the next morning, they exchanged
oaths, and the Philistines departed from him in peace. Later in the day, Isaac's
servants told him that they had found water, and Isaac named the well Shibah
so that place became known as Beersheba.
Q What do you think these wells represent on a deeper level?
The first wells were dug by his father
Abraham and reopened by Isaac. The
Isaacs servants dug 4 new wells and on
the opening of the 4th
Well, he encountered YHVH as well as
made a covenant with the Philistines.
A Well in Scripture always represents a
place where YHVHs Word (water) are
gathered and distributed and can
represent an Assembly but can also
represent teachings.
Abraham dug wells and Isaac reopened
two. Abraham represents the Father, and Isaac represents Yshua. Yshua said
that the Commandments are still valid and hang on two key Commandments or
Headings; You shall love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart soul and
strength and you shall love your neighbour as yourself.
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Then Isaac dug four new wells, and during the fourth He encountered YHVH,
reaffirming the Covenant he made with Abraham and making a new Covenant
with the Philistines (Gentiles).
Number 3 means Covenant, and when Yshua died, He rose after 3 days and
re-established the Covenant He made with Abraham after His encounter with
death. Number 4 means the Work of the Messiah, and this is where He made
a New Covenant with Abimelech (Father & King) that included the Gentiles
(Philistines) to be part of the Kingdom. This teaches us that the New Covenant
as described in is not replacing the original Covenant made with
Abraham, but established it and sealed it with the Real Blood of Yshua AND
now includes the Gentiles to become part of it.
Personal Application: Wells is a symbol of Sources of life for generations to
come. Wells of parents and teachers you drank form you need to re-dig
them, which they dug for you. You need to procure this spiritual nourishment
yourself when you reach maturity. Will reward your efforts and not the efforts
of your parents or teachers.

