An Introduction to God’s Life Instructions for His Children
Preview
Volume One
B’resheit – Genesis
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Copyright © 2018 by Michael Wodlinger and Glenn Sikorski
All rights reserved. This book or any of its parts may be reproduced for teaching purposes and personal study only. For any other purpose, please contact the publisher: heartformessiah@gmail.com.
Published by: Heart for Messiah Publishing
844-996-0051 for more information
Acknowledgements
This first volume of the 5-volume set of Journey Through Torah has been three years in its journey. The inspiration for its crafting remains still with Adonai Elohim Tzivaot, the Lord God of Hosts, for whom we have the utmost gratitude and Love. There have been many of our friends and colleagues involved in the reading and editing of this volume; although there are too many to include here, we extend our heart-felt thanks. Hopefully, the remaining volumes will not take as long to bring into fruition.
Baruch Hashem Adonai Yeshua, Moshichainu.
A Journey Through Torah
Volume One: B’resheit – Genesis
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Overview of Volume 1
How Genesis is Structured
Parashah 1: B’resheit (In the Beginning) Chapters 1:1 – 6:8
Creation
The Fall of Humankind
Cain & Abel
The Flood – Punishment
Parashah 2: Noach (Noah) Chapters 6:9 – 11:32
The Flood – Redemption
The Tower of Babel
Parashah 3: Lech L’kha (Get yourself out) Chapters 12:1 – 17:27
The Story of Avram
The Abrahamic Covenant
The Rescue of Lot
The Birth of Ishmael
Parashah 4: Vyera (He appeared) Chapters 18:1 – 22:24
The Birth of Isaac
The Binding of Isaac
Parashah 5: Hayyei Sarah (Life of Sarah) Chapters 23:1 –
25:18
The Wells of Philistia Avraham’s Ethics
A Wife for Isaac
Parashah 6: Tol’dot (History) Chapters 25:19 – 28:9
The Birth of Esau and Ya’akov
Parashah 7: Vayetze (He went out) Chapters 28:10 to 32:3
Ya’akov’s Lesson of Betrayal
Parashah 8: Vayishlach (He sent) Chapters 32:4 to 36:43
Ya’akov Confronts Esau
Dinah’s Shame – Ya’akov’s Shame
Esav’s Genealogy
Parashah 9: Vayeshev (He continued living) Chapters 37:1 to 40:23
Yosef’s Naivite
Yosef Meets His Brothers’ Wrath
Yosef and Egypt
Tamar – The Great-Grandmother of Adonai Yeshua
Yosef in Prison
Yosef interprets dreams
Parashah 10: Mikketz (at the end) Chapters 41:1 to 44:17
Yosef Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream
Yosef’s brothers travel to Egypt
Parashah 11: Vayigash (He approached) Chapters 44:18 to 47:27
Ya’akov’s Family comes to Egypt
Yosef Reveals Himself to His Brothers
Parashah 12: (He lived) Chapters 47:28 to 50:26
Ya’akov Blesses His Sons
The death and burial of Yaákov
Yosef and His Brothers are Reconciled
Conclusion
Maps of Genesis
Nations in the Middle East in Genesis
The Garden of Eden
Possible Site of Noah’s Ark
Location of the Tower of Babel
Abram’s Journey from Ur
Sodom and Gomorrah
Abram Rescues Lot
Abraham Sacrifices Isaac
Eliezer’s Journey
Ya’akov’s Journeys
Yosef’s Journey to Egypt
Ya’akov’s Journey to Goshen
About the Author and Illustrator
Preface
Welcome to A Journey Through Torah. If you have opened the pages of this manuscript to receive an in-depth description of Torah[1], akin to the Talmud[2], with its myriad of discussions, arguments and contradictions, then you have opened the wrong book. This book is exactly as the sub-title implies – A Journey Through Torah. It has been designed for someone who has not fully read the first five books of Moses, known as The Torah. Rather, if they have read the Bible at all, they often perceive these five books as belonging to the Old Testament and, therefore, irrelevant, out-moded and of little current use. The following comments are fairly typical of most Christians and their views of Torah and its contents: “We are to keep the 10 Commandments. However, keeping the Sabbath (as God established it from Friday evening to Saturday evening) is also in the 10 Commandments yet isn’t kept”. “Christianity claims that this was “changed” by God”; “Bible believers’ often view perceive “the age of the church has rendered the law inoperative”; “New Covenant Theology claims that all Old Covenant laws have been fulfilled by Christ, nailed to the Cross and are thus cancelled or abrogated”, and so on.
Then why this book? Well, I might ask you why you are reading it now? Are you curious? Have you been challenged by a family member or friend to find something out about Torah? Is this a religious class assignment? Whatever the reason for your opening the pages of this book, I guarantee you will not find long, drawn-out discussions of theology, which might tax your brain cells. On the contrary, this book attempts to explain the Torah, the five books of Moses, in a simple yet clearly accurate way, so as you do read Torah, it will have deeper meaning for you. Or, at least, that is its intent.
