Pesach Sheni- second Passover

It's interesting that the festival most connected to the work of Messiah, Jesus, is the only (biblical)festival that allows for a "redo". Numbers 9:1-14 sets up a second day for Passover observance a month later for those who were ritually unclean or away during the festival on the 14 of Nissan.

face to face

"For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known."
1 Corinthians 12:12

We come to know our (earthly)beloved's face better then they and they come to know ours better than we if we are not spending to much time in the mirror of self. Our other becomes the proper mirror that reflects us back to us and we to them. We "gaze" upon their face and they "gaze" upon our face.

The temple of his body.

Leviticus 9:1 says that the Mishkan (tabernacle) was established on the eighth day. The Rabbi's ask why the "eighth" day. BaMidbar Rabba Chapter 13, reads:

"Rabbi Yossi used to say, 'When did the Inauguration of the Mishkan(Tabernacle) occur? It began on the twenty third of Adar, and concluded on the first of Nisan. And on all of the first seven days, Moshe used to set up the Mishkan and take it apart at the end of the day. On the eighth day, he set it up, and did not take it apart... On that day, Aharon and his sons arose and washed their hands and feet from the sacred fountain, they worshipped the Divine Service in proper order..."

The established order of time is a seven day (or year in the case of the shmitah cycle) cycle. Kli Yakar explains that “the number seven is always mundane, while the number eight is holy.” The early Rabbis understood the dedication of the tabernacle/temple as something outside the the ordered nature.
Christ, after cleansing the Temple tells those who were selling sacrifices that

"18So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week and in the context of a weekly cycle he rose on the eighth day establishing the Temple of his body.

Thoughts on Genesis.

These are some of my collected thoughts on Genesis

EVE

Many of the Church Fathers saw Mary as the new Eve. Like Christ being the new Adam to rectify the “damage” inflicted on the world by the first Adam. So Mary is an archetype of Eve reversing the course set by Eve to actually become the “mother of the living(God)”. Mary is the “New Eve”.
Rabbi David Fohrman points out that Eve's response to God is one of pride, not surprise or thankfulness. Eve says, "I have acquired(kinyon) a man with(et in heb.) God." Eve uses the term et instead of im which possibly connotates utility- such as I dug a hole with(et) a shovel, vs. I dug a hole with(im) Dave. Im would imply partnership. For Eve, God is merely a tool for her creation. She seems to still be believing the lie of the serpent. So her reaction to the birth of Cain was pride. If you juxtapose her and Mary's responses to their "miraculous" births (the only two "seed" of a woman) you can see direct opposite reactions.
Mary, on the other hand, responds with humility and adoration:

46And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord 47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers."

The Tree of Confusion

The Tree of the Knowledge(hebrew; daat) of Good and Evil should be understood as the mixture of good and evil. “Now Adam knew(daat) Eve his wife, and she conceived ...”. Adam became intimate with his wife. There was a “mixing” flesh. Good and evil became intimately intertwined, confused. The world turns gray. A special understanding is not imparted by its fruit, rather our choices become clouded and confused between good and evil and that is the condition of man.

Adam, Where Are You?

Death is ultimately a separation. That is perhaps, of course, the reason we grieve. We are not so much worried as to where they are (although that may be a factor) after death, but that the dead have become separated from us. Adam and Eve were warned that on the day they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they would "die." And that is what happens when the eat of it. That day they become separated from God. God comes to the garden and says "Adam, where are you?" He has to ask this because Adam and Eve began the separation/death process that God finishes by expelling them from the Garden of Eden.

Abel

Adam's vocation as gardener becomes toilsome because of his disobedience. The curse he ushered into the world contaminated the ground and now he will have to fight thorns and thistles to get his “bread”.
Cain continues in his fathers steps. He toils within the boundaries of the “curse”. Cain becomes a “worker of the ground” to continue his father Adam's work.
Abel, on the other hand, becomes a shepherd. Perhaps this represents man's first attempt to break away from the curse. Man would not be given the right to eat meat until Noah leaves the Arch (Gen 9:) a few hundred years later. Unlike his brother Cain, he continues God's work of covering man with animal skins. Like his name means, his life was like a breath(hevel), short lived. The brother who was content to remain in the curse becomes jealous and kills him. Abel then is a foreshadow of Christ “The Good Shepherd.” He Attempts to free fallen man from the established order only to be killed by those who do not want to be free from the cursed order. However Abel's death was not sufficient and could not atone.

