Parashat HaShavua V'Zot HaBrachah / And This Is The Blessing
This Week's Reading List:
Devarim / Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12
Yohoshua / Joshua 1:1-18
Tesolonikim Alef / 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Devarim {33:29} Happy are you, Yisrael (Israel) : Who is like you, a people saved by HaShem, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency! Your enemies shall submit themselves to you; you shall tread on their high places.
This is quite the prophecy Moshe (Moses) gave to Yisrael prior to his death. I like the part where he says Yisrael’s enemies shall submit themselves to her and that she will tread on their high places (meaning their idolatries). It is amazing how signicant this passage is today, especially considering that Yisrael’s enemies are arming themselves to the teeth and her new greatest enemy (Iran) is coveting nuclear weapons. However, before I get into commenting on this week’s Parasha there are a number of Scriptures I would like to us to read:
Devarim {21:15} If an ish (man) have two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers who was hated; {21:16} then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not make the ben (son) the beloved the firstborn before the ben (son) the hated, who is the firstborn: {21:17} but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the ben the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
Shemot (Exodus) {4:22} "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says HaShem, Yisrael is My son, My firstborn...”
So here we have it! Yisrael is HaShem’s firstborn, and just as we read even if the firstborn is from the hated wife he must be acknowledged as the firstborn and, therefore, must still be given the right of a firstborn, which includes, as we find in Scripture, family headship and a double portion of the inheritance.
From the beginning Yisrael has not exactly been a model son. He was conceived to be a representation of the living G-d to the Goyim (Nations), a task which he failed miserably at. Instead he grew up to reject his Father and as a result HaShem disciplined him by scattered him throughout the world and turning his Promise Land into a wasteland.
In 1948, against all odds, Yisrael was reborn into the Promise Land and was repatriated. However, he was reborn as a secular nation and Yisrael is perhaps worse today then he was when he was exiled. Since Yisrael’s inception abortions have killed more Jews than Hitler, gays have the right to marry and are openly parading in Jerusalem. Pig farms have sprung up around the country and pork can be purchased from butcher shops in many major cities. The Dome of the Rock dominates the skyline of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) while a Bahai Temple dominates the skyline of Haifa. Worse yet God has been reduced to tradition. Add to this the fact that Yisrael’s enemies are growing stronger and more numerous and you have what adds up to a not very pretty picture for Yisrael.
Yet we read in this week’s Parasha that Yisrael’s enemies will submit themselves to her and that she shall tread on their idolatrous practices. How can this be, considering the present situation?
I am not going to make any prophetic predictions, but if I would I would predict that Hamas, Hezbullah, Iran and all the other nations that are secretly or openly supporting or helping these nations will not prosper.
Iran, of late, is touting is new weapon dubbing it “the ambassador of death.” However, Yisrael has a more powerful weapon and that is the G-d of Yisrael who happens also to be the G-d of all heaven and earth and He has said:
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) {44:2} Thus says HaShem who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you, “Do not fear, O (Ya’acov) Jacob My servant; and you Jeshurun (Jerusalem) whom I have chosen...” {54:17} “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of HaShem, and their vindication is from Me,” declares HaShem.
Yisrael is HaShem’s firstborn, his heritage, His inheritance. As stated above, Yisrael will not be defeated. Nor can Yisrael be replace or disinherited, as many churches and pastors are teaching. Yisrael can not be forgotten or abandoned. G-d’s firstborn son will not be destroyed!
*********************
Baruch HaShem
Rabbi Ya'acov Farber
No comments:
Post a Comment