Like every good book, assuming Torah is a very good book, which, being authored by God is a certainty, Torah has a preface and an introduction. Unlike other books, good or not, the preface and the introduction are part of the body of Torah and are essential to its understanding. So, let’s begin there.
When books first began to be published, authors needed to attract their readers by providing a reason for their reading what was written. Many saw the preface as an explanation of the book’s contents, a defence, if you will, for the book having been written, while others viewed the preface as an apology. No, not the ‘I’m sorry’ form of apology but the literary form, in which the author provides a personal explanation for her/his having taken paper to pen to your eye and, hopefully, heart. Since God is God, the preface of Torah is to be found in the first three chapters of Genesis, the first ‘Book’ of Torah. It is here the Creator of the universe describes how He created, well, the universe and, especially, the earth. As is the style in Torah, God’s preface is the story of creation of the world and the love and care He took in its creation. This also tells us a good deal about God, His power, His vastness and His desires. Reading the preface of Torah is a little like reading a short love story about the Potter and His Creation. But, then, the introduction to Torah, provides us with a reason for reading further into the five Books. As you read further into this brief exploration of Torah, written just for you, you may see how we human beings have a habit of often spoiling the blessings given to us. Now the tension begins to build, as we learn why Torah was written. So, I urge you to sit back in a comfortable chair or sofa, have a cup of tea, coffee or water close by your side and open the first book of God’s Story of His desire for a relationship with you and with me. Before we proceed, let me introduce you to Rebbe. Rebbe will point the way to a particularly interesting fact or a significant learning which comes through the pages of God’s Torah. Enjoy your reading of God’s Life Instructions, God’s Torah.
Hi, folks. I am Rebbe. I will point you to interesting, points to ponder and significant learnings.
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B’resheit – The Book of Genesis
Introduction
Every good story must have a good opening. Have you ever thought of the door that bars or invites you into a room? You can tell a good deal about a room or a house by its door. Some doors are dull and drab, sometimes giving a false impression of the vibrant space just beyond its threshold. Other doors are flamboyant and bright, shouting out life and energy; these doors prepare you for how you will receive the space just beyond it. And so it is with the Book of Genesis – this is the door to the Scriptures, the door to the stories that tell of the history of the Jewish people and as those who are not Jewish, also known as Gentile or goyim, nations, and who are coming to an understanding of their relationship to our most holy Abba, the Ruler of the universe and the Lover of our souls.
I know you love to learn or you wouldn’t be reading this page right now and I know you, like many other people, young and old, love to learn through stories. This has been the way of learning ever since man was created. Countless generations of children have learned through the stories told them by their parents and by their leaders, teachers and others who helped them develop an understanding of their heritage and of the culture into which they are born.
Our loving God shares His story with us in Torah and begins that story with B’resheit, in the beginning, in Hebrew and, in English, the name of the door to Torah is Genesis, which means many things: history of, origin, birth, generation and genealogy. Genesis, the first book of the Bible and the first book of Torah, is the door that leads us into the fascinating story of our Almighty God’s relationship with His people. Before you go any further in your reading, though, you might want to read the first few chapters of the Book of Genesis.
How is Genesis Structured?
That’s a good starting point for our look at Torah – how is the first book of Torah structured? If you have read through the entire Book of Genesis, in a traditional English Bible, you may notice it has very clear divisions, into chapters. However, in the Hebrew Bible, the original language of Torah, the divisions are called Parashot, Readings. There are 54 weekly readings, each divided into 8 sections. Each section, called Aliyah or the honour of being called-up to read Torah, as well as immigrating to Israel, is to be read daily, with the full Parashah read on Shabbat, which is Yahweh[3], the Lord’s Day of Rest. In this overview of Genesis, we will use both the weekly Parashah and chapters as our guides. The version of Scripture used in Volume 1 of A Journey Through Torah, B’resheit, Genesis, is The Complete Jewish Bible, translated by Dr. David Stern. Throughout this Volume, and indeed through the other four, you will not find the original Hebrew being used; rather, you will only find the English transliteration. Whenever an English transliterated Hebrew word is used, it will be in a different font, usually Times New Roman. This has been a deliberate choice, given many, if not most, of those reading this volume will not be Jewish, although that would be delightful if you are, and probably will not have a background in the Hebrew language. So, let’s continue with an outline of the major divisions of Genesis.
The first part of the Book begins with the preface, as I explained earlier. This is Chapter One, verse one, to the end of Chapter Two, verse 24. Here we find two versions of the same story, the Creation Story. The debates and arguments over the reasons for two versions of this glorious story have been endless and continue unabated, as if someone actually knows the truth about this, which, of course, they don’t. As you read both accounts of Creation, do you get a sense of why God, the Supreme Being, wanted the world and its inhabitants? Let’s just read a little from these two stories: Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth. (Genesis 1:26) “Let Us make man in Our image”, how cool is that! Have you figured out why He had that desire? Yes, of course, He wanted a relationship with someone with whom He could communicate; He wanted to discuss, to play with, perhaps to debate and argue with in a loving way. I know, you may be thinking, how does he know that? Well, as you read in the preface to Torah, just a bit further, you come across these words, God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) Do you think God merely wanted to sit back and watch His creations, as they did their thing? Well, the answer to that question is hidden within Torah and you will discover that for yourself, as you read on further.