Selling of the Birthright

Gen 25:29 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field,
and he was weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, Please feed me with that
same red stew, for I am weary. Therefore his name was called Edom.
According to Jewish tradition, Jacob was
making lentil soup for Isaac on the day of the
funeral of his grandfather Abraham. Esau
came in from the field and asked Jacob to
give him some of the Ha adom ha adom or
red stuff but Jacob replied and said he will
only give him some if he would sell him his
Birthright. The red stew caused Esaus name
to change to Edom. He was called hairy at
birth, and his name changed because of his
fleshly appetite.
In Hebrew culture, your name represents your
character, and your destiny and the name
change typically happened when someone
encountered YHVH as in the case of
Abraham and Sarai.
Here we saw that Esau did not encounter YHVH, but food. Interesting! This
means that his destiny changed because of the choice he made by
disconnecting himself from YHVHs Blessing that was part of being the
Firstborn.
Q - What does it mean to receive the Birthright?
In the ancient culture, the Firstborn received the Birthright that means that they
received a double portion. Sounds nice, doesnt it? But with this double portion
came great responsibility; after the death of the father he had to look after the
rest of the family, stepping up and acting as the father figure in that household.
Not only that, but he was also responsible for acting as the Priest of the house
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looking after the Spiritual affairs of the family, teaching them the ways of YHVH
as handed down to him from his father who received it from his father and so on.
This is the way YHVH preserved His Word and transferred His Covenant He
made with Abraham from one generation to another.
The Firstborn also had the responsibility to provide animals and perform the
sacrifices on behalf of the family. He had to literally act as a Priest of his
household which made him the spiritual leader. Later on, in Scripture, we read
that all the Tribes except Levi sinned bowing down to the Golden Calf and
YHVH stripped all the Tribes from all their Firstborn Priestly responsibilities
within every family and gave it to Levi. Levi became the Tribe of Priests who
fulfilled and facilitated the duties of the Firstborn and received the Birthright of
every Tribe just like Jacob did.
Esau did not want the Spiritual responsibility, only physical
material blessings that went with the Birthright because of his
fleshliness and he was not Spiritually enlightened like his
brother Jacob. All of this was in the mind of Esau when he sold
his Birthright to Jacob.
Personal Application: How many people sin because of the
flesh following an impulse not thinking about the bigger picture
and the consequence of their decisions? Our Birthright as
believers is to inherit the Kingdom of YHVH, not only receiving eternal life
but also receiving the Spiritual responsibility as YHVHs Royal Priesthood.
Esau is a perfect picture of our flesh that is only concerned about the
immediate fleshly needs that has to be satisfied regardless of losing your
Birthright or salvation. This is the second place where mans appetite
caused him to sin; first event is where Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden
fruit and was removed from the Garden and then we find Esau eating red
soup losing his Birthright and was chased out of the Nation of Israel
becoming their enemy instead.
Q - Did Jacob sin and lie blatantly?
There are three levels of explanation to answer this question:
1st level Jacob did not technically lie. The words in
Hebrew are very carefully chosen which technically mean
that he did not lie, but he did cause confusion and
misinterpretation the same as the lie Abraham told the King.
When Jacob came to Isaac and faced him, Isaac asked him is
it you my son? Then Jacob replied and said it is I, Esau your firs
born. If you translate Hebrew directly it reads it is me, Esau is your
firstborn.
2nd level Yes, Jacob cheated and lied blatantly.
3rd level Deeper meaning. Nashamah learned to trick the Nefesh to take
back that what was rightfully theirs. The Word says that we should be
cunning as a serpent but gentle as doves. There is an active war between
Spirit and Flesh in every person every day, and you must learn wisdom to
overcome the flesh in order to rob the Nefesh in order to feed the
Nashamah. This is one of the reasons why Fasting is so powerful because
you enhance the Spirit while the flesh is starved.
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Q - There was a man in the Bible that had all the characteristics of Jacob and
Esau combined, but he lived a perfect life before YHVH, who was this man?
The word admoni (Red) used to describe Esau is only used two times in
Scripture, it is used here in Genesis as well as in the Book of 1 Samuel where
YHVH send Samuel out to the house of Jesse to anoint the new King namely
David. David was the 8th son Jesse and he was red with fair eyes. He was an
outdoor man of the field, a skilled hunter and knew how to handle a weapon,
just like Esau. The only difference between Esau and David was that Samuel
anointed David and the Spirit of YHVH came upon David imparting or
quickening the Nashama within. The phrase YHVHs Spirit came upon him is
the equivalent of YHVH breathing His Ruach or Sprit into his nostrils so that he
can become a living soul or Nashama. This gave David the attributes of Jacob,
an indoor man who loved to study the Word of YHVH. David was a wellbalanced combination of Jacob and Esau because he had the Nashama and
Nefesh. This made David a perfect example of what it means to have free will ,
choosing from what the Nefesh or the Nashama present to him so that he can
have a relationship with YHVH. David was known to have a beautiful
relationship with YHVH even committing grievous sins. We saw in Davids life
that his Nefesh sometimes dictated him that caused him to sin against YHVH
but on the other hand he followed the Spirit becoming the
greatest King Israel ever had.
Personal Application: Esau could have become just like
David if he received the Spirit of YHVH and we as
believers having the Sprit of YHVH can overcome the
flesh and have a balanced relationship with YHVH just
like David. We need YHVHs Spirit as well as His Word
in order to divide the Nefesh from the Nashama so
that the Nashama can be released from the bondage
of the flesh reign through the body.
Heb 4:12 For the Word of YHVH is living and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the
division of soul (nefesh) and spirit (nashama), and of joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
This is what spiritual freedom actually means, not freedom from the Torah but
freedom from the bondage of the Nefesh and its fleshly desires.

