The Akaidah and the Passion.

The Passion of the Christ is in many ways parallel with the Akaidah(Binding) story of Genesis 22. Christ carries the cross on His back to Calvary-Isaac carries the wood for the sacrifice. Isaac willingly allows himself to be the sacrifice for his father. Like Jesus and the Father, Abraham and Isaac are unified. There is also a sense of dispare in both willing "victims". Jesus crying "My God my God why have you forsaken me". And when Yaakov is confronted by Lavan after fleeing his home he says in Genesis 31:42 "Had not the God of Avraham and the Dread of Itzchak been with me..." After Crucifixion Christ disappears for a while before returning to His disciples- Isaac disappears from the narrative for a while until he reappears just before his wedding to Rebecca.

Reuniting two brothers. Who was the ish(man) Yaakov wrestled with?

Genesis 32:24-30


24And Jacob was left alone. And a man(ish) wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26Then he said, "Let me go, for the day has broken." But Jacob said "I will not let you go unless you bless me." 27And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." 28Then he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed." 29Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. 30So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered."




This is got to be one of the most fascinating passages in all the Torah. For thousands of years Jews and later Christians have pondered over the identity of this mysterious man.


General consensus holds that it was an angel that Yaakov wrestled primarily due to Hosea's oracle;


"In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he strove with God. He strove with the angel and prevailed..."
Hosea 12:3,4



Many Christians hold that it was a christophany(preincarnate appearance of Jesus).
Jewish interpretation holds, for the most part, that the ish was Eisav's Gardian Angel or sar in Hebrew. Every nation has an angel attached to it such as Daniel's "Prince of Persia". Eisav is the founder/father of the Edomites. Jewish legend holds that the Edomites are the early ancestors of Rome(Midrash HaGadol) which is represented as Christianity by many medieval and modern commentators.

In any case the struggle with the "man" is directly connected to the struggle he has with his brother. but through out history Esav has been making amends.

It was the Edomites after converting to Judaism(the only coersed conversion in Jewish history) During Khoshmonaim Period that they come to rule Judea. They built "Herod's Temple". Remember as well that it was Itzchaks intention that Esav be the physical leader of the family/nation(see earlier post). The same temple that Jews to this day daven/pray at its western wall. And Edom in the form of Christianity and the Christian west that gave them the freedom to worship and helped to give them back their homeland.

So the Ish, you could say, was the Guardian Angel of the Church... And now we look forward to a true reconciliation of the two brothers.

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB." "AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS." From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

-Romans 11:25-29

Dual natured Yaakov

When Itzchak wants to give Esav 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 Itzchak understood 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 Rivka, in fact they were twins, both sons would carry on the chosen(bechira) line. As opposed to the two sons of Avraham with whom only one was chosen by God as Avraham was.

Itzchak understood God's choosing process. He believed that his two sons were bechira-chosen to propagate the nation. He did not receive the prophecy that Rivka had and apparently Rivka didn't tell him. Esav 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 be naturaly the king of the clan. The blessing(beracha) that Itzchak intends to bestow on him has very similar elements to the blessings that Yaakov later bestows on Yehuda and Yoseph(Bereishis49:8, 22ff) who at the time were present and future leaders/kings.

Yaakov's blessing is a bit more complicated but there are some similarities with the levitical roll (Devarim 33:10) and some similar word usages that Yaakov later says to Shimon and Levy in his blessing/curse to them such as congregation(Bereishis 49:5). Although Itzchak gives a Birchos Avrahom he does not grant him bechira but says, "May He grant you the blessing of Avraham". Perhaps at this point Itzchak is now beginning to understand what Rivka has known all along that the two sons are two nations.

So Yaakov is the natural spiritual leader. He is a man "abiding in tents". He represented the priesthood, Torah study-the clergy. Now that he stole Esav's blessing he has to become dual natured-a man of the field and a man who abides in tents. King and Priest. When he is complete it is his progeny that become the bechira nation.