The second major part of Genesis (Parashah 2 to Parashah 6) introduces the major conflict of Torah and, indeed, all of the Bible, the conflict between God and Sin, the mortal enemy of all humans. This battle of Good versus Evil has been with us ever since evil was spawned. We can see this scriptural battle played out even in our radio programs of days past (The Lone Ranger, the Shadow) and our television series today (Batman, Spiderman, Superman).
In Chapter Three of Torah we are introduced to evil who, in the form of a walking serpent, interferes with God’s plans for, Adom, Adam and Chava, Eve. How God reacts to this interference tells us just how angry and upset He really is, judging by the consequences of the introduction of evil into Torah. I urge you to read this part carefully, Chapters Three and Four. Believe it or not, the rest of Torah and, indeed, the entire Bible deals with this conflict between good and evil, in one form or another.
The other parts of the Book of Genesis are not as short as these two. The third part of Genesis begins with Chapter Five, with a genealogy of Adom and Chava’s descendants. Although this may seem irrelevant to the story, it really helps place us into a sense of time and space, as we realize just how vast this story of beginnings really is. Just imagine living to be 600 or 900 years! Let’s just take a moment and discuss why genealogies do appear in Genesis.
You may have caught the fact that Adom and Chava had a third son, whose name was Seth. Why is this important to mention? Reading Adom’s genealogy reveals all of Adom and Chava’s descendants, with the exception of those coming through the line of Seth, die during the flood. They were the ones who turned to the ways of evil. However, from the line of Seth we find Noach (Noah). We’ll discuss Noah’s role in God’s plans shortly. Another of Adom and Chava’s descendants, Enoch, is important to our story of Torah. Genesis 5 tells us, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years after begetting Methuselah. . . . All the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, for God had taken him. (Genesis 5:21-24) First, why would Torah mention twice that Enoch walked with God? Traditionally, when something needs emphasizing, because of its importance, it is repeated. What is so important about mentioning Enoch walked with God? Simply stated, this long-lived descendant of Adom and Chava was a righteous man, what in Hebrew is called tzadik, a rightoeus one. The sages suggest he was vulnerable, because he was righteous, and, therefore, liable to go astray and be drawn into evil practices. To prevent that from happening, Enoch was taken to heaven, through the Word of God.
There is a book of Enoch, which although it never made it into the canon of Scripture, is worthy of reading. After you have read Torah, the Prophets and the Writings, why not take a look at the Book of Enoch; regard it as filling-in some of the historical gaps.
As we read further through Genesis, we are told of the very natural consequences of Adom and Chava’s sin. The story of Noah brings a reality check, as God sees how evil human beings have become and decides to begin over again, with the only righteous person He can find – Noah: But Noach found grace in the sight of Adonai. (Genesis 6:8) The Flood story, beginning in Genesis 6 and extending to the end of Genesis 8, is a compelling one, don’t you think? Hear how God felt about how His creation had taken advantage of their freedom of choice: Adonai saw that the people on earth were very wicked, that all the imaginings of their hearts were always of evil only. Adonai regretted that he had made humankind on the earth; it grieved his heart. Adonai said, “I will wipe out humankind, whom I have created, from the whole earth; and not only human beings, but animals, creeping things and birds in the air; for I regret that I ever made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7) And the interesting part of this is that every culture around the world has a flood legend, helping confirm the vast reach of God’s works. Archeologists have even found evidence of a period of flood, covering many continents[1].
Throughout the time it took Noah and his sons to build the ark, using stone tools only, those around watching heckled, cajoled and mocked them. Even the building of this strange structure, in the middle one of the driest portion of the earth, did not create a curiosity to hear what God was warning Noah and his family, just derision.
After the flood story, we are introduced to how God dealt with the arrogance people developed through their coming together as one people. The episode with the Tower of Babel is a compelling story, involving human beings’ desires to draw closer to Elohim, God, by building a tower to Heaven and, thereby, becoming more like Him. We’ll discuss this arrogance shortly.
Now we get into the meat of Genesis, the story of the birth of the Jewish People. Here, in Chapter Eleven, we are introduced to Avram, the first Patriarch of God’s People. Throughout the rest of Genesis, we read about his family and their adventures with God. These are fascinating stories and, in this brief explanation of the Book of Genesis, we’ll only touch on the highlights. So, let’s get into the story of Genesis, the Beginning.
[1] Torah (usually translated from the Hebrew as teaching), in this context, refers to the five Books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
[2] The Talmud (usually translated from the Hebrew as instruction) is a collection of writings from ancient times. It is composed of the Mishna, rulings of the rabbis, and the Gemara, rabbinic discussions.
[3] There are many Names for God. Yahweh is built upon the understanding “I AM.” Other names used for God in this series are ‘God’, ‘Lord’, ‘HaShem’ and ‘Elohim’
[4] For example, evidence of the Great Flood, described in Genesis 5-7 has been uncovered by archaeologist Dr. Robert Ballard, in his undersea investigation of the Black Sea, in the 1980s.
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