“...and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Heb 12:24
Lamech

The ideal marriage in the scriptures is between one man and one women as it says in Genesis 2:24: "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh". Note the אשה(singular) not the plural form אשת. It’s interesting to note that the first redefinition of marriage comes in 4:19,ff when Lamech takes two wives. What follows is a complete degradation of society that has to be destroyed in the flood.

Lamech's hope

Lamech calls his son Noah because “this one will bring us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands, from the ground which HaSHEM has cursed.” Here we have the first messianic figure in the Bible. Was Lamech correct in his hope that his son would somehow free them from the curse that Adam and Eve had ushered into the world or was this just wishful thinking on the part of a hopeful parent? His name means comfort. Does Noah bring comfort and rest from the curse? The curse is eased a bit when God gives man the right to eat meat (Gen 9:3). Perhaps this is better understood as a faint adumbrate of the future Messiah who is our rest and who sends the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

Noah

Although Noah was righteous, perhaps he sinned in not interceding for the world before God destroyed it in the flood. Abraham intercedes for Sodom and Gomorrah. Moses intercedes for the children of Israel when God becomes angry at the sin of the golden calf. But Noah is silent. He doesn't ask God why nor does he try to warn his fellow man about the impending judgment like Jonah did.

Wrestling with God and Man

Esau's character trait was pride, haughtiness. He did not recognize his imperfect state as always needing improvement. He felt complete as his name indicates (Esau comes from the word asu: complete). There was no struggle in him.
Jacob, on the other hand, was wrestler from the beginning. He had a hold of his brother’s foot on their way out of the womb. His wrestling was philosophical and emotional. He had a grasp of his "fallen nature." He was always in a struggle to better himself and to understand the world around him. It was this wrestling that merited him the fruition of the promise that was given to Abraham. The promise that God will “make you a nation”.

Tree of confusion

The Tree of the Knowledge(Daat) of Good and Evil should be understood as the "mixture" of good and evil. good and evil become confused. the world turns gray at the "fall". A speacial understanding is not imparted by its fruit rather our choices become clouded and confused between good and evil and that is the condition of man.

fanatisism is the worship of self.

Able and atonement(continued)

Adam and Eve try to cover their "nakedness" with plants(fig leaves). God removes the leaves and uses animal skins. Cain raises produce(plants) to continue his father Adam's work. Able raises sheep to continue God's work of covering man with animal skins.

Love creates

It is for love that we compose our greatest works of art. Love of the Divine is not only the greatest love of all, it is the source of all true love. When that love is lost we begin to loose our ability to not only create art but even recognize beauty.

Abel and atonement

In an earlier post I said that perhaps the reason Abel became a shepherd was to escape the curse. I believe that it is generally assumed that Abel raised sheep for food and clothing. But man was not given the right to eat meat until Noach left the ark(Gen 9:3). Abel must have been raising sheep for clothing(covering). After God hands out his punishment to the three culprits he makes coverings for Adam and Chava out of animal skins replacing the fig leaves that they had provided for themselves. Abel was not only working outside the curse, he was helping to continue what God had started namely covering our naked/fallen bodies. Cain on the other hand, chose a vocation within the bounderies of the curse. He is connected to the cursed ground. Abel is working outside of the curse to make a covering for mans "fallen" state.

Jacob as King and Priest

"Then Isaac trembled in very great perplexity, and said, 'Who then is the one who hunted game, brought it to me, and I partook of all when you had not yet come, and I blessed him? Indeed, he shall be (remain) blessed!'" (Genesis 27:33)


When Izaak wants to give Esau his blessing is he intending to continue God's choosing process? If so, why wouldn't he recognize the spiritual one, God's choice? What would give him the audacity to continue what only God had done up to this point?

It seems logical that Izaak believed that at some point a whole family had to be chosen in order to become a nation and since both his children came from the same mother Rebeca, in fact they were twins, both sons would carry on the chosen (bechira) line. As opposed to the two sons of Abraham with whom only one was chosen by God.

