Vayera means “and appeared,” referencing Abba YHWH, appearing to Abraham with two other messengers. The trio brings news that Abraham and Sarah will have a son. Sarah, not believing Abba YHWH, laughs at hearing the pronouncement and then denies she laughed. This is one reason they call their son Yitzchak, “laughter.” Notable here also is that Abraham serves Abba YHWH and His two messengers milk and meat!
After this, we get the dark message of Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction. Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family must leave immediately to avoid the coming disaster. Also, there is a remarkable “bargaining” session between Abraham and Abba YHWH, as they debate how many righteous souls will spare the entire city. An incident similar to the one where Pharaoh took Sarah happens again with another ruler, with comparable results. The portion ends with the most shocking story of them all, as Abraham is told to kill his son by Abba YHWH Himself!
Lech Lecha means “get yourself out.” It concerns the command Abba YHWH gives Abram to into Canaan and has a lot of great “action” surrounding that main theme. First, move Abram has a bit of an adventure in Egypt when his wife acquired by Pharaoh because Abram said she was his sister! Then Abram had to do some intricate planning to get ahead of a potential family dispute between himself and his nephew Lot. After that a whole bunch of kings go to war around Abram and closer to home Abram is given the second most difficult test of his life and I’m just scratching the surface here…there’s a ton of action I left out here.
Noach refers to Noah, a righteous man whose name means “comfort” or “peace.” Abba
YHWH tells Noah He is about to flood all of humanity out of existence except for
himself, his wife, their three sons and three daughters in law.
After the Flood, humanity tries to start over but there is still great evil about as Nimrod
becomes a great and powerful leader and those (perhaps) under his influence attempt to
build a tower to rival heaven, forcing Abba YHWH to confuse human language ever
since. The genealogy brings us to the time of Abraham, thus setting up the covenant that
is about to happen in the next portion.
I should also note here that Noach is the most calendar intensive portion in my opinion of
the entire year. In order to manage that information and to keep things easy to understand
and efficient, I have pooled the most important calendar aspects into one basic essay at
the end of the Torah linguistics.
Bereshit means “in the beginning.” We start with the six days of creation with Abba YHWH resting on the Shabbat day and creating Adam and Eve. After their expulsion from paradise, Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Abel and the former kills the latter. Afterwards, Cain flees Abba YHWH’s presence, first to Nod and then he goes build a city. As the human race begins to spread throughout the earth, the first ten generations are recounted and the life of righteous Noah is introduced.
Chag Sameyach! From early hints in Genesis linked to Jacob to some of the last parts of Revelation, so Feast has the range and depth of Sukkot. Enjoy this second of two in-depth feast teachings, this one covering more on the special Shabbat during the Feast and the last two special days of the Feast along with the last parsha of the year, Ve-Zot Ha-Barachah. For those looking for a taste of what heaven or the Millennial Kingdom is to be like, look no further than Sukkot. May you all rejoice before YHWH greatly during this Set-Apart time! Keep Reeding
Chag Sameyach! From early hints in Genesis linked to Jacob to some of the last parts of Revelation, so Feast has the range and depth of Sukkot. Enjoy this second of two in-depth feast teachings, this one covering more on the special Shabbat during the Feast and the last two special days of the Feast along with the last parsha of the year, Ve-Zot Ha-Barachah. For those looking for a taste of what heaven or the Millennial Kingdom is to be like, look no further than Sukkot. May you all rejoice before YHWH greatly during this Set-Apart time! Keep Reeding
Ha’azinu means “give your ears” or “listen.” It is the opening stanza of Moshe’s last song that he spoke of at the end of the previous portion. Although the language is poetic, the graphic imagery is meant for easy remembrance and its warnings are definitely LITERAL. There is no other poetry done as well in Tanakh except perhaps Job 38-42.
From clues deeply embedded in Noah’s Flood, to some of the most powerful teachings Yeshua the Messiah ever gave and all the way to the ultimate apocalyptic imagery in the Book of Revelation, Yom Kippur is the most sacred day of them all and it lays at the heart of the Scripture itself. Put simply, it doesn’t get more critical than this moment!
Vayelech means, “and he went out/walked” referring of course to Moshe. The portion begins in
a time of transition, where Joshua is brought forward as the next leader and final instructions to
Israel are given. The portion ends with Moshe recording the words to a song, but those words
are not given until the following portion, Ha’azinu.
Chag Sameyach and welcome to the start of our wonderful fall feast season! We kick off this very special month of Tishri with Yom Teruah, the day of shofar blasting, the seventh new moon of the year and a day that may actually point to the Second Coming of the Messiah. Explore the connections between that and the rabbinic Rosh Hashanna, from from the creation of Adam in Genesis to the deepest patterns of Revelation, Yom Teruah covers it all! Enjoy! Keep Reeding
Nitzavim means “you stand” and it begins with more warnings for the price of
disobedience. This is literally the beginning of the end of Israelite wandering and
Moshe’s own life, so it is critical that every opportunity be taken to explain Israel’s
responsibilities to them. This is an abnormally short portion.
Ki Tavo means “when you enter” and begins with a variety of agricultural regulations that take effect once Israel has entered Canaan. Other regulations, such as that of tithing, are further instituted in the 26th chapter. 26 also contains a veiled rebuke from Moshe to the previous generation as he points out how good the land was, just as Abba YHWH commanded but this was not accepted as fact by Israel. As 27 opens, the Israelites will then hurl blessings from Mount Gerizim and curses from Ebal, as we spoke at length about earlier. The curses are, for the most part a re-statement of the prohibitions in the Ten Commandments. The blessings for obedience then follow suit in chapter 28 and a very extensive category of curses for disobedience follows for the rest of that chapter. Chapter 29
begins with Moshe on a hopeful note, restating how Abba YHWH has been with them all even while being chastised, to get ready for this great moment of entering the Promised Land.