Blessings and Birthright

The Hebrew word for Birthright is becor that is also translated as Firstborn.
becor

XKA is made up of the letters Bet - A Kaf - K- Resh- X that has

numerical values 2 20 200 respectively. All these numbers have the same
meaning namely Restoration of Relationships and this is the first topic we
discussed in this Parashah of why YHVH created man and the outflow of the
concept of free will etc. Let's look a bit deeper at this word through the
meaning of each one of these letters. Kaf

K means palm of the hand, Resh

X means head or Leader and can also mean Human Reasoning (that has a
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negative connotation). These two letters give us the picture of a Hand grasping
the Head. If we reverse the Kaf and Resh, it spells the word Berach

JXA

that means Blessing.

These two pictures show us the blessing of the Firstborn
where Isaacs hand is upon the head of Jacob. Blessings
and Birthright go hand in hand, and you can only receive
YHVHs Blessings when you receive His Birthright
through receiving His Spirit and becoming like David,
taking on the Spiritual responsibilities of the household
allowing the Gifts of His Spirit to manifest through you in
order to serve the Body of Messiah. This does not mean
that Blessings are only spiritual, but the spiritual aspect of
being blessed by YHVH takes president over material
blessings. Totally different to what we have been taught in
Church.
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Master Yshua the Messiah,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in
the Anointed One,
3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be
in good health, just as your soul prospers.

Isaac blessed Jacob

Isaac was an old man with limited sight and at the end of
his life he asked Esau to go and hunt and prepare his
favourite meal so that he can give him the blessing as the
head of the promised line. Rebecca overheard this and
knew that Jacob was the chosen one that has to carry the
Blessing of Abraham.
Q What do we learn from Isaac and Rebecca?
They represent the Nashama (Spirit) and the Nefesh
(Flesh) with Rebecca being the one that heard from YHVH
and Isaac the spiritually blind one who was only
concerned about a meal. We see the same theme over
and over again. The same fleshly drive that tricked Adam
and Eve tricked Esau and now Isaac.
Q Do you think that this is why YHVH introduced dietary laws to govern our
flesh?
Personal Application: We see the same in each one of us where the flesh is
blind and only driven by fleshly desires and our urge to stay alive takes
priority. This is the area inside of us that are concerned about us, our lives,
what we shall eat or drink or wear, what we can do to live and survive and be
prosperous. Yshua said in Matthew that we should not seek these things
first, but seek His Kingdom instead.

The flesh is also the area where we worry and fear in contrast to our spirit
where faith resides, where we are strong and courageous. When YHVH
called Joshua He called him strong and courageous, Joshua could not see it
because he was only familiar with his physical abilities. YHVH anointed Him,
and His Spirit-man came alive with those attributes He spoke over him.
On the one hand, you have the feminine spiritual side that
generally submits under the male dominant fleshly side.
You will also see this in a marriage situation where the
women, who are more spiritual have to submit to the
man, who is more fleshly orientated that causes the
relationship to be unbalanced and spiritually dead.
Marriage is like a boat; the man is the rudder, and the
anchor that gives direction and stability and the woman is
the sail that catches the wind (breath of YHVH) to give
their marriage its spiritual energy taking it places.
After Esau found out that Jacob received the Blessing from
Isaac he wanted to kill Jacob. Jacob never wanted to kill Esau and the
nashamah (spirit) would never kill the nephesh (flesh) but the Nefesh
always wants to destroy and kill the Neshama or the Sprit.
Q - What does it mean to be saved?
To be saved or Born again means to receive YHVHs Spirit so that He can
change your Nature. Without His Spirit, you will be like Esau, a person in the
field (sign of the world) that is driven by the human nature. To be Born Again
means that the older (Esau) will serve the younger (Jacob) and this means that
the flesh will serve the Spirit.
We read the Blessing of Jacob in Gen 27:27 Isaac mentioned the dew of
heavens and fatness of earth. In verse 39 Esau received a blessing from Isaac
where Isaac reversed the order, mentioning the fatness of the earth and then
the dew of heaven. Another difference is that the Name of YHVH is only
mentioned when Jacob was blessed meaning that Jacob received the Spirit of
YHVH.