Izaak understood God's choosing process. Perhaps he believed that his two sons were bechira-chosen to propagate the nation. He did not receive the prophecy that Rebeca had and apparently she did not tell him. Esau was "a man of the field” - a man of physicality in charge of the physical needs of the family (food, protection, business, etc.). He would naturally be the king of the clan. It is worth noting that the blessing (beracha) that Izaak intends to bestow on Esau has similar elements to the blessings that Jacob later bestows on Judah and Joseph (Gen. 49:8, 22ff) who were to be present and future leaders/kings.

Though Jacob's blessing is a bit more complicated, there are also similarities with the levitical roll (Deut. 33:10) and comparable word usages that Jacob later says to Shimon and Levy in his blessing/curse to them (Gen. 49:5). Although Izaak gives an Abrahamic Blessing to Jacob, he does not grant him bechira but says, "May He grant you the blessing of Abraham". Perhaps at this point Izaak is now beginning to understand what Rebeca has known all along that the two sons are two nations.

Clearly, Jacob is the natural spiritual leader. He is a man "abiding in tents"1. He represented the priesthood, study of scripture - the clergy. In consequence of having stolen Esau's blessing, Jacob is forced to become dual natured - a man of the field and a man who abides in tents. He becomes both King and Priest. When Jacob is complete, it is then his progeny that become the bechira (chosen) nation.

“Summing up our thesis: the division of the three pillars of spirituality in the world of the 'might have been' would have resulted in separating the spiritual roles of Esau and Jacob along the fault line that separates olam hazeh, this material world that we inhabit, from olam haba, the World to Come. Jacob would have been assigned the duties that call for separation from the material world and total immersion in the spiritual realms of Divine service and Torah study, while Esau would have been assigned the responsibility of supporting Jacob's spiritual efforts through his control of the material world. In effect Esau would have been assigned olam hazeh as his lot, while Jacob would have taken charge of olam haba.”(Rabbi Noson Weisz)

Perhaps this is the reason why Jacob retains both of his names (Jacob and Israel) throughout the Scriptures (unlike Abraham and Sarah). Each name is an indication of his two natures.

CONCLUSION

“O profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! It will not be restored until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs; to him I will give it.” (Ezekiel 21:25-27)

Ezekiel foretells the combining of the turban (priesthood) and the crown to be given to Him, the one to whom it rightfully belongs, the coming Messiah. The King/Priest will usher in a new era, a new covenant and a new kingdom.

But if you are willing to look deeper into the Holy Scriptures, you will find that God has been revealing his plan of salvation from Genesis all the way through the Prophets. Long before Ezekiel prophesies of this King/Priest, the book of Genesis briefly lifts the veil and gives us a glimpse of the coming King/Priest.

Just as the Akaidah (the Binding of Izaak) was a glimpse into the death and resurrection of Christ, the story of Jacob tells us something of the two natures of the future Messiah.

the Holy Trinity in creation and the construction of the Mishkan

Moshe puts two "contractors" incharge of the building of the Mishkan/Ohel moed Tabernacle/Tent of Meeting- Betzallel and Oholiav.
Betzallel- in the shadow of El(God) a figure of Christ the Son of God

"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature..." Heb. 1:3

Oholiav- Tent of the father

"The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Gen 1:2

Betzallel represents the Logos(Davar- word, object) of God that solidified, became flesh-Christ

Oholiav represents The Holy Spirit of God that spreads out(tent) over the waters of creation.

Moshe represents the Father "And Moshe saw all the work, and behold, they had done it, as the LORD had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moshe blessed them." Ex.39:43

"And God saw that it was good... ...And God blessed them..." Gen 1:25-28

Garden of thistles

The garden I was put in charge of was nothing more than a haven of thistles. I became lethargic from its fermented, rotten produce. I tried to arouse my senses over and over again to restore it to the beauty I once envisioned. I was chased off, again and again, by the rabid dogs who were once my companions. I am sentenced to continually return to the edges of the garden of thorns to care for the two precious saplings arising from this den of noxious weeds.

Man's two obligations to love

And HaShem shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall HaShem be one, and his name one.

Zech 14:9

And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one;

John 17:22

Man in his physical state has a dual duty to love; love God and love his neighbor. The Christian hangs on to life so he can fulfill both. At death the believer will continue to love God but his neighborly love is cut off until the Resurrection. Then our physical bodies will "rise" and our dual love will be unified and He will be one and His name one.