Parashat Vayishlach 5766/2005
EJD
The weekly reading for the week of 16 Kislev, 5766 - December 17, 2005 Parashah: Vayishlach Genesis 32:3(4) to 36:43; Haftarah: Obadiah 1:1-21; Mei Kituvim: 2 Chronicles 25:1-28; Brit Chadashah: Colossians 1:11-22
Parashah Lite Edition (Focuses on one verse or idea anywhere in the readings.)
The Bagel: Divine management.
"....and the kingdom shall be the LORD's" (Obadiah 1:21).
Ask the man on the street about the best form of government and you may hear the answer: "....a benevolent dictatorship!" The hope by that answer reflects the ideal situation, so the street version declares. But what are the implications? A dictatorship satisfies the need for someone to "run the show." The conductor has arrived to get the orchestra working in harmony. If the one ruler is good, then a very efficient kingdom happens. Yet, we sense an innate fear of this model. What if the dictator is deceiving us? Is this going to be another Senator Palpatine who turns into the Galactic Emperor? There can be a basic distrust of human authority for this reason. But on another level what about individuality? We fear, perhaps in a greater way, the absorption of the individual by the machinery of an absolute power.
Think of the bond between a mother and an infant. There's great security in the mother's loving care. But when the child turns about two, suddenly, there is a great assertion of independence by the baby. The kid says "no" to a lot of things that were assumed before. At a young age even a child recognizes a fear that its independent person will somehow be absorbed by the oneness of the mother. We have a need for oneness like a mother, a conductor, a king, and the One G-d, but we fear that the oneness will somehow destroy the particular, individual person.
Think of the wedding where the two candles of the single persons before the vows light the one larger candle. It is a picture or symbol of the unity of marriage: "the two shall be one flesh" (Gen. 2:24). Yet, it isn't long before the unity gets strained. What is most threatening is when one or both spouses use the unity as a club so they can manipulate and absorb the individuality of the other. They should be two equal persons that exhibit individuality in the unity of marriage. Who is king of the marriage? It depends. In a traditional marriage the woman is "king of the kitchen." But that tradition is fading in some cultures. The roles of a marriage and "who's in charge" is getting mixed around these days.
What about the coming kingdom of G-d? Maybe there is a threat that somehow we will cease to be independent persons and be absorbed by the One? The goal of many using the principles of Eastern spirituality is to "empty yourself" in order to hasten the identification with the ultimate absorption by the One (some interpret as nothingness or the unpronounceable). But the G-d of Israel is different from this Eastern metaphysical interpretation. He (a person) desires, not emptiness, but fulfillment. He filled a "void" earth (Gen. 1) with good things and He wants to fill our empty hearts. This is where Yeshua comes in. He paid the price of our redemption. He made it possible for sin to be removed, so we could have free access into the very Presence.
Because there are three persons in the One G-d, there can be an equality of person, and yet the One rule. We can like Jacob at Peniel have a face-to-face encounter with the Living G-d and receive the blessing, because the believer is in Yeshua. That means that in Messiah we are on the same level as the Father, because we are in the Eternal Son: "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Colossians 1:13 NASB). When you are in this kingdom, you will be safe and your individuality will not only be preserved from absorption into the One, but you will be filled with all that G-d has for us through the eternal ages to come.
Cream Cheese: The problem of the one and the many? Solved by the Eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
Unless noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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